Bangkok

September 21-23

Round two of Bangkok for me and Michael. That said, we had a completely different experience the second time around. It even felt, to me, like we were staying in a completely different city.

Instead of staying near the palace, we stayed in the State Tower which is one of the tallest buildings in Bangkok. We rented an airbnb condo that was actually in the hotel section of the building. It was super fancy with great views.

With only about 48 hours in the city, we got a jump on the visit with a very busy first night.

This is me being super patient while waiting for Michael to join me on the balcony.

Found him!

Look – Ken even got my shoes in the picture.

After dropping bags and a quick game of pool in the apartment, we went off to Wat Pho to see an old friend.

Our next stop that night was back to our old hotel, the Sala Arun to show Ken and Janine the great view of Wat Arun.

It was hard to see due to the aggressive amount of instafame happening right in front of our eyes, but we enjoyed the sunset regardless.

That’s right. She’s standing on a chair. Please note how many people in this picture are even looking at the sunset – zero.

We’re not looking at the sunset either – but at least we’re not staring at phones! I am, however, holding three bottles of water. Not sure why that’s happening…

The rooftop also gave us a great view of an illuminated Wat Pho.

We got out of there as soon as we finished our drinks and then we were off to a craft beer bar that Michael and I visited the last time we were in Bangkok. There we had the crispy pork noodles that I had previously labeled my favorite food in Bangkok. In the three weeks we’ve been gone the bar has been shuttered and the food stall is gone. So much for that!

So we did the next best thing – drove 40 minutes away to have beers at another Mikkeller beer bar. The beer was great and the food was delicious.

Look at how happy the men look! Plus we were featured in their instagram that night. No surprise that our presence makes the evening a “good Friday night”.

The next morning it was a delightful brunch and then off to the Chinatown market.

We also wandered past the “St. Louis” section of Bangkok, complete with a St. Louis Church, hospital, and school.

That night, we popped into the bar on the roof of our building for a quick, casual drink.

Just kidding, it wasn’t that casual. They made Ken go put on pants and charged us an arm and a leg for this delightful cocktail:

But it was a beautiful view.

Plus it’s the bar that is in the movie Hangover 2 and also in the Netflix series, Travels With My Father, which is pretty funny if you have some time to burn and are looking for a clever travel show.

Tell me this isn’t the best photo of Janine:

See what I did there? Just a little well placed cropping…

Final stop of the evening was to a Japanese yakitori restaurant called Jua. Chef Tony, from our hotel in Phuket recommended it and it was a huge win. The food was delicious plus we had seats at the counter so we had the chance to chat up a few expats who ran the place. Apparently they also had a burger place that they were running illegally out of a building without food/drink permits. Their landlord found out and refused to extend their lease. So their burger place shut down. The day that we ate at Jua they found out that the Michelin rating guide had named their burger restaurant one of the best in Bangkok. So that’s ironic.

The meal itself was great. The food was delicious and I was pumped to have another yakitori meal (meats on skewers grilled over charcoal). Plus Janine got to be an adventurous eater again.

The next morning we were up early to head out of town. Michael and I were off to Chiang Mai while Ken and J9 started the long trip home. A long trip that included a flight from Taipei to Chicago on a Hello Kitty jet.

Tell me that isn’t incredible.

We were sad to see them go, but felt so lucky to have Ken and Janine come out to visit us two times in this past year. It was a blast both times and we are so grateful to them for making the effort. We know it’s not easy to coordinate a trip this long when you have jobs and busy lives and little ones at home. So really what we’re saying is – thanks again to Pop!