morning inside Mah Boon Khrong: jasmine + chrysanthemum + rose phuang malai (garland). think e shopkeepers pay e neighbourhood phuang malai seller to tie a fresh garland in a plastic bag to e shutters every morning, so that they can place it on e shop altar once they arrive to open e shop for business.
Mah Boon Khrong: mecca for Singaporean devotees who make regular shopping pilgrimages to Bangkok (& have driven up e prices here). quite impossible to walk through without hearing any Singlish. probably e most efficient way to evacuate as many Singaporeans ASAP from Bangkok in a crisis would be to use MBK as a reporting centre & e Pathumwan Princess Hotel rooftop as a helipad? ;)
Thanon Rama I & Thanon Phaya Thai intersection outside MBK. there are at least 3 tuk-tuks & 15 taxis in this photo. green & yellow taxis are privately owned by e drivers, & e rest by companies, including e UGLY pink ones. motorcycle taxis are still around despite e (half-hearted?) crackdowns on motorcycle taxi ranks mafia, but 'taxi minivans' & songthaews seem to have disappeared almost entirely from central Bangkok?
hawkers at e BTS National Stadium station near e linkbridge to MBK Tokyu
hawkers + soi dog, two 'icons' of Bangkok. hardly any stray cats around, but plenty of soi (lane) dogs - e ubiquitous stray dogs found on almost every street.
most soi dogs are nice & friendly. this is one of e (at least) two that have made e Rama I-Phaya Thai overhead bridge their home =) together with e hawkers & e beggars, they lend some sort of character & life to e overhead bridge that links Siam Discovery Centre, Siam Square, BTS National Stadium station & MBK.
in another part of Pathumwan: dinner @ some restaurant along Soi Langsuan, while tropical storm Vicente dumped inches of rain on Bangkok outside. 3rd kor has done some serious work while checking out all e gyms in Bangkok, & is starting to look a little out of proportion, with forearms twice e size of most guys' =P
detoured by Sarasin & Witthayu (e 'Wireless Road' in novels & articles written by ang mohs) to get here after eldest kor overshot this place on a one-way road. Thanon Sarasin runs along e north end of Lumphini Park, which made e cat realise e meaning of Soi Langsuan's name - lit. lang2 (behind) suan2 (garden) =P Thanon Witthayu is e embassy/consulate area of Pathumwan, & we passed by e American Embassy & e big fat 'Residence of e American Ambassador' with an overflowing flooded moat.
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