Asia Trip: Bangkok

Shortly after our busiest month of the year at work, I flew to Thailand for a destination wedding. While the wedding was in Hua Hin, I made stops in Bangkok and Hong Kong along the way. The trip was my first one to East Asia, and did not disappoint.
After nearly missing my flight (an exaggeration, but only a slight one) due to some tight work deadlines, some desperate last minute packing, and an unfortunately timed demand from CRA to file a tax return, I arrived in Bangkok 19 hours later - tired, hungry, and severely jetlagged... and miserably hot.

I hit the streets soon after arriving, and quickly sampled the authentic Thai cuisine. I generally avoided street food in advance of the wedding, but I did give those spring rolls a try.

Green curry with a fried egg at a nearby restaurant that catered to tourists. Cost? $3, and delicious - except for the peas - I didn't realise at the time, but they were actually "pea eggplants", and quite frankly, tasted awful. I enjoyed green curry in Thailand a lot more after learning to avoid the peas.

I returned to the hotel to try to watch TV and stay awake until night time when my parents and sister were scheduled to land in Thailand.

I woke up 6 hours later to the sound of them banging on my hotel door.

After completely ruining my chances of kicking my jet lag, my sister and I decided to head to a local bar to catch the second semi-final of the World Cup, which kicked off around 2am. As with the rest of the world outside North America, the local Thais were serious about their football.

After a night of no sleep, we left early to hit the usual tourist spots. We visited various temples, including the temple of the emerald Buddha, and the Grand Palace.

Wat Pho, home of the famously large reclining Buddha statue - emblamatic of the Buddha after having reached Nirvanna.

Wat Arun - The temple of the dawn. The original site of the capital before being moved across the river. Note the steep profile, which we climbed for a great view of the city.

Another theme that struck me was the colourful public transportation.

After a rough day of touring, we stopped at an upscale Thai Restaurant across from Wat Arun, where we had a delicious Tom Yum Gai soup.

Unfortunately, my camera charger was a casualty of my poorly planned packing. My camera battery died, and I missed out on taking pictures of among other things, the Thai cultural show, and the floating market. I was able to buy a knock-off version at a Thai mall, in time for the wedding in Hua Hin.