Vista And WiFi Tension Headaches
I think I am having a bout of tension headache. This is when moi feels all tensed up somewhere between the brows.
If you thought that buying my notebook settles all my problems, you are wrong! It has brought on more problems for moi.
First there is that compatibility issue getting Vista to work with my Norton Anti-Virus (yes it is VERSION 2007 but it can't work with Vista yet) and my other computer peripherals. I havent even settle down to monkeying around with imy notebook's tablet functions and GOD KNOWS WHAT THAT WILL BRING ME!
And then there is that delicate and precarious position of finding JUST THE RIGHT WIRELESS HOTSPOT that has excellent signal strength for me to get connected to the INTERNET HIGHWAY.
Yes, many, many,many places have been earmarked as wireless surfing paradises but not many has delivered what it promises.
This is very, very,very, very frustrating indeed.
WIFI MisConnection And DisConnection And Annual Staff Event
I must have spoken too soon about "our superb libraries" and "our WIFI connection everywhere".
Today was the Annual Staff Event for all the central, regional and community libraries. What that means is that they are all closed till 2pm.
But moi didn't know that. Yes they had a notice put up on their website but nobody visits a website everyday unless he has some perennial business there.
When I trudged my sorry arse down carting my notebook and all, I was expecting to do some work, like troubleshooting my anti-virus software program which I can't do except online. I was counting on their WIFI to do that, with the permission of HIS EXCELLENCY the WIFI Connection that is (read : CRANKY OLD GROUCHY WIFI who may wanna work today or he may not. Maybe even tomorrow).
As it is, I had trouble logging in almost anywhere now, even at purported wireless hotspots. Low and no signal strength, it seems.
So when the signpost read "Annual Staff Event ...........and library will only open at 2pm", I wanted to KILL SOMEBODY for wasting my trip and time.
Couldn't they announce it a week earlier so patrons are forewarned? And put up notices on more media forms like the radio, TV and newspapers? Better still, if this is a fixed annual event, much like our public holidays on a certain date and month, couldn't they say so so patrons will know?
It poured and I had no where to go to do my surfing. This is the peril of road warriors, people who work out of the office and home and are working on the go and in the rough.
GOSH, please............. let us get the WIFI right.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Even More Recollections - I Miss Bangkok
I Need To Sit On Something With A Strong Sturdy And Comfortable BackRest
Of course I know that a laptop is supposed to be put on the laps and be worked on.
But mine is a notebook now. And it can be pretty hot, the ventilation ducts blowing really hot air.
So I do need somewhere to put the notebook. Now that my back hurts so much, hunching over it on me bed just won't do. The posturing somehow does strange things to me, causing me much pain and indigestion.
I Feel "HomeSick" And Those Lovey-Dovey Moments - Guys I Miss You
No jobs here. No "family nucleus". No nothing. I am beginning to think Bangkok has everything going for me.
It was quite an experience visiting the massage parlours. The one club that was situated in residential quarters (which was on a street just opposite mine - GOD - you must have been really kind to put me in gay paradise) had such attentive attention to service and details and precisely because it was in residential quarters, you felt very much at home.
This was unlike the ones in commercial buildings. I get to select my masseur (the home-based one had four at a time) and with so many at one go (at the commercial establishments), I was a little intimidated. They just stood up in unison like in a criminal identification parade, waiting to be picked up, even before you could get sufficiently sexually aroused.
I had three really soft-spoken masseurs and I got two of their contacts. The last one was a little on the rough and he was angry about something. But he gave of himself and he used his chin stubs to very good use.
As for the go-go boy and escort serviceboy, we hugged and kissed and embraced for the night. When I brought the serviceboy out for a chat near STARBUCKS, we held hands and watched the laser in the sky.
We had such "great conversation", it doesn't matter that not speaking the same language has anything to do with anything at all. We signed and sounded with our hearts and soul and that said enough.
More than words can express.
Is This Where I Finally Belong?
I really wanna go back and see them all AGAIN. Bangkok is not AN ESCAPE HATCH for me. If moi decides and I can buy up that space in the sky and start up something, I settle down there for good.
Fantastic Food And Excellent Service
Do you know that you buy coupons at the foodhalls? That means the operators have central control over money and the chefs only handle what he does best - cooking up delicious food for people like moi.
And after you place your order (at least at the Siam Paragon foodhall), they serve you your food while you just take a back seat and wait. When the food comes, you just tuck in.
Looking Your Best - At That Age, Nobody Bothers Looking At You Anymore
Look I don't wanna be like any of the old "farangs" or even the oldies here. At their kinda age, they are alone and they have to start to look for love. Even if they dress their best, who wanna look.
Nobody.
If anyone does look, it is just highly suspicious, isn't it?
I don't wanna end up in that sad, sad, sad, sad state. Do you?
Of course I know that a laptop is supposed to be put on the laps and be worked on.
But mine is a notebook now. And it can be pretty hot, the ventilation ducts blowing really hot air.
So I do need somewhere to put the notebook. Now that my back hurts so much, hunching over it on me bed just won't do. The posturing somehow does strange things to me, causing me much pain and indigestion.
I Feel "HomeSick" And Those Lovey-Dovey Moments - Guys I Miss You
No jobs here. No "family nucleus". No nothing. I am beginning to think Bangkok has everything going for me.
It was quite an experience visiting the massage parlours. The one club that was situated in residential quarters (which was on a street just opposite mine - GOD - you must have been really kind to put me in gay paradise) had such attentive attention to service and details and precisely because it was in residential quarters, you felt very much at home.
This was unlike the ones in commercial buildings. I get to select my masseur (the home-based one had four at a time) and with so many at one go (at the commercial establishments), I was a little intimidated. They just stood up in unison like in a criminal identification parade, waiting to be picked up, even before you could get sufficiently sexually aroused.
I had three really soft-spoken masseurs and I got two of their contacts. The last one was a little on the rough and he was angry about something. But he gave of himself and he used his chin stubs to very good use.
As for the go-go boy and escort serviceboy, we hugged and kissed and embraced for the night. When I brought the serviceboy out for a chat near STARBUCKS, we held hands and watched the laser in the sky.
We had such "great conversation", it doesn't matter that not speaking the same language has anything to do with anything at all. We signed and sounded with our hearts and soul and that said enough.
More than words can express.
Is This Where I Finally Belong?
I really wanna go back and see them all AGAIN. Bangkok is not AN ESCAPE HATCH for me. If moi decides and I can buy up that space in the sky and start up something, I settle down there for good.
Fantastic Food And Excellent Service
Do you know that you buy coupons at the foodhalls? That means the operators have central control over money and the chefs only handle what he does best - cooking up delicious food for people like moi.
And after you place your order (at least at the Siam Paragon foodhall), they serve you your food while you just take a back seat and wait. When the food comes, you just tuck in.
Looking Your Best - At That Age, Nobody Bothers Looking At You Anymore
Look I don't wanna be like any of the old "farangs" or even the oldies here. At their kinda age, they are alone and they have to start to look for love. Even if they dress their best, who wanna look.
Nobody.
If anyone does look, it is just highly suspicious, isn't it?
I don't wanna end up in that sad, sad, sad, sad state. Do you?
Sunday, February 25, 2007
More Impressions During My Visit To Bangkok
InterNet Cafes
The Internet cafes are not like some of the dinghy dark places here. They are brightly lit, spacey and have plush leather seats. Again the OSIM massage chairs kind. For 30 baht an hour which only expires in 30 days, it is DIRT CHEAP.
And they are conveniently located within the major cineplexes.
I had no problems connecting or with the connection speed on that one occassion I surfed the INTERNET.
Communication
During the one week I was in Bangkok, I found myself grinning from ear to ear most of the time. I had such a fabulous time trying to communicate verbally with the Thai people in English. If I couldn't, I had to resort to signing and sounding and we laughed when we finally realised what we were trying to say to each other.
I signed "swimming" when I was looking for a public pool to swim in. I signed again when I wanted a press-on ciggy lighter, not a tumble-turn one. I even sounded "frustration" when I couldn't have ice-cream for my dessert because the dumb eatery doesnt serve any.
The best conversation I had was with the escort serviceboy. I mean I couldn't help it. It wasn't my doing if the hostel I picked happened to be right next to an escort service and from the Internet, I found out that it caters to a gay clientele.
But I am not sure who serviced who. I BJ him and he got paid for my service! What do you think of that? Nutty right?
All The Beautiful, Handsome And Young Thai Service Boys I Met (I Wanna Bag One Home To Be My One And Only True Beau)
I mean I knew he needed money to buy his house and he looked pretty worn out from waiting for clients and waiting on what must be a motley clientele with different sex needs.
The go-go boy I brought home could speak Mandarin. In fact he looked Chinese and I wouldn't be surprised as Chiang Rai is right up north so close to the border with China.
In fact it was a tussle between No 1 and No 31 (which was him).
I just had to get one off the stage so he could put on his clothes and join me at the table. It must be shivering cold going topless under the air-condiitioner with a tacky number tag hung on his tight swim shorts.
Almost all the masseurs I met were University students at various universities around
Bangkok. They probably needed the money to finance their studies. They invariably had one style of working your body from toe to shoulder.
But some deviate. They used their full body strength and energy, their knuckles and their elbows to massage you at the right spots for maximal relaxation effect. I really can't deny them their just dues when they gave so much of themselves in every rub they effect.
I learnt one thing: I will never judge anyone ever again. Especially people working in the sex industry.
Bankok Is A Haven And Escape Hatch For Various Different People
Back in Singapore, I just couldn't smile as much. There is that unspoken tension and grind of daily living. You seem to be more competitive, combative and cold here maybe because you know these people and what they are up to.
Most of all, you could pick up most of the languages spoken here and know what is going on.
In Bangkok, I dont understand a word of Thai. Like when I was trying to fish out money for my movie ticket, the GALL cashier spoke something in Thai. She could be cussing moi for all I know but as long as I hear NO EVIL, hey, I FEEL AND KNOW NO EVIL TOO.
There are so many "farangs" in Bangkok. Mostly men. Usually older men. Some must be single, some divorced and some even married. They must be here for reasons only known to themselves.
Perhaps to escape their matrimonial traps. Perhaps Bangkok offers them that chance to be truly at ease and to be themselves. A haven for gays where they can break free of all restrictions. Perhaps to be young again and to arouse a flagging libido.
Like this lone Singapore man on the return airplane who has a woman and a toddler girl as a screen saver on his laptop.
Some Confessions
Of course the real reason for refusing to ride the tuks tuks or the motorbikes, apart from the grime and natural elemental thingy, was that there wasn't any red-hot sexy biker or driver helming them. I would if there were.
And that sexy young dude standing on the steps of an old dirty rickety non-air conditioned public bus makes it seems like he was a rodeo cowboy doing the horse jerk stunt.
I never had any safety or security issues while out on the sttreets either. Bangkok Streets are safe. There are police patrols and security patrols. Women, and not just the harlots, traipse the streets late into the night. So what more moi who is A MAN (or woman?)!
Movie Going And Boy Watching
The cineplexes rival ours, and some are really much better. The Siam Paragon cineplex has the IMAX theatre and a GOLD CLASS theatre with plush leather seats (like the OSIM massage chairs) going for 500 Baht. Otherwise a normal seat would only cost 100 to 120 baht.
They offer a whole range of Thai moviefare and boy, are the Thais really as movie-prolific as Bollywood or Hollywood is! I suppose a 62 million domestic market is just too good to pass up.
I had so much fun watching "Final Score" which was about the typical school lives of some typical Thai male students studying for the O-net and A-net to prepare them for the university which wasn't very much different from ours.
This reminded me of that short afternoon I spent at the National Stadium watching a group of hot dudes in white tops and brown khakis, belts and shin-length socks playing futsal, while sittimg on a spread-out piece of Starbucks serviette lining the stadium steps.
I gulped and drooled, what else.
Shopping
For the first time on all my overseas trips, I actually shopped and bought stuff in Bangkok. Really expensive stuff. Prices comparable to the deparment stores and boutique shops here in Singapore.
I was actually eyeing a pair of designer jeans at a shop called "Seven Steps". It had this nice leopard patch on its back pocket and when I tried it on, I realised how tight and lowly hip-hugging it was!
But of course! It was meant for the ladies! That is how they get to show off their belly and navel and the crack between their bums. And it restricted their movement so much, they would walk very much more like a lady. Something like the Chinese ladies of old who had their feet bounded.
Then there were these few limited edition jeans which would have cost moi something like 15000 to 25000 Baht (SGD1000). Studded with gemstones and uniquely designed, they could boast of no rival copycats, I suppose.
Puma had three mid-ankle socks which I couldn't find in Singapore so I promptly mopped them up.
At the end of the day, I lugged a huge and long red CASTRO sling bag back home to Singapore as a sign that I SHOPPED TILL I DROPPED.
The only consolation is that I could claim the 7% VAT as a tourist. Just as long as I remember to stamp the PP10 before passport control and actually claim the money after passport control.
Dining
I have also never eaten quite so much like I did in Bangkok. I just had to try the Rosselle and Gooseberry drinks. The durian ice-cream with sticky rice dessert (Now I know why the Malays eat durians with rice - not the cooked steamed rice but the sticky sweet glutinous kind). And a special kind of vermicelli served with sweet potatoes and yam in a sweet paste and soup.
I had all kinds of fried noodles served up with chunky chicken pieces, whole eggs, prawns and vegetables - fragrant, spicy and tasty. When the stalls display the ingredients in the windows, it shows they put in authentic ingredients into their cooking.
Ironically, I ate at a Shanghai eatery in Bangkok. I sampled the ma-po-tou-fo and it was really spicy and good.
When I tire of shopping, I popped into Starbucks where I could have time-out smoking, observing the traffic and people-watching by the road at street level, although on a raised platform sometimes.
And yes Bangkok loos have water sprays and raised pedestal squat pans.
The Chao Phraya, The Wats, The Grand Palace, The Ministry Of Defence, The Origins Of Thai Massage And The Thai Language
When I crossed the Chao Phraya River in a cab on bridgelinks which had designs shaped like a harp and another shaped like the Eiffel Tower, it was like being transported to another side of a life separated by the river.
At the riverfront on one side, there are ferries to ferry you across and boat cruises. There are street eateries, vendors and buskers and shops here.
I visited the Wat Pho where the ignormous gold-plated lying Buddha rests. It was quite a magnificent sight to behold.
The Grand Palace was grand (what else) and I couldn't help noticing how the murals on the walls of the Wat inside this palace, like the Wat Pho, have drawings of male and female figures with marks spotted at the exact places where the masseurs work on.
Lo and behold there is a Wat Pho massage school somewhere near the Wat. So massage must have originated from the temples themselves with the monks as the master masseurs then?
Opposite the Palace, the Ministry of Defence Building impresses with canons cramming its compound space and is actually a tourist hotspot.
The Thai spoken language has many of its numerical pronunciation sounding like our Teochew and Cantonese dialect. Thai culture must be so influenced by the Chinese, Thais and Tamils that its language also got entangled in the ethnic mix because it is written so much like in Tamil or Sanskrit.
What We Have Going For Us And What We Don't
Singapore has done well in many areas. We have our clean streets, beautiful green parks and reserves with water in some areas. We also have our well developed land and water sport facilities. Our stadia, our gyms and our swimming pools. Our kayaking activities around the waterfronts, the WIFI connection almost everywhere and our superb libraries.
But the Thais are serving up authentic, tasty, real, value-for-money, traditional Thai foodfare that comes with assorted spices, condiments and sauces at foodhall prices, easily available and affordable.
I suppose tourists when they visit, would be just as interested to see the grime of street life like in Chinatown or the street markets and night bazaars. Not a cleaned up and sanitized environment which they can see back home, assuming they are First Worlders and they are just as clean and sanitized.
To me, this offers another angle of life and as a tourist or even as a resident, as long as I can get back home to a clean hot bath in a clean nice cosy home at the end of the day, I am fine with it.
Most of all, at all service levels, we get to interact with Thai people (be they looking like Thais, Chinese or Malays) speaking the Thai language.
I just have this awful feeling that Thailand is seeing a lot more visitors than we are, going by the places I visit and the head counts I made of foreigners I see in Bangkok at different destinations.
This must surely be what a foreign visitor wants to see and feel. Thais and Thailand. Much like Singaporeans and Singapore.
The Internet cafes are not like some of the dinghy dark places here. They are brightly lit, spacey and have plush leather seats. Again the OSIM massage chairs kind. For 30 baht an hour which only expires in 30 days, it is DIRT CHEAP.
And they are conveniently located within the major cineplexes.
I had no problems connecting or with the connection speed on that one occassion I surfed the INTERNET.
Communication
During the one week I was in Bangkok, I found myself grinning from ear to ear most of the time. I had such a fabulous time trying to communicate verbally with the Thai people in English. If I couldn't, I had to resort to signing and sounding and we laughed when we finally realised what we were trying to say to each other.
I signed "swimming" when I was looking for a public pool to swim in. I signed again when I wanted a press-on ciggy lighter, not a tumble-turn one. I even sounded "frustration" when I couldn't have ice-cream for my dessert because the dumb eatery doesnt serve any.
The best conversation I had was with the escort serviceboy. I mean I couldn't help it. It wasn't my doing if the hostel I picked happened to be right next to an escort service and from the Internet, I found out that it caters to a gay clientele.
But I am not sure who serviced who. I BJ him and he got paid for my service! What do you think of that? Nutty right?
All The Beautiful, Handsome And Young Thai Service Boys I Met (I Wanna Bag One Home To Be My One And Only True Beau)
I mean I knew he needed money to buy his house and he looked pretty worn out from waiting for clients and waiting on what must be a motley clientele with different sex needs.
The go-go boy I brought home could speak Mandarin. In fact he looked Chinese and I wouldn't be surprised as Chiang Rai is right up north so close to the border with China.
In fact it was a tussle between No 1 and No 31 (which was him).
I just had to get one off the stage so he could put on his clothes and join me at the table. It must be shivering cold going topless under the air-condiitioner with a tacky number tag hung on his tight swim shorts.
Almost all the masseurs I met were University students at various universities around
Bangkok. They probably needed the money to finance their studies. They invariably had one style of working your body from toe to shoulder.
But some deviate. They used their full body strength and energy, their knuckles and their elbows to massage you at the right spots for maximal relaxation effect. I really can't deny them their just dues when they gave so much of themselves in every rub they effect.
I learnt one thing: I will never judge anyone ever again. Especially people working in the sex industry.
Bankok Is A Haven And Escape Hatch For Various Different People
Back in Singapore, I just couldn't smile as much. There is that unspoken tension and grind of daily living. You seem to be more competitive, combative and cold here maybe because you know these people and what they are up to.
Most of all, you could pick up most of the languages spoken here and know what is going on.
In Bangkok, I dont understand a word of Thai. Like when I was trying to fish out money for my movie ticket, the GALL cashier spoke something in Thai. She could be cussing moi for all I know but as long as I hear NO EVIL, hey, I FEEL AND KNOW NO EVIL TOO.
There are so many "farangs" in Bangkok. Mostly men. Usually older men. Some must be single, some divorced and some even married. They must be here for reasons only known to themselves.
Perhaps to escape their matrimonial traps. Perhaps Bangkok offers them that chance to be truly at ease and to be themselves. A haven for gays where they can break free of all restrictions. Perhaps to be young again and to arouse a flagging libido.
Like this lone Singapore man on the return airplane who has a woman and a toddler girl as a screen saver on his laptop.
Some Confessions
Of course the real reason for refusing to ride the tuks tuks or the motorbikes, apart from the grime and natural elemental thingy, was that there wasn't any red-hot sexy biker or driver helming them. I would if there were.
And that sexy young dude standing on the steps of an old dirty rickety non-air conditioned public bus makes it seems like he was a rodeo cowboy doing the horse jerk stunt.
I never had any safety or security issues while out on the sttreets either. Bangkok Streets are safe. There are police patrols and security patrols. Women, and not just the harlots, traipse the streets late into the night. So what more moi who is A MAN (or woman?)!
Movie Going And Boy Watching
The cineplexes rival ours, and some are really much better. The Siam Paragon cineplex has the IMAX theatre and a GOLD CLASS theatre with plush leather seats (like the OSIM massage chairs) going for 500 Baht. Otherwise a normal seat would only cost 100 to 120 baht.
They offer a whole range of Thai moviefare and boy, are the Thais really as movie-prolific as Bollywood or Hollywood is! I suppose a 62 million domestic market is just too good to pass up.
I had so much fun watching "Final Score" which was about the typical school lives of some typical Thai male students studying for the O-net and A-net to prepare them for the university which wasn't very much different from ours.
This reminded me of that short afternoon I spent at the National Stadium watching a group of hot dudes in white tops and brown khakis, belts and shin-length socks playing futsal, while sittimg on a spread-out piece of Starbucks serviette lining the stadium steps.
I gulped and drooled, what else.
Shopping
For the first time on all my overseas trips, I actually shopped and bought stuff in Bangkok. Really expensive stuff. Prices comparable to the deparment stores and boutique shops here in Singapore.
I was actually eyeing a pair of designer jeans at a shop called "Seven Steps". It had this nice leopard patch on its back pocket and when I tried it on, I realised how tight and lowly hip-hugging it was!
But of course! It was meant for the ladies! That is how they get to show off their belly and navel and the crack between their bums. And it restricted their movement so much, they would walk very much more like a lady. Something like the Chinese ladies of old who had their feet bounded.
Then there were these few limited edition jeans which would have cost moi something like 15000 to 25000 Baht (SGD1000). Studded with gemstones and uniquely designed, they could boast of no rival copycats, I suppose.
Puma had three mid-ankle socks which I couldn't find in Singapore so I promptly mopped them up.
At the end of the day, I lugged a huge and long red CASTRO sling bag back home to Singapore as a sign that I SHOPPED TILL I DROPPED.
The only consolation is that I could claim the 7% VAT as a tourist. Just as long as I remember to stamp the PP10 before passport control and actually claim the money after passport control.
Dining
I have also never eaten quite so much like I did in Bangkok. I just had to try the Rosselle and Gooseberry drinks. The durian ice-cream with sticky rice dessert (Now I know why the Malays eat durians with rice - not the cooked steamed rice but the sticky sweet glutinous kind). And a special kind of vermicelli served with sweet potatoes and yam in a sweet paste and soup.
I had all kinds of fried noodles served up with chunky chicken pieces, whole eggs, prawns and vegetables - fragrant, spicy and tasty. When the stalls display the ingredients in the windows, it shows they put in authentic ingredients into their cooking.
Ironically, I ate at a Shanghai eatery in Bangkok. I sampled the ma-po-tou-fo and it was really spicy and good.
When I tire of shopping, I popped into Starbucks where I could have time-out smoking, observing the traffic and people-watching by the road at street level, although on a raised platform sometimes.
And yes Bangkok loos have water sprays and raised pedestal squat pans.
The Chao Phraya, The Wats, The Grand Palace, The Ministry Of Defence, The Origins Of Thai Massage And The Thai Language
When I crossed the Chao Phraya River in a cab on bridgelinks which had designs shaped like a harp and another shaped like the Eiffel Tower, it was like being transported to another side of a life separated by the river.
At the riverfront on one side, there are ferries to ferry you across and boat cruises. There are street eateries, vendors and buskers and shops here.
I visited the Wat Pho where the ignormous gold-plated lying Buddha rests. It was quite a magnificent sight to behold.
The Grand Palace was grand (what else) and I couldn't help noticing how the murals on the walls of the Wat inside this palace, like the Wat Pho, have drawings of male and female figures with marks spotted at the exact places where the masseurs work on.
Lo and behold there is a Wat Pho massage school somewhere near the Wat. So massage must have originated from the temples themselves with the monks as the master masseurs then?
Opposite the Palace, the Ministry of Defence Building impresses with canons cramming its compound space and is actually a tourist hotspot.
The Thai spoken language has many of its numerical pronunciation sounding like our Teochew and Cantonese dialect. Thai culture must be so influenced by the Chinese, Thais and Tamils that its language also got entangled in the ethnic mix because it is written so much like in Tamil or Sanskrit.
What We Have Going For Us And What We Don't
Singapore has done well in many areas. We have our clean streets, beautiful green parks and reserves with water in some areas. We also have our well developed land and water sport facilities. Our stadia, our gyms and our swimming pools. Our kayaking activities around the waterfronts, the WIFI connection almost everywhere and our superb libraries.
But the Thais are serving up authentic, tasty, real, value-for-money, traditional Thai foodfare that comes with assorted spices, condiments and sauces at foodhall prices, easily available and affordable.
I suppose tourists when they visit, would be just as interested to see the grime of street life like in Chinatown or the street markets and night bazaars. Not a cleaned up and sanitized environment which they can see back home, assuming they are First Worlders and they are just as clean and sanitized.
To me, this offers another angle of life and as a tourist or even as a resident, as long as I can get back home to a clean hot bath in a clean nice cosy home at the end of the day, I am fine with it.
Most of all, at all service levels, we get to interact with Thai people (be they looking like Thais, Chinese or Malays) speaking the Thai language.
I just have this awful feeling that Thailand is seeing a lot more visitors than we are, going by the places I visit and the head counts I made of foreigners I see in Bangkok at different destinations.
This must surely be what a foreign visitor wants to see and feel. Thais and Thailand. Much like Singaporeans and Singapore.
What Has Happened To Me
Where Has Thou Been, You May Have Wondered
Many, many, many things have happened in the few weeks since I last blogged. The few weeks stretching from the retail launch of Microsoft Windows Vista and St Valentine's Day right up to the long weekend over the Chinese New Year period.
In fact, at one point, I was torn between blogging and not blogging ever again. I am not sure what harm blogging will bring me, even though I blog in the spirit of hoping for good and improvements to happen. And all that pent-up thoughts and feelings do need airing and writing seems to be THE WAY TO GO.
Anyway, I like to share a couple of things that have happened.
What's Happening At Doray's
Leela has finally gone (YES! The Black Queen is really, really, really GONE! *Punches air with fists).
The clan is also gone! (YES again!)
Instead Doray has engaged a weekend domestic help (Awwww, she looks so sweet and petite and pretty, I wanted to belch, just as that boy belched when he saw moi -anyway, you keep to your house-keeping and I will stick to my side of the dividing line ok - M/s India?).
What a wise move, Doray! You should have thought of this earlier.
The whole place is peaceful and quiet and has none of the tension when the BLACK QUEEN was around. All that shadowy moves and creeping up on you and controlling and so on.
California, Here I Come
For all the "per-entry" charges that moi has been paying to the SSC gyms, I simply could not resist the comparably priced international all-clubs access membership that California Fitness has come up with.The international access proved to be a boon when I travelled to Bangkok
I signed up and they threw in a duffel bag and a Calif bear (yeah and I got another bear from a HP authorized reseller too when I bought my new laptop). I just did my FIT-start program and they did a body analysis and it seems like moi's physique has improved by quite a bit.
Microsoft Windows Vista, There You Go!
At first I was drawn to the only ACER model preloaded with Vista going at an incredible price but packed with some really neat features.
But after having to visit the shop three days in a row because of some technical glitches, I switched to a Toshiba but when that didn't work as well, I decided that perhaps a refund was in order.
I mean it is ridiculous when it has a Windows Live Messenger launch icon in its start menu but the pre-configured settings have no such filename. That means the Data Execution Prevention program kicks in to prevent WLM from ever launching itself to protect my computer from cyber attacks.
I can only conclude that perhpas the Taiwanese engineers aren't so attuned to American technology! Or it could just be simply the engineers alone who account for this mess!
So when the national newspapers advertised a HP Pavilion model with even more fun-packed and practical features (like fingerprinting technology and tablet function) I did my swop.
This model is smaller and handier to lug around, what with my AliBaba bag stuffed to the brim with my gym workout gear on top of a change in footwear.
7 Nights In Bangkok
The title of an old song "One Night In BangKok" and guess what, written by two former ABBA members in 1984. In fact I just got an ABBA music CD and in case you are wondering, ABBA is that famous quartet of singers from Sweden once upon a time, one of Sweden's best exports among others like Alfred Nobel, Ingrid Bergman and their Volvos.
That could explain why there are so many "farangs" in Thailand. They are fascinated by Bangkok just as I was.
Air Tickets And Airline Service
Expensive given that it is a budget JetStar airways and no food is served on board. For that kind of price, I could be flying other airlines that do. The gall crew did show me what a bob-cut or a hair bun would look like. I seriously like the bob-cut.
Accomodation
Very much like the guesthouse moi put up at in Tokyo Japan. Smal and spartan but this is slightly better in terms of locale (the one in Japan was at the back of the kitchen, imagine the cooking fumes but this one is above it ). No dustbin though.
Run by an Australian whose name and exact same trademark logo is to be found in a brand of jeans at major shopping centres. Truly international crowd (I have met Swedes, New Zealanders, an Irish, a Londoner, Canadians, Americans and Australians here) and ideally located in the heart of the city near a skytrain station. And for a night stay, attractively priced.
Old World And New World
Bangkok has successfully blended the two to make it a kinda lifestyle tourists would flock to see.
On one hand, you have the glitzy mega-malls and on the other, the street vendors selling noodles, fresh fruits and what-nots and grilling food over their barbeque pits in their push-carts. There are night bazaars and street markets hawking clothes and fashion accessories too, laid out on floor mats or tables or in make-shift stalls.
The mega-malls are really MEGA and one is linked to another (like in the case of Siam Centre, Siam Discovery Centre and Siam Paragon) which face out to the roads lined with cafes where people can dine and smoke, people and traffic-watching.
Other megamalls are linked to skytrain stations and to each other by skywalks which are overhead bridges that span great lengths up in the sky of course, where-else.
Traffic And Roads
The traffic is choking in some areas (especially the roads lining the train stations and yes they can have two lanes for vehichles moving in one direction and one lane for the other and mind you, this is just one side of the road divider).
The pavements are cracked and undulating and I don't have to trek in the jungles, I am already trekking out on the streets. The roads are dirty, grimy and so are the footpaths and yes the public buses and some older vehichles do emit sooty smog.
But the cabs are really something. Colorful in pink, blue, yellow or green, they have that sleek and trendy look. A Toyota Altis and LWJ model, it seems.
Food And Beverage (Dining)
Thai food is tasty and spicy and there is so much variety to choose from. The foodhalls have some of the most reasonable rates, exactly our prices, only cheaper in some instances and more expensive in others.
But the food has authentic ingredients like fresh prawns and vegetables and whole eggs and served with sweet sauces and spices that gives value for money.
There are so many types of desserts, each deliciously sweet and savoury. There are tissue-dispensers on the dining tables with some even dispensing tooth-picks.
At restaurants, you get a main dish and a side dish with drinks and desserts for the kind of price you pay in Singapore.
Service is mostly excellent.
Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins are now housed in Bangkok while we don't see them here in Sngapore anymore.
Retail Service (Shopping)
Some excellent service and some poor ones. Product knowledge, poor service attitude and not speaking the English language must surely be some of the common grouses. Not that we have any better here in Singapore.
Fashion wear are priced like our departmental and boutique shops while electronics such as computers are way cheaper.
They have more shops, more brands and more product range.
California Fitness Here
9 branches and each location brings me to a different part of Bangkok to savour a slightly different world.
Some branches have computerised weight machines that can tell you if you are doing your workout correctly and there are no weiight stacks - fully automated weight adjustment and the machines can tell you if you executed a complete stroke or did not return the weights lightly enough.
Some machines you can't find here in Singapore.
NightLife And GayLife
There are dance clubs, cabarets and go-go bars. Specific stretches of streets dedicated to the gay and hetero communities.
One go-go bar featured both cabaret shows and go-go shows.
This is true foreign talent. The go-go dudes could strike their massively strong and huge erections against the steel totem poles several times and not feel any pain. WOW!
And there was a tranny performance , a steamy shower sex scene and a highly acrobatic and agile fucking show in different positions - on the ladder, the grab bars and so on.
Thai Massage
The best, especially the home-based ones. Full body works and dick massage plus extras. Excellent service and service attitude.
I got to know a few of them very well and they all have some tug-at-your-heart stories to tell you - of why they are in the sex industry and the poor rural family backgrounds they hail from.
With the money I pay, I am indirectly helping them and their families.
Though we cant speak each other's language very well, we signed most of the time and got on very well indeed.
Thai Boys And Men
Surprisingly the dudes here are very good-looking, far much better-looking than us especially the dudes in school uniforms. There are those who have that traditional Thai look while others look like Chinese and Malay.
A Taste Of Thai Lifestyle
Almost like ours - shopping, eating and the movies. Movie theatres are like ours but some are really better like the one at Siam Paragon. Tickets arre priced really cheap and I got to watch a Thai local production entitled "Final Score".
Public Transport
Skytrains are priced ok while cabs are really cheap here. Flag-down rate is about 35 baht (SGD1.50 at an exchange rate of 22.9).
But the skyrains have grab bars snaking all round the ceiling of the trains. There are the motorbikers and tuks tuks but I didnt try because they looked grimy, and I wasn't prepared to be exposed to the elements like the roads and the really hot weather.
Private Apartments And Private Cars
Surprisingly condo-style and some are still very affordable like the one I am eyeing right now.
Cars are way cheaper here too.
Other Commodity Prices
Ciggies are cheap going at 60 baht (SGD 2.60) per pack. Most things are cheap in Bangkok except for fashion wear and clothes in the big departmental and boutique shops in the mega malls
Regrets And What I Left Behind In Bangkok
Two regrets. One was to buy X-rated porn films and do *****. And I left my pack of ciggies and ciggy-lighter and the cobra-pendant choker behind.
Not only that, I think I left my heart behind in Bangkok and all those Bangkok dudes I met and got to know and love.
7 nights in Bangkok and my heart is really there now.
Many, many, many things have happened in the few weeks since I last blogged. The few weeks stretching from the retail launch of Microsoft Windows Vista and St Valentine's Day right up to the long weekend over the Chinese New Year period.
In fact, at one point, I was torn between blogging and not blogging ever again. I am not sure what harm blogging will bring me, even though I blog in the spirit of hoping for good and improvements to happen. And all that pent-up thoughts and feelings do need airing and writing seems to be THE WAY TO GO.
Anyway, I like to share a couple of things that have happened.
What's Happening At Doray's
Leela has finally gone (YES! The Black Queen is really, really, really GONE! *Punches air with fists).
The clan is also gone! (YES again!)
Instead Doray has engaged a weekend domestic help (Awwww, she looks so sweet and petite and pretty, I wanted to belch, just as that boy belched when he saw moi -anyway, you keep to your house-keeping and I will stick to my side of the dividing line ok - M/s India?).
What a wise move, Doray! You should have thought of this earlier.
The whole place is peaceful and quiet and has none of the tension when the BLACK QUEEN was around. All that shadowy moves and creeping up on you and controlling and so on.
California, Here I Come
For all the "per-entry" charges that moi has been paying to the SSC gyms, I simply could not resist the comparably priced international all-clubs access membership that California Fitness has come up with.The international access proved to be a boon when I travelled to Bangkok
I signed up and they threw in a duffel bag and a Calif bear (yeah and I got another bear from a HP authorized reseller too when I bought my new laptop). I just did my FIT-start program and they did a body analysis and it seems like moi's physique has improved by quite a bit.
Microsoft Windows Vista, There You Go!
At first I was drawn to the only ACER model preloaded with Vista going at an incredible price but packed with some really neat features.
But after having to visit the shop three days in a row because of some technical glitches, I switched to a Toshiba but when that didn't work as well, I decided that perhaps a refund was in order.
I mean it is ridiculous when it has a Windows Live Messenger launch icon in its start menu but the pre-configured settings have no such filename. That means the Data Execution Prevention program kicks in to prevent WLM from ever launching itself to protect my computer from cyber attacks.
I can only conclude that perhpas the Taiwanese engineers aren't so attuned to American technology! Or it could just be simply the engineers alone who account for this mess!
So when the national newspapers advertised a HP Pavilion model with even more fun-packed and practical features (like fingerprinting technology and tablet function) I did my swop.
This model is smaller and handier to lug around, what with my AliBaba bag stuffed to the brim with my gym workout gear on top of a change in footwear.
7 Nights In Bangkok
The title of an old song "One Night In BangKok" and guess what, written by two former ABBA members in 1984. In fact I just got an ABBA music CD and in case you are wondering, ABBA is that famous quartet of singers from Sweden once upon a time, one of Sweden's best exports among others like Alfred Nobel, Ingrid Bergman and their Volvos.
That could explain why there are so many "farangs" in Thailand. They are fascinated by Bangkok just as I was.
Air Tickets And Airline Service
Expensive given that it is a budget JetStar airways and no food is served on board. For that kind of price, I could be flying other airlines that do. The gall crew did show me what a bob-cut or a hair bun would look like. I seriously like the bob-cut.
Accomodation
Very much like the guesthouse moi put up at in Tokyo Japan. Smal and spartan but this is slightly better in terms of locale (the one in Japan was at the back of the kitchen, imagine the cooking fumes but this one is above it ). No dustbin though.
Run by an Australian whose name and exact same trademark logo is to be found in a brand of jeans at major shopping centres. Truly international crowd (I have met Swedes, New Zealanders, an Irish, a Londoner, Canadians, Americans and Australians here) and ideally located in the heart of the city near a skytrain station. And for a night stay, attractively priced.
Old World And New World
Bangkok has successfully blended the two to make it a kinda lifestyle tourists would flock to see.
On one hand, you have the glitzy mega-malls and on the other, the street vendors selling noodles, fresh fruits and what-nots and grilling food over their barbeque pits in their push-carts. There are night bazaars and street markets hawking clothes and fashion accessories too, laid out on floor mats or tables or in make-shift stalls.
The mega-malls are really MEGA and one is linked to another (like in the case of Siam Centre, Siam Discovery Centre and Siam Paragon) which face out to the roads lined with cafes where people can dine and smoke, people and traffic-watching.
Other megamalls are linked to skytrain stations and to each other by skywalks which are overhead bridges that span great lengths up in the sky of course, where-else.
Traffic And Roads
The traffic is choking in some areas (especially the roads lining the train stations and yes they can have two lanes for vehichles moving in one direction and one lane for the other and mind you, this is just one side of the road divider).
The pavements are cracked and undulating and I don't have to trek in the jungles, I am already trekking out on the streets. The roads are dirty, grimy and so are the footpaths and yes the public buses and some older vehichles do emit sooty smog.
But the cabs are really something. Colorful in pink, blue, yellow or green, they have that sleek and trendy look. A Toyota Altis and LWJ model, it seems.
Food And Beverage (Dining)
Thai food is tasty and spicy and there is so much variety to choose from. The foodhalls have some of the most reasonable rates, exactly our prices, only cheaper in some instances and more expensive in others.
But the food has authentic ingredients like fresh prawns and vegetables and whole eggs and served with sweet sauces and spices that gives value for money.
There are so many types of desserts, each deliciously sweet and savoury. There are tissue-dispensers on the dining tables with some even dispensing tooth-picks.
At restaurants, you get a main dish and a side dish with drinks and desserts for the kind of price you pay in Singapore.
Service is mostly excellent.
Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbins are now housed in Bangkok while we don't see them here in Sngapore anymore.
Retail Service (Shopping)
Some excellent service and some poor ones. Product knowledge, poor service attitude and not speaking the English language must surely be some of the common grouses. Not that we have any better here in Singapore.
Fashion wear are priced like our departmental and boutique shops while electronics such as computers are way cheaper.
They have more shops, more brands and more product range.
California Fitness Here
9 branches and each location brings me to a different part of Bangkok to savour a slightly different world.
Some branches have computerised weight machines that can tell you if you are doing your workout correctly and there are no weiight stacks - fully automated weight adjustment and the machines can tell you if you executed a complete stroke or did not return the weights lightly enough.
Some machines you can't find here in Singapore.
NightLife And GayLife
There are dance clubs, cabarets and go-go bars. Specific stretches of streets dedicated to the gay and hetero communities.
One go-go bar featured both cabaret shows and go-go shows.
This is true foreign talent. The go-go dudes could strike their massively strong and huge erections against the steel totem poles several times and not feel any pain. WOW!
And there was a tranny performance , a steamy shower sex scene and a highly acrobatic and agile fucking show in different positions - on the ladder, the grab bars and so on.
Thai Massage
The best, especially the home-based ones. Full body works and dick massage plus extras. Excellent service and service attitude.
I got to know a few of them very well and they all have some tug-at-your-heart stories to tell you - of why they are in the sex industry and the poor rural family backgrounds they hail from.
With the money I pay, I am indirectly helping them and their families.
Though we cant speak each other's language very well, we signed most of the time and got on very well indeed.
Thai Boys And Men
Surprisingly the dudes here are very good-looking, far much better-looking than us especially the dudes in school uniforms. There are those who have that traditional Thai look while others look like Chinese and Malay.
A Taste Of Thai Lifestyle
Almost like ours - shopping, eating and the movies. Movie theatres are like ours but some are really better like the one at Siam Paragon. Tickets arre priced really cheap and I got to watch a Thai local production entitled "Final Score".
Public Transport
Skytrains are priced ok while cabs are really cheap here. Flag-down rate is about 35 baht (SGD1.50 at an exchange rate of 22.9).
But the skyrains have grab bars snaking all round the ceiling of the trains. There are the motorbikers and tuks tuks but I didnt try because they looked grimy, and I wasn't prepared to be exposed to the elements like the roads and the really hot weather.
Private Apartments And Private Cars
Surprisingly condo-style and some are still very affordable like the one I am eyeing right now.
Cars are way cheaper here too.
Other Commodity Prices
Ciggies are cheap going at 60 baht (SGD 2.60) per pack. Most things are cheap in Bangkok except for fashion wear and clothes in the big departmental and boutique shops in the mega malls
Regrets And What I Left Behind In Bangkok
Two regrets. One was to buy X-rated porn films and do *****. And I left my pack of ciggies and ciggy-lighter and the cobra-pendant choker behind.
Not only that, I think I left my heart behind in Bangkok and all those Bangkok dudes I met and got to know and love.
7 nights in Bangkok and my heart is really there now.
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