Bangkok – first impressions
June 20, 2008 by rockportrait
I don’t even know where to begin. No photos yet to share with you as I didn’t feel comfortable taking my camera out tonight.
Smells (think sewerage in many places), noise, pollution, people, lights, street stalls, dogs, aggressive taxi drivers (all of them insist on taking you somewhere you don’t want to go, and none of them take no for an answer), incredibly fake politeness. It’s overwhelming and I don’t know how I’m going to get through tomorrow on my own.
Tonight I needed a massage to remove the pain from my feet (walking) and shoulders (pack). The shop-fronts offering massage are everywhere, so I asked a taxi driver to help me find a good one. I ended up at some ridiculously opulent building which immediately felt wrong. Inside were about 200 bikini clad Thai girls behind glass, all trying to get my attention. It felt like a zoo and terribly exploitative. Don’t the girls feel less than human in that situation? Trying to get out of there without upsetting the bloke in charge was a delicate task.
Once I got out I made my way to Sukhumvit 24 where in wait lay a diamond in the dirt. I can’t remember the name of it, but the seafood on offer was “special” as Brucey would passionately declare if he was there. However, he wasn’t there. In fact no-one else was there – only me. I was treated to a floor show of traditional Thai dance, and no less than six very attentive waiters. I went to visit my meal for the night, whilst it was still alive, and got to know all 4 river prawns and a very nervous crayfish quite well.
The meal was incredible, the wine I chose was some Italian Zinfandel which blew my mind, and the service exemplorary. It was only spoiled a tiny bit when my throng of waiters had their attention diverted by a pair of latecomers – a 60+ UK divorcee (so he said to ‘her’) with his evening’s “girlfriend experience”. The only downer for me was that I was alone at my table, and my main waiter wouldn’t join me for a taste of that fabulous Zinfandel. It was probably because he couldn’t understand a word of Englsh and thought I was propositioning him.
So, my first night in Bangkok wasn’t all bad, but who knows what tomorrow will bring. I’m nervous…
