Pat Pong late night adventures...

Final day in Bangkok today, I'm now sitting in an internet cafe waiting for my bus to Koh Tao - quite excited about going on this diving course! Whilst I'm waiting - here's my LONG update!

25th Sept - Following on from Vicky's arrival in BK, we headed off to Pat Pong in the evening... didn't go well...

Firstly, we got conned by the taxi driver who said he couldn't stop for long at the drop off point so he didn't have time to give us change for the ride.

As soon as we stepped foot into the streets of Pat Pong, we were hounded by touts, wanting us to follow them to see their "shows". Kee had read about the dangers of these touts, earlier on, about how they lead you to the clubs, then bill you for an extortionate amount.... YET, we were dumb enough to follow one tout - he said he'd take us to see "ping pong ladies". After following him several streets down, we finally arrived at a run-down dingey club at the back of an alley. We asked him how much it would cost to go in he said "only 100BT for drink! Come in". I was really sceptical, but Kee assured us saying that this is what the clubs are like (as he's been b4 with a tour group), so we walked in. Admittedly, I was curious, we all were curious about these "ping pong shows". It was nothing like what I imagined - if you've ever been to places like Stringfellows (I'm sure most of us have), the girls are elegant and classy in comparison to these. I felt sorry for these girls, they looked so depressed - they clearly didn't want to be there. They were dressed in bikinis, stomachs hanging over their briefs, standing on the stage, shifting their feet left-to-right to the music. Then there was the woman smoking cigarettes and blowing a trumpet from her private parts... ahem..

Whilst this was going on, we ordered 2 cokes and a beer.. the waitress gave us the bill - 900 Baht!! In a way, I knew this was coming, especially as we had just read about stories of tourists being ripped off at these places, but I really couldn't believe this was actually happening to us. OK - 900BT may seem like nothing (14 quid), but relative to everything else in Bangkok - its like 50 quid in London - put it this way, we got 2 tickets to Koh Toa Island for this money. I was livid! I told her that I refuse to pay that much and that we'd been told it was only going to be 100, she argued that there was entrance fee and all that crap. We argued for some time when this guy came up and demanded we pay up - I refused to give in, even though I knew he could actually do something quite dangerous to us, but my anger took over my fear! I chucked 300 Baht at the woman then pulled Kee and Vicks out, and we just ran! *Sigh* that was our adventure over, luckily, no one followed us and we got home safely (although we did get conned again on the taxi home, but thats another long story..)!

26th Sept - Had a great day walking around Jatujuk market - girls, you'd love it here - this place is 4 times the size of Kingston town centre, with rows of stalls back-to-back selling everything from textiles, clothing and shoes, to household goods, furniture and pets! The clothes are mega cheap - so cheap that in the end we were haggling for tops and skirts which had a starting price of 150BT (2 pounds)....There was so much I wanted to buy, but because I had to limit the amount of stuff I have to carry in my rucksack, I only ended up buying 2 tops and 3 skirts! ...I'll be back...

After shopping we had a relaxing Thai foot massage... one hour of total bliss...Massages and facials are so cheap here, I swear, if I ever retired here or something I'd have have amazing skin and be totally stress free from aches and pains!

Oh, I have to mention this, sorry Kee, hehehe... we went to the cinema last night to watch Wicker Park - a romance movie - at the end of it, Kee was crying! Hahahaha! so sweet really - shows he's a true romantic! :P

I'm gonna marry a rich man!

Went to Wat Po - where theres the famous reclining gold buddha - a truly awesome site..It was really interesting to learn about the various types of buddha statues - each representing a day in the week, whichever day you are born on, you make special worship for that buddha. Mine was the sleeping buddha (representing Tuesday), apparently people born on Tuesdays aren't good at making up their minds!! I guess thats pretty true for me, but then all women change their minds every minute!!

Kee had his palm read and they were pretty accurate about his personality - calculated and a bit of a worrier. They also said that he was gonna be a rich man by the time he's 42! AND that I will be with him forever...well, if he's gonna be a rich man, I'd be stupid to leave him! :P

Vicky has come over to stay with us for a couple of days, she only arrived today, and already she's managed to convince us to get our hair dyed together - we look like chinese triads - and later we'll be goiung with her to watch a live sex show and women pop ping pong balls and goldfish from their you-know-whats... I'm slightly dreading it, but I guess it has to be done when you're in Bangkok!

By the way Gary, we are going to do a diving course in Koh Tao! So don't you worry bout that - we got it covered bro!

Crowded streets, polluted roads, smelly canals..ahhh.. must be Bangkok!

Finally found a nice aircon internet cafe!

Landed in Bangkok after a mega long journey on two different planes! Loads of good food on the plane so that was ok! Even tried McD's at Dubai airport!!

So my first impressions of Bangkok... Its kinda similar to Hong Kong - but more smelly, crowded and very polluted! I actually didn't feel like I was in Thailand, til I jumped onto the express boat along the brown murky Chao Phraya river. From here, you can see, what sets Bangkok apart from the other SE Asian cities - the beautiful and esquisite looking temples peeping out the top of the tall office and apartment blocks. Highly recommended way to see Bangkok in its glory!

Some of the things i've done so far:

Went to the infamous Khao San Road yesterday and was pleasantly surprised by how much i actually liked the place! I was expecting it to be totally westernised (as some people have told me), with McD's, Starbucks and all.. but theres still a good level of Thai authenticity to it. Its really laid-back and friendly - its filled with travellers chatting and laughing along with the locals, some really appealing food stalls, restaurants and guesthouses. Not bad at all!

Finally tried a traditional Thai massage - one word: PAINFUL!! Apparently having some woman almost breaking all your bones is good for you?? At some points it hurt so much that I couldn't help but laugh out loud!

Thai food - the best thing about Bangkok so far is the FOOD!! Its so damn cheap and the food is pretty good, but haven't tried anything amazing yet...still looking for the "holy grail" of all Thai curries! I'll just have to keep eating more often til I find it!

We've booked our next destination - Koh Tao -for a spot of diving and chilling on the beach... ahhh... nice life!

No more drinking for me please!!

How sick do I feel! Last night was my leaving do, and was forced to down some really gross shots...shivering now, just thinking about it!

I'm really glad I didn't cry, but I'm quite ashamed that I got so drunk that my colleagues had to take me home and put me to bed!

I am sooo not looking forward to Saturday now! Even just the look of alcohol makes me wanna spew....

6 days and counting!

Well, I actually started counting about a month ago... but i've just been really lazy about updating my blog!

I've got 2 days to go 'til I officially leave my job! Yesterday, I was asked how I was feeling about leaving and I said "really good actually!", then it started to sink in - and straight after - i thought to myself: 'I'm really leaving'.... and I kinda felt quite down... really strange how I went from one emotion to another in just one second!

I got a very bad feeling that theres gonna be some tears on Saturday and Sunday saying goodbye to my mates - even though I know that i'll be seeing them again in Feb, which is really soon, I just hate saying goodbyes - I'm such a wimp!!

Well, I best start cleaning my house before I go - once that's done, I'll be able to have a better night's sleep!