Bangkok House Sitting

Our four week house sit in the outskirts of Bangkok is certainly living up to our expectations. We are getting a chance to experience what we would term “normal” day to day living as an expat.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not being critical of the people working in the shop. We show up in a shop where all their customers are locals, the challenge is all on us. It was a fun and entertaining experience. All the staff made every effort to communicate with us and in the end I think it was a successful effort. Though the final test will come when the glasses arrive and we see if Karen can see any better with the finished results.

I can be quick to be critical when people do not do their jobs properly, so it behooves me to also wave the flag when an agency and it’s people deliver exactly what they are supposed to. The security procedures at the Embassy are fairly stream lined and the staff behind the counters know their jobs and were excellent at making sure that everything was in order and the processing of the passports went off without a hitch. Thank you to the Passport Services staff at the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok.

The trips into the Embassy also allowed us to experience using Uber and Grab in Bangkok. As we are located about 17km from the nearest metro train station we called upon Grab and Uber to get us to the station. The first thing we discovered was they are nowhere near as quick as we experienced in Malaysia. The other surprise for us was that the taxi was cheaper than either Uber or Grab. 180Baht for a taxi and between 210 and 360Baht for Uber/Grab. In fairness the slower service is partly attributed to where we are located.

After getting our passports we spent the day walking around Lumpini Park then retreating into Siam Paragon Mall to escape the heat. It was nice to be able to walk under the trees in Lumpini Park. Hundreds of Thais were out and about enjoying the park and the lizards and cats provided some good entertainment.

However the vast majority of our time has been spent being homebodies with two very entertaining miniature Dachshunds. Taking them for a couple of walks a day and cringing every time they tear out the door to bark at some poor soul passing by.

Loving the life of relaxing in suburban Bangkok.