A Mirror in Bangkok
By Fikri
Fikri reflects on his first day in Bangkok…
Not wanting to oversleep, I did not sleep the night before the trip, and went as far as lying to my friend who dropped me off at the airport (for the standard fee of petrol, toll, and a McDonald’s breakfast set), saying that my flight was at 11AM. In truth I reckoned it to be closer to noon.
After arriving at an earlier-than-expected 9.45AM, I eventually confessed the truth over breakfast. Later, I found out that the flight was actually at 1.40PM, leaving me to reflect on the lost sleep and sweet dreams that I might have had.
On the flight, I suddenly felt very hungry, and regretted not eating any burgers while at McD’s (only the breakfast set). It was not helped by the realisation that I would not be seeing halal food for a country mile in Bangkok. With that in mind, I splurged RM21 on a chicken rendang sandwich, a pot noodle, a cereal bar and apple juice.
Once there, we split into groups to take the cab to the hostel. The trip cost some 350 baht, which would be cheaper had the driver known where we were supposed to go. Once there, we compared who got ripped off the most, with Dr Yeoh emerging as the ‘champion’ at 400 baht.
The area that we are staying in is Khao San, a backpackers’ area. Thus, I notice more Caucasians than locals. On first impression, the ‘farangs’ (as they are known) appears to do nothing more than drink and watch pirated DVDs in the hostel lounge. For me, I am to share my room with the guys (Aaron, Yasir, and Meng Yoe). Me and TMY decided to share the bed, seeing that he and I… we are one. After settling in, we met our student guides from Chulalongkorn University. They seem a friendly enough group, whose English (and Malay) are better than my Thai.
We went for dinner at a very nice restaurant, where a lot of Tom Yam Kung were consumed, and a lot of important Thai phrases were learnt (”Pom rak kun” means “I love you.”). Welcome speeches were also given by Kerry Ann, Kaew (one of the guides), and their lecturer, Kanukrat, who said that the trip is a great chance for us to really discover Bangkok.
Later, we walked around the main Khao San area, which is a long street full of vendors selling cheap goods. The arrangement and ambience reminded me of Petaling Street, and the items were pretty much the same (pirated DVDs, clothes, etc.), with the exception of fake Rastafarian dreadlocks. I find it to be very interesting. Talking to Kaew about it, it appears to be something very popular with the foreigners.
We headed back towards the hostel for a late night/early morning drink, during which Sasi got drunk (though she denied this). “Sorry sir, no coke,” when I requested for one. “Why not?” I asked. Apparently they don’t serve non-alcoholic drinks during happy hour. I asked for water instead, but was refused again for the same reason. This ‘happy hour’ is making me quite unhappy, and I sternly refused to order anything else. He eventually relented, but it left a sour taste in my mouth, which my Coke did little to sweeten.
Ah well.
hey u guys..having loads of adventure’s huh! well, take care..wishing i was there to have the yummy tom yam…ah ah..can almost taste it from here.
Comment by kristin anne — July 8, 2005 @ 5:31 am
Yes. We had tom yam kung two nights in a row :>
Comment by Fikri — July 8, 2005 @ 6:17 pm