Mar 6 - Bangkok

Must have gotten a little something yesterday as last night I had the sniffles and a soar throat.   Fortunately I had the foresight to stock up on water and some saltine-like crackers along with a nice bottle of salt, so

lots of gargling and steamy showers.    Still a little on the low side this morning, but not feeling all that scratchy and other than a little bit of a sniffle doing okay.   Today is "personal day" - so I'm on my own until dinner anyway.

I took the golf-cart shuttle to the main street and headed to the food stalls right near me with the thought of getting a little food to take back to the room from the fried-rice lady.   She was not there herself, though her

stuff was setup.   The lady next door said she'd be back in 30 minutes so I decided to just get what she was offering instead.   She had a 'bag' of chicken larb (minced up chicken, spices on the spicy side, that had been

stir fried and bagged).    I got that.   Then I stopped at the fruit vendor (I know, its a risk!) and got some pineapple and papaya.   Then I stopped at a chicken satee guy and got some chicken sate.   I also got a pomegranate juice,

but am holding it in reserve.    Anyway, headed back to hotel to eat it and rest a little more until a little later in the morning.

Headed out around 9am to see if I could get a much needed haircut.    Found a place, which I think is where Bob got his hair cut last time he was here

in Bangkok, and got a nice haircut/eyebrow trim/straight-edge sideburn cleanup for 300 Thai Bhd -- also gave her a 100  THB tip, so the total came to 400 THB which

is about $12 US.   Great haircut.   Here's a picture of it back in my hotel

On the way back to the hotel I actually stopped a "Coffee@8", the drink shop I was a morning or two ago for breakfast tea.   I had another Thai Milk Tea!

Had a nap and read my kindle for a while until housekeeping showed up.   As they did I actually was having a light "pre-lunch" of the rest of the

spicy chicken larb from breakfast

I left the housecleaner to do her thing and took the tuk-tuk to the main street and walked over to the restaurant that Judy and Mel had

recommended, though this to get one of their set menus for lunch.    It was expensive by Thai standards, but only about $17 US, including tip.

I had leftovers which I brought home too.   Anyway, here's what I got:

A really really nice meal -- I didn't finish the pork dish, the rice (only about 1/2 of it) or the chicken dish (again, only about 1/2 of it) -- but I took the chicken and rice home.

Everything else I polished off along with a whole pot of a really nice sweet ginger tea

On the way out the door and back to the hotel I took a picture of the restaurant Tuk-Tuk as it was de-cal'ed out really nicely:

Walked back to the hotel, though from the main SerHumVit street I waited for and took the CentrePoint Tuk-Tuk so I didn't have the "long" walk

down the not-too-interesting street that my hotel is on.    Maid had finished, so I took a shower to cool off, stored the leftovers in the fridge, entered

this all in and am going to take a nice nap.

Dinner time rolled around and we decided to just goto a restaurant for Thai food.    I asked and the front desk and they had a brochure with a few

in the neighborhood.   We decide on one with a funny name that was tied into "social education" (you'll get it in a minute).   The restaurant is called

"cabbage and condoms" and is focused, in part, on making sure that people have safe sex.    I guess I should explain that the neighborhood we're staying

in is a weird mix of restaurants, lodging, clothing stores, "legit" massage parlors and ... ahem... less than legit massage parlors and nightclubs.    Not that

any of that is illegal here in Thailand, but for the latter section the crowd can get a bit more seedy.

Anyway, we sat down and ordered dinner.   We got what amounted to some shu mai (pork dumpling) appetizers, a small crisp wonton shell filled with

ground chicken, corn and some other spices, a chicken lemon grass soup, an eggplant and chicken dish, a noodle and chicken dish, and some red rice.

We ordered them all mild, which may have been our mistake...  they didn't have a lot of favor and although not 'bad' none of us really thought the meal was all

that great.    We also had some fizzy water and I had a thai iced tea, which turned out to be the most flavorful item of the evening.

We all decided to skip dessert, but what did come for each of us was a complementary condom :-)

So an "A" for humor and "a good cause' (educating people about safe sex, I think some of the funds go to local orgs doing such work as well) but a "C"

on the food being exciting or great.    

We walked back to the hotel and went to sleep for the night.