Bangkok Week 54 July 9, 2009 A five-day weekend means... a park past its prime, crunchy cookies, sore squash and more! View fullsize Next baking attempt: sugar cookies. View fullsize Fast-action hands! View fullsize Pretty successful. View fullsize Pretty excited! View fullsize Taking a super-modern fancy bus to Siam Park City, Thailand's oldest amusement park. View fullsize The bus drop-off point... pretty official-looking! View fullsize The park's main entrance: a massive, tacky and aging castle. View fullsize Did I mention that the park is showing its age? View fullsize Having our photos taken for our new year-long passes. View fullsize Proud of his new ID card. View fullsize Boomerang... look familiar? View fullsize One day, I'll learn... View fullsize A really old, creaking animatronic mouse... the park's mascot!? View fullsize Not all rides were open. In fact, most were closed. Here's why! View fullsize A random collection of rides of varying (old) ages. View fullsize Okay, seriously. No more roller coasters. View fullsize Barf break! View fullsize Well, here's a nice shot of the ride that shot my stomach. View fullsize Smile and pretend to feel well! View fullsize An in-house shuttle coaster from 1981 with Bangkok as a backdrop. View fullsize The devil's coaster (from the air). View fullsize The park's claim-to-fame: its water park. (The largest in SE Asia.) View fullsize Taking in the scenery from the park's observation tower. View fullsize A pool-side lunch. View fullsize Kids play in the (really quite elaborate) lazy river. View fullsize Looking awfully pale! View fullsize A goofball poses for the picture? View fullsize Lounging at the river-side. Did I mention that the park was almost empty? View fullsize A truly strange set of water slides. View fullsize Studying the slide's maestros. View fullsize People either go super-fast... or not at all! View fullsize I got stuck half-way down. View fullsize A group of guys clearly spend their days practicing getting airtime on the bumps. View fullsize A clothed kid sits at the base of the slide, watching others have fun! (He got soaked.) View fullsize The world's largest artificial wave pool! View fullsize Look, they call themselves a beach! View fullsize This photo captures everyone at the park that day. View fullsize Posing on the very realistic-looking stepping stones. View fullsize Enjoying the showers in the kiddie lagoon. View fullsize Modeling with the water fall. (Modeling is clearly my calling.) View fullsize Requisite group shot with scenic backdrop. View fullsize Beach-side lounge chairs (that you have to pay for, just like in Pattaya). View fullsize A giant mushroom houses a beach-side bar. View fullsize Let's go surfing! View fullsize This sign explains the pool's official Guinness certification as World's Largest. View fullsize This little girl wonders why the heck this camera man is invading her personal space. View fullsize Mmm. Thai dessert that's quickly becoming my favorite. View fullsize Pink delight! View fullsize What is going on here? View fullsize Boarding a boat... for an adventurous trip through Animatronic Africa! View fullsize Realistic, drum-beating African people? View fullsize A cheery rubber tiger attacks a rubber zebra. View fullsize Boating through the jungle and taking photos all the way. View fullsize The closest anyone's gotten to crocodiles! View fullsize Aah! Scary animatronics! View fullsize King Kong plays with a red girl! What IS going on? View fullsize A huge Greek complex houses... View fullsize ... a dinosaur museum! View fullsize Taking on my fellow Japanese. View fullsize The park's Main Street... a country-western setting from 30 years ago? View fullsize Back at home... reading the final page of Harry Potter 4! View fullsize Another water park -- this one on top of a mall in Bangkok. (We were just passing by.) View fullsize We (well, I) came to see a no-longer-operating roller coaster... that's now been partially boarded up. View fullsize Disappointment abounds! View fullsize Top floor of the 7-storey mall. Would've provided a nice view! View fullsize Now, like everything else in Thailand, they've turned it into a foodcourt. View fullsize Ooh! DQ! What a treat! View fullsize The swanky squash court at Vee's parents' new house's development.
