Being in Bangkok is definitely surreal to say the least. Oh my goodness where do I even begin.
Well the two flights over were pretty good. I flew on Gulf Air, and even though I had never even heard of it before, it was probably one of the best airlines I've ever flown on [comfort wise] to say the least. Although from Bahrain to Bangkok as we were heading down the runway to take off, we had to head back to the gate as an irate passenger in Business Class decided to throw a hissy fit because he was unhappy with his TV monitor. So off the plane he went at the request of the cabin crew and applause from the plane.
It's 6 hours ahead of London and it's been a very long time since I've been anywhere ahead of home time wise, but it feels like a whole day ahead more so than 6 hours.
I arrived at my hotel at 10am, and was lucky I didn't have to wait until 2pm to get a room because my flight was early. I was expecting to have to put my luggage in the hold area and wait around for a few hours. My hotel, Le Fenix is in the heart of Sukhumvit on Soi 11 and it's not a pretty city at all. Well not from what I've seen anyway. It looks kind of beat up and ghetto. It doesn't smell as bad as people make out, and like the tourists, locals, cats and dogs, cockroaches walk the streets too. I called out to the almighty Jesus when I spotted my first one on the street in the early hours of this morning. Jesus has heard a lot from me these past two days.
Post shower I was exhausted, I ended up sleeping from noon right through to 8pm. I woke up to pitch darkness outside and the thumping bass from the nearby bars and clubs. Apparently I'm in one of the liveliest areas for nightlife, there's even a rooftop club on my [8th] floor called Nest. Haven't decided nor have a feel yet to see if I'm going to venture out to a club just yet, but I'll see. So I spent a little time deliberating as to whether I'd stay in and order room service or get up take another shower and venture outside. I was thinking it be better if I stay in and venture out in the morning then the common sense kicked in and told me to get up an go out. I didn't do 15 hours of travelling for no damn room service.
By the time I made myself feel beautiful again, I ventured out at 23:30 and walked the dark dank backstreets of Bangkok. I felt pretty safe as it goes. Always a tough girl who knows how to take care of herself, and my gut instinct told me these people were pretty harmless. I saw the odd tourist on my little walk [as well as the stray cat, dog and cockroach], as well as the old male or female [sleeping] security guard at the backs of the hotels. No matter what corner I turned there was always someone just sitting and securing a property. I spotted my first brotha [with his white woman] LOL. Now I don't know if he was staring hard because he'd seen a sistah or the fact that a sistah had seen a brotha with a white woman and felt guilty. Sistahs you know those looks.
Bangkok [Sukhumvit] area at night
So onto the main Sukhumvit Road I ventured and found something very similar to what I'd seen on Canal Street in New York. Silver jewelry, scarves, t-shirts, bootleg CD's and DVD's being sold. The same thing stall after stall. I even saw some candied cricket or locust, but definitely wasn't in the mood for that. Plenty of food stalls galore and was actually quite tempted, but thought let me just try somewhere a little safer first and let my stomach get used to being in a different country for at least 24 hours, as I'm not ready for the Bangkok Belly just yet. I passed by the Thai hookers. And let me tell you, these Thai hookers look just like the other regular Thai girls. They aren't dressed in a slutty way at all. And if they weren't just standing lined up on the street you'd never know who was a prostitute and who wasn't. I over heard a young French guy bartering with a beautiful street hooker.
"So how much" he asked.
"How much you got?'
"1,000 baht" he said.
I didn't stick around for the rest, but he was eager it seems to get some Thai poom poom for the night. I just laughed, the men that venture to these parts for sex are very sad indeed.
Part of the extras you can purchase in your room aside from the minibar in the room @ Le Fenix
It really remined you of what kind of a city you were in
Now you just know who is here for the sex and who isn't. Pretty much any man vacationing without his wife or girlfriend are interested in the Thai sex scene. In less than three hours I saw more old white men with young Thai women it wasn't even funny. Even here at the mall now, Miss rent a girlfriend, or the Thai mail order brides are in full effect. It's not uncommon for men to 'buy' a woman for the whole duration of his stay and act like the girlfriend catering to his every need [sexual and otherwise]. How sad do you have to be to rent a girl for a week or two?? Even the African prostitutes are down here also selling their stuff on the streets. Aside from a few brothas that I've seen out here the only black sistahs I've seen were hookers. They know better to think I'm one of them as I have my lil backpack, so definitely look like the typical tourist.
I ended up getting a dim sum special for 159 THB at around midnight at chokdee and was also glad to find out it stays open till 3am, which was pretty good. For the same thing in London would have been around 1200 THB. Everything here is pretty cheap. To buy an Iced Tea drink in a bottle at the local 7 Eleven cost me 18 THB [Around 30 pence] the same price roughly for a can of coke. I am so loving the cheapness of everything.
159 THB = £2.87
My first meal in Thailand which happened to be Chinese.
After my late dinner I ventured back around to Soi 13 to a massage place. Now it's not a seedy one. Thai people get massages like Americans and Brits go to the gym. A lot of these places close at midnight or are open 24 hours. If it's seedy like the Banana Bar near where I'm staying it will state 'For Men Only.' So I went to Lan Po and got a Thai massage for 1 hour at 1am. Now if you don't know, now you know...Thai massages are NOT relaxing. This petite Thai woman, stood on me, beat me, cracked me in places, I never knew existed, pulled me, stretched me. Put it this way I have never called on Jesus so much in my whole entire life. I was too through and realised it was only 1:05 and had 55 minutes of this to go. She massaged my neck Thai style so hard I really thought I was going to have a stroke, if not on the table, then in my sleep back at the hotel. She massaged my scalp my hair was ruined and even massaged the damn MAC make up OFF my face. It was lucky it was dark and late because for some Thai people Halloween really would have come early [although I didn't look that bad after she was through]. Everything was massaged except my stomach and my lady bits. Even my ass was manhandled I was like OK this is too much, but for them it's a massage, for a Westerner like me, it's bordering on assault and violation. I even had my earlobes and the insides of my ears massaged [insert weird face here].
At 2:05am she was through, and on more than one occasion had the nerve to say "you come again soon" I just did my smile and nod "yes, yes, I come back" Not a chance in hell. My pain threshold was really tested this morning and I am now ready for childbirth. I really am.
I wandered back to the hotel after stopping off at the 7 Eleven for a second time, and let me tell you, you think it's only black people on the whole light skinned thing? Asians are worse than us but over here it's accepted and encouraged. L'oreal, Garnier and Dove all cater to lightening products on TV and in the stores. It's that big in Asia. The fairer/whiter the better. I think even Lucy Lui would be considered too dark. Mrs H was telling me that her sister's Thai friend Nad is considered too dark by Thai standards and her own mother brings her back lightening and brightening creams from Thailand. You can't go anywhere without seeing them. Darker Thai models are not seen on the TV or in magazines. The only difference is the women that use these creams don't look disfigured like the black women do because theirs doesn't contain hydroquinone. From looking at the ingredients I have no idea what agent actually lightens their skin. Maybe it's the Titanium Dioxide, who knows.
I got accosted by a half Arab, half Thai guy in my elevator asking me to go for a drink with him after he finishes work. It was after 2am at this point and with the time plus the fact i clocked his wedding ring I politely declined. I know how some of those Arab men stay, even the Arab steward was smiling sweetly and about 2 inches from my face on the flight from Bahrain asking me where I was from as in Africa or the Carribean. I politely told him my parents are from Jamaica and left it at that. You can tell when people are just being friendly to when they are interested like you are some kind of fetish. I don't know what they have heard but this woman is not easy.
I had to force myself to sleep at 6 am and got up at 7:30 am this morning. I wasn't tired after an 8 hour sleep but knew I'd need a little nap to get me through to the next day.
I did it!!...what I blogged about some weeks ago, I managed to cross off my list in Thailand.
The chillin' chicken
You call that a dropping???
I am not even making this up, there were creatures in those bushes, behind trees, you name it they were there. If I saw a snake, or a monkey decided to drop out of the sky on my head it would have been all over. I got all Hyacinth Bucket again and fixed my face like she and my mother would, holding my backpack close to me and praying if anything jumped out, that Nelly wouldn't wild out throwing me off and leaving me in a pile of dung [how dramatic am I?] It didn't happen though..thank God! Whatever was in the bushes stayed in the bushes.
