10/26/12 - One Night in Bangkok (part 1)

Ok - it was actually 2 nights in Bangkok, but no one ever wrote a song called "2 Nights in Bangkok."  We hadn't taken a trip in over a month and the travel bug had set in again so off we went to Thailand.  Sarah and I were actually coming from 2 different places so we had to meet in the airport in Bangkok.  Luckily Air Asia recently began landing in Don Mueang International Airport vs. Suvarnabhumi International Airport.  Its kind of like flying into Midway vs. O'hare in Chicago.  Still a hassle, but not nearly as much.  Plus, in this case you don't have to worry about an icy runway being too short and your plane sliding through a barrier fence.  An even bigger plus is upon arrival you have a familiar face to say "Sawatdee" to you.  Ah globalization.

I got there first and after cruising through the non-existent immigration line had about half an hour to kill so I popped open the 3rd Game of Thrones book and opened up a bag of Peanut M&M's.  Two quick sidebars.  One, if you travel regularly like I do, carrying a 900 page book with you at all times is a big help, especially this series.  If nothing else, check out the show on HBO. Two, have you ever stopped to think about how good Peanut M&M's really are?  I mean chocolate, peanuts, in bite size form?  Maybe its being out of the country, but I can see why the US troops practically demanded them back in the '40s. It really is the little things in life.

The immigration line may have been tiny, but the taxi line sure made up for it.  Half an hour later we were in the back of our bright pink taxi (Sarah enjoyed this) with the meter on and heading towards what we hoped was our hotel.  I had printed off the name of the hotel (JW Marriott - I'm a sucker for rewards points) but had forgotten to make sure the name was in Thai as well.  After some gesturing back and forth and both us and the driver repeating the name of the street about 10 times it seemed like we were on the same page and did get there about 30 minutes later.  This was good timing as happy hour in the lounge went until 8:30 (it was 8 PM) and my Gold Status has about a two month shelf life left on it.  So before heading off for dinner we were able to enjoy some cool Singhas on the 16th floor terrace.  Cold beer in 85 degree weather is great, if its free too, well that's like having a cherry on top of your sundae.

Refreshed and rejuvenated it was time for taxi #2 to take us to dinner.  I really don't know what people did before Tripadvisor, but the #27 rated restaurant in Bangkok (out of 1510) was only a few kilometers from our hotel.  Of course with Bangkok traffic that meant 20-30 minutes, but still quite close.  We knew it was supposed to be a bit of a hole in the wall so when we turned down an alley and saw this it wasn't a total shock.  A plate of spring rolls and a large Singha for 150 baht (about $5) and we were sold.  The red curry, vegetables in oyster sauce and pad thai were pretty standard fare, but all well done with great flavor.  All in, food and drinks were less than $15, which may make eating Thai food in Singapore or the US seem a little steep going forward.








Dinner being done we successfully grabbed another taxi and with the hotel business card in hand (in Thai this time) we made it back to the room without a hitch.  Had to turn in early with the next day being a full blown tourist day - Grand Palace, Weekend Market, dinner on the river.