Bangkok

I LOVE Bangkok.  Maybe one day I'll live there!  It is a bit like my favorite city - Hong Kong - but much cheaper.

We had breakfast on the beach for Linda's birthday and an amazing fish dinner that evening in Bangkok.  She picked out the fish she wanted and they cooked it for us.  Seriously, this was the best fish I've ever had. 

On our last day we spent a few hours shopping at the Paragon and MBK.  You must visit these places if you go to Bangkok.  The Paragon is basically a fancy mall with lots of international shops.  We went there to visit H&M and UNIQLO.  Then we walked to MBK.  This is where you want to go for gifts.  It's huge and has everything - DVDs, iPad/phone/pod covers, electronics, candles, clothes, bags, candy, home decor, journals, spices, etc.  We bought LOTS and then went back to the hostel to pack.

It was impossible not to compare Thailand and China.  Thailand is definitely more civilized than China.  It's cleaner, people speak English, and it just feels more like the western way we're used to (maybe I had been in China too long?).  There are so many places to see and cities / islands to travel to.

There are more western toilets than in China but we came across a very nice squat toilet at the bus station.  They even had sandals to change into. They're so clean in Thailand!

I left Bangkok at night and flew 5 hours to Tokyo. I had 4 hours to spend in the airport and I was off on an 11 hour flight to Chicago.  The journey home felt like it was over so quickly.  I didn't have to sit next to anyone on either flight.  Then after 21 months abroad I was HOME!

Food in Thailand

Everything I saw to consume in Thailand looked good - and fresh.  Even their fried bugs were some how appetizing (though I didn't try them). 

These are some of my favorites:

The juice!  They have fresh juice everywhere.  It's either in bottles like this:

Or you can tell them what you want and they'll make it fresh for you.

Curry vegetables, tofu, and rice.  One of my favorites!  Eaten on the side of the street in the rain.

Egg rolls.  These are similar to what we eat in the west as Chinese food.  They're cut up and a delicious snack!

Pancakes!  You might remember we also ate them on the beach on Koh Samet.  They taste equally as good in the city or on the beach.  This one was banana and condensed milk.

Coffee was everywhere and such a treat!  Coffee is hard to find in China. 

More curry with tofu and vegetables, vegetables with noodles, and vegetables with rice.  (Yes, we ate a lot of vegetables and not a lot of meat.)

Spicy papaya salad and of course curry tofu with vegetables.  We saw the neighbor across the street fetch a papaya for our salad. 

I have to mention Linda's birthday dinner again since it was my favorite meal in Thailand.  Fish, mozzarella salad, vegetables and tofu, and sparkling wine.    Amazing!

My last meal in Thailand was pad thai and an egg roll.