There are very few pictures that I have of my time here today.
Maybe because I happened to be at places where it didn't very convenient to take pictures, or that I'd been to places where I'd previously been before.
I think I should make it a habit of taking pictures of even the day to day things.
There are, after all, anomalies even in the day to day.
And no morning's toast and eggs, soft boiled or not, can be the same.
Breakfast finished there was a work call, after which, we headed down the road to Lemon Farm where we got several bags of cookies, and more snacks.
It is a blessing that I managed to get this one picture of Lang Suan Road this morning.
Especially since DIORA is the spa that we had visited the very first night we arrived.
Seeing this now, I am reminded that Lang Suan Road is a very comfortable road to walk on. Perhaps it might be because it's near an international school or that it's near some condominiums or maybe the CIMB Bank building, but it's one of those roads where the traffic- whilst plentiful- isn't noisy and the pavements are spacious enough where you can walk without worrying about a loose brick here or there.
In the afternoon we went to the Ekkamai area where my friend was heading to an appointment after.
At first we hung about at the cafe in Gateway Mall.
This place holds special and significant memories to me.
Perhaps because it is right near the road and from their ceiling to floor windows I can look right out to the BTS station above and the traffic on the road and know I am really in BKK.
Perhaps because it is a place where I know I can do some work and have a coffee without having to worry about being interrupted or distracted.
When it came to lunch time, not being sure what to have, we decided on a shabu shabu place in Gateway Mall.
I can't remember the name, but it's on the first floor (if I'm not wrong) and is a very, very casual place best suited for students, young people, and workers wanting a nice lunch.
This is the kind of place where you can come with a group of two or three for a birthday celebration or just a catch-up dinner.
This is also the kind of place where a group of twenty can troop down and have a similarly marvelous time.
It fits everyone.
This afternoon here at the restaurant there was no such crowd, but there were groups (like us), and a surprising number of office workers out for a solo lunch of shabu shabu on their own.
We made a choice for our soups, and whilst waiting for the tom yum soup and chicken soup to boil up in our individual parts of the pot, helped ourselves to a a few plates of sushi, tempura and gyozas.
A good thing it was that there were some cooked food here and there.
We would have been waiting there very hungry otherwise.
No doubt, they were all finger food, easy to find, easy to cook- just throw inside the fryer- but they were generous with the sauces, and definitely all them fried stuff made for an appetizing bite.
It didn't matter that the salmon wasn't cut very fine or that it wasn't as thin as some other places do.
It was thick and cold and pleasant and went perfectly well with the chopped cucumber wrapped inside the sushi rice.
I don't really remember what the rest of the sushi are- they're probably all salmon as well- but the rice, I know, was thick and solid and easy to eat.
It didn't take long for the ordered plates meats to arrive on our table and we had a great time dipping them into the soups, swirling them around, and having them with bowls of specially concocted sauces that included yuzu, teriyaki and garlic.
Why it is I don't have a picture of all those plates, I don't know.
Maybe I was hungry.
Maybe there was an appointment upcoming after lunch and I didn't think my friend ought to be late.
Nevertheless I took a picture of the vegetables- just had to get some to soak them inside the soup- and some of the other little bites that I'd taken but didn't get to finish.
When we finished the mains we each went for a cup of ice cream- I took Rum & Raisin, my friend took what I think was either chocolate or Thai milk tea.
Lunch over he headed over for the appointment.
Me, I waited, as I'd done always, at the Starbucks in Major Cineplex, taking shelter and cool from the warm afternoon sun.
When he finished, we made our way over to organic store Organic Village where we got more bags of chocolate brownie snacks.
After that we headed up the stairs to this spa called NAPAR where this evening we did a Thai massage.
I had thought this spa would be one of those aesthetically traditional ones, but to my complete surprise, no, it was quite the opposite. Far from having the solidly comforting vibes of wood and dark colors, this spa was cheerful and bright with shades of soft white and pastel green throughout. It didn't force you to be bright and cheerful, but instead brought a sense of soothing calmness that made you pause, and breathe.
We took a Grab back to Lang Suan Road, and after an errand of mine, we shared an ordered-in dinner of meatball porridge and wanton soup.
Again I don't have pictures- too focused on eating I was- but Gok Fa Yuen has one of the best porridges I've had here in Bangkok. It doesn't feel fancy, it doesn't look fancy, but the portion is big, the texture is smooth, there's plenty of flavor in the porridge, and their meatballs- all which look like to be handmade- are big, meaty and full.
Same too, shall I say, of their wanton soup.
It isn't so much of the soup that I think is full of flavor but the wantons itself that have huge, smooth, silky skins, and a lump of handrolled pork meat that's richly flavored and warms the palate so good.
Would I say that the dinner recharged me?
Absolutely.
Because where with other meals I might have wanted to just go snooze in bed right away, this evening I felt somewhat energized, my spirits were lifted, and I had enough sprite to want to head out for a walk.
So out we went, first making a left on Lang Suan Road where we walked past other hotels and condominiums, first passing by the Centre Point Hotel Chidlom, then a dining place known as the Velaa Sindhorn Village with its Argentinian restaurant and Acai Bowl outlet, then more buildings which I'm afraid I don't really know what they are.
At the end of the road, we made a right onto Sarasin Road, opposite which was the renowned Lumphini Park. Down Sarasin Road we went, walking past a bicycle store which I in particular remember because they had Trek bicycles. There was an arts school, if I'm not wrong, a coffee place (that was closed at this hour), and then we came to the junction of Sarasin Road and Ratchadamri Road.
To be honest I had no idea Ratchadamri Road stretched until this side so long.
All along I had thought of it only between Big C and Central World.
Nope.
Apparently it comes all the way this side where above you is the BTS, and beside you are buildings that serve as condominiums like Baan Ratchadamri. Along this entire stretch we walked, all the way until we passed by The St. Regis Bangkok.
Somewhere around here we made a right, walking into Soi Mahatlek Luang 2, then entered a lane through to Courtyard Marriott before turning a bit more here and there before coming back out to the 7-11 there for chocolate-flavored protein shakes that we wanted to bring home.