Following my very topical entry about Thai politics with something completely mundane, here are some shots I’ve taken the past few days.
Christmas is coming. Even though we’re a 95% Buddhist country, Thais never pass up an opportunity to decorate and celebrate. Especially at a mall. I took this shot at Siam Paragon, one of the larger malls in the center of the city.
While at the mall, I noticed this father trying to position his two sons for a fun portrait. I also noticed that there were three or four people besides me trying to take a picture of him trying to take his picture.
Saturday we did some orchid shopping. Orchids are very inexpensive here so we actually buy live plants and keep them for several weeks (or months, if we’re lucky) until they look sickly. Then we give them to Tawn’s father to nurse back to health.
Here’s a video of our adventure shopping:
Sunday we had a group lunch at Greyhound Cafe at Soi Ari. This is the first group lunch we’ve had in a while, since everyone was out of town. Slowly, though, they are trickling back. On his flight home, Markus met a pair of Americans – David and Boon – who he decided needed to be introduced to the rest of us. A good choice on Markus’ part as they are friendly people. People who won’t be making their side trip to Laos, I might add.
Speaking of which, Stuart brought his friend Rupert who had arrived that morning from San Francisco. On Wednesday I stopped in at Au Bon Pain bakery near our house, only to find the two of them sitting there finishing lunch. Their flight to Burma that morning had been canceled by the protests.
From left: David, Rupert, Markus, Si, Stuart, Matt, Boon, Kobfa, Tawn and me.
Another reader of this blog, Rosalie, and her family are supposed to fly from Australia to Khrungthep today. Nix on that. A high school classmate’s partner is supposed to fly here from San Francisco on Sunday. We’ll see if that happens.
Monday evening we had a get-together for Ee, who is still in town with her infant daughter Vicky. Chris had to return to Melbourne to work, so it was just mother and daughter as we met with several of Tawn’s Chulalongkorn University classmates at a nice new bistro called Minibar Royale on Sukhumvit 23. The food and ambience were nice and I’ll have to go back and try some of the other main courses.
Vicky looks horrified as Uncle Tawn leans in for a picture. Aunty Ko is holding her.
christao408 
Wow, life seems pretty normal in the city. Great orchid video – do they throw in the pillow for the price of the orchid? And yes, poor Vicky does look horrified – she is probably saying, “Tawn you are such a ham!”
Christmas is a religious holiday? Jokes. ;)Vicky, is SERIOUSLY too cute!!
I’ve never bought orchids – I always thought they were too difficult to maintain..I guess if they were as cheap here I would give it a try..Vicky is darling even with the scared look!
Love the video. I’m showing it to my mama. I think I told you already she has probably over 300 orchids now.
Oh man! That orchid stand in the video is amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many orchids all together and I had no idea they came in so many colors! That’s so cool that you can just buy them whenever you want inexpensively. I’m jealous!
Aw…I wish I could be flying around right now too. Boo for the recession. :o(
Chris,…. who is this friend Stuart; is he single?? does he live in BKK or in the US?? He looks pretty cute in the pic
Just wondering how much it costs for an orchid plant in Thailand? I bought a single stem Orchid with 5 flowers here in Oz about a month ago and it cost me AUD $50.
*sigh* – we hope to reschedule for mid January or maybe leave it until April. V
The orchids look so beautiful!
Your orchid documentary reminded me of a similar flower mart I visited in Chiang Mai. Well, hope the protest in the airport will be ending soon. Actually, BKK is one of the places I don’t mind being stranded during a trip; I experienced that during the SARS epidemic…haha~~
The expression on Vicky’s face is priceless. And I love the orchids. Ahah! THAT’s why orchids turn brown! I’ll remember not to touch them!
@prachya – Not single. Lives in Bangkok.
Ahh
Anyway.. we should meet when I go to BKk next, so we can talk about planes and all
Your videos are getting more and more polished. I love orchids too.
Wow. I want some orchids now!
@prachya – Sure. Have any plans to visit anytime soon? If so, you’d better delay them – the airport might not be open! Ha ha ha… =(
@ElusiveWords – Thanks, Matt. Unfortunately, that’s a sign that I’m spending too much time working on them. Maybe I should get a Mac…
@RakkaRay – Sadly, the pillow was not a freebie. We had one in the back seat already.
@brooklyn2028 – Nah, just a commercial one.
@curry69curry – I agree, Gary. There are worse cities to be stuck in. But if you really need to get home, it sucks.