SEA Trip Day 8: Last Adventures in Bangkok

Saturday, January 21: Starbucks Quest, Farewell to Friends, Afternoon Tea #2

Our friends came back into the central city area on Saturday, which gave us another chance to catch up. J attended a professional development event, and A and Kiddo made a stop at the Neilson Hays Library to exchange some books. This was our opportunity to spend some time with Kiddo and to finally meet Poley, the famous polar bear (see A's blog for many appearances and stories about this fluffy friend).

Since the Library is just a block or so from our hotel, it was easy to meet up with them. But first we went off on a quest of our own to the nearest Starbucks and found two awesome mugs to bring home -- one with the skyline of Bangkok (in the classic 3D style that we prefer) and the other to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit. Let's hope we can fit them both in our bags on the way home!

A was having trouble finding a Grab to get to our lunch spot, so we ended up walking back to our hotel to ask the concierge for assistance. Our destination was The Commons, which has multiple food vendors and plenty of outdoor seating. Mr. E and I weren't really hungry after our leisurely breakfast in the lounge, so we just got a healthy juice to share while J and A and Kiddo enjoyed their food. Kiddo's waffles were beautiful! She loved them! Unfortunately, A's supposed "real Wisconsin cheese curds" didn't quite live up to their billing (no squeak).

We said farewell to our friends in the early afternoon and decided to walk back to the hotel, seeing more of the city and the street life as we strolled along in the shade.

Our final planned activity for the trip was afternoon tea at The Author's Lounge, located in the Oriental Hotel. Since our reservation was for 4:30pm, we decided to take a cab to minimize being out in the still-warm air even though the hotel wasn't too far away. We were seated at a table in the main room, right next to the piano player. After several minutes of trying to talk over the music, Mr. E asked the staff if we could move to the back room to decrease the background sound. The staff was very accommodating, and we ended up at a table large enough for 5+ people!

Since I was still a bit warm, I opted for a cold-brewed tea to accompany my vegan and gluten free tea set, which was recommended by the staff as the best way to avoid any allium. Mr. E had the standard tea set, which included a small walnut chocolate cake robed in red and shaped like a rabbit. The entire presentation was amazing and VERY plentiful! We wish we had known earlier that it was perfectly acceptable to ask for a to-go box...

In addition to making a note in the reservation about my allium allergy, I also mentioned that this trip was to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. So we were presented with a lovely little extra sweet to acknowledge our special occasion!

This experience was a great way to close out our Bangkok visit, with excellent service, amazing food, and a special surprise at the end.

We decided to walk back to our hotel and stopped at a small shop that Mr. E had noticed on our way to The Author's Lounge. What a great find! We procured a beautifully carved wooden elephant to add to our collection along with a cute elephant magnet as part of our souvenirs.

Back at the hotel, I crashed in the room because I wasn't feeling well and was in bed by about 7pm. Mr. E enjoyed the lounge and the rooftop bar again for one final night in BKK.