Sarah and Chuck visited Fernandina Beach in November, 2021, and
it was so good to see them, that I set about planning for a trip to visit them in
Bangkok, in hope of catching up a bit for all the time lost to Covid. (I'm presuming you all know that Sarah is my daughter and Chuck is her partner.) The entire journey was conceived in a fog of doubt that it might ever be possible,
So while this photo might be the least 'interesting', it is perhaps the most
important one of the trip! Although no government required it for my travel, it
seemed prudent to check my status the day before I left. While it was a relief to get this result, it did not ease my trepidations.
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I did not feel like an 'experienced traveler' sitting at the airport in Jacksonville. The additional three homebound years of age and the masks on my face and in my baggage informed me that things have changed. However, it felt wonderful to settle into my seat and appreciate the magic of the Bernoulli effect once again.
At the huge Narita Airport in Tokyo, the shuttered stores reminded me that some places in the rest of the world continue to stay in active Covid reducing mode. The duty-free stores and currency exchange were open in the central part of the airport, but other concourses were shuttered and empty. Thus this re-emerging 'experienced traveler' had a long walk knowing she needed Thai baht to pay the cab and wanted to save time in Bangkok. More people arrived closer to departure, and flights were full, but clearly schedules are reduced.
After sitting in small airborne spaces for close to 21 hours, along with 8-9 hours sitting around at airports, I was pretty happy to see that Bangkok was just a hop skip and a jump away! I arrived close to midnight and got my cab, (Again that 'experienced traveler' self had the address written in Thai.) Imagine my surprise then, when I arrived at Sarah and Chuck's condo and found that the cab driver had no change for a note worth about $30. Nor did he take credit cards! Sarah was there to meet me, but she too was without change. Happily Chuck was able to come down and save the day. Otherwise we would have had to go to a 7-11 store (open 24 hours here and always nearby) for change. If this had been my first visit to Thailand, it would have freaked me out!
It's out of focus and I have that 'old person selfie' look, but it was a delight to see Sarah and Chuck again in their own space. The photo is a good representation of my state - I was tired and a little shaky! It took no persuasion for me to head to bed after a brief 'catch up'.
Wednesday had us headed out to an upscale mall nearby, the EmQuartier. This mall is one of several high end malls owned by the M Thai Group. Two of them are very close to where I'm staying and directly next door to each other, with a third under construction, also nearby. The restaurant was called 'You and I' and styled itself as a Suki Buffet. Suki is a Thai variant of the Chinese hot pot developed in 1957. We were provided with a pot containing two broths, which were kept hot with an electric hot plate on the table.
I chose Tom Yum and Shabu
A range of different vegetables, fish and meats were available buffet style which we then added to the pot and cooked. I relished in the lovely mushrooms and lots of Thai basil.
A wonderful selection of finely sliced meats were also available and were sometimes delivered by this little robot. We went through numerous servings of wagyu beef, along with many other choices.
We retrieved the cooked food with a slotted spoon and ate it, while the next batch was cooking. It was one occasion where this Fernandina resident felt ethically OK about eating shrimp from Thailand! After all, it IS the local shrimp here. (It wasn't as good as our shrimp, though!)
While the restaurant was a blend of modern decor with traditional Asian food, the next nearby stop was nothing but modern. Called Bitkub M Social, they were offering a presentation about the Blockchain Technology in one room, while this machine and others like it were mining for Bitcoin in the other. Sarah discovered that the M group had teamed up with this company in hope of making Thailand a leading hub for these new financial assets.
Across the way was a display of NFT (Non-Fungible Token) Art for sale. I encourage you to Google that if you want to know what it is - I'm not going to take the time to explain it. Suffice it to say it's probably a bit like trading baseball cards! All very new concepts in the financial world!
Sarah and Chuck live on the 31st floor of a very modern building. The city view is lovely and their garden adds a wonderful earthy element to this high-rise living. However it does get windy and within ten minutes of my taking this photo, the tree you see here was blown over. It is no longer in the middle of the window, as it is now secured to the side! I thought it did a very nice job of framing the tall buildings opposite, so I'm sad to see it go! The three buildings in the middle of the photo are the Millenium Residence. (There are four buildings, but we can only see three from here.)The funky looking things on top are helicopter landing pads. Sarah says they've never seen a helicopter land there.
The view to the north-west of the building overlooks several greenspaces - the one furthest away is Lumpini Park, which is often mentioned on tourism lists for their Kimodo Dragons. While it got windy, and the sky was very dramatic, we did not get rain.
To the north is one of the main streets in Bangkok, called Sukhumvit. The above-ground transit, called BTS (Bangkok Transit System) runs along this street. As you see there are many glistening new buildings nestled around their nearest station, Phrom Phong, including two of the malls I mentioned. The building wrapped in red in the center of the photo is the third mall being built by the M Goup. I really appreciated the drama in the sky unfolding above and was pleased to use a new ultra-wide angle lens to capture it for you.
Many of these buildings were not here 11 years ago when I first visited Bangkok - it is becoming a city transformed. The nightscape was energetic and lovely.
It is also fun to to see into beautifully lit spaces. This is a swimming deck for a building nearby. I love the tree. Indoor vegetation is abundant here - and isn't it beautiful! Along with the swim I had earlier in a similar pool, this view offered a soothing end to a very pleasing first day here. I really am happy to know that this old bod CAN still do this and look forward to seeing how my time unfolds here.
