“There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.”
- Nelson Mandela
Having landed after 10:00p.m. and still having to make my way through Suvarnabhumi airport to find my luggage, I figured it would be best if I splurged for a cab instead of relying on Bangkok public trasit that late at night. Even with reduced traffic at that time, it still took about a half hour to get from the airport to my hotel, and I wasn’t checked in and unpacked until around midnight. I was pretty hungry, so I walked a few blocks to a Burger King and grabbed myself a double bacon cheeseburger and vanilla milkshake to end the night with a delicious case of heartburn.
The next morning (Sunday) I woke up early to make sure I’d have a full day for the Chatuchak (sometimes called Jatujak by the Thais) weekend market in the north of Bangkok. It’s an absolutely massive fair grounds that is reserved every weekend for local vendors to set up shop and hock their wares to the locals and tourists alike. Goods ranging from hand-crafted Thai souvenirs to factory manufactured textiles, as well as various Thai foods and spices, all can be had for some of the best prices I saw in all of Thailand. Unfortunately for me, I woke up to the first case of bad weather (rain) I had experienced for the entire trip, and there was really nothing to do but wait it out at the hotel.
Once the rain finally passed, it was close to lunch time. I made my way down to Asoke, the station after Nana on the BTS Skytrain line, and headed underground to ride the Bangkok Subway System for the first time ever. I really wasn’t much different than the BTS Skytrain in form and function, the only differences being that it was underground and that getting to Chatuchak was also cheaper than the BTS Skytrain by 5 baht. Like most subways, the ride was pretty uneventful since there isn’t much scenery underground.
Once I reached Chatuchak I got right down to business – no wandering through the market isles and gawking at the various bargains to be had for me. I basically bee-lined through each isle of the marketplace, only stopping to check out items that caught my fancy. Unfortunately, while Chatuchak had many more stalls and goods for sale than another other marketplace I had visited in Thailand, it was all still “same same” (i.e. everyone was selling the same thing). Other than a few small knick-knacks, I really didn’t find anything worthwhile yet managed to burn a whole afternoon examining all the stalls filled with things I didn’t want. I did find a pair of Adidas casual shoes I would have liked to buy, and it would have been a good deal too, but they didn’t have any pairs in my size left. Yet another downside to Asian markets – limited inventory.
That night I found myself wanting to hit the town, but not really knowing where to go. I had already caught a movie the last time I was in Bangkok and didn’t really feel up to catching another, so I took a stroll over to Soi Cowboy. Soi Cowboy is one of the notorious nightlife areas in Bangkok, located near Asoke station on the BTS Skytrain line along Sukhumvit Road. Walking down Soi Cowboy, you’ll find various drinking establishments on either side of you staffed by Thai women who cry out “hey farang (foreigner)!”, or “hey (insert the colour of your shirt here) shirt!” in an attempt to lure you inside. Half way down the street I gave into the catcalls and popped into a bar (called “Cowboys” no less), but left before I could even order a beer due to the overly physically friendly nature of the bar staff there. At the end of the street was an Irish pub that probably had a no-hassle policy, as I was not catcalled nor was I groped there and was able to enjoy a pint of Kronenbourg 1664 in peace while attempting to understand some highlights from an East Indies cricket tournament on their big screen TV.
After that I made my way over to Nana Entertainment Plaza, the other notorious nightlife locale, also located just off Sukhumvit Road but closer to the Nana BTS Skytrain stop (also where Gullivers and my hotel were located). Nana Entertainment Plaza is a bit different from Soi Cowboy as it isn’t a street but a giant square with three levels of small bars, and some open air beer bars located in the centre. But really it’s another case of “same same”, as you walk around the plaza while bar staff cry out to you in an attempt to convince you that their bar is better than the competing bars they are surrounded by. I ended up going up to AngelWitch, a bar I’d been to the last time I visited Bangkok, which features exotic Cirque du Solei styled dance routines and high priced beers to match. I stuck around for one beer (worked out to about $5 CDN) before I realized that all of the skits / routines I was seeing were exactly the same as the ones I saw back in April of last year.
Tiring of the bar scene, but not yet wanting to return to my room at my hotel, I headed over to Bully’s pub on Sukhumvit Road. Bully’s was a pub that Mike and I had frequented a few times while staying in Bangkok last April, and while the food wasn’t anything spectacular, they did have a good selection of beers and pool tables to keep you entertained. I ended up playing a round of pool against one of the female employees, and as expected I was schooled in the fine arts of billiards. It would seem that Thai girls who work at bars have nothing better to do than play pool with farangs, all improving their trick shot skills to the point of being world class champions. Two beers and two more losses at the pool tables later, and I was ready to give up on my dignity and head back to my hotel for the night.
I slept in on day three in Bangkok, but it wasn’t too big a deal as my only plans were to take one last pass through the major downtown shopping centres including CentralWorld, Siam Paragon, Siam Centre, and MBK mall. This ended up taking up another one of my afternoons, and once again I had to deal with less than perfect weather – as I walked back to the Siam BTS Skytrain stop from MBK mall the heavens opened up once more and poured down rain for a good 20 – 30 minutes. It’s intersting to note that when the rain comes down hard like that, most Thais run for cover and just wait it out before getting back to whatever business they were conducting before the rain.
A little bit soggy from the weather, I was back at the hotel by around 6:00p.m. and decided to have a short power nap… but it ended up being one of those 4 hour power-naps that I enjoyed on several occasions during my trip. When I woke up around 10:00p.m. I was absolutely ravenous, so I headed back over to Gullivers and had myself some Thai curry and rice as well as some baked salmon. After that I hit the pool tables at once more, actually winning my first game against a European fellow who didn’t speak a lick of English (I think he was either German or Russian?). After that, one of the Thai girls working at Gullivers stepped in, and once again my pool career came to a quick and painful end. After that I headed out to an Internet cafe, did a little work on the blog, and then headed back to the hotel to catch some more z’s as I had plans to get myself some new suits the next day.
Tags: Adidas, airport, Asoke, Bangkok, bar, beer, Bully's, Chatuchak, dance, Gullivers, market, MBK, Nana, pool, shopping, Subway, Suvarnabhumi, taxi, Thailand, weather
