Day 37 - Bangkok
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday 14th September
I had a plan for when I woke this morning - head out to the Vietnam Embassy early in the morning, then tour the Grand Palace before an afternoon at the shops or maybe a movie. I even wore an appropriate outfit to tour the Grand Palace (closed in shoes, legs and arms covered) - which is impressive given the heat and humidity.
The day started according to plan, arriving at the Vietnamese Embassy shortly after 9:15am. I'd been told to arrive at 8:30am when it opened as I'd been warned that it's always teaming with people also trying to get their tourist visa. When I arrived at the unassuming building though, it was empty. I filled out the form, paid the visa cost and was on my way in less than 5 minutes. Too easy!
Looking at the Lonely Planet, I realised that if I turned left about 100m up the road, I would be on the street teaming with shopping centres. The first one I came across was Central World, which had been destroyed by the red shirt protestors earlier in the year, and was therefore being re-built. Across the road was Isetan, a Japanese department store, which I spent an hour browsing - as always, it was the supermarket that took my interest most.
Not too far away was Siam Paragon. I'd visited there briefly yesterday, but I'd missed a heap of it. To start with, there was the world's most amazing food court. (Seriously, I'm not kidding - if anyone knows of a better food court, let me know!) Every food of my dream was there - which meant, it was teaming with bakeries, selling croissants, fresh bread, pancakes, waffles etc. I was ecstatic to find a 'Toast Box', which I'd become addicted to in Singapore, and ordered up some toast with kaya for a late breakfast (in my haste to get to the Vietnamese Embassy, I had missed breakfast).
The Lonely Planet had stated that attending a movie in Thailand was a fascinating experience, and as there was a cinema upstairs I decided to watch a movie. There wasn't a lot of option and I ended up in the new Drew Barrymore/Justin Long movie "Going the Distance", about a long-distance relationship (surprisingly good - probably because the two were dating in real life when filming it, so the emotions are really brough to life). The most interesting thing about the experience though was that before the movie starts, they play the Thai national anthem, which everyone has to stand for, whilst imagines of the King are broadcast on screen. The royal family are like Gods here - there are pictures of them on every street corner and in every house; it is even illegal to step on the currency (i.e. if it's blowing away in the wind) as it had the King's image on it.
I then stumbled upon the Paragon department store, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven - shoe heaven. Six floors of the most amazing womenswear, cosmetics, handbags, shoes, jewelley, sporting equipment - everything you could need, just done to excess. I purchased a cap and skirt which was extremely refrained - I had to keep reminding myself that I was a traveller on a budget, Nine West shoes are not a necessity!! (I did try a few pairs on to satisfy the craving though .... )
It was already 4pm which meant I'd missed the Grand Palace (it shut at 3:30pm), so I headed back down to the food court for round 2 (what's the meal called when you combine lunch and dinner?). I was soo tempted to have Toast Box again but I thought bread and bread was a bit too much and opted for a felafel wrap instead (plus a cupcake for a 'snack' later on).
On the week-end I had e-mailled Tracey, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who had helped me out in Thailand last year. I wanted to see if she was still working in the Bangkok office, as I wanted to go and thank her and show her how well my injuries had healed. I had a positive response from her and asked me I could see her at the Aussie embassy on Friday, after I had picked up my Vietnamese embassy. (It just occurred to me that the footy is on Friday night - maybe I could ask if the Aussie embassy could show it and I could kill time there whilst waiting for my train to Chiang Mai!)
I returned to the hostel at about 5:30pm and settled back on the lounge chairs with the others, generally chilling and reading a book. The hostel was packed last night but it has emptied out quite a bit now - at least in my dorm room. I have an early start tomorrow morning, with the tour guide picking me up at 6:45am, so I will say my farewells and head to bed shortly!
I had a plan for when I woke this morning - head out to the Vietnam Embassy early in the morning, then tour the Grand Palace before an afternoon at the shops or maybe a movie. I even wore an appropriate outfit to tour the Grand Palace (closed in shoes, legs and arms covered) - which is impressive given the heat and humidity.
The day started according to plan, arriving at the Vietnamese Embassy shortly after 9:15am. I'd been told to arrive at 8:30am when it opened as I'd been warned that it's always teaming with people also trying to get their tourist visa. When I arrived at the unassuming building though, it was empty. I filled out the form, paid the visa cost and was on my way in less than 5 minutes. Too easy!
Looking at the Lonely Planet, I realised that if I turned left about 100m up the road, I would be on the street teaming with shopping centres. The first one I came across was Central World, which had been destroyed by the red shirt protestors earlier in the year, and was therefore being re-built. Across the road was Isetan, a Japanese department store, which I spent an hour browsing - as always, it was the supermarket that took my interest most.
Not too far away was Siam Paragon. I'd visited there briefly yesterday, but I'd missed a heap of it. To start with, there was the world's most amazing food court. (Seriously, I'm not kidding - if anyone knows of a better food court, let me know!) Every food of my dream was there - which meant, it was teaming with bakeries, selling croissants, fresh bread, pancakes, waffles etc. I was ecstatic to find a 'Toast Box', which I'd become addicted to in Singapore, and ordered up some toast with kaya for a late breakfast (in my haste to get to the Vietnamese Embassy, I had missed breakfast).
The Lonely Planet had stated that attending a movie in Thailand was a fascinating experience, and as there was a cinema upstairs I decided to watch a movie. There wasn't a lot of option and I ended up in the new Drew Barrymore/Justin Long movie "Going the Distance", about a long-distance relationship (surprisingly good - probably because the two were dating in real life when filming it, so the emotions are really brough to life). The most interesting thing about the experience though was that before the movie starts, they play the Thai national anthem, which everyone has to stand for, whilst imagines of the King are broadcast on screen. The royal family are like Gods here - there are pictures of them on every street corner and in every house; it is even illegal to step on the currency (i.e. if it's blowing away in the wind) as it had the King's image on it.
I then stumbled upon the Paragon department store, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven - shoe heaven. Six floors of the most amazing womenswear, cosmetics, handbags, shoes, jewelley, sporting equipment - everything you could need, just done to excess. I purchased a cap and skirt which was extremely refrained - I had to keep reminding myself that I was a traveller on a budget, Nine West shoes are not a necessity!! (I did try a few pairs on to satisfy the craving though .... )
It was already 4pm which meant I'd missed the Grand Palace (it shut at 3:30pm), so I headed back down to the food court for round 2 (what's the meal called when you combine lunch and dinner?). I was soo tempted to have Toast Box again but I thought bread and bread was a bit too much and opted for a felafel wrap instead (plus a cupcake for a 'snack' later on).
On the week-end I had e-mailled Tracey, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, who had helped me out in Thailand last year. I wanted to see if she was still working in the Bangkok office, as I wanted to go and thank her and show her how well my injuries had healed. I had a positive response from her and asked me I could see her at the Aussie embassy on Friday, after I had picked up my Vietnamese embassy. (It just occurred to me that the footy is on Friday night - maybe I could ask if the Aussie embassy could show it and I could kill time there whilst waiting for my train to Chiang Mai!)
I returned to the hostel at about 5:30pm and settled back on the lounge chairs with the others, generally chilling and reading a book. The hostel was packed last night but it has emptied out quite a bit now - at least in my dorm room. I have an early start tomorrow morning, with the tour guide picking me up at 6:45am, so I will say my farewells and head to bed shortly!
Post a Comment