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Lightning
Picture is unrelated to the post. Pretend it's symbolic if you want. Mostly, it's here because it's hard to take pictures of lightning.
Bangkok is a city of contrasts - if the streets aren't packed, the place is empty. If your not eating at a 5 star restaurant, your ordering from a cart on the road, or a place outside the cook's house. The same goes for the night life, with clubs and bars catering mostly to foreigners, and disco-esque places frequented more by locals.
Up until last weekend I'd been to Bangkok's bar scene. Last weekend was, well, a trip to the other side of the nightlife.
It all started as it normally does, by meeting Finnish people. Some would argue that this is never how things normally begin, but then these same people probably don't meet enough Fins. The Fins in question had lived here for several years, and I met them through mutual friends. The night started off with the normal fare - a nice pub in the middle of the city. Things changed, however, when aforementioned Fins decided we should eat. After a 30 minute taxi to the outskirts of Bangkok I found myself in what can only be described as some terrible bastardization of Mongolian barbeque, where you cook 'food' yourself. The entire place was underneath a
Lightning strikes again!
As I mentioned earlier, it's hard to take pictures of lightning. Mostly due to the temporary nature of lightning. And that is why there is a second picture. tent, and with the rain pounding I was basically stuck - doomed to what I was sure to be a food poisoning list of options ranging from strange meat one to strange meat two. After 'picking' and cooking my 'food' I went ahead and tried it. The fact that a dog had at one point been sitting near to the table and was now missing did not help the experience.
The Fins then decided to go to a club. Of course this wasn't a club like the ones I had been to before. This was a club open to 6 A.M., well past the 2 A.M. cutoff that is supposedly strictly enforced. The place wasn't a strip club, but it wasn't a normal club either. It was a large venue with scantily clad women singing off key and everyone just....watching. No talking, no dancing, not even much drinking. Just a lot of oggling. Strangest of all, the crowd wasn't made up of old white men, but rather of young Thais - men and women. I'll chalk up the confusion to cultural differences, but still don't understand how that can be all that fun or entertaining. Oh well. I ordered
View from the Hilton
Bangkok's hilton is nicer than most. It is, of course, also not related to this blog post. But don't worry, the next two are. a bottle of whisky, served with ice, soda water, and a can of coke, and tried to enjoy the place as much as possible, but found it hard. With the music blaring talking was impossible. The women singing were terrible, and the lack of clothing was to an extent that I felt awkward watching.
The next day I woke up and, returning to a far more normal scene, I decided to see a movie. I was interested, mostly due to rumors of very comfy chairs. The movie wasn't that interesting, but I did see a preview that I've decided to replicate to the best of my ability below. Keep in mind, the entire thing was in Thai, but I'm pretty sure I got most of it.
Scene 1: The meeting
Girl A - Sigh. I want to see the world, and really grow as a person. Also, I love Galileo, he was such an awesome astronomer.
Girl B - OMG. I also love Galileo, and I want to have an unforgettable time abroad, I'll go with you!
Scene 2: Montage
Various shots of the two girls experiencing love, life, and of course, hardship along the way in
Restaurant
This is the 'restaurant'. The food, if you can see from this picture, doesn't appear to be food. some unknown European town. London is my guess, but I can't be sure. I just don't know. Also, they apparently work in a restaurant and hate it.
Girl A - Everything is so hard! If only I had a big strong man in my life. Also, Galileo was European.
Girl B - OMG! Look, a big strong man.
Big Strong Man - Hey ladies...I speak Thai. Do you know who Galileo is? I love him.
All three actors, facing the camera: Galileo is awesome!
Scene 3: The preview gets to the emotional peak
Girl A - I'm standing on this big tower and have two balls of different mass. I'm going to drop them and be just like Galileo!
Girl B - somehow you overcame your struggles in this foreign city and found a big strong man. You really overcame adversity, just like Galileo!
Big Strong Man - Did you know Galileo figured out the earth was round?
Common sense (me) - No he didn't. Also, wtf are you doing pretending to be Galileo?
Scene 4: Ending
Girl A drops the balls, and the preview ends with bold, black lettering 'Galileo' over a white background. Thai cinema confuses
Dog
He was there when I arrived. I couldn't find him when I left. No judgment here, just saying. me.
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