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Thailand

A Taste Of Thailand

Posted on by Gigi in Travel 1 Comment

 

Gigi & Ele

Gigi & Ele

We are a family of foodies! Reggie and I follow a vegan diet with an occasional backslide here and there, my son is a carnivore  and my daughter’s diet is as fickle as the weather. We flew on Air Japan and thanks to saving those miles, we were in business class which was nice considering it was a 20 hour journey. I pre-ordered hindu vegan meals which I fine more flavorful that just regular vegan meals. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the meals, so fresh and delicious.

business class vegan meal Air Japan

business class vegan meal Air Japan

Our first day in Bangkok started off with a 4 AM wake up call, we were meeting a guide to participate in the daily alms round, a tradition where lay people feed the monks in order to earn merit. The monks come out at dawn in search of their daily meal which must be eaten by noon. We left the hotel around 5 AM, stopped at one of the many roadside food stands to buy flowers and small individual packets of food for the monks. We then were dropped off at the dock where we boarded a long tail boat, after about a 10 minute ride we were greeted with the light of dawn and monks in their saffron robes gliding on small boats receiving alms from the residents along the river. It was a moving experience to participate in this ritual. Each time we had an exchange with a monk, he would  say a few sentences in Thai, which our guide told us the monk was blessing us for our generosity.

Making Alms to the monks

Making Alms to the monks

After our morning of visiting temples we returned to our hotel and had afternoon tea. The Peninsula Hotel is known for their tea,  so with our complementary voucher in hand we took advantage and escaped the heat for a minute.

Peninsula Hotel Afternoon Tea

Peninsula Hotel Afternoon Tea

The next day we decided to have dinner at an Indian Restaurant I read about in Vogue India. I was intrigued by the description of “progressive Indian” cuisine. So after a crazy ride on a tuk tuk we arrived at Gaggan only to be told we did not have a reservation, fortunately Chef Gaggan happened to pass by and notice us, which was not difficult considering I had not run into any African-Americans since we arrived in Thailand. He was so gracious and accommodated us on the terrace which was perfect.  Our meal was “progressive” but delightful, numerous courses of artfully prepared Indian inspired dishes, but the highlight of the evening was running into our neighbor Samir and his children. What are the odds of that? Mind you this is our neighbor who lives across the street and we did not know that we were both traveling to Thailand.

Samir and Gigi in Bangkok

Samir and Gigi in Bangkok

Damnoen Saduak floating market gave us a chance to travel outside of the city, I had read that this is a tourist trap but still a must see. We hired one of the wooden boats, which are all are paddled by women, and went up and down the narrow canals buying fruit, and other trinkets.

Floating Market

Floating Market

floating market

floating market

Floating Market

Floating Market

After a few days in Bangkok we traveled north to Chiang Mai, our home for the next few days was the Four Seasons a beautiful resort  surrounded by rice paddy fields. The service was impeccable, we had breakfast there every day and the staff quickly accommodated our vegan requests and greeted us by name every morning.

Four Seasons Chiang Mai

Four Seasons Chiang Mai breakfast

pool time

pool time

 

Flower Garden

Flower Garden

Of course we could not go to Thailand without doing a cooking class. I did my research before leaving and settled on “A Lot of Thai: Home Cooking School” which was held at the home of Yui. Chef Yui was an excellent teacher, we made all the thai classics, pad thai, spring rolls, mango sticky rice, green curry and many other dishes. Thai cooking is so quick and so full of flavor.

A Taste Of Thai Cooking Class

A Taste Of Thai Cooking Class

Gigi & Family

Gigi & Family

One of the highlights of our trip to Thailand was spending a day at Patara elephant farm. You are paired with an elephant when you arrive and you take care of it for the day, ie. feeding, bathing doing a health check and going for a ride through the jungle. These majestic animals are so gentle. I really wanted to go and just take pictures of everybody, because I was afraid, I have had bad experiences riding horses so riding an elephant-Oh my. My monkey brain was telling me that I was going fall and be stepped on by the elephant. At the end of the day I was in love with these giants. We had a beautiful lunch on banana leaves next to a waterfall after we bathed our elephant.

Patera Elephant Farm

Patera Elephant Farm

Amani & baby

Amani & baby

Reggie feeding the Ele

Reggie feeding the Ele

Amani with mom and babe

Amani with mom and babe

 

Thai Picnic

Thai Picnic

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Travel Transformation-Bangkok

Posted on by Gigi in Family, My Life, Travel 4 Comments

 

Traveling...

Traveling…

 

The past few weeks have been emotionally charged, the unexpected death of Reggie’s brother Jimmy, complications with my son’s travel visa for Italy, my sister’s hip replacement surgery, combined with the normal challenges of day to day living. Every year we have been fortunate to go on a family holiday. We typically decide on a place, do a little research and  travel in August.  Last year we went to South Africa, a first for us, it was an incredible trip full of history, beautiful people, and one of the highlights was going on safari. With so many places in the world to go, we always try to pick some place new each year.

Safari Family

Safari Family

Travel is transforming, we leave our comfort zone and step out into the big old world, I love going to a foreign place and observing with my eyes, capturing with my lens and savoring with all my senses what this new place is about. Growing up our travel was mostly visiting other relatives, and an occasional trip to Hawaii, which I loved, because we stayed in a hotel. I have always loved discovering something new, even exploring a neighboring city can be fascinating if you take a moment and walk around like a tourist, you will be surprised with what you might see. This year we decided to go to Thailand, I have always been interested in eastern culture and love thai cooking. We wanted a trip that had city life, sprinkled with salt water in the hair, sand between the toes and some shopping thrown in for good measure. So this morning after putting on my long flight travel uniform-black lululemon yoga pant, tee shirt, my fav calypso black cashmere sweater, and a pair of “worn in” slip on wedges I was ready to go.

fav travel wedge...

fav travel wedge…

I know our family trips together soon may be ending as our children start their own life journey, but I am happy for the ones we will be able to do together.

The family

The family

 

Japan Air was fabulous, the first leg of the trip was 10 hours. I pre-ordered vegan meals that were really fresh and tasty, of course my son had tradistional meals, and he was pleased as well.

vegan Japan Air Meal

vegan Japan Air Meal

kid-lets fast asleep

kid-lets fast asleep

 

 

 

A brief layover in Tokyo and then another 7 hours to our finally destination Bangkok. After a short ride to the city we checked into The Peninsula got settled in and of course my body clock is out of wack so I decided to post while everyone else is fast asleep. It is a little after midnight, our room is very elegant, and well appointed with buttons for everything, I’ll take a pics tomorrow.

The Peninsula

The Peninsula

 

We have an early pick up at 5 am to participate in a tradition of feeding the monks and we will go to some of the famous temples. Not sure what the weather will be, it is monsoon season so I know it will be raining at times tomorrow, and the temperature will be about 95, btw read in one of my guides book that Thailand is one of the hottest places on the planet. So I guess I rest my eyes for a moment so I can be fresh for tomorrow.

XOXO,

Gigi

 

 

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