I didn't wake up in time for the 3hour bus ride to Kanchanaburi to see the infamous Bridge over the Kwai.
It was not unexpected. Considering we haven't done one iota of shopping yet and the tiredness from all that travelling out of Bangkok these past few days hasn't quite dissipated. Well I am considering taking the ungodly 5am bus up 130km Northwest tommorrow from Sai Tai Mai terminal before my flight home in the evening, since that would give me a good 4-5 hours to look around the Death Railway and perhaps triapse the JEATH War Cemetary and its environs. But since its almost 3am Thai time now, I won't wager much on getting my butt off the bed in an hour's time.
So the 'masterpiece' of thousands of malnourished and severely disease-afflicted Allied POWs will have to wait till next time I suppose. Pity.
But we did a spot of shopping today. Scarce consolation really. After waking up late and popping into the gym across at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel for a quick 45min workout and swim. Well at least I did. Hell I've drunk 3
Oktoberfests worth of alcohol these past 5 days and really, I don't want a souvenir beer belly from Thailand. I'm almost scared to pat myself on the tummy.
The shopping scene has changed somewhat since my last trip here in Apr 06. Back then, Siam Paragon was the jewel of Pratunam at the heart of Bangkok. Seriously putting the 'futuristic' Bladerunner-esque MBK to shame with its glitzy shops and cavernous, Ritz-Carlton lobby of a Cineplex Box Office. Now, lo and behold, Central World has risen from the ashes of the old World Trade Centre diagonally across from the much
Wai-ed-at Erawan Shrine. And I must say, Ngee Ann City,
Eat Your Heart Out!Its clear to me, that when it comes to design aesthetics and a flair for creative spatial ingenuity, the Thais whip our sorry little
obiang arses quite soundly. They are also much better at window dressing and branding, eschewing the cliched advertising campaigns around the 4 alphabets, S-A-L-E, that we see so much of around our sunny Orchard of a Shoppers' Paradise. Its almost as if one would pay alittle more for the branded items you find in Bangkok just because the shopping experience and level of service are several notches higher. And yes, when I say branded, I mean Calvin Klein, G-Star RAW, branded. Not the RedBull, Singha, Chang Beer sleeveless rags adorning the stuffy alleyways of Chatuchak.
But being on a tight travelling budget in view of another diving trip (I hope) next week, my final Bought-list shows a pathetic longsleeves Rashguard and Crew-neck from Quiksilver and a pair of camou-printed flip-flops from a Thai brand (I think its De-Fry or something) that unabashedly wants to be the Siam-equivalent of Abercrombie & Fitch.
I'm also absolutely hooked on Thai roadside fried chicken. You know, the push-cart vendor kind where the crispy brown wings and drumsticks are swarthed in an aromatic Tuk-tuk exhaust marinade. Absolutely lovely. Colonel Sanders can take the next NOK Air flight out to the boondocks. I'm a 30-Baht-for-six-pieces convert. But for old times sake (I used to work in Bangkok), I brought Kat to the Foodloft at Central Chitlom for a late lunch and the nice high-rise view of Sukhumvit and Silom. Great place to sip a Cappuccino really and look down on the vehicular mayhem down below. Dinner was more road-side fare. This time, a whole Catfish caked in salt and grilled over a charcoal flame. We tried not to think about where the fish came from. Considering that back home, the amateur Thai-worker anglers usually fish from filthy canals. Well, that's what the tabs of Lomotil are for.
Right?
Labels: Travel