Bangkok

Because this is a study abroad, the professors want to give us plenty of time to travel, so we don’t have class on Fridays.  This means that we can leave Thursday evening and come back Sunday night, plenty of time for a quick trip somewhere.  We have lots of trips planned, and this weekend we took our first one to Bangkok, Thailand.

There are a lot of budget airlines operating out of Singapore (as it is the hub for southeast Asia), and we have booked the majority of our flights on JetStar Asia.  When we looked at the website, we got a little worried about the condition and style of the plane, but never fear!  It was a normal plane, just with no amenities (very little room, no first or business class, and nothing free).  We had made reservations at Big John’s Guesthouse, and thankfully Carlanna knew how to get there from the airport.  We took the airport bus, which was air conditioned and easy, but it was a little difficult to get to the hostel from the bus stop.  It was about 11pm, so it was dark, and we didn’t understand how the streets worked or were labeled (especially because it was all in Thai), so we ended up walking through a sketchy alleyway or two before finding our way to the hostel.  Good thing we had a big group of nine people!

No matter how dodgy I thought Big John’s was in the beginning, I really liked staying there by the end.  The bathrooms weren’t the best (especially the showers), and it was kind of weird having a clear sliding glass door to our room, but other than that it was amazing.  It had what amounted to free internet, so we could keep up with our emails and look for things in Bangkok online, and it also had a 24hr café/bar with cheap food (like our 55baht breakfast of two eggs and two pieces of toast).  Oh, and when we were there, the conversion rate was about 1 US$ = 40 baht.  Big John himself was also very knowledgeable about where we should go, good places to hang out, etc.  I am really glad we stayed there.

The first night we were there, we basically all passed out because we were worn out from classes in Singapore.  The next day, we woke up early and headed over to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace.  These places were amazing.  I have never seen anything so intricate and colorful and massive in my life.  The Emerald Buddha is actually a Buddha made of jasper, but the monk who discovered it saw only the green and thought it was made out of emerald.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the temple, but I bought a postcard of the Buddha in each of his different outfits.  He has three outfits that are changed throughout the year in a big ceremony presided over by the king, one for each season (rainy, summer, and winter).

I forgot to mention that we almost didn’t get into the temple.  Most of the people in Bangkok are really nice, but there are definitely people out there who want to take advantage of the tourists.  One scam is to pretend to be an official or something like that, waylay the tourist by telling them that the site they want to see is temporarily closed, and kindly offering them a cheap taxi to some other good location.  This taxi will then take you to some predetermined spot where you will be strongly encouraged to buy what are most likely stolen or fake goods, and they will make sure you will be so lost that you cannot find your way back.  We almost got taken in by the scam (they stopped us by telling us that we couldn’t go in because we weren’t properly dressed), but we finally wised up and remembered about the scam when they got very insistent about getting us taxis and that the temple would re-open at 1pm for us.

After the temple, we got some lunch and then split up to do different shopping.  Half the group went to a cheap market for some clothes (specifically pants for the boys to wear to the club that night) and the other half went shopping for gems.  We all met up later back at the hostel, showed off our purchases, and got ready to head out to the club.

We had made plans to meet up with the other 12 GT kids at a club called Q Bar before even getting to Bangkok, but after talking to Big John, we realized that there were much better places to go.  He recommended Santika, and it was amazing.  They had a live band that played everything from Linkin Park to Eminem to pop Thai music.  They had smaller rooms dedicated to different kinds of music, and there was no cover charge.  As a whole group, we all had a blast, and that is something that is difficult to do with 21 different people.  We all stayed out really late dancing and singing and hanging out.

The next morning, after sleeping in some, we all got breakfast and then headed out to do some damage shopping.  There is a really large market, the Chatuchak Market, which is only open on Saturdays and Sundays.  To give you some idea of how large this place is, something like 200,000 people visit it every day (on the weekends).  It was massive and crowded.  You also had to bargain with people for prices.  I am really bad at bargaining, but I did OK on what I really wanted.  I am going to have to work on my skills before I get to China.  The group also went to some other shopping places, and soon enough it was dinnertime.  One of the owners of a shop we were in recommended a good restaurant, so we had a nice sit down meal before doing our nighttime thing.  Rather than going out that night, I opted to go to the movies to see X3 with some people.  I like going to movies in different countries because it’s such a different cultural experience everywhere you go.  In Thailand, we watched all of the previews, and then a screen came up asking us to stand and pay our respects to His Majesty the King.  What followed next was basically three minutes of propaganda for the king, complete with the elderly, the children, and inspirational music.  We were not expecting that at all.

The next morning, our last morning in Bangkok, we did what anyone visiting Thailand would do – got Thai massages!  A full body one hour massage is 200 baht (about US$5), and it was amazing.  I have never gotten a massage like that before.  They twist your limbs all around and use everything from their hands to feet to arms.  It’s crazy!  Some people had gotten one the night before, so they got a one hour foot massage rather than the full body that morning.  I can’t wait to be in Thailand again to get cheap amazing massages like that.

After the massage, we checked out of our hostel and made our way to the airport via taxi.  Taxis are much easier to get in Bangkok than in Thailand, but you have to make sure they don’t rip you off.  The taxi drivers will conveniently ‘forget’ to turn on the meter for the trip, so at the end you will have to bargain with them for your fare.  We always made sure the meter was running because our bargaining skills were not up to par.

And that was Bangkok!  We met up with the other group at the airport and sat with them on the plane, and now we are all back at NUS trying to recover from the weekend and still find time to get all of our work done.  It’s really rather crazy right now.