we heart Bangkok

We just finished our two days in bangkok, and I feel strangely rejuvenated.

Bangkok, ah, bangkok. It's a city that exudes life through all its stench-filled alleys and glittering designer shops. It's almost like you can feel pent-up energy pulsing through the cars waiting nervously at crowded intersections. Trendy twenty-somethings walk through gleaming shopping centers that cover huge areas of real estate. It's a city like no other.

I haven't always loved Bangkok. When we lived there waiting for emma's birth, I loathed the place. I was pregnant, and living in one of the most hot and humid climates in the world was not such a great match. Street vendors hawking their fresh foods made my stomach churn; now the smell of it leaves me with a sense of appreciation for the colorful diversity that makes up such an interesting city.

Previously in Bangkok, I hated walking. We walked everywhere, past street markets, past mom-and-pop stores, past "massage" parlors offering the male gender every possible service except a real massage. I still hate walking in bangkok - a city that is unimaginably stroller un-friendly, but I enjoyed the scenery much more this time around. I loved watching the convergence of cultures that is on display at each and every point around the city: moronic foreign tourists, middle-easterners, africans, asians, business people...it's an amazing picture of the many places people come from.

We indulged in many creature comforts during our brief, but busy time in Bangkok. First and most important on the list was dinner at Outback, where we ordered a bloomin onion AND desserts...yikes! Then we had breakfast at my favorite bakery in the entire world and had chocolate croissants and blueberry muffins. We had lunch at my most favorite restaurant in the entire world - called the Food Loft - and I secretly wished I could have eaten there for the next five weeks. Every day. Every meal. That's how much I love it. And...funnily enough, my parents -who know nothing about Asia - were the ones who found the restaurant and introduced us to it during our three months in bangkok. Anyway, I could talk about Food Loft all day, but since I have made my point, I will move on to dinner. After we spent about $250 on Western imported products, we had dinner at the Lebanese restaurant that we frequented during emma's birth, and found to our great surprise that Emma loved eating hummus and pita bread. Go figure!

So while I could never live in Bangkok, I love love LOVE to visit the place. Even the skies were clear and pollution free for us today. And, most of all, Bangkok is the place that brought into our lives perhaps the sweetest, and most life-changing experience of all: Emma Brighton, who turns two this week.

Happy Birthday, sweet Emma.