Rooftop views














I’ve been busy with work the past two days but am now at the airport with a little time to kill before my flight from Bangkok down to the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat. I visited this province when I lived in Chiang Mai 21 years ago but took a very long train ride from Chiang Mai to get there before crossing into Malaysia and eventually meeting up with Brian in Kuala Lumpur. Every morning Nui and I have been meeting around 6 to walk to a nearby park so that I can run and she can walk. Then we go for noodle soup of some sort before heading back to the hotel to shower. On Monday we took a taxi to the Ministry of Public Health, where I met the Malaria Program Chief. We spent the morning in a meeting with the MOPH, WHO, and other partners discussing the program's priorities for their next Global Fund grant, which will start in 2024. A lunch of pad Thai was provided, which Pratin and I ate at the canteen. The MOPH is huge, spanning several buildings, each 6 floors with their own canteen and 7-11. After lunch, we meet with the facilitation team for the malaria Prevention of Re-establishment (POR) workshop that will take place over the next two days. With the meeting concluding around 4, we then had to wait out traffic for about 1.5 hours before Nui and I could take a taxi to a ferry that would then deposit us downstream to central BKK, where Nui surprised me with a river rooftop bar with amazing views of the Grand Palace and surrounding city. The food left something to be desired. Although we got back around 9, I decided to go get another massage because my back was still hurting, but this time, I just requested a shoulder and back massage.

On Tuesday, after our morning routine, we had a call we took from the hotel. Then we met for a late lunch around our hotel. We had to wait a bit for a table as many people working at nearby offices were on their lunch break. I’d been wanting to have basil chicken or krapow gai and Mama noodle salad or yum Mama, so we each got our own chicken dish and then split the salad. After a call with Zimbabwe in the afternoon, we went out shopping before taking a riverboat to another rooftop bar. This time it had decent Thai food and fabulous views of a nearby wat or temple. We ordered mocktails, shrimp dumplings, and yum woosen or glass noodle salad. Then we walked to the Grand Palace for views of it lit up at night before taking a taxi back. I got a third massage, but this time the masseuse was really bad. She kept hurting me by digging into my bones and pulling my hair. I was glad she ended it early and was tempted to complain about her but didn’t bother. 

Comments

  1. GGJanuary 11, 2023 at 12:42 PM

    Great photos of the temples. Glad you are sightseeing and dining on the local cuisine while working plus receiving massages for every sore body part.
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