Another Thing I'll Miss Most About Bangkok When I'm Gone: My 12K Running Route (PHOTO ESSAY)

"Early to bed, early to rise. More successful people wake up early studies have shown," wrote a Facebook friend a few hours ago in response to my most recent status update (something about how I haven't been able to stay awake past 10pm all week).

I hope those studies are right, and in 2013, all those mornings of waking up at 5.30am to go running around Bangkok's Lumpini Park and that peaceful lake several kilometers away -- the one I can run to with my eyes half-closed but can't seem to locate on map to find out its name -- finally pay off. But if I still owe a few more months of up-at-the-crack-of-dawn dues, one week from now when I'm back in Melbourne, four hours ahead of Bangkok time, may I still be able to rise and shine before the sun does without the benefit of an alarm. And if I choose to go jogging, at least I'll be guaranteed equally stunning scenery.

  
...and the finish line!