We had about a twenty-five minute wait, and Mick stopped the car right in front and walked over to the other side of the road to talk on his cell. Then he came and said he was running in to use the toilet. You know how antsy security is at Detroit Metro Airport if you sit in front of the building more than a minute or two? I was a bit anxious about what I might do if security came and told me I had to move, since I don't have a Thai driver's license. When a guard stepped up to the front of the car and was inspecting our Ford sticker, I quickly used my Google Translate app to figure out how to say "driver toilet." Luckily, I didn't have to use it (phew). I did enjoy looking at the images of the King across the front of the terminal - so cute as a little boy!
Mick, and then Tim, finally came out and we headed for the hotel. I could tell Mick was not too comfortable driving in Bangkok, although to me the traffic is just as crazy in Pattaya. The greater Bangkok metropolitan area, though, has a population of over eight million people! Mick said once several years ago he was trying to find his way out of Bangkok for three or four hours.
Our hotel, The Pathumwan Princess Hotel, was right in the center of the city, and adjacent to Chulalongkorn University ("the Harvard of Thailand"), where our friend, Steve, is teaching a five-week course. We got a lovely room on the twenty-eighth floor, overlooking the athletic fields and pools.
A nice young man with excellent English brought our bags to our room, and gave us lots of details about what we might want to do in the area. The hotel is attached to the biggest shopping mall, Mahboonkrong, or MBK. We were told this multi-story mall is quite legendary. We decided to check it out tomorrow.
The next day we spent a few hours wandering the MBK, as Steve was teaching until 4:30. We picked up a few items, including a Manchester United jersey our driver has been wanting, and some DVDs that we had to order, then come back in half an hour when they were ready. Also found an inexpensive replacement for Tim's IPhone charger, and a drawstring bag for me, so I could finally dump the the promotional freebie I'd picked up in the states, and had been wearing on my back for the last few months. (I can finally use the word "few" when I talk about the months we've been here).
there's the King again... |
no caption necessary :) |
Will meet Steve at six... time for a quick nap...
I see the Roti has a real "hands on" approach...
ReplyDeleteyou ate raw feesh? eww...I once saw "Survivorman" Les Stroud "cook" fish in lemon juice, I thought I could maybe do that in a pinch, but no thank you raw feesh!