Bangkok Day 1

It is difficult to call this post Bangkok Day 1 since we have been here for 2 days. I find naming the blogs a trying part of the entry. Yesterday we arrived in the morning on a night train, and today would be our first real day in town. The morning started with a send off of Michael. He had to get up really early to grab a cab at 05:30. His flight would take him from Bangkok to Qatar, then to Washington DC. I did get a text from him today mentioning that his hotel was giving him a little run a round, but things would work out. We are just glad that the taxi did not take him to some far off location, or to the cheap fake gems district. Later bro!

Our morning adventure took us to the Jim Thompson house. This is a preserved abode with Thai architecture at its finest. Mr. Thompson was an American architect that cherished the Thai culture and restored the cottage silk industry. He disappeared in Malaysia in 1967 and his place is a museum of fine Thai artwork. I found it quite interesting and the teak construction was something else!

From there, we went to the Bangkok Art and Cultural center for a look at some visual art and exhibits. It's like a Guggenheim museum, but larger and on the other side of the world. The exhibits change frequently, so you might see totally different things in a year.

Right across the street was the MDK mall. With Michael, this was the one mall we did not go into. Boy, he sure missed out! We were unhappy with the high end malls of yesterday and this one was the mall we were looking for. Silk, yes. Electronics, yes. Freaky shirts that you might be embarrassed to wear in the USA, double yes. This place was like the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, but it in a techie sort of way and times 1000. It was all going well until the power went out. We were on the sixth floor out of seven when it happened. Thankfully, the emergency lights came on in a few places. I thought people might start to loot and panic, but most just stopped where they were and looked around. I noticed that there was a vacant fire escape close by and if we decided to get out of there, that would be our exit. Within 5-7 minutes or so, the power came back on and everyone continued their shopping frenzy. What a place! (notice the pic below, only emergency lights are on.)