Thanksgiving in Thailand

I have never been much of a Thanksgiving gal. I love spending time with family, but my most pressing thought while eating Thanksgiving dinner is that I’d rather be enjoying a nice steak or a burger. My family takes our traditions very seriously, but I’ve always felt that Thanksgiving was more or less skimmed over in the traditions department. The only Thanksgiving tradition we have consistently honored over the years is eating rice rather than potatoes. I hate this tradition. I am very pro potato. All this to say, I was moments away from booking my flight to visit my friend in Bangkok when I realized it would fall over Thanksgiving. Ally, having grown up in Thailand, wasn’t bothered by the timing, and I was thrilled with the prospect of replacing turkey with Pad See Ew. Soon enough a confirmation email was sitting in my inbox.

I’ve wanted to go to Thailand for years, yet when Ally asked what I wanted to do while I was there, I had absolutely no idea. I turned to my trusty friend, Condé Nast, and soon enough had a million items on my list. There is a phrase in Thailand, sabai sabai, which is similar to hakuna matata, basically meaning chill the f*** out. It’s a phrase I most definitely should live by more often, but struggle with, especially when traveling. Ally gently forced it upon me during my time visiting, which was quite the blessing and is reflected in our leisurely days.

I took an overnight flight and arrived in Bangkok at 5 am. Did you know Japan is seven hours away from Bangkok? Me neither. Definitely thought Japan would be a better jumping off point for traveling. Anyhoo, I met up with Ally and after some big hugs and “oh my goodness, I can’t believe we really made this happen” exclamations, we made our way to her house. She is currently living with her parents and, let me tell you, after four months of not setting foot inside a family home, it felt lovely to be in one. Ally and I were both in the middle of some big “what’s next” decisions, so we jumped straight into the nitty gritty and chatted for hours about the choices at hand. After a lovely catch up, we made our way into the city.

We strolled to a used book store that was stacked high with books in English. This was revolutionary for me after months of perusing tiny English sections with titles I don’t care about and absurd prices, so you’d best believe I had a heyday, and actually found multiple books that are currently on my list. We made our way to one of the many, many mega malls scattered all over Bangkok, and I marveled at the brand names I haven’t seen since leaving America. I hate malls with my whole heart, but something about seeing a Sephora in the flesh was just oh so comforting. We eased into the afternoon with some good ole street food. If you aren’t eating street food for 90% of your meals in Bangkok, then you’ve made a horrible mistake. After our lunch, we moseyed over to the Bangkok Cultural Center, which had a bit of a Guggenheim vibe architecturally, but, much like the one time I visited the Guggenheim, I was not overly impressed with the exhibit. I ended my day with a massage, because when in Thailand and hour long massages are $10, you’d better get yourself a massage (if not ten).

The next day was Thanksgiving. Ally decided to host a friendsgiving, which meant most of our day revolved around making the dinner. We decided to go into it with a sabai sabai attitude and get a massage before doing anything else. We left the massage parlor, completely blissed out and in need of some caffeine before heading to the grocery store. After gathering all our ingredients, we headed home to the kitchen. Our day was jam packed with cooking, blasting music, and sipping champagne. There were supposed to be seven people but three canceled at the last minute, so we had an abundance of food for four of us and absolutely feasted, as four eating for seven should.

The next morning Ally and I went full on tourist mode. We took the SkyTrain to the Chao Phraya River, whose banks are home to many of Bangkok’s landmarks. We hopped on a longboat, and after a bumpy ride with almost constant splashing, we arrived at Wat Pho. Our first stop in this spectacular Buddhist temple complex was in the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. I had seen many photos of this online, but I was absolutely astounded to see it in person. It was so much larger than I had imagined. The photos I’d seen (and took) simply do not capture the scale. We meandered through more of the complex, enjoying the beautiful statues and outstanding colors in the tiles.

Next was the Grand Palace, where we stayed long enough to decide it was too hot, too crowded, and too expensive. We left and caught a cab into China Town (Bangkok’s China Town is the largest in the world) and wound up at a fun little cafe where tables are stacked on top of each other, much like bunk beds.

Saturday was a bit of an earlier start, as we wanted to arrive at the Chatuchak Market right when it was opening. Chatuchak, also referred to as the JJ Market, is the largest market in Thailand. It has everything from food to antiques to electronics. We wandered from stall to stall for close to two hours, taking in the plethora of treasures for sale, before deciding we should break and gather our thoughts. After a careful analysis of what items we wanted to get over a Pad Thai lunch, we made our way back into the chaos. I had made the mistake of seeing a pair of pants I really liked and not getting them in the moment. Ally and her mom both declared they knew the way back to the pants, pointing in complete opposite directions. After some trials and tribulations (and many circles), we made our way back to the pants.

Ally’s mother always buys her produce for the week at JJ, so before we left, we went to the food area within the market. I saw and tasted fruits I have never laid eyes on, including durian, which is apparently the smelliest fruit in the world. To me it was just mushier than I would have liked, verging on creamy, but I think some foreigners have a strong negative reaction to it. We spent our afternoon sunbathing on Ally’s rooftop before getting ready to meet up with some of Ally’s friends on the rugby team for their Santa bar crawl.

The next day, after a nice lie in, Ally and I met up with a few of her friends by the river. We took a small boat across to an island called Bang Kachao. The cost of the boat ride and renting bikes for the day was a little more than a dollar. We biked to a Siamese fighting fish farm, a floating market, a dreamy coffee house, and stopped by a Thai boxing camp on our way off the island. Our evening was spent at a beautiful bar on the river, followed by some amazing Sri Lankan food.

I decided to go full fledged tourist mode on my final day and told Ally we could meet up later. I woke up early and headed to the 24 hour Pak Klong flower market. The aroma of flowers was incredible as I meandered through the brightly colored stalls. Next, I took a boat across the river to Wat Arun. I think I hit this temple at the perfect time, as it felt amazing outside, with a lovely breeze, and there were not many tourists there yet. The temple is covered in bells, which made me feel incredibly peaceful as I wandered around, soaking in my beautiful surroundings.

I was ahead of the schedule Ally and I had arranged for meeting up, so I decided I’d stop by a cafe I’d read about. I did very little research on what I was in for, so was surprised when I turned the corner and saw tables spilling out onto the street of a tiny, run down coffee shop. Eiah Sae has been making great coffee since 1927, and, from what I could tell, is probably serving the same customers. I sat, sipping on a painfully, yet delightfully, sweet coffee with about eight other ancient Thai men.

After meeting and realizing all the exhibits at Warehouse 30 were currently closed, Ally and I made our way to the Jim Thompson house. We went on a guided tour, learning the background behind the beautiful architecture and history held within the home. I decided to absolutely pamper myself on my last evening, getting a haircut, manicure and pedicure all at the same time. I felt like an absolute celebrity.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Bangkok and felt that I only dipped my toe into all that Thailand has to offer. It was without a doubt my first of many trips!