Bye Bangkok

Hearing: Fire Flies - Owl City (i love this song!)

My last 2 days, well 2 and a half days in Bangkok were spent, shopping, relaxing, pampering and not doing any sight-seeing. I had so much fun. I booked myself into a hotel right near the shopping strip so i wouldnt have to go far to get home laden with shopping if i got carried away...but more about that later.

After checking in, first this was first, a traditional Thai massage. Now beleive it or not, in all my coming and going to BKK while flying, i never once stopped to get a massage, never having had one before i didnt know what i was missing out on. Anyway, i booked myself in and spent the hour trying not to laugh. Let me explain why. Firstly it was a nice place, they brought me in gave me pj's to change into and then a Thai girl came in...
She started with my feet...all i knew was that one minute she was smiling at me the next she was beating my feet into a pulp!! heehee...and she managed to find every possible ticklish spot i had! I swear i did all i could not to crack up laughing but i think she knew and she was super nice about it. She was even good enough to laugh with me when my stomach growled that it was hungry round about the time she was massaging my arms. She must have thought i was one weird girl. But i tell you what, she gave one heck of a massage for someone so tiny and my body felt really relaxed afterwards.

The next day i decided i would do some gift shopping and maybe get a manicure and pedicure. Leaving the hotel i decided to just wander around and not head anywhere in particular. It was the smartest thing i did!! I ended up down alleyways filled with shops that appeared to be small start ups of young fashion students/entreprenures and held far more interesting clothes than the mainstream shopping centres/malls.
At one point i found myself near some interesting restaurants...if you look closely at the one on the right, at the top is a small shark. And the photo on the left...take a look at the menu to get an idea of the scale of those shark fins! I would not like to encounter one of those alive!



Back into the alleyways I came across one store that really was challenging. It was an accessories shop. Unique accessories. Earrings!!! I was in there like a shot. In the matter of seconds i had already picked out 7 different pairs i would be more than happy to buy. How i exercised restraint i dont know. I only walked out with one pair.



Really cute!! I was in there looking at everything and started chatting to the 2 ladies in the store. One spoke surprisingly good English, turns out that she had lots of family in Sydney and had even been here a couple of times. She wasnt the designer though. It turns out that a bunch of friends travel around to gain inspiration and when they hit on something really funky they design a couple of pieces and she sells them in her little shop. In fact the shop had only been open for a month or so! I did ask if they had an online store as i was very interested in the designs and would definetly buy some more later. That really surprised her because she asked me if i really would do that and when i said absolutley and explained i really loved earrings but it was hard to find unique designs she was really flattered. Anyway, i did give her my email address should they build a website bought my pair and continued my trek through the labrynth of alleys and shops.

Im sorry to say that the rest of that day - shopping wise - wasnt very fruitful, i guess after the fantastic find with the earrings everything else just wasnt good enough. I did buy some jeans though. Anyway once i saw it was useless to keep shopping i opted for a movie and while waiting for my session time I pampered myself with a manicure/pedicure.

Going to the cinemas was a surprising experience. They have the usual hollywood blockbusters and Thai productions but the difference was in the showing. Like you would expect, they ran advertising and movie preveiws but just before showing the feature they ran a montage of the Royal Family complete with national anthem. Everyone in the audience stood up. Everyone. The teen rebels, parents, expats, tourists (including me) - everyone stood up. I thought it was a nice touch, cant see it happening in Australia though lol! And i enjoyed how everyone - a melting pot of cultures - reacted the same to different scenes.

Day 2 was a lot more successful shopping wise, my bag was packed with Thai silk scarves, colourful handbags, clothes, and much more. In fact i had to make a trip back to the hotel to leave my stuff in the baggage hold because i couldnt carry it all any more!! The bell boys had a good laugh at me, but that was alright, im sure they get that a lot.

Well, that was that, i had my last Tom Yum soup hopped in a cab and headed to the airport to catch my flight home.

Hope you enjoyed the posts about my trip. Sorry again they took ages to complete and thanks for bearing with me :)

VP

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Bangkok

Hearing: Agnes - Release Me

Chaktuchak Weekend Markets
These markets are massive and are only open on the weekend. They sell almost everything you can think of, furniture, clothes, household goods, jewelery, pets, ornamentals and much more! You can spend hours just wandering around looking and things - and you can quite easily get lost too. One way to get to the markets is to walk through a park near the train station. Some school kids were doing an assignment and a boy approached me with a survey about Thai food all in English to practice. They were really sweet and as i love Thai food i was more than happy to answer their questions. I even got a photo taken with them but i cant seem to find it.

Anyway getting back on track. The photos below are from the markets and some of the funky stuff on sale. One photo is of the infamous Bangkok traffic - see the blue taxi...and the clothes photo - no its not for dolls, its dog clothes, there were a bunch of shops specialising in all sorts of dog outfits!

The last photo is Tom Yum Soup. It is devine! Usually made with prawns or seafood this is such an addictive dish. There is a small restaurant near Pantip Plaza (a technology mall) which sells this soup for 35-40 bhat (about one dollar) and its one of the best ive had. Even the dish they serve it in is cool. By the way, since coming back to Sydney, ive tried a Tom Yum here (13 dollars) and they had noodles in it!! So very wrong...lol!








Wat Arun - The Temple of Dawn

Wat Arun is a beautiful temple. The best time to go is either at dawn as the name suggests or dusk. Of course you can go during the day when you can walk around inside but going at night is something a little different and you get the place to yourself. To get there, try taking the local water taxis, one guy tried to charge 400-600bhat for a private trip there and back but with the local ferry/taxi its 3bhat (or was it 6bhat?) per sector. Now thats a big difference! So be adventurous and try them, you get a cool ride on the river with the rest of the locals on a traditional motorised long boat and a view of the temple from a very different angle.



Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant

Its not as sleazy as it sounds!! I tried to find a link to the restaurant in Bangkok but google advised that its an unsafe site so your just going to have to trust me on this (you can find its sister restaurant site in the Birds and Bees Resort, Pattaya here).

Initially my flatmate mentioned it to me (when we were both FA's) so i had to go check it out for myself.










Street food for dinner





Next stop - Ayutthaya

VP

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Lunch at Cabbages and Condoms

Hearing: light rain, people chatting, soft clink of cutlery n piano music.

Welcome to day two of my 2 weeks leave. At the moment im in a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms having lunch and no im not joking. They have free Wi-Fi here so im typing this up on my mobile in between mouthfuls of delicious Thai food. I'll post again soon with what i've been up to so far and include some photos.

From a defrosted VP.

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Pantip Plaza

Hearing: How long - Hinder

Im on 2 days off atm. I arrived back from BKK 2.30am this morning and slept in till 1.30pm today....naughty i know. I was very tired from my lack of sleep with weird flight times and flying back to back (i had DAC just before BKK). Anyways, in BKK i headed out to Pantip Plaza with my CM. Its a 5 floor haven for everything IT related so naturally the nerd in me was very excited and eager to check the place out. I was particularly interested in seeing how much an external HDD would cost for my laptop. Long story short, i ended up with a massive headache, my CM too. There was so much to look at, so many prices, brands, customisations etc it got confusing and a bit daunting. I decided i would postpone buying the HDD and instead bought a tiny new 1GB Kingston Flash drive which only set me back 390BHT! Despite the headache i think Pantip is going to be one of my favourite places.

VP

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Bangkok reflections

Hearing: Because of you - Kelly Clarkson (MTV Asia)

Today was spent wandering around BKK. Inthe morning i headed of to the Golden Mountain because i wanted to go somewhere i knew would be peaceful. I was early enough and made it to the very top this time before they had to close it. The view of the city was unobstructed and the golden top shone brilliantly in the sun.

I took my time walking up stopping to look out and take in the view, listen to the birds and just soak it in. At the top i stood at the windows for ages just looking out at the mix of homes and wondering about the lives of those it sheltered.

It certainly was a day of reflection. After climbing back down the mountain, i visited the temple and sat there for a while just thinking and feeling. It must sound strange but i felt like there was a change in the air, i felt less restless and a bit more at peace than i have been feeling for a long while now. Afterwards i took a walk just along random streets, not really caring where i went but feeling at with being where i was. I passed many run down and grimy shops and garages, some open but most closed and peeked inside at the people and their business. I think the owners must have thought i was lost or nuts but they were sweet and took time to look up from their work and smile, a very heart warming gesture i was more than happy to return.

Maybe the change is just in me, feeling different now that ive managed to feel comfortable in several foreign cities. I remember a conversation J, my friend in the UK and i had about how travel changes a person. He said that when people tell you to travel, its the best thing you'll ever do etc, sometimes you think they are exaggerating but actually doing it, you come to realise how right they are and if anything they didnt push you enough!! I couldnt have put it better myself.

VP

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2 in a row

I was the envy of all my friends...i had 2 Bangkoks in a row and on the first the crew was deadheading back (for those who dont know, it means that we were like passengers while another crew worked) - how cool and lucky is that??

The first thing that struck me when i went outside was the smell (and im not trying to be rude here). It was a mix of humid air, hot food, spices, seafood, incense, unusual but you get used to it. I have to say this, for me the first thing i notice about a place is the smell, and that sense is so strong it can bring back memories you havent recalled in so long in perfect detail. Oh and yes, for those curious, Sydney does have a smell too. Anyway im getting side tracked.

What i think is beautiful about this place (and no its not the shopping believe it or not) is its contrast (and the tuk-tuks and motor bike 'taxis'). You have the temples dotted throughout the city very intricate and culture rich, housing such a unique way of life for those of the faith and then you have the bustle and crowds of the city, the people from the fashion savvy younger generation to the quieter more wisend older generation. The mix of poverty against new developments, the contrast of a polluted river, run down houses and streets with the sparkling shopping centres.

So here are some photos of my wandering around BKK over the two trips there.

The Golden Buddha is located at Wat Traimit. The temple itself is more modest than others you can visit but the story behind this Buddha image is what is interesting - made between the 13-15th century it was concealed and only discovered to be made from gold due to an accident in the 50's!... that and the fact that the solid gold image weighs in at 5.5 tonnes (If you want the full story check out this article). A very cheap 20BHT for entry (though no one checked for tickets) and plenty to see.






One spot which i was more than happy to spend hours upon hours was Wat Srakes where i climbed The Golden Mount and and explored the grounds including the temple and the monastary library. The climb to the top is some 300 steps but its quite easy and the views are great especially at the top, you can go to the very top but they had blocked it off the day i was there. Still, i managed to get some great pics from my wandering around. It took 3 reigns for the mount to be fully constructed and the holy relics of Buddha (Siddharth Gotama) were enshrined at the top on May 23rd 1899.
This is a shot of the top of the Golden Mount taken from the grounds of the temple.

This is of the Buddha image inside the temple. The surrounding walls are very detailed especially the panels between the windows which are painted with scenes from the life of Buddha. It never fails to amaze me the amount of detail and work that goes int these illustrations.
The Monastary Library, I took a quick peek inside, i couldnt resist. Books everywhere, lots of prints for distribution, monks in white and other people going about their business, hardly anyone noticed i was there, i wanted to stay and flip through a few things but a) almost everything was in Thai and b) i felt like i was intruding. There was this one monk in white sitting by a table and she had her eyes on me the whole time, not in a what-do-you-think-your-doing-here way but in a very sweet interested and i-know-something-you-dont mischevoius way if that makes sense. I was just as interested in her and smiled at her before creeping out the back.

Lastly some photos from my wanderings. The first is one of my favourite photos - looks really professional doesnt it?






This last photo was taken as it started to rain lightly. It took me a few moments to notice that it had and i hadnt seen or felt rain for at least 2 months, the realisation bought a smile to my face and i welcomed the change in weather and instead of trying to avoid it, i enjoyed the feel of it on my skin, trust me, after being in the sand pit for a while with nothing but sun and heat, rain is a blessing :)
VP

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