Bangkok

It’s taken me a while to catch up with this for one reason or another and there is unlikely to be any pictures due to bad internet connection in Myanmar (Burma).

As Bangkok was only a stopping off point for New Years Eve this blog will be a short summary instead of my usual 9 page diatribe.  We had already been to Bangkok before so did not feel the need to explore manically as we had done in other places.

Day 1

After a night time flight we arrived in Bangkok around 7 in the morning, but by the time we managed to get through their customs and airport we finally got on the train to the city centre around 9.00.

Taking the Train and Skytrain to the area our apartment was in we then set off in search of it, after fannying around for a bit we found the sky Rise we were staying in.  The apartment was the first Air BnB apartment we had ever tried (You rent peoples properties) and this proved a slight problem as the security only spoke Thai (How rude!), so eventually  we managed to text the owner and after a short while a lady came and gave us the keys.

When we got in the apartment, on the 21^st floor, it was very tidy and it was nice to have a few rooms to relax in and spread out across, plus a great view over the city..  The only problem was that it was not kitted out very well, no kettle, toaster, washing machine and only a frying pan to cook on.

The heat was hot hot hot so we decided to chill out around the apartment area until it was cooler. We  had a look around and found a rooftop garden on the 28^th floor and a Sauna and gym there also, apparently there was also a swimming pool somewhere but we couldn’t locate it.

We then headed out to what we thought was a lively place but could only find a Irish Pub, however it did cold beer and some very good Tom Yang Soup so we stayed there for a while and then Shell spying a massage parlour across the road decided to get her first foot massage of the trip (It won’t be the last) whilst I waited in the bar with another cold beer (It’s hard work this travelling business!)

As we had had little sleep on the plane we decided to have a quiet afternoon/evening so we just headed off to the local Tesco (Tesco Lotus!) and got some provisions for the flat.  Breakfast food and beer mainly, but we also acquired a pot so we could boil some water to make coffee.

Shelley also started up her own launderette to save us money and started handwashing 3 weeks of dirty India clothing, which turned out to be a good idea as our balcony was the equivalent of a tumble drier at about 95 degree’s so our clothes dried in about 2 hours.

In the evening we did something really bad (1^st time this trip), we went to the local McDonalds and got a shed load of bad western food which we ate whilst we watched episodes of The Inbetweeners on our TV system (My Netbook, Bluetooth Speaker and Hard Drive) before going to bed. HEAVEN!

Day 2

I woke late due to the black-out curtains in the apartment and found Shell to be doing some more washing (I knew she was good for something!) and we had a couple of coffee’s and I did us some fried eggs and toast for breakfast (domestic god that I am).  Whilst lazing around we concurred that it was too hot to go out during the day (again), so after a bit of Googling on our apartment we found the pool to be located just outside of the 5^th floor.  So we took a couple of cold beers and our books down there for the afternoon.  The pool area was really nice with a large pool with Jacuzzi’s in it and some lounging area’s alongside it (Not bad for £20 a night!) only problem was that it was completely in the shade all day so a bit cold after a dip.

In the evening we headed out to one of the livelier area’s where I also had found had a rock bar nearby with live bands, apparently tonight’s band was going to be an 80’s hair metal band (How good is that Tub!!).  Anyway before I got round to hearing Cinderella & Motley Crue covers we went for a couple of drinks in the main drag which was OK apart from all the bars were drowning each other out with their competing music.

We then headed off to the rock bar and to my disappointment it was not the band I was expecting but to Shell’s approval it was a grunge metal band.  The bar itself was quite cool but the prices were a bit expensive which I guess resulted in only four tables being occupied with a total of 9 customers including ourselves.

Anyway the band were pretty good doing anything from Sex Pistols to Living colour (even doing a Motorhead cover in memory of Lemmy).  But when it then started flagging it became the Glenn & Shelley show again with us shouting out requests (Shell – Nirvana & Pearl Jam, Me – Alice in Chain’s & Stone Temple Piolets), which they did very well.  Eventually it ended up with just the two of us and one other girl (possibly a groupie) so we left there so we decided to head off home for the night.

After getting a cab back we discovered a roadside soup stall literally outside our apartment (plastic tables and chairs) so we both got a fantastic spicy veg/chicken/fish/thing? Soup for around 60p each before ascending to the 21^st floor to go to bed.

Day 3

Basically we did nothing, moved from room to room coz we had space and could (amazing what you become grateful for), some more washing,  lazing round the pool and lots of reading.

The only thing we really did was pop downstairs to the front gate to see the soup guy, although because I was more sober this time I thought that what I took for mushrooms the night before was actually eel, which put me off slightly.

We also bagged some chicken skewers off a street stand which I couldn’t eat as there appeared to be too many bones in it – cat possibly!?

Day 4 – New Years Eve

Again due to the heat in the city we did pretty much the same as yesterday, washing, cooked breakfast, pool and reading.

In the evening we headed for the Kho San Road area but because it was NYE the traffic was grid locked and it took an hour and a half cab ride to get there.

Firstly we thought we would grab a bite to eat to line our stomachs, so we had a Green Curry and some Morning Glory (veg!) in one of the local street restaurants before heading off down one of the side roads for NYE refreshments.

The first bar we hit we met a group of 3 (a Couple and their mate) from England who were teaching English for a living in Bangkok (This is one of the best paid jobs in Thailand) and we got chatting to them for a while and then we moved on to another bar with them.  Unfortunately the mate was drowning his sorrows and became a pain in the arse which ended up with Shell having cross words with him much to the embarrassment of his friends who were really nice.

Anyway so much for NYE in Bangkok all we got were a couple of fireworks in the street and some party poppers, not quite what we expected.  Shortly after the guys we met decided to move on, I think they wanted to get their mate away before he upset anyone else.

Also a special mention to Manuel the German who was on the next table and very funny, apparently he was named Manuel by his mother after ‘Faulty Towers’ just to piss off his Ex-SS Officer grandad!

We ourselves were going to make our way home but we then befriended a group of dodgy looking ex-pat’s on the next table, who actually turned out to be quite nice guys (E-Mailing us the photo’s from the night – including Shell wearing a policeman’s cap that was hanging on his motorbike un-attended (she had to do it for a dare apparently!).  So we ended up spending the rest of the night with them before getting a cab home.

As soon as we stepped out of a long cab ride back, Shell realised that her bag was missing (we think it was left somewhere and not stolen), which contained her Iphone, Debit Card, drivers licence, Cash and possibly worse of all our Apartment Key (Which also had the access control card to the building and lifts) and even more worse than that, we knew both the owner and the maid for the apartment were out of town for the holidays!.

Firstly we tried to explain to the security guards that we had lost our key and couldn’t get in, this did not appear to cut much ice as nothing much happened.  We then though we would stay at the hotel next door but they wanted too much money.

We then returned to the security gate at which point I was being no help as I was thinking, you lost the bloody key you can sort this out.  Fair play Shell  stood up to the plate and put an Oscar winning performance in, begging the security guards to do something, going hysterical and dropping to her knees in front of them (literally).  Eventually they took pity on her and something was going to happen.

About half an hour later (Around 4am???) a locksmith turned up with a harem of women (not sure what that was about) and he set about trying to pick the apartment lock. After about half an hour he was still not getting anywhere and I fell asleep in the corridor.  I was then awoken by Shell to find that he had eventually cracked it, but when I got into the room it was daylight and the time was 7.30, I recon in must have taken him over two hours to pick the lock.  Anyway delighted to be back in the room we paid the locksmith (£20) and hit the pillows.

Earlier in this Blog I listed the item’s that Shell had lost over the past 8 weeks, it may now be easier to list the things she still actually has!!

Day 5

Due to the previous day’s losses we were going to have to sort things out.

Firstly and most importantly get a key and access card for the apartment, as although it was nice to get back in the apartment we now could not leave it as you needed the access card even to be able to operate the lift.

We also had to cancel the debit card (which as you know dealing with banks is a nightmare – especially when you are on a dodgy Skype connection from Bangkok) and to try and arrange a transfer from Shell’s mobile number to another Sim card.

Eventually late in the afternoon and after a few text messages with the apartment owner I was told that one of the security guards would meet me at the lift to give me the key.  He didn’t he took me down to the front security gate and left me with the guard there, he didn’t seem to know what was going on and kept on babbling to me in Thai and gesticulating what I thought may be ‘it will take some time to get here’ followed by me doing key charades and shrugging a lot, then after about 20 minutes just looking pissed off and glaring at him a lot I was then taken to an office inside the building.  A further 15 minutes and eventually someone came in with a key and after a short conversation between two of the office workers it was finally given over to me.  What I didn’t know was in the background due to my long disappearance Shell was texting/mailing the owner telling her I had not returned with the key and this is what actually had the effect of getting us the spare key – not my games of Thailand charades and stroppiness.

We then thought we would go and see if there was a remote possibility that the bag had been handed in at one of the bars we were in, if not go to the local police station to report it stolen.

Once again the traffic was a nightmare, another 1 and a half gridlocked hours and we arrived and located the first bar which said they had nothing handed in, the bar lady remembering exactly what Shell’s bag was like (Slightly Suspicious).  We then went to the second bar which we had narrowed it down to and unsurprisingly it was the same story there.  As it had been a very long tiring day (not to mention the hangovers we were both suffering) we decided to stay and have a few drinks and something to eat rather than go to the police station (we will do this when we return to Thailand next month.

Still being slightly hungry on our way home we thought we would get a bargain bucket from the local KFC but it being closed we are embarrassed to say we had our second McDonald’s of the week (I don’t even go there twice a year in the UK!!).

Fortunately losing Shell’s bag wasn’t the end of the world as we have a back-up phone and debit cards and also I am myself building up a bit of credit against Shell (by not having a go at her) for when and if I lose something more important in the future, let’s hope I stay in credit!!