Bangkok Explained

Since there was a demand for details on the last post, I will explain.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of learning experiences and good times. Just like Friday night, we were instructed to go to the Stanford Concert, but this time at a different location. However, we had the whole morning to ourselves, so we found internet at a Starbucks and then found a pizza place online. However, we did not include a backlash in the directions to our taxi driver and ended up not where we were supposed to and we never actually made it to that pizza place. We still had Americanized food but we were in a more Muslim dominated section of Bangkok and all of us covered women were stared at with not to pleasant looks.

Now the concert was more informal than the suits and gowns of Friday night and this one was held for free in the World Mall. I was hopelessly lost in that giant 7 story building and I loved it. And I love the organization of the malls here. Electronics on one floor, food on another, crafts on another and music on another. The concert itself was okay. There was construction going on right behind where the concert was set up so hearing was very difficult. But then the U.S. Ambassador showed up, shook hands and did a photo op (her photographer, not with my camera, sorry).

After the concert we explored the mall a little and then we went and saw Man of Steel, in English on the 7th floor. Now in our attempt to find the theater, we ended up at the door of a huge Magic tournament. I laughed the entire escalator down from the convention, wondering how in the world we ended up there. The theater is super grand, with escalators, carpeted sections and guys whose only job was to open doors for us. Snacks were mostly Thai snacks but popcorn is universal. The seats in the theater lean too, and there is assigned seating (you pick where when you buy the tickets) so no rush to get there early. They do play an abnormal amount of TV ads before hand though.

After the movie, we were exhausted from Starbucks, getting lost, the concert, shopping and the movie but decided to grab food on our way out. And we decided to have American sit-down food on the swanky 7th floor. We did like the Thais do and ordered lots of dishes and shared them all. Pasta, shrimp, salmon, bbq chicken and salad with Heineken. So great.

The pleasant buzz from a dose of America wore off as soon as we tried to get a cab home. We learned the hard way earlier to always make sure the driver turns on the meter and does not just give a quote because not only will you get ripped off but he can change the price at the end. And some taxis are equipped with a special locking mechanism so no one can get out until the driver's amount is paid. But none of the taxis we talk to will turn on their meter. And we tried more than 5. Finally, one driver would not turn on the meter but quoted us the same amount it would take to get there and he spoke pretty good English. Though I am positive that most of our drivers speak more English than they let on. So frustrated, we took that cab. Our hotel was just a ways straight down one road and then a left. Our driver told us that but because of the horrible traffic he was going to go another way. By another way, he meant like a semi-circle around the city. He was not one of the gang members or drug dealers we were warned about (has to do with length and color of finger nails and tattoos) and before we were educated on this fact, we already had two of them for cab drivers. But the length of our cab drive was starting to worry a friend of mine. Sometimes it is very good to have nonverbal communication with close friends and to trust them completely. However, as we had our hands casually but strategically placed on the cab door handles, I recognize that we are really close to our hotel. The driver did not change his price either, so all turned out well.

Now as for the dance clubs, I was not present but my fellow teachers brought back the story of trying to go dancing. They told the cab driver club and he took them to a club that was a thinly veiled prostitution house. They left immediately and said told the driver DANCING. The next plan was even more thinly veiled, with girls lined up on the wall. They tried one more time with the driver and this time said DISCO with movements to accompany it. The place they were taken to, behind the fish market, was not even disguised, so the group gave up and went back to the hotel. However, a different group of teachers did manage to find a place with actual dancing, miraculously.

I also found out yesterday that the owner of our hotel sat down to drink with some of the male teachers and told them he ran a porn site. So between it all.....Bangkok is a seriously dangerous city. Now I did manage to relax but there is a difference between paranoid and smart. Almost jumping out of that cab would have been smart because you do not usually go around a huge city to get down the street. You especially do not take the highway and as my fellow teacher pointed out, the cab looked brand new, with plastic on the rear-view mirror and none of the usual Buddhist blessings and figures. Do not worry, I am safe and t home in Uttaradit now and I have been educated about Bangkok. I am none too enthusiastic about going back either because it is crowded, smelly and dirty and the biggest redeeming quality is a mall....which is no reason for me to travel 7 hours for. I just add this to my list of adventures. And now I must prepare to teach tomorrow (yep, at least I am going to school and we will see if they let me teach). And this Monday will be better than last week.