A Night of Firsts in Bangkok
Now I am moving to Bangkok I am on a mission to explore it a bit more. I know only a small part of what this wonderful city has to offer.
So a few weeks ago my friends and I went to a little street restaurant on Udom Suk Road for my, must have, dinner of somtam. I normally have the papaya salad with chicken or pork, but they had run out so we were presented with a plate of pig intestine. It definitely did not look very appetising, but my friends told me to try, so I did. I was pleasantly surprised – it tasted a bit like liver, which I like. The other dish that we had was cat-fish, again something I have not tried before, and, again, it was really tasty. Very delicious, washed down with a cold singha beer. So that was the first first of the night.
Next, my friends took me to Talat Rot Fai– a vintage market, translated as train market, in Sri Nakarin, soi 51.
The market is one of the best I have been to in Thailand. There are funky shops selling retro clothes and shoes. You might also find old cameras or sewing machines. The main market area is big. There are stalls selling anything from food, to DVDs and old books, and vintage clothing all at reasonable prices. There is an old train station which has vintage cars and motorbikes, antique furniture and other artifacts from long ago. The market has a lively atmosphere with live music playing out of the many bars and clubs, and there are also a few cocktail cars-including an old VW Beetle which has been refashioned into a bar. We didn’t buy anything we just browsed, enjoying the atmosphere, and watching the people from our vantage point at a cool little bar we found. The second first of the night.
I had a meeting the following day with my new boss, but afterwards I met my friend, Chris, for lunch. Once lunch was finished we arranged to meet at soi 19 to go and visit another friend who has recently opened his new tailors shop-Jesse and Son. I wanted to interview them for an article about their shop, so we spent a couple of hours there before moving on to have a drink at a nearby bar.
What was supposed to happen was go to see Jesse, go home and get changed, and then go out for the evening. But plans are meant to be broken. What actually happened was we went to see Jesse, went for a drink at a nearby bar, ordered another drink, and went out straight from there. We went to the Sky Train Jazz Club- a sky bar near to Victory Monument BTS. Not exactly a sky bar- it was only six floors up. I renamed it the “not very high sky bar” because we were still dwarfed by the sky scrapers. The third first of the night
We ordered food and a bottle of whiskey- don’t forget it was a night of firsts. Not the first time I have drank whiskey but it certainly isn’t my usual tipple. The Sky Train Jazz Club is supposed to be a jazz club-the clue’s in the name-but they weren’t playing much jazz there. There was a groovy CD playing and I liked some of the songs so I asked my Thai friend, Pond, to ask what it was, and being a little drunk I asked “could I have it?” To which they replied “sure, as long as you have your photograph taken?” Er, OK then. I had my photograph taken with the guy who had compiled the CD, and they changed the CD, which was still playing, so I could have the one I had cheekily acquired. This goes with my philosophy- if you don’t ask you don’t get!
Later on my other friend, Nay, arrived we had a few more drinks and decided to go to Silom to continue the party. But we were not allowed to leave until the whole bottle of whiskey had gone-an impromptu rule made up by Chris.
The whiskey got drunk, we hopped over to Silom in a taxi, and carried on dancing and drinking in a couple of cool little bars-one of which was another first. And we ended the night on the steps of 7 11 eating pork sticks- classy.
I had so much fun that night, fun like I am used to in the UK. I danced for the first time since leaving home, and everyone knows dancing is good for the soul. I went to familiar places but experienced some new places as well.
Living in Bangkok is going to be good for me in so many respects and I know that I will enjoy many nights of firsts over the next few months.