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My buddies at the forensic museum
With the corpse of Thai serial killer Si Quey. When that kid on the right was busy looking at a preserved cobra I snuck up behind him and hissed and grabbed him and he jumped a foot, mwaha. I love Bangkok. I keep coming back because its a good base to get organized and stock up on fast food and other Western comforts. I didn't know anything about Bangkok before I came here that first time, I didn't even know anybody who had been here before, but it blew away all my expectations. If you could just see that brand-new, world-class, state of the art mall, the Siam Paragon. The food court, man. Its enough to make you weep, especially after weeks of rice and curry.
There's something so comforting about coming back to Bangkok after being in other parts of Asia. Say you get hurt out in the boonies in Burma, you might get lucky and get some circa 1972 Band-Aids and generic brand Tylenol. Most likely you'll just get Tiger Balm or something of that ilk smeared over the afflicted area.
But Bangkok! They got people all over doing superfluous/complex procedures such as tummy tucks and sex reassignment surgery in world class hospitals. When those tuk tuk drivers go zooming along bringing impending doom you can't help but think, "Lord, this can't be good ... but I'm in Bangkok, so if its gonna happen, it
better happen here."
My dad was at a meeting in Japan and since he was in the neighborhood (well, a 6 hour flight away) he decided to swing by for a couple of days. It was really good for me because its hard to explain a lot of Asia, you know? And I've started forgetting that things I see everyday are not normal back home, they are becoming my norm, so a fresh perspective was very interesting. Coming in from Cambodia into Bangkok for the first time I thought that I would be really irritated if I just sat on a plane for 20 hours and ended up in Bangkok because why its almost exactly like home! They got highways and fast food and what I'm guessing to be the highest concentration of 7-11's in the world. Its insane, when you look out the window of the bus going through some random city in Thailand you see one pass by at least every 30 seconds. But my dad was really impressed with Bangkok. Not at all like home.
We had lots of fun. Just ask him. I think the only real tourist site we saw was the Grand
Palace but we did a good job wandering around experiencing the city. I got spoiled. We stayed at a bondafide hotel and ate lobster and I got to put the toilet paper
in the toilet! No drinking the tap water as of yet. ~*~*~sOmEdAy~*~*~
My showed my dad my favorite things to do in Bangkok, such as eating (especially the pineapple, oh how I will miss you Thai pineapple) and being a mall rat. I don't particularly like to shop and I really don't have a lot of extra money but its cool to just wander around Siam Square and the surrounding 4 malls- the MBK center, Siam Center, Siam Discovery Center, and the holy-crap-I-will-never-be-able-to-afford-anything-sold-here Siam Paragon. Allegedly eating and shopping are two very Thai activities so really we did a good job immersing ourselves in the Thai culture.
Senti came back from Koh Chang and we all went to a Thai theme park called Safari World. It was really weird but kind of fun. Then my dad went back home (I'll see you soon!) and Senti and I figured out the next leg of our journey.
I've been here in Asia for a couple months now
and what did I have to show for it but a couple of stamps in my passport and, in all likelihood, a parasite or two on a lab chart in a couple of months? Don't give me none of that "life experience" crap. So we decided to do something productive and head down south to the islands and learn how to scuba dive. We did a 4 day course on Koh Tao, it was a lot of fun, I mean its sort of like driver's ed and the classroom time is boring but once you're out there with your gear on its a lot of fun. So Senti and I both survived and are certified open water divers which means we can dive up to 60 feet (18 meters). I don't think I'm converted from snorkeling because scuba diving takes a lot of preparation, but I'm glad I learned how.
We were busy learning how to make sure our lungs don't explode or how to avoid getting attacked by triggerfish so we didn't spend that much time on the beach. I mean its nice and all, but its no Caribbean. Who's up for Cancun Spring Break 2007?
Back
to Bangkok. Senti was going home the next day so it was her day. After squatting in our hotel lobby for a couple hours (we are the feral children of Wendy House) we went to Chinatown and bought junk. I bought a do-rag with an American currency design. I wore it for like an hour and nobody jumped me. Senti bought some pens decorated with cartoon characters with abnormally large eyes and spouting broken English phrases.
Then Senti went back home to London. I was feeling pretty down about that and I moped around for a day and then I figured I needed cheering up. So I went to Songkran Niyomsane Forensic Medicine Museum, which is mentioned in the Thailand Lonely Planet under "Bizarre Bangkok". Let me tell you, the Thais are not big PC babies about death. So after spending an hour or two looking at pickled body parts showing the aftermath of gun shot wounds, suicide, and the legendary traffic accidents I was feeling a bit better. Definitely nauseated and slightly concerned about the number of kids I saw visiting the museum, but other than that I was feeling pretty good. There's also a cool, albeit terrifying,
Grand Palace Madness
Packed with Thais on account of Songkran parasite museum next door- both are worth seeing, just don't eat right before you go in.
Heading back to Vietnam tomorrow! Less than three weeks left...ticktickticktick
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Senti
non-member comment
more shocks in SEA
I cant believe you are scaring innocent Thai children who only came to gawk at dead people!!!!!!!!! What kind of person are you? The mind also boggles at the perils of sex toys. I think we can all learn a lesson from that one. Thanks for your e-mails. I sent you a mammoth one back. Sorry it took me so long. By the way I GOT YOUR POSTCARD.