I'm in Bangkok on another meet-and-greet sort of thing for my future employers in Hong Kong. But today I had some free time so I went off exploring.
I got a bit lost in Central World and it was lunch-time.
Determined not to be lured by the siren song of Burger King, Sizzler, or Swensen's (!), I hit a Thai place in the mall as I was getting exhausted in this mammoth complex. Yum Saap is a chain but it's a decent one. I had (green) chicken curry and fish cakes.
A mall with a temple in front? Okay...
I could have had lunch at one of my least favorite chains...
Batman display in the window of famed Japanese bookstore chain Kinokuniya...
All the lopsided or blurry photos are ones I took from the back of the elephant...
I hesitated to take pictures of the Buddha. It is a holy place, after all. And one has to remove one's shoes before entering the temple.
That said, it's also a holy place with a gift shop. When I saw another guy bow before the Buddha and then take pics, I figured I was in the clear. When I saw the gift counter to the Buddha's right, I knew it was okay.
It's an amazing work of religious art and I found the experience oddly moving as I recalled how much I read about Buddhism back in high school.
Walking back out into the sunlight of a hot February (!) day in Thailand, I felt happy that I had decided to spend my free day here at Ayutthaya and not the mall.
