(Ace writes) On the morning that we left Mandalay, Myanmar, Penny said, “its sad when you find yourself looking forward to airplane food.” We never managed to break in to the Mandalay food scene. On one of our last attempts to eat there, we consulted Lonely Planet and went around to some of their top recommendations (non-street food) only to find Sizzler-quality diners or places that didn’t have any vegetarian options. We arrived safely in Bangkok, and immediately went out to eat.
(Penny writes) We were grateful to celebrate the New Year together in a now (somewhat) familiar place. We are at a different hotel from last time that has AWESOME internet services and wonderful guest services. I printed everything I need to leave for Vietnam today and then we took off hunting for some decent food and were not disappointed.
Last night for New Years Eve, we went downtown to the Paragon Mall (imagine blocks and blocks of familiar stores like Aveda and H&M) and a Times Square feel with all kinds of giant tv screens and lighting. We went to see Star Wars at their 1000+ seat (plush leather reclining comfy seats no less) and big screen theater (an experience itself). I enjoyed that they had 3 different versions of “gourmet popcorn” although the plain/original was the best in my opinion.
(Ace writes) We got out of the movie around 9pm and decided to find the tallest building around and get to the top. We walked until around a corner we spotted a really cool futuristic-looking skyscraper with a spiral band of light wrapped around the outside that kept changing colors. The very top few floors of it were all lit up and made of arched glass. It was close, but not too close, so we had to wind our way around through temples and chanting groups and gated alleyways until we got to the bottom.
(Penny writes) We spent the midnight hours at a restaurant in a high rise over looking the downtown area. You needed reservations for floors 43 through 55, so we settled on a restaurant on floor 23 with a still nice view of the fireworks. We had a banana split and I drank a diet coke to stay awake and we wrote a list of New Years goals. Well, one goal really, we’re going to get a dog when Ace gets home and our goal is to learn how best to train and love and spoil the newest member of our family once s/he comes!!!!!!
There wasn’t the usual drunkenness and debauchery that I’d expect to see on NYE, although Khao San Road (the tourist area) today had some evidence of party aftermath when we went looking for souvenirs today.
(Ace writes): The fireworks were great. Much bigger, more varied and colorful than the ones we’re used to. They seemed to be happening all over the city (we were in a pretty central location for viewing). However, they only lasted about 15 minutes as opposed to all night long. The best ones seemed to be coming from the Sukhumvit area which I plan to do some exploring of this coming week. When the fireworks ended we started trying to walk back to the hotel (an hour walk approx), but the crowds were really dense, so we flagged a tuk tuk and got home by around 1pm.
