Ending the year with a Bangkok

Holy shit, 2012 has been by far the craziest year of my life. In the last 365 days I’ve never felt so loved, or so lonely. So confident, or so clueless. So hopeful, yet so hopeless. It’s been one giant roller coaster of emotions. But, for the most part I’ve enjoyed the ride. And I think I’ve learned some good stuff along the way. A few life lessons about the world and how other cultures live and work, but more importantly, I’ve learned a lot about myself and what makes me happy. One of those things is definitely traveling. In 2012, I’ve been lucky enough to go to 7 countries, 8 if you count the USA and I think we should since my favorite city in the world is still Chicago. But Bangkok definitely makes my top 5.

Thailand will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the reason I got a passport and my first exposure to  life outside the USA. That experience, nearly 7 years ago, made my decision to move here a bit easier. Don’t get me wrong. Singapore and Bangkok are absolutely nothing alike. And I knew that going in. But I also knew how many great memories I had from my first Asian adventure and I was anxious to make some more. And that’s what I did, last weekend, with some of my favorite people in the world and their amazing families.

On Saturday, we spent the majority of the morning catching up over a few beers while the kids played in the pool. It was awesome but also kinda surreal. In the afternoon, we headed to the Chatuchak Market. It covers over 35 acres and is filled with pretty much anything you could ever buy. I didn’t purchase anything & was so busy taken everything in & chatting it up with friends that I didn’t take many photos. This is the only one I got and it’s not very good at all. 

After the market, we headed to Suphachalasai Stadium to see Thailand vs Singapore in the final round of the AFF Suzuki Cup championship. Bangkok needed to win by 2 to take the title. And according to my companions, I was suppose to route for Singapore since that’s my home country now. But, it was tough when the entire crowd was going the other way. Plus, Bangkok played a better game. Singapore was very dramatic, throwing themselves on the ground and getting carried away by stretchers every 5 minutes. That’s one of the things I really don’t like about soccer. Bangkok ended up winning, but only by 1 so Singapore took the title. Either way, it was a fantastic time but the highlight for me was probably drinking beers and catching up in the parking lot.

The next day, I went temple exploring with the Lynchs. It was fantastic. I’d seen some of the temples in Thailand years ago, but not the same ones. Our first stop was The Grand Palace, home of the Kings of Siam since 1782. That’s a really long time ago. The royal family no longer lives here, but it’s still used for events and ceremonies.

The Grand Palace is home to the Emerald Buddha which you could walk in and see, but you couldn’t take pictures once you were inside. So, me and the other 200 tourists tried to get a picture of it through the window of the temple, but this lovely old couple wouldn’t get out of the way.

After The Grand Palace, we headed to Wat Pho, the largest temple in Bangkok known as the temple of the reclining Buddha. This guy was 46 meters long and covered in gold leaf. Take a look.

Then we went on a longboat ride and stopped at our 3rd and final temple, Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn. It was my favorite because it was less touristy and had a challenge built into it. You know how competitive I am.

The temple was decorated in broken china. The challenge was to climb the stairs. The further you climbed, or the closer to heaven you got, the steeper the stairs and harder the climb. Built to teach you that the road to heaven isn’t easy. Here are the stairs. Some poor boy had a hard time getting back down. I didn’t take a picture, I felt too bad for him and was terrified myself.

The view was worth the climb. Those clouds are so perfect they almost look fake.

That night we celebrated a very special birthday at a place known for having the best pad thai in town. It was pretty tasty. After that, our tired asses grabbed a tuk tuk back to the hotel where I said an awkward goodbye to my lovely surrogate family. I cried a tiny bit on the train. I really miss those good people. But don’t tell anyone.

Thanks to Nina, Coya & Ida for dragging a bag of Cheetos all the way to Thailand and for hanging out over the holidays. Thanks to Kevin, Kathy & Darby for letting me tag along and making me fell like part of their family. Thanks to Andy for giving me a free place to crash in the jungle. And thanks to all my incredible family, friends and coworkers who have helped me get through this year. I couldn’t of done it without you.