On Saturday (11/11), I went to Chulalongkorn University with Peter, my colleague to watch the Loy Krathong celebration there. Actually wanted to ask another colleague - Chong Wa with his wife but couldn't reach them.

I would prefer very much to go to the Chao Phraya riverside. But we weren't too sure which place would be better. At first, it was near Oriental Pier, then it became Ayuthaya but due to the expected traffic jam (and the fact that we were going to work on Saturday till later in the evening), we skipped the Ayuthaya plan. Then it was Wat Arun because there was a festival there. But then we need to pay 500 baht to join, so we skipped that plus the festival was a bit tourist-oriented - cultural shows. Peter and me just wanted to watch the Thai people celebrate Loy Krathong by putting the krathong (lotus flower on a float) to the river (or pond or lake).

Finally Chulalongkorn University suggested by Tippawan (our Thai colleague) was taken because it was just behind Siam Center and that means it's easier for us to move over to Hard Rock Cafe or Novotel later in the night.

Had a really nice Thai noodle Tom Yum soup dinner somewhere in Siam Square. There was 'The Matrix' on TV and watched a bit of that in the restaurant. After that, went to 'find' the university 'coz we haven't been there before. Asked two persons for directions. The second guy was even nicer in the sense that he took us very near to the entrance and it wasn't his way (all the while I thought he could be going that way too).

It was like a carnival at the university grounds. Lots of stalls put up by the students. Some of the stalls, I can't understand what kind of things they want to promote (if only i could understand Thai). So goes with some shows that were put on. There were also lots of food stalls around but our main focus was to watch the Loy Krathong being 'floated' on the pond. It really was a pretty sight although not as exciting as seeing the lotus floating away.

We later proceeded to the Hard Rock Cafe of which we could probably meet up with Terence - another colleague. I had a beer there and the band that was playing was the same band that had played when I was at Hard Rock for the first time with my previous project manager. At first, I was very happy to see them in action again. But then found out that they were routinely playing the same songs as before (my previous encounter was a month ago). Although some people may enjoy the same music as it's enjoyable, for me, I'm a bit choosy. I'd like to think that it doesn't make sense to play the same songs when there are so many other wonderful songs out there.

We also checked out the scene at Novotel and to my surprise, it was the same band I visited before and playing the same songs too. It wasn't my day. Had a beer there too. I think I'm pretty much okay at having two bottles of beer. Maybe I'll feel woozy after the third but I didn't get the chance to find out because we left after a while. Didn't get to bump into Terence there as well.

And that pretty much wraps up my experience of Loy Krathong in Thailand.

Regards,
Li Li