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Published: July 15th 2012
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Chuvit Garden in Sukhumvit
A welcome relief of mini-green in the midst of the concrete madness! For those who've missed me, yes I've been off the blog radar for a few days as I've just been "resting" in Bangkok and spending some time with my 88-year old paternal grandmother. She was in transit here on her way back to Penang in Malaysia where she's usually based, and put up with my uncle temporarily in Bangkok, in one of the suburbs called Lad Phrao.
In case any one's interested, my grandmother's ethnic Chinese but was born in Thailand, and lived there till she married my grandfather, after which they moved to Malaysia.
Anyway, this was hardly my first time in Bangkok, and I guess it probably doesn't rank amongst the most exotic of places since it's very much on the beaten track. I would certainly consider it one of the easiest places to live in Southeast Asia (alongside my hometown Singapore) -- modern, metropolitan and very convenient transportation-wise (notwithstanding the notorious traffic!). I'd done many of the touristy things before on previous trips, and I wasn't quite keen on repeating them yet, so for this entry you'll have to make do with just my virginal visits to Lumpini Park and a ladyboy hairdresser.
Knew I'd
Blue Elephant Cooking School in Sathorn
I keep reading about this in the guide books and brochures, so when I accidentally came across it I just had to take a photo. catch your attention there!
Yes I figured it was time for a haircut after over a month on the road, and I came across a small salon at the BTS skytrain station at Asoke. I walked in, and saw that the hairdresser was a ladyboy! Though this should hardly have been surprising in Bangkok, and I'd of course seen many before on my previous trips here, I was still initially taken aback, and asked a really ironic question: "Do you cut guys' hair here?" Well, she said yes, haha!
Now I guess you guys wanna know how *it* went? Well, she definitely had one of the more delicate touches I'd ever felt from a hairdresser or barber, and certainly took her time. Anyway I was quite pleased with the outcome (only THB250), and since it was a new experience for me, I asked whether I could take a photo of her. She said ok, so you guys can check her out for yourselves (photo uploaded)!
Anyway, she wanted to see her own photo after I took it, so I showed her my phone and was scrolling to it. The funniest thing was that the photo right before
hers was the one I took of the outdoor gym that I saw in Lumpini Park, complete with bare-bodied, bulging muscular men. Not quite a photo you wanna be caught red-handed having by a ladyboy! I wonder what she must have been thinking...?!
Oh well that's Bangkok for you! But I'll be leaving for a few days to check out the environs, starting first most probably with Kanchanaburi, so back to the "tourist" trail for me, though I'll most certainly be back again in Bangkok before long!
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