Western World in the East

After over four months in India I am on my way back to Los Angeles (for few months at least). On the way back I decided to join my friend Michelle for the second half of her two week trip to Thailand. I spent two days in Delhi - which really turned out to be two days in the office in Gurgaon a suburb of Delhi since I was still working the night shift. Then on June 2, I took an afternoon flight to Bangkok.

View from the top of the Golden Mountain

In a shopping mall in Bangkok. Really?

It was kind of surreal arriving in Bangkok. I took a taxi from the airport to the hotel to meet Michelle and Elisia (was leaving two days later, today). That ride was the most "western" civilization I have seen since arriving in India. I'm sure there are parts of the big cities in India that have these places, but the high rises, fluorescent lights, traffic sort of following rules (they at least stopped at most of the stop lights and didn't make up too many unmarked lanes), fairly clean, and not nearly as much construction.

Grand Palace

We spent my first day touring around Bangkok, stopping at several temples, visiting the exotic center (more on that later), the grand palace, the golden mountain, and eating street food. It was a great day, a bit bizarre to see the clash of the old east and the new west. Then there was the constant asking of where we were from. I would say America and immediately whomever was asking would look at Elisia and Michelle expecting a different answer. By the time I joined the trip they had given up trying to explain they were also from America, instead they said they were from Hong Kong. At that point it was commented how good their "American" was.

Wat Pho, Reclining Buddha (46 meters long X 15 meters high)

My last night in Bangkok, Michelle and I went to the Tawandang German Brewery. This was quite an experience. A German Brewery in Thailand and this is not even close to what I would start to imagine. It was again a mash of west and east. There were only three beer options - a weizen, a lager, and an ale - and maybe a handful of "German" dishes like sausages and potatoes, the rest wast most definitely Thai. Most of the patrons were Thai and all the staff that I saw were Thai. Then there was the entertainment. It sort of sounded like karaoke at first then came our first sequined woman singing Single Ladies and many other songs. She was followed by many other fabulous performances that I tried to capture with the pictures below. Michelle and I just sat looking at each other not knowing what to say. This is definitely a do not miss in Bangkok.