First day in Thailand

After 22 hours of travel, we arrived in Bangkok. The first 13 hours to Tokyo wasn’t all that bad, but it was getting off of the plane in Tokyo and knowing we still had another 7 hour plane ride ahead of us that was difficult. Jack actually handled it quite well. In hindsight, I think he handled better than both Chad and Amy, especially Chad. Our friend Joel picked us up from the airport and we took a Taxi back to his place. Things in Bangkok are relatively cheap. The cab ride which easily would have been $50-70 in the US only cost about $13. Our friends Joel and Som have two children, Cyrus and Cyan. There place is a very nice two bedroom apartment located just outside central Bangkok.

We didn’t get much sleep our first night. Jack just wouldn’t cooperate, so we got up early and headed out with our friends into the city. Our first stop was this huge swanky mall. You name a famous designer and they have a store in this mall. We just looked around. These aren’t stores you drag three kids into. In the basement of the mall is one of the largest aquariums in Asia. We spent the first half of the day wandering around the aquarium. We had noticed earlier in the day that everywhere we walked people just stared at us. In the aquarium, we found out that it wasn’t on account of my good lucks, but rather Jack’s good looks. The men, women and children go nuts over small white babies with light skin and bright blue eyes. We even had girls asking to take pictures with Jack. It is just too funny. This would be a theme the entire day everywhere we went people wanted to hold, play with, and be photographed with Jack. We find it fun right now, but I wonder if after two weeks we’ll be sick of it.






After spending time at the aquarium we engaged in what I imagine will be my favorite part of Thailand, eating. We went to this enormous food court in the mall. This isn’t the type of food court you see in the states in a mall. This is upscale and has tons of booths sporting all types of Thai cuisine. Most wonderful of all is the variety along with the price. Food in Thailand is dirt cheap. Most full dishes range from $1 to $3 and this is in a nice mall. On the street, the food is even cheaper. We had a wonderful green papaya salad, a chicken curry dish, another chicken dish, drinks and desert for about $5. It was so tasty.



We then marched a few blocks, stopping once along the way in a store so we could let the kids cool down (it is so hot and humid), to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was an American who revived the silk industry in Thailand during the mid 20th century. His home has been preserved as an example of traditional Thai architecture. The home is beautiful and the gardens surrounding it are stunning. Once again all of the Thai women went nuts for Jack. On the way out of the complex we stopped an bought a nice charcoal rubbing to frame and hang on our wall when we get home.

Worn out we headed back to the mall to experience a Thai movie theater (we were exhausted at this point). Thai movie theaters are plush. Joel explained that the Thai people greatly admire the west and take everything that is western and then put it on steroids. The lounge felt more likely a great modern opera house than a movie theater. In Thai theaters you actually purchase tickets for specific seats in the theater. For extra money you can even purchase luxury leather seats that recline. We saw “Meet the Robinsons”. The kids loved it, I struggled to stay awake. By the time the movie was out, I was completely shot. I was running on about 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours.


We quickly ate at the mall again and headed home. Jack held up very well. We were very grateful. Our first day in Thailand was wonderful. Fortunately, Jack slept the entire night last night and allowed Amy and Chad some much needed sleep. We are now about to head out into the city to the large open air market. It should be another adventurous (and hot) day.