Bangkok Week 71

November 5, 2009

An artsy weekend, and another year's Loy Krathong festival, during which people set afloat ("loy") their flame-lit krathong on the river.

My Halloween ear gear!

The final remains of the veggie week feast!

Another cacophony awoke us on the weekend. This time, the neighbors' house was being smashed to smithereens.

Heading off to Lim's wedding in style... on the train, of course.

At the very-downtown church.

Inside, each pew was adorned with a colorful bouquet of orchids.

We're not certain, but we think we were sitting on the bride's side of the aisle. Whoops.

At least 20 people from the office attended. Here's a dozen of them.

The classic wedding-in-church shot... the orchids add a Thai touch.

And the walking-down-the-aisle shot.

Another group of office folk, including our CEO.

A classy lunch of Thai-style ramen.

Yum yum! Ma ma! (That's what it's called.)

Woah! Totally forgot we still had chocolates from last Christmas. What a nice surprise.

Another artsy arts fair under the covered soccer pitch in Thong Lo.

Hello up there! It's artsy down here!

Checking out some cute wallets and purses.

People just chillaxin' with the beans.

He claims he's "posing" with the wall of t-shirts.

The theme of this month's fair was "Sea Breeze". Can you tell?

A seller of retro scooters. I doubt he made a sale!

The prince and his castle.

Not sure what kind of artsy display these boxes were from.

Some boys paint canvases. I like Mr Dorky, with his argyle shirt and arm tattoo.

Coconut ice cream... in a coconut!

Chilling with the beans, cooling off with some (coco)nuts.

No prospective sales for this vendor.

Would you like a thick hat for this blustery weather?

No questioning who's the artist behind these paintings.

Can I interest you in a scary postcard?

Applying what they just learned in a mini art lesson.

Would you like some shoes? How about 16 pairs?

Or watches? How about a half-dozen watches?

He won a giant pillow! (It's now sitting on my office chair.)

Hellooooo, kitty!

A colorful building, behind some aging condos.

The first Whole Foods in SE Asia, being heavily advertised...

... turned out to be a real bust. In the basement of a medical center, selling Thai products you could by at any grocery store.

Dramatic lighting on the train home.

A colorful backlog of taxis wait for fares.

Monday night was the annual Loy Krathong festival. We went to a pier on the river.

A table of Krathong, ready to be lit and set afloat on the water.

This woman had made family-sized Krathong!

Kids, hard at work to meet the demand.

Instead of a Krathong, we bought a bag of popcorn.

We missed the parade of traditional boats, so instead got to see hotel shuttles all lit up.

Enjoying some riverside popcorn, as the boats woosh by.

A krathong made of ice cream cones!

Some of the many krathong vendors, from above.

Looking downstream. Lots of festivities (and condos) on the shores.

A very long exposure portrait.

A near-miss, as many boats zip across the river and back.

Some people float their krathong in the canal under the BTS. Some people just float themselves. Ick.

A view upstream, where fireworks would be shot in another 2 hours. Not hanging around for them, thank you.

More 5-star hotels, lit up for the occasion.

Did I mention it was crowded?

In case you wanted a souvenir that you didn't have to toss into the water.

Riding home well after rush hour, but still filled!

A basketful of rose apples.

Or are they nose apples?