March 12, 2012
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One night in Bangkok and the world’s your oyster
Having been to the City of Angels many times, this was no new territory for me. The place seems to be back to normal after the flooding which devastated the country last year, and the people of Bangkok seem to be going about their business as usual.
I flew in, took the sky train from the airport and then found a cab to take me to the hotel. It would have been quicker to walk, I found out quickly.
Straight in to the meeting, then a quick thai curry for lunch before heading out in a taxi to the 2nd meeting of the day.
After that, it was back to the hotel where I met my brother man Hunkyu, who had flown in as well to take part in the first meeting. One of my prospective clients is looking for both my and Hunkyu’s products, so we did an all in one event.
I hit the 7-Eleven, and tried to buy a beer.
“Sorry sir – I can’t sell this to you.”
Yea, I look under 18. I know.
Apparently during the week they can only sell beer after 5. So I waited until 5, headed back, bought a couple of tinnies of Tiger, then went back and drank them with my good friend from Korea.
A little later we had dinner, some decent pad thai and curry, washed down with some more Tiger, across the road from the hotel, a decent enough place, although I get the feeling the wife would love it given all the seafood temptations there.
Hunkyu then left for the airport, I headed back to the room, resisting any temptations of a massage, as well as all the guys offering me girls. Instead, I played some Football Manager on the laptop, and set the alarm for 7:45 the next morning. Saturday morning meetings suck, but these are the sacrifices we make for the company.
So I woke up early and headed down to the lobby where I was supposed to meet the guy. Then I realized that Bangkok is an hour behind Taiwan, and noticed it was merely 7. Carp. A couple of games on FM later and it was 8. Sweet.
The meeting was short but very successful, and it was time for breakfast. Terrible brekkie for veggies, but this is normal.
As there was time to kill before the flight to Sri Lanka, I decided to walk to the Victory Monument. Yay. It was far from exciting. On the way back there were a few malls so I took a look inside, trying to find something that Joanne would like. Nothing at all, not even remotely interesting.
So I hit the Starcraps instead, got a caramel latte, and sat outside, breathing in the nice polluted Bangkok air in the hazy sunshine. A kitten decided she liked the look of me, which I can totally understand, of course, and came for a cuddle. Made me miss my 2 cats too. Of course, this kitten was tiny, but very playful and extremely affectionate.
Having killed enough time, I headed back to the hotel, picked up my bags, and walked back to the sky train station. Interestingly enough, a western man who was on the train the previous day from the airport, also boarded in the same compartment as me once more. If he’s under cover and following me, then he’s done a carp job.
At the airport I saw a Sri Lanka dude loading up 4 Samsung LED TV’s in his luggage. I secretly hoped they would break in transit, but decided to have a word in his shell like during the trip.
At security, some middle eastern guy, who has obviously never traveled by air in his life, tried to take 3 litres of mineral water through. Nob. Seriously mucker, where have you been the last 10 years?
As the sun set, it was time to board, my one day in Bangkok at an end. My first ever trip to Sri Lanka about to begin.
And most importantly, a few days in one place, where I can hopefully relax and regain some energy before the final hectic push through India, Vietnam, Singapore and HK.
Jizzus…
