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Published: August 8th 2007
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Traffic near Central Plaza Ladprao
Typical Bangkok traffic as seen on Pahonyothin Rd one rainy afternoon. Clever title, I know.
As I mentioned, it's week # 3 of living in Bangkok. First off, I'm fairly familiar by now with the general area in which I live. I've settled in northern Bangkok, between the old airport (Don Muang) and the city center. Several universities dominate this section of the city; Kasetsart being the largest (approx 20,000 undergraduates on this campus?). Scattered between these universities are government offices and small businesses (primarily casual outdoor restaurants and Mom & Pop type retail stores). Houses and apartments extend off the main roads, along the many sois. In this part of the city, there do not appear to be many foreigners. If they are living here, they are likely teaching English at one of the nearby universities. There is one fairly nice hotel (Maruay Hotel) across the street on Pahonyothin Rd and an international restaurant (Bella Luna Cafe) a mile to the north.
My most frequent destination recently has been Central Plaza Ladprao. Central Plaza Ladprao is a good sized mall with a movie theatre, department store, and supermarket. It's also within walking distance of the closest skytrain (Mo Chit) and subway (Pahonyothin or Chatuchak) stations. Since I almost always
First Class Seating - SFX Cinema
Check out the reclining chairs in this cinema at Central Ladprao. 500 baht per ticket (around $15). take the skytrain or subway to venture to other areas of Bangkok, I consider this area to be my travel hub. It's south of my apartment along Pahonyothin Rd and takes generally 20-40 minutes to get there, depending on my mode of travel (bus or taxi) and traffic conditions (usually bad).
For our weekly date night (Friday night), Saai and I went to see Harry Potter. I don't remember what the full name of the movie is, but it's #5 in the series. I'm not a huge fan of Harry Potter by any means, but it's decent entertainment. Thankfully, Harry's usual "Voldemort wants to kill me but I am not going to tell anybody of importance, and handle it myself" routine finally gets thrown out, and for that reason alone, I found it better than some of its predecessors. We saw the movie at Central Ladprao's SFX Cinema in one of their First Class theatres. This was my first experience in this type of theatre. It's obviously expensive (500 baht per person; approx $15), even by American standards. However, snacks before the performance are provided in the Sky Lounge, and they bring drinks and popcorn in the theatre during
Me
Not as many pictures of me on this blog since I'm usually the one taking the pictures. Who took this picture? Ummm, me. the previews. The best thing though are the seats. These are fully reclining chairs that are really comfortable. I took a picture while exiting the theatre so you can get a general idea of the setup.
On Sunday, Saai had a rehearsal for her graduation ceremony. Yes, she graduated in March but her graduation ceremony isn't until July 26 (Thursday). Why? No idea. Most of the graduates likely have started their careers and may have to use vacation days to attend the 2 rehearsals and ceremony. Many don't even live in Bangkok any more. Anyway, it's fun for Saai to reunite with her university friends during the rehearsals, and she has family coming to attend the ceremony.
While Saai was at rehearsal, I headed to Sukhumvit Rd (expat central) to attend a church service at ECB (Evangelical Church of Bangkok). This church is located quite a ways down Soi 10 off Sukhumvit Rd. A transportation combo of taxi, sky train and walking got me there in about 1 hour. I knew absolutely nobody there, but that was ok. It was great to praise the Lord with people from all over this Earth. I would not have been surprised
Chicken with Rice
Khao mon kai at my favorite local street vendor just across the street. to hear there were over 40 countries represented in the congregation. Were there? I don't know. The sermon covered a difficult subject (why do horrible things happen to innocent people?), but it was well supported by Scripture.
After the service, I went outside the church where most of the congregation was, well, congregating (umm, I didn't really plan to use those words). Most seemed to be talking with friends or family. Thankfully, another guy approached me and introduced himself. His name is Jim, and he's a single guy about my age from England. One thing lead to another, and before I knew it, I found myself hanging out with he and his friends (James and his wife, and their 15 month daughter) for the next 4 hours. I was the only American in the bunch. Jim and James are British (love their sense of humor by the way), and James' wife (spaced her name) is French. Good conversation while eating Lebanese food, and later, drinks at Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks is here too.
On Monday, I joined Ronnie and Tot (American & Thai pastors at Saai's church) for another English teaching lesson after meeting Saai for dinner. We didn't
Time to Eat
Saai sitting in front of a plate of chicken & rice (great hot sauce!) and a bowl of chicken soup (25 baht total - about 75 cents) end up teaching on that night since there were conflicts with the Kasetsart students' other activities. Still, it was good to spend time with Ronnie & Tot, and a few other people that made brief appearances either at Ronnie's home or the school during the evening.
This Friday Saai and I are going to a really nice restaurant for our date night. Slightly scared though since we will be leaving the g baht territory (1,000 baht) and approaching mass baht (mega baht). Since we won't have a date night next week (too many graduation events with family & friends), we are making this one a more upscale evening. Seriously, this should be great.
On a side note, it's absolutely pouring right now. It's the rainy season in Thailand (rainy & hot!), and Bangkok is getting another late afternoon/early evening storm. It seems to be a nightly occurrence at this time of year.
That's all for now!
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