There were two great things to be had during this stay at Eastin Grand Hotel Sathorn.
First thing was the breakfast.
Next was the swimming pool.
I've always thought that breakfast buffets at hotels were standardised, and in a sense, yes, most of them are, and were.
But rare is it, I tell you, that a hotel's offering can have me taking more of foods that I usually will take, and go for foods that I usually will not.
It's no surprise, for instance, that I will go for something like stir-fried flat rice noodles and although I have no idea why I took such a tiny portion (maybe because of the full-sized omelet that I'd already ordered from the egg station) it turned out to be more than enough for me, and by the time I finished the entire plate, I was feeling rather full.
That didn't stop me from taking a bowl of hot soy milk with fried dough fritters.
That didn't stop me from taking a bowl of Greek yogurt with raisins, pumpkin seeds and honey either.
Up it was to the pool I went after breakfast where I spent (gladly) almost an hour doing absolutely nothing but enjoying the calm blue (chlorinated) waters and the gorgeous high-level view.
In the late morning I headed out to EmSquare.
It wasn't planned- I was actually just walking along South Sathorn Road with no real goal in mind except maybe to find the building where Google Maps said the TOPS supermarket was.
As it so happened the supermarket was in the basement of Empire Tower and what with it being the lunch hour (on a Friday) in I plunged with the hordes of young adult office workers milling about the shopping mall with their colleagues in groups here and there.
I found it interesting that lunchtime behaviors amongst office workers tend to be the same almost everywhere.
It didn't matter what the office dress code was.
It didn't matter what language they were speaking.
Here were groups of them holding iced drinks of all varieties in their hands. There were those sipping on iced coffee, there were those with colorful fruit drinks, there were those holding cups of what looked like matcha, and there were those with boba.
At a dessert place people milled around the counter waiting for a seat where they could savor a soft serve ice cream dessert before returning to the office.
Then at the center atrium a sort of pop up event was going on with booths offering office-ready clothes, office-ready shoes, good-priced snacks, and even little bags.
I mean, all this could have been happening anywhere- in any business district, in any financial district- in any major city, and here it was, at a shopping mall close to the Bangkok Christian College, close to a church, close to a hospital (St. Louis) and all these other skyscrapers up and down the road.
Maybe that's why there was a TOPS there, and maybe that's why it was one of the better stocked ones.
Because people do buy groceries during their lunch hour.
And some of them will want to stock up on fruits and protein shakes and nuts and cookies and coffee.
After wandering a bit I headed off to Silom Complex where I did a spot of lunch and some shopping and then decided that since I was in the area and since I had time, better I drop by the Sathorn Nakhon Tower at Chong Nonsi BTS Station.
It was my plan that this be a more restful day.
And indeed a restful day it was.
After a bit of a breather at the Starbucks in Sathorn Nakhorn Tower, back I went to the room for a rest and some writing, and only was it in the late evening that I went out again- this time to Central World's SF Cinema on the 7th floor where I had the most exquisite movie experience ever.
It wasn't the movie itself that made it special.
(Furiosa: Mad Max would have been the same anywhere)
But it was the company.
Because blessed is one who has a Hedgehog that remembers you wanting to try the Bed Cinema where you watch your movie on a king-sized bed with pillows and blankets and bedroom slippers, all the while lying back comfortably sprawled out next to each other with unlimited bags of popcorn and soda nestled in between.
I had a lot of paprika.
And now I'm wondering why in the glorious high heavens I didn't take more of the sweet.