So yesterday, in my post titled “Yesterday” I mentioned I was behind in blogging about our adventures and that we’ve had so many over the past few months I’m a little overwhelmed at the thought of catching up.
I’ve decided that the next few posts will be a series of places where I or we have been lately. I’ll start with Thailand.
**************************
In November (see I told you I was behind!), my mom and sister came to visit and we went for a quick 4 day trip to Thailand. We left on a Wednesday night from the budget airline terminal and rode for just a couple of hours in a crammed full plane and landed in Bangkok. We have friends who live about an hour and a half from Bangkok but we decided it would be a really late night to drive there for us and them so we had reservations at a super nice hotel, Novotel, at the airport. We shuttled to the hotel and then our friends’ driver took us around from there. We never once had to catch a taxi. That was nice!!
Thursday morning, our friend, Cindy picked us up, well her driver did, and we went to the Grand Palace. WOWZA!! It was so incredibly hot we thought we were going to bake. We didn’t but we were well done after about an hour there. It was an incredibly beautiful place. It never ceases to amaze me that in a place with such poverty there is such extravagant wealth. I’m not judging, I’m merely saying it amazes me. Look at Mom and Cindy in this first pic. They hold in their hand a fan and a camera – two of the things we were never without!
We headed back to our friend’s house in Pattaya after a stop for a late lunch and to change some money. It was so good to see our friends. We’ve known Cindy since my childhood. It’s funny to think we grew up in small town Texas and we’re visiting each other on the other side of the world.
Friday and Saturday were spent shopping, eating and sightseeing. We went to pet the elephants and to a floating market in Pattaya. Both were really unique. We also went to the Jatujak Market or JJ Outlet in Bangkok. I’ve been told it’s the largest open air market in the world. We were there for several hours and didn’t scratch the surface. I bought some beautiful hand woven silk and some other small things to take home to the kids. We really have to be careful not to buy much when we go places or we’ll end up with a house full of things we won’t be able to ship home. Maybe this is why I take so many pictures!
My first (and certainly not the last) taste of Mango Sticky Rice. Heavenly!!
This is a sweet family at a basket shop where I bought a few small baskets. I showed them pictures of my kids and they loved that. Meeting new people from all over the world is probably what I love the most. A smile is indeed universal.
I didn’t buy any of these! Statues were everywhere and lots and lots of them were elephants.
Sunday, we ate a yummy home cooked breakfast and packed up to head back to Singapore. What a great trip!! Thanks, Cindy and Alonzo, for your incredibly generous hospitality and thanks Mom and Colleen for going with me on this adventure! I loved sharing this new experience with you. I definitely want to go back with my family, although they might have to go see the Grand Palace without me. I think once is enough for that.
