Bangkok Week 36 March 3, 2009 All Together Now! Onto Trad and Koh Chang for a weekend of fun. View fullsize Mum shows off the thickness of her Japanese-style bread. View fullsize Traveling lightly (of course), we take the skytrain to the car rental place. View fullsize After a little snafu, we're cruzin' east in our Toyota Fortuner. View fullsize Traffic slowed as we passed a strip of awfully orange road... View fullsize ...unfortunately orange, really. View fullsize Checking our progress during a lunch break at the half-way point. View fullsize The tables could have each sat a family of 10. View fullsize As we left the restaurant, we drove past the most cheerful street in Thailand! View fullsize A giant UFO's landing on the highway marks our arrival in Trad province. View fullsize Sitting inside... View fullsize ...enjoying refreshing coconut drinks. View fullsize Marouy couldn't help but come join The Action, too. View fullsize And then he followed The Action wherever she went. View fullsize Mangoes in a tree? How could that be?! View fullsize Exchanging gifts. First some Thai cloth... View fullsize ...and then a digi-frame. View fullsize He he he. A picture in a picture. View fullsize Checking into the hotel on mainland Trad for one night. View fullsize Its bungalows are situated in a mangrove swamp. View fullsize The back-breaking bed! View fullsize The bungalow's back porch. Don't fall off! View fullsize These hi-tech bungalows have AC... and plenty of mosquitoes. View fullsize Mangrove trees have funky roots! View fullsize The hotel's "lagoon" area. View fullsize Next stop: the province's "spirit house". View fullsize Chinese influence? What Chinese influence. View fullsize Dinner number 1 at the hotel's restaurant-on-the-sea. View fullsize The next morning, Marouy enjoys his elevated napping location. View fullsize Too cute to kick off. View fullsize Performing his morning neck-stretching exercises. View fullsize Everyone piled in and driving to the ferry pier. View fullsize Boys in the trunk! View fullsize Group shot on the ferry, waiting to depart. View fullsize "WAIT FOR US!" View fullsize Looking through photos from the previous night. View fullsize Enjoying the view from the upper decks. View fullsize The cargo-loaded ferry approaches the island. View fullsize He's one eager puppy -- can't wait to hit land. View fullsize Holding on for dear life, and hoping the trunk doesn't open. View fullsize "And this is where we are not." View fullsize One person is less interested in browsing than the other two. View fullsize Quick! Spot the troublemakers! View fullsize What? This is a digital camera? View fullsize Group shot at the end of the fisherman's village pier. View fullsize Making a purchase! 1/2 a kg of chilies, please. View fullsize Lunch at a seafood restaurant on the pier. View fullsize Good view, good food, good times. View fullsize Plenty of seafood to go 'round. View fullsize Trad's version of the Sidney Opera House. View fullsize Marouy spends his lunch hour taking in the sights. View fullsize A view from the scenic overlook. View fullsize And another group shot. *Almost* everyone's looking. View fullsize Marouy, preparing to launch his rocket box. View fullsize Finally, at the beach resort. (Look familiar?) View fullsize The three bungalows we rented -- at 50% off! View fullsize Good thing his bro has connectionz! View fullsize Washin' off da feet after frolicking in the sand. View fullsize The two farang get ready for a dip. View fullsize And the two locals... are slightly less eager. View fullsize Aah! Soakin' up the rays! View fullsize Time for a dip! View fullsize "Ha ha! You laughin' at my hat?" View fullsize Marouy couldn't help himself -- he just had to join the fun. View fullsize A lab at heart! View fullsize "Oh dad, help me please! I have water in my ears!" View fullsize Too shallow to tread water. View fullsize But not too shallow for dead bodies to float away. View fullsize Pooped from his encounter with the sea, and out for the evening. View fullsize Sunset already. View fullsize The lack of sun doesn't stop swimmers from enjoying the beach. View fullsize The waves picked up as the sun went down. View fullsize The sun went down, and the sea lit up. View fullsize Dinner number 2... and it started to pour outside! View fullsize More seafood, more delight. View fullsize I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched the whole meal. View fullsize The next morning, reconsidering his encounter of the previous afternoon. View fullsize Sand is still delicious, I guess. View fullsize Going nowhere fast? I wonder why. View fullsize Breakfast -- western or Thai, your pick. View fullsize Coffee and juice for all! View fullsize Getting ready to depart the resort and its white sand. View fullsize But not before Marouy tries to get some last-minute customers. View fullsize Everyone waits in suspense for the ferry to arrive. View fullsize Back on the mainland, stopping for lunch on the waterfront. View fullsize And taking a final photo at the Eastern Apex -- whatever that really means. View fullsize Back in Bangkok, dinner at an Indian restaurant. A puzzling mango lassi? View fullsize Mmm. I'd forgotten how filling Indian food really is! View fullsize The next morning, riding a commuter boat up the Chao Phraya river. View fullsize One of Bangkok's many old buildings that back onto the river. View fullsize Enjoying the breeze. View fullsize Whatever it is, it's in good condition. View fullsize Pigeons spend their days watching boats zoom past. View fullsize At the northern terminal station, longtail taxis await fares. View fullsize We're told this poster was advertising a band. Riiiiiight. View fullsize No trip is complete without a Dairy Queen Blizzard! View fullsize School kids spend their lunch break on the river's edge. View fullsize Heading back to Bangok, we pass a barge that's free of all load. View fullsize Near the famous Oriental Hotel, Bangkok looks awfully European! View fullsize And kind of creepy! View fullsize Pizza. It's everywhere! View fullsize An old, abandoned building. One of many of such scale in Bangkok. View fullsize Chillaxin' after a hard day at work, back at the sky-high apartment. View fullsize Trying snacks brought back from Trad. View fullsize Dinner at... View fullsize ...Suankularb! A restaurant started by a former chef at the high school! View fullsize Mmm, fried seafood. A Thai trademark. View fullsize I never thought I'd actually visit the snake farm. View fullsize Don't worry, I won't actually post any snakey photos. But this person was awfully eager to spot 'em. View fullsize Anybody home? View fullsize A live demonstration on how to milk venomous snakes. View fullsize Stranded in the middle of the street as cars whoosh by. View fullsize Finally, addressing Priority #1 on the tourists' list: finding the big lizards in Lumphini Park! View fullsize This one was not into being photographed. View fullsize But mum was excited to have finally seen one! View fullsize But one's never enough -- looking for more lizards in the water. View fullsize A teeny baby suns himself on the pond's edge. View fullsize This was too creepy for words. View fullsize But not too creepy for mum! View fullsize They're called Water Monitors, and they can be up to 3m in length. View fullsize Dad and His Bank (TM). View fullsize Lunch at another Japanese restaurant -- this one comes with 3 salads. View fullsize And dinner at Greyhound... perhaps related to the bus company. View fullsize Mmm, Italian! It's been ages. View fullsize Even the chairs are reminiscent of bus seats.
