Parks, boats and Lebanese food

We relaxed in the room, did some research and used the decent wifi. It seemed the dodgier the accommodation, the better the wifi. We took the BTS to Sala Dang stop then had a tasty lunch at Beirut, my favourite Lebanese restaurant. We had hummus, fattoush salad and a chicken shwarma. The service could have been better considering the waiters were standing around and our food came before the appetizer platter (with veggies, pickles, the tastiest garlic dip, hummus and tahini sauces) and cutlery.

Next we went to Lumphini park, another favourite Bangkok urban park of mine. There was a big statue at the entrance, lake/ponds, walking paths and exercise machines. We relaxed in the shade since Ryan wasn't feeling a hundred percent. When he was up to it, we rented one of the swan paddleboats for only 40 baht ($1.30) for the half hour.

From the water we saw dozens of reptiles on the pond banks, turtles and monitor lizards ranging from small to the size of a small/medium alligator. The way the lizards walked was interesting to watch. Their legs made big circular steps almost as if their limbs were doing front crawl.

We managed to squeeze the boat under two pedestrian bridges and made the circuit in about 25 minutes, giving us enough time to get our deposit back. It was a fun little excursion and Ryan was excited to be in control of another vehicle, even though this one was quite slow.

We lazed around on a dry patch of grass, harder than you'd think since the sprinklers were going full force. With his new sketchbook he drew a nice palm tree. Lizards came by to visit us often too, not at all scared of people.

We explore the park to find the Chinese friendship pavilion and to try out the sweet exercise machines that were far more functional that those in Ubon Ratchatani. The park clientele shifted from foreign tourists and families to locals and expats out for a run or work out. We were envious that they could do this outdoors for much of the year, different than Canada. My favourite machine was the surf one where core muscles worked as I swung from side to side on a small stand attached to a higher point.

The red light district, Pad Pong, was nearby. Ryan was a bit hesitant to visit, but in the late afternoon they were just beginning to set up a market with generally knock-off brand name goods like watches and perfume. Some of the signs they have for the strip clubs had interesting names that got us laughing, though the whole district leaves a bad and shady feeling afterward.

We had to walk a bit to find food that was affordable. We found a bustling restaurant area with oodles of foreigners and very busy and hardworking staff. Our 'large' pad thai that we thought would be enough to share was on the smaller side. Ryan picked up a pancake and I was still full from the lion's share of the Lebanese lunch.

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Second update today. Trying to catch up with all the photos we uploaded here.