Bangkok Week 579 August 1, 2019 At long last! The subway extension from Hua Lamphong to the other side of the river is open. And I must say, it’s beautiful! View fullsize Our bird of paradise has its second flower ever! View fullsize Leaving the hospital in style: on the back of a pickup truck. View fullsize Free kids (all taken already) at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. View fullsize Spotted at Donki: I'm not sure I'd call grapes for 1299 (CAD 56) a low price... View fullsize And at THB 156, this is the most expensive white bread in Bangkok! View fullsize We did find this gem, though. Yum! View fullsize Queuing up to get myself a seat on the train! View fullsize Stopping in the Wattana Pocket Park for the first time! View fullsize We even did a complete loop around the park. View fullsize Really posh townhouses in Thonlor 8; they reminded us of the apartment in Mexico City! View fullsize Our trusty Mr. Fixit, applying a layer of oil to the wooden parts of the gate. View fullsize Our bird is opening up! View fullsize Our big project for the Holiday Monday was riding the new subway extension - along with a sizable chunk of Bangkok. View fullsize First stop: Wat Mongkon, in Chinatown. View fullsize The decor of the entire station supports the Chinatown theme. View fullsize On the concourse level, it was clear we weren't the only ones out to see the new stations. View fullsize Lots of people taking photos with the wall art. View fullsize There are ornate details -- like this dragon on the ceiling -- throughout the station. View fullsize An overhead sculpture representing the underbelly of a dragon, above one of the exit stairwells. View fullsize The dragon's pretty big! View fullsize As impressive as the interior decor is the exterior of the station! It blends right in with its surroundings. View fullsize Spot the subway entrance! View fullsize Well, maybe the buildings' cleanliness give them away a bit! View fullsize Heading back in, to move onto the next station. View fullsize This is Sam Yod, which translates to "Three Peaks". View fullsize It is a very spacious station. View fullsize So spacious, in fact, that it feels like they got the units wrong when they designed it. View fullsize The station interior showcases historic scenes from this area of Bangkok. View fullsize And also compares the old architecture to what they have rebuilt. View fullsize Outside, it's another quite beautifully-done station building. View fullsize It blends in well with the neighborhood. View fullsize A little more discretely than in Chinatown, perhaps. View fullsize Although again, the cleanliness of the buildings is a giveaway! View fullsize Posing in front of the main entrance, before we head back down. View fullsize Just another pair of tourists! View fullsize Third new station -- Sanam Chai -- is just south of Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. View fullsize This station's interior is the most ornate: it resembles a Rattanakosin-era state room. View fullsize It definitely reflects the nearby Royal Heritage. View fullsize We could be in a museum. View fullsize Even the side paneling pays homage to the traditional architecture. View fullsize And the station surfaces right in front of Museum Siam! View fullsize While above-ground, we stop for an ice cream (from an opportunistic salesman). In the background is Wat Pho! View fullsize While above-ground, we also spotted a Thai Bus Food Tour. Although I'm not sure dining and stop-and-go Bangkok traffic are well-suited. View fullsize Fourth and final station underground is Itsaraphap -- which is fairly timid compared to the previous 3. View fullsize This is the first underground station on the Thonburi side of the river. View fullsize It features several brightly-lit golden swans, as a tribute to nearby Wat Hongrattanaram (which has ‘swan’ in its name). View fullsize Finally, we arrive at the last new station -- above-ground. You can see the blue-line loop coming perpendicular down to meet it, too.. View fullsize Tha Pra station... View fullsize ... was the least-finished of the 5 new stations. View fullsize This gives you a sense for how many people came out to see the stations! View fullsize And back we go; finally able to get a seat! View fullsize And for dinner, we're trying our rice cooker's "crispy rice" mode. View fullsize Yes! It works! This alone made the fancy new rice cooker worth the price! View fullsize A Japanese-inspired dinner.
