Tag Archives: Crepes & Co

On the Road

Keeping it mellow in Bangkok

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You know your life is getting weirder by the minute when you’re actually BORED at the prospect of blogging about Bangkok. Tony and I tried to figure out how many times we’ve been there, but we keep losing count. Still, I love it.

We skipped out of India for last weekend’s Diwali holiday, heading to Thailand for our annual medical check-ups. For a TMI version of a typical day at Bumrungrad Hospital, check out my post from 2009. Our most recent visit was very similar. Same hospital pajamas. Same checklist. Almost the same results. All good.

I had two shopping goals for this trip: a new camera and a bike trainer (a stand that converts a bicycle into a stationary bike). We spent a full day traipsing around to every major camera store in town with no luck. I just couldn’t find what I was looking for. We did, however, track down ProBike, a nice cycling store near Lumphini Park and, more importantly, near the relocated Crepes & Co. (We had sweated our way to the OLD Crepes & Co., only to find a sign saying it moved. Dang it.) Certain the bike shop would deliver my trainer to the hotel, I had envisioned making the purchase and then strolling around the neighborhood before enjoying dinner at Crepes & Co.

Good news: I found the trainer I wanted, and it was on sale!
Bad news: The store wouldn’t deliver it.
Good news: We found a taxi willing to drive around the block to the restaurant, where we had a delicious meal.
Bad news: It would have taken hours to get back to our hotel by taxi, so we had to haul the heavy trainer a few blocks and up a LOT of stairs to the Skytrain.
Good news: Tony did it!

As always in this city of 8 million people, we ran into a few friends – at Chatachuk Market, on the Skytrain AND at the hospital.

Chatachuk Market, one of my favorite places in the WORLD, was amazing, as usual, but it’s always discouraging when the shopkeepers give you the once-over and say, “Come in my shop! I have big size!”

Massages are another highlight of visits to Bangkok. We can get Thai massages in India for about $25, but in Bangkok a good hour-long massage will run you about $8. Such a great way to re-energize after a long hot day of exploring. Lek Massage was a little hole-in-the-wall place right next to our hotel. The ladies were friendly, but not TOO friendly, if you know what I mean. I got what was probably the best foot massage of my life one evening, and we decided to get full-body Thai massages the next day. For Thai massage, you dress in fisherman pants and a loose top, provided by the salon. Tony couldn’t figure out how to secure the huge waistband, so he called out to the massage therapist. He thought she would gesture the answer to his question, but instead she grabbed the top of his pants, whipped them right down to his ankles and THEN gestured that they were on backwards. Good thing he kept on his underpants!

Another funny moment made us feel really old. Vendors selling anything and everything set up along Sukhumvit Road, catering to the mobs of tourists who stay in this district. One night, we passed a stall selling “oral jelly.” We had no idea what it was.
“Isn’t ALL jelly oral?” Tony asked. “You eat jelly with your mouth.”
We speculated a lot about what it could be, and since the vendor selling it was also selling Viagra and sex toys, we figured it wasn’t strawberry jam.
Back at the hotel, we googled it. Turns out “oral jelly” is like Viagra in the form of Listerine strips. It comes in myriad flavors.
“Guess which flavor I want?” Tony asked.
“Chocolate,” I said.
“No.”
“Butterscotch,” I said.
“Yes!”
“Don’t you really just want butterscotch CANDY?” I asked.
“Yes.”

So, our whole weekend basically comprised eating, shopping, getting massages and lounging around. Our new favorite place to lounge: rooftop bars. We met some friends at Red Sky, a bar on the 55th floor of the Centara Grand Hotel (attached to Siam Paragon Mall). Getting there took forever, as we didn’t take the most direct route. We actually went up 23 floors on ESCALATORS before we found the elevator! Ridiculous.

We loved Above Eleven, on the 33rd floor of the Fraser Suites hotel.
Here’s Tony, enjoying the view. Remember, I don’t have a camera. These are phone snaps.
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Bangkok is so quiet and pretty from up high!
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This street-level converted VW Bus bar was also very cool.
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These stickers were in our taxi back to the airport on Sunday.
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As I wrote on FaceBook: Dang it, just when I was all ready for some post-coital durian fruit with a glass of whiskey and a smoke while petting my German shepherd and using a sword to whittle my initials in a big-horn sheep skull… How’s a girl supposed to have any fun in this town?

Just kidding, of course. We ALWAYS have fun in this town!

On the Road

Killing Time in Bangkok

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The busy-ness of a new semester at school and the reluctance of our internet provider to actually provide internet has left me with a backlog of blog posts to post. Let’s see if I can catch up a bit.

Back to Bangkok (cue Scooby Doo sound effects that imply stepping back in time) … The best part of being an obsessive-compulsive over-planner is that the myriad contingencies for which you plan can’t ALL happen, which often results in some free time. As we prepared to look for new teaching jobs at the international recruitment fairs in Bangkok last month, I had planned for three possible outcomes:
(A) attending two fairs and getting hired at the last minute,
(B) networking at the first fair and getting hired at the second fair, and
(C) getting hired at the first fair and not having to attend the second fair. Therefore, I registered for both the ISS and Search Associates fairs, paid in advance (with air miles) for the two hotels and booked flights that kept us in Bangkok for 12 days.

As you may know from my previous post, we were extremely fortunate to finish the recruitment process with scenario C and will move to New Delhi, India, at the end of July to start work at the American Embassy School. That left six days in Bangkok to NOT scour the internet for information about international schools, to NOT wander the back alleys near our hotel looking for a cheap but reliable drycleaner, to NOT stage mock interviews over dinner, and best of all to NOT panic about our future.

As this was our gajillionth visit to Bangkok, we felt no pressure to tromp through the tourist attractions (although we did spend one fun morning at Chatuchak Market, which I love!). Instead, we hopped on the Skytrain and got off here and there, walking, window shopping, people watching, snacking, and smiling.

I loved this sign in the Skytrain stations.

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Our first hotel was right next to the Skytrain stop at the river. To get back to our second hotel – the location of the second job fair, which we didn’t attend – we took the Skytrain to the river, where the hotel’s boat ferried us home. Isn’t there always something magical about being on the water?

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One morning we met up with our friend Tara, who teaches at the International School of Bangkok. You know she’s pretty special when she agrees to meet for breakfast despite having just flown in from the States at 2 a.m. that morning. Her beautiful daughter, Sojo, fell victim to jetlag and stayed home with her daddy. Although we were disappointed not to score time with the whole family, we treasured catching up with Tara.

Tara turned us on to Crepes & Co., a quiet little café with a shady garden and the most scrumptious mango lassi of my life. Tony and I went back there for lunch the next day; that’s how much we loved it.

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Wandering in Bangkok’s massive malls, I realized how much I used to love shopping! Since moving to a developing country in the tropics, I’m a bit out of the habit. Tony and I spent a full day exploring every corner of Central Shopping Center, not purchasing but gawking at the endless extravagance.

The mall sculptures amused us.
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Dizzy with anticipation, we arrived at the cinema in the mall desperate to see a movie, any movie. With no theaters in Vientiane, we often get TV shows and films on DVD, but it’s not the same. We bought VIP tickets to see “The Tourist” with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Our tickets entitled us to an appetizer buffet and blue slushie mocktails, which we carried to our plush love-seat recliner in the viewing room. The cinema butler then covered us with blankets and brought popcorn and sodas. We had to stand for the Thai national anthem, but then we snuggled down into our comfy sofa for what turned out to be a mediocre movie.

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As we were leaving the mall, we spotted this kiosk – Cupcake Love. How could we resist? I scarfed down a red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting, while Tony devoured an Oreo cupcake. The pink color scheme, frilly pillows and cupcake waitresses made our treats even sweeter.

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From Central, we took the elevated walkway to Paragon Mall, where we ran into Whetu, a friend from Vientiane. We’re always amazed at how often we see people we know while strolling around this city of 9 million inhabitants. We later met Whetu for dinner at a Mexican restaurant.

One evening, we took a short ferry ride to the riverside Yok Yor Restaurant. As we often do when faced with overwhelmingly extensive menus, we asked the waiter to pick the best dishes for us. In Thailand, we often stick with the familiar curries, papaya salad and noodle dishes. This time, we were treated to mouth-watering stuffed crab and a variety of spicy side dishes.

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In the weeks before the job fairs, I visualized scenarios A, B and C, as well as the dreaded D – not getting hired at either fair and returning to Vientiane without jobs for 2011-12. It’s true that schools continue to hire well into the spring, but it would have been demoralizing nonetheless. What a relief to come home to Laos employed and rested.