A parked tuk tuk outside our hotel
My eyes watered at the streets littered with opportunities to spend money. Money that I don't have! The inevitable situation is now nearing and I'm feverishly trying to limit what I spend so that I have enough money to help me find my feet in Australia. We wandered around the central shopping district today and I was startled by the sight of huge western-style shopping malls and Starbuck's alike. Bangkok even has a few Boots stores (UK drug store) scattered here and there which Ali was more than happy to explore. I found myself desperately trying to restrain from indulging at every turn. Memories of a similar situation from Hong Kong came flooding back to me. It's days like today when I realise this 'Big Adventure' of mine is more about self-deprivation than anything else at times. I'm not ashamed of this and will openly admit that I like luxury and all things material. Ali spent half the day in the IT Center, a huge 5-floor mall dedicated to electronics and dodgy DVD's. After about an hour the initial interest and intrigue wore off and I realised that every floor had the same shops selling the same stuff. So I continued to follow Ali around like an unenthusiastic child does with his mother in the Marks & Spencer's hosiery department. Ali was checking out camera prices so that she could eventually replace the stolen one. The tides turned however in the second half of the day when Ali followed me around every single department store in the area searching for Kiehl's shaving foam. I'm running dangerously low and nothing else will substitute. Unfortunately Kiehl's doesn't seem to have much presence in Southeast Asia.
Just before nightfall we arrived at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar, a staggering complex of markets. This area was so big that we got lost several times and had to check the area map. You can buy everything from crafts, clothing, furnishings and antiques. There's even a beer garden which must be the largest of it's kind in the world although I'm not quite sure if 'Garden' is the right word to describe it. 'Beer Hanger' would be more appropriate I think. We spent over three hours walking around touching and feeling everything that looked appealing until we realised we had only seen about one fifth of the market and instantly lost motivation to carry on!!!
We negotiated 150 Baht with the tuk tuk driver and jumped in. He accelerated at such a speed I thought we were about to die. The three-wheeled vehicle raced off with an almighty screech and almost tipped over as the driver turned onto the main road. Ali and I looked at each other in shock and laughed out loud. We anticipated an interesting journey back home.
