So the flight went off without a hitch.
Nice new Airbasi jet. Seats made outta cow. Nice service (better than Southworst) and decent prices.
So I’ve landed at Changi and am stuck at the airport. Boo hoo. There’s actually a lot to do here.
There’s free internet terminals everywhere, rest areas with reclining chairs, a spa that has massage, a gym, showers and snacks and napping areas, the transit hotel that rents rooms for six hour blocks and TV everywhere!
Oh yah, for a certain reader, the shopping is pretty cool too, I think. Gotta pump money into the Singapore economy, right?
Maybe, but not tonight! =P All the shops of interest close at 0000 and reopen at 0600. Feh.
Waiting at the Gate
This feels soooo weird. Waiting at the gate and not at a lounge. Of course, that really wouldn’t help me on this leg of the trip because I’m not on an Star Alliance airline.
Still, just weird. There are three farangs who pulled the trash bin between them and are chowing down on KFC. Funny, the further away from the states, the more it seems like home.
Disturbing. And many of the farangs are fat slobs too.
That’s It?
Sooo after taking an inventory of my wallet, I’ve got 80 baht left. Not bad. I took out 3000 baht for the three days I was here mucking and eating about.
If you’re not doing “farang friendly” things, you can save a lotta money cuz generally things here are cheap.
Examples: A bottle of water, 9 baht. Lunch with a Coke at a local place: 55 baht. One day pass on the BTS Skytrain: 100 baht.
80 baht sounds like a lot. Nope. US$2.00. Not even worth exchanging. Looks cool though.
Getting to Don Huang!
I found out something cool today. I took the Skytrain to the Mo Chit terminus. Then hopped a cab. Took about 40 minutes total from Pholen Chit Skytrain station. Best of all, the cab ride was only 100 baht from Mo Chit to the Airport!
So in total, it was 135 baht. 35 more than what the hella slow airport basi would have cost, but saved a LOT of time.
Now with all that time on my hands (I got to the Airport 6 hours early!), I decided to check out the Royal Thai Air Force Museum that is supposed to be, according to Time Out Bangkok, “right behind the airport”.
Proof that these travel guides are great for general reference and they usually get the facts straight, but in this case, it seems that the writer just looked at a map and wrote about it. Because…
it was 10 clicks away! That’s 75 baht in a cab folks! Once I got there though, it was pretty cool. The museum looks like it’s in an old air base and the airplanes are parked all around so you can check them out up close and personal.
Curtiss Helldiver
They have old old planes and a lot of planes from the Vietnam War era inside.
Basically all the planes I made models of at one point in my youth.
There was also a Mark XIX Spitfire. Hella cool!
Got stuck in the beginning of rush hour as I was trying to get back to the airport. That ride took 95 baht because of that. Grrrr.
If I knew just how distant this was, I would have just hung out in the air con airport!
Next stop: Changi!
My street…
was Sukumvit Soi 1. It turns into a river when it rains hard.
It’s full of hawkers plying their wares near open sewer grates on really small sidewalks so you’re forced to walk in the street.
But on Soi 1 is the Number 1 Guesthouse, Bar, Internet Cafe. Take your pick, it’s all the same place. Check out the journey to my room.
Thoughts on BKK
I’ve had four days here and I’ve been able to scratch the surface here. BKK is big and sprawly but the sights are all mostly downtown and easily navigated.
Transit, food (as long it’s local) and lodging can be cheap! Hella cheep! However, the same rule re: expats applies (expat friendly = wallet unfriendly).
People here have been friendly and helpful. But I’ve been hearing the same thing over and over: “if you wanna see Thailand, get outta BKK”.
So I was thinking…you can fly directly into Chiang Mai and then rent a motorcycle…
Watch this space in a few months for more..! =P
I begin the long haul back home today. I fly outta BKK back to SIN and then tomorrow AM, fly back to HKG.
Then on Tuesday, I catch my transpacific flight back to SFO. That flight’s gonna be rough. At least there’s a stopover in NRT.
Views from the Street
Or what I saw walking around.
Is there a Sam here? Works for Royal Fashions?
Anyone? Buelllller?
Thai cop bike
Yet another in the “police bikes of the world” series.
This is a 125cc buzz bomb that the local cops here use. It’s just like the 125cc buzz bombs that everyone else rides here.
You usually think: Police bike = big. It looks kinda odd when they’re riding. But they are usualy not riding. They’re usually dismounted and trying to rein in BKK’s horrible traffic.
With a particle mask to combat the pollution.
Terror on a tuk-tuk! (updated)
OK, not terror. I just thought that it would sound exciting.
Actually, it was hella fun! After spending the end part of the evening hanging out at the Suan-Lum Night Bazaar (the BKK version of Mong Kok’s night markets) walking past embassies and the most expensive, formal English Pub that I’ve ever seen, we decided to take a tuk-tuk back.
Basically, these are long wheelbase motortrikes that have no doors or panels. It’s pretty close to the same sensation of riding a motorbike except you’re sitting on a proper seat. I mean, when I’m getting this kind of speed sensation with the wind, I’m usually in leather along with a nice fitting Shoei helmet.
It’s exciting, especially when the driver is whipping through traffic. Did I mention, cheap? These are not metered like cabs so you gotta negotiate a fare before you get in.
Wanna see how it looks inside one as it whips a u-turn? Right click here and save it to desktop (21MB,AVI format).
Wanna see some Food?
I’d normally say something like “wanna see some Thai food?” Except here they just call it “food”.