My cab drove past the corner the Inn was on several times and it was only after I called them that they told me to look out for Mimy’s, a cafe on the corner the Inn was next to. Why couldn’t they have put this on their website?!
After the harrowing experience of the checking into the tiny place they call a hotel, I decide to have a luxirous meal to pamper myself. Finding vegetarian food is hard in Thailand as everything is cooked with lots of pork, chicken or seafood.
I gave up on looking for a restaurant and settled for a high-class food court overlooking a main street and ordered Indian vegetarian: vegetable bryani + vegetable curry
To start off my intended visits of temples and religious places in Bangkok, I trekked from my lunch place at Central World Chitlom to the Four Face Buddha at Erawan Hotel to pay my respects.
This was followed by speed shopping at Zen & Siam Paragon, a nap, a workout at the gym and subsequently, a nice dinner at Bug & Bee which had wonderful vegetarian choices alongside a meat menu.
Their menu is rather creative and sitting alone gave me time to watch local people interact and be themselves. People aren’t very different from country to country … they just speak in a different language and have subtle differences in mannerisms but the things that make them laugh and the way they interact with frens and strangers is somewhat the same.
I thought my trip was going to be a solitary one but the likelihood of that promptly disappeared the moment I stepped into DJ Station. Squeezing through the place on Friday nite, I bumped into quite a few Singaporeans. I hung out with different groups of them but decided since I came alone … I shud be indepedent and try to have fun solo … away from the comfort zone of people I know.
I made my way onto the stage to dance. Good idea i guess … ’cause I got accosted my lots of Thai guys reaffirming that I still had some market value. I think being a grouch at the gym and at clubs in KL and SG has kept guys who’d normally come up to me at a distance so that’s made me wonder if I was fossilizing to the point where I had no market value.
My Singaporean frens told me to hop over to G.O.D. which i did and who should i see but Alan, Laurindo, Dal & Bert … a group of close frens. Thus at G.O.D. it was an exercise of hanging out with different groups of Singaporeans and certain Thai guys who were interested in me.
There were plenty of other Korean, Taiwanese and Hong Kong circuit boys in Bangkok too. Its been awhile since I attended a circuit party but I recognise them … and they remember me too. I guess once a circuit boy always a circuit boy. Unless you disappear from all clubs and the party scene for years and years on end, your peers in the circuit would still remember and acknowledge you.
The hopping around was getting rather tiring and at the end of the night … I decided to head to the Ascott for an extension with one of my frens who used to party at my place in KL.
To answer Shaozie’s request to blog about the person who visited my room at the Inn …. I got picked up by a SG guy working in BKK and we ended up at my hotel at day-break.
We split before lunch. Was gonna take a nap but I got a call from someone I had met the night before who offered to keep me company. Heck I thought … why not.
Out went my plans of visiting temples. Hit Platinum shopping center to get major shopping done and then had high-tea and a cosy dinner.
Sat nite at DJ … I was trying to be independent again so I spent a lot of time on the stage at DJ dancing. Same thing happened with lots of Thai guys trying to strike up conversations, hold my hand, dance with me and offer me drinks & things.
Moved over to G.O.D. again and this time i ended up chatting with 2 other singaporean guys working in BKK or passing through BKK. Same pattern of heading to my fren’s extension at the Ascott and after the extension … I ended up spending the nite with another Singaporean.
This time I spent most of Sunday with this person until I had to go back to my hotel to pack and head to the airport.
I don’t know what it is … both me and the SG guys working in BKK or passing thru BKK seemed to gravitate to each other. It was funny how we all realised we were Singaporeans the moment we opened our mouths.
Anyway, just to stop some people’s over-active imagination from running wild, I have toned down significantly and I spent a lot of time talking with the people I spent time with. References available upon request.
What I realised is that you’ll never really be alone in Bangkok. Quite a few guys travel to bangkok alone … its seems to be an unspoken wish to meet someone you can connect with and spend the night and the next day together
Even if it isn’t a big weekend, there’ll be plenty of people around who’ll be more than happy to keep a solo tourist company.
