fire up the ride of your life!

 armed with a pack of tissue and wet ones, a bottle of hand sanitizer, big-oh shades, cap, and breezy clothes, we trotted blazing bangkok. our first task was a half-day city tour. we had our buffet breakfast at the 43rd flr. of baiyoke suite hotel. after an hour, we met up with our tour guide at the hotel’s lobby.

yes, we were sort of late. but he was so patient and understanding, he didn’t mind it at all. when we stepped out of our hotel, "boom! hello scorching bangkok!" i think it was 40 degrees celcius. my all-white get-up didn’t provide much of a help. amidst the buzzing market, we ran to our van. thank god for the creator of airconditioning system. it was a 20 to 30-minute drive to our first destination–the pure gold buddha–that sits somewhere in busy metropolis that is bangkok. should i keep on reminding you that it’s hot, no, too hot in the city? i was a walking fountain and we were still in the beginning of the tour. 

observing, one can say how well-organized bangkok’s tourism authority is. their official tourist guides are well identified, properly-dressed, and surprisingly, well-versed in english. when we arrived at the massive temple housing the equally-gigantic reclining buddha, we joined hundreds of other tourists–both foreign and local–enjoying the rich culture of thailand.  why  didn’t i see the same number of eager beavers in, let’s say, intramuros? i had been to the walled city for quite a number of times and at different times of the year, and i only saw a handful of japanese  and koreans and two or three blond couples traversing the historic place. april is a month when foreign visitors are in decline in bangkok; still, their temples are teeming with foreign-passport holders (like us, hihihi!). i may be a tourist enjoying their culture but in the sideline, i’m an observer wanting to know how other countries go about with their daily lives. hopefully, in the process, i’ll learn something from them and, again hopefully, will apply it at home.

off to our next destination: the biggest jewelry factory in the world–world thai gems gallery international of bangkok co. ltd.– although i wasn’t interested (i know i couldn’t afford to buy any piece of jewelry at this point in my life), the idea of having the biggest jewelry assembly-line on the planet made my interest buoy. we were ushered in to a small audio-visual room. we watched a photo-made-to-video AVP (what we do in digicon wizard are better). afterwhich, we went to the next room–it is where they design, set, polish, etc. the jewelry. we were not allowed to take any kind of photos. a group of ladies ushered us in. they explained the entire process of creating a magical piece that’s worth your savings. i remembered a little. i just enjoyed the cool air inside. we then transfered to another room–the waiting room. then, like in alibaba’s story: kaboom! let there be gold and gem stones! every piece of jewelry my untrained mind could imagine was there–from minute torqoise pendants to supersize-me sapphire-encrusted necklaces…everything, as in everything i could imagine. no wonder it’s the world’s biggest. i dare not touch nor stared closely the scintillating pieces up for grabs (with a high tag, of course). in due time…

since we had a full-board meal, we had to go back to baiyoke for our lunch. nathan and us agreed to meet after an hour at the lobby. at the 43rd floor, it was chaos. it was like a mini-chinatown up in the sky. we were a minority. but we were hungry. tummy first before anything else. after the buffet lunch, nathan was kind enough to bring us to one complimentary drop-off (this is apart from the scheduled half-day city tour)–the siam central. it was, hmmm…like nothing else. nathan assisted us at the tourist information booth. there, we bought our 1st of many pasalubongs. we insisted that nathan left us there. his job ended long after the city tour ended. we’re finally on our own in the labyrinth that is siam. after some photo op, we decided to go to mbk–a greenhills-like-but-cooler-than-greenhills mall. we rode our first tuktuk. since we know the currency of haggling (with a dash of taray), we managed to pull down the fair. it was in mbk when we saw blizzard that costs way too low than in manila. i bought small green-tea blizzard that’s worth BHT25 (aroung PhP33). it was also in mbk where  i bought my fave white jelly wristwatch that costs only BHT250. just love it! hmmm… i also bought my tatay his bilin–a speedo shorts, and a shirt for my brother, and others. in the middle of my shopping bonanza, my cousin called. she wanted us to meet up with her. but the line was so it was past 7pm when we went out of mbk. chaos loomed the whole sidewalk. everyone was rushing to go back home. hailing a cab in bangkok was much difficult than getting a ticket to maroon5 concert in manila. at least in manila, drivers are more linient whent it comes to illegal fare hike. to abbreviate our ordeal of getting a cab, we made it to the hotel just in time for dinner. we freshened up and we asked the hotel’s concierge to get us a cab that would take us to praram 9 soi 6, where my cousin works. like any place in a foreign country, we didn’t know where the hell it was. what made it more nerve-wracking, it was 20-30 minutes away from our hotel. 

my cousin sings in a local yet (ultra) exclusive bar across rca–a place where celebs and bangkok’s young part crowd dance the night away. we were so clueless as to where to go. we asked a bell hop and he was glad to assist us. filipino singers were big time in bangkok, they told us. that’s why we didn’t have a hard time looking for my cousin. we went backstage. and when i saw my cousin whom i have had a special relationship with, i almost cried. it’s not plain and simple why i was emotional. but finally, after a decade or more, we saw each other again. she was preparing for her next set when we arrived. while she was performing, we took our time taking our pictures. they served us the most delicious nai-cha i’ve tasted so far (aside from chowking’s). after her performance, she volunteered to bring us to a night market. we thought we were going to chatuchak. when we arrived, it was phat pong–bangkok’s red district. well, we didn’t buy anything from the market except for the ridiculously-priced t-shirts for my nieces and nephews. but it’s okay. we had a good time there. we enjoyed the sights (it was like subic’s red district during balikatan exercises only freer and bolder). we met another filipino singer; while waiting for her we stayed at 7/11 where i bought a thai-designed coke bottle.  we bade farewell  around 2am (1am manila time). 

it was an activity-filled day. and that’s only our first day in bangkok…

more to come.

*sparkles!