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Posted by Tim on Dec 25, 2005
Christmas in Bangkok

We opted to splurge a bit for our "Christmas Suite", and have thus made ourselves quite comfortable in Bangkok's posh Royal Hotel.

Yesterday, we took a river taxi up the muddy-brown Klong Canal to a place called Siam Square: the shopping epicenter of Southeast Asia. There we went on a madcap Christmas shopping spree, spending over 3000 baht (about $75) on decorations, candy, and stocking stuffers. (The decorations, oddly enough, we finally located in the meat section of a supermarket!)

Last night, we spent hours covering our room in tinsel, ornaments, and strings of flashing Christmas lights. Our room has a couch, and we took one of the cylindrical arm pillows from it for our "tree." Wrapped from end to end in green tinsel, and layered with lights and ornaments, it is a sight to behold. Below it were laid our well-stuffed stockings (well, pillowcases, actually), and atop it stood a shining star. We slept on Christmas Eve by the soft glow of hundreds of colored lights.

This morning, we turned the air-conditioner up as high as it could go. It might have been 90º outside, but in our Christmas Suite we bundled ourselves up in pajamas and blankets as we opened our presents together. Our room comes complete with a big-screen TV, and we spent the day in bed watching 12 hours of Christmas movies on one of the English-language stations we get. For Christmas dinner, we splurged again, and ordered up an enormous amount of spectacular food from room service. At around 9pm, we made our way out to the international phonebooth a few blocks away, and called to wish our parents a very merry Christmas (12 time zones behind us, their day was only just starting).

It may have been a bit of an unusual Christmas, but then it has been a bit of an unusual year. And although we obviously both miss home on this particular day more than we ever have before, it has still been a very, very merry Christmas for the two of us.

As, we hope, it has been for all of you. Happy holidays, everyone!

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Turquoise
December 25, 2005 at 11:16pm
Merry Christmas to you!
Shana
December 26, 2005 at 12:51am
Merry Christmas, Hedgehogs :D
Loofa
December 26, 2005 at 6:03am
Merry Christmas!
Janet
December 26, 2005 at 7:31am
Merry, merry Christmas. You've supplied me with many written presents this year.
other jess
December 26, 2005 at 8:55am
happy. merry. joyous.
your sofa tree is a lovely little cylinder of sparkle.
i think i'm going to go out and buy infinite christmas lights today and try to recreate the soft glow. reading your entries this year has been so much fun – so, as Janet says – thank you for that wonderful present.
Philsie
December 26, 2005 at 9:08am
Bah…
Koreen
December 26, 2005 at 9:58am
Merry Christmas to both of you! May 2006 be a great continuation of your adventure:)

The Olbrishs

KerryGirl
December 27, 2005 at 1:22pm
Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, Happy New Year, and happy everything else you wish to celebrate! May 2006 be a year of hope, love, and extreme happiness. Love ya bro (and sis too!)…
;) :D
Leigh Ann Schafer
December 27, 2005 at 3:52pm
Merry Christmas Jess and Tim! Have a wonderful New Year!

Leigh Ann

heather
December 28, 2005 at 7:25am
Sounds great! Merry Christams to you both!
Sandy
December 31, 2005 at 2:57pm
Happy New Year!

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