Jeff and Vivian got in plenty of pool time this weekend, and we played several times with our next door neighbors who have a three year old girl and an almost two year old boy. Their air freight came on Saturday, so in addition to having more books and toys, they also have an awesome box tunnel to play in. It sounds like the dads on our street are planning an enormous box fort for when everyone's air freight arrives. The boxes are really thick and sturdy, so they could probably build something quite impressive. We'll see what happens . . .
On Sunday morning we were feeling lazy, and Vivian was craving pancakes, so we ordered breakfast from the local Mexican restaurant. Yes, the Mexican restaurant serves pancakes and they deliver at 9:00am. I'm told they'll also deliver margaritas, but I haven't tried that one yet.
On Monday, Jeff headed off to work, and I needed to find something to keep me and Vivian busy. A friend helped me do one more run to the mall in the golf cart, so I felt confident that I could do it on my own. Vivian had her doubts, since the last time we tried to get there we got completely turned around and had to come home, but we made it on Monday with no problems, and she was suitably impressed. We had been told that there was a good kids' play area on the 7th floor, so I was envisioning something along the lines of an indoor playground, but it was pretty much all arcade games and ride on machines that cost at least 10 baht each. I let Vivian go on a couple rides, and then we went to find lunch. I still have not been able to get her to be adventurous and try local food, so we ended up having lunch at Subway. She was happy, so I was happy. We explored the mall some more and found an interesting display on the main floor that we didn't understand, but decided was photo-worthy, and then we headed home.
On Tuesday, our adventure for the day was to take the family shuttle downtown and meet up with a friend who helped us get rabbit cards (like smart cards in D.C.) and then taught us to ride the BTS Sky Train.
Vivi got off to a rough start because the plastic "doors" you go through after scanning your card close really fast. Our friend had warned us, so Vivian scanned her card and ran at it, but she still didn't make it fast enough and bounced right off the closing doors. She was understandably really upset and didn't want to try it again at the other end, so we used the gate for strollers and wheelchairs. On the way back though, we figured out a good system where she went right up to the doors, I scanned the card for her, and she scooted through before they closed. Live and learn.
We went to the MBK Mall downtown, which is totally different from our mall out here in Nichada. MBK is more of a labyrinth, and it's full of little stall type shops. Many of them sell the exact same things, a fact that my highly observant child noticed right away. This makes it even easier to get turned around and lost though, so you really have to be careful or you'll never find your way out. You're also expected to bargain. I don't know that I actually got any good deals, but I always paid less than the first price offered, so I guess that's something.
By the time we got back to the embassy to take the shuttle home, Vivian and I were both exhausted, but I'm really glad we did it. Now I feel like I can navigate public transportation in Bangkok. Our friend also told us about Ocean World which is an aquarium one stop down from the embassy, so I think that may be our next downtown adventure.
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