Next stop - Thailand

It's our first day in Bangkok and we're settling into our new surroundings at a privately owned condo. I'm relatively adventurous when it comes to lunch and dinner, but not so much for breakfast. I was disheartened as I made my way to the street early this morning with John and first spied a street vendor cooking whole fish - for the breakfast crowd presumably. I next went into the local convenience store to find that the coffee on offer consisted of hot water with packs of instant Nescafé. This wouldn't do. But I felt better later on when Catheleen and I strolled a while down the street to find a bakery serving banana bread and coconut flavoured treats, and a street vendor who made us fresh coffee with her espresso machine. Problem solved for breakfast.

We enjoyed the morning pool-side along the Chao Phraya river. The kids skipped their Woboba balls across the pool, and Catheleen and I watched the boats pass to and fro along this slow moving river. In the afternoon we walked around to the local water taxi launch and park to check out our surroundings. The locals at the park were playing sports unknown to me. Young men were playing a vigorous game of volleyball using a small ball and their feet only, and executing over-the-head spike shots. Some older gentlemen were playing a game where they stand in a circle and use their feet and elbows to keep the ball off the ground while trying to get the ball in a net about eight feet in the air. At the end of the park the ladies were engaged in stretching and some form of calisthenics.

In the evening the kids wanted to stay put in the cool condo so Catheleen and I ventured out via water taxi on the river to the flower market. This wholesale flower market stretches for blocks in all directions and is a remarkable spectacle for the eyes. It's also more pleasant for the nose than the fish market in Japan we visited recently. A lot of the flowers are assembled in colourful displays and strands, and much of it is sold off for use in temples and shines.

Here's a picture of Catheleen at the flower market.