This week was filled with a lot of highs, and very few lows. I must confess that the week before was not one of my best; turning 39 was depressing, I was feeling a bit stretched, and was ridiculously nervous about an Easter event I had to prepare. This week, on the other hand, was phenomenal. My office is a fantastic place to work, my kids have been behaving SO WELL I have to blink hard sometimes, and my husband and I are enjoying some long-awaited together time.
I was saying the other day that living here isn't always the greatest. Most of the time it is. The schools are fantastic, the people are so friendly, the food is delicious, the weather is beautiful, and so much more. But when its bad, it can be really bad. You can't just have bad days here, because if your day is just somewhat bad most of the time some part of the city or its locals will cheer you up with some random act of kindness. Or you go out and get a big batch of sweet spicy som tham, and all of a sudden the world is a better place. Seriously.
But then there are those rare days that cannot be saved by kindness nor som tham. And those days are abysmally bad. They are usually so hot that you wish you could do nothing all day. But you can't. And after an exhausting day you are sweat-soaked, dehydrated, and demoralized by some of the things you see around you. I don't want to go into any further detail, but there are those days. And they are few. And you won't hear about them from me again, because I hate complaining. But I don't want to outright lie to you and say its always peachy in Bangkok. It almost always is. But the week before my birthday? Not so much.
The following week, like I was saying, was certainly peachy. It was downright awesome.
Thursday we finally ventured to Asiatique, the shopping, dining and entertaining destination on the Chao Phraya, for our weekly date night. I'm sorry I put it off for so long, but at first it seemed like it would be a pain to get there and back.
Which, of course, was not the case. Duh.
So, after a quick BTS ride to Saphan Taksin, we hopped the free ferry boat after a 10 minute wait, and stepped onto the pier and into another world. Bangkok just amazes me sometimes.
There were beautiful restaurants, cute rooftop sushi bars, pubs, spas, and of course shopping. It was like stepping into Chatuchak without the narrow alleys, close calls with cars, and deceptive prices.
We stopped at several spots for a cooling beverage, ogled the thai-style decor for sale in some of the shops, and finally settled for a quick dinner right at the pier at "Happy Fish."
It appears there were a great many happy fish around Asiatique-you could also stop by this fish spa and have your toes nibbled and legs exfoliated. We passed it twice, and I loved hearing the kids giggle at the sensation. I suppose we will have to try it sometime, but since it presumably does not include a calf and scalp massage, I'm not in any hurry. Thailand, you spoil me.
We took a ride in the ferris wheel for just 250 Baht per person (air-conditioned ferris wheel, I kid you not) and enjoyed a beautiful view of the city at night, before heading home to get some rest.
Saturday we woke, and packed the car with pies, goodies, and gifts and set off in our flowery Songkran shirts for a party in the country.
I know I go off all the time about how wonderful our nanny is, and for that I do apologise. But we really lucked out when we found her because we were looking for an employee, not a servant, and she has a strong enough personality to hang with us and our exuberant boys. Some of the behavior I see nannies tolerate from the kids they care for shocks me, and I was glad to have someone who wouldn't put up with that nonsense from my boys ever. She knows she wouldn't be doing me any favors if she did.
So we have become so comfortable that we were actually invited to her family's annual BBQ/party, a huge fete where all the aunts, uncles, cousins and friends gathered to eat, celebrate, laugh, etc.
And then someone let the farangs come.
I can't tell you how pleasantly surprised I was when we arrived and discovered they had a stage set up with a sound system and band, a caterer and tons of yummy food that was served fresh for hours on end! Thais know how to party. Oh yes.
We feasted on grilled prawns, tom yum goon, fried trout, spicy fish salad, and all sorts of delicious things. We ate until we were totally fully.
And then we ate some more.
We smiled, clapped, and played with the family even though only my husband spoke thai, and only a few of them spoke english. It didn't matter-we were accepted, even if it was only for their amusement- and had a fantastic time.
After an initial bout of shyness, the boys began to socialize as kids do. Little P discovered he was the center of attention, so he sat on the stage next to the MC most of the afternoon.
The boys discovered their hosts were generous, as after the daughters performed a funny dance with wigs and other silliness, their family members came up one by one and handed them 100 baht notes. When the opportunity arose, the boys demonstrated their dance moves as well, much to every one's amusement.
They helped hand out gifts. They were allowed to tap on the drums. They just had a grand old time, and we did as well.
My favorite part of the party, however, was getting to see our nanny's two sons play with their band. So shy in person, I was happy to see how talented and brave they were to perform in front of their whole family, and I can only imagine how proud their parents were of them too.
We are not very different after all.
The afternoon reminded me of parties at my parents' farm, where a few canopies for shade and some tables spread with food were all we needed to have a wonderful time.
Sitting around, admiring each others' kids, it was exactly the same as back home. We don't speak the same language here, but that never really bothers me anymore, because in Thailand a genuine smile is enough for any situation.
And as you can see, there were a lot of genuine smiles that day.
We met up with Gyuri in late April for an outdoor sitting, right before it got way to hot to move, at the park behind the Queen Sirikit Convention Center (my favorite running space.) Now, I have to tell you what a good sport he was, between trying to meet up with me to discuss the theme I had in mind, to listening to my bizarre request. As we sat down to coffee one morning, I told him I wanted something different. While most families want their photos to be cheerful and vivid, their children's eyes to be bright, I wanted something washed-out. Drab, even. We were going to give this feel of another era, something along the lines of a family picnic in the 1940's, and I was trying to decide how far to go with it.
Fast forward a month later, and we were trooping through Bangkok's steamy heat in the park, trying with great care not to get too sweaty. Or grumpy. Gyuri knew time was key-no six year old or two year old would last very long in the heat without eventually unraveling. We quickly shifted from site to site in the park, smoothly laying down a picnic blanket or adjusting a shoe here and there.
Oh, and don't forget the quilt my mother made, which has traveled all over the world with us. 
