Thanksgiving in Bangkok

There's not a lot of evidence of Thanksgiving in Bangkok.  Christmas, yes...all the malls and shops are putting up Christmas trees and decorations.  There's a 4 storey Christmas Tree in the middle of Central World mall.  It's HUGE!  But Thanksgiving, being uniquely American, not much visible evidence. However, many of the American owned restaurants do a great job of putting on some big Thanksgiving feasts. And like the 4th of July, the American expats are out in force today.

It's not really a holiday for me here of course, but I take it pretty easy regardless. Stay home, reply to some email, do a couple things, and pretty much chill. Watched a movie on HBO, and read. I'm reading "Pattern Recognition" by William Gibson, and as I started reading it, I realized I had read it before....but didn't really ever remember reading. Surprising, because it is quite good. Anyway, I now realize I only probably got into about 100 pages or so, because it all seems like new territory at the point I'm at. I digress.

In the evening, went for the usual ritual (past 3 years) of Thanksgiving Dinner at Bourbon Street Restaurant on Soi 22. They are a little expensive, but they do a nice job with buffet having turkey, ham, stuffing, veggies, potatoes, yams, cranberries and pumpkin pie. It really gets packed in the evening and reservations are a must. I am utterly and completely stuffed. Even though it's not supposed to be permitted, I was kinda sweet with some of the waitresses and they allowed me to stash some in a takeaway box for Friday leftovers :)

The Prelude to Loy Krathong Festival is LOUD

Last year around this time, I was living out in the suburbs, and it was nice and quiet.  This year, I'm right in the middle of the city, and I'm living right next to a canal, so I get to experience loud firecrackers/fireworks every night (often times being shot off right next to my building and exploding right about at my condo level).

This is all part of the lead-up to the Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand. I really enjoy the actual Loy Krathong day, it's a very visual and neat holiday, people lighting lanterns and floating them out on lakes, ponds and canals everywhere. The whole firecracker thing happening every night for hours, I am definitely looking forward to that part ending.

Awesome November Weather in Bangkok

This is the time of year when I just love living here in Thailand. The weather is getting cooler, the sun is out, nice breezes are blowing, and I can walk down the street without the need to take a shower at the end of the walk. I put my laundry out to dry on an eastern facing balcony, and when I open the balcony sliding door, and open the windows on the north facing side, I get a really nice wind flowing through. The added bonus; since the laundry is out there, the breeze carries in the smell of fresh laundry all throughout the condo.

Trying so hard to diet, but it's difficult. I just love food so much. Trying to stick to salad in the morning, and soup for lunch.

This is Kao Moo something or other, I forget the name. A little bit spicy, but pretty good.  Of course, you'll see that I'm drinking milk tea with the soup, which probably isn't all that good for the diet, but it's delicious! Here's another noodle soup I have (don't remember the name at all):

Probably doesn't look to appetizing to western eyes, but it's pretty good stuff. The cost for these soups: about .60 - $1.