Back in Bangkok, we of course had to hit the major "things you must do." So, Friday we went to the Damnoen Suduak Floating Market. We were up and waiting for the bus at 6:30am! Unfortunately, we were on the tour with some annoying guys that were in love with themselves, and very whiny-like girls almost! We enjoyed ourselves despite them. I think after this day my parents have been on every type of transportation possible (tuk-tuk, van, tour bus, airplane, elephant, song taow, train, taxi, Dang's truck, long-tail boat and Chao Phraya river boat taxi) except for the motorcycle taxis. 
The market is over an hour south of Bangkok, so I half slept, half listened to whatever our tour guide was saying. It was the usual tourist deal, you know where they stop at several places for you to buy things. At least they were interesting. The first place we stopped we got to eat sugar made from coconuts. Right after that we were getting into a long tail boat on our way to the market. I wish they would have given us more time on the boat going through the market before letting us off at the gift stores. Oh well, we were able to do some shopping at least and I let them try some tamarind. 
At that point I still had my sweater on and all the foreigners were looking at me like I had an extra head. 
It's okay though, all the Thai's had on long sleeves, and the morning was cool for us. It is after all the middle of Thai winter so high 70's low 80's. We stopped a couple more places on our trip including a Chinese temple next to the snake show, and a wood carving factory. I asked the tour guide if he could let us off at the Grand Palace, and then we started the rest of our day on our own. 
Dad had to rent the pants because he had shorts on. The rest of us were okay though. The first part of the Grand Palace tour is always the Emerald Buddha Wat. It's a pretty stunning complex of art that leaves most people in awe. Probably Thailand's closest attempt on matching some of the most famous cathedrals in Europe strictly from an art perspective. Every surface imaginable is either tiled in millions of tiny mirrors, carved clay or stone work, gold-leafed or hand painted with the most delicate touch imaginable. It is really an impressive sight, if you're their for the art. Unfortunately that's not the purpose of this place. We still take visitors there so they can kind of get an understanding about Thai culture and how deeply Buddhism is rooted in the Thai identity. They got to walk up and see the emerald buddha that sits high enthroned in a room the size of a small cathedral. After that we saw the actual Grand Palace itself, which is pretty grand even though the King doesn't live there. By the time we finished they were closing things down. There was a solar eclipse happening at the time so we got to see that too before grabbing a bite to eat and hopping on the Chao Phraya River boat taxi. That evening I took my parents to MBK while the Brueggeman's rested (smart people!). My Dad was in heaven meaning there were cheap electronics there. We actually ended up with my Dad getting an iPod Touch and I finally got the Canon SLR I have been looking into buying for a long time! I was so excited. Here's the guy who sold it to us at the Canon-Apple store. 
And here is my Dad after a very long day of walking, touring, and shopping. 
Starbucks is the place!
Marti, Jim and I went on a tuk-tuk ride 
while Mom and Dad got lost trying to meet us, we walked around Siam Paragon window shopping for a Lamborghini, 
met Sarah for pizza, 
and then went shopping at MBK again where my Dad discovered that they sell a hundred different video games in just one cartridge for only $45 (thanks to Jim for the haggling expertise). 
It was all fun, and before we knew it the day was over. Sunday morning we went to church at Journey Into Light. 
So they got to meet the rest of anybody they hadn't met yet and see what church is like for me every week. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to head to the airport for the last leg of their trip, and this is where this 
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