Week 1, Wednesday: Bangkok

I made it! I arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport this morning, my first time seeing the new Airport here. It's nice...like a big slinky...very modern with lots of glass and metal. It's a lot farther from the city than good old Don Muang was, though, so I had to get to the city via some express bus service they have set up, which still took about an hour and a half to get to the city. It's a long way, though...

Boy this blog already feels boring. Sorry. After the airport bus dropped me off I hopped in a cab which took me to my hotel, the "Charlie House." Motto? "A nice place to stay." For $13 a night, I can't complain, but it's still the typical minimalist guesthouse set up. Not quite as sketch as the old Hotel 999, but there's still a B100 charge for bringing in guests...no comment there. You're all still free to visit me, but you can't stay past 10 at night.

I'm at M.B.K., Bangkok's shrine to genuine free-market capitalism. Every (wo)man for themself. It's a mall with a bunch of floors most of which are packed elbow to elbow with vendors selling used clothes, pirated movies and games, used and new cell phones, thai knickknacks, confections and snacks, gold, and everything else. There's also a nice hole right down the middle that you can look down and get dizzy from the top if youe have vertigo and are into that sort of thing. This is one of the places where both Thai people and tourists shop, so there's a real carnival atmosphere some of the time, what with the foreigners and the looks of stupefication on their faces. I've already started buying...I got a cell phone already ($50 bucks with an activation, no contract of course) which I'll be able to sell back at the end of the trip and hopefully recoup at least some of my money from. My number is 08-113-39264. I like mixing it up with the dashes. I also already bought a pair of jeans (I couldn't resist). I now officially have two pairs of jeans more than what I need in this life. I've recently taken to not speaking Thai during a purchasing transaction until I ask whether or not the item can be discounted. I then proceed to haggle in Thai, and the person is often so taken aback and impressed at that immediate moment that I get a deal. That's what I like to tell myself, at least.

To get here from the hotel, I asked the Thai concierge what the fastest way to MBK is. He told me the bus (haha). So I took the bus. He initially suggested I take the 114 bus, which was air conditioned. But when I got to the bus stop, 114 didn't come there, though 115 did. What to do? Ask the guy standing next to me. What did he say? Take the 47. As 47 is a prime number, I took his suggestion. 47 wasn't an air conditioned bus, though, but that was ok with me. After giving the fare lady my B7 (21 cents) I enjoyed the ride, polluted breeze and traffic and all, feeling like a real serious Thai visitor guy, what with my Thai speaking and non-airconditioned bus riding and all. After a brief moment of panic at the bus taking what I thought was a wrong turn, I realized it wasn't a wrong turn, settled down, and ended up where I wanted to go, which is where I am.

My hour is running out, and I should probably wrap it up lest I want to pay for the next hour...I didn't bring my camera today, but maybe tomorrow I'll take some pictures and upload them to the ol' blog dude. Until soon...