Breakfast

Right across the street from where we were staying in our rented condo was a Walmart style store called Tesco Lotus.  Inside the store was a gigantic Thai food court called MK Restaurant.  We ate one lunch and one breakfast there. Delicious food!

                                          Breakfast -fried egg, sauteed greens, and noodles

                                           Lunch-omelette and basil chicken

                                           Lunch - noodle dish

                                         Lunch- rice with pork

                                          Breakfast- Tom Yam soup

Keeping Active!

I love swimming so any time we can get a place with a pool, or a calm ocean I am a happy camper!  I also pack my yoga mat so I can continue my home practise, and we tend to walk for kilometers!

Out and About in Bangkok

After picking up Geno and Glenda from the airport, and then locating our 2-bedroom condo in the On Nut area of Bangkok which has very few westeners, we had a rest and then toured the street of Sukhumvit.

 We found a small restaurant to enjoy our supper meal.

 The beer of our choice is called Tiger.

 This is a dish of pad Thai.  It's a stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at casual local eateries.  I have had it with glass noodles, but I prefer the rice noodles. Delicious!!

This is a Thai dish of basil chicken that Hoss ordered.  Fantastic food!

Friends

This year our travels include dear friends of ours from back home.  They will spend one month in Thailand with us.  So glad you decided to come along, Geno and Glenda!

Buddhist Worship

Just down the street, and around the corner from our hotel the Thais were having a Buddhist celebration and worship.  Incense, offerings of food/drink, praying, music, traditional clothing, and dancing all facing a shrine could be observed on the corner. 

  Flower necklaces can be bought and placed as an offering on the shrine.

Courtyard Marriott Bangkok

Our trip from Regina to Bangkok was around 30 hours long, which wasn't too bad.  We have had longer travel times! We made our way out of immigration, grabbed our luggage, and left the airport by skytrain or BTS as it is called in Bangkok.  We got off at Mo Chit, an area of Bangkok, where our hotel was located!  We were supposedly very close to the Courtyard Marriott but do you think we could find it.  We were exhausted, weak, lugging around our backpacks, and by this time they felt like they weighed 100 pounds.  The street was kaotic, the air was hot, my patience short!!  After a couple of blocks of not knowing where we were going we decided to take a tuk tuk to our hotel.  A tuk tuk is a small vehicle powered by a small motorbike.  The sitting area for customers is placed right over top of the motorbike, and you sit behind the driver, kind of like a modernized rickshaw.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture, because of my mood!!  The driver made a u-turn, and booted it down the street, dodging traffic, and leaving my already taxed nervous system frazzled!  In a few short minutes he pulled up to our hotel.  Now, you are probably wondering what the heck budget travelers are doing at a Marriott?!  Well, my ingenious husband, who is always scouring the internet for deals on travel, insurance, flights, accommodations, gas prices, restaurants..... I could go on and on and on, got a new credit card that allows us free stays at the fancy, schmancy Marriott once a year.  So, knowing how we would feel after our long flight, and crossing over the international dateline we decided to stay at the Courtyard Marriott in Bangkok for one night.  We were so glad we did!  The room was wonderful!  Mind you, I think by this point any type of shower, and bed would have been great! 

 Food stalls right outside the Marriott.  For those of you that are afraid to try street food, don't be.  It will be some of the most delicious food you will ever eat.  As long as the stall is busy, the food will be safe to eat.  It is always homemade and very fresh!  Yummy!!

Duhhh!!  I forgot to take a picture of our room!  It was your normal hotel room, with a king sized bed, bathroom that had a window facing the bed(but you can close the shade).  We have discovered that in the higher end hotel rooms in Asia, the bathrooms have windows facing into the room. The bathrooms are also fitted with TVs. At the lower end of the scale, we have stayed in rooms that have no window at all!!

Return To Thailand

We have returned to Thailand because of its beauty, mystic, food, people, weather, sea, beaches.....the list of pluses could go on and on.  The trip to get here is long, but well worth it!  Elephants have also been special to me, and have become more so since our first visit to Thailand.  If you have ever been to our home you will notice elephant bowls, and elephant lamp, pictures of elephants, an elephant tablecloth, and no, I haven't become the crazy elephant lady, like some crazy cat ladies, but I do hold a fascination for this animal. So, I will be eager to revisit these creatures once again!