Catching Up April 27, 2008

Sorry about the abrupt end of the last post.  I wrote it on Friday and now it’s Sunday  so at this rate I’ll be posting what I am writing now next week.  So, to appease the literally several of you who have emailed me asking where the news is, I posted that one to keep you going.

Right!  Well, the main news since the end of the last post is that I am now officially work permit-ed up.  It was a slight palaver tho, as you might imagine.  I got back to work on Thursday, fully recovered from my retching episode and the news greeted me that I should report to the Labour Office at 8.30am on Friday.  Which doesn’t sound too bad, but the secretary at work told me that I must leave at 7am to ensure that I got there on time, what with the traffic and all, so I got up at 5.45am, made myself as presentable as possible in case the king himself was there and went out to the main road and hailed down a cab.  I got in and asked for the ran ngan tang-dow as instructed and handed over the map I’d been given, and settled back expecting at least an hour of dozing in the back of the taxi.  However, secretary gal was extremely pessimistic about the state of the traffic at that hour as it turned out that I live not that far from the Labour Office and so I was there for about 20 past 7.  Gahhh.

So, with nothing else to do, I just went and in and waited.  Bearing in mind that it was only 7.20am, it was mobbed.  They have rows of plastic seating outside, the kind that you might find at a burger bar in a leisure centre (they had the exact same seats at the Magnum when I worked there back in the day) and they were filled with all sorts of people waiting for what, I have no idea as I was directed by a security guard to another building before I even opened my mouth – I sometimes forget that I am white and therefore it is painfully obvious that I should be going to the foreign workers office.  He had a gun, so I was not going to argue and also not going to take a photo of the building which was massive and guarded by dozens of sleepy dogs lying around on the cool marble.

So I made my way upstairs and settled into some burger bar seating and tried to read my book for a bit, but I couldn’t concentrate as I was very hungry (no breakfast in my rush to get there on time) and also because the entire building smelled EXACTLY like bacon flavour Super Noodles.  I was a big fan of those growing up, I seem to recall that sausages and Super Noodles was one of my favourite things, so that was a bit distracting.  I was meeting up with the guy from the law firm that was handling my work permit application and at 8.30 he had still not shown up, so I tried calling him.  His name was Mr Gig which I found rather amusing.  I got him on the phone and he just kept bellowing TOO FAR down the phone at me, so I had no idea what was happening and I was stood outside the office thinking I should just go in myself when Mr Gig bounded round the corner looking like he’d just got out of bed and also, not a day over 21.  He was there to translate for me, but in the end we had to get secretary gal on the phone to translate for us as I think I spoke more Thai than he did English, so on the whole it was a bit pointless him having dragged himself out of bed.

But the much-coveted turquoise book was stamped, I signed all the papers and I am now legal – hurrah!  However, that lasted for all of 20 seconds before that goon Mr Gig took it back off me and told me to go home.  It transpires that altho I now have the work permit, he still has to take it to immigration and get it stamped to allow me to stay for a year (which is how long the work permit applies for) but then after that I STILL need to go and get my visa stamped in my passport when it expires in June.  Which is an extremely complex and archaic way of working things if you ask me, but I suppose is maybe kept that way to discourage the shirkers.

So, having no real clue where I was except that it was in the very vague vicinity of the north of the city, I hopped in a taxi and headed for work – which took ONE AND A HALF HOURS.  Still cost less than £2 mind you.  Work itself was pretty dull, broken up only by a trip to the bank to cash my pay cheque – I can’t open a bank account without the work permit actually physically in my hand which is a bit of a headache, but hopefully can get it sorted at start of the week.  So it does mean that I have been paid in cash again.  I asked if they could at least pay half to my UK bank account but because of some complex tax issues the answer was a firm non.  Bah.  What a headache!

So, when one has just been paid a gazillion bats and you have to cart it round in a wheelbarrow with you, what does one do?  One shops.  This weekend I have been mostly splashing my bats, altho mostly the bat splashing has been the bats left over from last month, as it appears that it is easy to live on less money than one might think here and still lead a relatively lavish lifestyle (taxis when you can’t be assed walking, dinner in a restaurant a few nites a week, etc).  One extravagance I indulged in last week was a yellow sandwich toasting machine which is inscribed with “We Love The King”, as I have had an odd craving for a cheese and onion toastie for the past week (it also brings my cooking facilities count up to one).  So I bought one at Carrefour along the road and toasted my heart out, it’s been ace. I also had a jaunt to the Nite Bazaar on Friday on the way home, despite my extreme exhaustion which was literally a wash out as it poured with rain the whole time I was there and I got soaked.  I did buy one or 2 things which I will probably put on Flickr, including some lovely ceramic birds and a top from a gal who had thighs the exact colour and texture of the nougat-y bit in a Mars Bar and another thing I have not decided whether to keep for myself or send as a present to one of you lucky readers.

Yesterday it was the monthly ThaiCraft Fair, so I met up with Liz and her friend Kay and we went along and perused the aisles.  I bought some more of the amazing salt scrub stuff I got last time to try and expel the last of my peely skin off my arms – I still look like I am recovering from leprosy after I got burnt a few weeks ago.  I also bought a few presents for peeps back home and then on the way home had a jaunt to the supermarche and got a taxi back via Russia as the taxi driver took the wrong turning when I was in a trance thinking about unicorns probably and so only had 45 minutes or so to get ready to go back out again and talk to Lee on Skype.

I got changed into my nice dress I bought about a year ago and still haven’t worn and headed for the river and got on the boat up to Banglamphu to meet Liz and her various friends for an evening of drinks, dinner and nice chatting.  Half way up the river tho the heavens opened again and it was a very choppy ride with some plastic curtains shielding us from the rain and spray.  I got completely drenched getting off the boat and of course I had chosen to wear the worst of all wet-weather footwear (flip flops) and had forgotten my umbrella, so my hair was a mogre which as anyone who knows me will tell is NOT GOOD NEWS.  So I had a seat in the waiting area for a bit to see if the rain would go off and listened to an American man who was clearly out with his new Thai boyfriend trying to explain the concept of a guinea pig to his companion (who was more interested in telling American man he should not wear socks with sandals – I wished I could speak more Thai to say “right on!”).

As you might imagine, the rain didn’t go off.  So I got really wet and I was actually COLD.  I got in a tuk tuk and headed for Khao San and met Liz and we headed off a really cool bar called Sripoom which had a really nice ambience, mismatched furniture, nice cocktails and an ace turquoise leatherette sofa which I wanted to take home with me.  Everyone arrived and we chatted a bit then headed to May Kaidee’s for dinner, the vegetarian place we went to at Songkran.  The food was plentiful and tasty, especially the pumpkin hummus which sounds horrific but was SO GOOD.  I’ll take you when you come over.

After dinner we walked along Khao San road itself which is just mental on a Saturday nite.  I think my favourite sight was all the guys holding big yellow signs up trying to entice you into their bars: CHEAP BEER, WE DON’T CHECK ID CARDS.  We then headed to a really cool place called Phra Nakorn which is part bar, part art gallery and was delightfully shabby, old sofas, a pool table, old 50s posters on the wall, easy listening on the stereo and homemade lime soda and chocolate cake for us.

After a couple of hours relaxing, it was time to go home and I got a taxi back across to my side of the city with a taxi driver who was clearly excited about getting on the motorway as we hit 120 miles an hour at one point and we literally took off going over a bridge.  He went a very long way for a short cut and we eventually made it back about half an hour later and 50 bhat worse off for me than last time.  Twice in one day!  Bah.

Today I have been shopping up a storm again.  I woke up fairly early for a Sunday (9am) and realised that I was too late for my half-idea of going on a tour to Ko Kred which left at 9.30.  So I decided instead to go to Chatuchak market which is actually not too far from my apartamento, on the grand scheme of things.  So I made my way there and quickly got lost in the maze that is Chatuchak.  It is thought that there are about 8,000 stalls there and they rightly say that if you can’t get it at Chatuchak, then they don’t make it (I don’t know who they are exactly, but they are often bang on the money).

I bought some great things, some are surprises so I can’t say and some things to send home for Hamish.  Liz and Rob are going back to the UK next month for good and are shipping things in a container so they have kindly donated some space to me for a box of stuff so I think I may ditch the Thai Kawaii site and send it all home for Hamish.  So I’ve been stocking up this weekend and got some realllly cool stuff, which I will photograph before packaging up for sending back.  So, I spent a few hours wandering around, blatantly ignoring my map and just seeing where I ended up.  I did notice on the map that the aisle marked as “for the intrepid only” I ended up walking down twice.  It is filled with beasts and fishes of every sort – stingrays in buckets, tiny squirrels on leads (Lee, I thought about getting one for you, but wasn’t sure it would fit in an envelope), squid in tanks, beetles in plastic tubs – it was equally horrifying and fascinating.  There was one stall which had fish in tanks and in front was a woman selling dried squid on sticks – presumably when she runs low on stocks she just reaches into the tank behind her – ewwww.  Needless to say it smelled horrible there.

Those tiny squirrels are everywhere!  I am not sure they are squirrels but if they are not, then I don’t know what they are.  There are also dozens of puppies and adult dogs for sale around here – mostly looking like they may be dead from the heat, some with comedy outfits on (clown, ballerina, etc).  It is hard not to stop and exclaim over the cute ones and harder still not to buy at least one to save it from the hell that must be sitting in 35 degree heat when you are covered in fur and can’t move out of your tiny cage unless someone buys you.  It’s a pretty sad sight and not just restricted to dogs – there’s kittens and rabbits too in the same state.  I didn’t see any animal that looked mistreated or uncared for, and most stalls had several fans trained on the animals, but just the tiny cages and the heat – the poor things.

But I did manage to find my way out of what in my head I had named Pet Sematary eventually and eventually got back to the street and lumbered on to the subway with my 2 big bags of shopping.  Instead of going home I opted to go to the book shop for something to read as I am down to my last few books.  I need to take mine back and get a mega discount, but I have about 15 to take back now so I need to make a special trip at some point.  I found 2 that I deemed worthy and was on the way back to the BTS when I decided to stop at a bar for some lunch and found that they were bizarrely serving proper Sunday roast dinner so I sat for a few hours, curled up with a book, drinking manao so-daaaa and eating crackling and roast potatoes.  It was very nice.

After refreshments I lurched back onto the train with my heavy bags and along to Siam to pick up some more stationery to send back only to find that Winnie, the goddess of the stationery supplies has gone, replaced by a stall selling faux leather bum bags which I am clearly NOT in the market for.  I had a quick look round and then thought sod it, I’m going home, headed back to the BTS and onto the packed train only to see a girl get on with a Winnie carrier bag that was clearly full of just-purchased stationery, so it must have just moved – bah!  I was too tired to get back off and go and look properly, so I made my way back to my district, stopping at the supermarket for some meiji chocolate for mar-c and some more manao soda for me.

And there you go, you’re bang up to date!  I have started carrying a notebook with me to mark down the interesting things that I see when I am out and about to write about, so hopefully I’ll have more frequent posts (sorry Mum).  I am just back in from a swim and unsurprisingly to me, it is raining again.  It’s been raining every day for pretty much the last fortnight – rainy season seems to have come early.  I hope it sticks around, as it makes me feel very at home.

Feeling Sick April 27, 2008

How in the name of all that is good and right in the world is it possible that it’s Friday already?  This week has FLOWN in.  I will fill you in on the highlights:

Monday I was completely knackered.  I didn’t sleep at all well on Sunday and I was, as my mother would say, like a half-shut knife on Monday at work.  I shambled thru the morning and we went to lunch at an Indian temple a few minutes in a taxi away from here.  I remember the temple being really brightly coloured and having all these monkey/figures on the outside – it was amazing looking.  I had of course forgotten to bring my camera or my dud phone with me, so couldn’t take any photos but I will go back one day.

Next door to the temple is a cafe/restaurant place that sells Indian food of the type I imagine falls into the authentic category rather than the creamy western stuff we get back at home (and which I love).  We all sat down and I was really not in mood for chit chatting, as I just wanted to put my head on the table and go to sleep.  I did stay awake long enough to notice tho that the monkey/figures on the temple looked like they were peering in the window at us, which was nice.  I let someone else order for me and they picked out the special of the day which a few people were having which was chicken biryani.  It looked and tasted great and was a heap of yellow rice and a chicken leg and some saucey stuff in a nice dish and i chowed down like everyone else.  except when i was finished i noticed that the middle looked a bit pink.  I didn’t really think much more of it and I felt fine until I got home, whereupon started 2 days of lying on my bed/the bathroom floor going eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I was actually ok tho, before you start mum.  I drank lots of water and I was fine and had a good rest and feel ok now.  I also worked both days I was not in office from home so as not to take the you know what and everyone was happy.

Well, I say happy, but on Tuesday nite the most frightening storm I’ve ever experienced not only passed over, but hovered for several hours immediately above my apartment and I will unashamedly admit to being so scared that I cried like a tiny baby.  I did honestly fear for my life at one point as the wind whipped up to hurricane proportions, the rain hammered down, the lightning was going like a strobe light and the power went out.  I had no light save the dull glow from my mobile (which we already know to be an underachiever) and then thankfully Lee phoned and I was distracted from the fact that the 2 giant cranes on top of the tower block they are building over the way sounded like they were about to break free at any second and bludgeon us all to a pulp.

The power came back on about 1am but on Wednesday morning went off again.  I didn’t think too much of it as I heard some people faffing about in the corridor outside, but after an hour I was thinking hmm, I have work to do here, I should go check.  So I got dressed and ambled downstairs and casually enquired with Leopard Lady’s assistant, the Bronze Goddess (so called because she wears the most hideous bronze metallic eyeshadow – honestly, it’s like a zorro mask the way she applies it) if there was a banhah with the fai fah and she enquired equally as casually if I had paid the bill to which I replied umm, what bill?

It turns out that somewhere along the line I had not gotten an electricity bill, probably ignored by the previous tenant when they knew they were moving out.  I had got a reminder at the weekend but did not obviously know that it said PAY BY WEDNESDAY OR WE ARE CUTTING YOU OFF. Imagine that in the UK – 2 days late paying and they cut you off!  You can literally go months without paying your electricity bill in Scotland with no one batting an eyelid, so it was quite a surprise for me.

Anyway, I thought I could just take a saunter round to the fabled juristic office and pay them and it would all be ok, but it appeared that someone from the government comes round and cuts everyone off and then you have to go down to their office and pay to get it switched back on again.  Or, this set up which I went with:

306 bats for the actual electrickery
40 bats for the “cutting fee” (ie reconnection charge)
100 bats for a man on a motorbike to take the bill and the cash, go and wait in the queue and come back with a receipt

All in all about £7.50 – a bargain!  So Bronze Goddess sorted that out for me and about 2 hours later I had electricity again and I could get back to work and stop sewing (booo).

Weekend In The Provinces April 21, 2008

I will let the photos do the talking about my weekend

It was great to get out of the city and see that grass and trees and fresh, clean air still exist.  The train journey on the way there was exactly how I imagined, but the return leg I spent the first third hanging on the steps inches from the tracks and then the rest inside crammed against several OAPs unable to move even my arms.  I didn’t get much sleep owing to sharing my room with a lizard on Saturday nite, breaking my computer yesterday and my mobile phone being on the blink, so I am exhausted now.  You can see the rest of the photos here and I’ll post more later.

Later On Saturday April 17, 2008

I’ve spent a lot of time online today, trying to catch up with my RSS feeds despite Outlook’s best efforts, talking to Lee and Jo on Skype and reorganising my Flickr whilst I waited for TV man. It won’t surprise you to hear that TV man failed to show up and so I am still here watching a strange drama featuring what looks like a German man speaking fluent Thai in a jungle. They love their jungles these guys.

So today I have hung around until about 730 and then went out to Esplanade, a fancy mall along the road. I got a cab there, not being sure how far away it was and got a really nice taxi driver who spoke what he said was “no good ing ish” but actually we had a rare old time chatting, with him asking what I was doing, did I have any kids, was I going shopping, etc. He asked me about Scotland and what life was like and the weather, etc and couldn’t believe that we get snow. I suppose it is a pretty alien concept to a man who has never left Bangkok and therefore has likely never experienced temperatures less than about 25 degrees. I told him that in winter we wear hats and scarves and gloves etc and he was genuinely marvelling at what that must feel like, almost like a child. I found it very heartwarming and I was sad to get out the taxi, such a good time we were having. I gave him a 10 bhat tip and he was over the moon – what a nice guy.

So, I had a mosey round the mall which was pretty soulless I have to say, the highlight being a Toys R Us concession and a fancy-looking dentists that will do root canals for about £7. Downstairs was a whole floor of restaurants tho, so I made a lap and saw what was on offer and plumped for Ootoya, a Japanese restaurant that I have been to elsewhere and was pretty good. The food was pretty good, some pork katsu and grilled chicken with leeks and the obligatory rice and no one minded me reading my book whilst I waited (The Book Of Lost Things by John Connolly which is so far a great read).

After dinner I went to the supermarket across from the restaurant and had a wander round, buying the last constituent part for the great Fanta tasting that I promised Mar-c that I would do this weekend – stay tuned. I also found their bakery department that had not one but two types of bagels, so I bought some to have for breakfast or lunch tomorrow (in your face, Lee!). They also had a small but delightful stationery section and I bought a couple of things as samples for Hamish’s perusal which are now on Flickr.

After making my purchases I decided that as it was a bit cooler (only about 27c I’d say – only!), I would walk home, so I did and had a good look at all the stalls that spring up after dark selling clothes, jewellery, bags, DVDs, drinks, food … just about anything you can imagine, really. I briefly pondered the DVDs as I want to check that my laptop does indeed play DVDs, but there was nothing that I wanted to see particularly – I’ll hold out for series 5 of Las Vegas

Songkran Update April 17, 2008

Ok, I am really lax at posting an update.  I will try to summarise briefly where I am at so we are all back up to date and you can all stop pestering me to update this!

Saturday I had to work from home which I was expecting to be a bit of a drag, but in actual fact was great as it meant I could sit at my computer in my pyjamas, and do the few tasks I had been set and then faff about.  I should really have blogged then, I grant you – well, I did, to say it was raining.  That was great, the rain.  It has since rained again twice, yesterday and today.  From the state of the pool side plants, I’d say it was pretty stormy here earlier, there are branches off trees, broken plant pots and all sorts.

The rest of Saturday and Sunday were pretty uneventful – some shuffling around, washing, tidying up a bit.  Reading and I think swimming, if I recall correctly.  Monday you have already read about with the day in the life thing, which leaves Tuesday.

Oh, Tuesday!  What a day! I don’t think I’ll forget that in a hurry.  Liz and I arranged to meet up and go to Khao San Road, which for the uninitiated, is the backpacker area of Bangkok.  It’s also (in)famous, at least amongst my colleagues and the TV news crews) for being mental during Songkran.  We arranged to meet at the pier for Khao San, but actually met on the boat, which was cool – a bit like meeting your friend on the bus.  Then we headed to a restaurant that Liz is a regular at, May Kaidee’s, which is a vegetarian  place.  I would never ordinarily pick out vegetarian food, but this was realllllly good.  Everything was so fresh and you could really taste the difference between that and the blander stuff served elsewhere.  They also have a cookery school and rooms to rent – try it if you are ever in the area!

So, fortified with delicious food, we set off to Khao San and the surrounding streets for a gentle stroll …

I’d like to say that was me at the end of it all, but in actual fact, we’d barely begun.  It was mayhem, with the streets literally crammed with people, young and old, all brandishing water pistols, bottles of waters, hoses, high-powered cannons, buckets, saucepans – anything they could get their hands on that they could fill with water, both warm and icy cold, they had brought out to soak passers by with.  Some people also have little plastic buckets with chalk pellets which they mix with water to make the sort of clay/paste that you see liberally slapped upon my chops above.  As they walk past, they just dip their hand in the pot and smear it on your face!  Of course, you can then smear it straight back on them, and everyone laughs and smiles and hoops and hollers and it is GREAT FUN!

We got thru about 5 bottles of water each, not to drink, you understand, but to throw over other people (and each other, mwuhahaha).  We got separated at one point, such were the throngs, but quickly found each other again and carried on along the streets, soaking up the sun (or not, thanks to the factor 70), the atmosphere and the clay – my skin has never been so soft!

We were drenched pretty much from head to foot by the end of our soujourn along Khao San and headed to meet Liz’s boyfriend Rob for a drink in an ex-pat cafe called … Oh My Cod!  What a GREAT name for a chip shop!  Anyway, we sat down and puddles quickly formed under our chairs, such was our level of dampness.  Luckily I had the foresight to put my camera and mobile phone in a plastic bag inside my other bag, so they were fine, which is more than can be said for my invaluable Nancy Chandler map, which is still drying out on top of the telly.

After a drink and a rest, we headed back in the direction of the pier but of course we could not avoid further soakings/clay slappings, so I made my way home a wet, dirty mess, but then so did just about every single other person in the city!  There were plenty of people shivering along with me in the air conditioned train – I rather enjoyed being properly cold for the first time in 5 weeks!  And then back home to get the clay out my hair and have a good swim before bed.  I had to leave my clothes soaking for a whole day before I could get the clay out, and my Rocket Dogs needed a good dunk too, but I have mostly recovered from my day.  I can’t begin to express just how much I enjoyed myself!  You’ll need to do it next year to see what I mean!

So, since then it’s been back to work, which continues to be pretty easy.  I am heading “up country” this weekend with Liz and Rob to Prachinburi, where they taught last year.  It’s about 3 hours away on the train – the TRAIN!  I’m really excited about going on the train, as it’s definitely my favourite way to travel and it will be great to sit and watch the countryside change as we go further north where it is quieter, greener and COOLER!  Yay!  I am staying overnite on Saturday and then will return on Sunday some time, taking in the big nite market that Liz had told me about on the Saturday.  Liz and Rob are staying a few days to visit all their old haunts, so I will have a solo adventure on the Sunday on the way home, which is also to me, very exciting!  Yes, a little bit sad too to be excited by a train journey alone, but there we go!

The other potentially exciting trip coming up is a sortie to Koh Phangan, where the Pymans are going for their last couple of weeks in Thailand.  Liz suggested I go for a couple of days whilst they are there and that sounds to me like a great idea!  Even for a weekend, on a sun-drenched island … wow!  So, I am pretty excited all round just now!

Right, I promised myself a nite off from the internet to get some sewing done, but it’s already 9.12pm and I’m still here, so I am OFF.  Will be back with more news soon!

A Day In The Life – April 14th April 14, 2008

Day in the life – Thai style!  This is something me and some friends do once a month.

06:45 Wake up.  Not sure where I am as in my dream I was in Buchanan Galleries.  Slightly disappointed to not be, but delighted that I don’t have to get up for ages yet – hurrah!

08:30 Wake up again. Tofu pillow has somehow snuck up under my arm as if he was frightened of something in the night.  Hope it was not a giant cockroach.

09:00 Reading a bit of my book. It’s about a man who is a voice-over artist.  It’s quite funny.

09:30 In the shower.  Open the window and it looks sunny but not too sunny.

09:45 Note to self: Do not use salt scrub on legs immediately after shaving again. That is all.

10.15 Straightening hair. I wonder briefly why I am bothering as I am going to end up sweating like a horse and/or being soaked by Songkran revellers the second I step outside.  It makes me feel better tho, so continue.

10.25 Slapping on Factor SEVENTY sunblock that Mum sent. I will be needing that today.

10.30 Deciding what to wear. Go for comfort over style as will be walking a lot today.

10.40 Hit the street.  Get stuck along narrow soi behind very slow-moving Chinese girl.  Can’t overtake because of oncoming bin lorry. Bah.

10.45 Flag down taxi.  Hop in and tell driver where I want to go.  For some reason, no one understands when I say MRT.  So I go thru every Thai word I can think of that might help – underground, train, station … you would think piecing those 3 together we’d get there, but no.  The driver gets on the blower to his English speaking pal who instead of asking me where I want to go starts asking me where I am from, etc.  During this chat, we approach the station and we screech to a halt as I shout STOP.  The driver thinks this is hilarious and I laugh with him and get out and onto the subway.  As you enter the subway, you have to open any bags you are carrying so the security guard can make sure you don’t have anything untowards in there and then they salute you as you walk past – I love being saluted.

11.05 Off the subway and heading along the walkway to BTS.  Looking down at the road underneath, it’s chaos.  There are people everywhere with giant water pistols and chalk, skooshing each other, or in some cases, simply throwing buckets of water over passers by.  Were this to happen in Glasgow, there would be a 900% increase in the number of stabbings.  Here everyone is walking round with grins the size of China on their faces.

11.10 On the BTS.  Heading past my office building – see you on Wednesday! HA!

11.20 Think I’m going to be late.  Make my way off the BTS and down the escalator where I receive my first skoosh of the day.  It’s a half-hearted effort from a little kid wearing a Liverpool football shirt.  I say thank you and then say you’ll never walk alone.  He starts laughing and singing the song and he follows me along the road a bit, just giggling.  He doesn’t have any shoes on, but he is possibly the happiest child I’ve ever encountered.

11.30 On the boat.  Feeling pretty pleased with myself that I am going to only be a little bit late.  Have got this river boat thing sorted.  I was a bit apprehensive taking it alone at first, but Liz accompanied me the first time and it’s easy as long as you’re watching for your stop.  I am heading for Ratchawongse stop, which is the first one for China Town.  On the way we pass a big church I’ve not noticed before, the Holy Rosary.  It looks very nice.  Maybe I’ll go and see it one day.  Also note that what I thought was a fire station before, is.

11.40  Off the boat and no sign of Liz.  Worry that I am a bit late and then think durr, I should check my phone.  She’s still on the boat which is no surprise as you’re at the mercy of the driver and your fellow passengers once you are on as to how long it will take, etc.  Sit down on the benches near a man who is sound asleep on them – they are made of concrete.  He looks surprisingly comfy.  Drink half a litre of water from Mr Bun and read a bit of my book.

11.50 Yay, Liz is here.  We head out of the station and get into a tuk tuk.  I can’t believe I’ve been here almost 5 weeks and this is my first tuk tuk ride.  It’s a lot of fun, tho noisy.  We zip along the streets and arrive at the intersection next to the hotel we’re headed for.  It’s really quiet today as it’s a public holiday, hardly any traffic.

12.00 We arrive at the Shanghai Inn.  This place is amazing.  The decor is fantastic.  I would love to stay here.  We head upstairs to meet Liz’s friend Jackie who is staying here.  She is leaving today for New Zealand on an adventure involving a bicycle and a tent.  We are all booked in for massage before she sets off.

12.25 We head up to the spa area and announce ourselves.  The girl tries to sell us a special discounted massage and no amount of explaining can assure her we’ve already booked.  She tells us to come back at quarter past 12, and we point out it already is that time.  Finally Jackie remembers a slip of paper she was given and we’re in business.  I am the extra guest, so I choose my massage from the extensive menu.  I opt for the one hour foot massage at a very reasonable 360 Bhat (£6 ish).

12.30 Being pummelled.  Despite requesting a foot massage, we start off with me sitting on a stool with my feet in a bucket of water infused with lime and the lady is stretching my arms like she is trying to break them.  Briefly consider making a break for the door as she knees me in the spine.  Wonder if my head is going to fall off or if anyone will hear me scream from here, as the others are in another area across the hall. having full body massages.

13.00 For the love of god, woman.  She is really going at it with the punching the calves.  Also it feels like she is trying to dislocate my toes.  It is strangely relaxing though.  She is paying far too much attention to my deformed big toes.  Leave them be, woman!

13.30 An hour of hard work for both of us over.  The nice massage lady stands up and puts my slippers on my feet for me and then bows to me.  I feel like I should be the one bowing to her as I can’t really feel my feet anymore – they feel a bit like bales of cotton wool on the ends of my soothed legs.  I am a bit unsteady on my feet as I’ve just been lying down in a state of alternating panic/bliss for the last hour.  I shuffle back to the reception area and sit with my slippers on, leafing thru a magazine and sipping the extremely sweet tea that they bring me.

13.45 Liz and Jackie come back looking very relaxed.  We all sit and drink our tea (I pretend to as it’s way too sweet for me) and get changed back into our shoes.  I am wearing my new Rocket Dogs which I note have got a dirty mark on already from walking around the slightly muddy streets.  I should probably not have worn them today as I expect to get wet at some point.

14.00 Jackie is leaving for the airport shortly, so we just have time to get some lunch.  We head outside only to be met with a group of about 10 people brandishing what in the UK we would term Super Soakers.  We duck back inside and get shot at from the other side by 3 men in shirts and ties armed with semi-automatic water weapons.  We spy a break in the traffic and dash across the road – I bear the brunt of the watery attack.  It is fun!

14.05 In the restaurant, more of a dim sum cafe.  I realise as we go in that I have been here before on one of my previous trips to Thailand and the food was pretty good.  This is where I tried Chrysanthumum juice and hated it.  Steer clear of it this time and have some water instead.  Also have some noodles (which come with half of China’s bamboo growth – yuck) and some pork dim sum which are tasty.  We chat about general stuff, and it’s nice and relaxed.  Surprisingly none of us order the stewed geese feet or steamed ducks tongues.  Funny that.

14.30 We’re all done and heading out of the restaurant.  Jackie has to go and collect her stuff and high tail it to the airport for her gazillion hour flight to NZ.  Liz and I say goodbye and head back on foot for the water boat stop.  The side streets are quiet and there are some odd people around.  We get to the stop and wait for the boat and it’s not long before it arrives and we are back on the river.

15.00 On the BTS and part ways with Liz who is off to meet up with Rob, her boyfriend, and his parents who go back to UK tomorrow.  Arrange to meet up tomorrow to go and see the madness which is Songkran on Khao San road.  Get off at Sala Daeng.

15.05 Realise that I want to be at Siam. Go back upstairs and get back on the train.

15.15 Off at Siam.  There is a Songkran Music Festival on at Siam Paragon.  There is some emo tastic Thai band on with lots of girls screaming at them. One of them is wearing an orange jumper.  He must be roasting.

15.25 Off at Ratchathewi, a station that sounds like someone is spewing when they announce it.  Get off and narrowly avoid being soaked by a man with a bucket of water on the back of a motorbike.  I am headed for Pratunam mall as I have read that they have western sized clothes there for sale wholesale but will also sell retail.  I head off in the direction that I think I should be going in.

15.35 Hmm, maybe I am not going in the right direction.  I can see a street sign up ahead.  But before I get to it, I have to run the gauntlet of a group of teenagers with giant water cannons.  They see me coming and look like it’s all their birthdays at once – a farang to soak!  I think I am going to be drenched, but magically a pick up truck full of water-pistol toting guys pulls up and they start to have a skirmish as I skip past unnoticed.  HA!

15.40 I AM going in the right direction. It’s just MUCH further than I thought.

15.45 Stop at 7-11 for a drink.  Am knackered and parched.  Think it’s not too much further tho.

16.00 Arrive and most of the units are of course shut for the holiday season.  Didn’t think of that.  Wander round in the air conditioning, cooling off. Use their bathroom facilities and get lost in a warren of corridors seemingly all filled with luggage shops.  Eventually find an escalator and get back onto the street.

16.15 Trudging towards the main road, over a little hump backed bridge.  A motorbike taxi stops and asks me if I want to hire him. I wave him on and keep trudging.  The magic of the foot massage is draining away.  I catch sight of about 8 people up ahead with water pistols.  This is quite a quiet street, so they can’t believe their luck to get someone on foot AND a farang.  They all cock their weapons as I approach.  I smile and say PLEASE, NOT TOO MUCH – NIDNOI!  They mainly take heed, apart from one guy who gets me in the back, but pleasantly just at the top of my neck and it’s really rather refreshing.  One guy runs after me, he speaks some English.  He presents a bottle of some sort of water with oil or something in it – it smells nice.  He tells me this is what they pour on the Buddhas and onto their elders hands in ceremonies at Songkran.  Then he empties it over my shoulder.  I am a bit bemused, but thank him and trudge on.

16.30 Arrive at Chit Lom Central department store and duck inside to cool down.  Wander round, look at the massively overpriced Marks and Spencers and cackle a bit to myself.  Why would anyone pay near enough £70 for a pair of Per Una jeans?  The answer is that they probably don’t as they have a massive sale on.  Stumble across the Ideas zone and realise this is the place with the thick deco tape I was trying to remember last nite when I was talking to mar-c.  I browse the aisles for a pleasant 20 minutes and purchase a few things for Jo’s birthday.

16.45 Outside and onto the BTS.  Get off at Sala Daeng, my favourite station because of the name and also because this is where the revered Mr Bun is.

17.00 Walking along to the MRT station.  I stop to hang over the bannisters like everyone else and take photos of the sheer chaos underneath.  See my flickr for the photos!

17.20 On the MRT.  Lots of people getting on covered in clay and dripping wet, carrying water pistols.

17.40 Off at Thailand Cultural Centre with the idea of getting some dinner on the way home.  I pop into Carrefour to pick up some pineapple and some corn cobs and also some more kawaii things that I had to restock already such is my birthday gift giving ideas.

18.00 Moseying along, decide on impulse to give the Spaghetti Factory a go for dinner.  Get skooshed on the way across there.  Have some lasagne and garlic bread which is passable and about £2.50.  Finish my book and remember to take my tablets.

19.00  Walking home, there is a definite party atmosphere.  People are still riding around in pick up trucks, music blaring, water skooshing.  It’s been a lot of fun today.

19.15 Arrive home.  Dump everything on the bed and turn on AC.  Get changed into my lounging around pajamas (shorts and t-shirt) and unpack shopping.  Marvel that I bought about 8 things and they gave it to me in 5 carrier bags.

19.30 Log on to computer – 27 emails.  How is that possible, I was just online last nite?!  People email me a lot more now that I am 15,000 miles away, even the people that I hardly saw at home.  I answer some of them, save some for lengthier replies later.  Read my RSS feeds – oh, they found that TV presenter dead.  That’s a shame.  Look at flickr comments – people are asking about P&P for my new shop, Thai Kawaii. Realise I forgot to post that information up there.  Will do it later.  I opened this shop yesterday to sell some of the things I have found on my travels so far.

21.00 Still online – typing this, talking to mar-c and Susan D.  Susan is quizzing me about what I have eaten today as usual

21.20 Ooh, is that fireworks?  I can hear them but not see them. BAH.

21.45 Editing the postage settings at http://thaikawaii.bigcartel.com.  Paypal had messed it up.  Too late for a swim now, bahhh.

22.30 Still faffing with Big Cartel.  It’s quite easy to use.  Adding 2 new things I found on way home tonite.  It’s amazing what you can pick up with your corn cobs.

23.00 Off to bed!  Fun day.  Snoooze.

Downpour! April 12, 2008

Yayyyyyyyyy, it’s raining!

Proper heavy rain on a Saturday – just like home

Ouch! April 8, 2008

The soundtrack in my head just now is OWWWWWWWWWWWW and not in a Michael Jackson style.  Just as I was finishing up my last post there, Jamie called and he was finished at immigration a lot faster than he thought, so we arranged to meet up in an hour from then.  I was still not even half ready, so I was rushing about, drying hair, finding clothes that weren’t wet, etc.  Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror – and my arms are PUCE!

And look, so is my face!

And that’s with make up on!

They are radiating heat like nobody’s business and you could literally land aircraft with only their light, such is their flouresence.   So I am slapping on the coconut milk moisturiser and cursing the rubbish sunscreen that I have.  I must look out for P20 or maybe just buy long sleeved everything and a balaclava.

This evening we went to see a film called Vantage Point, which was actually not too bad. Not up my usual film boulevard, but I enjoyed it none the less.  It had the good guy from Lost as the bad guy and some guy who looked like he was sucking a lemon all the way thru it who turned out to be Dennis Quaid. Beforehand we had some late lunch/early dinner at Mos Burger, which is a Japanese gourmet burger place.  Not sure about gourmet, but they were good and not much more expensive than McDonalds or what have you plus you get to sit down in nicer surroundings.

After our cinema excursion (and after I almost broke my knee by falling down 2 steps in the dark), Jamie showed me the really posh bits of the mall that the cinema is in, Siam Paragon.  They have a big car showroom bit with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, etc.   Lee, you would have wet yourself at the Lamborghinis!  Then I went off to the second hand book shop to stock up as I am running low and then bought a top up card for my phone at long last and headed home.  I’m back now going AHHHHHHHHH at my arms.  Normally I’d write a note on the back of my hand to remind me to buy sunscreen but I think I have reminder enough this time!

China Town! April 8, 2008

This 4 days off a week lark could really catch on.  It’s Tuesday early afternoon for me, which means you souls in the UK will be getting up around now, or if you’re Lee, at work already. I’ve already had 1.5 hours in the swimming pool and done my laundry whilst you were all giving it zeds!

I had a really odd day on Sunday – I wasn’t feeling too good and spent most of the day listlessly wandering round, picking things up and putting them down again, starting to read but then being too restless, etc.  I waited til about 4.30 to go out and headed to the Siam Square area for a look at the wildlife there – countless shops with all sorts of fashions, bars, restaurants, etc.  The best thing was of course another branch of Daiso, which is possibly the best shop ever for random things.  I also found This Happened To Be A Closet, which looks like it will be great for a rummage – I gave it a half hearted attempt, but really needed someone there to ooh and aah over things with.

I adjourned for something to eat and then pretty much headed home after that to get in the swimming pool whilst it was empty (first thing checked off my to do list already!) and had a great 45 minutes ploughing up and down, floating about looking at the stars, etc.  Very peaceful and set me up for a better nite’s sleep.

Or at least it would have been had not my stalker that I seem to have acquired not kept phoning me.  I have no idea what language they speak – it’s not Thai and it’s not English – but they phoned me about 7 times on Sunday and then again yesterday morning at 5.30 am and 6.30am.  Funnily enough, they have not called back since I bellowed some obscenities at them when I was awoken for the second time – GAHH!  (I know the obvious answer is to switch my phone off at nite, but I like to have it on in case of emergency)

That meant that I slept later than I intended and was not out the house til lunchtime.  I was headed for China Town for my walking tour that I had forgotten to print off, so I hastily scribbled it on the back of a flyer and set off.  It was pretty hot as you might expect so I was peeved that i had not set off earlier as my timing meant that I was pretty much traipsing round in the hottest part of the day.  I got the train down to Saphan Taksin which is where the central pier is for the express river boat, bought my ticket and got on the boat and made my way to Memorial Bridge where I got off and started my tour.  At first I thought I had the wrong place, as the street immediately outside the ferry terminal was skanky – really dirty, rubbish piled high, buses parked up and people looking pretty destitute hanging around.

I followed my instructions tho and quickly made it to the street I needed to be on, which is part of the flower district.  Every few feet along the rickety pavement were people making floral leis of all different colours and sizes, women with plasters all over their fingers de-thorning roses, making up bouquets wrapped in newspaper.  There were shops selling every possibly accoutrement for both organising the flowers and displaying them for your home, hotel or temple.  It was quite a sight, and I hear even more of a sight at 4am when their busy time is.  Maybe one day I will be up early (or late) enough to see that.

I headed back along in the direction of the bridge and veered left towards China Town proper.  I was supposed to pass thru Little India on the way, but I think I must have taken a wrong turn, as I didn’t spot anything Indian which threw my lunch plans right out!  I kept plodding on tho and eventually got to downtown China Town and it was starting to look vaguely familiar from my last visit.  I reached Sampeng Lane which the walking guide mentioned as the highlight – what it didn’t mention is that it is NOT for the faint hearted!  It is basically an alley which is maybe only wide enough for 2 people to pass down abreast, with stalls and shops on either side.  It’s extremely claustrophobic and frustrating as if one person stops to look at something or buy something, then everyone is held up!  It’s also baking hot in there but the good thing is that it is at least partially covered over so you are not completely in the sun’s glare for the entire time.

I saw so many things that I would imagine most of my crafting buddies back home would have fainted over – lanes and lanes and lanes of buttons, fabrics, trimmings, ribbons, jewellery findings, beads (and beads and beads!), keyring parts, packaging, bags … it was a crafters delight!  I even saw wool wholesalers and I am sure I spotted some embroidery supplies too.  I bought a few things and later came across my personal highlight, a whole area of one street devoted to cute carrier bags!  Hamish is going to have the best packaged goods around!

After battling my way out of there I realised I had gone too far up the lane so I abandoned my walking tour guide and relied on Nancy to get me along to Odeon Circle to see Wat Traimit, the home of a giant solid gold Buddha.  I made it there without any problems and on the way had a rest on a bench in the shade.  An older Thai couple came up and sat down and asked me in English where I was going.  I pointed to Odeon Circle on the map and they told me it was literally round the corner, so I was pretty pleased that it was not too much further as I was pretty overheated by this point.  I could feel my head was burning but I wanted to press on and finish my agenda.  The couple got up before me, the woman touched my knee and wished me good luck as she did – I found this very touching, as they were so genuinely interested in where I was going and seemed pleased that I had taken the trouble to search out their neighbourhood as worth seeing.

I found Odeon Circle without much trouble – it would be hard to miss with a giant Chinese gate in the middle of what is back home called a roundabout.  Wat Traimit was not far off one of the roads off the roundabout and I made my way in to see the giant Buddha.  I just looked at him from the door as the ticket booth to actually go in and see him was unmanned.  It was pretty spectactular – 3 metres tall and pretty huge – and SOLID gold!  I read that it is worth $14.5 million US Dollars, which somehow does not sound like enough to me.  No photos allowed, said the guard, so I took some of his smaller replica outside which you can see here.

After that I dodged the tuk tuk drivers trying to get me to take up their services and made my way back along the main road to what I thought was the pier, but I was going in the wrong direction, so had to do an about turn which is where I found the carrier bag street, yay!  Then I made it to the pier and a nice lady looked after me and stopped me getting on the wrong boats and laughed like a drain when I got on the right one, inexplicably.  Everyone seemed to be in a good mood yesterday, probably because it was a public holiday.  I made it back on the boat which was pretty crowded, only narrowly avoiding falling head first into a monk as the waters were pretty choppy.  By this time I was feeling pretty faint, not having eaten anything and being pretty dehydrated.  I think I may have caught a hint of sunstroke as my head was pounding, so I headed home, ate some pineapple, slapped my photos up on flickr and when I couldn’t focus any more, went to bed where I slept for 10 solid hours and woke up feeling much better.

Today I have been pottering around, spent the aforementioned hour and a half in the pool which was great.  The only other person in it briefly was a Scottish guy who lives here.  We had a chat about what we are each doing here, where we are from, etc.  He seems like a nice guy – pretty camp – don’t think he will be availing himself of the services of Emmanuelle’s in a hurry – and has adopted a weird sing songy way of speaking from his years of teaching in Asia where everything he says sounds like he is explaining something to an unruly toddler.  It must be hard to switch off if you are teaching foreigners full time.

So now I have just been and done my laundry and am slightly despairing as the washing machines down there are too violent!  The lining in my trousers has been dislodged, a top has a hole in it … too powerful!  Just as well I didn’t use the tumble driers, who knows what would have happened!  I am going to meet Jamie for something to eat and possibly cinema later, so I may do some sewing this afternoon as it’s been a few days since I last stitched anything.  But now I am off to slap on some more moisturiser on my burnt arms – ouch!

Yay, internets! April 5, 2008

The mere fact that it’s Saturday afternoon (or morning or Friday nite depending on where you are) tells you that INTERNETS ARE GOOOOOOO!

I got home after a trip to the nite bazaar last nite to see a full complement of green lights on the front of the modem, abandoned my shopping and dinner on the bed and got straight onto the laptop to ensure that it was true and yes, hurrah, I now have the internets.  I instantly felt much better that I can now communicate with the world whenever I like instead of being restricted to talking politely at work on msn.  I’ve already managed to upload all the photos I had missed out on and speak to both Lee and Catherine on Skype which was great – a proper conversation for the first time in about 2 weeks!  I was starting to feel a bit stir crazy, but things seem much brighter now.

So, after work last nite I decided that I would have a mosey around the nite bazaar to see what was what in the world of fake shoes.  It was very hot there – the little alleys are so narrow that it makes it hard for air to circulate.  Lots of the stalls have big fans tho, so you can easily pause and go ooh look another stall selling those wooden frog things that make a noise when you drag a stick across their back that sounds nothing like an actual frog but actually secretly just enjoy a blast of cool air for a few seconds.  Fridays are always really busy at the nite bazaar so I tried not to linger too long, just long enough to buy a dressing gown for traipsing to the pool and back in, some fairy lights for round my bed so that I don’t have to get back out of bed to turn the big light off once I’ve been reading and some fake Birkenstock sandals for approximately £3.

So, this morning I have been mostly waiting for TV man and it is now 14.35 here and still no sign of him.  To be fair, I have no idea when he is supposed to be coming today, only that it is today at some point, so I’ll give him to tea time then I am going out if nowhere else, then at least for a swim.  I have been amusing myself by sweeping the floor with the most inappropriate brush in the world, killing the residual ants left over from last nite’s lei/eagle model disaster (I bought a lei for Humphrey Humperdink, as the eagle model has been christened to thank him for his intervention in the internet saga. It smelled amazing but an hour later I went back and he and it and the worktop were covered in tiny ants, so I had to chuck it out) and moving the room around so that I can sit at my desk with my computer. 

I might go and lie prostrate in front of Humphrey now to plead for the arrival of TV man so I can go out.