Icon Siam is a mixed-use development made up of a shopping mall , hotels, and residences. It cost US$1.5 billion to build and includes the tallest building in Thailand, the Magnolia Waterfront Residences with 70-floors. We took a Tuktuk here to explore while giving Tom and Luisa time to pack.
What a beautiful complex! We wandered around the markets inside before stopping for coffee and pastries, sometimes you need comforts from home. The mall has all kinds of shops in it from the basic H&M to Gucci. It even had a Porsche shop with a number of cars in it on the 3rd floor. It was fascinating to wander around and I could probably have spent a lot of money there, but the time came to move on and rejoin the group.
We bought passes for a Hop on Hop off boat, which took us down the Chao Phraya River, which flows through Bangkok and then into the Gulf of Thailand. A number of canals have been made around the river to shorten transport time to the sea. It was nice to sit down for a while on another hot day! No plans to visit temples today, so at least I could wear some cooler clothing.
We explored China Town late afternoon. It was mostly just food stalls by the time we reached it. The food variety is fascinating and again, I’m surprised to see how clean some of the stalls are given how many times I’ve been told to be careful about street food. It possibly helps that most of the street food I’ve purchased is vegetarian so it can be shared amongst the vegos and vegans among us.
Later, the moment we’d all been avoiding. Saying goodbye to Tom and Luisa. After 5 years of separation, it was like we hadn’t even been apart, and that is really special. Just a few more wrinkles and greys than last time. I’m so proud of everything Tom has achieved while settling into his life in Germany with Luisa. I hope we can see each other soon!
A Small Adventure 