Sunday, December 27, 2015
Settling In, Getting Dinner

I am in Bangkok. It seemed to take a long time to get here, and while I have often arrived in the middle of the night, there is familiarity to everything I am doing. The big question is will I get adjusted to the local time, and how difficult will it be?

I got to my room in the InterContinental Hotel, and the room is familiar, looking the same as last year, so much so, my first impression was that maybe I had the same room (but I did not). I showered, changed clothes, and was able to book a two-hour body scrub and massage in the spa at the hotel for 8:00. I made my way about a half mile to the Siam Parragon shopping center where there is a large food court on the lower level. With so many tourists in town and there being four or five adjacent upscale shopping centers, the whole area is crowded, inside and out.

After some looking and pondering the myriad of choices, I came upon the La Monita Taco Truck, a restaurant mimicking a  Los Angeles taco truck. I had eaten there last year at the end of my stay in Bangkok, and found the spicy chicken tacos to be good, so it seemed appropriate to have another go.

I ordered the same thing as last year, chips and salsa, spicy chicken tacos, and a Cola-Cola. Just as good as last year, and very satisfying after a very long day traveling.

The hotels in Thailand know where the tourists come from. The Thai people are 95% Buddhist, and do not celebrate Christmas, but in the areas where there are many tourists from the Americas and Europe, Christmas decorations are prevalent.

This is only a small part of the festive lighting outside the InterContinental Hotel.

This is looking down onto the very large Christmas tree in the main lobby. Really a striking and beautiful decoration. All along the shopping centers in the area are Christmas decorations and New Years countdown celebration areas, and colorful lights are everywhere.

I made my way back to the hotel, unpacked, and went to the spa. I fell asleep easily after that, hopefully easing into the time difference and the start of another adventure in Thailand.

Next: First Full Day – Revisiting Familiar Favorites