Yesterday Dave and Nikki picked me up for an impromptu boat trip out on the harbour to eat fish and chips and strawberries.
It was lovely evening and for the first time I got up close to the Nelson lighthouse.
Dave's boat went fast as he took us on a quick tour of Haulashore Island before heading for home.
It was a great change of pace and a unique way to dine out in the weekend.
Chris has been holidaying over in Hawaii and he emailed me this photo from one of his adventures. At first I thought it had been Photoshoped because of the way Chris stands out from the monotones of the background.
You have probably heard of the snow falls in England this past week. Amy posted these photos of her street looking all white and snowy.
Compare back to the photos I took of Rosedew Road when I first arrived.
Lots of snow means snowmen all over the place. I was hoping for a white Christmas when I was in the UK- I guess it just arrived a bit late.
Today was the last full day in Bangkok and we had a bit of a sleep in seeing it was a Sunday. We decided it would be fun to catch a taxi to the river and catch a riverboat to Pier 15 and then a tuktuk to the zoo.
At Pier 15 there must be some kind of offering place because the custom is to buy bread, fish or eels to feed to the seething mass of fish. It was interesting and particularly stinky!
The Thewet stop offered a great view of King Rama VIII Bridge which spans the river.
Yes Raewyn this is where we caught a lift in a tuktuk. I agreed to a price of ฿100 which was way too much but there you go! The ride was exhilarating though and I very much enjoyed the novelty!
The zoo itself was a bit of a let down- the place was thronging with people and the noise of Thai blather on microphones everywhere imploring us to do something or other was a bit much. The enclosures were small and we felt there was not a lot of enrichment going on the animals all needed better attention. I got a couple of good photos though of the African animals.
These were the same fish, we think, that were at the pier- top feeding- they troll the surface water looking for food- some were really big.
This one's not real I'm afraid- better to come later in the post but it made a nice photo opportunity all the same.
We quit the zoo early and caught a tuktuk home past the King's Palace. The king is much loved by his people and there are posters and monuments to him all over the place.
The main road to the palace has very ornate gateways scattered all the way down it. Not a bad photo taken with one hand from a hurtling tuktuk.
This photo shows the method of adding new power lines or cabling- you just do and I suppose the tangle of lines just gets more and more knotted as time goes by.
The povery and splendour alongside the river was extraordinary.
Tug boats pulled strings of barges laiden with all sorts up and down the river.
Below is our mode of transport for this leg of the journey.
We saw quite a few riverside temples.
As we got off the ferry we were greeted by a couple of young elephants. I know its a tourist thing to do but I paid the man ฿20 and fed the elephant.
We stopped at a nearby cafe for a spot of Thai cuisine on the way home. The waiter asked if we wanted hot- we said mild. Thank goodness for that- it was fiery. It made my eyes weep and my left eye twitch. You would need a local Singha beer to help with that.
While we were waiting for our bill Ben and I played a couple of games of high stakes Connect Four. The loser had to go to bed when they were told at home and only whine twice about it and pay for tea. I gave it my best shot and Ben cleverly played a blinder by building one of those plays were he wins no matter what I do- very clever Ben- well done. No worries about going to bed- I was exhausted and was in bed by 9:30pm. That doesn't happen very often!
A lovely, leisurely start to the day here in Bangkok. First stop was a taxi ride to Chatuchak Weekend Market. I was looking for the spelling of it on the web and came across the above image that you can print off and give to your taxi driver so he knows where you want to go. I feel quite safe with Chrissy as she can now speak enough Thai to be able to give instructions and converse with the drivers.
The market is huge and divided sensibly into sections so all the antiques are all together and that sort of thing. You could wander for days to see the whole lot so if you see something you like you need to get it cos you will never be able to find it again. I bought a few things and even manged a bit of bartering with Chrissy there to give advice as to the procedure. It was quite fun. Chup kahn ka.
The place is swarming with all sorts of people. OSH would have a field day with uneven paving slabs and no-one to tell us to, 'mind the gap' but you just watched where you were putting your feet and kept your head up.
Things were really cheap but unfortunately the lovely blouses were all made for littler girls than me. Next step was a trip on the sky train to Siam Paragong Shopping Centre.
The Siam Paragong Centre reminded me of the showy Hong Kong shops- very exclusive. This is me at the opening display- notice the heavy homeless person's coat is missing- it's pretty warm.
The Siam Ocean World is a magnificent thing with stunning aquariums which gave a good workout for the new camera.
One of the scene settings pre-sets is to use 'available light' rather than the flash which turned out well in most cases.
I had never even heard of water rats as being a real creature before and I loved them- about the size of a heavy set cat- socialable and busy.
The little video will give you an idea of what water rats are like.
Then the underwater walk through like Kelly Tarlton's- very calming and blue. I could sit and watch for ages.
Allanah K- shark whisperer!!!
School starts at ISB at 7:30am so needless to say Chrissy was at school before me. KhunRin, Chrissy's maeban or maid helps to get Ben ready for school and I had a shower and a leisurely wake up before wandering off to the International School of Bangkok campus. The 10 minute walk to school was lovely in itself. As I walked past this man made lake I saw a couple of large flat type fish. The locals are shivering with cold and covering up but for me the temperature in the high twenties was just perfect.
I had to show my passport to security to be allowed on the huge campus. Kim Cofino another Twitter friend showed me about the media centre and elementary and middle school- the school is so well resourced. Chrissy has twenty in her class with a full time trained teacher's instructional assistant to help with preparation, resources and general classroom duties. How great is that!
After eating lunch in the huge school cafe Chrissy's class went down to the central school fish pond and collected water to look at through an electronic microscope to look for amoeba! No luck the pool wasn't teaming enough!
School finishes at 2.10pm and the hundred or so minivans took the students back to their homes from all over Bangkok. I went home for a nap and then we went out for tea at a tree surrounded restaurant on the banks of Chao Phraya, Bangkok's main river. To get there you get a 10 minute taxi ride and then transfer to a bike side car thing for a startling ride through the back streets to the restaurant itself. We arrived just as the sun was setting across the river. Absolutely stunning- my camera was at the upper end of its digital zoom but I still love the photo.
We had real Thai for tea- hey girls, you would have loved it- a heap of dishes came in quick succession for us to sample. What a way to finish the day- on the water's edge, great company, great food and a stunning sunset. Bonus- it cost about $30 or ฿600 to feed all three of us- that's more like it.
The restaurant had a variety of floating flower arrangements- very beautiful.
After tea we went to the Carrefour night market and Chrissy bought some pemello- sort like a sweet grapefruit- beautiful and full bodied- a meal on its own.
A rich and varied day. Now tomorrow's the weekend- time to see that sight's of the city.
I was really pleased that I decided to go early as the fog had rolled in heavily and as you can see by the departure screen not a lot was happening. They decided to put me on the 11.45 flight to Frankfurt so if at all possible I could get out of town in time to catch the second hop from Frankfurt to Bangkok. We left at about four o'clock in the end.
There was snow on the ground in Frankfurt as we watched to big plane get all sorted. Big disappointment though as there was no individual TV screens on board to help pass the time on the 11 hour flight and it was packed tight with a waiting list of people wanting to get on who had arrived later than I had.
We travelled through the night and when I woke up after my half hour nap it was daylight over India and I got to see the Himalayas in the distance- magic.
Chrissy had organised a taxi to pick me up from the airport and take me to the ISB compound at Samakee Gardens- excellent, as you really feel like a foreigner in a foreign land. The driver was great and wai'ed for me (the prayer like greeting).
The streets were busy with dogs, markets and people which made for an interesting trip noticing how things changed as we entered the suburbs where people really lived.
Here is the view from Chrissy and Ben's apartment- it overlooks the compound playing field and the swimming pool which was empty as it is too cold to swim in- too cold- it is a toasty warm for me- quite warm enough thank you.
We had coffee with fellow Twitterer and teacher from ISB, Jeff Utecht. Jeff and I had had a bit of a play with uStream video streaming from his balcony a few months back. To find out which apartment was his we played a spot of flashing our house lights off and on- really funny way to meet someone! ROFL.
This is what Google looks like in Thai.
