Arrival and first full day in Bangkok

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30 May (Saturday) My last blog was written from Hong Kong on May 31 en route to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok a half hour early...about 3:30 PM, and cleared immigration and customs, and headed for the taxi stand, then remembered that we were supposed to meet Will, who had flown separately via Singapore, at baggage claim. We soon discovered that there are three separate baggage claim areas, A, B, and C. We arrived at C, and the arrival board showed that his flight had arrived a half hour late at 4:37 PM at area B. So we were just in time to meet him at B, where we proceeded. By 5:37 there was no Will. So I left Mom at area B and walked back to area C, and met him on the way there. At least I didn't have to stay there to 2 AM, only to find that he would come the next day...visions of our Shanghai arrival! We caught a cab to my sister Carol's guest home and they had kindly kept supper for us...lasagna, salad and apple pie. After supper we crashed. With all the walking around the Bangkok airport, my foot started to throb again...bummer.

31 May (Sunday). We woke up early...we were freezing from setting the air conditioning on high. I had breakfast at 8 AM, and met the other guests. My foot was still sore, but by the time we left for church (the Evangelical Church on Soi 10 Sukhumvit), I had exercised it to the point where some of the stiffness had been worked off. Will continued to sleep in until we returned from church. The service was great. Mom was recognized together with my Dad as a founder of the church 40 years earlier and presented with a beautiful bouquet. Afterward we ate an international potluck. I ate with David F, Dalat Class of '69 who works for World Vision. He told me all about his work, and a side project where he is collecting the oral history of missionaries who served in Indochina after WWII. We talked for two hours, and hope to get together again when I return from Vietnam on June 11.

We returned to the guest home at 3 PM. Will got up and took a shower, and then we took a taxi to the Paragon Mall. He wanted a picture next to a Ferrari and Lamborghini, which we accomplished. Then I looked for a pillow covering for our papasan chair, the first thing on Linda's shopping list. I was informed that papasan chairs had not been built in Thailand in decades, and that I wouldn't be able to find covers anywhere. These would have to be ordered from a tailor. I will have to tell Linda that I struck out. She had yet to give me the next thing on her list, which is probably something that existed when we lived her from 1973 to 1975, but no longer exists.

We had some Thai food at the Mall, and then at about 6 PM took the Skytrain to Sapan Kwai, near the guest home. We walked a long way in the direction of the guest home to a photo store on Pradiput Rd on uneven sidewalks...more foot pain...and then spent 45 minutes waiting for our passport photos to be developed. We need these for our Vietnam visa once we land there (we used vietnam-visa where we obtained an authorization letter to get a visa once we enter the country at Ton Son Nhut Airport in Saigon (which I will continue to call it rather than Ho Chi Minh City). I hope this works out! By then it was 7:15 PM, and we wanted to have a Thai massage, but my Mom and sister Carol were waiting to go out for dinner. We bought some mangoes and sticky rice, just in case they didn't wait for us, and then took a taxi home. They hadn't waited so we ate our dessert, and talked to other guests who were just finishing their meal. Our massage will have to wait for tomorrow after my 10 AM root canal...perhaps the pain of the massage will mask the pain of my root canal and the pain of my foot! I doubt it...I will end up triplely painful. I do plan to get a prescription for pain and gout relief which I intend to take in Krabi where we will be for five days. Due to the unpleasant side effects I remain near certain facilities if you get my drift. Anyway, this drug should take care of everything in a couple days...although the cure is perceived at the time as being worse than the disease! But I want to be in good condition for my trip to Dalat, Vietnam.

Anyway, it is now almost 9 PM...almost 8 AM Mountain Daylight Savings Time, so I will soon load my pictures and publish this blog and call Linda...not necessarily in that order...have to get her before 8:20 AM when she heads for church.

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Photos

Lambourghini at the Bangkok Paragon Mall
Will is hoping to intern at an Italian racing car manufacturer while he attends John Cabot University in Rome