Hair Raising Bangkok

Bangkok Trip

It's be a while since I blogged, so I've got a bit to catch up on for the past month.

Firstly, I went to Bangkok for the first time for a long weekend back in early May. I think I've been to Bangkok and Pattaya with my parents before, when I was 10 or something. But I hardly remember anything about the trip other than falling off a swing and banging my head. Oh, and of course, my dad making me take a picture with a ladyboy which confused the hell out of me. Lady? Boy?

Anyways, this trip round, I went with my sis and stayed with my nephew, R, in Sathon, about a 10 minute taxi ride to Siam Square. When we first got there, the taxi ride to my R's was not too scary. The taxi driver couldn't really speak English, I had my R on the phone to give him directions in Thai but he point blank refused to talk on the phone. I just let it go cos I thought he knew where he was going. Then I realise he was getting lost when he kept going round the block about three times. I asked if he wanted to speak to my R then, and he said 'Phone, phone, phone' Stupid taxi driver, he could've said that earlier. We got to my R's, eventually, not before getting lost again. I just told the taxi driver to dop us where I could see a clear sign as a reference point. Reason why we got lost was he didn't go far enough down the road. So that was our first adventure.

Went out for a bit of dinner and R took us around the Phat Pong with it's night market and bars. They all look the same. Same girls (or boys?) dancing on the bar top. Just a different colour bikini for each bar I guess.

The next day we went to Siam Square. Too bright and too early, no shops were open! We were a bit keen. As we tried to figure out exactly where we were on the map, a Bangkok police pointed to where we were on the map and proceeded to tell us a bit more about the sights in Bangkok. He managed to get us on a tuk-tuk to the Lucky Buddha temple about 20 mins away and back to Pratunam market for about 20 baht (SGD1/GBP0.40.... yeah I know 40p!!). The tuk-tuk ride was rather interesting and scary. They weave in and out of the traffic real close. We were stuck in the traffic once and a car came just a little bit too close, albeit really slow, and bumped into us.

In our tuk-tuk

Look at that traffic - miles of it!

The city is so polluted, most of the tuk-tuk drivers have a mask on

This is our tuk-tuk

The Lucky Buddha Temple

As we were too early, we didn't go to Pratunam market as it doesn't get going til 1pm, we got the tuk tuk back to Siam Square, had our lunch and took a sky train to our 2pm spa appointment. The spa was great. 3.5 hrs of pure luxury and relaxation. We got a bit hungry towards the end when the put oatmeal facial stuff on our face. My stomach was rumbling and it was time to eat!!


Then we went towards the Chao Phraya river. I saw some touristy boat trip taking us to the Snake Farm, Crocodile Farm and the floating market. I thought it'd be a good way to see a few things at once. Except that when we got on the boat it was about 5.30pm and it gets dark around 6pm. Not only did we not see much, all the places were shut! Conned!! But for 800 baht (SGD40/GBP15) for the two of us on a boat on our own. It weren't too bad to spend an hour. Getting a taxi back to R's was interesting. We tried to get on a tuk-tuk again but the driver was gonna charge us 200baht. It costs less than 100baht in a taxi. So we jumped into a taxi instead. Another hair raising ride. I don't think it's possible not to have a hair raising ride in any form of transport in Bangkok. Other than the skytrain I suppose.

Our little boat

Loads of pretty boats in the river

Random street stalls. They're everywhere.

Next day, our last day, we were off to Chatuchak market bright and early. It's a huge market with all sorts of bargain on wholesale price. I'd say the stuff are the same in about 4-5 of the stalls but basic T-shirt, work clothes and slippers are dirt cheap. Two hours of that and the hot sun, we've had enough. Back to R's, pack and get ready for the night flight back to Singapore. But not before yet another scary ride in the taxi to the airport. I guess the taxi drivers know exactly what they're doing as everyone drives like a lunatic. I was told never to tell a taxi driver that getting to the airport was 'urgent' - you'd be shitting your pants if you did!

Chatuchak market, cramped with LOADS of stalls

I Hate My Job

Oh no.... here I go again. Moaning about my job. Truth of the matter is, there is absolutely nothing wrong or boring about my job. It's the environment I am in. This is going to sound very similar to my earlier posts about what I miss about London.

1. I miss my old boss. Rather than bitch and moan about my present boss and get fired (although that won't be a bad thing), I'll just talk about my old boss a little. The guy who has made me into what I am today and has supported me in every career decision I have made. I don't think I can find another boss like that. I want my old job back.... but, let's get my priorities right. Get the travelling over and done with first.

2. Sharing of information through normal office banter. People in the same team don't really talk or share information. We're all doing our own little bit, we don't really talk to one another and if questions are asked about out team's work, we can't actually answer beyond what we do. In my last job, we all knew what each other was doing and what was actually going on in the job. God knows how we're gonna build this god damn thing.

3. Gossips!!! God I miss the usual harmless gossips and rumours about fellow colleagues. There's hardly anything here. As if everyone's a bit of an angel or a saint. I guess alcohol has a lot to answer for the rumours milling about in my old work place. This has got to be healthier right? (Not for my sanity!)

4. Drinks, drinks, drinks. Ok, I've gotta first clarify that I am NOT an alcoholic. I never needed a drink everyday after work to wind down when I was in London, and I certainly do not need it right now. But what I crave most is the social scene lingering around a couple of beers after work on a Thursday or a Friday. Doesn't seem to happen much here. Or am I being an outcast again? Belonging neither to the expats or the locals group. Hmmm....

5. Stimulation of the mind. What I am doing is always the same thing over and over again for each package and I will end up with about 15 packages to look after. Worse than that, people keep changing their minds and I have to do the same thing about 20 times. Imagine doing the same thing 20 x 15 = 300 times!!! Whilst the stuff out here is on a much bigger scale and I'm learning stuff I've never done before, there isn't really the opportunity the expand beyond your job description. Oh well... at least I really know what I want to do now (not this job!)

Have I moaned enough yet? At least I know I am not the only person who's doing all this moaning. There is actually a bunch of us who think the same about work. But we're all on the same boat. With the money out here and the opportunities to explore Asia, we've all gotta remind ourselves - PAID HOLIDAY!!!