Fellow Canadians and Marks and Spencers
I just finished the best breakfast. I found this cute little restaurant near where I'm staying. It just opened a month ago and the decor is beautiful, with Thai orchids all around. You can see onto a garden through glass windows and roof. There are a lots of nice looking Thai men that work there too. Apparently, I am meeting one of them to take a walk through Lumphini park later today. I'll keep you posted.
Last evening went swell. I was waiting in Starbucks for Sue to appear. She was a half hour late, although I was somewhat expecting that. I heard that "Thai time" is different than normal time. They tend to be late with many things, because of the cultural attitude of "Mai Pen Rai;" which means, "no worries." Even though she is not a Thai person, she has been living like a Thai for almost three years, as I later found out.
I forgot to mention, that before I even sat in Starbucks waiting, I had an hour to kill. The Starbucks is inside a mall where I went shopping the previous day. I went looking at watches. Even though I didn't care to know what time it was, as I'm on holidays. Who counts the time in Thailand anyway!!
Well, I found a watch I liked. There was two Thai boys helping me. The watch was too big for my wrist. They had to take some links out. Well, it was so funny to see them get their tools out and start working on taking the links out. I was waiting for awhile, as they seemed to be having some trouble.
Next thing you know, a little Thai girl who was working just across at the "Maybelline" counter comes up and says, "Hi, where you from?" We talked for a minute then she asked if she could do my makeup. I said "sure, why not!" Well, she did the whole shibang on my face. I must say, it looked really good. The guy kept coming over to fit my watch on my wrist, but he had taken too many links out and he had to go back and add another. We were just laughing at him.
Eventually he fixed it properly, and I was all made up and ready to meet my date. Too bad it wasn't a hot date, cause I sure felt hot.
Anyway, I made it back to Starbucks looking and feeling five years younger. As I was glancing at the horrendous traffic just outside the window, in walked Sue. Sue looked exactly like the earlier picture I had seen of her. She said the same thing to me, as she approached me with a wide eyed smile. It felt comforting to meet someone, and a Canadian at that.
We went out for a Thai dinner. We had some sort of battered fish, with a side dish of chicken with cashews, and a plate of asparagus. It was sooo delicious. I also ordered a Thai beer, called "Singha." The waiter brought me one of those huge bottles of beer, and boy, was I ever buzzed by the end of the meal. It was great.
From talking with Sue, I was amazed at her life here. She had recently been married to a Thai national. She talked happily about her recent wedding in Phuket. I was in awe at the fact that she will be moving to Phuket in a few months to live with her husband. I was so envious, but also excited to know someone who I can visit in my idea of a "tropical paradise, called Phuket."
We left there, and headed towards a shopping mall. It was the first time I rode the skytrain. The skytrain is so cool. It is a subway above the ground literally. You can see all of Bangkok lit up at night. It is so fast to get from point A to point B. In the shopping mall, I was amazed at all the brands of clothes they had. They had way more selection than in Seoul. They even had a Marks and Spencers clothes area. I laughed because I had shopped in M&S, in England. I love the underwear and bras in there too.
I tried on some clothes, but only ended up buying a silk neglige. The clothes seemed quite expensive in there. I decided to wait till I found a bigger mall. We didn't end up going to the big Siam Paragon, but I hope to go there this weekend.
I had to say bye to Sue, at the mall because she lives in the opposite direction than where I was staying. I rode the skytrain back to our originating point. It was a great feeling riding the skytrain on my own. It reminded me of riding the subway in Seoul for the first time. Although, it was way different. There wasn't as many people for one, and the crowds weren't pushing and shoving.
I wasn't being stared at as much either. I saw a lot of foreigners on the skytrain too. As I got off the skytrain, I had to catch a subway back to my apartment. The area I'm staying at is very quiet, almost eery. I felt pretty safe though. As I got out of the subway, I could hear the rain coming down. It was raining pretty heavy again, and I had no umbrella. I decided to just walk in the rain. I stopped off at the restaurant near my house, and they offered me an umbrella to walk the rest of the way.
I felt extremely exhausted when I got home. I have never slept that heavy before. I had dreams of my grandmother last night. I haven't dreamt of her in a long time. At least I knew someone was looking down on me, and hopefully keeping me out of harms way.
This is another day in the life of, Jo's Thai adventures.
Last evening went swell. I was waiting in Starbucks for Sue to appear. She was a half hour late, although I was somewhat expecting that. I heard that "Thai time" is different than normal time. They tend to be late with many things, because of the cultural attitude of "Mai Pen Rai;" which means, "no worries." Even though she is not a Thai person, she has been living like a Thai for almost three years, as I later found out.
I forgot to mention, that before I even sat in Starbucks waiting, I had an hour to kill. The Starbucks is inside a mall where I went shopping the previous day. I went looking at watches. Even though I didn't care to know what time it was, as I'm on holidays. Who counts the time in Thailand anyway!!
Well, I found a watch I liked. There was two Thai boys helping me. The watch was too big for my wrist. They had to take some links out. Well, it was so funny to see them get their tools out and start working on taking the links out. I was waiting for awhile, as they seemed to be having some trouble.
Next thing you know, a little Thai girl who was working just across at the "Maybelline" counter comes up and says, "Hi, where you from?" We talked for a minute then she asked if she could do my makeup. I said "sure, why not!" Well, she did the whole shibang on my face. I must say, it looked really good. The guy kept coming over to fit my watch on my wrist, but he had taken too many links out and he had to go back and add another. We were just laughing at him.
Eventually he fixed it properly, and I was all made up and ready to meet my date. Too bad it wasn't a hot date, cause I sure felt hot.
Anyway, I made it back to Starbucks looking and feeling five years younger. As I was glancing at the horrendous traffic just outside the window, in walked Sue. Sue looked exactly like the earlier picture I had seen of her. She said the same thing to me, as she approached me with a wide eyed smile. It felt comforting to meet someone, and a Canadian at that.
We went out for a Thai dinner. We had some sort of battered fish, with a side dish of chicken with cashews, and a plate of asparagus. It was sooo delicious. I also ordered a Thai beer, called "Singha." The waiter brought me one of those huge bottles of beer, and boy, was I ever buzzed by the end of the meal. It was great.
From talking with Sue, I was amazed at her life here. She had recently been married to a Thai national. She talked happily about her recent wedding in Phuket. I was in awe at the fact that she will be moving to Phuket in a few months to live with her husband. I was so envious, but also excited to know someone who I can visit in my idea of a "tropical paradise, called Phuket."
We left there, and headed towards a shopping mall. It was the first time I rode the skytrain. The skytrain is so cool. It is a subway above the ground literally. You can see all of Bangkok lit up at night. It is so fast to get from point A to point B. In the shopping mall, I was amazed at all the brands of clothes they had. They had way more selection than in Seoul. They even had a Marks and Spencers clothes area. I laughed because I had shopped in M&S, in England. I love the underwear and bras in there too.
I tried on some clothes, but only ended up buying a silk neglige. The clothes seemed quite expensive in there. I decided to wait till I found a bigger mall. We didn't end up going to the big Siam Paragon, but I hope to go there this weekend.
I had to say bye to Sue, at the mall because she lives in the opposite direction than where I was staying. I rode the skytrain back to our originating point. It was a great feeling riding the skytrain on my own. It reminded me of riding the subway in Seoul for the first time. Although, it was way different. There wasn't as many people for one, and the crowds weren't pushing and shoving.
I wasn't being stared at as much either. I saw a lot of foreigners on the skytrain too. As I got off the skytrain, I had to catch a subway back to my apartment. The area I'm staying at is very quiet, almost eery. I felt pretty safe though. As I got out of the subway, I could hear the rain coming down. It was raining pretty heavy again, and I had no umbrella. I decided to just walk in the rain. I stopped off at the restaurant near my house, and they offered me an umbrella to walk the rest of the way.
I felt extremely exhausted when I got home. I have never slept that heavy before. I had dreams of my grandmother last night. I haven't dreamt of her in a long time. At least I knew someone was looking down on me, and hopefully keeping me out of harms way.
This is another day in the life of, Jo's Thai adventures.
posted by Jo @ 1:21 PM
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