I was in Krung Thep, the Big Mango or BKK if you like, for the first 12 days of the New Year. I was no longer in vacation mode, I was here to get deep inside this city's soul, to know the city I want to live in, work in, play in and love in. I wanted... no needed to integrate. There are places I want to visit, Ayuthaya, Kanchanaburi and the River Kwai Bridge, the Floating Markets, all would have to wait.
From the 2nd to 7th January the Om Yim Lodge where I normally stay was full, so I decided to try a different part of the city, Ratchadapisek, 3 minutes from the metro station of the same name in the northern area of central Bangkok. I wanted to know how the area felt to live in as there are a number of apartments at reasonable rents available in the area. On Saturday 3rd, I went to the JJ weekend market, at Chatuchak, 3 stations further out on the metro. It's a huge market, so many different things, most new but some old, clothing, footwear, linen, kitchenware, bric-a-brac, household items, art, animals, food stalls, crammed together , almost merging into each other. I was there for nearly three hours and resisted buying anything, just browsing around, except for a chocolate brown Puma shoulder bag for 299 baht. Nearby to the south is Huai Khwang with a very good shopping centre, with a Robinsons department store and a Carrefour, a little further along there is also a Tesco. An equal distance to the north is Pahon Yothin, another place with excellent shopping and cinemas, however, I dedided that Ratachada is a little bit further out than I would like to be, though I wouldn't rule out Huai Khwang, which is four metro stations north of Sukhumvit.
On the 7th January, I moved back to Om Yim to spend my last few days before flying back to London. On the 8th January, I finally met someone I had been chatting with online for a while, Mayom or to give him his full Thai name, Narongrit Kanpech. We met at 1pm at Sala Daeng BTS and went for lunch at Fuji, a Japanese restaurant. I felt a little nervous at meeting Mayom, we had got on so well in chat, I was worried about making a hash of things. I needn't have worried, despite my awkwardness with chopsticks we survived the restaurant and after looking around the shops, where Alex bought himself a new top, we went for a foot massage along the Silom Road. I found the massage so relaxing that I dozed off for a while during it. Next we rewarded ourselves with a visit to Secret Recipe for some delicious cake and a fruit drink. Alex wanted to see the Om Yim Lodge as he was looking for somewhere for some friends to stay when they visit Bangkok. So we went back so that he could take a look the hotel's facilities.
Now Mayom is in his fourth and final year studying Travel and Tourism at University, he is doing his finals and has his thesis to complete by mid-February, so he is very busy as I head back to the UK and Spain for almost four weeks.
I had also spent time this week looking at serviced apartments for somewhere to live, I was also keeping an eye open an apartment for Alan, we had become friends in Chiang Mai and after 4 weeks in Hong Kong and China, was returning to Bangkok to work as a teacher for International House. Alan was back on late on the 8th January and we met up on the 9th for a coffee at Cafe Society where we caught up with each other's news. The next evening after Alan had finished teaching, we had a look at a few apartments together before having something to eat and a couple of non-alcoholic drinks at The Balcony (it was the night prior to elections in Bangkok for a new Governor, this meant there was an alcohol ban). Mayom phoned me (he was eating at the Bug and Bee) so I went to meet him, Alan came along and met with Mayom before heading off himself. I continued to chat briefly before MayOm went home, having to start work at 7am at the airport. We made arrangements to meet at the airport on Monday to say farewell prior to my flight and so I headed back to my room for an early night.
All too soon came Monday 12th January, I jumped into the taxi at 6:45am and reached the airport within half an hour, checked in at the Gulf Air desk and waited until 8:30 to see Mayom, we had just enough time to say hello and a brief chat before I had to rush through Security and race along to the Gate, where they were already boarding the plane, I was leaving Thailand.
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