The 'Rents Come to Thailand

   After months of anticipation and a bit of personal anxiety (i.e. Calvinist cleaning injury) my folks arrived in-country on January 21st. In preparation for their visit, I constructed a Master PDF schedule which dictated what we would do on a daily basis. This PDF went through an evolution of editing until, finally, a few days before they touched down I gave up on making it perfect and crossed my fingers in hopes of an incident-free and enjoyable visit for them.


My Biggest Fears:
--They would be bored.
--They would get ill.
--They would question why I liked Thailand so much.
--My Thai skills would miraculously vanish the night before they arrived.
--One of them would, in one of my contrived adventures, physically injure themselves.


My Best Aspirations:
--To keep them happy, well-fed and enjoying our day-day activities.
--To get them to test their limits gastronomically, physically, and mentally.
--To make them fall in love with Thailand so that when I, inevitably, return here (for vacation, my wedding or to accept a job offer) they wouldn’t cringe.


   I think we did pretty well. In the next post I’ll highlight the most humorous moments but, for now, I’ll outline our actual schedule. I successfully and continuously ran them around this country for 18 straight days. Mission Accomplished.


Day 1
--1 hour Foot Massage
--Jim Thompson 
--Bangkok Art and Culture Center (scandalous princes show)
--Pad Thai on Pradiphat Rd.

Day 2
--Birthday Blessing at Wat Soi Thong
--First Tuk Tuk Ride from Wat to River
--River Taxi to Brunch
--Royal Orchid Sheraton Buffet
--RedSky with Friends for Cocktails
--Somerset for DQ Cake with a Full Red Moon Rising

Day 3
--Mahidol Tour
--Lunch with labmates
--Golden Mount (Wat Saket)
--Ban Baht Bowl Making Community
--Ordered in Thai Food 

Day 4
--Morning Buddha Casting at Mahidol
--Grand Palace
--Temple of the Emerald Buddha
--Amulet Market
--Way Pho
--Massages on Sukimvit Soi 16
--Happy Hour Drinks at Long Table
--Dinner at The Deck with Wesley and his Mother

Day 5
--Central World
--Mad About Juice Smoothies
--Paragon Window Shopping
--Bus Ticket Acquisition
--Left on a bus for Lampang

Day 6
--Arrived in Lampang at 4:30am
--Song Teauw to Guesthouse
--Slept in
--Breakfast at Guesthouse
--Walked along river to several temples, old mansion
--Went to train station, Walked the main streets
--Dinner at Riverside Restaurant

Day 7
--Elephant Conservation Center Mahout Training Day
--Slowest Taxi in Thailand
--Mom and I got out with Dr. Nirund via horse drawn carriage to nicest restaurant in Lampang... he is such a gracious host. 

Day 8
--Leisurely Breakfast
--11am Train to Change Mai
--Taxi to Mountainview Guesthouse
--2 hour full body Thai massages
--Dinner in the street

Day 9
--Walking around Old City
--Women's Correctional Facility  restaurant for lunch
--Mom and I go to Chedi Luang
--Walking Street in the evening

Day 10
--Doi Suthep Temple
--Dad gets Acupuncture
--Mom and I get massages
--Dinner Cruise from Riverside Restaurant
--Night Bazaar

Day 11
--Mega-crazy day trip to Hot Springs, Chiang Rai, White Temple, Golden Triangle, Boat to Laos, Mae Sai, Burmese Border, Akha Village

Day 12
--Antique Shopping
--Chinatown
--Lunch at a Soi Kitchen
--Go see The Tourist
--Swensens Ice Cream for Dinner

Day 13
--Alms rounds at Kru Bah Shrine
--Breakfast at Guesthouse
--Silk Factory
--Gems Gallery Visit
--Umbrella Factory
--Packed up
--Massages
--Left for Ayutthaya
--(Horrible disco bus with no shocks, bitch hostess, highway drop off)

Day 14
--Arrive Ayutthaya 4:00 am
--Ayutthaya Tuk Tuk to Promtong Guesthouse
--Slept in, Had Breakfast
--Biked around Old City
--Temples and Gigantic Buddha
--Dinner on River

Day 15
--SACICT
--Afternoon train back to BKK
--Dinner at Cabbages and Condoms with Martin

Day 16
--Chatuchak Market in the morning
--Massages at favorite massage parlor
--Big C run
--Dinner at The Deck with Martin
--Pak Klong Talad

Day 17
--Jim Thompson Outlet
--Lumphini Park
--Picnic in Park
--EatMe photography Exhibit 
--Happy hour at Long Table with Martin
--Drag show with Mom, Ryan, Wesley

Day 18
--Last Day
--Packing, Leisurely Breakfast
--Trip to Chinatown
--Wandering wet markets in Chinatown
--Visit to Temple with largest solid gold buddha
--Dinner Pad Thai on Pradiphat 
--Massages (Full Circle from first day)




Whew! Makes me exhausted just looking at it ;)