Taking the Big Break

We have been bombarded by tuk-tuk drivers and eaten sweet baked sticky rice with bananas inside. That day was our first day in South-East Asia.

At the beginning of the day, our bed and breakfast served us a tasty breakfast. The night before we chose a few interesting dishes to share. We shared every one and liked them, though we all thought they were very small portions. Then we went out. We collected some Baht (the name of Thailand’s money) and decided to walk around.

We found a fruit vendor and asked her for some pineapple chunks. She gave us some for 15 Baht. (31 Baht = 1 Dollar) They were good. We ate them by stabbing them with a skewer and popping them in our mouths. Then we went to an electronics store to buy a calculator to convert Baht to Dollars so we could track how much we were spending. After that, we found a sticky rice with mango shop! Yeah!

Next, we got some in a plastic package but before we ate them, we decided to eat lunch at a close restaurant. It was very good and quite authentic-tasting. Then we found a park next to the river and ate our dessert. As we looked at the river, we realized that it was a couple feet higher than normal. We thought that it was from the wet season rain. We walked next to the river and ran into a few boat docks.  After that we headed for the hotel.

Part of the long mural

Grand Palace, Bangkok

Today, we went to the Grand Palace and viewed all the gold and jewels.  We also saw a looooong mural.   We visited a big Emerald Buddha.  He changes clothes for the hot season, the rainy season, and the cold season.  The king himself changes the Buddha’s outfit for each season.

Grand Palace

Garuda (Half Man-Half Bird) Mythical God.

We had lunch and then got a massage at our hotel.  It was a nice foot massage.  My dad got a special Thai massage.

So far, I have loved SE Asia.  It is very different from America or Japan.   It is less safe but more fun and adventurous.