Chad's Take on Bangkok:

Go to Misty's Story

Saturday 21 February 2004

We were in Bangkok last weekend from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. The flight kind of stinks a bit because you 'lose' Monday. The one and only flight out of Bangkok back to Manila is at 11AM, so you JUST have time to eat breakie at the hotel, and catch the Benz to the airport. Oh yeah, the Benz. I think they got them cheaper though because the steering wheel was installed on the wrong side. Misty and I BOTH agree that it wasn't as nice as the older Volvo. Volvos just seem to age better, and it was MUCH quieter than the Mercedes. Ahh, life in Southeast Asia.

We didn't do much on Friday except get settled in the hotel and go out to eat. We went to a 69 Baht buffet that our driver pointed out and mentioned that it was popular with students and office workers. We walked about twenty minutes through Bangkok from our hotel, and finally arrived. We were the ONLY white people there. Lots of the stares and giggles that we got used to when we first moved to Manila. No where NEAR as many people speak English in Thailand as in the Philippines, but I noticed that there was always usually one person that did speak a bit. You could tell because everyone would scatter and fetch the English-speaker for us. Not at this place though. We figured out (through hand-gestures on our part, and pointing on theirs) where the food was set up, un-refridgerated and uncooked on a table obscured by a bunch of people. That was one of those after-the-fact 'well duhs'. Crowd of people at a buffet anywhere in the world = food. So we figured out that you got three plates full of food for 69 baht (it was 38B to 1USD that weekend). While you're up getting your food, they put a charcoal-burning grill, steam-tray thing down at your table (photo soon). So when you get back it's hot and ready to cook your food. We put our veggies, fish ball things, and sausages things in the water around the sides and the meat on top. NO chicken in Bangkok right now, so we had some beef, and what I think was pork or something similar.

I know what you are thinking at this point. Weren't they afraid of getting sick?!? Well that's the funny part of the story. I wasn't thinking about getting sick, I was in THAILAND! I was tossing stuff on the grill, and eating it and drinking a big bottle of Carlsberg and generally getting into the whole thing. About five minutes into it I look up and Misty is staring at the grill with a queasy look in her eyes. That ruined it for me. I snapped back to reality and realized that this sort of behavior in Manila lands you a trip (with a 'sample') to the doctor which ultimately ends with them telling you that you’re the proud new owner of... An Amoeba! So dinner was shot at that point. I ate only the things that were charred black, and even then I smothered them in hot sauce. Mmmm. Thai homemade hot sauce!

We walked back to the hotel with Misty repeatedly telling me that we were going get sick. I kept saying no way, we're in Thailand!

We didn't get sick, in fact we woke up Saturday morning famished, and promptly went downstairs to eat the huge breakfast included with our room. We hit the sidewalk by 8AM and walked to the wonderful elevated train (I think it was dutch) that would take us to the weekend market near the Mo Chit stop. So that we could go buy mo' shit of course, though that joke was funnier when we went BACK on Sunday morning to buy more shit.

The Market at Chatuchak (The stop is Mo Chit)

I don't shop. Like a typical guy I figure out that I want to buy something, I find the place that has the cheapest price, I go there, I buy it. That being said I shopped my tush off at Mo Chit. The whole bargaining thing definitely appeals to me. The shopkeeper isn't going to let the item go at a loss, so all that's left is for you to get the item at the lowest possible price. For instance: We bought some silk that a vendor originally wanted 900 Baht for. I eventually got two for one thousand! Now granted they're probably worth less on the local market but hey, I felt like I was getting a deal. Besides what's a more traditional gift from the ACTUAL Orient than silk! Our families were essentially present-less at Christmas because we were still in transition here. I don't think I knew where the post office was until sometime in January. The majority of the Bangkok booty are belated Christmas presents.