5 nights in Bangkok

The last time I was in Bangkok I did not give it enough of a chance. Of course I was doing the typical touristy things and staying on the infamous Khao San road. This time we decided to stay completely away and I have loved it so much we added an extra two nights! Massages, street food, markets, shopping... There is so much to do. Monday we ventured out to Chinatown to celebrate the Chinese New Year with thousands of others. Year of the dragon brings great promise for us! There was a parade with Nien the dragon and the Queen of Thailand even made an appearance. Such a crazy and cool area. However, I was completely freaked out by shark fin soup and also birds nest soup, which is made using the spit of swallows. Uuugh. Why people, why?! We also ate at an amazing Thai food court where it took me 30 minutes to choose my food. Weirdest things there included pork knuckle (looks like jiggly cartilage) and tendon and intestine soup (looks exactly how you think it would). Also, more birds nest soup. I avoided those dishes but enjoyed trying new things including noodle wraps with crab and quail eggs. Brad drank the worst soda ever that tasted like bubble gum fluoride at the dentist. I also had to go to the American embassy also to get more pages in my passport- it was ridiculously large and immaculately landscaped. Glad my taxes are going to good use (insert sarcasm here).

Today we wanted to swim so we snuck into a luxury hotel with a pool on the 7th floor- so swank! I told brad to just act like we owned the place and they didn't even question us. Pool with a glass wall overlooking Siam square- yes please! We also splurged on a river cruise dinner tonight and I am currently praying that it stops raining by evening. Sudden rainstorms are common here and it's the first we encountered. Please just stop by about 6:00 pm!

Tomorrow we head south to Trat, and then onward to the island of Koh Chang to stay in little jungle bungalows. No air conditioning, mosquito nets, and a little rest and relaxation after the chaos of the city...

Thanks to everyone checking in and keeping up with us and our adventures- it makes me feel loved even from far away. I will try to post more pics soon and I am also trying to get brad to eat some street food bugs (so far we have seen worms and grasshoppers). It's like living our own little fear factor game! Xo.