July 17—Old Bangkok Haunts, Old Mysteries, and Old Tunes

Dear Family and Friends,

Tuesday, July 17, Martha and Dani were out the door by 1 PM. Today, Martha gave Dani a break from her job as ‘team planner’ and led the way, taking our duo uptown on Bus 77 (we have somehow forgiven it our late-night jaunt up North from the other day) to Th Silom and then we walked North towards the Siam Square district of Bangkok. The first shopping center in Bangkok built in 1976, Siam Square is a mighty posh neighborhood these days, full of modern, stylish stands and shopping youth, and located next to the National Stadium and the SkyTrain. Back when Martha and Capt’n stayed in this section of Bangkok for a few days eight years ago, it seemed to be a quieter part of town with some good shopping and tailor shops, but not quite the mecca of modern style that she found here today!

Martha enjoyed walking the roads of Siam Square with Dani this time, recognizing the restaurant where she and her grandfather first had a proper Thai meal together after their long day’s journey from Malaysia to Bangkok in July 1999. It is no longer a Thai restaurant, though, now offering Chinese cuisine, but still standing beneath the towering Hard Rock Café next door. The Siam Square district is a wonderful treat to the eyes (and camera), with decorative and inventive window displays as one might expect in a big city’s fashion district. Two of our favorite views were of a Hello Kitty head with the body of a super model and the new foot underwear designed to protect feet wearing flip flops and, well, designed to look like undies. We also happened upon a restaurant with an interesting red rabid-pig–looking icon riding in on a boat. When we came across a second of these noodle shops, we stopped for lunch, thinking that it must be a popular hot spot (especially since there was a crowd of locals inside).

This was Dani’s least favorite meal so far, comprising a sauce common to the Northeast section of Thailand that had a flavor she did not enjoy at all. She later pin-pointed it during a cooking class as a ground, roasted sticky rice concoction that she will have to avoid henceforth. As she first tasted her glass noodle and pork dish, she questioned whether it was edible, of course making Martha take a big bite to test it out. Martha’s ‘spicy beef’ dish had a similar flavor, but not quite as strong, and she did not mind it, especially since it surely was spicy! Her iced coffee really hit the spot to cool the fires that burned our faces off. Martha’s incessant need to add chili spices and other hotter additives to her meals might account for some of the pain she experienced today!

Back out into the streets, we encountered a woman who questioned us about our adventures, and invited us into her tailor shop down the street. A security guard called after us, calling Martha ‘Mister,’ which she has taken to cold-heartedly ignoring on all occasions, since they couldn’t be talking with her, anyway. Dani was caught by the security guard as he said, “I’m security guard. Where you from?” But it was just a ploy to chit chat, which Dani did for a moment before she got out of the clutches of his superiority complex.

We crossed the street, past another construction zone, and down Soi Kasem San 1, where the Wendy House lies that Martha and Capt’n Harry stayed in ever so long ago. The Wendy House is doing well, it seems. The small downstairs area has expanded into the next shop to include Internet access and a larger café space. Next door is the Wendy Laundry, which I don’t recall existing back in the day, but certainly ‘Wendy’ has been doing well for herself.

Trying to get out off of the street, Martha stubbed her toes, continuing to show her clumsy tendencies. We took some moments to photograph the hanging orchids, growing from planters attached to the trunks of trees, and the elephant-shaped greenery along the street. (The picture to the left is Dani being attacked by a herd of elephant greenery! SCARY!)

As we turned to explore the next street over, Soi Kasem San 2, we found one of the tourist locations that Martha had added to her ‘while in Bangkok’ list:

Jim Thompson House Museum. Jim Thompson is an American designer/architect well-respected in Thailand for internationalizing and reinvigorating the Thai silk trade in the 20th century. He made his home in Bangkok, an architectural mixture of Thai and Western styles: so it had indoor plumbing, stairways indoors, a dining table that was off the floor, and several buildings linked together that might otherwise of been single-standing structures. He was also a talented art collector of cotton-canvas Thai paintings and Buddhist sculpture (although he remained a Christian during his life in Thailand).

We took the afternoon tour for 100 baht each, and it was worth every penny. Before and after the tour, we enjoyed the lush gardens of the grounds, full of interesting hanging flowerlife, potted orchids and pools of water with opened lotus flowers, and the buildings that housed some more of Thompson’s artwork and china collections. The English-speaking guide shared the history of many of the objects of art as well as the architectural peculiarities of the structure itself. We got to enjoy Thai china in traditional colors of black, red, green, yellow, and blue; lamps made of converted drums; and an extremely ornate mouse house, complete with a little plastic mouse to show off its intended purpose. Dani LOVED the mouse house with its intricate apartment-style complex only slightly reminiscent of modern-day hamster villages. The guide described it as ‘old-time television for children.’ It really was a good tour.

Perhaps most interesting in the tour was hearing about the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Jim Thompson. Apparently, Mr. Thompson followed some of the superstitions of ancient (and current) time, having a horoscope reading to determine when he would move into his home after its construction, for example. He also had a horoscope done that warned him of future danger—since he was born in the Year of the Horse, he would come into trouble in his 61st year. Then, while on vacation in Malaysia in 1967, his 61st year of life, Jim Thompson disappeared, leaving behind his cigarettes and a small silver ‘jungle box.’ He has never been heard from again, and his disappearance is a great mystery in SE Asia. Dun dun DUN!!!

We wandered through the Jim Thompson Silk Shop, enjoying the feeling of refined cloth and appreciating the brilliant colors and detailed designs on handbags, shirts, scarves, and pillow cases. From there, we walked back into the street as the day’s monsoon was gaining strength. By the time we had rounded the corner, the winds were ferocious; Martha had part of her 60 baht ($2) umbrella break, bending forward from the strength of the blast. We stopped beneath the overhang of a local bar, which was kind enough to invite us in, but we declined, content to watch the raindrops. Eventually bored, we trudged onward, stopping at the local Tesco to check out a replacement pitcher for the one lent to our apartment by Chom’s mom (which Dani mistakenly shattered within our first week at the apartment … DOH!). We did not find any with the ornate ‘pineapple’ decoration of the original, but did find some decent glass pitchers to at least provide SOME replacement; however, we opted to keep looking for something more ornate and headed back out into the drizzle to find dinner.

Walking towards home, we found a corner with several outdoor-stand eateries, and our meals were perhaps the best yet: simple, spicy, and topped with just a wee bit of pepper. One gentleman beckoned us to the cooler, lifting the lid and allowing us to pick our meat preference. Dani chose shrimp while Martha opted for the chicken-looking meat. Next, the cook lady said, “rice?” and, with vigorous nods, we were set for our meal! It was a delightful mix of the meat, rice, egg, peppers, cucumbers, and a squeeze of lime for good measure. A bottle of Singha beer from the stand across the street to wash down the heat of the dish (mostly caused by Martha’s addition of chili powder, of course) made the meal just about perfect!

Headed South once again, our day was not quite over as we decided to find Thai Lesson Number II at another karaoke bar! The décor in this particular pub was unexpected, with Native American head-dresses, cowboy hats of South American style, and Bob Marley posters. A gentleman named ‘Cop’ sat down with us (an ironic name for a man wearing his particular t-shirt), talking in pretty darn good English about his small village near Nong Khai in the Northeast of Thailand and his routine trade-delivery trips to Bangkok. The owner, a man named Sascha who collected the items that adorned the 12-table room, joined us, as well, and soon he and Cop were taking turns singing songs for us by a group called ‘Carabou’ (prounced ‘Cara-baou’), with a lead singer known as the ‘Bob Dylan of Thailand.’ (Although he has dropped out of favor with some as he's become more self-promotional, 'selling out' by becoming a spokesman for an energy beverage!) Martha botched a rendition of ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles, handing the microphone to Dani to help her out. By the end of the evening, we had been having a stellar time, and Cop and Sascha were wonderful to make sure that we enjoyed ourselves, even getting us a plate of eggs topped with onions, peppers and lime juice (another DELICIOUS concoction) to make sure that the Thai whiskey we’d been enjoying did not make for trouble in the morning! Of course, it did not, especially with the long walk home thereafter to say goodnight to Sheila and head to bed!

Much love,

Martha and Dani