Bangkok!

17-23.1.2012

Crossing the border from Cambodia to Thailand we could see quite the change! Everything was more neat and clean and well organised. And of course there was a seven-eleven on the border, soon to be my favourite spot for beer and midnight snacks. You can find them absolutely everywhere!

The signs of the flooding are almost non-existent even the rains were sewere in Bangkok. The water is still quite high but I was surprised how well everything was cleaned and fixed up.

Bangkok is a city split by a huge river. Have to love this kind of cities, as water is always near. ^^

Went to the “central park” to see some big-ass lizards. Lazy, fat bastadrs too! The pond had some awesomely disgusting catfish foo. Kind of like a zoo, but without cages. I wondered if the big lizards ever attacked anyone 🙂

Ccc = clean concrete city

First two days we’d just roam around (looking for cheap beer) and talk nonsense. We were supposed to only pass through in couple of days but ended up staying a week, as it turned out much more enjoyable than we anticipated. Also, we met some good old friends.

Shark fin soup is apparently popular here too. At least in Chinatown you can find these shops everywhere. From what I heard, the taste is non-existent and the allure of shark fin soup is purely based on the price and rarity, limiting it’s servings to weddings and big business meetings.

One important reason why I wanted to come to Bangkok was to meet my awesome roommates from Nottingham, Bow & Bua! Only missing our good friend Udai here. As it turned out, he was coming to Bangkok two days after I left! No worries, I saw him later in his own country 😛

The girls took me around for some mandatory sightseeing, eating and of course shopping 🙂

The breathtaking Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Just love all the gilded buildings with jewels all over.

Also the arts on the inside walls of the wats were quite astonishing in detail. I think I could spend hours looking at them and still find new details on the story of buddha.

Next up was the Chatuchak market, an awesome place to score nice design t-shirts, second hand (or leg) sneakers and other way cool stuff. Kind of like Camden town in London, only better 😛

Got 3 awesome t-shirts, a watch and a pair of second hand puma vintage basketball sneakers <3. Also got a rubber tomato and an egg for Antti. The same kind we found on a street vendor in Shanghai 2007. Needless to say, the reunion was joyous!

Drooled after the yellow ones too, sadly my bag couldn’t hold an extra pair anymore… ;( Maybe on my way back…

Oh, Antti’s friend Tauri from Estonia was around, so I got to meet this awesome fellow.

Here is a picture of him slapping Antti in the face with a rubber tomato. Woot?

And here is karma striking back – the tomato broke, spilling nasty goo all over him 😀 Good times.

Later on went on our nightly pub crawl and for some unknown reason, we suddenly found the crazy estonian sporting this sign for a rival restaurant.

It was around the Chinese new year, so all of chinatown was decorated accordingly. Also we could see the fire brigade on full alert because of the fireworks. I could see how they can be dangerous in such close quarters..

Right! Found this awesome Sponge Bob Squarepants balloon that we dared Antti to carry the whole night! Sadly after this video was filmed, the balloon got away…;(

This was just one event during the long, bizarre night that also included an episode of us three peacefully enjoying beers by the river, an episode that quickly turned to a wrestling match between myself and Tauri (he refused to finish his beer with one sip!). While comparing our war wounds, the police ambushed us, dead sure we were carrying drugs. The look on their faces was priceless when they finally realised we were completely clean, just a little “tipsy” 😉

On our way back to our hoods, we stumbled upon this break dance ensemble, led by (presumably) a french, elderly guy. They were pretty awesome!

The Chinese new years’ day and my dear (Chinese by blood) friend Bow taking me for a spin on chinatown. I was honoured to be invited to her traditional family dinner.

Got my very own red envelope for good luck and prosperity too! Thanks!

The Chinatown was packed, no surprise there.

Such a crazy week in Bangkok. It truly seems to be a fairlyland that all your dams can come true. Also a dangerous one if you are not being careful.

Oh, well.time to move on This is me with all my gear.

Ah, a train ride for a long time! Actually haven’t rode a train since China if you don’t count the bamboo train of battambang 😉

Bye bye Bangkok!