The first night we arrived in Bangkok, we were being driven from the airport back to our airbnb place. The driver, who couldn't speak much English, suddenly groans and says "Oh no, chickens..." I could see there was accident of some kind ahead, and immediately I thought we were going to see feathers flying and blood gushing. As it turns out, they were chickens, but ones that were already dead and on their way to a grocery store. So, it was still gruesome, but not quite as bad as I was expecting.
There are lots of Buddhists in Thailand, and they like to have prayer flowers in their cars, homes etc. That's what this guy is making at a local market.
One of the random, funny things we saw in Bangkok was a Swensen's ice cream parlor! And not just one, there were dozens of them all over the place! There was a Swensen's in Fort Collins that we used to go to for special occasions sometimes, but I haven't be to or seen one of these in years. Too funny.
We also went to a very famous neighborhood known as a backpacking mecca called Khao San Road. Excellent people watching!
Drew was feeling peckish, surprise surprise, so he went to a food stand to pick a few things. Everyone back home is always surprised at the street food stalls that Drew and I eat at and manage to not get sick, and this was one of those places.
We went to the Jim Thomson house. Jim Thomson was an American who came to Thailand and rejuvenated the famous Thai silk industry. There is still a brand in his name selling high quality silks. He was a bachelor, and this was his bachelor pad, three traditional Thai homes joined together. He was also a collector of art that was broken or flawed in some way. For example, one statue was of Buddha but his torso was missing. The art was still beautiful, but Thai people don't believe in having broken art inside the home, as it symbolizes a broken family. So, they would just give this stuff to him and he would cherish it. Somehow, he went on vacation in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia, and he went missing and was never found again. Dun Dun Dun.... So now you can take guided tours through him home and property. It's really beautiful. Makes you picture what all of Bangkok was like a few decades ago.
That evening, we went to a nice dinner to celebrate our last night in Bangkok. We found a craft beer bar on our walk home, and even a Whiskey and Cigar bar called Whisgars! Ahaha so clever.
This was a group of friends or family all dressed alike while riding these crazy fold up bikes. Such good people watching. Another funny experience we had was going to a movie theatre to watch the 3rd Hobbit. It was just a normal theatre, but they literally played commercials and trailers for 45 minutes before the movie starting. We were starting to think it was a joke. Finally, they started playing another short film and everyone in the theatre stood up. We realized that the film was about the King of Thailand and all of the great things he had done for them. The king isn't actually in power anymore, but everyone still loves him. After that 5 minute video, then the movie finally started. I guess it would be similar in the US if we played the Star Spangled Banner in theatres before a showing.
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