Is this me? Younger (note dark mustache)? Melting in the heat? Probably not, but the resemblance is uncanny. Not sure what it is, but it looks like a night club or disco or something like that.

Whatever. I passed this on my way from the Sky Train after a shopping (and eating) expedition at the Emporium, one of the opulent shopping centers in the upscale Sukhumvit area, to Health Land, a chain of upscale spas in Thailand where a husky guy worked out the kinks in my back.

This is just one of the opulent shopping centers in this area of Bangkok. Siam Paragon, Siam Discovery, and Central World are bigger and jam packed with stores that I can’t afford. But the food courts are great. I had my usual street food fare at the Emporium — grilled skewers of chicken and pork and grilled sausages — but with air conditioning and pristine sanitation (though I have yet to have any problems after more than four weeks of eating on the street and in the night market).

The Emporium also has an excellent English language book store with an extensive selection ranging from supermarket best sellers to fine literature. I stocked up on reading material for the rest of my trip, including the latest from John Burdett, a mystery writer who sets his stories in Bangkok and elsewhere in Asia.

Thip’s final orals are scheduled for tomorrow morning so my visit to Bangkok is winding down. Before I leave Bangkok for Bali and my sailing trip among the Spice Islands of Indonesia, I have a few more images I want to show you. Two are additional views of the river from my suite at the Chatrium.

This is the shower stall! This is one of the best views from a shower that I have ever had, rivaled only by the outdoor shower on our deck at Serra Cafema in Namibia (see post dated November 23, 2013).

This is a panorama from the suite.

The last is a view of the rising sun from my room at the faculty residence at Assumption University. Not quite the same as the view from the Chatrium, but it does have a raw, authentic appeal of its own.