July 13, 2017. Two more Thai cultural experiences

LOCATION:  Housesitting in Bangkok, Thailand

WEATHER:  Same as every day - hot (100 ish) and muggy.  Scattered showers

 One of the things we decided we absolutely HAD to do while here is try a durian.  It is the smelliest fruit in the world.  The descriptions online are pretty horrible.  Singapore doesn't allow people to carry durian on their mass transit system due to the smell. So, of course, we had to try!  It must be dorian season, as they are prominent in all fruit stands.  We bought a small slice (expensive at 3USD).  

We didn't want to stink up the condo, so we cut it up and ate it outside on the balcony.

It was a bit mushy and tasted very strong.  We had to hold our noses.  It must be an acquired taste as it is very popular.  We can now say we did it and there is no need to have another one!  

The homeowner notified us that her cat Bronson was ready to be picked up from the vet.  We took a taxi to the pet hospital.  For some reason, taxi drivers have a hard time finding it, even though I had picked up the hospital's business card previously with the name and address.  This cab driver did not have GPS like the others, and drove us around on a wild-goose chase.  Finally we found it.  

 

I think Bronson was glad to be home.  We relaxed most of the day, brushing and petting him.

One of the popular things to do as a tourist here is to have a drink at one of the many hotel rooftop bars.  The Marriott Hotel, only about 3 blocks from our condo,  has one, so we thought we'd check it out.  

Perched on the 49th floor, one gets a bit of vertigo...

We had drinks made with Thai basil -- with a bit of an anise flavor.

The panorama is amazing.  

This tall building below  (at 36 floors) is our condo.  Our unit is on the 20th floor....

We stayed until the lights started twinkling.  There had been a fire in the building two weeks ago, and the rooftop bar customers had to run down the 49 flights of steps.  Glad everything was safe tonight!

 

We've been told that the movie "The Hangover" was filmed at one of these Bangkok hotel rooftop bars.  

DINNER:  I made stir-fried rice with the leftover fish.