I touched down in Bangkok at 8am on a Tuesday. I had barely slept the night before, but my exhaustion was instantly replaced by excitement and I watched Bangkok envelope me bit by bit as I sped towards the heart of the city via metro. When I emmerged from the metro car, I was greeted by a plethora of sights, smells, and sounds that stood in stark contrast to the sterling,prim and proper Singapore I had left behind. The constant blare of traffic, the smell of gasoline, pollution, and garbage, the shady men who cat called to me as I walked by, all reminded me of the twilight world I lived in in Singapore - and I loved the complete change. I crashed for a nap at the hostel and awoke to the friendly face of one of my bunkmates grinning at me. Enter Kitty, a spunky Indonesian doctor who was taking her first solo trip ever and was extremely excited about it. We became friends immediately and agreed to set out exploring that same evening after my job interview. At 7:30pm we issued forth into the Bangkok night and hailed a taxi to go to Chinatown. If I felt overwhelmed as I tried to take in all the sights and sounds of Bangkok by night, Chinatown literally blew my mind. My first reaction was an awed "Wow!"; neon signs blinkind bright Chinese characters at us, traffic whipped by and people milled about the streets stopping at vending stands or sitting down at restaurants which had extended their tables out onto the sidewalks and streets. We picked the busiest restaurant we could find and stood patiently in line waiting for a couple of the plastic stools set up around one of the many foldable tables to clear up. One of the waiters winked suggestively at us while teasing that it was going to take at least two hours for us to get a seat. But two minutes later we found ourselves squeezed in at the end of a table and ordering with relish. Oyester omelette, black pepper crab, fried rice with crab meat, and mussels with chili were our choices and these were produced with rapid haste. We feasted until we were stuffed then ate more until we polished off all four dishes. The entire meal, including drinks, cost each of us less than fifteen dollars. We walked the length of Chinatown taking in the sights and smells. The majority of the vendors were Chinese which made listening to them speak music to my ears. I pulled out some of my rusty Chinese and tried to use it - this allowed me to garner more than one smile from several of the stand owners.
Our next two destinations were Khaosan and Patpong. The former was a backpacker's paradise: there were cheap clothes, jewelry, bags, and other brandless items. There were vendors selling fried bugs (even cockroaches!) which was by far the most interesting thing I spotted there. Patpong was a little bit more of a hub of decadence; the night bazaar is famous for the knock-off brands sold there and you can find everything from Coach to Chanel at bargain prices (as long as you know how to barter for them). The bazaar runs down the middle of a street which has strip clubs on each side. It was a strange feeling to walk by and have people shoving laminated peices of paper in my face trying to convince me that I should go in and see one of the shows. Accross the street was another alley dedicated for those with a rather different taste: signs advertised "Fresh Young Boys" (as if they were the equivalent of purchasing fresh fruit or fish) and "Hot Male Bar". I think this is the thing the surprised me the least about Bangkok; I had heard enough about the city to know that decadence is a large part of it's notorious image. That marked the end of the night for me, I felt sure that I had had enough of this side of Bangkok and I looked forward to discovering a whole new dimension to Thailand the next day.
