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.