Evenings in Bangkok

(Written Thursday, June 7)

Here’s a run-down of the happenings after hours (e.g. after work) this week.

June 5 (Tuesday): Go to club. Club was dark, loud (hip-hop music blaring accompanied by music videos), and selling expensive booze. Pushy guy kept asking me to kiss him—ugh, hate that! Verdict: I think I will be avoiding the club/bar scene here from now on. I’m more of a homebody anyway, and can play loud hip-hop if I really want to in the comfort of my own apartment.

June 6 (Wednesday): Head straight to free margaritas. They really are free! Many margaritas, lots of salt, and nachos (my first really non-Thai food since I got here). Yummy, and I plan to go back again next Wednesday.

June 7 (Thursday): Went to the train station to get my ticket to Chiang Mai for tomorrow evening. A guard there chatted with me and suggested we hang out sometime. He was sweet, but I said I was too busy with work. Second man-encounter this week!

Goodbye Koh Chang, Hello Bangkok

(Written Sunday, June 3)

Checkout today was at noon. We were all sad to leave our beautiful beach retreat. But we weren’t sad to leave the teeny tiny ants that climbed all over our luggage, including INSIDE my laptop’s keyboard (they started crawling out when I started typing). Seriously gross.

From the hotel, we took a truck taxi back to the ferry, took the ferry to the mainland, had some confusion about where and when to catch the bus, figured out what was going on, and finally got onto the bus. I got a seat in the last row of the bus next to a young Australian guy. We didn’t talk much until the second half of the trip. For the first few hours, I watched a bit of Moonstruck on my laptop (because Moonstruck is still the best movie in any country), then listened to my iPod and fell asleep. When I woke up, we chatted a bit about my job, his job, travel, etc. He has his own brand of clothing in Bangkok that he exports to various countries, but is getting restless of being in one place, and wants to travel again, even though he has worked in and visited countries all over the world. I understand the feeling!

After arriving in Bangkok, I took the BTS and a motorcycle taxi back to my place, and crashed for the evening, tired, and still just a little bit sandy.

Beach Lounging, Mopeds, and Karaoke!

(Written Saturday, June 2)

Ugh. I think I have a case of mild food poisoning. Both I and another intern have not felt well all day. I probably was careless and drank tap water or ate shrimp—two things people tell you not to do on the streets in Thailand. Anyway, it’s not terrible and I’ll survive, I just won’t get to enjoy the tasty Thai food for a day or two.

I am very happy that I feel bad on a day with no plans rather than an activity-filled day like yesterday. Most of the day I spent just lounging. I read magazines for a few hours this morning in our room, then ordered some fresh fruit juice at our resort’s slightly overpriced beachside restaurant, then read for a few more hours on the sand. I’m starting to get an odd tan that ends in an abrupt line at the top of my shoulders, since I’ve been wearing a short sleeve shirt with the sleeves tucked under to keep cool.

Around mid-afternoon, one of the interns came back to the resort with the moped she had rented for the day in tow. And yes, she let me take a ride with her! I was a bit wobbly at first, but got the hang of it when I realized how similar it was to riding a bike, albeit a heavy bike that has the capacity to go FAST. We decided to head up the street to find dinner (I was in search of some plain rice or soup), but we wanted to get the most use out of the moped that we could before having to return it, so I rode the bike up (just me), and it is so much fun! Everyone on the island rides them: tourists, locals, and even little kids. There don’t seem to be any laws regarding their use here.

The restaurant where we ended up eating was beautiful. The main eating room was a sort of large covered patio, and several tables and chairs were also located outside on the sand. Our table was about 15 feet from the ocean, and lit only by candles. I had yummy soup, and we listened with much amusement to the girls singing karaoke in the room behind us.

Later that evening, we returned to the restaurant to see some sort of fire show, but found out it had been held early, and we arrived five minutes after it ended. Disappointed, we ordered a drink from the bar, then did some karaoke of our own! This was my first real karaoke experience, and it was hilarious. We sang a song from “Grease,” then a requisite Britney Spears song. The Grease song was by far the bigger success—I’m not a fan of Britney and didn’t know the song that well, so it was a bit of a flop. But we didn’t really care. The Thai people there still cheered for us.

After drinks and karaoke, all three of us rode the moped together back to the resort without anyone falling off once! Even Thai people will be impressed when we tell them that.

Thailand Warnings

(Written Tuesday, May 29)

So there are two things I have found that I don’t like about Thailand.

One is that taxi drivers, tuktuks, and motorcycle taxis will honk at pedestrians to let them know they aren’t carrying passengers. Sure, this is a convenient way to flag down a ride, but whenever I’m walking somewhere and wish to continue walking, each beep I hear sounds like a little voice saying, “Why are you walking? You could be enjoying the AC of a taxi. Or the wind in your hair on a motorcyle. It’s just a few Baht…don’t tire yourself out in this awful heat….” These little voices are very persuasive! But I am a fan of walking in Bangkok, especially when exploring new areas. There is so much to see that any other form of transportation goes too fast to catch the details.

The second thing I don’t like is the clothes washing situation. I don’t have a washer or dryer in my apartment, so I spent a long time the last few days looking for a Laundromat. But there aren’t any! The rows of machines fed by coins and colorful swirls of clothing (as seen in Corduroy) seem to be nonexistent here. The closest thing I’ve found is ONE washing machine ON the sidewalk. Just sitting there.

Dry cleaners here usually do laundry as well as dry cleaning, but they charge per piece. So shirts cost something like 30 Baht, blouses cost 40, socks cost 20, etc. This adds up when you consider the numerous changes of clothes necessary in a hot, dirty city! I have found that the deal at my own apartment is the best: they charge 20 Baht per piece (regardless of type), dry the clothes, and even hang them up for me in my closet. This is still expensive, but it’s a very convenient solution (and it seems like the only solution) to my ever-growing pile of dirty laundry.

Motorcycle Taxis and Pirates

(Later on Friday, May 25)

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!