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Published: January 28th 2007
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Bangkok: Visas, Sky Train and Shopping
A MUCH More Productive Day Begins Friday we were determined to be more successful in our endeavors than we were on Thursday. We woke up, had a small breakfast and walked out to Chang Wattinah Road to catch a cab.
We knew the address of the Vietnamese Embassy in Thai this time and the first cab we approached knew the address. Thus, we were off to get our visa so that we could start planning the rest of our trip and move on from Bangkok. The cab driver was really nice and could speak some English so we conversed with him most of the thirty minute drive.
As we were driving, Madonna’s remake of American Pie came on the radio which excited the cab driver because he could understand some of the words. He promptly asked us, “ What is this American Pie?” Kel and I both did our best to explain the idea of apple pie being a very American food and thus American Pie was a reference to something being very American. He seemed to get this point fairly quickly. We then moved on to
what the song was actually about. I told him that the song had to do with the assassination of JFK. This is when it got funny.
Cab Driver : This JFK an artist?
Mike : No JFK was a president in the 60’s.
Cab Driver : Oh, Guy who fought men in a car, got killed?
Mike and Kel : Yes, he was shot while driving through a city in the US.
Cab Driver : Yes, he very attractive man, no?
Mike : Yes, he was.
Cab Driver : Yes very attractive (looks over his shoulder at me with big friendly smile) but not as attractive as you (then giggles a bit)
Mike: Thank you!
Kel : HAHAHAHAHAHA!
I include this segment of our cab drive because, A) it was very funny and very nice of him and B) because this is the sort of thing you run into with Thai people all the time. They love to make people happy, they smile a lot (and when they smile you can’t help but smile too) and they are very courteous. Funny!
The Vietnamese Embassy The cab stops and we jump out as the cab driver apologizes for having driven past the Embassy. We tell him its ok and start walking back in the direction we came in. About 100m down the road the cab driver comes running up the sidewalk, “So sorry, embassy in other direction.” We were amazed, the guy had driven about 200m up the road, stopped when he realized he’d made a mistake, and jumped out to find us. Incredible service for a guy who had already gotten paid for his job. You wouldn’t see that in New York City!!
We had already filled out our forms and gotten our pictures so the time at the embassy was a breeze. We paid the extra fee to get the visas by 4pm on Monday, left our passports and headed off to see more of the city. Thankfully, the Vietnamese seem to be pretty efficient in the embassy so we were in and out in 20 minutes.
The Skytrain to the National Stadium We walked up the street from the Embassy because our map lead us to believe that the Skytrain station
was around the corner. On the way, a nice Thai gentleman stopped us to ensure that we weren’t lost. He pointed us in the right direction and told us to have a good day.
The Skytrain is a very nice elevated train system in much of downtown Bangkok. Unfortunately it is not used by many of the Thai people because to them it is very expensive. To us it was incredibly cheap; the trip down three stops cost us 60 cents each.
MBK: Crazy Mall After the short trip to the National Stadium we headed to one of the larger malls in Thailand. Diane had told us to check it out since it was big and kinda cool which was great advice because while we have seen many malls in our day none of them are really like this. MBK ( I assume it stands for Mall Bangkok) is 7 floors of stores that are often small Thai run shops of locally made Thai goods. Unlike US malls (or European for that matter) this mall is not a wide open mall which would allow you a view across the mall at the opposite side. Instead
there are stores crammed into a high rise building so tightly that all you see around you are more shops.
As we walked around we had a couple of this we were looking for: 1) a pair of more summery shoes for me, 2) a pair of headphones for Kel (hers broke on the way from Dubai, and 3) possibly cheap smaller packs for this leg of our journey. As we walked around we stopped in at least 10 shoe shops, a couple of electronics shops and a bag kiosk that had very high quality knock off brand name bags.
As you walk around this mall you are constantly accosted by the sights of more stuff an shops. Unlike some parts of the world, the Thais are very courteous and don’t try to catch your attention by yelling or calling out to you, but they don’t have to. The very layout of the mall accosts you for them. Once you’ve found a store you want to buy something in, you best go ahead and buy the stuff you want because if you don’t you’ll likely never find the store again. Very confusing.
Despite the confusion and fear
we would never find the stuff we wanted again, we didn’t buy anything before lunch. Instead we headed up to the 5th floor to the food area to get lunch and talk about any purchases we might make. We ate in a cool restaurant that was similar to a cafeteria only different at the same time.
As you enter the restaurant they give you each a credit card. As you walk around the many kiosks you order your food and they charge the food on your credit card. When your food is ready you pick it up and eat it at one of the tables in the area and then head to check out to pay for the balance on your card. It is a very convenient and efficient way of running a food court sort of area. Kel and I had some Thai food, some sushi and some drinks. The whole thing cost us about 15 dollars which was expensive for Thailand, but we completely over ordered so it was our fault.
After lunch we found our way back to the shops we were interested in which took some work due to the confusing nature of the
Mike in a Cab
Better Looking than JFK...huh? mall. Kel got her Sony headphones (pink) and we each bought a knockoff back pack which is smaller than our traveling packs. Since we can leave some of our stuff with Jack and Diane as we travel the area we can pare down our bags and go real light. It will be very nice to travel light for a change!!
Once our purchase were complete we caught a taxi back to Jack and Diane’s. We were lucky that the taxi stand guy was able to work all this out for us (it took three cabs for him to find someone who would get us home).
The rest of the afternoon involved, reading, resting and watching TV. Not too interesting for you guys but very nice for us. Jack and Diane have been great and it has been wonderful to have a place that we think of as home for a change. THANKS JACK AND DIANE!!!!
Hope you are all well back home! We miss you all!
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Don
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historical misstep
You have to find the cab driver, Mike! You may have altered U.S.-Thai relations forever! American Pie is about Buddy Holly's plane crash with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper aboard. The headline in several large newspapers called it "the day the music died" because all three were really popular at the time. Ok, so did you expect me NOT to be know-it-all me even if I haven't seen you in four months? How quickly you forget our D'yer Mak'er conversations (although you were definitely right about that one). I'm glad you're having quite the adventure in Thailand. We love you both!