Hello Bangkok!

(Written at 12:30 pm)

My driver got lost. When he finally got unlost (thanks in part to the map I printed off—me—the non-Bangkok native!), I discovered that the apartment has no record of a room reservation for me. After 20 hours or more in transit, somehow I lost my ability to be surprised by this news. So I am not surprised, but I am hoping that this will be cleared up sooner rather than later.

But I’m in Bangkok! Which is very cool. Although it’s not, because it’s 93 degrees and steamy! But the steamy feels good right now on my dry airplane-circulated-air skin.

So I’m sitting here in the apartment lobby waiting for 23 minutes until the staff at my place of employment return from lunch, at which point the receptionist (whose name is Poi and is super nice and has visited Niagara Falls) can call and try to figure things out. To while away the time, here is the good side of my stay in Thailand so far.

Thailand has cool random decorations! There were murals all over the walls inside the airport. As I zoomed down the moving sidewalk, I even saw an employee with a tiny little brush standing on a stepstool brushing the mural. I really wanted to take a photo of this most important of airport occupations, but the sidewalk zipped me away before I could grab my camera.

There are also random statues and temple roof arch things sprinkled on walls and over streets. It makes everything seem a little more decorative. It’s also an interesting contrast to the skyscrapers that are empty and falling into rapid disrepair and the exit ramps that are either unfinished or abandoned stretching into nowhere. Both kinds of structures are interspersed with new, modern, beautiful metal and glass buildings, which all seem to be placed at the builder’s whim, with no thought to creating a skyline or zoning or blocking other buildings’ views.

Bangkok has tons of taxis, and one particular company has hot neon pink cabs! They almost make the less common royal purple taxis look washed out in comparison. I also saw several trucks with little shelves carrying rows and rows of pineapples. Maybe for fresh pineapple juice and smoothies in food stalls, preferably near me… yum. Oh, and people drive on the other side of the car and road here! I know that because I tried to get in the car on the driver’s side. My not very talkative driver probably thought this was funny, but didn’t say anything. But to make up for the lack of conversation, he played very bad American pop music on the radio for the entire hour it took us to get from the airport to the apartment.

My apartment (if in fact it is my apartment) looks nice! From my several trips around the neighborhood with my driver, the street looks just the right amount of busy. There are shops and food stalls, but no crazy throngs of pedestrians or terrible traffic jams. We passed the large park near me, which looks green and cool. And the street that runs parallel to mine is on a canal, which promises to be somewhat picturesque, and houses tons of embassies. Later today, I might stop by and say hi to someone from the Netherlands, or maybe Zimbabwe.

The apartment building is a little bit off the street, and the entrance is guarded by a tiny little man stationed in a guard booth whose job it is to push a heavy wooden sliding gate open when a car wants to drive through. He would probably have a lot to talk about with the mural brushing guy in the airport. Past the gate is a pond with big orange koi, a parking lot, and a little lobby on the ground floor with wood paneling, a flowery grandfather clock, and an annoying ticking, clucking cuckoo clock. I hate those things.


I also see an embroidered portrait of the King (I believe) and a gold fresco featuring elephants piled haphazardly on top of one another. I’m not sure yet what else is on this floor (it looks like there may be other rooms) or what the rooms upstairs look like. But I hear the receptionist in the background calling about me now, so hopefully everything will work out for the best! I’ll keep you (my breathless audience) posted.