Krungtep. That's Thai for "Bangkok." Did you know that Bangkok won the Guinness record for having the world's longest name for a capital? "Krungtep" is actually the shortened version of the very long name given to it - which takes a song for every Thai student to memorize. The beginning of the name, translated into English from Thai, means: "City of Angels."
Anyway, this Thai City of Angels sure was fun to visit alongside a true Bangkok resident, former exchange student and friend, Got. He lives in a condo/apartment thing barely 150 metes from the Thong Lo station for the BTS [Sky train], which takes you everywhere you want to go... in the more modern parts of Bangkok.
I arrived to Suvarnabhumi [pronounced Soo-wahn-uh-boom-ee] Airport on the 12th with a minor delay and a phone call from Got asking if I landed yet. After collecting my bags [which took 20 or 30 minutes to get from the airplane to the baggage claim], we piled into the car, I met his father, and we drove a little ways to the downtown-side of Bangkok [more modern areas, a little more populated]. I dropped my bags off in his house, re-situated my purse and was ready to go see my first sights of Bangkok. We hit the night market that wasn't far from his house at all. It was pretty spacious, really cool. It reminded me of the night markets in Chiang Mai, but minus few shops. By the time we were done there, we were both tired and we planned on getting up early the next day, so we decided to "hit the hay."
Woke about 7:30 AM the next day, worked out plans with Got about what we were going to do.
We hopped onto a sky train and rode over to the stop we would get off to go to Japan Town, or "J Avenue."
But we couldn't find J Avenue. We walked a few hundred meters, stopped at a Starbucks [dying of thirst and needed air conditioning oh-so-badly], and started walking again. We passed the Playground, then found out we already passed J Avenue. We went to the Playground [which was supposed to be a huge building filled with all sorts of vendors], only to find out all of the vendors moved to the mall. We walked a wee bit further and found the sign for J Avenue, but we didn't know which way to go. We obviously went the wrong way and got lost for about half an hour. On the bright side, though, we found out where the Residence of the Ambassador of Argentina is!
We finally found J Avenue, but it wasn't as lived up as I believed it to be. They didn't even have ramune [a special Japanese drink that's really yummy], but we got exercise!
We took a taxi to the sky train and took that to a stop where we found a restaurant with an odd name. We took pictures and looked around, then hopped back onto the sky train and went home.
After a quick clean-up, we headed over to the Siam Center, a huge, 8-story mall with a miniature Sea World [actually called Ocean World or something] in the basement. We ate there and went over to Hard Rock Cafe, which wasn't far from the mall at all. We had some delicious, fresh-baked apple cobbler there [along with me getting a Schwepp's Ginger Ale for me and Sprite for Got], and took several pictures. They have the same glass windows with Elvis on them as the other Hard Rock Cafes I've been too. Thought that was pretty cool - I wonder if they all do? I got a pin for my blazer, and we went back home for that day. We were pooped.
We woke earlier again the next day, and Got showed me his huge high school, which I think looked more like a college. They even had a church, separate from the school, but on the campus.
Then I had my first ever REAL tuk tuk ride, on the way to the docks to go to Wat Phra Kaeo, or better known by foreigners as "The Temple with the Emerald Buddha." It costs nothing for Thai people, but 350 Baht for foreigners. Had I worn my school uniform, however, I would have gotten in for free as well. Too bad no one told me this earlier. Oh well. It was still pretty. :)
After checking out the Emerald Buddha, we headed over to the Giant Swing, or in Thai: "Sao Shing Shaa." Headed over to the docks, went back to Got's school and visited the church there. Went back home, cleaned up, and got ready to go watch a movie at MBK!
I've never seen a movie in a movie theater [in Thailand]. I've always heard they're really cool looking, really nice. I finally got to experience it, and it came with magnets when you purchase a movie ticket! We saw Step Up II, which wasn't so horrible [save for the lame ending], but I got a cool Sweeney Todd and Enchanted magnet.
Right when we were about to buy sky train tickets and go back home to eat mama and sleep, we walked past a little "pocket" in a sidewalk, where a few Thai Hip-Hop fans showed off their break dancing and other moves for anyone who would stop and watch. They weren't all that bad, and the cops seemed to enjoy it, too.
The next day we woke up around 5 AM for a family trip outside of Bangkok, to the Floating Market.
Its name under describes it. We hopped into a boat in one of the canals. It apparently led to the Mekong River, too, if we wanted to go there, but we headed to the center of attention, the markets. This place wasn't just a floating market. No, this place was a floating city. It had the same structures as a little countryside in Udon would have, including a walkway that goes up and over the traffic [boats, in this case].
After sight-shopping a little, we headed over to a Thai-Noodles "restaurant," where they prepared our meals in a boat and handed it over to us in our boat. After putting our fixings [such as chili powder, sugar, peanuts, etc.] in our bowls, we returned the fixings to the owner and headed off to the temple while eating our noodles. They were really tasty. Too bad the driver wasn't going slow so I didn't spill! I used my awesome balancing skills and managed not to drop anything, amazingly, gulped it all down when it finally clicked with the boat driver that we were eating [he slowed down], and he sped up.
We fed the fish after checking out the wat, then headed back the way we came, got out, and drove over to a restaurant. We picked out a table and ordered some food, then got treats and walked barely 50 meters o a little spot, where the waiter/helper guy whistled for the monkeys to come, so we could feed them. They happily scampered over for food, and when we were done, we ate and drove home.
After eating lunch, Got and I walked over to the subway and took that over to JJ Market, which turned out to be extremely humid [made you sweat within 10 minutes of being there, even though you may not feel all that hot], and super-crowded with shops and a bajillion people. We looked around and did some miniature shopping, then went back home, showered and went to eat supper with Got's Grandparents. They were really cool people, and his grandfather talked me into eating 2 small green chilies. Not those 3 inch ones, but the centimeter-long ones. You'd think because they're littler that they'd be more mild, but no. The little ones are actually worse than the big ones, and I just consumed two of them. Now my tongue hurts and the sop is out of fruit [helps tame the spicy], so I had to wait it out. Whoops.
The next day was the last full day, in which Got had to take care of a few school things, so I took this time to sleep in; I felt I needed it. I proceeded to do a quick check on E-Mail, and watched a little anime [cartoons] online. Got returned home, and we headed over to MBK to do some eating at Pizza Hut, - yes, we ordered REAL PIZZA HUT PAN PIZZA! Woo! Played some arcade games including a couple racing ones, Guitar Hero, and a shooting-up-zombies game. We checked out what little shops were left open, then grabbed some ice cream from KFC then went home to watch a couple DVDs.
First in the player was Big Momma's House 2, then after that - Sky High. I don't care what people think about the second movie; it wasn't that horrible... it was just a little weird.
When I was turning off the TV and everything [every one's gone to bed already], I found a "secret channel" on the TV... it turned out to be a security cam to the lobby of the apartment complex. Weird.
Shower, bed.
Woke around 8:30 the next morning, went over to A&W at a mall nearby with Got, then shopped around. Found a cute little book store, but didn't get anything. I found a DVD stand, and managed to snatch up "The Fifth Element" in the bin marked for clearance. Almost got the Live in Bucharest Michael Jackson DVD, too, but decided against it [for now!].
Got's mom drove us over to the airport and we got stuck in a traffic jam... Check in was supposed to be from 2:00 to 3:30, but I finally was able to speak with the people [after waiting in line, too] and checked in at 3:32. I guess because there were a lot of people still in line, it was okay. My bags were one kilogram over the allowed [free] 15 kilos, which I believed to be a rip-off compared to when I came to Thailand in the first place [more weight allowance], but I took out my shoes [2 pairs] and stuffed them in my carry-on bag. Good thing I made a back-up plan ahead of time. I weighed the suitcase before leaving, but I guess the scale was off. No big deal.
I would have hugged my friend good-bye, but hugging someone of the opposite sex when you're straight is a big Thai no-no, anywhere you are, so we said our good-bye's and had wished me good luck.
Hopefully he'll be able to come visit me in Udon sometime.
If not, I know we'll see each other back in America.
Signing off.
Moni
P.S. - In 2 days I leave for Korat to hop on [yet] a[nother] double-decker charter bus to spend the night tripping over towards the South of Thailand. Don't expect many updates until next month, even. I won't have access to computer until then, anyway. :)
P.S.S. - Bangkok pictures link!
http://picasaweb.google.com/gecko.on.the.wall/Krungtep
