More Bang for our Buck.. Baht: Bangkok Edition

Last weekend was a three day weekend.. Happy 84th Birthday to King Bhumibol Adulydej!!  I decided to escape Khon Kaen life for three days and Emily and I ran away to Bangkok!  Here are some highlights and my favorite things of the weekend!

Of course I did a ton of googling before heading off to Bangkok this weekend, I LOVE the feeling of anticipation.  Indian food, Mexican food, Subway sandwich.. so many choices! But I was sold when I came across a review for Bangkok Bakery on CNN travel.  The first and only place in Bangkok (and in my opinion all of Thailand) that sells LEGIT New York style bagels! I LOVE bagels back home and I eat a lot of them and I didn't realize how much I'd miss a breakfast bagel after not having one for a year.  Emily and I stepped off the bus at 7am after an overnight ride from Khon Kaen, threw our bags down at the hostel, and made a stop at BKK Bakery.  We were both blown away with the assortment of bagels, cream cheese, and available sandwich options!  It took us some time to decide what we wanted our breakfast choice to be and I ultimately went with the cinnamon raisin bagel with blueberry cream cheese, I like it simple and sweet.  Our taste buds were left dancing, so much so that we went back a few days later to bring bagels back to Khon Kaen to hold us over until our Christmas break!  Emily is from New York so she has pretty high bagel standards and even she said they were amazing.  BKK Bakery is going to become a regular stop every time I go to BKK, I told the ladys that work there that I was a teacher in Khon Kaen, they asked me if I liked "som tam" or papaya salad as its a signature dish of the north east, and I'm hoping next time they remember me and give me a friendly discount.

 Soon after devouring our bagels, we rode the BTS to the Chatuchak Weekend Market for some Saturday shopping!  We got there pretty early since we had taken the overnight bus and we ended up spending ALL day there.  Chatuchuk is HUGE with rows and alleys filled with clothes, jewelry, home-decor, pets, furniture, toys, food, EVERYTHING and if you find something you want to get, you better get it right then and there because chances of being able to find the same stand once you leave to find a better deal for the same item is very slim. I've now become very confidant in my Thai bargaining skills so I went a little hog-wild on the shopping front.  I tried to focus on gifts for friends and family, but of course at the end of the day my backpack was more full of random things for myself.. did I really need to buy ANOTHER tie-dye tank top and dress? Not exactly but I bargained for them therefor had to buy them!  Its the third time I've been to the market so I had an idea ahead of time what to keep my eyes open for and still walked away with much more than I planned.  Of course shopping all day in the sun, heat, and humidity gets us hungry and my ultimate favorite snack at the market are these darn chocolate covered frozen bananas dipped in sprinkles or peanuts. I think I could eat one of these everyday for the rest of my life.  Of course I introduced Emily to its amazingness and now shes hooked as well.  We're already planning our next BKK trip just for the bagels and frozen market bananas. And I need to do some more shopping.

Khao San Rd.. I hate that I love it so much. A single street filled with street food, over priced drinks, clothes and trinkets you never need to buy, and backpackers from around the world.. whats not to love? It's almost like an Asia-fyed mini version of the Vegas strip but Khao San has lady boys yelling "MAAAAASSAGE" at you for 300 baht (10 dollars), pools with those little fish that eat dead skin of feet (often free when you buy a drink), is lined with tuk-tuk drivers, and no high classy dress code.  Our original plan was to see the new Twilight movie on our last night in BKK but we quickly ditched that idea for another night out on Khao San.  We were able to meet up with my friend Katie that lives near Bangkok, I met Katie through Jenna as they taught at the same school.  Katie, like me, came in October 2010 and extended to stay longer but she was originally only supposed to stay 5 months.. 14 months later shes still here!  We're two of the few left in BKK that came last October so it was awesome to see her to swap recent traveling stories and talk about our outlook on life in our towns now that we've veterans.  Emily and I spent both evenings running around Khao San club dancing, mingling with other travelers, and staying out until sunrise.

Had a great time in BKK.. mission accomplished!