Three nights in Bangkok

We flew to Bangkok on 25th April for 3 nights.We met up with Tommy and Mandy again. Bangkok was hot and humid. Our hotel was on the river so for most journeys we used water busses. That evening, we started out with drinks at the Oriental Hotel, followed by crazy Chinatown. Dinner was authentic enough and we even had ducks tounges! 4 up in a tuk-tuk, we headed for the night flower market. Next morning it was off to the Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddah. Very beautiful, very crowded, very hot. We got lost walking to Khao San Rd. After lunch we needed a massage to revive ourselves. We loved dinner at Issaya, enjoying the chef's tasting menu and a few exotic extra courses they gave us.The next day we did a klong long-tail boat trip followed by shopping  at Chatuchuk Market. After a wild cross-city, four-up, tuk-tuk ride with a crazy old toothless driver, who had no idea where we wanted to go but tried to get us there anyway; we had dinner at Asiatique, a very touristy waterfront development not far from our hotel.
On the 28th, we headed for Bangkok Station for the epic train trip to Singapore.The first train departed from Bangkok at 14.45pm. We had a boozy afternoon with our own whiskey and after a noodle dinner, our booth was folded into single bunks for the night.
23 hours later we arrived in Butterworth, Malaysia.We found a motorbike repair shop near the station that also stored bags and caught a local ferry across to the Unesco site, Penang. The old Chinese quarter was quaint and interesting but hot, humid and dirty! In the evening we headed back to Butterworth, then after dinner of fried chicken and rice in a local hawker stall, we boarded the sleeper train to K.L. The third train was a day train to Singapore, arriving around 4.30pm on 30th. That's 3 days for a journey of about 2 hours in a plane!