A Diva in Bangkok, Day 4

Today was Chatuchak Day. Yes it was.

The first time i was in BKK, I remember feeling exhilirated at the sight of the hectares of stalls I would see from the skytrain. I would walk/skip to the entrance, oblivious to the heat and rampage through the thousands of stores, picking up and purchasing anything that caught my fancy. I was a woman possessed! I was tireless! I was insane!

But that was 5 years ago. This time, I was still excited, but less loony with delight. I think the heat got to me, and the mass of humanity crammed into those tight corridors took its toll on me. I made it my goal to get the bilins and get out.

Well I got the bilins, but I was able to buy a few items for myself, like, 40-Baht slippers, and 100-Baht accessories, even a 25-Baht mug! But aside from the bilins, I also meant to take photos of the market, just to show how colorful and cultural it is.

You'll see people preparing and having their meals in the corridors, people selling odd types of food. I finally got to try this 3-Baht popsicle that they make out of syrup, flavoring, a steel contraption on wheels and lots of ice. I chose the strawberry one. Lifted my sugar levels somewhat.

We lunched in one of the foodstalls. We had pad thai. It wasn't as good as I remembered it. For one the shrimp didn't taste too fresh. To make matters worse, we racked up a bill of 475 Baht! Outrageous! Apparently, since their stall is located in one of the gaps between sections, they priced their food for foreigners. Dang! We were so pissed. Now we knew better. We should eat in the inner stores, where prices are closer to the real thing. Oh, and ask tao lai first before ordering.

We left at around 3 pm. Gad, that was somewhat of a relief. We went back to Benc's hotel to rest while he packed. Then we made a quick trip to Panthip to canvass for hard disks (which we ended up not buying). Well, Benc did the canvassing. Joy and I...ate! We ordered an almost-dinner meal at the mall's second floor food court. Hahahaha! They have this mouthwatering moo yang (roast pork) salad thing that is absolutely delicious! All for 40 Baht. Mmmmmm, if you're in the area, try it. They mix all their spicy sauces and a dayap water solution with it. Aloi!

We trooped back to the hotel later, but not without a cup of coffee from one of the street vendors first. We got Benc's things, and went to Joy's house where we got soi dinner. A little later we were joined by Joy's Thai friends -- Matt and her husband Boy. Thai-Chinese who were educated in the west and whom we could ask about Thai culture. It was a wonderful, raucous conversation. They were so candid and frank about themselves, which made it easy to compare our practices with theirs. I'll go on more about our conversations later. That calls for a whole other post.

They had to leave by midnight since they were attending a wedding the next day. So we wound down in Joy's living room with lots of laughs from an Indian Canadian comedian named Russel Peters. In between, Benc just kept ooohing and aaahing at Joy's apartment. It really was gorgeous!

I feel like I almost don't want to leave. It seems so easy here. It seems so familiar too. No wonder many foreigners settle here. Especially for Asians like us, but for the language and some practices, it could easily feel like home.