Bangkok Week 37 March 12, 2009 A final few days and a fond farewell. View fullsize Back at the same Chinese seafood restaurant as in Week 35. View fullsize Exploring the flower market in the old part of the city. View fullsize Selling not only flowers, but their petals. View fullsize These bundles of orchids put our little guy to shame. View fullsize The graduate and his high school's bus. View fullsize Outside the school's famous building. View fullsize Cheap drinks at the school cafeteria... where nervous parents were waiting for their kids to complete entrance exams. View fullsize "I can't hear you! Say it a little louder!" View fullsize The long school building in the background. View fullsize Lunch at the food court of a newly-opened Indian mall in Little India. View fullsize Find the Japanese head! View fullsize Stopping at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre's "Campaign for Art" exhibition. View fullsize These canvases were created in protest of the planned cancellation of the art centre. View fullsize Drinks and desserts at a posh French brasserie in Paragon. View fullsize And dinner at one a hot new "essentially Thai" restaurant downtown. View fullsize The amuse-bouche... how amusing! View fullsize We were informed that these appetizers must be eaten from left to right! View fullsize The four diners lucky enough to try out this new restaurant. View fullsize Thai-inspired "tea cakes" and the King's royal tea. View fullsize Buying traditional cloth from Chatuchak... nothing like getting comfortable. View fullsize The strangest soba ever served. View fullsize Twins, asleep during the ride home after a tiring day. View fullsize More drinks and snacks at a local ice cream place. View fullsize Mmm! Warm brownie and Nutella ice cream! View fullsize Hitting the train, to a family member's wedding reception and dinner. View fullsize It's the wedding of an "aunt" who's one generation older, but our age. View fullsize Waiting for the dinner to start. View fullsize The ballroom sat a mere 500 guests. View fullsize The bouquet's trajectory unfortunately had no horizontal component. View fullsize With the cousins. View fullsize The wedding photos that never existed. View fullsize Whole family shot. Bride's in white. View fullsize The next day, lunch at none other than the Oriental. (Well, their restaurant.) View fullsize The extremely dry Thai wine that he ordered for the sake of being able to say he tried it. View fullsize Mmm. A lunch of sandwiches. View fullsize Enjoying the surprise scoop of sorbet that followed the main course. View fullsize That evening, the Men in White (MIW) make a return visit for dinner. View fullsize Dinner with an old friend, Rod, from dad's college days... View fullsize ... and Yai, his wife from Thailand. View fullsize The next day, hunting down Thailand's tallest tower. View fullsize But some missteps led us to one of the new airport link rail stations. View fullsize From the 77th floor of the tower, taking photos. (Sporting a new Thai bag and a new Thai shirt.) View fullsize Colorful Bangkok traffic. View fullsize Her night job. View fullsize And my new day job! View fullsize And his dream job. View fullsize On the rotating roof deck of the 88th floor. View fullsize The expressway and new airport link cut prominently through the cityscape. View fullsize Looking south, you can see several malls, the split in the skytrain lines, an executive sports club green, and the river. View fullsize Ooh. What a breeze. View fullsize Where the new airport link interfaces with the skytrain... and then drops off completely. View fullsize The little LED units that make up the tower-top billboard that can be seen throughout the city. View fullsize Victory Monument, a traffic nightmare and picturesque drive-by. View fullsize Our humble home! View fullsize Enjoying a rest at the bar and lounge on the 87th floor... View fullsize ...where our ticket allows us one free drink. View fullsize Lunch at an Italian-inspired cafe in Isetan, a Japanese department store. View fullsize And the Last Supper, back at their apartment, with take-away Japanese food from the department store. View fullsize Mmm, potato croquettes. View fullsize No Japanese meal is complete without The Bags (TM). View fullsize Mmm, finally, being able to use chopsticks in Thailand! View fullsize What a splurge! 7-layer cake to finish off the meal. View fullsize At 3:45 the next morning, marching into the airport. View fullsize Boo hoo. Where's my NWA sticker? View fullsize Mailing his post cards at the airport post box. View fullsize Who's happier to leave? It's a close call.
