Day 01 19th June 2005

Touched down and went straight to hotel. Had our first taste of Bangkok drivers and their infamous traffic jams. Our designated driver brought us through many many small roads and we were wondering if he knew where he was going! But of course he did, and he went through all the small roads to avoid the traffic jams only. I think we were on the main road for about 10mins total not including the expressway. Anyway, we stayed at this hotel called Amari Watergate. Situated in the heart of Patuwan or something like that. Patuwan is good for their wholesale stuff and there was a wholesale centre next to our hotel only.

Anyway, we dropped our bags in the hotel then proceeded to Chatuchuk market where we got conned for our very first time in Bangkok. By the taxi driver. Apparently, Susie has warned me of this, but it was too late by the time I found out. The first thing to tell the driver after informing him of your destination is, to switch on the meter. Once they know that you are a tourist, they will try to “cut throat” and charge you exorbitant fees. And it’s always very nicely rounded up to 100Bht, or 200Bht. Never 50 or 150Bht.

Anyway this was the exchange rate.

100Bht = SGD$4.

Back to our Chatuchuk taxi driver. We forgot to tell him to switch on the meter, so he happily drove us to the market from our hotel. And of couse, he happily charged us 200Bht for the ride. No meter. Darn…. Anyway, it was quite a long ride to the market, say….. from my house to Tampines?? So I guess it turned out to be about the same price as a cab in Singapore. Anyway, 1st lesson of the day learnt.

Chatuchuk Weekend market
Fantastic place for cheap cheap cheap buys!!! For clothes, they go for as cheap as 150Bht [about SGD$6]. Or even cheaper, just that I didn’t get to see because it was so rushed. Seperated from our parents and my brother and I walked around by ourselves instead. Bought some cute salt and pepper shakers! And some flower lights... Buy so many but dunno where to put le... Chatuchuk is a great place for interior designers, because of the furniture, art pieces and lights that they sell there. At a cheap cheap price too.

There were even animals being sold too!! Kinda cruel to sell them like that if you ask me, puppies and bunnies being “lei-longed” off in such a manner. The 2 baby huskies were super adorable!! The owner came out from no where behind us and “plonged” them into that basket…. There was a kitten sleeping on top of a cage nearby and I thought it was dead because of it’s position ok! Actually it was just a lazy cat’s pose.

Walked further into the animal section in Chatuchuk…. and saw cutie bunnies wearing clothes!!!!! Soooooo darn adorable!! But that place was so stuffy I have no idea how these poor animals are feeling. Was very tempted to get one of those clothes for my chinnies, but my brother convinced me that they will not be able to fit into them. Point taken. They were selling gerbils too!! They looked really sad and scared… And they didn’t move much! So scary!!

After dinner, back to the hotel feeling so darn tired from the flight and the walking!! Once again, let me tell you my kena-conned story. On our very first day, we got conned. Twice. So, my father decides to eat at this seafood joint opposite our hotel… after looking at this map of the area around our hotel. So we stepped out to the lobby and asked the bell hop where exactly was this seafood joint opposite our hotel. This guy who happens to be the driver or limousine driver for the hotel came up to my dad and started asking what and where did we want to go. After yakking for some time, we got onto this new BMW [dunno is it 5 or 7 series lar, but it’s big!] and he was to drive us to a recommended seafood place. The drive would cost 200Bht. Woo.. One way somemore. It was a super short ride to the restaurant and of course the driver got a nice commission from the restaurant, I’m sure.

Our dinner consisted of fresh lobster, chilli crab and some other thai dishes that I can’t remember. All I remembered was eating like nobody’s business. Then I felt so bloody full. The bill was not a pretty amount either. Could be the same price as eating seafood in Singapore. Kena conned!! BIG TIME!!!

Anyway, my dad decided to be hero and walked us back to our hotel! The pavements in Bangkok aren’t exactly very smooth and I tripped many times from the super un-even stone pavement. GGGrrrr….

Day 2 to be continued…