Thai Shoes

(Written Monday, June 4)

It was hard to return to work today after our lovely long weekend!

I went back to MBK mall this evening determined to find some pretty sandals to wear out on the town (the only nice shoes I brought with me are high-heeled work shoes). While on the BTS, I resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn’t find anything that fit, since Thai people have teeny-tiny feet, and may be horrified by someone looking for size 9 ½. And indeed, the first couple of stores I looked in only had sizes up through 40 (I’m a size 41 here apparently). However, a tiny store I peeked into had a row of cute sandals that looked a little larger, so I asked a saleswoman, and they had size 41! I tried them on and was shocked to discover that they fit. The very first pair I tried! It’s usually incredibly difficult to find shoes that fit me in the US, much less abroad, so I was stunned, and willing to pay pretty much any price she asked. Luckily, the shoes were only 200 Baht, or $7-8. A great bargain! I bought them in white, but may have to go back and get the pair in brown as well, since I may never find cute sandals that fit again EVER. At least until my foot reduction surgery.

Thailand Elephants and Fishing

(Written Friday, June 1)

I slept pretty well in our room last night except for one thing: a mosquito got in (not surprising since the door is warped and doesn’t quite shut at the top and we have no mosquito netting) and bit me all up and down my right arm about 9 or 10 times. So I have big red itchy welts all the way from my wrist to my shoulder—ouch. I thought of posting a photo, but decided against inflicting such trauma on you. To stop itching, I’m pretending that I have some kind of cool tropical disease instead of plain mosquito bites. It doesn’t really help.

After discovering the state of my arm, I covered myself with bug spray before going out for breakfast (which is included in the price of our room). Breakfast here is buffet-style with both American breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes) and Thai breakfast foods (rice, meat, vegetables, soup). I tried a tiny bit of everything Thai—pretty tasty.

Following breakfast, the five of us went our separate ways. One other intern and I decided to go for an elephant ride! We booked the ride, and a person came and picked us up and drove us to the elephant camp. There were a total of 5 or 6 elephants standing around under little wooden roofs. The elephants looked healthy and were enjoying their breakfast, but I felt a little sad that they couldn’t be running around free in the jungle, even if they are well taken care of here.

To get onto the elephant, we had to climb a staircase to a one-story high platform, then slide onto a 2-person seat on the elephant’s back. A Thai boy was sitting on the elephant’s neck in front of us, and directed her by pushing on the back of her ears, sort of like pulling on a horse’s reins. I found the motion of the elephant a little bit like that of the camel I rode in Israel—a circular rocking motion, that is a little hypnotic. I felt quite relaxed, especially when I took my sandals off and rested my bare feet on the elephant’s leathery, slightly bristly back. However, toward the end of the trip, I realized I had been unconsciously tensing my shoulders and back in an attempt to stay straight upright instead of swaying with the elephant, so I may be a bit sore tomorrow.

Our ride lasted one hour, and took us through the jungle, into a small lake where the elephant could get a drink, then through a pomelo orchard. In the orchard, another Thai man, who accompanied us on foot, used a machete to peel a pomelo and passed it up to us. Very yummy. On the road back, the man picked some small red fruits, made a bowl out of a large leaf, and passed them up to the boy on the elephant’s neck to feed to the elephant. I loved watching the nimble trunk snake back over the elephant’s head in search of more fruit!

Back at the camp, we stuck around for a while so I could say hi to the second elephant there (the others must have gone out on rides since we left). He was huge—much bigger than the lady elephant who gave us a ride. I patted his trunk, fed him some palm fronds, and rubbed his tusks, which were huge and smooth as marble. I’m not sure if elephants are at all temperamental, so I didn’t get too close or bother him for too long in case he got fed up, and whacked me with his trunk or stepped on me (two actions that would probably have set me soaring through the air or shoved me two feet into the ground, respectively).

When we got back to our resort, the day was still young, so we decided to set back out for more adventures. We grabbed a third intern, and flagged down a truck taxi to take us to the fishing village on the southern-most point of the island. The ride was similar to the one we experienced on our way here, only a little more curvy, with even more switchbacks. We were the only three people aboard this time, so we felt free to shriek on the really scary parts of the road.

The fishing village consists of shops, restaurants, and a few houses and hotels, all built on stilts over the water. Most of the restaurants have big tanks and barrels full of seawater containing all kinds of live fish that are chosen and cooked on the spot. We weren’t hungry, but we had fun browsing in the shops down the main path. At the end of the “village,” there are boats on either side of a long pier offering scuba and snorkeling excursions. I considered signing up for snorkeling tomorrow, but the only trip offered was an all-day event from 8 to 5, and this sounded too busy and involved for the kind of relaxed paddling about I was looking for.

At the end of the pier past the shops and boats is a small picturesque lighthouse. The lighthouse doesn’t appear to be in use and was open to visitors, so we climbed up and admired the view of the coast. We then walked back through the village, buying a few souvenirs along the way, and hailed another taxi back to our place, where we went swimming again in the ocean.

MBK Mall

(Written Wednesday, May 30)

I went to the famous MBK mall after work today for the first time. There is a pedestrian overpass connecting the second floor of the mall directly to the BTS station, so it’s an easy place to get to. Unlike the other two malls I’ve been to in Bangkok, MBK has a mix of set prices and bargaining opportunities. The big department store there is just like a department store in the US (including the high prices). Then there are about 6 floors of everything under the sun: jewelry, shoes, hats, purses, electronics, food, clothing, souvenirs, etc. The third floor seems like the best place for cheap bargains. The entire back section of the floor contains booths, much like the stalls seen on the street, selling souvenirs, fake brand name clothing, and novelty t-shirts, most with offensive parodies of famous slogans, brands, or symbols. Not surprisingly, I bought nothing, but I had fun looking.

After wandering around the mall for a bit longer window-shopping and killing time, I met some of the other interns at their apartment. From their place, we walked to a restaurant nearby that offered a “Ladies’ Night” with alleged free margaritas. Sadly, it turned out the offer was only for 6-8 pm, and we arrived around 8:30 or 9. We stuck around for a pitcher anyway, and tried some kind of berry margarita. It was delicious—more like a smoothie than a margarita, but with a little kick. We plan to go back next Wednesday!

Shopping

Welcome to my first full day in Bangkok! Today started with my first ride on the Skytrain. Ohmygoodness, the air conditioning on the Skytrain is so, so, so nice! I seriously considered sitting there all day and admiring the city through the window. But instead, I decided to reward myself with a second trip on the train after checking out Chatuchak Market. Yes, it was 7:30 am and already hot. I was rather terrified to find out how hot it might get around noon.

95% of the market is actually “indoors.” Not inside a building, but squeezed into tiny long passageways lined by shops on either side and shaded by some sort of temporary roof. This part of the market was hot, stuffy, and claustrophobic. Despite the early hour, people were already crowding in, so every step I took, I brushed up against at least one or two people as we tried to squeeze by each other without knocking anything or anyone over. The atmosphere was a bit nightmarish, but looking at knick-knacks and people-watching kept me from worrying about what we would do in that maze if someone yelled fire.

I aimlessly wandered for a couple of hours, and bought no souvenirs. I did, however, buy 1) iced coffee (In a bag! I love coffee in a bag!), 2) frosty coffee (Like a coffee slushy, and sold to me by girls wearing Hello Kitty clothes and ears!), 3) freshly squeezed OJ, and 4) a banana, strawberry, and orange smoothie. Can you tell I was thirsty?

It was somewhere around 1 pm when I left the market and hurried back onto the air-conditioned train. I took several photos of the market, but none featuring me. Why? Because after the heat of the market, I looked like I had been hanging out fully-clothed in a sauna. I was flushed and sweaty, with wet hair, and a fine layer of Bangkok gray grime covering my skin. I probably also had a glazed, vacant look in my eyes from a combination of the heat and the chaos. It was nice to sit down on the Skytrain and take a clean, cool breath.

Although I was tired, it was still too early to call it a day. So I got off the train near a shopping mall, Siam Paragon, near my apartment that my guidebook told me was air-conditioned. And it was! Hurray! I now know where to go in a temperature emergency.

The mall was having a special “Royal Orchid Paradise” show, featuring a lobby filled with different styles of orchids. Very beautiful—I took a lot of photos. The mall is pretty huge, and very westernized with restaurants like McDonalds and Auntie Anne’s. The entire bottom floor of the mall is a huge food court and grocery store. Since it was lunchtime, there were tons of people milling about, so I will have to go back again at a different time of day to get a good look around.

On the top floor of the mall is a movie theater. Of course, Spiderman 3 is currently the main film showing. Tickets are more expensive on the weekend, so I’ll probably go back during the week and watch it. I was intrigued by the option to buy a “couch seat” in the theater… I may splurge on the ticket just to find out if this is as comfy as it sounds!

My next stop was neighboring Central World mall. This is advertised as the largest mall in Bangkok (or maybe Thailand… not sure). It was okay, but I liked Siam better. The only thing Central World had going for it was a Toys R Us (with adorable wooden sushi toys that I almost bought).

I stopped at the 7/11 branch near my apartment for a snack (yogurt with a mystery fruit), then went home, and collapsed.