February 17, 2023
This morning I got out and about right away. I had a dentist appointment that I took the subway to. Right away I felt like Bangkok feels more like Singapore than anywhere else I had been since. It was nice to have a little bit of a familiar feeling.
Everyone on the subway was wearing masks, so I figured out pretty quickly it’s required. Unfortunately, my mask was back at the hotel, so I proceeded without for this trip.
As I continued to my dentist appointment, I noticed how good it felt to be around people again. In part because Koh Yao Noi is such a small, authentic island and in part because I stayed in my room the last few days, I hadn’t been around many people in a while. It was a really nice change of pace!
My dental appointment was perfectly on time at 11am. There were two women attending to me, the dentist and her assistant. The dentist did the entire cleaning, never leaving my side. From start to finish it took 15 minutes. 2000 baht ($60).
I decided to walk a bit, so I went to the nearest Decathlon. I relished the thought of buying more inexpensive athletic clothing. This one, unfortunately, was a let down. It was primarily a click and collect location, so the store was small and fairly empty.
As I went there though, I walked through Lumphini Park. Lumphini Park is the first public park of Bangkok, so it’s a place to visit when in town. I saw a monitor lizard swim to shore then crawl out of the water. When it started moving in my direction, I stopped filming and hit the bricks 😀
My stomach started to bother me again, so I went back to the hotel for a bit. Eventually I decided to go to the Grand Palace. Travis and Stephanie were arriving later today, and they’ve already been there. Makes sense for me to visit before they arrive. I put on long pants (required for temples) and walked back to the subway. I hadn’t worn long pants since my flight on January 4.
Grand Palace is grand. So much ornate detail! I have tons of pictures, but they don’t do it justice. It has to be seen to be appreciated.
There wasn’t anywhere to sit and rest after the Grand Palace, so I slowly worked my way back to the subway station and hotel.
A couple of hours later, Travis and Stephanie rolled into town. They stayed at the same hotel as me, so we met up and walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. It was really nice to see them again! We caught up over dinner in Chinatown before retiring for the night.
