Back in Bangkok

So I’m back in Bangkok tonight. I’m here until Thursday afternoon then I fly out.
Originally, I had made a tattoo appt with someone back in March. I scheduled it for the last day of my trip (tomorrow). I had been looking at tattoo artists in Bangkok. He had 5.0 stars across the board, had his own small shop in a historical neighborhood along the river, I loved his work and it worked out that I could get an appt. (The guy in Chiang Mai that I got my tattoo from was a guest artist at this shop in Bangkok- I figured what the hell, I’ll get 2 tattoos while I’m here.)
Well, a month ago, the guy here in Bangkok (I follow both of them on Instagram) was admitted into the hospital for a terrible very dangerous type of pneumonia. They had to do surgery to remove dead tissue in his lung. (He’s lucky to be alive). I had been following his surgery and recovery, and it became apparent he wasn’t going to be working any time soon. We messaged a few times back and forth. I told him of my medical experiences and that I didn’t want to add to his plate, and cancelled the appt. But let’s be real, as soon as he said he had been in the hospital for 7 days I knew it would take several months to recoup and I wasn’t getting tattooed by him this trip.
So that is a super long story explaining why I’m back for just a day and a 1/2, then am flying home. When I made the appt, I decided to find a hotel close to his studio. The morning of a tattoo can be stressful, and I didn’t want to have to be trying to figure my way around Bangkok. So I found this really beautiful hotel across the river from one of the big temples, and it is a 3 minute walk to Luke’s Tattoo studio. So it would have been good.
The hotel is beautiful and the neighborhood is older and quirky. There are lots of little restaurants and coffee places. And close to a BTS station.
So when I got into the airport, I got my stuff , went to the exit, and there was a nice man waiting with a card with my name on it. Nice. He asked me sit for a moment, and he notified my driver. The guy pulled up, he took my bags and away we went. So civilized. And so nice on this last leg. The company I used has all these things you can request. One of them was what type of music would you like to listen to. They had all these choices, and one of them was Thai. I was thinking, “Sure. Why not. “ Well, I had to laugh. The whole way in, Thai music is playing. And it’s Thai singers singing American ballads in English. Like Celine Dion, The Bangles, Air Supply, etc. It was funny. The driver was tapping his finger on the steering wheel so I think he liked it.
So I got into my room and headed back out to find dinner. I had done research before hand, and had found a little Thai place a few minutes walk from the hotel. It was great, I’m going to go there tomorrow. I had Spring rolls, Tom Kha Gai soup (coconut milk, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, lemongrass-It’s so good!) and mango sticky rice. All in all it was 270 baht, which is $7.61. For a 3 course meal.
I like Thailand better than Malaysia. Malaysia has 3 different cultures all living together, but it is separate. In Thailand, it’s all just Thai. My food tour guide said that at the beginning of my trip and I get it now. Like in Penang, there were a lot of Chinese Malaysians. And then you had your Indian Malaysians. And then your Malaysian Malaysians. And the men stared a lot more than in Thailand. I could be that there aren’t as many Westerners coming through, but I saw plenty of White tourists when I was there. I’d like to explore more of the island next time, get out of Georgetown.
It was weird, I just felt more comfortable when we rolled into Bangkok this afternoon. And I like the food better. The Indian food in Penang was wonderful, but the local specialties ( several different noodle dishes) I wasn’t really impressed with. And I read somewhere once that Malaysian food was heavy in oil and not very healthy. And that’s what I found. Although, they supposedly have some of the best beaches around. And are not as overrun as Thailand is in the South.
So tomorrow, I’ve ordered breakfast to be sent up to my room. And at 3:30 I’m going to see Wakanda Forever. I did some research on the best cinemas in Bangkok, am I thinking I picked a good one. Good seats, like recliners and they bring you popcorn and drinks. We will see, But I definitely wanted to do an upgraded movie experience.
So the picture of the Temple included in tonight’s footprint (Wat Arun) is taken from my balcony. I splurged and got an upgraded room with a balcony, hot tub and an amazing view. It’s a nice way to end a really nice trip.Read more