Walking Ixus

Let me see…passport, got it. Money? Dollars, baht, RMB, yen? Hong Kong, yah, dollars. SIM Card…Hong Kong, New World.

Now THAT’s a life!

You know when people that live in humid, icky areas (not California) keep saying that “you’ll get used to it”, etc etc etc?
It’s usually crap, because as they stand there in a full suit and tie, totally dry, I’m in sandals, shorts and a t-shirt, dripping sweat by the litre.
On the way in to HKG this AM (EARLY this AM), the pilot made his usual happy talk once we got to cruising altitude.
“Hong Kong is rainy with a high of 28 degrees”. I then said to myself, “a cool day, eh?”
AGGGGGGGHHH!
Of course, let me preface this with the fact that I’ve been in BKK for the past 3 days, where it’s usually 32-4 degrees with buckets of humidity…
But that’s a bit freaky, dun you agree? I think I’m going to freeze my ass off when I get back to SFO.

Yup, that’s me. Because I had to roll out of bed at 0445 to get to a check in counter for a 0645 flight back to HKG. I got in from BKK around 2330 and was updating the blog and talking on the phone until 0100. Then shower and shave and pack. Bedtime: 0200. Bleagh!
The A/C in the wing of the transit hotel where my room was was working backwards (blowing humidity instead of dry air). Because of that, my A/C in the room was also blowing cool humidity too.
If I could take that room and turn it into a walk-in humidor, that would have been perfect.
Then to add to my crankiness, my flight to HKG was on UAL. I ran into a “flight attendant” at the McDonald’s near the gate. Apparently she’s not too fond of the inflight food either?
It was a typical UAL flight. Screaming babies, indifferent service and crowded. I was sooo tired.

I ate what passed for “breakfast”, had some coffee, slipped into superhero mode (sleep mask) and passed out for 2 hours.
Of course the movie on the big screen was “National Treasure”; that may have had something to do with it…

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

Continue reading “My street…”

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.

Or what I saw walking around.

Is there a Sam here? Works for Royal Fashions?
Anyone? Buelllller?

Continue reading “Views from the Street”