Sunday 21st November 2004
Checked back into New World Lodge and went to the Bakery Café opposite to check emails and wait for the room to be made up. I've just had an interesting breakfast on the Kao San Road. Porridge with banana, coffee and toast. "What's interesting about that?" you may ask. Well not what I ate, but I got chatting to a very charismatic and entertaining Serbian guy who is an entrepreneur of sorts. His favourite word seems to begin with "F" He buys and sells typical traveler type items like wristbands and stuff. I helped him compose an email to his Chinese supplier in accurate English, so he could sort out some discrepancy with his shipment of goods. He was very grateful and seemed to be fairly trustworthy although he looked really bloody scary!
I got an email last night from Pat. She wants to meet in the 'MBK' shopping mall at 3pm with a few of her friends. They are all studying English and are dying to talk to me apparently. It appears I have become the girls' latest homework project and when we all gathered in one of the many 'MK' restaurants in town it was the strangest feeling. I never imagined I would be the centre of attention sitting in a restaurant with five 19-year-old girls hanging on my every word. It would never happen in England and even if it did I would most likely get plenty of disapproving looks from everyone.
We ordered Suki, raw items of food, which you cook in a pot of simmering water in the m
iddle of the table. It was delicious. Pat insisted on serving me my food as I was a guest in her country. All the girls were good company and all quite different to each other in terms of how they view things etc. Although they were all studying English, one of them didn't seem to speak a word of it and had her mobile phone stuck to her ear most of the time and she didn't stop smiling and giggling. Apparently she is constantly receiving phonecalls from boys!
Pat is an extremely polite and very genuine person. She has nothing but respect for people and seems very unassuming. She insisted on waiting with me at the bus stop until my bus came. Again, a Thai custom, I believe, to take care of her guest until the very last. She asked me if it was ok for her to call me her friend. Now that's a level of politeness I have never witnessed before back home!
Back at the hotel I felt exhausted. I have some whopping blisters on my toes, which don't actually hurt, but they look horrible. Washed a few clothes, had a shower and went to the Thai Massage place round the corner. If you are ever in the Banglamphu area, it is worth a visit in Samsen Soi 2. Decided to stay one more day in Bangkok to see if I can get some bookings sorted out for accommodation over Christmas & new year when I'll be meeting up with a friend from England and staying by the sea down South and I am going to go up-river to Nonthaburi to have a look around.
