bangkok

There is a market situated on railroad tracks. If you hear a special bell ring, you need to move quickly because a train is coming through. The market was right up Alex’s alley being a chef, as well as an adventurous food tryer outer- but the kids and I were kind of over it soon after we began. There were lots of dead things and squishy meats with flies buzzing all around. I’m sure wonderful dishes can be made from this stuff, but first you have to get over the smells.
Jesse took lots of pictures!

This was organized chaos at it’s best. Boats coming and going, people yelling at you to try things, buy things! I could have stood in one place for a few hours and just taken in the whole scene.

So Alex and Melissa were going out to dinner and invited Jesse. He didn’t want to go out to a nice place in the sweaty clothes he had been wearing all day. Enter Michael, stopping at the hotel to say hello, but being accosted by Jesse for his pants and shoes. It just so happened the pants matched perfectly with Jesse’s shirt and everything fit! Yay Michael!
He also helped me and the kids get safely back to our hotel since he was going in that direction. Great to see you, bud. will hopefully see you on our way back through Bangkok!
BEFORE

AFTER

At a market we went to in Bangkok, they had tons and tons of puppies. Animals crawling all over each other in the heat. Some were in AC cubicles, but Melissa and I were still freaking out. Some of these puppies were just days old. It was kind of creepy. There were also lots of mice, crickets, snakes, kittens and fish with huge things on their heads that looked like brains coming out. The kids called them brainfish. We kind of wanted to get out of the area as quickly as possible- it smelled like a really hot port-a-potty. PU!

We love pools and art. Art is everywhere you look here- paintings, old Buddhas, statues, a huge shark in the middle of a mall…

I think I mentioned this in a previous post- but there are many transgendered people in Thailand and the culture generally accepts this lifestyle. We went to a restaurant in Bangkok that had a sign that said “No Lady Boys Allowed.” I said we couldn’t eat at a restaurant that discriminates against anyone. In Bangkok, there are a lot of “shady” things that go on, so some restaurants and hotels try to discourage this activity- but lady boys need to eat, too!
I had a great photo idea of putting lipstick on Jesse, Alex, Maddux and Lennon and pretend like we were going into the restaurant that banned lady boys. Then the next picture would be of them being asked to leave. No one was on board. Maddux even said no and he always finds my ideas funny!
The lady boys tend to truly enjoy saying hi to the kids. In the picture – this person helped us order the shakes and talked to us for quite awhile. She couldn’t get enough of Lennon’s curly locks and blew kisses as she walked away.

These photos were taken after we ate at a little noodle shop that we went to with Alex, Melissa and their guide, Tanya. We loved the food and the owner/noodle maker guy was pretty interesting. He showed us a picture of an x-ray of his double hip replacement! The guy seems to be in his late 50s. He makes the noodles by sitting on big wooden poles or something and putting his body weight onto them. From years of this repetitive movement – he wore down his down his hips! That’s devotion. Apparently, you need to be half naked to get the job done- it’s such hard work. No shirt, just some light weight white pants and bare feet. Just goes to show you, you don’t need a bunch of hi-tech equipment to make good food. You also don’t need a fancy dining room to eat it, either. The tables looked like metal operating room tables, the chairs were flimsy red plastic stools and that was the restaurant with the ‘no farting’ policy. I suppose the no farting policy does help it lean a bit closer to being classified as a fine dining establishment.
The fruitshakes everywhere we’ve been in Southeast Asia have been heavenly! We can’t get enough of them.

I love this! People here just get stuff done. No big process, no fancy equipment, no complaining, just “TCOB” (takin’ care of business!)