July 9, 2017. A visit to an American silk merchant's home

LOCATION:  House-sitting in Bangkok, Thailand

WEATHER:  Hot and humid.  (I think it will be this way our entire stay).  High about 95

 

We spent the morning communicating with our homeowner about her sick cat.   When she arrived  in the USA, she received my email informing her that we had had to take Bronson the cat to the pet hospital.  We are so sorry that this has happened.  She has been in touch with the vet and has given us updates.  He will stay in the hospital a day or two more to monitor his diabetic shock episode.  

 

We are on the 20th floor of a 36-story condo.  We have beautiful views of the huge (15 million population) city from our balcony.

Looking down...  

In the front of the building, there is a shrine.  Today it had fruits and drinks arranged on its table as a gift to the gods.  These shrines are in front of many buildings throughout the city.

 

Since there was nothing more we could do for Bronson today we decided to continue our exploration of Bangkok.  We made our way to the Sky Train again.  It is conveniently close to our condo.  George is fascinated by all the wires between buildings..

 

Today's outing was to Jim Thompson's house.  (We had never heard of him before).  He was an American stationed here right as WWii ended.  He fell in love with Thailand and returned to live here.  He discovered that the Thais were not doing much with their beautiful silks, so he developed the silk-making and helped the Thais sell the silks world-wide.  While he was here, he built a beautiful traditional Thai home made of teak inside and out, which he used to entertain international guests.

Before the tour, we had lunch in one of his traditional buildings that has been converted to a restaurant.  I had a very spicy noodle dish, and George had a curry that had middle-eastern flavors.  

The tour was excellent, conducted by the cutest Thai girl ever.  The gardens surrounding the house are beautiful, too.

 

We watched a man making silk from the cocoons.

The gift shop is full of exquisite silk clothing, pillow cases, and accessories.  Out of my price range, though.  It is kind of a relief not buying any souvenirs as we travel.  We just don't have the space to carry them home, and once we are home, we have nowhere to put them!    

Back at the condo, we cooled off and relaxed.  The heat and humidity are so exhausting.  We checked out some of the amenities of the condo.  There is an eye-popping infinity pool overlooking the city, a library, and a sauna.  Our homeowner warned us that the male Japanese who live in the condo often use the co-ed sauna in the nude, so beware!  :-)

 

DINNER:  I haven't found a grocery store yet, so just bought a few items from a convenience store for a quick dinner.  I bought some rice noodles from the shop and some veggies from a vendor on the street.  With that, I made a veg noodle stir-fry.  The homeowner has some onions and ginger that need to be used up, so I added those.  We also bought some mangoes that we will have for breakfast tomorrow.  Fruits and veg are very cheap and plentiful.