Part 7/8: Potatoes Shaped Like Stars
Up at 7 on Wednesday for a quick hotel breakfast and a phone call home to chat with Alice. I continued to miss her fiercely. The day's main objectives: get new visa photos for Meg, buy her airline ticket (which we had reserved but were told would be lots cheaper if ticketed in Bangkok), and perhaps do a bit of shopping.
Our first experience with the Skytrain was great -- just 10 to 30 baht (less than $1 US) takes you to several key parts of town. We got off near the Ploenchit/Wireless intersection and found a different photo shop. Meg was uncooperative but we did our best; they told us to return in an hour. Back on the train, we headed for Peninsula Plaza, a swanky indoor mall, to visit Northwest Airlines' ticket office. We had a hassle -- not with Meg's ticket, but with a potential upgrade using Continental frequent flyer miles -- and they said they'd call us back.
Peninsula Plaza includes a branch of Asia Books, where we bought many English-language titles about Thailand. They were heavy, so we asked to have them shipped. (The package arrived in less than two months.) On the advice of the friendly clerks there, we then hiked up to the Sogo department store, adjacent to the Hyatt Grand Erawahn, to buy children's alphabet and number books in Thai. It was fascinating to watch the temple dancers and worshippers at the Erawahn shrine, which is a Brahmin rather than Buddhist site.
Lunch at the Sogo McDonalds featured something called a samurai pork sandwich, which was surprisingly tasty. Meg had no interest in meat but did enjoy her milk and French fries. We were having good success toting her around town in the back carrier, which seemed to make her feel secure and also kept my hands free. We took the train back to the photo place and were glad to see a better result this time. Upon our return to the hotel, Meg took a decent nap.
At about 4, we headed out on the train again to the Naryana Phand handicraft mall. (It's pronounced something like "Narai Pon," for anyone taking taxis.) On Ratchadamri road near the fancy Gaysorn Plaza mall and World Trade Center, it features a downstairs market (where bargaining is de rigeur) and an upstairs mall (where you pay the marked prices). Walking from the train stop, we passed a young beggar about Alice's age, all alone on the street with a cup for coins. A sad, stark contrast to the opulent shopping area and Planet Hollywood restaurant nearby.
I enjoyed practicing my bargaining skills in the lower level market, and we bought a number of souvenirs and gifts -- including some Chinese dresses for Alice -- at fabulously low prices. Meg was in a great mood and charmed all the sales clerks. Dinner time came before we were done, and we agreed to try to return. We ate in the hotel restaurant: a beautiful pad Thai (covered in a golden net of egg threads) and chicken fried rice. Meg was getting cranky by now and finally went to sleep about 9:30. All in all, it had been a much better day for her.
We were beginning to learn about her personality. She was an attractive child with a winning smile, and could be very playful and affectionate. She was apparently physically strong, despite her nagging runny nose and cough. And she had a temper, with a tendency to fling her entire body backwards when she didn't get her way. Not much of an eater, she enjoyed starches and milk, and fruit in moderation. (A kilo of beautiful yellow mangos, bought from a street vendor, were a huge hit.)
At about 5 a.m. on Thursday we awoke to a fuel-oil smell -- which we'd seemed to smell Wednesday afternoon in the hotel as well. Meg had had a rotten night -- crying, yelling, in and out of our big bed. I peeked into the hallway and was horrified to see it filled with acrid smoke. A phone call to the front desk assured us it wasn't a fire but rather an HVAC malfunction of some sort. We wearily showered and dressed, glad that down on the second floor, where the buffet was, there was no smoke problem.
Arriving at the Thai Red Cross at 8:30, we boarded a van with Khun Vo, Khun Amarah, and the Swiss family adopting the twins. We witnessed a heartbreaking parting between one of the baby-room caregivers and the boy twin. (I felt a bit sad that there was no one crying over Meg.) I didn't pay much attention to our route, though I know we cut through Chulalongkorn Univ. and a huge open-air clothing market that stretched for blocks -- perhaps the Pratunam Market? We passed the famous Victory Monument and stopped at an office building on Ratwithi Road: the DPW at last.
It was as hot an experience as we'd been led to expect; the conference rooms are air conditioned but the waiting areas are not. It's possible to buy cold drinks and small snacks from vendors in the hall. We met up with Mike and Gigi, a couple with whom I'd had Internet correspondence, who were adopting a girl about Meg's age through Holt. They'd brought their beautiful older daughter, also a Thai adoptee, along. Lynn and Tom were on hand for their interview, and we made a tentative date for dinner the next day.
We were able to meet and thank our DPW social worker, Khun Rutairath, who seemed surprised that we wanted to give her a gift. The interview itself, with three kindly women, was anticlimactic. They quizzed us about our work schedules, daycare arrangements, and previous adoption. They seemed interested in my efforts to bring families together with the database, and happily accepted a copy of the family directory. Meg played quietly (thank goodness) with some small toys as she sat on my lap.
We were finished before noon, and the Red Cross van took us back to the hotel. Sweaty and tired, we opted for room service. I felt bad about not exploring more of the local eateries, but with a potentially cranky toddler, options are sometimes limited. The tasty lunch they brought us included Massaman curry with potatoes cut into the shape of stars, which made me marvel once again at the Thai facility for making even the mundane beautiful. Meg ate little but did take a brief nap.
Late in the afternoon we returned to Immigration and filed the I-600. They were tearing down walls at the Immigration office, presumably preparing for the next tenant. It was a bit unnerving. We next went to the Embassy to drop off our visa paperwork, as they had asked us to do on Monday. We were back at the hotel by 3:30. Rod set out for a little shopping walk around Siam Square, while Meg and I took a bath. Heretofore she'd only been given sponge baths, so I was happy that her panic level was minimal; after a few moments she began to enjoy playing in the tub.
An endless cab ride at dusk through the sois north of Ploenchit Road took us to the Amari Boulevard hotel, where we'd previously agreed to meet Mike and Gigi for a Thai dinner and classical dancing. It was a beautifully served traditional meal, with manageable spice levels, and the dancers were lovely and graceful. We enjoyed the rooftop setting even though it was ungodly hot, and we knew we were breathing highly polluted air.
Alas, Meg was at the "tired/wired" stage and spent the evening in constant restless motion on my lap, so I was unable to properly attend to the entertainment. We enjoyed chatting with Mike and Gigi about their current and previous adoption experiences. Meg fell asleep in the cab back to the hotel, and we had trouble getting her settled down again. She conked out at 10:30, and we spent a few moments shuffling papers in preparation for the next day's events.