We
weren’t scheduled to leave port until late afternoon and we had no plans,
so we decided to take the shuttle van to a very smallish mall with a very large store
(Lotus) inside. It always tickles me how souped up some of the Asian buses and vans are.
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ceiling inside the shuttle van
I guess the most
interesting thing to me was seeing fast food chains that we recognize from the US, but with very different menus. Durian “the king of
fruits” (and the worst smelling I might add) shows up in just about everything. How about
a durian Dunkin Donut? Or a durian DQ blizzard? I feel pretty
certain one has to grow up eating durian to develop a taste for it. And yes, I actually tried durian ice cream when we were in Indonesia, thinking "how bad can it be"? One bite and it went straight into the trash can. It can't even hide in ice cream!
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| DQ has a durian blizzard |
durian flavored Dunkin Donuts
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| Ronald offers a Thailand's wai greeting |
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| Brown Sugar bubble tea |
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| Thai milk bubble tea - yum yum! |
We wandered around in the Lotus store grocery section and I snapped a few photos there. One thing I'm always amazed at is the amount of cooking oil sold in Asian supermarkets. Lots of frying goes on here! Anyway, we bought a few items that we needed, then headed back to the ship.
I’ll post a few photos I snapped – nothing too exciting today, but sometimes we just need a “down day" so we can just kick back a little. Speaking of kicking back, I took a much needed 2.5 hour nap this afternoon!
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cooking oil is "king" as well!
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| cooking oil goes the entire length of this aisle, and across the back of the store as well |
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| from here all the way to the end |
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| colorful Lotus store display |
The rest of the photos were taken from our balcony as we were leaving port in Bangkok. The houses on the water offer a stark contrast to the huge skyscrapers in the distance. The sun was setting as we sailed away from port and the lens of my camera did something (?) strange that caused a cool rainbow effect around the sun.
Tonight we saild to Cambodia.
colorful boats along Chao Phraya River
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one of 40,000 Buddhist temples in Bangkok
temple after temple
view from our balcony across Chao Phraya River
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sailing under Bhumibol Bridge
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| cool sunset leaving Bangkok |
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| goodbye, Bangkok |
Bharberts: I am shocked at the haze of pollution in Bangkok. That must be hard on the lungs! Thanks for the Durian ice cream and donut pics. I don't think durian tastes that bad. It just stinks so bad...so I have eaten it several times just as fruit, but never within a dessert. The Thai Monthong is the mildest variety, and it tastes pretty good. In Singapore and Hong Kong, they like the Musang King or Queen varieties, which really stink. Eating durian is hard for people - like stinky cheese is hard for some. You can actually find it freeze dried in some Houston Asian markets!
ReplyDeleteInteresting how your bus looked like a casino's ceiling. In Okinawa, my neighbor thought I was strange because I decorated my apartment but left my car "unadorned" as he said. He had a dash and all the windows adorned with Buddhas and Kitties and lace curtains and fancy tassels like Arabs have on camels. You need to devise a way to adorn Ronnie's vehicle when you get home. Have you been able to find toiletries and incidental items in the malls and stores? I hope you get to stop at Kampot in Cambodia. A friend brought me some of the best pepper from a pepper plantation there. I think Cambodia is known for a variety of spices in case you go to a market. I loved the row of oil. I am sure they have rice like that too. What a fun day!
Interesting comments! I only tried durian once and that was in Indonesia. I can’t remember ever trying a fruit I didn’t like except that one. And even in ice cream it was baaad! I didn’t know there were different types but the minute we walked into the market, my nose told me it was there. Ha! Monthong was what they had in Bangkok (saw the sign). I didn’t know they freeze dried it but that would be the only way they could ship it. Funny about your neighbor wondering why you left your car unadorned! Yes, all the buses have dashes covered in some kind of fake fur or padded fabric with buddhas and stuff decorating the top and stuff hanging off the mirrors, also “drapery” window coverings with fringes along the edges. Re: market, we didn’t see a fraction of what was there but I heard one woman asking the guide about peppercorns. I’m not sure my Penang nutmeg and Madagascar vanilla beans won’t get confiscated going thru security. Re: toiletries – I learned from our time in Indonesia to carry everything I need with me. Ronnie has been able to find mouthwash and toothpaste, but the Optic White he always uses is BLACK here!?! But same flavor. Go figure…
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