Goodbye Thailand!!!

Today was the perfect way for me to say goodbye to Thailand with the cooking class in the morning--eating probably one of the top meals of the trip--and a 2 hr Thai massage in the afternoon. I was poked, pulled, stretched and popped almost to the satisfaction of the masseuse--my neck and shoulders gained some length, but not that much. She was actually really funny, she kept talking to me in Thai--knowing I had no clue what she was talking about--and all I kept saying was ok, yes, and I learned that soi means softer.

Goodbye Thailand, I am off to Tanzania (after 22hrs of traveling--11 of them sitting in airports). I had a great trip and if I get internet access I will update you all.

Yummmm...

This morning I got up early for one of the only things I will gladly get out of bed for...a cooking class. Chris and I took a Thai cooking class this morning with 7 other individuals and taught by a "experienced thai chef"--a little gay man w/cat figurines all over his cooking school. The day started off w/a trip to the market where we bought all of the ingredients we needed from galanga (a type of ginger) to prawns to chicken to chives and Keffir limes. After the market we went back to the cooking school and did all the prepping and cooking for 3 out of the 5 dishes we made. I can now say I can cook Pad Thai, Tom Yam Gung, Green Curry (including making the curry paste from scratch)--and observed while he made some chicken & cilantro salad w/sticky rice and water chestnuts coated w/tapioca and sweetened coconut milk. All I can say is....yummmmmmmmm! and no need for food for the rest of the day.

Packing up and getting ready to go...

Today was a mix of fitting tourist things in and getting ready to fly to Tanzania tomorrow. A day of mixed feelings...really, really excited to go to Tanzania and sad to be leaving a land of fabulous food, colors, and people. Thailand is a place where the majority of the population is sincerely nice and helpful when they are able (with the exception of taxi drivers who will take advantage whenever they can).

Yesterday, I met with the chairman of the Department of pediatrics who presented a laminated certificate and a small incense set to me--it was really cute and sweet. In addition the boss lady from Genetics (Dr. Pontswan?), who gave me the week off, managed to find my thai phone number and called me to tell me about an exhibit that was opening today & suggested that I should go b/c it was in a palace that is normally closed to the public. She informed me of the price, hours of operation, and the dress code.

Upon her recommendation, I went to the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall (an old palace used by Rama V i believe & now only used for some of the King's addresses to the public). The exhibit displayed fine extravagant & meticulous models of royal ships, buddha's foot prints, carriers of the King and Queen--almost all things were made of gold and the 9 precious gems. Included in the exhibit was embroidery from Thai silk and carved wood screens. All of the things on display required multiple artisans and took several years to complete and all of them were for either the 60th anniversary of the King's coronation, the king's or queen's birthdays within the last 10 years. The articles on display were amazing, the building itself inside was amazing with painted domes and marble throughout with gold inlay all around and the use of beetle wings for inlays within many rooms and pieces of artwork on display to give a beautiful green sheen.

Oh lala...

Bangkok is known for its beautiful ladyboys and their ability to put on a show, so last night we went to MAMBO. Where the ladyboys look better than most women and many are indistiguishable from the person born a woman. Most could dance with the best of them, however there was the occasional few that you could basically see counting their steps. The lip syncing: a few made an effort while most made no effort and just worked on dancing and flirting with the men in the audience---making one man in particular very uncomfortable--unfortunately it was not Chris.

Bangkok touring...

Today marked the last full weekend I am spending in Bangkok and to honor this day I took the express ferry up to Dusit (part of Bangkok that resembles many European cities) and visited the Vimanmek Palace--a palace made entirely of golden teak in the Victorian style. The palace was originally built in another location in Thailand for the royal family and brought to Bangkok by King Rama V. The mansion is gorgeous and contained artifacts from all over the world--now a collection of the possesions of many different kings and queens. The area that the mansion resides is a green oasis among the concrete and smog of Bangkok.

Following the mansion, Chris and I made our way back down the Chao Phrya River on the express ferry to the start of the sky train and took the sky train to the Suan Lum Night Bazaar (where we will be revisiting on Tuesday for Mai Thai) and found the Traditional Thai Puppet Theater (otherwise known as the Joe Louis Theater) and saw a traditional Thai puppet show re-enacting the Birth of Ganesha done by professional Thai dancers. It was really impressive. There were 3 dancers to control each puppet and their movements and facial expressions reflected those of the puppet. The music and story telling (in Thai) was all performed live.

After the puppet show ended, we grabbed a cab and went to a really nice dinner where the food was good and restaurant had a great ambience. Then...the rains came right as we were leaving and hailing a cab. Rainy season has started...early nonetheless.