Day 11 - Bangkok!!!!

Still loving Bangkok....and yes, I ventured outside of the hotel today! After eating breakfast in the exclusive 31st floor lounge (scrambled eggs, toast with jam, bacon and a hash brown), I headed down to the lobby to see the concierge. And conveniently, there is a travel agent right in the lobby who arranges tours for hotel guests. On Wednesday I am going on an all day excursion to the rose garden and floating market - we leave at 6:30. And then on Thursday I am going on a half-day excursion to the palace, temple, and to see I think it's three different buddhas. Fun fun!

So, today. What to do, as I'd been hoping for an excursion the first day. Guess it's shopping. So out came the guide book and maps.......I figured out I wanted to go to MBK and CentralWorld. Both were accessible via the monorail, which runs along the street my hotel is on and a station is a block away. I went to MBK first, even though it was further away and I had to switch monorail lines. I had figured out that I could purchase a one day pass and had written down the lines I needed and the directions to go in. Couldn't have been simpler. And everything is very well signed, so easy to find what you're looking for.

MBK is........I can't even describe it. The website says over 2000 (that's two THOUSAND) retailers and I would believe it. I wandered around checking everything out, ate some pad thai for lunch (too much chicken, not enough noodles), and headed back to the hotel. At that point, I bought nothing. Did a little bit of regrouping and headed out to CentralWorld. One of the main attractions there is a department store called Zen. Well, overall, this entire mall is just like any ole sterile mall with all the same shops that I've been in. I wandered around, but nothing caught my interest at all so I decided to head back to MBK.

This is where things got interesting. I finally got to the correct level of Zen that I had come in on, so I could take the skywalk back to the monorail. Except the exit was closed with guards. OK. I wandered around a bit, found another exit to the skybridge - closed. On the grounds outside the mall an exhibit was set up......it was the opening ceremonies. OK, but why can't we go out on the skybridge? I finally found my way outside and could only go so far when, yes, we were stopped. So now I am curious and decide to hang out. There was 4 beige/yellowish cars lined up, several police cars, a military band, and armed guards. Not sure how long we waited, though it seemed forever. But I had pretty much figured out who it must be, from the guards plus what little I'd seen on a TV in Zen showing the ceremony - Her Majesty Queen Regent Sirikit. Yes, I saw the Queen of Thailand! No pictures, as that is not allowed. The royal family is very highly regarded here. So that was my exciting moment of the day.

Finally back to MBK, where I did a little bit of shopping and yes, ate pad thai for dinner. As it's after 10 and my battery is getting low, I'd best get going.

On the way back to the hotel from MBK, I stopped and checked out the exhibit, as it was open to the public by then. It's called Earth From Above and here's an article about it.

Here are some pictures from today: More Bangkok