DAY 2 - 6th Jan 08 - WHEN TROUBLES BEGAN BREWING.



I awake to see Goey by my side. Both of us sleeping on the double queen size bed. Unlike the usual beautiful bright morning we see in Singapore, Bangkok's morning is greyish, hazy and much more dullness was felt compared to Singapore.

The glance over the glass windows of the suite, seriously, wasnt, impressive. And it disappoint me a lil for not being able to enjoy the beautiful skies at 26th storey high.

Breakfast was buffet at Sky Lounge located at the 43rd floor. It is a place where one can enjoy the views of skyscrapers and even the streets in BKK or at least around the Pratunam area.

The food was fine. Enough to tame the growling stomachs of the ladies. But hmphs there's 2 of us who's ultimately displeased at the way the cousin eats. Showing bad ettiquettes and the ultimae kiasu-ism of a typical Singaporean. Sometimes free just doesnt means abuse.



According to our plans, we were supposed to head to Chatuchak Weekend Market at 10+ am. We hopped on to sis's favourite tuk tuk again, for a fare as low as 100bahts! Just as we've travelled 2km or so, another tuk tuk came along and advised us that having 4 persons on a tuk tuk is an offence and ther's a checkpoint in between Chatuchak and where we are now.

After much persuasion and agreeing at 50bahts per tuk tuk, we agreed to split since its more comfortable too! Rather than having the poor koon to sit and squeeze on the ground of tuktuk.

Yet things werent as simple as a 'checkpoint'.

First,we were told that not all the shops in Chatuchak are open yet.
Next, we were asked if we wanna visit a place and at the same time they can have free petrol once we visit.
Third, advertising started regarding nice earrings and rings the place have. I remembered the guy repeating 'Beautiful' continously.
Not only so, it was said that Chatuchak is just OPPOSITE the place they are bringing us to.
The last thing he said was that if we buy anything fr the place, they'll give us free transport!

We agreed to help them since we know TukTuk drivers are poor.
We reached the GEMS GALLERY INTERNATIONAL. There, we saw live manufacturing of gems like sapphires, topaz, etc. All of which were heart-winning. Especially the first sapphire ring i tried on. It was perfect! Size, feel and the way it looked but it was far off from the budget. A 300+ sing dollars. BUt to be ffrank, it was cheap, just not for a student. I really loved that.

The 2 working adults - sis and cousin brought a ring each. Much envied.

And to begin our day w a shock, we could not find our tuktuk!! We frantically looked through our photos, scanning for the plate no. and the photos of the drivers. (the usefulness of photoSS)

We were conned. not really in terms of money or what.
But 1 tuk tuk escaped, and we were forced to get on the original tuk tuk w 40bahts. Fueled by anger, we decided to walk there than to rely on tuktuk. Yet when we asked the people working in the gallery for directions, we were told that it is too far to walk ther!

Stranded in the faraway place, we had no choice but to take the tuktuk but negotiating it to as low as 20bahts. Poor tuktuk man 1, who were supposed to be paid 100bahts in the first place.

It doesnt pay to be too kind. But well, the gems gallery was an unexpected eye-opener.

Arriving at Chatuchak, it has an overwhelming of 60+ sections. Each section itself is a maze and a small maze within a big maze is a BIG maze. Biggest buyer of the day is me! Combed the place w dresses mainly.

Yet another trouble is brewing here. The cousin who doesnt seems to appreciate the beauty of weekend markets(and also shopping malls) keep complaining of the low-class fashion hanging out there. No doubt the place itself is not of a class. But the clothes and accessories are not any lesser than what we see in Singapore. We just need some sorta fashion sense to imagine things out since all that Ive bought were not allowed to try.

More nonsense from her came as she hinted that she wants to rest. Then she screwed us up w a stomachache, telling me that she wanna blackout and wants a 19 year old to bring her (a 22 yr old) to a toilet which was just right in front.

The worst thing came when she said she wanna go back to hotel and rest first and msged me at the end of the day to say meet at the mainroad! AMongst the maze, wher the hell do we know wher's the mainroad she's talking about! Mainroad to us may not be to her.

Labels: Bangkok, Retail Therapy, Spicy, Travel

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