I actually buy into that.

I met up with a co-worker on Sunday morning for a run around Benjasiri Park next to our hotel. it was muggy. it was painful. but it happened.

we decided to visit the Grand Palace and then on to the Chatuchak Market. it’s 35 acres filled with everything you could imagine. you name it, they sold it. and then some.

we had a very tough time negotiating with cab drivers getting one to take us there. we were told the grand palace was closed for lunch and that we should go directly to the market. and by directly he meant that we had to stop at some jewelry expo so that he could get a kick-back. awesome.

we finally made it to the market and we were just overwhelmed. when we started walking around we realized how massively huge this market can be.

there was food, high end clothing, low end clothing, fabric, metal goods, shoes, purses, junk, jewelry, beads, and then some. just wow.

this little guy was jamming and I used our newest toy, a little video camera, to capture a little bit of the sounds and sights:

Tara and I at the market

after some delicious coconut ice cream and a foot massage we bargained our way into going to the Grand Palace. Or so we thought.

Our cab driver dropped us off and we soon realized that he must have just been tired of the traffic because it was not the grand palace. it was a nice giant buddha, but no palace.

so we got conned into going to two more kick-back locations and THEN to the Grand Palace. But by the time we did all of this, the Grand Palace was closed. we were sad pandas.

I took some photos of the outside but we were not allowed inside.

we negotiated another cab driver to take us back to our hotel and we planned on meeting up again for dinner. when we met up we realized how bad jet leg was hitting us and we went back to bed!

today (monday) was an extremely long, tough day so I’m thinking a massage is in order. yes, for those of you counting that is number three. for a total of $20.

I did manage to laugh as I passed my hotels display of moon cakes. I had enough of those last year in Hong Kong but couldn’t resist the photo op. they even had free samples. no thanks.

my internal alarm clock woke me up at 7:45 even though I had no call time. I had to sit in on a session in the afternoon so I planned on taking a few hours to walk around the hotel and check out my surroundings. but when I woke up I was starving which = overeating on the mondo huge breakfast buffett and I didn’t feel up to walking around. so I took a quick mid morning nap and met up with my team for lunch and work.

after we finished up we were all ready to play tourist so we took a tuk tuk-like contraption to a little part of the city with lots of restaurants.

that ride was . . . . interesting. that’s erica on my left and tara on my right.

we went decided on a little bar with an outside patio for people watching. have I ever mentioned how much I love foreign diet coke? yum!

and then we wandered to a restaurant with a huge patio called Zanzibar for dinner. I wanted to try something I always get at home so I had their Pad See Ew.  it was good, more vegatbley and less soy.

I don’t know if it’s all of bangkok or just or part of town, but it’s teaming with cats. they’re everywhere and no one seems to mind. this little guy found a good resting point below the chair at the table next to us.

feeling adventurous we decided to walk back to our hotel. if I had to choose one word to describe hangkok it would be overload. overload of the senses. sight, smell, sounds. it’s intense.

a lot of the sidewalks are also bike paths. I thought was kinda funny/scary so this one is for you alex:

everyone has told me to get a massage here. that’s always on everyone’s list of suggestions. everyone told me how inexpensive and awesome they were so to cure a little jet leg I deicded to take their advice.

it was AMAZING! I had an hour long foot/neck/back massage for 250 baht = less than $10. Shut up, right?!

I may have nodded of twice. and we decided that it would be our nightly ritual. heck, an hour massage each night is less expensive than one, one hour massage in the states. love!

so this morning (I’m 11 hours ahead) we have plans to play tourist. we want to visit a few temples and check out one of the markets. oh, and get a massage.

I’ve become such a cranky flier. the couple sitting next to me kept their light on and voices raiser the ENTIRE flight. I now hate ipads and every person that uses them. all of them.

hence my crankiness.

when I boarded I was welcomed by this guy:

who doesn’t love a good menu?

I watched bridesmaids. funny. but not as funny as I thought. love story mixed in. lame. then I watch country strong. that’s a very, very sad movie with a very, very sad ending. beware. somewhere in the middle I grabbed about 3 1/2 hours of sleep and ate all three meals. and I finished up the latest edition of pirates of the carribean as we landed. I actually liked that one.

so I sleep walk to the bathroom in tokyo and find this in the stall.

yes that is a toilet with its very own remote control. I was confused and tired and couldn’t figure out how to actually flush the toilet instead of playing the “flushing sound” on the remote. good times.

I’ve got another 6 hour leg ahead before I touch down in bangkok. fingers crossed I double my sleep.

Fits perfectly and looks terrific!

about two weeks ago I get an email from my boss asking me how I feel about going to honk kong and australia. I replied in a bout 2 seconds that I was very interested.

after drilling down to the details and hammering out my schedule it turns out the trip is actually to Bangkok.  so I went from a trip to Canada to Thailand and I leave next week.

it’s been such a whirlwind that I haven’t had time to plan out my tourist schedule. i will only have two play days so I have to make the most out of all my time there. a few friends have offered suggestions but if anyone out there has friends or friends of friends that have gone,  I would love to hear more!

I

ny is really shutting down. the subway, broadway, pro sports. not happening. they’re really baring down for a big storm. scary, huh? I’m just thrilled to make it out in time. although I’m writing this from 10,000 feet in some pretty nasty turbulence.

I’m just thankful it missed all my loved ones in charleston and hopefully friends in north carolina and the coast will have no damage.

in other biscoff/delta news, look what kind of cupcakes my grocery store carries:

kroger is the best. grocery. store. ever. ever.

no help? maybe my run map will give you a better idea:

I ran by all the big central park attractions: the boathouse, tavern on the green, the resivoir. did y’all know there is a mini carnival in the middle of central park? maybe you did, but I didn’t.

there has just a quick trip for new york where I’m staying in the upper east side. every other time I’ve come to new york I’ve been stick in tourist central (aka times square and the theater district) and while I love the convenience, it’s just not pretty. but this neighborhood? I could get used to living here. if it was good enough for jackie o . . .

I hate when you are out of biscoff cookies. it makes me sad. and angry. unnecessarily so. I caught myself giving the flight attendant “the look” for the remainder of the flight after he tried to nullify me with peanuts. sorry about that flight attendant.

I’m also still slightly miffed about last weeks non-flight flight. you would be completely forgiven for biscoff cookies with a squeeze of lime.

sad panda.

in other biscoff news: have y’all tried this guy?

http://www.biscoff.com/DirectionsWEB/webcart_itemBuy.php?itemid=0814

if you haven’t I strongly advise against it. it’s addicting. like worse than, dare I say, nutella.

I first discovered this gem in ohio and then found it in my kroger for about half the price of the online version.

flying on the east coast in the summer is especially difficult with thunder storms but I’ve always been relatively lucky and managed to get to my final destination at a reasonable hour. my luck ran out this week and for the first time I was stuck in atlanta, I had to go home and try again the next day.

so I’ve been a little sleepy all week trying to catch up for a few late nights.

so here’s my week in pictures:

so by my count, I had a 50% success rate. but I woke up yesterday with my annual summer cold so maybe I’m below for the week?

and for a little extra fun . . .

my work really encourages volunteering and giving back to organizations in your community. there are all sorts of fundraisers throughout the year that are hosted by different departments. recently, we received a few emails about a pie in the face competition. I thought they were funny but as a remote employee it’s tough to actually make the event. there was a LOT of smack talk surrounding this event. this afternoon is got this gem in my inbox; it’s my boss getting pied by his boss!

and I love that my boss gets crazy into it!