One Week in Bangkok

I am comfortably settled in Bangkok now. Those of you who know me well, will remember that Bangkok is one of my favourite cities in Asia - nay, the World. I can't quite pinpoint what it is about the place, that makes me think this way. I guess there are so many things that add up to make it such a great place. I am staying at the Bandara Suites hotel, in the Silom area. I am pretty sure the brochure said that Antonio would tuck me in at night. But I have not seen him. =p

I've decided to spend a week here. Originally, I thought I would only be here for 4 days or so. But I've extended my stay until Sunday, at which point I will head north to Chiang Mai. Since I have decided to stay, I thought I'd go to the Market today, to stock up on snacks and such. It's really something to see the differences between the Safeway back home, and the large supermarkets here. And it's not just the food choices. It's the way they approach food vending that is remarkable.

The market I went to was admittedly upscale, in a nice mall. But the experience is not duplicated in Canada, regardless. There was a very large amount of staff on duty, even for a Monday night. I saw so many people sweeping and mopping the floors eveywhere. In the coffee bean aisle, there was a person standing there to help you grind the beans, at the self-serve grinding machine. There were 2 staff at every register, and oodles of staff all around the store sampling products.

I wanted to buy a few bananas. But like all produce here, it is shrink-wrapped for my protection. So, I couldn't really sniff and squeeze the produce like I am used to. And I was forced to buy LOTS of bananas, since they are pre-wrapped in bundles. And diet pop? No such thing. I guess people here don't care about sugar content? I strolled down the potato chip aisle (yes, a whole aisle), and spied so many choices. Kimchi flavoured, German sausage flavoured, Japanese seaweed flavoured. Burger King and TGI Fridays have their own brands of chips. So many choices - it took forever to even see them all before I decided. All kinds of liquor for sale, displayed everywhere.

Yesterday, I spend some time with my friend Ou. Like most Thais, he has a nickname. And most of them are one syllable words - some of which resemble English words. Ou's proper Thai name is Theerawit. Ou is easier. Ou is a nice softspoken guy that is getting a science degree at one of the large Universities here. I photographed him last year, when we met previously, and I had the opportunity to photograph him again yesterday. I am quite happy with the work we achieved.