Thursday, January 29, 2009
I am already back in Singapore, but that is another story. Let me continue from where I last stopped.
Pai.
Yes I left Pai and took a 3 hour minivan back to Chiang Mai in order to catch a train to Bangkok for my last few days in Thailand.
With a few hours to spare till my train ride, I decided to look for a hairdresser and have lunch. So I found a place that sold 35baht Kao Pad Nuea (beed fried rice, or beef flied lice as they say), and a barber that charged me 80baht for a haircut and 60baht for a hairwash.
Then I bought my dinner which consisted of 2 small packets of chips and 2 small boxes of Honeystar and Cornflakes and a packet of Lactasoy soyamilk, and headed opposite for the train station. Food is expensive on the train (150baht). I learnt my lesson well from the first train ride.
I saw lots of noisy Thai students and I freaked out because I was worried we were gonna be in the same cabin. But of course that was not the case as my 2nd class sleeper was considered too expensive for them (851baht).
As I was seating there waiting for the fucking train to arrive (thai trains.. damn fucking never on time), I met this old Brit lady named Wendy who was travelling alone. At first, I just said hi out of courtesy as I didn't think we would have much in common to talk about. I believe it is called age gap.
But as we talked I soon realised this lady is seriously damn funny and interesting. Never liking old Singaporean aunities and ah mahs, I found myself laughing to her jokes and having a great conversation.
So she is from Surrey, England, and she has 2 daughters who are married and 2 grand daughters, and is a social housing worker who volunteers as a counsellor to teens with addictions during her free time. And she loves going to gay prides in London for the fun and music. What a lady!
Then another passenger came on board and I had to go back to my place, but Wendy told me to squeeze in and share a seat with her. Thai seats are made for 2 skinny thais, not 2 farangs, so we had quite a squeeze. The night came and we chatted till I was so tired I had to retire for the night.
The next morning we said our goodbyes at Bangkok's Hualampong station, and we promised to email each other. Maybe one day I'll visit her in Surrey.
I took a cab down to Lub d Bangkok, my boutique guesthouse in Bangkok. For those going to Bangkok, I recommend this place 100%. Cheap (450baht) dorms with clean shared toilets and free internet and games in the foyer, this place resembles an ikea showroom. Being a design grad, this place is gorgeous. The minimalist style and colors black, grey and red felt more like a hotel. Security was so high tech I think James Bond pales in comparrison. Location was alright, about 10mins walk to Sala Daeng BTS and Silom MRT. Price was quite high for a dorm with shared bathroom, but this place is absolutely worth the price.
Check out www.lubd.com.
As usual, in Bangkok, one shops. So straight away upon reaching my place, I took a shower, checked my mail, then took the BTS to Saphan Taksin, and then changed to a boat to my favourite shopping place Wang Lang. But I didn't see much interesting stuff this time at Wang Lang.
Collected my 4 shirts from the tailor, which I am now finding faults with. I was in too much of a rush to really analyze the shirt when I was there and I forgot to tell them some details I wanted. Well, what the heck. A lesson learnt. But sis said the shirts look fine. Ronald said they look 6/10 and not worth the price.
Met Ploy, treated me to Japanese restaurant and Mango sticky rice at Siam Square, which was so nice of her.
Went back to my guesthouse early as I felt awkward meeting other travellers. Oh I was staying in a female dorm so I was worried how the others might feel about me staying in the same dorm as them. Turned out I was being paranoid as usual as I met them the next morning and all said hi. I'm such a loser. I even met this Swiss backpacker whom I had noticed in Pai cos she was smoking hot. So I asked her if she has been to Pai, and she must have thought I am a stalker because I could describe her outfit down to her shoes. Oops.
In the middle of the night, this crazy South Korean lady in the same dorm received a phone call from her O-mmo-ni (mom) and began talking loudly. Crazy bitch. In the end this Brit lady next to her made some noise about it so the South Korean lady went out.I hope they don't think just because I am Asian I am her friend.
Then it was the dreadful day to head back to Hatyai. So I left the hotel without taking back my 200baht deposit (which I am now emailing them to ask for fund transfer) and headed to the train station.