It was a bittersweet feeling today. We have had some amazing experiences and are sad to leave Thailand, but each of us also misses home and are looking forward to getting back to Canada (except the kids won't allow us to say the "S word" quite yet).
For breakfast we went to the restaurant at the end of our street. The people here are so nice and the food is amazing. One of the other advantages to being back in Bangkok is that our entire family can eat for the same price that one person's meal cost in Railay. The older lady that owns the restaurant knew we were leaving tomorrow so she brought us a couple bowls of desserts. As a missionary I always felt that Thai desserts were lacking when compared to the rest of the food but this trip has given me a new appreciation for the subtle flavours of the sweets. I don't have a photo to show, but my favorite is made with sweetened sticky rice, cooked with coconut and taro and topped with egg custard. I would choose a slice of that over cheesecake any day; fortunately, Heather has told me that she will learn to make it.
After breakfast we made our way towards the train station, but not before some guy came and pretended to take Deacon away. I know that all the kidnapping jokes are a form of flattery, but it can still be a little disconcerting. Deacon is so patient with each person and hasn't been phased at all; infact, one day he said to us,
"Do you know why I like Thailand so much? Because everyone here loves me."
The room we rented is in the neighborhood of Saladeang, a place that I had never visited or even heard about before. Despite being in the heart of Bangkok, it was clean, quiet, and slower paced, and we again found ourselves thankful to have left Railay early so that we could have a different experience.
The Train station in question was one of the stops of the BTS Sky Train, an elevated track that proves to be an efficient way of getting around. It was just two blocks from our house and had the dual benefit of getting us to Siam Paragon Mall without traffic, and of adding another form of transportation to our list.
We didn't do any shopping at Saim Paragon (or the nearby Siam Center or BKS malls), because the stores were all higher end, or luxury brands; I can't think of any mall back home that sports Lambourgini, Bentley, and Rolls Royce dealerships. We made sure to stop at a Swenson's ice-cream shop to get two of their 8-scoop "Earthquakes". It was quite filling despite the fact that we shared them between the six of us, causing me to wonder how I ever managed to eat one on my own, a popular activity for missionaries stationed in Bangkok, or those coming from a moves meeting with some time before their train left.
On our honeymoon, Heather and I went to a movie on our last day in Bangkok and we decided to do the same with the kids. We splurged and got tickets in one of the three "Blue Ribbon Theaters" that feature 16 semi private pods with leather power seats that recline into beds, complete with pillows and blankets. We chose Pixar's "Inside Out", an older movie but one that we hadn't seen before. It was in English with Thai subtitles. It was really cool when, before the movie started, they requested everyone stand for a tribute to the King, which featured music and different pictures from his life. This presentation takes place before each film shown.
Our Blue Ribbon tickets gave us access to a seperate lounge where we were served fruit juice (the non-alcoholic option) and little desserts before the movie. After our refreshments, we went across the hall to a dimly lit spa where we each had a 15 minute massage. We would have been just as happy with regular tickets (I'm still apologizing the Heather for the $32/person charge), but there is no denying that it was an experience we could not have had back home. And for hard-core movie buffs, this is the only way to see a show.
After the movie we took the kids for pizza, something we haven't had in over a month. Visiting Pizza Hut is also something Heather and I did on the last day of our honeymoon and was also one of the perks of being a missionary serving in Bangkok. After eating mostly rice for a whole month, this food tasted really good and it was a nice feeling to be in a booth by ourselves as we relived our favourite memories from the trip and "cheersed" each others glasses of pop.
That was supposed to be the end of the day, but one of the kids - Mason - got the idea that we should watch another movie! It was suggested that mom and Deacon go see Pixels so dad and the older kids could watch Attack on Titan, a movie we had initially been interested in but panned in favour of Inside Out because we thought it might be too scary for the youngest member of the family. Might be? I think it was too scary(weird-disgusting-disturbing) for even the oldest member of the family. If you are already youtubing the live action trailer, all I ask is that you don't judge me; the advertisements in the theater made it look pretty cool (along the lines of Pacific Rim maybe?) and the Thai rating system placed it at a pg-13. All I can say to that is, "what!?!"
Staying for the movies, meant that the Sky Train was no longer running by the time we got out. Fortunately, we had no trouble catching a taxi back to our house for a fair price. The driver was an awesome guy who, when I told him I had been a missionary in Thailand (everyone wants to know how I learned the language), immediately asked, "like those guys with white shirts that ride bikes and are always in pairs?" How awesome is that? Another cool thing is that he and I are almost the same age and that he also has four children, an oldest daughter and three sons!
Of course the really awesome person was Heather, who agreed to all of these crazy ideas because she wanted everyone to have fun and make some more memories before the clock wound down on our last full day in the Kingdom. It was 2AM when we turned off the lights, only four and a half hours before the alarm on my watch was set to ring. And that's why this blog post was a little late.
- C
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