Again, Bangkok

I really do like Bangkok. Been staying at J No. 14 Guest house in a great, real neighborhood in Bangkok, just down the street from the Peninsula Hotel, so you know it's prime real estate. The street is lined with food vendors -- it is an all-day all-you-can eat buffet as far as I am concerned. I love the fact that everyone buys their food on the street much of the time and cooking is only normal for the vendors. The other night our hosts a J No. 14 were eating a dinner in the public space and I asked if they cooked it. The son (I gotta get names here) laughed and said, no way, it's from the street.

I ventured out to on the Skytrain. Wow, a huge, modern, air conditioned mass transit system that runs every 5 minutes. Philly could learn a lot from them. I suspect there are millions of people living in Bangkok who cannot afford to travel on the Skytrain though. The tickets for the trains I took ranged from 50 cents to $1.50 -- that could be several meals in Bangkok.

J No. 14 is filled with animals, both dead and alive. The walls and tables are covered with specimens of bugs and butterflies and there is a shocking stuffed doe awaiting you in the lobby. The owners have little chihuahuas, Pekingese, and it seems frequent small dog visitors. I recall 5 Pekingese being sheltered there on my first visit. 

There were also kittens! Beautiful, Siamese-faced white and marmalade kittens that I fell in love with (sorry Mini, Zoro, and Tama!). I bundled them all in my hand and realized that I miss my kitties from home. I haven't been homesick at all on this trip, but this little brush with familiarity brought on a few waves of nostalgia for home. No mind, I will be there soon enough!

One one of my subway forays, I saw the Erawan shrine, a bizarre hindu-seque shrine situated at the corner of a five-star hotel -- prime real estate for sure. Worshippers bought incense and flowers to lay on the shrine and there was lots of praying. In addition, there was a Siamese music and dance troupe performing -- I suspect for tourists?  Sorry no photos.

The shot below I ran across while walking back from the Jim Thompson house (rating 2, way too crowded!). Love the fact that they actually have a sign for this, I guess indicative of the graft in the country.  

I drank A LOT of Thai iced teas...price ranging from 15 baht to 100 baht depending on the vendor. The good vendors make these from scratch with real tea (they have a cotton filter and hot water) and you can ask to hold the sugar, which means that only the sweetness from the condensed milk comes through -- can you imagine adding sweetener on top of the condensed milk?

Also went to a swimming pool at the Mellinium Hilton nearby... Nikki and I went there on her first day so she could literally cool her jets a bit. The pool has a great view of the river, a great perspective on Bangkok's tourist areas.

Finding a sit-down place for dinner is a challenge in the land of street foot, but we found a fabulous seafood place where we accidentally ordered plates and plates of giant shrimp.

The soup below was fabulous, plenty spicy.