Hello Kitty....uh...I mean Hello Bangkok!

Greetings fellow travelers....Moon and I made it to Bangkok after a grueling 47 hour flight from Seattle....truth be told...it was only 19 hours...it just felt like 47.  We hailed a taxi at the airport and off to the races we went, white knuckles and all.  All drivers in Bangkok would like to drive NASCAR...our driver had a picture of Dale Earnhart next the tiny shrine he had built on the middle of the dashboard..an offering, I hoped, that would keep us all safe.  Bingo, we arrived at the hotel in record time...in one piece. It's good to be back in Bangkok.  

Wrapped in a sweater and overcoat and wearing long wool pants in the middle of Las Vegas Blvd in the middle of August is how it feels when you pop out of the taxi in downtown Bangkok. At first it feels all warm and humid, then you think...."my...it's warm"...a small bit of perspiration pops out on your forehead...the next thing you know it's shower-time.  Good thing the human body adjusts...after a few days it doesn't feel like you just climbed out of the pool with all your clothes on.  

We're staying in a hotel by the Chao Praya River.  Interesting to watch how busy the river is with it's tugs pulling barges, ferries, water taxis, dinner boats, tour boats, small fishing boats, Coast Guard, and rowboats of every type, color, and size. Taking the ferry during the day is the easiest way to get around and offers a front row seat to all the action on the river. In the evening it's a great way to see the lights of the city and stay cool.

Hello Kitty is very popular here.  Our airline, EVA, has a Hello Kitty painted plane we saw land at the airport.  Hello Kitty shops exist in the deepest darkest side streets of shopping areas and in the most expensive shopping malls. At first I didn't get it...I wondered..how is it possible that people...I should say women...buy almost any item with a pink kitty on it which are outrageously  
overpriced...a phenomena that sends young girls giggling and middle aged women to proudly show off their new purses?  But then I thought of my last trip to Stugis Bike Week...a half a million bikers, most were guys, wearing Harley Davidson T-shirts and every other thing with the Harley logo on it...then I started to understand.  

Moon and I don't eat here....we graze from one food cart to another.  The food in the restaurants is all very tasty...but the street food is to die for and is so inexpensive it's funny.  I don't always know what I'm eating...but, hey, if it taste good, what the heck.  I purchased an Indian Roji yesterday...a cross between a crepe and silly putty.  A small piece of sticky batter about half the size of a golf ball is stretched out like a large pizza...only paper thin...on a round griddle.  An egg and banana mixture is spread over the dough where it starts to bubble up like a small balloon and is then folded into a square and finished off on the grill.   It's cut up into squares with a slightly sweet creamy topping sprinkled over the top...it was so good I ordered another one. Yum.

All for now, but more later.  Ed