01/24/2023 Thai Cooking Class, City Bars, and Patpong Market in Bangkok, Thailand

I met a friend named Namwann who I had met online for breakfast at a nearby restaurant called Roast in a trendy multi-level indoor/outdoor store complex called the Commons, which was about a 15 minute walk from our complex. It was enjoyable getting to chat with a Bangkok native about Bangkok, traveling, DJing, and life.

Following breakfast, Joseph, Morgan, and I took a cab to Silom where I had booked us a Thai cooking class. A Thai cooking class came highly recommended by multiple friends who had visited Bangkok, and it did not disappoint! I only thought we would be preparing Pad Thai, but we cooked a full 4 course meal for ourselves consisting of tom yum soup, pad Thai, red curry chicken and rice, and for the grand finale, mango sticky rice. It was hotter than a sauna in the second story kitchen with a dozen visitors from Europe and Korea stir frying and steaming up spice and water into the air, but the taste of the food still packed more heat. We also shared a table with a family visiting from Korea, and we enjoyed talking to them. Joseph had lived in Seoul, South Korea previously for 4 years, so his conversational Korean speaking has been a great in for us with multiple Korean travelers we’ve encountered. I told this family Busan was on my itinerary following Seoul, and we exchanged contact information to connect in the coming months when I pay my visit.

After our bellies were full and taste buds satisfied with the Thai meal we ourselves prepared (with some help), we walked to Sathorn and had tea at “The House of Sathorn) next to the W Hotel. This place was beautiful and the tea was very tasty. After we explored the building, we ventured over to Moon Bar, a rooftop bar sitting atop the 59th floor of a fancy hotel. The views of the city were absolutely stunning, and we enjoyed a few cocktails, conversations about life, motivation, and theories on some of lives unanswerable questions while the sunset and day transitioned to night.

We paid our bill and left the hotel, meeting Joseph’s friend Patrick outside. Patrick was taking his dog, Simba, on a walk as he lived only a few blocks away in Bangkok’s more upscale business district. We walked a few blocks and Patrick took us to a “cool place to hang out close by with bars and restaurants.” Where did we end up? Another place called “The Commons,” exactly like were I had breakfast earlier that day. Apparently there are only two of these communal centers of restaurants, cafes, and bars in all of Bangkok, and by happenstance we went to both in the same day. This seemed like a funny coincidence, but what happened next was truly serendipitous. Patrick returned home after taking us to The Commons, and Morgan, Joseph, and I grabbed beers then sat outside. Two friendly local girls sitting next to us initiated conversation and invited us to join them at their table. After discovering they are recent students graduated with degrees in architecture, Joseph asked them if they knew Patrick as Patrick is an architecture and professor at a Bangkok school. He was their former professor the year prior while they were attending college! It really is a small world.

We enjoyed a few rounds with our new friends and a couple of shoots in the nearby Photo Booth before making our departure for Patpong market. Patpong market is a red light district in Bangkok, and I’ve decided to keep my logging of the events very light and minimal. We had considered popping in for an infamous Ping Pong show (warning: if you don’t know what they are, it may be best to leave it that way. Google discretion advised). After a dozen locals tried scamming us into a Ping Pong show, we were turned off to the idea elected to just go to a club instead. We went to a couple of different clubs, one of which I made my second DJing international appearance and mixed for a few songs! Not one, but two opportunities to DJ in the first 5 days of Bangkok!? How amazing. One of the wildest and most fun nights I’ve ever had.