Another mostly-veg day, with a stellar Vietnamese lunch at Winner House, and then a home-cooked dinner with a tableful of traditional regional Thai delicacies. The food itself was phenomenal, but just to kick it up a notch we ate in the party room, an enormous suite with a bar, huge dining table, karaoke area, and of course a metric ton of antiques. We're not worthy!

On to Siam Niramit, the show at the Thai Cultural Centre. It was an *amazing* performance; highest production values I've seen outside of Cirque du Soleil. The show was broken into three acts: history, mythology, and festivals/celebrations. The stage was immense -- there were boats floating by, explosions, flying creatures, rain onstage -- and of course the costumes were phenomenal. Oh, and also elephants, chickens, and a few goats. They did a pretty good job of explaining what was going on, in several different languages. Wrapped around the theater was a replica of an ancient Thai village, something akin to Colonial Willamsburg... thatched huts, women doing traditional craft work, a few snacks to sample, and even a canoe to ride through the center. At 1,500 Baht the tickets weren't cheap, but it was totally worth it.

We managed to miss a huge rainstorm while inside watching the show, so afterwards it was the perfect time to meet up with Bruce (Anne wasn't feeling well) to check out what we lovingly refer to as "The Seedy Underbelly." We'd gotten some recommendations from a friend who used to live in Bangkok, and grabbed a cab to Soi Cowboy. This turned out to be a densely-packed one-block strip of neon-encrusted clubs designed especially to separate bloated pasty farangs from their cash. After hearing stories about the ping-pong shows and other aspects of Bangkok's notorious nightlife scene, I was a bit disappointed at how tame it all was. Probably the combination of a Sunday night plus the whole town being in low-gear out of deference to the Princess. But there wasn't much going on in any of the four strip clubs we checked out. Great people-watching, and interesting to note that most of the girls seemed to be fresh off the bus from Laos. But not nearly as saucy as I was expecting.

RECOMMENDED:
Winner House Vietnamese Cuisine
(there are actually several locations but this is the one we ate at)
68/5-6 Lertubon Village Sukhapibal 1 Road Latphrao
Bangkok, Thailand 10310
Tel/Hp : 662-5708923 662-5708567

Siam Niramit
19 Tiamruammit Road, Huaykwang, Bangkok, Thailand 10320
Tel: (662) 649-9222

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