Day: The Second

For hours sleep isn't too bad in the  circumstances. Great breakfast, included with room. Fresh pineapple juice, watermelon, mushroom boiled rice, with traditional side dishes (a kind of soup with flat asian mushrooms, rice, and various fresh herbs like coriander, basil, and celery leaves as well as some unidentified dried roots; very good so I threw everything in the soup) and two cups of espresso. The tea and toast also on offer wasn't difficult to turn down.

Then out for a walk around the neighborhood. I needed a belt as braces don't work with your shirt untucked and its way too hot any other way. A small shop a block away had belts, so 80 baht later ($ 2.60) I could walk without fear of flashing the natives. The nice lady even punched the holes in. Around the corner was a little hole-in-the-wall cellphone shop, so I bought a Thai SIM, and some phone credit. Just over $ 2 for the SIM, and local calls 8¢/min. Then the fun started as we tried to get the data side to work. After an hour on the phone to the telco, then the local samsung support line, we finally had it going. The phone is not a model sold here so it took a bit of sorting. Crossed the road to a glasses shop, and got an eye test and a pair of prescription bifocals, with unbendable titanium frames for 1/3 nz price but still a very big hole in my holiday budget (gulp). Wandered the streets on the way home, found a Vespa shop, and tried to hire one but no go. Got the number of someone selling one so will call about some kind of buy-back for my trip down the coast after getting back from Chiang mai. Back to the inn to cool off and dry out my shirt!

I've seen some sights already, like a guy up to his armpits in a sewer, a bus company which I swear was called "Strapon Buses" and a snack called "HoboSkank" (I think I would steer clear of that one for at least two reasons!). Check out the photo of the gas bottle delivery guys vehicle too.

Tried to sleep a bit in the afternoon, but brain would not shut down so watched Stephen Fry in America on my 'droid before going out for the evening with someone I know from the Suzuki TS motorbike forum I admin. Wisit is an in-house graphic designer for a major Singapore  based company. I met him at an up market plaza in the centre of Bangkok, about 12 km from here. Lots of expensive brands and two story high video boards showing all the same ads for the same movies as we see in NZ. When Wisit arrived he had two friends from his work with him. Wisit doesn't speak much English, but one friend was the translator in English for his company and the other was the translator for Chinese. It was really good to spend time with real Thai people, and just doing the stuff they like to do. There's a night market that Wisit wanted to go to, to look for parts for the ' 76 Suzuki GT250 he had just bought. It was amazing, a big empty lot with lots of old car and motorbike parts, as well at old and new clothes, books, household items, toys etc. Not that much different to a market in NZ, except for the monsoon shower, skewers of chicken bits abs squid cooking, complete lack of Europeans,  and the fact that it ends well after midnight. There were even the usual counter-culture types, long hair and tattoos, VW Combies etc. What excited me was the old cars and motorbikes that people turned up in. Honda Benleys, Suzuki T125, Minis, Fiat 131, Beetles, big american tanks, old Datsuns, even a Vauxhall Viva. Nothing earlier than the '60s. I bought an new toy boat like I used to have as a kid, with the candle powered putt-putt steam engine, and arranged to meet a guy next week when I'm back to look at a lot of old Suzuki stuff he has. By now it was midnight, and the boys wanted to party, but I had a body that was telling me it was 5am, so they kindly drive me back to the inn. 14 km took about 75 minutes even this late, and involved dozens of back streets and narrow one lanes alleys as the GPS directed. Every street was busy, with garage factory doors open to the hot humid night, people working on sewing, and packing, assembling, and selling. We went thru a market that stretched for blocks, where covered market walkways disappeared into the night, and the guys told me this was where the prostitutes were. They knew who they were in the street, but I couldn't tell. Its sure wasn't like Manchester St. You can't mistake the business women there!

We got back about 1.30ish, sat in the courtyard and had a couple of beers and talked until 3. Amazing amazing night. Thanks guys, I will remember this. It was good to get to bed as I had only had 4 hours sleep in the last 50....

Me: 10/10 on one level, 2/10 on another....

Food:  The MK chain restaurant that the lads took me to for Thai-style steam-boat. Was sure it it would have been the breakfast, but that dinner was great.

Drink:  Chang beer was good, if a little savage for a lager at 6.4%, but the bottle of cold green tea Wisit bought for me at the night market was very welcome in the heat.

P.s Decided not to rate the good and drink, just award for the best of the day. Its all too different to compare by numbers.