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Hotel Lobby
The holiday decorations in the lobby the night of the New Year's Eve bombing in BangkokAs Time magazine reported about New Year's Eve of 2007, "Year's Eve got off to an unexpected bang in the Thai capital, Bangkok when a series of bombs detonated across town, killing at least three people and injuring dozens, including several foreign tourists".
Our plans were to explore the city of Bangkok as soon as we arrived that New Year's Eve. We had a map in our hands, marking out sites we intended to visit, some of which were where bombs actually exploded. We might have been there at the time. However, just as soon as I set foot in the hotel, and sat at the edge of the bed, an overwhelming desire to take a nap overtook me. I soon fell into a cozy, oblivious sleep, and the next thing I knew, the sun had gone down on New Year's Eve. Checking the clock and knowing time was ticking on the last hours of 2006, I awoke my also-snoozing beloved to get ready for our New Year's Eve Dinner.
Just as he was sitting at the desk waking up with a cup of java, a little "blip" sounded on his mobile phone that a text message had come
Grand Staircase
Standing on the staircase of the hotel lobby in. Picking it up, he laughed as he read that an uncle wished us a "Happy New Year" and kidded us that he was spending the evening living the high life with his buddy, Richard Gere. My husband, at my prompting, joked back in another text message, "Don't tell Richard Gere that I'm in Bangkok celebrating with his wife!" Just as soon as we hit 'send', his uncle sent back a message advising us that a bombing was in progress of Bangkok, and he feared for our safety. "This is not a joke," he said, "turn on CNN." We were sure that this had to be another jest. But sure enough, as we were shocked to learn by turning on the TV, it was the unfortnate, sad reality that New Year's Eve in Bangkok.
We were forced to cancel our plans for our five-star dinner out, and dine in at the hotel. Scheduling ourselves for a "gastronomic" dining experience at a French Restaurant, and donning black tie attire, we were once again oblivous to the debacle that lay ahead.
With the band playing on in a rather somber tone, we settled into the seven-course dinner. The first arrival
An Unforgettable New Year
Together celebrating a New Year's we'll never forget was a black, oddly shapen blob. If anyone remembers the strange blobs that attacked Kirk and Spock on "Star Trek: The Original Series", sticking to their backs, well - these were miniature and blacker versions. Naively, we ate them, our palates shocked with a horrible, foul, absurdly salty and briny taste. As we grabbed our waters and the waiter was bringing the next course, we enquired what the first one was: "sea urchin", he replied.
Next came gamey bits of lamb with a ghastly taste, that did not do anything to minimize the effect of the sea urchin which had come before. A "salad" of one strange piece of greenery sadly did not help matters. Finally, an ice sculpture was proudly set before us, containing two bites of sherbet! At the finale of the meal, both of us queasy, and still hungry - a thick piece of fudge arrived with gold leaf that neither of us could possibly eat. We called the waiter to our table, and to his stunned amazement, ordered some white rice! The waiter returned bearing the rice and a review form for the dinner. Later the next day, the chef phoned us up astonished about
Course No. 5
Two bites of sherbet in an ice sculpture did not settle our stomachs... the comment on our form that read, "the worst meal we've ever eaten". He wanted to speak to my husband in particular, but he was indisposed in the bathroom, with tums, having been ill all night.
All in all, we were lucky. We'd lived out the bombing, and could have suffered a much worse fate than the "gastronomic" dinner that was indeed a gastronomic experience! At the airport as we were leaving, we photographed a banner in homage to the King's 60th year on the throne - this was the reason for the bombing, as a wave of political unrest was just beginning in Bangkok.
(Read Time article at: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1573283,00.html.)
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