Lunch & the Park

lunch spot, originally uploaded by Dianthus.

Ah…another sunny day in Bangkok! D had asked me if I would come meet for lunch again, which I readily agreed to, envisioning another delicious (and spicy) meal in my future. I spent the morning around the hotel. Both D and I have developed a somewhat irritating cough, so I welcomed the chance to take it a bit easy. As noon approached, I headed out for her office determined to take the shortcut again. This time I found the blue tiles and the basketball hoop! I waited outside D’s building and watched the traffic and people go by. D asked me if I wanted to try the small shop-front lunch place that she had pointed out to me yesterday (co-workers have taken her on previous visits). I was excited to try, after hearing about these 75-cent lunches. We walked up to the case to check out the day’s offerings. One of the women working there came around and gave us the run down on what the different items were. We could choose two items. Both D and I settled on a spicy chicken dish and some kind of green vegetable combo (I recognized celery and that was about it) with a scoop of rice. We sat down at one of the sidewalk tables and other woman brought us over a small bowl of soup. Everything was delicious! The chicken wasn’t too spicy and the soup was so flavorful! It was some kind of chicken broth with potato-esque pieces floating in it. We finished up and D got up to pay the check (and a group was sharking for our seats). When she came back, she told me that the total was 50 baht….for the two of us…when I plug that into the currency converter that is about $1.40…for two lunches.
After our bargain lunch, we walked around for a bit. Lunchtime in Bangkok is pretty amazing. It’s a tapestry of street vendors selling a variety of food and drink, and impromptu sidewalk cafes filled with people.
I had decided earlier that I would satisfy my inner landscape nerd and head over to Lumphini Park after lunch. I picked up some water and set off. Lumphini Park (named after the birthplace of Buddha, my guidebooks tell me) is off one of the major roads in Bangkok. I had really hoped that there was a way over the road via a pedestrian walkway or something. No such luck. I was going to have to cross the 8+ lanes of insane Bangkok traffic. I waited at one of the crosswalks, and thankfully another couple came and waited too. Power in numbers! Finally it was our turn to cross and we made it without incident. The park is what I would consider a classic big-city park, with lots of lawn and trees, formal plantings, and pavilions (with some cool Thai architecture) scattered about. There are also two lakes inside the park, with the larger having paddleboat and canoe rentals. I walked the path along the larger lake, stopping once to sit and enjoy the views. Lots of people were lounging around and having picnics. I walked the remainder of the lake, and headed back to the hotel to cool off. When D returned from work, we were both feeling like a chill evening so we headed back to the Italian restaurant for dinner.

Pictures from the park are here:
Lumphini Park