After the adventures of the past week we decided to take it easy and relax in Bangkok in anticipation of a busy end to our trip in Hong Kong.

We started our day with the large breakfast spread at the hotel– they had options to cover Continental, American, Thai, Chinese, and a few other styles. Best of all the restaurant was outside on the 20th floor. After breakfast we made our way the couple blocks through the crowded streets to the metro station, quite grateful that we had not tried to haul our luggage on the metro when we arrived the night before.

After a few stops we arrived at the Siam station, where a number of large multi-level malls can be accessed by raised walkways from the metro. Siam Paragon was close so we tried it first. Since it was the week before Christmas they had some fun decorations:

Once inside we saw that they had a grocery store — we love visiting grocery stores in other countries so we made a beeline for it. Though undoutabely expensive by Thai standards the store was quite busy and had quite a few interesting items.

Dried fruit and vegetables, including some green peppers, ginger, and some delicious passion fruit

After shopping in a few other stores we headed to Central World, another large mall along Thanon Rama I. This mall was larger but not as bustling, in part because its largest anchor store Zen has yet to re-open since the 2010 unrest in Bangkok. It was slated to re-open shortly after we left and we’re sorry we missed out on it this time around. We did find some nice clothes at a store called Giordano (that also had stores in Hong Kong).

After two malls we were tired of shopping and headed back to the hotel. The elevated walkways back to the metro allowed us to skip this mess:

so many modes of transportation, and it’s not even rush hour!

Once back at the hotel we changed to clothes that fit the dress code of the lounge and went for our complimentary afternoon tea. From the elevator we were escorted to a large table in the corner of the lounge with heavy comfortable chairs and a nice view of the river from the 50th floor. We were expecting some light snacks and a small selection of cocktails, and we were pleasantly surprised at the extensive offering.

Homemade marshmallows, freshly roasted nuts, small sandwiches, fresh bread, etc. It was a nice treat and left us rather full for dinner (which helped save us money later). Our afternoon experience was one of the best parts about Lebua.

Stuffed from our ‘tea’ we headed down to the pool on the 20th floor to read.

The chaise lounges were quite comfortable, and though a bit breezy, it was quiet and relaxing. As the sun started to set we headed back to our room to take more susnet photos from our balcony.

Finally, we wrapped up our day in Bangkok at the Breeze restaurant in the hotel. After an inexplicable wait considering how quiet the restaurant was at that point in the evening we were seated at a table with a view north and east toward the skyscrapers of central Bangkok. As mentioned in our hotel review we weren’t impressed with the food or service, especially considering the prices.

Though we didn’t hit some of the major temples or other tourist areas we were happy to catch our breath before our final few days in Hong Kong.