After writing one of my previous entries, in which I was talking about all the chemicals that we ‘swim’ in on a daily basis, I was inspired to write this next entry…I was watching world news on the BBC the other morning and there was a story about how the amount of plastic waste build up has become such a huge global problem. They showed video clips from countries all around the world of landfills overflowing with towering mountains of plastic waste. One major city in Africa completely flooded after a rainstorm due to plastic bags blocking up the sewer drains…. And kudos to them! This city has now outlawed plastic bags. One of the things about life that really discourages me is the impetus for major change usually only comes after major problems arise.
Case in point, I am flabbergasted every time I go to the store, see people that buy something that is already in a bag, albeit without handles, and then…get a bag for it?? How difficult is it to carry the item ‘all the way’ to the car in its own bag? Why the heck do we need a bag for the bag? And then there are the people who walk up to the check stand, carrying their own big bag or purse to buy maybe 2 or 3 things, and then get a plastic bag to put their items in. Excuse me, can’t it just be put in the bag they already have? Do people not realize how much waste is produced on a daily basis across the world? Do people ever think about where it ends up?
Well, let me tell you…I was taking a nice dip in the ocean last week and something brushed against my leg. It was a frickin’ plastic bag. This bag could of come from America. Maybe it was one that anyone reading this used and then threw away. The news story shared that land is so cheap outside of the US that much garbage from America is now being shipped overseas. Heaven forbid the biggest waste producing country in the world has to live next to their own waste. It certainly makes much more sense to spend millions of dollars on gas to fuel a barge to pollute its way across the ocean carrying all of this American waste to some other 'more deserving' country.
I made the transition a few years ago to always use my own bags, but it certainly didn’t happen overnight. I thought about it for many months, about how I should really stop using all these bags. Then I finally kept canvas bags permanently in my trunk…and always walked into the store forgetting them. And now I have finally made it to the point that sometimes I wont even buy things unless I have my own bags. I also keep silverware in my glove box, but the same transition steps occurred until I remembered them regularly and thus could avoid using plastic silverware every time I eat take-out. That reminds me of another thing that happened last week...when I was swimming, I noticed this starkly white shell in the sand. "Hmm. Interesting." Picked it up and gee, of course it was starkly white...it was a plastic spoon.
Please, people, if everyone just took tiny steps we would dramatically reduce this problem. Here is just a small list of easy steps you can take, today: #1-Please say no to a bag if you don’t really need it. Buy some reusable bags and keep them in your trunk until you start getting in the habit of using them. Or, just keep all those plastic bags you have stuffed in some drawer in your kitchen in your trunk and use them. #2-Take only one or two paper napkins from the dispenser when eating out. Is a two inch stack really necessary? #3- Contact the companies you do business with and request that all communication be via email only…monthly statements, bills, insurance info…If you hold any stock, you can even request to have all that bulky quarterly company earnings stuff and proxy material sent all electronically. #4- Buy recycled materials over non anytime you can. #5-Reduce your use of plastic bottles. You can buy a simple seven layer carbon water filter that takes about 30 seconds to screw into your kitchen faucet. There is a doc I went to school with who sells a great one on his website:
http://www.healthegoods.com/waterfilterbathshowercountertop.htm
...These are just a few examples of many simple steps you can do to reduce your contribution to our world’s waste burden. Please, say NO to unnecessary waste.
Plastic waste is just one ‘small’ source of waste. I recently read a story about how residues of pharmaceutical drugs are being found in city water. Do you realize what that means? It means that millions of people are taking drugs→ urinating residues of them into the toilet→ the sewage is seeping into our city water→ and then we cook our vegetables, clean our clothes, and bath in this ‘clean’ water. That’s a nice thought, isn’t it?
Another food for thought for you all…when you choose non-manufactured thus non-packaged foods at the store, not only are you avoiding creating waste by eventually throwing the packaging away, but your are also saving an immense amount of energy by choosing foods that haven’t been through an energy sucking, chemical ridden manufacturing plant. There’s a thought.
For an excellent story on how big this waste and energy problem really is, please make time to watch the following link:
www.thestoryofstuff.com.
Thank you to those of you who will truly take this info to heart. The next time you go on a tropical vacation and take a dip in the ocean, maybe you’ll be able to avoid swimming amongst a sea of garbage and plastic bags.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Jody's Big Adventure in Bangkok, (Day 2 & 3)
April 14, 2008
We met in the lobby of the elegant Oriental hotel at 10am. Arlene was a bit tardy because she was late coming back from the gym. Little did she know that to get to the hotel’s gym, guests were transported in one of the hotel’s elegant riverboats across the river to the other bank. So Dan and I relaxed and people watched in the lobby, enjoying a cup of tea.
Arlene arrived and we were off, Dan our fearless leader leading the way. We headed to the public boat taxi station and jumped aboard. I had no idea there was so much water in Bangkok! The Chao Phraya River is about 400 meters wide and winds all the way through downtown, with major public transport stops all along its edge. An endless maze of smaller canals extends out from the main river source, seemingly creating as many water ways as there are regular streets. Our boat is packed with people standing up, similar to a morning rush hour scene on a subway, with mobs of people exiting and entering at each stop. Eventually, we join the ranks of the ‘exiting mobs’ and jump off.
We are headed to The Grand Palace. Being the photo junkie that I am, I’m still shaking my head as to how it was possible that I arrived in Bangkok without my camera…and furthermore, that I did not think about buying a disposable camera. I guess that is testament to how awe struck I was by the sites…
The Grand Palace was built in 1782 under the direction of King Rama I. All 218,000 square meters are walled in by a cement fortress. Within the walled compound lies government administration halls, the residence quarters for the royal family, and most spectacularly, numerous temples, including the renown Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This site is one of the most revered sites in Thailand for paying respect to the Lord Buddha and His Teachings. And being that today was a national holiday, the temple was packed to the brim with Thais paying their respects. The Emerald Buddha is in fact carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434. He sits high up on an ornately decorated throne and is just a little over 1 foot tall. Even though this one foot tall Emerald Buddha is way above the rank of us ordinary people, He’s apparently a bit fashion conscious... He is only found wearing one of three outfits: one for summer, one for the rainy season, and one for winter. Apparently, on the three days each year in which He changes His attire, there is quite an ornate ceremony. Luckily, today was not one of the days for the-changing-of-the-clothes. It was already packed enough!
We stopped for lunch and then headed on to the very revered sight of Wat Pho, also known as The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Dan has befriended one of the tour guides here. He is a wonderfully friendly Thai man who actually has grown up living at this very site, which he continues to call home today. He provided us with a wealth of knowledge, to say the least! ....This Wat, meaning ‘temple,’ is the largest temple in Bangkok and is also technically the oldest (its been remodeled), having been originally built about 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. With the previous image of Buddha at a whopping 1-foot tall still in my mind, I was that much more blown away when I laid my eyes on this 46 METER LONG, GOLD PLATED RECLINING BUDDHA! That’s the length of half a football field!! His reclining position is designed to illustrate the last few moments of His life as He passes into nirvana. The feet and eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the souls of the feet depict the 108 auspicious events in the life of Buddha. Along its edge are 108 bronze vases. For just a few Baht, we each purchased a bag of 108 coins...then as I dropped a coin in each of the vases, I said a prayer, focusing on every single person I love in my life as well as my own dreams. By the end of the line, I had tears in my eyes. With my love for the significance of numbers, I was even more moved when I reached the 108th vase and had exactly one coin left. (The norm is to be a bit over or a bit short on coins by the end of the line.) It was truly a moving experience.
However, in my ignorance of Buddhism, I truly felt embarrassed and ashamed to be there. The significance of this 46 meter long, gold plated Buddha is completely beyond my comprehension. The temple was packed with 100’s of Thai’s, likely from all over the country, bowing and paying their respects to one of their most revered relics in the history of Buddhism…and there I am, with my most profound thought being, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ By the end of our many hours together with our personal tour guide, learning about this site that he so reveres and having shared tears together along the way, I couldn't believe how close I felt to this man whom I will likely never see again. We all gave him a big hugs of gratitude, and then waved farewell as we walked away.
As we headed back toward the riverboat taxi station, in the middle of this loud and busy city, we came across a little narrow walk way that headed out to the river. Looking down its length, there seemed to be perhaps a market at the end. We decided to go check it out. It was so narrow, we had to walk single file. But we soon realized, it wasn’t a path. We were walking through people’s homes. To our right was a cement wall that had little makeshift tables and cupboards built into it. To our left was a line of little square shacks with living quarters set up inside. Amazingly, many of them were sporting flat screen tv’s and major sound system’s set up inside. The people were all smiling, happy, of all ages…young kids, to grandmas. Dan, our local tour guide, is luckily fluent in Thai so after realizing we weren’t on a public pathway, he kindly made friends with these people whom we had invited ourselves into their homes. I have no idea what they were saying, but I felt relieved when everyone started laughing. We soon continued on.
Back to the river we went. This time we jumped on one of the private canal tour boats, similar to the gondolas of Venice in shape but powered by a very unromantically loud, roaring engine. We spent the next two hours winding our way through the endless grid of these tiny waterways of Bangkok. Along the banks were mostly homes and the main source of transportation for these homeowners were their wooden boats. We passed through neighborhood after neighborhood, each with its own unique feel. Most of the homes any westerner would deem dilapidated, but this was likely not the opinion of the owners themselves. Third world countries know how to make do with much less than most of us could ever imagine, and they do so without the ridiculous pressure, so universal in western culture, to work more hours or get a better job just so we can go shopping and acquire more 'stuff'.
There were a few odd homes, built up tall with new construction and an elegantly designed fence around the perimeter, but they were certainly the exception to the rule. As for the water, the water quality was as you would expect for a river in the middle of a huge polluted city: black. Yet, the human body is incredibly adaptable, as was apparent by all the smiling and laughing children we passed playing in the water. (Mouth open wide in disbelief.) At one point, a toothless grinned older woman paddled her way over to our boat in attempts to sell us her goods…Her boat was packed with snacks, drinks, and a whole array of artsy nick-naks. After purchasing something out of courtesy, we moved on.
Next, we were stopped by a group of monks waving us down from the riverbank. We pulled up to buy a loaf of the bread that they were selling, by direction of our boat driver, and threw chunks of it into the river. Suddenly the entire surface of the water was transformed into a dense blanket of these big, fat, gray fish. Besides being awed by the mere number of them that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, my mouth was still wide open in disbelief from before, thinking to myself this time, ‘How does such disgustingly polluted water actually support life?’ It made me second guess ordering any fish for the rest of the trip, that’s for sure!
Our boat ride came to an end. Our driver dropped us off at our own private stop, at the bank of the Oriental Hotel. We took a table outside on the patio and quenched our thirst as we watched the ever-bustling river continue to serve as the main thoroughfare for a countless number of boats. Arlene and I felt deep gratitude towards Dan for our spectacular day of touring Bangkok. Being that Dan is a professional tour guide here, it would be hard to take him out to dinner to a place that he has never been to…but Arlene succeeded. One of the most famously elegant restaurants in Bangkok is a French restaurant on the top floor of The Oriental Hotel, called The Normandy. We each headed back to our respective rooms to change and met at 7pm, at The Normandy.
Elegance. That pretty much sums it up. Quaint elegance. Dan and Arlene picked the pre-set 7 course meal. Margot (who was busy working during the day but rejoined us for dinner) and I ordered Sea Bass. I had to start with the frog legs, just because I’ve never tried them before. (They taste like little chicken legs for anyone wondering.) We were all getting along fabulously, this quite random mix of us. Thanks to Arlene. Dan is her friend who lives in Bangkok. Margot was a fellow guest with Arlene at the resort last week. And I was the lucky Naturopath who was assigned to work with Arlene during her stay at the resort. We finish with the most decadent array of desserts I’ve ever seen…pistachio pie, chocolate tort, mocha madness cake, coconut delight…good thing my insulin bottle was full!
Speechless with gratitude, I said good-bye to Dan and Arlene. It was an amazing day, and I still can’t believe I got so lucky as to be invited to come along. I jumped in a taxi to head back to my hotel for a long night’s rest after my big day of Adventuring in Bangkok.
Day 3
------
The next morning, I had a gloriously lazy time. I slept late. Headed down to the 7th floor for my all-inclusive breakfast buffet…smoked salmon, fresh fruit, omelet bar…I felt like a queen. I then headed to the gym for a good sweat for an hour or so. Took a shower and then out to the balcony to take a snooze on the lawn chairs. Ahhh….such a nice change from my regular day off in my home town that I fondly refer to as the armpit of Thailand. I didn’t really want to leave….but once 3pm arrived, I figured it was time to go. I jumped on the skytrain to cruise through town and headed back to the minivan station where I jumped on for the 3hour trip back to Hua Hin.
And that is the end to my story, Jody’s Big Adventure in Bangkok.
We met in the lobby of the elegant Oriental hotel at 10am. Arlene was a bit tardy because she was late coming back from the gym. Little did she know that to get to the hotel’s gym, guests were transported in one of the hotel’s elegant riverboats across the river to the other bank. So Dan and I relaxed and people watched in the lobby, enjoying a cup of tea.
Arlene arrived and we were off, Dan our fearless leader leading the way. We headed to the public boat taxi station and jumped aboard. I had no idea there was so much water in Bangkok! The Chao Phraya River is about 400 meters wide and winds all the way through downtown, with major public transport stops all along its edge. An endless maze of smaller canals extends out from the main river source, seemingly creating as many water ways as there are regular streets. Our boat is packed with people standing up, similar to a morning rush hour scene on a subway, with mobs of people exiting and entering at each stop. Eventually, we join the ranks of the ‘exiting mobs’ and jump off.
We are headed to The Grand Palace. Being the photo junkie that I am, I’m still shaking my head as to how it was possible that I arrived in Bangkok without my camera…and furthermore, that I did not think about buying a disposable camera. I guess that is testament to how awe struck I was by the sites…
The Grand Palace was built in 1782 under the direction of King Rama I. All 218,000 square meters are walled in by a cement fortress. Within the walled compound lies government administration halls, the residence quarters for the royal family, and most spectacularly, numerous temples, including the renown Temple of the Emerald Buddha. This site is one of the most revered sites in Thailand for paying respect to the Lord Buddha and His Teachings. And being that today was a national holiday, the temple was packed to the brim with Thais paying their respects. The Emerald Buddha is in fact carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434. He sits high up on an ornately decorated throne and is just a little over 1 foot tall. Even though this one foot tall Emerald Buddha is way above the rank of us ordinary people, He’s apparently a bit fashion conscious... He is only found wearing one of three outfits: one for summer, one for the rainy season, and one for winter. Apparently, on the three days each year in which He changes His attire, there is quite an ornate ceremony. Luckily, today was not one of the days for the-changing-of-the-clothes. It was already packed enough!
We stopped for lunch and then headed on to the very revered sight of Wat Pho, also known as The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Dan has befriended one of the tour guides here. He is a wonderfully friendly Thai man who actually has grown up living at this very site, which he continues to call home today. He provided us with a wealth of knowledge, to say the least! ....This Wat, meaning ‘temple,’ is the largest temple in Bangkok and is also technically the oldest (its been remodeled), having been originally built about 200 years before Bangkok became Thailand’s capital. With the previous image of Buddha at a whopping 1-foot tall still in my mind, I was that much more blown away when I laid my eyes on this 46 METER LONG, GOLD PLATED RECLINING BUDDHA! That’s the length of half a football field!! His reclining position is designed to illustrate the last few moments of His life as He passes into nirvana. The feet and eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration, and the souls of the feet depict the 108 auspicious events in the life of Buddha. Along its edge are 108 bronze vases. For just a few Baht, we each purchased a bag of 108 coins...then as I dropped a coin in each of the vases, I said a prayer, focusing on every single person I love in my life as well as my own dreams. By the end of the line, I had tears in my eyes. With my love for the significance of numbers, I was even more moved when I reached the 108th vase and had exactly one coin left. (The norm is to be a bit over or a bit short on coins by the end of the line.) It was truly a moving experience.
However, in my ignorance of Buddhism, I truly felt embarrassed and ashamed to be there. The significance of this 46 meter long, gold plated Buddha is completely beyond my comprehension. The temple was packed with 100’s of Thai’s, likely from all over the country, bowing and paying their respects to one of their most revered relics in the history of Buddhism…and there I am, with my most profound thought being, ‘Wow, this is cool.’ By the end of our many hours together with our personal tour guide, learning about this site that he so reveres and having shared tears together along the way, I couldn't believe how close I felt to this man whom I will likely never see again. We all gave him a big hugs of gratitude, and then waved farewell as we walked away.
As we headed back toward the riverboat taxi station, in the middle of this loud and busy city, we came across a little narrow walk way that headed out to the river. Looking down its length, there seemed to be perhaps a market at the end. We decided to go check it out. It was so narrow, we had to walk single file. But we soon realized, it wasn’t a path. We were walking through people’s homes. To our right was a cement wall that had little makeshift tables and cupboards built into it. To our left was a line of little square shacks with living quarters set up inside. Amazingly, many of them were sporting flat screen tv’s and major sound system’s set up inside. The people were all smiling, happy, of all ages…young kids, to grandmas. Dan, our local tour guide, is luckily fluent in Thai so after realizing we weren’t on a public pathway, he kindly made friends with these people whom we had invited ourselves into their homes. I have no idea what they were saying, but I felt relieved when everyone started laughing. We soon continued on.
Back to the river we went. This time we jumped on one of the private canal tour boats, similar to the gondolas of Venice in shape but powered by a very unromantically loud, roaring engine. We spent the next two hours winding our way through the endless grid of these tiny waterways of Bangkok. Along the banks were mostly homes and the main source of transportation for these homeowners were their wooden boats. We passed through neighborhood after neighborhood, each with its own unique feel. Most of the homes any westerner would deem dilapidated, but this was likely not the opinion of the owners themselves. Third world countries know how to make do with much less than most of us could ever imagine, and they do so without the ridiculous pressure, so universal in western culture, to work more hours or get a better job just so we can go shopping and acquire more 'stuff'.
There were a few odd homes, built up tall with new construction and an elegantly designed fence around the perimeter, but they were certainly the exception to the rule. As for the water, the water quality was as you would expect for a river in the middle of a huge polluted city: black. Yet, the human body is incredibly adaptable, as was apparent by all the smiling and laughing children we passed playing in the water. (Mouth open wide in disbelief.) At one point, a toothless grinned older woman paddled her way over to our boat in attempts to sell us her goods…Her boat was packed with snacks, drinks, and a whole array of artsy nick-naks. After purchasing something out of courtesy, we moved on.
Next, we were stopped by a group of monks waving us down from the riverbank. We pulled up to buy a loaf of the bread that they were selling, by direction of our boat driver, and threw chunks of it into the river. Suddenly the entire surface of the water was transformed into a dense blanket of these big, fat, gray fish. Besides being awed by the mere number of them that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, my mouth was still wide open in disbelief from before, thinking to myself this time, ‘How does such disgustingly polluted water actually support life?’ It made me second guess ordering any fish for the rest of the trip, that’s for sure!
Our boat ride came to an end. Our driver dropped us off at our own private stop, at the bank of the Oriental Hotel. We took a table outside on the patio and quenched our thirst as we watched the ever-bustling river continue to serve as the main thoroughfare for a countless number of boats. Arlene and I felt deep gratitude towards Dan for our spectacular day of touring Bangkok. Being that Dan is a professional tour guide here, it would be hard to take him out to dinner to a place that he has never been to…but Arlene succeeded. One of the most famously elegant restaurants in Bangkok is a French restaurant on the top floor of The Oriental Hotel, called The Normandy. We each headed back to our respective rooms to change and met at 7pm, at The Normandy.
Elegance. That pretty much sums it up. Quaint elegance. Dan and Arlene picked the pre-set 7 course meal. Margot (who was busy working during the day but rejoined us for dinner) and I ordered Sea Bass. I had to start with the frog legs, just because I’ve never tried them before. (They taste like little chicken legs for anyone wondering.) We were all getting along fabulously, this quite random mix of us. Thanks to Arlene. Dan is her friend who lives in Bangkok. Margot was a fellow guest with Arlene at the resort last week. And I was the lucky Naturopath who was assigned to work with Arlene during her stay at the resort. We finish with the most decadent array of desserts I’ve ever seen…pistachio pie, chocolate tort, mocha madness cake, coconut delight…good thing my insulin bottle was full!
Speechless with gratitude, I said good-bye to Dan and Arlene. It was an amazing day, and I still can’t believe I got so lucky as to be invited to come along. I jumped in a taxi to head back to my hotel for a long night’s rest after my big day of Adventuring in Bangkok.
Day 3
------
The next morning, I had a gloriously lazy time. I slept late. Headed down to the 7th floor for my all-inclusive breakfast buffet…smoked salmon, fresh fruit, omelet bar…I felt like a queen. I then headed to the gym for a good sweat for an hour or so. Took a shower and then out to the balcony to take a snooze on the lawn chairs. Ahhh….such a nice change from my regular day off in my home town that I fondly refer to as the armpit of Thailand. I didn’t really want to leave….but once 3pm arrived, I figured it was time to go. I jumped on the skytrain to cruise through town and headed back to the minivan station where I jumped on for the 3hour trip back to Hua Hin.
And that is the end to my story, Jody’s Big Adventure in Bangkok.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Jody's Big Adventure in Bangkok, Day 1
(This entry is one I’m catching up on because it actually happened back in mid-April...)
April 13, 2008…one week has passed since my first visit to Bangkok and I’m already headed back. But this trip has nothing to do with stem cell therapy and everything to do with saying ‘yes’ to an invitation…..
Arlene is a red head from Canada with a wonderfully laid back personality. She arrived in my office on her first day of her 10 day stay at the resort. As I was talking with her upon her arrival, she just casually mentioned that she has a Canadian friend, 35 year old male, that I should meet. When her stay came to an end she says to me, “Hey, Dan and I are going out for dinner in Bangkok tonight and then tour the city tomorrow. You should come with us!” Amazingly, that day was my day off. What do I do? I accept the invitation, of course!
I had to do some finagling of my work schedule to make it work. I get off work every night at 6 and then work from 8-12 preceding my day off. Well, I was luckily done with guests by 4 on this day and had a pretty clear schedule the following half-day…so I was able to clear that and took off at 4. Yipee! That means two full days off!
Last week, for my meeting with the stem cell company, was the first time I had ever experienced Bangkok. I got a grasp for its enormity but really didn’t do any exploring. So I was very excited for this trip. Dan runs his own Thailand tour guide company so you could say, I knew I’d be getting a first class adventure hanging out with him and Arlene!
Now getting to Bangkok from Hua Hin is no easy task. After leaving work at 4, I had to pack my bag, get on a motor bike taxi to the mini-van station, wait for the mini-van to get full with passengers so that it would depart, and then ride 3 hours to the big city, as it dropped off and picked up passengers all along the way. Needless to say, I was a bit late for dinner.
(A quick cultural educational piece for you all: I was traveling on April 13th. Mid-April is the annual Thai Songkran festival, which is a huge vacation time for everyone in the country. April is the hottest month here so the festival consists of huge parades in all the towns…and days of people of all ages in every city in the country dousing all passer-byers with water. Some cities engage in this for just one day, while others for a week or more. So as I was on the motor bike headed to the mini-van place, I inevitably was doused with water. Yah, a 3 hour ride in a heavily air-conditioned van, in wet clothes, was really fun.)
Anyway, I finally arrive at the restaurant. The décor in this top rated restaurant was stunning. From the quiet alley it was located on, you would barely notice the place. The entrance was covered in lush vegetation giving me the feel that I was walking into the jungle. The path curved up a wooden staircase and lead me to the front desk, which also was barely recognizable by the way the jungle-like décor enveloped it. As the hostess walked me to the table, we passed elegant wooden art sculptures tucked away in little nooks, covered with more foliage. The restaurant had all these different rooms, all on different levels, with their own flare. Each room housed only about 5 tables so you felt quite cozy, yet you could see into all the other rooms.
Ah, after my long journey, I arrive at the table with my new friends. Joining them was another guest from the resort whom Arlene had met during her stay. Margot is a very intriguing woman who writes for National Geographic magazine. She is living at one of the most famous and elegant hotels in Bangkok, The Oriental, for the next few months working on uncovering a scandalous story about animal bone poaching. I wish I could give a more descript detail but I’m afraid I didn’t grasp all the elements…I just knew it was excitingly scandalous…involving world famous art dealers operating their business with horrifying dishonesty. Anyway, they had ordered Asian style (family style with a variety of community dishes) and so there were plenty of nibbles for me to enjoy. Then, Dan ordered dessert. What arrived was a scrumptious dessert array of what was so beautifully presented as art, I hesitated to even take a bite…but who are we kidding? With my love of desserts, I indulged.
From there Dan took us to Scirroco. Scirroco is an elegant bar on the rooftop of a 64 story skyscraper. I had no idea Bangkok was this big! Imagine a city that stretched from Seattle to Tacoma, with no water or mountains inhibiting its sprawl east or west so it could be just as wide as it was long. Welcome to Bangkok! Even with the 360 degree view from this place, there was no end in sight in any direction. The lights just went on and on and on. I’ve been to New York. With all of its surrounding water, it has limitations on its size. But Bangkok just goes on and on and on…I don’t think I’ve ever been in a city this big.
The rooftop holds a buffet restaurant with elegantly set white tablecloth covered tables, a music stage where a woman wearing a red dress which was blowing around elegantly in the wind was gracing the crowd with her singing, and the ever-changing-of-colors bar. But I just couldn’t stop looking at the view. Stunning. Unfortunately, it was already pretty late by the time we arrived so we didn’t last long but what a treat it was to see the view from this place.
As Arlene and Margot headed back to The Oriental Hotel (can you say: way, waaaay out of my price range), Dan used his tourist guide connections to get me into a fabulous hotel for about half its regular cost. So after our goodnights and see-you-in-the-mornings, I headed up to my posh room in The Majestic Grand Hotel. Paying $100 for my elegant room…what a luxurious treat. Furthermore, I couldn’t help but be touched by the fact that here I was, this single girl from Seattle living half-way around the world, hanging out with people I just met, in one of the biggest cities in the world! Very cool, I thought. So off to bed I went, to rest up for tomorrow, my full day of adventuring in this famous city of Bangkok. More to come!
April 13, 2008…one week has passed since my first visit to Bangkok and I’m already headed back. But this trip has nothing to do with stem cell therapy and everything to do with saying ‘yes’ to an invitation…..
Arlene is a red head from Canada with a wonderfully laid back personality. She arrived in my office on her first day of her 10 day stay at the resort. As I was talking with her upon her arrival, she just casually mentioned that she has a Canadian friend, 35 year old male, that I should meet. When her stay came to an end she says to me, “Hey, Dan and I are going out for dinner in Bangkok tonight and then tour the city tomorrow. You should come with us!” Amazingly, that day was my day off. What do I do? I accept the invitation, of course!
I had to do some finagling of my work schedule to make it work. I get off work every night at 6 and then work from 8-12 preceding my day off. Well, I was luckily done with guests by 4 on this day and had a pretty clear schedule the following half-day…so I was able to clear that and took off at 4. Yipee! That means two full days off!
Last week, for my meeting with the stem cell company, was the first time I had ever experienced Bangkok. I got a grasp for its enormity but really didn’t do any exploring. So I was very excited for this trip. Dan runs his own Thailand tour guide company so you could say, I knew I’d be getting a first class adventure hanging out with him and Arlene!
Now getting to Bangkok from Hua Hin is no easy task. After leaving work at 4, I had to pack my bag, get on a motor bike taxi to the mini-van station, wait for the mini-van to get full with passengers so that it would depart, and then ride 3 hours to the big city, as it dropped off and picked up passengers all along the way. Needless to say, I was a bit late for dinner.
(A quick cultural educational piece for you all: I was traveling on April 13th. Mid-April is the annual Thai Songkran festival, which is a huge vacation time for everyone in the country. April is the hottest month here so the festival consists of huge parades in all the towns…and days of people of all ages in every city in the country dousing all passer-byers with water. Some cities engage in this for just one day, while others for a week or more. So as I was on the motor bike headed to the mini-van place, I inevitably was doused with water. Yah, a 3 hour ride in a heavily air-conditioned van, in wet clothes, was really fun.)
Anyway, I finally arrive at the restaurant. The décor in this top rated restaurant was stunning. From the quiet alley it was located on, you would barely notice the place. The entrance was covered in lush vegetation giving me the feel that I was walking into the jungle. The path curved up a wooden staircase and lead me to the front desk, which also was barely recognizable by the way the jungle-like décor enveloped it. As the hostess walked me to the table, we passed elegant wooden art sculptures tucked away in little nooks, covered with more foliage. The restaurant had all these different rooms, all on different levels, with their own flare. Each room housed only about 5 tables so you felt quite cozy, yet you could see into all the other rooms.
Ah, after my long journey, I arrive at the table with my new friends. Joining them was another guest from the resort whom Arlene had met during her stay. Margot is a very intriguing woman who writes for National Geographic magazine. She is living at one of the most famous and elegant hotels in Bangkok, The Oriental, for the next few months working on uncovering a scandalous story about animal bone poaching. I wish I could give a more descript detail but I’m afraid I didn’t grasp all the elements…I just knew it was excitingly scandalous…involving world famous art dealers operating their business with horrifying dishonesty. Anyway, they had ordered Asian style (family style with a variety of community dishes) and so there were plenty of nibbles for me to enjoy. Then, Dan ordered dessert. What arrived was a scrumptious dessert array of what was so beautifully presented as art, I hesitated to even take a bite…but who are we kidding? With my love of desserts, I indulged.
From there Dan took us to Scirroco. Scirroco is an elegant bar on the rooftop of a 64 story skyscraper. I had no idea Bangkok was this big! Imagine a city that stretched from Seattle to Tacoma, with no water or mountains inhibiting its sprawl east or west so it could be just as wide as it was long. Welcome to Bangkok! Even with the 360 degree view from this place, there was no end in sight in any direction. The lights just went on and on and on. I’ve been to New York. With all of its surrounding water, it has limitations on its size. But Bangkok just goes on and on and on…I don’t think I’ve ever been in a city this big.
The rooftop holds a buffet restaurant with elegantly set white tablecloth covered tables, a music stage where a woman wearing a red dress which was blowing around elegantly in the wind was gracing the crowd with her singing, and the ever-changing-of-colors bar. But I just couldn’t stop looking at the view. Stunning. Unfortunately, it was already pretty late by the time we arrived so we didn’t last long but what a treat it was to see the view from this place.
As Arlene and Margot headed back to The Oriental Hotel (can you say: way, waaaay out of my price range), Dan used his tourist guide connections to get me into a fabulous hotel for about half its regular cost. So after our goodnights and see-you-in-the-mornings, I headed up to my posh room in The Majestic Grand Hotel. Paying $100 for my elegant room…what a luxurious treat. Furthermore, I couldn’t help but be touched by the fact that here I was, this single girl from Seattle living half-way around the world, hanging out with people I just met, in one of the biggest cities in the world! Very cool, I thought. So off to bed I went, to rest up for tomorrow, my full day of adventuring in this famous city of Bangkok. More to come!
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