Bangkok

Oh. So much to say... again. I'll just jump right in.

We survived the flights! Just as Nick was scanning our passports at the first check-in, all the computer screens went blank and it was the big United Airlines shut-down for a few hours. No big deal; it was a pain but our flight was only delayed by an hour or so. The flights were uneventful, and yes, very long, but the girls slept through most of them so they were drama-free. I had really been looking forward to getting sushi in Tokyo airport, but we were so out of it at that point that neither of us cared. We just vowed to return. We got to our hotel here in Bangkok around midnight and showered-- I was so sour-smelling that I threw my shirt out and scrubbed until my skin hurt, very Silkwood-- and fell into bed. Sleep was hit or miss. The only room they had was one with a single king bed, so we've been piling into that together every night. It's not so bad. I always like sleeping with my girls.

One funny note about the long flights: for several days afterward, Nick and I have had a little vertigo, like we were on planes so long that it gave us sea legs. It still comes back on & off and we've been here four days. 

So! My first impressions of Thailand. Well. Obviously it's hot. However, I don't feel like it's that bad. There's always a good breeze, and I'm so excited to be here that I'm still willing to forgive a whole lot. It's just part of the experience. My memories of Ghana are 16 years old at this point, but I still think Ghana was hotter. Chiang Rai is apparently a good ten degrees cooler than BKK most of the time, so if that's true then it's going to be perfect.

I was expecting more people to speak English. I was under the impression that English was common in BKK but not so much in the rest of Thailand, but it seems to be pretty rare here! I'm okay with that, and with the ten or so Thai words and phrases that I know, a woman told me this morning that my Thai is very good. It must be a pretty low bar. I'm trying so hard to pick out words when I hear it spoken, and to translate characters as I see them, although I haven't studied those as much as I'd intended. C student in Thai... I will have to up my Thai game in Chiang Rai for sure.

BKK has some very distinct smells, mostly smoke from cooking fires and incense from the many Buddhist shrines all over the place. Sweet and kind of spicy. I love it. 

They don't over-AC buildings here! It's quite nice! Even just after a few days, 77 degrees in our room feels comfortable (bordering on chilly). I just ran an errand outside when it was probably in the mid-80s, and I thought "oh, I could run in this, if I stayed in the shade."

So far, I like it a lot. I can't say I love it yet... and here is why.

Kids ruin everything.

Our first day, we just hung out by the hotel pool and took naps to recover from the trip. That was fine. I did yoga by the pool under a tree that smelled like honey. Day two it was time to get out, so we went to the Chatuchak Market. It was awesome, in the true sense of the word.

They only quit complaining when we put something cold in their yappers.

I call this the Chatuchak Manicure. Heh. Hey, Germany friends: doesn't this remind you of Eurrailing?

But the thing about a place like that, which is a feast for all of the senses, is that you need to be able to take it all in. You need at least a moment to digest what you are seeing and smelling and so on. There was no such moment. It was nonstop bitching from the munchkins about the heat until we finally gave up. I should add that bitching kids = snapping adults. I spent the rest of the day with them back at the pool and Nick napped.

After that, we were a little gun-shy about doing anything that wasn't the pool. We decided to check out one of the famous malls here, but we went with the one closest to our hotel. Now, I was told about these malls, and I thought, "what, who cares, it's a mall." Just the word brings to mind same, same, same. And my friend Taya, who went on and on about the great shopping in BKK, is a trained fashion designer. She is also very thin, which broadens her options considerably. She was telling this to a frumpy, overworked, overweight suburban middle-aged mom (that'd be me) whose fashion sense boils down to stretchy and cheap. Old Navy, Target, ponytails; I've kind of given up. Shopping does not appeal to me, as a general rule.

WELL. My sincere apologies to Taya, because I was so, so wrong. This mall (not even considered one of the better ones!) was an absolute revelation. Even Nick wanted to shop, and this is a guy who calls to me, "pick me up a pair of 33/34s" when I'm heading out to Kohls. This place. It was full of tiny stores, and each one was -- I'm having a hard time describing it. Each one was its own thing, not a chain, but a wee individual boutique, and the clothes were all so unique. Almost like nothing I'd seen before. It was like an art show, but all actually wearable, not like weird high fashion-- and not expensive!

Whoops... Something got lost in translation there.

A typical store. Each had its own theme.

It made me realize what an incredibly narrow selection I've had almost my whole life. I left that mall starry-eyed, newly inspired to dress better, and of course drop some weight first. Protest all you want about what I look like; I'd at least like to be able to wear my wedding rings again. There are parts of my neck that touch other parts of my neck, and I'm not a fan of that sensation. Sigh. We all have our crosses to bear.

We left the mall and the kids immediately became mewling baby birds in the heat. I remembered finding this cool indoor playground for kids on the web a few months ago, so we hopped in a cab and went on a whim. It was incredible! Huge climbing structure, a track for bikes, a climbing wall! They had a place for the kids to make and decorate their own cookies.

We stayed for three hours, then... yep, came back to the pool.

Granted, it's a pretty nice pool.

Now I remember why I took this picture! THOSE EARS. 

So today is our fourth and last day in the Big Mango. We have not seen any temples. We have not seen the floating markets. We have not eaten a single bite of street food. We can't even take any tours by car because the girls start fighting in long taxi rides, oblivious to the crazy cool things going on outside the windows. I have managed to sneak out for a couple of massages, which were... you know, the A word again. But by and large, we've missed out on most of it. I am disappointed, but not mad; I mean, we do live here now, and Nick and I have already decided that we'll each make trips back by ourselves to see the cool stuff. We've seen enough of the city to feel like we could manage it on our own. It would be a cheap, easy weekend, but kind of a bummer since we won't be able to make memories together. Kids ruin everything.

My wilting flower

The silver lining to their suckage is that they are becoming closer to each other, which is really fun to watch, and one of our intended objectives. And I have to hand it to them, they're actually doing very well. I was twice their age when we moved to England-- a temperate, English-speaking country with few surprises-- and I was wretched about it. (Mom and Dad, I am so sorry.) At least if we stay poolside, they're happy.