Mary's Visit to Bangkok!

Finally spent a weekend in Bangkok which was nice to do some exploring in my own city! Mary came to visit because she was doing the half marathon on the Sunday. She arrived on Friday early evening and after catching up we went to Ekkamai gateway mall to grab some dinner. Mary teaches in a small town so she was excited to get some westernized food. We got pretzels, pizza and ice cream! Was very delicious :) Then we got invited out by my new friend Jenna to a pub style restaurant/bar called Sway. This was the first place I had seen draft beer so that excited me! This place was very expensive though so I only had a couple drinks! Then after Sway we took a taxi to Soi 11 which is a popular street with many bars. First we went to Aussie Bar which had a live band doing covers in English. It was really fun and the bar was full of both tourists and locals. After this bar we went to another called Levels. This was a rooftop bar and really cool! Once again very expensive because it is a tourist street so they can jack up the prices. This bar was also full of both tourists and locals. We had fun dancing all night, and I mean all night. I don't think Mary and I got back to my apartment until 3am!!! Before we got home we had to stop at the 7 Eleven and get a toasty for the ride home. They are so delicious and I'm addicted! It's a croissant with ham and cheese and they warm it up in a toaster at the 7 Eleven... to die for :) We had a little bit of a sleep in then we travelled more into downtown Bangkok to the Rama 8 bridge. This is the area that Mary's half marathon race was taking place. Mary got a hotel room in the area because the race started at 5 am and it was about half hour from my apartment, and she invited me to come along and take advantage of the pool and comfy beds! We had a nice afternoon swim and laid by the pool! I got really into my book, The Luckiest Girl Alive! Highly recommend it... sooo good! Then we went to register Mary and get her shirt. On our way back we got dinner at this cute little restaurant! I had Pad Thai! Still one of my favourite dishes here to eat, as well as Pad See Ew (which I had for lunch). We went to bed early because Mary had to be up so early! When Mary's alarm went off she got ready and I wished her luck! She predicted it would take around 2 hours to finish so I planned to go down and watch her cross the finish line. I went back to bed for a bit and then on my way to the finish line I went and saw the largest Buddha I have seen here in Thailand so far. It was so beautiful and nice to see so early in the morning. The gold Buddha glowed in the morning sun, it was amazing. When I finally met up with Mary she had found some other people in our program that signed up for the race as well and we all planned to meet for lunch later in the afternoon! We went back to the hotel and Mary had a nap and shower. I read more of my book! Then we got ready to sign out and our mission to find the Mexican restaurant began! The streets are very confusing in Bangkok, but after some help we found the restaurant. Mary and I got nachos to share and then I had some tacos. It was truly amazing after living on a diet of rice and noodles throughout my stay for far. I mean I love rice and noodles but it's nice to get a taste of food I would have at home as a treat! Then we all parted our separate ways as Mary's bus was the opposite direction of my apartment. It is always nice to see Mary. We have become very good friends and I know after I return from Thailand I will be making a visit to Boston to see her.