One night in Bangkok...well actually it was a weekend

Is the title of this post too obvious?   Oh well.

We finally made it to Bangkok.   The city has been on our "must-see" list since we arrived 11 months ago.   We only had a quick weekend but we will be back!  

We started off with some delicious Thai food at a restaurant near our hotel.   You will sense a theme in this post - my son is developing his father's photogenic gifts.

After lunch we made our way to the river for a cruise/river bus to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho.   Here are some shots from the river.

Here is a riverview pic of the Grand Palace.

Because of our compressed schedule,  we arrived at Grand Palace with only minutes to spare before the doors closed.   Unfortunately somebody thought the rules didn't apply to him and didn't have proper coverage for his knees.   Fortunately there were some locals nearby to provide a pair of understated pants to match the gravitas of the Grand Palace:

The Grand Place did not disappoint.   It is a massive complex that is the royal and spirtual home of Thailand.    The primary tourist area is the Wat Phra Kaeo,  which is an amazing Buddhist temple.  

The largest building in the temple houses the Emerald Buddha,  which the guidebooks say is the holiest image in Thailand.   It is so holy that we weren't able to get any good pictures of the Buddha or the room housing it.   Paul Eli obviously was upset by this.

This impressive building is called the Chakri Maha Prasat, now used for hosting state functions.   It actually is a combination of western and Thai architecture. 

Next stop on Bangkok's Greatest Hits - the Wat Pho and the reclining Buddha.  Somebody appears to be choking my son.

The reclining Buddha is a 100+ foot long plaster statue depicting Buddha entering Nirvana.  Things are looking up for him so he is understandably chill.

This is a picture of reclining Buddha in panorama view.

Unfortunately, we were kind of late and didn't give the Wat Pho the respect it deserved.   This wat is less formal and acts more like a university,  teaching traditional medicine and massage.   It would have been nice for Chandra to have a half-day of massage at the Institute.

Instead,  she had to settle for Miss Puke back near our hotel.

After all of that culture,  we (Chandra) needed to get our (her) shopping on.   We went to the Chatuchak Weekend Market,  which is an amazing sprawl of an outdoor market.    This market and the night Market in Chiang Mai are two of our most memorable shopping experiences.

Great shopping options,  great food options.

We finally stopped for food at a Muslim Thai food stall.   Cheap and delicious.

 Our final stop in Bangkok was the Asiatique "night market".  It was more of a tourist/western mall-type thing,  but still a pretty boat ride on the river and some nice food for dinner.   We decided to go for the London Eye type ferris wheel attraction.   

Difficult to capture the views with the camera but wanted to capture my beautiful family.

Signing off for now.  One last piece of advice:  DO NOT TRUST WILY STRANGERS

Sonda's Come to Town

 

We were excited to welcome Daddy Paul and Di-Di (also known as L. Paul Sonda III and the Lovely Diane) to Hong Kong at the end of September for three weeks.  The kids stayed up past their bedtime to be airport greeters....

And they were rewarded with an on time arrival of their incredibly un-rumpled, fresh-looking-after-24-hours-of-traveling grandparents.

 

 

 

 

After a night of sleep, we got their visit off to a good start with the breakfast of champions at one of our favorite breakfast places (big, buttery egg sandwiches, stuffed French toast and waffles) and then out for some mild sight-seeing along the harbor front.  We took the Star Ferry across the harbor and then walked down the "Avenue of the Stars" where the kids liked this golden pig.  The pig was popular, but so was Esme.  Not shown are pictures taken of Esme by Chinese tourists.

A couple days later we explored one of the outlying islands called Cheung Chau, known for its bun tower climbing festival, wind surfing, pirate cave and seafood restaurants.  There are no cars on the island, just bikes so it's supposed to be quiet and relaxing, but since it was a public holiday, it was a wee bit crowded.  It was a hot day so we abandoned our plan to walk to the pirate cave and instead found a playground and several good eats.  First stop reminded us of the Minnesota State Fair with spiral cut fried potatoes on a stick.  

 

 

There is plenty of dried seafood to be had, but we did not have any for a snack.  We chose Hello Kitty waffles instead (why didn't I take a picture?).

 

 



A brief stop at a Tin Hau temple for the kids to find their inner peace and Paul to check out the latest news on Slate.



We sat sea-side for lunch.  The foggy pic looks like the beginning of a dream sequence.

 

The next tourist stop on the trip was more for me.  I've been wanting to check out the view from the top of the ICC building, which is the 5th tallest in the world, so I got everyone to clean up and head out for a drink at the Ritz-Carleton.  It's a pricey drink to be sure, but cheaper (and higher up) than paying for a trip to the official viewing deck. 

 

Next up was Hong Kong Disneyland, which was all decked out for Halloween.  Here's a pumpkin Mickey for you....

And a creepy Toy Story spider doll.  There was also a limited time only haunted academy to walk through, that we assumed incorrectly would be Disney scary, not actually scary.  Sorry PE.

 

The kids had a fun day wearing out the adults, we were too pooped for fireworks.

 

Other HK sightseeing took place (you'll have to ask Diane to see her photos though) and some light gambling in Macau, and then Paul, Paul and Diane went to the Philippines for the week to see family, golf and do some shopping.  The kids and I joined them at the end of the week for a long weekend at a resort about three hours north of Manila called Anvaya Cove.  It's a really beautiful place with a big beach and nice pools.  The first and third days were great, but the one in the middle was taken over by a passing typhoon that brought heavy rain and rough seas. 

 

 

Cousin Kai, the daughter of Paul's first cousin Sunshine, came along with Tita Leni to spend the weekend with us.  The kids loved her, and they loved feeding the koi in the pond.



Paul, Leni and Paul enjoyed golfing on the brand new course (the day they went was the quiet opening of the course) together and they say the course had the best views of any other they have played.

When you look up, all you see is a bad shot....  :)

I know where my ball would end up on this shot.

Our last afternoon there, we went over to the resort's zipline and kiddie zipline for some fun.  Here are the kids patiently waiting for their turn.

 Brave Diane went first and the rest of us followed.

 

dork with a crooked helmet

We then returned to Hong Kong (but not until after PE threw up a couple times on the drive back to Manila, wouldn't be a complete trip without some escapade) where we had a couple more days together for some last sightseeing, shopping and an early celebration of Esme's third birthday.

 

Tita Lizzie, Tito Gary, and their two boys Manuel and Joaquin joined us for a family dinner and Hello Kitty birthday cake.

Mom, you'll be happy to know that Paul's Shut the Front Door shirt has been all over the world now.

The Sonda's took off the next day and made it home in one piece.  Come back anytime, Paul and Diane!  And the folks at the Elements Mall Starbucks send their regards. :)