Dining to Entertainment

 

Dining

The teachers in TCIS are equally divided between those who bring packed lunches and those who buy hot meals either from the school canteen or from any one of the stalls outside school. The Teachers Lounge has a refrigerator, microwave oven, and Pepsi vending machine. Teachers can also get free coffee and tea there. The school canteen offers Thai and Chinese dishes for breakfast, snacks, and lunch. A typical 30-baht meal consists of rice and three meat and/or vegetable dishes of your choice. Outside the school there are cafeterias and stalls selling Thai dishes like odd body parts of barbecued pork and chicken, fresh papaya salad, and noodles.

You'll realize once you get here that Thais love to eat anywhere judging from the food carts and stalls in every corner. There are many fast food outlets in Bangkok including KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Burger King, Cinnabon, Au Bon Paine, Deli France, Dunkin Donuts, Dairy Queen, Sizzler, and A&W. Teachers and students are familiar callers of pizza delivery services.

In Thana City, as mentioned before teachers have the choice of cooking, ordering, or dining out. Many opt to order or dine out because of the convenience and low price. The restaurants in Bldgs. A and C serve and deliver Thai dishes. Those who crave for Western food occasionally order pizza or go to the Blue Gecko bar which serves quick meals like club sandwiches, pot pies, quesadillas, and salads.
In Bangkok you have a wide variety of restaurants, bars, and cafes to choose from. Just to take your pick if you're in the mood for Italian, Japanese, Indian, Mexican, or Vietnamese cuisine. Many Irish pubs serve great fish and chips. You will also find Hard Rock, TGI Fridays and

Entertainment

Everything they said about the nightlife in Bangkok is true. There are many leisure activities that it's next to impossible to get bored in Bangkok. There are numerous places around the city to watch movies (in English) and rent videos. The United Artist cinemas at Emporium mall in Sukhumvit regularly shows English/American movies for 120 baht. The EGV theater chain at Central Bangna, Siam Discovery Center, and Seacon Square has Premier or Gold cinemas with reclining Lazy Boy seats for 200 baht.

You may go bowling at the Cosmo, Mars Bowl, and Seacon Square or go ice skating at the World Trade Center.

Karaoke bars are popular even among teenagers and office workers. Many places have booths that are rented on hourly rates for those who want sound-proofed karaoke.

Bangkok is a great place to catch live concerts and shows by internationally renowned artists. Every year a month-long dance and music festival features ballet and symphonies from other countries. There are also film festivals, auto shows, poetry readings, handicraft fairs, food festivals, jazz performances going on every weekend somewhere.

If you prefer to stay home you can still entertain yourself watching movies on DVD and VCDs, even for titles that have not opened in US cinemas yet (but of course the quality is never that good). One can buy VCDs for as low as 40 baht and DVDs for 130 baht in many stores everywhere.

Some teachers have organized after-school activities such as Movie Night (c/o Brian and Antoi) at their residences in Nouvelle Condominium. On Fridays and every first Sunday of the month a group of teachers also play golf. Once in a while teachers with cable TV also invite people over to their apartments watch a popular series, soccer, and football. Thana City has a field right outside Nouvelle that is always used for soccer matches on weekends. Every Saturday teachers occasionally join members of the Taiwan Business Association (many of them send their kids to TCIS) in a friendly match of softball in the same field.

The favorite watering hole of Thana City residents is Blue Gecko in Bldg. D, managed by teachers from a neighboring international school (teachers living in Thana City come from three international Schools). Blue Gecko offers Western dishes like monster club sandwiches, Caesar salad, nachos, etc. Thursdays is Music Night at Blue Gecko, while Friday is Karaoke Night.