Aaaaah, BANGKOK. To put a long story short, my new addiction is tom yum soup. And the markets…think camden market but divide the prices by about 20. And whats more, there’s about 90% of Bangkok I haven’t seen, so this account is by no means definitive. I flew to Bangkok with EK, her mum and her auntie for a short weekend trip. Since they didn‘t go to Thailand regularly, they went with the sole intention of buying out the country in stocks of clothing, shoes, jewellery and whatever else comes cheap. And boy, did they do it.

We flew on Thai Airways, which I’m quite impressed with. It was only a short journey, but the seats werent too cramped, the food was good, and the stewards greet you charmingly with a bow and a Sawatdee-kah (or Sawatdee-khrup if its from a man). We landed at the brand spanking new Suvarnabhumi airport, which for all its hype for being Asia’s biggest airport and the 2nd biggest single building in the world, was a little bit chaotic and as you can see, was publicly rushed into being finished on schedule, forsaking a good paint job with its concrete and steel foundations giving the whole place the look of a hi-tech car park. As well as this, complete signage hadnt been etched yet (so.. where’s the departure lounge exactly??), and half the toilet facilities were not working, as demonstrated by the faulty flush and evidence left behind in the toilet bowel.

Anyway, after checking into our hotel, time was of the essence so we headed out into the searing heat and humidity. (Kill me, kill me now wasn’t far off my mind.) We stopped for noodles at a roadside stall- here it is on the right with EK and Mother asking whether the seat is taken. Oh, and the plethora of yellow shirts? We later found out that this was a tribute to the King, on the 60th anniversary of his coronation. And they really, really like their king.

Really, there is no point of me posting another food pic without making it quite big for you all to see. So here’s what we ordered, and for a big 20p bowl of tasty noodles with beansprouts, pork and fish balls in a spicy coriander(?) flavoured soup, we didn’t complain.

As you may or may not know, Thailand make great desserts, some multi coloured, some very simple, all very salivating. EK stopped by another stall (thats right, she doesn’t stop eating) which specialised in what I now know to be “Khanon Krok” – or coconut pudding. What I love is how its made right there in front of you, with rice flour/cream and coconut milk being poured into small cupcake like holes in a pan heated by charcoal, left to cook and solidify for a litle while, and then they pop it from its pan and once you pop it into your mouth its all hot and gooey and..*drools*. Since i didnt manage to snap it, i’ll nick the pics from a website (sorry) cos I just want to show you how awesome it is.

I’ll stop talking about coconut pudding now.

Update! I have made a breakthrough and can now post my home videos onto Blogger. Behold!! The wonder that are coconut cakes!!

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=

In Bangkok, there are a lot of markets. All of them are cheap, and all of them are plentiful. We had time to visit only one major market (Chatuchak) and lots of market stalls along the way.

Chatuchak in my opinion, was immense. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were four times the size of four football fields. All the sections were divided into categories, (right pic) such as food, leather goods, household furniture, pets(!), antiques etc. We had to race through the pets section since EK is terrified of them and their smell. But how can you walk past a bunch of little golden labrador puppies bumping into each other, followed by fat furry guinea pigs lazing around and inquisitive looking hamsters checking out the crowd, and not go awwww?

Anyway, if you can’t find something you’re looking more here, then you can’t find it anywhere. Its incredibly popular with tourists, and more often than not you have to fight your way through popular sections of the market. The bad news is, there is no toilet facility. So yah, even though you’re sweating buckets, think twice before you glug that bottle of pop. However..
My Remarkable Bladder Theory: The good news is, I have a remarkably accurate theory that, when you’re outside in naturally warm and humid conditions, the human bladder feels very little urge to empty itself unless its been several hours and you have just drank like a fish. However, sip a cup of tea in an airconditioned restaurant, and you’ll be crossing your legs awkwardly in no time. Strange, but true. I drank almost three bottles of soda and didnt even feel the slightest urge to pee for the four hours i was there.

Of course, Bangkok isn’t exactly small so it really does kill your feet to be shopping all day. On so many occasions, I wanted to just sit and do nothing and rest my heavy limbs. Here’s a couple of pictures of knackered me during my time there.

By night, Bangkok gets even noisier, jammed up with cars and tuk-tuks (so called because of the revving engine noises) but still remains beautiful. Below is part of Siam Square, which although completely redeveloped with a gigantic indoor shopping mall, still has beautiful shrines which many passer bys stop and pray at.

We actually went back to the hotel by tuk-tuk – those things are great substitutes for rolleroasters. Cheap and as scary as hell, but so exhilerating. You have to see it to believe how skilled these drivers are at dodging traffic and squeezing into small gaps in the road. (Although I know Americans are quite adept at this too.)


Before I forget, my one weak attempt at rebellion on my holidays came when we decided to get (fake) tattoos just for fun. The design is merely spray painted, as you can see, and lasts for like two weeks. Whilst EK’s mother did not exactly approve (see disapproving stance in middle picture), Sai Yee actually encouraged us to do it and got one herself on her calf(!) Man thats a cool auntie.

Whether I want to get a real tattoo, I really don’t know – it took me like half an hour to pick out just the one design from a small catalogue, so to get one etched into my skin permanently sounds a bit iffy. Plus theres always the ‘saggy when you’re sixty’ factor.

We spent a dedicated half day, for my own benefit, on a little tour which included a river tour on the Kwai, a trip to a honey factory (to fob us off to tourist hungry retailers) and a trip to a jewellers (to fob us off to more tourist hungry retailers). Apparently this quite normal for such countries, since the tour groups have to make their money from somewhere. It was quite amusing, but unfortunately I couldnt bring myself to bother taking pictures of honey and sparkly rings.
So, the Boat Tour it is then! It was a rickety old boat, a tour guide who spoke Mandarin and one who spoke Thai accented English (I understood neither) and about twenty eager tourists.
Well, since I had no idea what the tour guides were saying, I just looked out to sea and peered at the hundreds of riverside houses and shacks on stilts. I did check to see if anyone had their pants down squatting with a newspaper in their hands, but there was nothing to report.

Though we didn’t visit the official Floating Market, the tour gave us a taster when two strategically floating touters came from literally nowhere to flog their souvenirs at us. One moment i’m looking at tranquil waters, and the second the tour guide mentioned ‘floating market’ I was being shouted at in Thai with handpainted bookmarks and keyrings being pushed my way. Briefly, I did think this tour rocks, i’m being given free stuff! But then I remembered how these tour guides make their money.

We alighted briefly for a little walk around a pleasant and historic site which if i remember correctly, belonged to the second dynasty of Thai royalty. Bangkok is steeped in history – so this palace is less significant than the Chakri palace for example, but its still quite awe inspiring with its meticulous palace carvings and grand scale. There sits within the architecture, and in various areas in the monastery, the Garuda which is a mythical bird symbolic of the Thai monarchs. Architecture on Thai shrines for example, often have edges which are flared upwards which are symbolic of the Garuda. You can just about see this on the right pic, taken within the monastery.

Bottom two pictures basically show you the inside of the monastery, which consists of a temple and a courtyard lined with golden Buddha’s and statues. Apparently, you will never see anything but a look of serenity on the Buddha’s face – his mouth is never open and he conveys no emotion but peace. On the stone decks where the Buddhas sit, people can have photographs of their deceased loved ones mounted for a small donation.

So its been a big entry here but yey I’ve finished my account of Bangkok! And I have to say I will definitely be back because I have a lot of unfinished business. Its a beautiful place with lots of history and culture, but at the same time its going through a transition to becoming a modern economy with giant shopping arenas sporting the likes of Gucci and Armani along with Western favourites like KFC and Nandos. Thankfully it should never lose its marketability (haha.) because therein lies the charm of Bangkok.

I give it a…. thumbs up!