Restful Day

Sydney slept in this morning and insisted that we spend the morning in our room playing with her new toys and watching her new Elmo DVD. I was happy to accommodate because I didn't sleep well last night.

I'm feeling a bit of anxiety about the big move back. There is so much to do. I almost cancelled this trip to Bangkok but it is our last trip in Asia for a while and I didn't want to miss the opportunity when it would be an easy flight. And I'm glad that we came -- I really love Bangkok. Whenever things feel overwhelming, I make lists and getting organized always makes the mountain seem like a molehill. My tenants, who had previously indicated that they couldn't move out until June 7th, notified me yesterday that they will move out on May 31st so I'll be able to move into my house on June 1st. YEA!!! I'm taking the week of June 2nd off so it will give me a much needed week to get settled. So while Sydney spent the afternoon running around the hotel room, I made lists and was able to breathe a little easier.

We left the hotel to go to lunch at Shin Daikuko, a Japanese restaurant. It was a disappointing lunch -- the sushi was uninspiring and the shrimp tempura tasted bland. This was the first meal that I've ever seen Sydney turn away from. We went to the Emporium mall after lunch and Sydney snacked at the food court. We went to the mall mostly so that Sydney could run around in an air conditioned place. But of course, she fell asleep shortly after we arrived at the mall so I had nothing to do but shop. And shop I did. Then we picked up some lemon herbed chicken and fries for dinner at the hotel tonight.

For those who are planning a trip to Bangkok, here are a couple of survival tips. There are a lot of mosquitos here. Even though I doused Sydney in mosquito repellent, she still got bit twice. Not all taxis go to all locations. I can't tell whether they are restricted to certain zones or they just didn't like the way we looked. Most of the taxi drivers know a little English, although you will need to provide the driver with the name and address of where you want to go in Thai. The malls here are really amazing. Each floor is dedicated to a target shopper -- a floor of all things for men, one for women, one for kids, etc. It's very convenient. And all malls have taxi lines.

Thai people are one of the nicest, friendliest people that I've been around. They are so pleasant, which is no small feat in this heat and traffic congestion. Sydney is getting a lot of attention here and she is hamming it up for her audience. One of our taxi drivers today was 1/2 Vietnamese and 1/2 Chinese. When he learned that we were Vietnamese, he called his Vietnamese mom on his mobile phone to talk to me. She seems like a very nice woman from our short conversation.