To start with we arrived on Saturday afternoon to a tremendous rain storm. As we were driving from the airport to the hotel the sky over part of the city turned a yellowish color, like a sandstorm or bad pollution and then the rain started. It was torrential and continued for 1 1/2 hours. Fortunately the hotel had an overhang and we got without getting wet.
We are staying in a the business district, which isn't great on the weekend, but this is a W Hotel which just opened in December and it was hopping. There was a wedding going on as we arrived with people everywhere and tons of music, color, light and incredibly designed rooms.
This room has an ipod mini to control lights, sound, a/c, etc. Very au courant!
The pool
Crazy cool light that changes all the time near the elevator
The pool
How could you not love a hotel that changes the door mat three times a day?
This artist used a recycled bicycle to make this fish sculpture.
Charlotte got this neat hair coloring that comes out with water.
We got back to the hotel to find them doing a photo shoot in the bar for Hello magazine (like People but in the UK).
We try to go see a soccer (or football as it is called everywhere else except in the US) whenever we travel. We were fortunate enough to see in the Thai soccer league. We took a taxi to the stadium and couldn't figure out exactly where the venue was because there we few people going in and no nearby parking. As you can see from the pictures, this was a small stadium and the teams weren't the best, but the price was right at $5 a ticket for premium seating. There was a small place to purchase food outside the stadium and there was unidentifiable street food so Eric and Maddy had chicken noodle soup that was quite tasty. That along with some drinks and sweet basil potato chips cost us all of $1. Eric and Charlotte are now the proud owners of Bangkok United shirts and are their newest fans.
This amazing sky was above us during the game.
Until it started to rain. A few drops fell and the people around us all got up and moved under a small roof. They clearly knew what was coming. We quickly followed as the heavens opened up. The picture below does not do justice to how hard the rain was falling. Thunder and lightening would stop a game in the US, but not here.
Our team won!
The hysterical thing that happened was that during half time a guy asked Eric if he could be interviewed for Bangkok United TV. Eric said yes! Listen closely and you can hear Eric and Charlotte's interview. This is total bullshit because we didn't know a single player and had never heard about Bangkok United until the day before the game!
Hee's the video link on youtube (I had problems posting it through blogger).
Headed back to the hotel for pad thai and amazing dessert.
There is a big business in amulets near the Grand Palace. This woman had a lot of people scoping her products. Of course, we bought a couple to experience Thai amulets.
The Grand Palace is huge and it was over 95 degrees so we didn't last long, but here are a series of pictures of the amazing Temples. Note, knees and shoulders need to be covered. The girls had scarves that they tied around their waists, but Eric was wearing shorts and they wouldn't let him in. Nearby are shops which rent pants for 30 baht ($1). Eric was fortunate enough to get elephants so we have been calling him elephant man. He is not happy with the nickname.
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| Wall Mural recently restored. This goes on through many buildings |
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| Every area is beautifully decorated. |
This is the platform to Bangkok's skytrain. Very modern, smooth and silent - with air conditioning. Really nice. Lots of advertising everywhere.
The Thai language is really pretty, but this sentence has no spaces to break the words!
Our final evening included a trip by boat up the river to this lovely boutique hotel, The Siam. It has riverfront dining and is beautiful and the food delicious. It was a wonderful way to end this truly amazing vacation.
