Thailand: Nights Out in Bangkok

We were very busy in Bangkok during the day, but we had adventures at night too. The first night there we had some babysitters at the hotel watch the kids so that Ted and I could go out for dinner and drinks with an old high school friend, Andrea Tracy. She had big plans for us to have drinks at the rooftop bar at the Doubletree and then go to a fancy French restaurant in what she called the seedy part of town. Unfortunately, the French restaurant was closed that day and a nasty storm rolled in just in time to foil any thoughts about rooftop lounging. Andrea scrambled and found us another spot, Eat Me.

The restaurant was really very nice and we had excellent food, fantastic drinks, and interesting conversation. Andrea and I graduated together from Athens High School in Ohio and now she works for the US government out of Bangkok. It's hard to say she lives there, though, because she is always traveling for work from Africa, the Middle East, to all of Asia. Ted and I were fascinated by her job. She works, as I said, for our government organizing and delivering humanitarian aid in times of crisis or disaster. Pretty cool stuff. It was great to catch up. We certainly had too much to drink but at least it was an early-ish night because Andrea had to catch a flight in the morning to Butan. Hmmmm, where is Butan?

The next night we went to see the coolest production I have ever seen, Siam Niramit (http://www.siamniramit.com/SNawards.php). It was amazing.

Our night started with taxis refusing to take us there because of traffic jams. Sigh. Eventually we asked the concierge at our hotel to help us and he had his friend/taxi driver take us a few blocks away to the underground train station. We hadn't taken a train here before. It's Thailand so everything is in Thai, which means we can't even go by letter recognition. Eventually, with help, we determined that we were on the correct train line and wouldn't have to switch. We bought our tokens and took the train about 5 stops away and got off, making our way then to the shuttle to the theater. It was pouring, but we were able to wait in a dry van/party bus thing for other theater-goers like ourselves. We arrived at the compound just in time to have a quick look-around (but not walk-around) and then head to our seats. First, we were pinned with flowers and had our picture taken with a woman dressed in a traditional Thai dance costume. The theater was like a fancy movie theater. We didn't know what to expect.

It was breath-taking. Siam Niramit is the story of Thailand told in song and dance. I will elaborate a little because this was so impressive. Act I tells the history of the North (ancient kingdom of Lanna), the South Seas, the Northeast (Khmer civilization) and the Central Plains (the capital of Ayutthaya). Each act had an elaborate set and theme change. The South Seas one started as if we were looking into an aquarium or a slice of the sea. They had jellyfish crossing the stage, fish swimming around, and even a diver retrieving a pearl from a clam at the bottom. It looked so real and cool. I feel like I have mentioned before about the front part of the stage suddenly turning into a river. I thought it was a special effect until one of the characters actually jumped in! There were boats floating along it, too. Act II covered the afterlife and this grabbed our kids attention more than anything. The Fiery Hell scene showed what happens to people when they break different rules. There were demons, people writhing all over the place with what looked like actual fire in their bellies, scary loud music and everything. It was absolutely terrifying. Truly. This, more than anything else, is what the kids say they will remember about Bangkok. The next scene was probably the most beautiful. It showed the mystical forest of Himapaan with fairies, okay, gods and goddesses, flying everywhere. Eleanor really believed they were flying. She grabbed me and said, "I knew it! I knew this place was magical! Look, they are actually flying!" So sweet. This scene ended with some thunder and lightning and then a storm coming down. The ceiling actually rained water down (into the river from before) and it was the coolest, most magical thing. The act ended with a dramatic depiction of heaven. The play ends with a celebration of festivals. All the dancers come onstage in these gorgeous costumes. Elephants join them. There is music, celebration, light. . . so cool. Anyway, if you visit Thailand, you don't want to miss this show. It was spectacular. And of course, we couldn't take pictures.

Our last night in Thailand was a bit more subdued. We rode a tuk-tuk from our hotel to the main street and walked around until we found a place to eat. Here are some pictures.

This is where we decided to eat. Good decision. The kitchen and some tables are on one side of this busy street and our tables and many others are on the other side. Okay.

Yummy cool drinks. And forgetting to turn down the ice did not come back to haunt us.

Pretty simple idea. And it was. Less than $20 for all of us to eat and have plenty of drinks. It may even have been less than $15, but I can't remember. 

Can you see that truck and scooter zip by? Maybe a foot away from our daughters' shoulders? Why didn't Ted and I sit on that side? Who knows.

Here he is, the Man of the Year!

So trendy.

And we rode the tuk-tuk back to our hotel and went to bed. We woke up very early the next rainy morning to take a taxi to the airport and headed to Phuket for a relaxing finale to our holiday.