Ade & Jos adventure day 17: Bloody useless
Had a bit of a lay in today, Jo doesn’t have to go into the office so we layed in till 7am… No Korean soap opera for me today… I did have an odd dream about being on a bus that crashed into a shed tho… So.. Win, win I suppose…
We had to go into the city today to collect Jos work permit and our multi entry visas (without the multientry we wouldn’t be able to travel in and out of Thailand), so a quick breakfast before getting on the hotel tuk tuk to the BTS station, a one stop ride to Asok, then a ride on the MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) or subway for normal folks to get to the building where the visa would be sorted… A slight miscalculation on our part meant we got off the MRT one stop early, but luckily while trying to make sense of a map, a really nice old Thai man came along and told us where to go and how to get there… He didn’t have to help, he just decided that me and Jo would be his good deed for the day bless him.
About twenty minutes later we arrived at the building… Like so many places in Bangkok it is multi-use… Its a residential block, a Mall and a government building..Oh yeah, they were also doing a blood drive in the main foyer…Up on the 18th floor we were met by our guide who took us into the visa application department and helped us through the process…. What seemed like an age later we both leave with multi entry visas and one work permit.. Sorted!.Jos not feeling exactly great today, so it’s good that she can work from home this afternoon… For lunch we had KFC.. Not sure what they put on their hotwings in Thailand but bloody hell they are hot! As usual i’m watching people come and go.. People watching is just one of those things I do wherever I am… It dawned on me today that Bangkok has a really high number of… Now how do I put this… Trying to be tactful…. As in.. not offensive…. oh, i’ll just say it…Bangkok has a lot of feminine men. As in, they look so bloody delicate… All perfectly groomed…. If any women in Bangkok happen to have a longing for a “bit of rough” within the 18–30 40 age range then they are out of luck! It’s like “blokes” are slowly becoming extinct here…. I’m like a caveman here amongst all these male model wannabes and perfectly groomed male dolls… Then there’s the other side of this seesaw called “Thailand men”… There are some seriously messed up people here in Bangkok.. Physically messed up.. I’m not sure if it’s a genetic issue or if due to work accidents some people have been left in a terrible physical state.. There’s a bloke that begs on the bridge near to Jos work.. With only one foot… We saw a man today begging at the MRT station who looked like he’d had half his body and face burned off…. And on the MRT we saw a man who had one foot that looked like someone had just put a random 90 degree bend in it making the end of his foot bend up toward the sky… I’m guessing that work conditions here (hopefully in the past) were bloody dangerous…. However, we pass building sites every day (Bangkok is always undergoing some kind of building work) where health and safety just seems to be non existent… Flip flops on a building site… Really?
It’s Loy Kathrong today, Thailands festival of light… Shops and bars are all covered in lights ready for tonight and the “suspicious” looking bar at the end of the road (with the neon heart outside) has a tiny paddling pool outside with a handwritten sign that says “Loy Kathrong party!” This could be a small scale Loy Kathrong or just somewhere for some girls to roll about in baby lotion…. Me and Jo however will be at our local park enjoying the evening… Nowhere near the suspicious paddling pool… Honest!
So after dinner in the bistro downstairs, where Jos friend Jaeb bought her some dried fruit to make into tea, I had spaghetti (wanted a break form spice) Jo had a burger.. We made our way to Benjasiri park to celebrate Loy Krathong, on the way we bought a “krathong” A small floating decoration (some are made from flowers,,, Ours was made from edible coloured ice cream cones) with a candle and incense.. The park was busy but peaceful, small children were placing krathongs in the water, as were adults.. Some prayed, holding their krathong before setting it on it’s journey, it was quite a spiritual experience… Truly beautiful and something I don’t think i’ll ever forget.
We spent a while in the park, watching the krathongs float in the water, before making our way through the crowds back to our tuk tuk….
Sadly this is where our night took an unexpected and rather unpleasant turn… We had an email from the company that’s dealing with our move to Bangkok. Apparently shortly after taking our possessions from our house an dwhile parked at another address, our moving van was broken into and our Blueray and DVD collection was stolen… Well, they say “broken into” personally I think they left the door open and some of our stuff got swiped. It’s not nice knowing your collection has been stolen.. But looking on the bright side, bluerays and be replaced.. Our wedding memory box and it’s contents can not, so if something HAD to be stolen? I’d sacrifice the bluerays any day. Plus, it’s insured so hopefully we can replace them all.
But still, if your moving house don’t use Pickfords. Bloody useless.
So back in our room.. Watching the apprentice before bed…
Night night.