eating my way through Bangkok

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I did it! I survived living in Kathmandu! And now I am having a blast living it up in Bangkok—eating fabulous food, getting pampered, and just being happy. I am so high on life right now, it’s wonderful!

I arrived last night around 6:30pm, gathered my tons of luggage, and managed to get a taxi to the hotel. I’m staying at the Silom Convent Garden, a little place converted into apartments/hotel rooms, so I have a little studio apartment type thing for around $45 a night. So clean, so air conditioned (you need it in this summer Bangkok heat!), so colorful and quaint.

A friend recommended this place to me, and said I should stop into the restaurant that her friend owns right down the road called Eat Me. I happened to see it on the way in, so I decided I would just go there for dinner. It’s owned by an Australian who moved here 10 years ago, so the food is very international. I had white snapper with bok choi, a tomato salad, and a mango margarita. The owner showed up at the end of my meal, and so he ordered me a passion fruit cocktail and we shared a blueberry and rosemary cupcake (amazingly good!), and a piece of flourless chocolate cake. By that time I was stuffed from all of the wonderful food and had a little buzz. He invited me to hit the town with him and his beautiful Thai boyfriend, and so I did—despite the 2 hours of sleep I had the night before.

The guys walked me through the gay district and the red-light district, both of which are a couple blocks from my hotel. The gay district is just like that in any other city—men dressed trendy and smelling great, checking each other out and ignoring me. It was a mix of foreigners and young Thai guys, who are really beautiful people with their dark skin and big eyes.

We then walked through the infamous Patpong district, where you can do everything from watch “fuckey” to ping pong shows—a woman popping ping pong balls out of her vagina. My new friend said some women even manage to smoke cigarettes using their vaginas. “I have a vagina, and I don’t even know how you would begin to do that!” I said. Through the open doors of the bars I could see very slender women in bikinis dancing on the bars casually, hanging onto poles. Other workers were trying to hand me a menu of “services” and shows. Although it’s a racy area, it doesn’t have the feel of a sleezy sex scene, probably because it’s legal and in the middle of it all there are food carts and people running standards with souvenirs for sale. And there’s a mix of women and men (and some kids) hanging out like it’s just another day.

After my little tour, we headed to this amazing high rise hotel to check out the Sky Bar—a platform illuminated in blue light hanging out over the city. We couldn’t go out onto it because we were under dressed, but we went down about 30 flights to another beautiful outside bar. I sipped a mojito while we chatted about the city and current affairs and such. It was a wonderful first evening!

This morning I woke up late after some much needed sleep and immediately headed out for a Thai massage. I am so in love with Thai massage! I went to a beautiful little spa place nearby, also recommended by my friend. I put in my request, put on some bamboo flipflops, and followed this tiny, older woman upstairs. She sat me down on a bench outside for a minute, then brought a bucket of warm water to wash my feet. After drying them thoroughly, she led me inside to a little room with paper walls and a bamboo blind covering the front. I put on some soft pajamas and laid on the thin mattress on the floor.

She came in and went to work, not really massaging the muscles, but pressing them and stretching me out this way and that using all of her own body. At one point she put her foot right next to my crotch to pull and stretch my leg. To do my back she used her fists and forearms, and kept hopping back and forth over me. Then she sat me up to stretch out my neck.

Next thing I know, she has me lock my fingers behind my head, she interlocked her arms with mine, and then flipped me back over her so that my back arched over her bent knees. I think my back cracked about 5 times, and I laughed, which made her laugh. It felt so good! This was finally followed by a face and temple massage, which she did with me lying on a pillow on her lap.

Someone once told me Thai massage is sometimes more like a wrestling match than what we think of as a massage, and she was right. But it was so nice! It’s like a combination of yoga and massage, which is often what I need more than anything—to be stretched out and made limber, but a little massage in the really tense parts, like my back and neck. I have to find a place with good Thai massage back home!

My therapist served me sweet Thai tea and we were through. I then went down to the place’s juice bar and had a mango smoothie, which was delicious! I wondered out into the city again to look for lunch, since I was starving. I found a little noodle bowl place and ordered some ramen noodle soup with duck (a classic Thai/Chinese dish) and some fried prawn dumplings and a melon smoothie. Again, delicious!

I spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around watching people at their food carts (which are everywhere!) and looking at the good people were selling. I decided to get a manicure and pedicure (afterall, pampering is what you do in Thailand). I found a place that said 350 bhat for both, so I went inside. It appeared to be a men’s spa, but the people at the desk told me that it was for women, too, and that I would have a lady to give me my treatment.

Well, I think it was a men’s spa, because I was the only female client among several men. But the woman who gave me my mani/pedi had me so relaxed I almost fell asleep. But I have to admit, it was the worst paint and filing job I have ever had. You get what you pay for, I guess! But it was worth the experience—the woman who spoke no English and could only smile at me, the glasses of water they served me on a little wooden tray with a fresh orchid next to the glass, and watching the other therapists walk back and forth in their Thai dress.

On my way back to my room, I stopped to buy a snack on the street. This man was making some sort of fried rice pancake with egg and bananas and a layer of coconut cream on top—for less than a dollar. So I stopped to watch him make me one and took his photo. Again, delicious! All I was doing was eating my way through Bangkok!

After chilling out in my room and recuperating from my day of spa treatments and food, I headed to Siam square to check out the scene there. It’s a shopping area with lots of cute boutique stores and large department stores, Starbucks, KFC, McDonald’s, and pizza places. Lots of teenagers hang out there, as it is the hip part of the city. I just wandered around in the sweltering heat trying to find a Thai restaurant. At one point a woman stopped me and asked me what I was looking for or doing. I told her I was just looking for good Thai food, and she said I was in the wrong area. She told me where to go for Thai, where to buy the best silk, and which temples to see. She was very sweet…I guess I looked like a hopeless tourist among all of those teenagers in their trendy clothes.

I did manage to find a good Thai restaurant though—stumbled upon it by accident, one that is actually listed in the Lonely Planet. I had prawn spring rolls, pad Thai, Thai iced tea, and took home an order of sticky rice with mango. I am eating way too much food, but I cannot help it! After so many months of dhal bhat I feel like I’m in heaven!

On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a pharmacy to buy some bubble bath and was helped by a young man that was wearing more makeup than I ever have—not to give him the appearance of a woman, but simply to make his skin look nice with foundation and powder. That’s one thing that is interesting about Bangkok—there seems to be more of a blur of what’s acceptable for the genders. You have very girly girls, but also more androgynous ones. You have tough looking guys, but also guys who wear trendy men’s clothes with makeup. And then there’s the whole kathoey scene—men who dress in drag. Especially for someone who studies gender roles, it was interesting to see all of this in person after reading a lot about it in textbooks.

Now after taking a bath with my jasmine bubbles, I am drinking a Singha beer and eating mango sticky rice. What a life I lead! Tomorrow it’s off to visit the temples…and maybe more pampering? And of course, lots more food to sample!

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Photos

food cart
This guy made me a delicious rice pancake with egg, banana, and coconut cream.

shrine
A little shrine on the side of the road being explored by a cat.

my street
The back street where I stayed.