Lunch today for the entire IP department was on the firm: a goodbye meal for the departing Thai interns. We ate at a Japanese place a block or two away from work. I had salmon with “Chinese sauce,” which was okay, but not great. Dessert was fruit and a chocolate fountain! Sadly, I didn’t get a chance to partake of the chocolate goodness because I had to leave lunch early to attend a meeting that my partner supervisor kindly invited me to.
As we walked out of our building, he asked me how I felt about taking a motorcycle taxi. I said something like, “uh, um, uh?” He took this to mean yes, so hailed 2 motorcycles for us. I was wearing a skirt, so had to ride sidesaddle, but Thai women do it all the time, so I told myself I probably wouldn’t die. Even though it’s not cool to hold onto the driver, I kept one of my hands on or near his shoulder just in case he accelerated fast enough to send me flying off the backless end of the bike. But we made it in one piece, and the ride was kind of exhilarating. The US needs motorcycle taxis!
Our meeting was in a conference room in the nearby Central World mall. Security was quite high in the conference room block—we had to leave IDs at a desk in order to get a card for the elevator. The elevators there have no buttons. Instead, the cards are preprogrammed to allow access to only one floor. The partner said the extra security was put in place in reaction to terrorist activity in a neighboring country (not sure where exactly) a few years ago.
Back at the firm, the interns finalized our beach plans for next weekend. I’m excited!
This evening, I met one of the other interns for dinner and a movie at the Siam paragon mall. My dinner was, bluntly, not good. I ordered coconut soup with noodles. This turned out to mean a bowl of pure coconut milk and a side of white noodles. That was it! Nasty. But I was hungry, so I ate some of it, and remarkably, suffered no ill effects.
Our movie tickets were 140 Baht each, which is about $4—not too bad. The theater there is brand-new, with comfortable reclining seats and excellent AC. I was actually a bit chilly. Maybe I can make use of the one long-sleeve shirt I brought next time I’m there. Speaking of the next time I’m there, I hope to see another movie soon to try out the fancy screen. This screen is a bit pricier because instead of seats, it has rows of recliners! I may end up saving that treat for Harry Potter in July.
Tonight, we saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought it was pretty good, although several plot points confused me, and I was unsure if the end was supposed to be a cliffhanger. Will there be a Pirates IV? I suppose more of Johnny Depp is never a bad thing. Even if the movie isn’t great, I can spend a long time looking at his prettiness.
The movie was longer than we expected (2 hours and 45 minutes or so), so the Skytrain was already closed when we left (it closes at midnight). We walked a bit before my fellow intern got tired, and caught a cab back to her place. I definitely considered it, but decided to save a few Baht and walk. I got home at 12:45 am, and am very glad tomorrow is Saturday so I can sleep in!
1 comment:
I saw pirates too and I agree there were several plot holes. But maybe that's because I fell asleep for a couple minutes. Congratulations on your first motorcycle taxi ride. You are sooooo brave. Don't think I could have done it.
Post a Comment