Khi Baht? - Final round, ding, ding ding!
When you come back down
If you land on your feet
I hope you find a way to make it back to me
When you come around
I'll be there for you
Don't have to be alone with what you're going through
- Lifehouse’s "Come Back Down" -
Initially Muay Thai or Thai Kick Boxing was included in our itinerary. So was the famous Calypso Cabaret Show, which was recommended by both Nancy and Peter, who dubbed them the "Lady Boys Show" - Lady Boys meaning transvestites, hence the Calypso Cabaret is Bangkok’s equivalent to a transvestite Parisien Moulin Rouge. However, as our reserve of moolah has severely depleted due to sessions of shoppings, and premonitions of MORE shopping, we decided to forgo it. FYI, the Cabaret show costs approximately about 1,000 bahts per person, which includes pick-ups from the hotel, a drink or even dinner depending on your tour package. FYI lagi, the Moulin Rouge tickets cost about 45/90 Euros each, and consist of a champagne or a non-alcoholic beverage, hehe, of which I was able to enjoy, thanks to my lovely dentist, Aunty Aimi.
Bangkok is notorious for its heat and pollution. It didn’t seem as bad from the inside of a building, but whenever you step out, the heat just engulfs you, and exhaust fumes is permeated in the air. Some of us actually went back with breakouts, me included. :(
Btw, Bangkok has great food *well, at least interesting looking ones*. Almost anywhere you go, there’ll be street vendors selling all kinds of food. There’s the guy selling fruits *really fresh looking ones too and cheap!*, there’s the lady whom I bought bananas grilled on hot coals and thick break slathered with margarine, also grilled on hot coals *pisang and roti bakar je wey, kat Malaysia pun ade* but they looked soooo good! and tasted really yummy too! plus I was hungry *shrugs*. Then there’s the guy who sold jagung bakar, and sliced corn, mixed with sugar and coconut. Then there’s the lady selling fresh mandarin orange juice, her muscular arms working the juicer, yielding the freshest orange juice i’ve ever tasted. Then there’s this baked rice thingy *also on hot coals*, with a coating of egg yolk that I shared with Pui Yee *who didn’t like it, but I bedal je*. Those were among the very few of the street vendor food that we had. There’s tons others! At night, they would just set up stall by the roadside, and the Chinese girls had a great time choosing what to eat.
Anyhoo, by the 4th day, i’ve already spent about ¾ of my budget on shopping, food, and sightseeing *p/s: the trip to Damnern Saduak itself costs about 1,500 bahts*..and i’ve not even bought souvenirs for the family yet! Btw, I strongly advice that if you’re planning to do some sight-seeings, to scour the Interner for ground arrangements. That’s most prolly cheaper than searching for the tours when you’ve already reached Bangkok. Oh btw, boleh tak? Miss Scrambled Mind here, actually left for Bangkok sans toothbrush!! arrgh! so I hopped into the nearest 7-11 to buy the cheapest one I could, which cost about 29 Bahts *roughly RM2.90 hehe*..Gee, that made me appreciate my Oral-B Contura, that el-cheapo toothbrush was as straight as a pencil! Btw, i’ve never seen so many 7-11’s before as in Bangkok...they’re prolly all located within 100 metres of each other!
After breakfast on the 3rd day, we ventured of to Pratunam market. I seriously needed to get souvenirs for the family, namely my bro and my dad, whom are very tough to shop for. I had already bought an embroidered handbag for my mom, and a cute sequinned t-shirt for my sister, i’m thinking funky t-shirt for my brother and a sober one for my dad. Pusing-pusing Pratunam, and I finally managed to get my brother a Beatles t-shirt and for my dad, a denim short-sleeved shirt..woohoo! Both were bargains at 170 Bahts, ngeh ngeh ngeh. In Pratunam, there’s a few men selling this contraption which looked like a very colourful butterfly, that, when released into the air, will fly out and fly back to us. Sort of like a boomerang. So, I enquired the price: at first it was 120 Bahts *what??? 12 bucks for a toy?? forget it!* So, we walked off, and when we did, he subsequently started to lower down the price. We managed to ran away, giggling, but unfortunately bumped into him twice after that! Pusing-pusing, jumpa dia balik, and he’ll lower the price even more! The last price quoted was actually 40 Bahts, and if he actually went down to 20 Bahts, I would have bought it! Hehe..but he didn’t..ah well..
After Pratunam, we went to Platinum, to look for the girls, but they’re nowhere to be found, so we decided to go further up the road to this small mall, opposite an Isetan to look for a Boots Pharmacy. We did walk into Isetan to look at the designer goods at actual market price hehe, but of course they were too expensive for our severly damaged purses. Altho, actually, the prices, when compared were actually lower than those in KL..hmm. Got my haircare stuff and other stuff at Boots, and went back to the hotel on the Tuk Tuk. This time around, we were taken through back alleyways, which was pretty interesting, and less pollution this way. Plus, no traffic jams! We had to stop for a while tho, as there’s this van blocking our way, when it tried to get out of a longkang that it accidentally reversed into.
That afternoon, we decided to take in the 250 bahts Thai Massage down the road. The place is pleasantly scented, with a peaceful ambience, and soothing music. There were 2 masseuse attending to the 4 of us, and with Elly and Huei Wen gossipping in the background, I had my feet bathed, then my exhausted-due-to-excessive-walking self kneaded for about an hour..nicee. I didn’t know what to expect really, and I was told that those massages weren’t that good *well, what do u expect for 25 bucks kan?*, and that if we wanted authentic Thai massages, we should have gone to a proper spa. Oh well. Guess i’ll try out the massages back in KL *checks wallet* err, maybe next month :p Btw, there’s a saloon, reflexology parlor, a massage parlor, and a tailor located on the ground floor of our hotel, and I was told that this is common. So, there’s also the option of those, plus, I think u can get them to come to your room for their service.
That night, we headed out to Suan Rum Night Baazar, reputed to be the night version of Chatuchak. We took the girls to our halal restaurant for dinner first, and pretty much had the same yummy dishes. To get to Suan Rum, you’d prolly have to take a cab, so we found 2 by the roadside. Again, it wasn’t that easy, due to adhering to the meter. When Rebecca managed to get one, and while she conferred outside it on how to get there, the cab just zoomed off! The cabbie prolly thought we’re not interested..cheh. Our cabbie pulak, was this old man, who couldn’t hear very well. We spent a few minutes yelling, "Suan LUM, Suan LUM!!", (Sue even spoke Hokkien! haha!) to him, when he suddenly boomed out "ooh, Suan ROOM!!!" "Haaa!!!! Correct, correct!!!"
Suan Rum, let it be told, is a chic night market. Nay, uber chic. These ppl prolly have their own namecards to the creations they sold there. Think an upper class Camden Market. Very, very cool. Lots of artsy-fartsy collection, furnitures, paintings, and souvenirs. Twas a good thing I didn’t save up for this market, they’re quite pricey!! But a great place to hang out la. There’s cafes and night spots as well. Lotsa gwailos. Well, actually Bangkok is filled with gwailos. I see them everywhere, during the buffet breakfast at the hotel, on Tuk Tuks, shopping at Chatuchak, at Pat Phong *mm-hmm*, trading notes across the table with a Thai native who prolly can’t speak English properly at Hard Rock, tugging pan-Asian-faced children around the malls...everywhere la. Didn’t get anything there, but the girls did bargain for handbags with a squeaky-voiced girl.
Final day! Final briyani rice *which was really good, actually* for breakfast. Packed up and hung around. Wanted to go for final walkies down to Pratunam, but Elly didn’t want to as what’s the fun in walking around, with no more money to shop? Hehe..Luckily, we’ve put aside 500 Bahts for the airport tax, as seriously, I was all drained out *where did all that money go to??*. Around noon, we took the hotel’s 7-seater, and set off for the airport. What’s nice is that Bangkok doesn’t have a separate terminal for lcc hehe, so there were duty-free shops abound! chocolates! perfumes! more souvenirs!! I actually spent my last 20 Bahts on a lipstick holder my mom wanted. *sempat lagi tu*. The waiting area was quite nice, not too many passengers on our plane, and hey looky-looky, isn’t that @mir Yu$$of over there?? Waa, naik @ir @$ia jugak ke..hehehe....
The trip back home was spent dozing off. I was pretty hungry, and I didn’t have any more money to spend...not even on a rinky dinky muffin or Maggi Cup Noodle on board! haha! That bad! At least Elly managed to buy herself a cup of noodle hehe. I actually went back to Malaysia with 60 cents. 60 Malaysian cents. Dang.
All in all, it was a grand vacation. Not only it was spent recklessly while colleagues in the office were busy with their work, but the grandest part was? Every tiny bit of it was paid by moi. My very, very own vacation. That is something i’ll be very proud off, and whenever I see my dad wearing the shirt I got or my mom carrying the handbag I got her, I couldn’t help smiling. Itulah hasil titik peluh *yang tak seberapa mana pun, Bangkok je* selama ini, hehehe. After this, kena save up for bigger, further trip pulak! Chaiyyok, Chaiyyok!
Ooh, the girls are already suggesting Phillipines next year...can’t wait!
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