Day 1 - Expectations

Flight TG402, heading for Bangkok from Singapore. It isn't my first time travelling without my parents, but this time I'll have my sister for company. Tian's not feeling all that well, but with University starting soon, it's a now or never opportunity. 5 days in Bangkok, shopping and eating. What better way to take a break from the mundane routine of National Service?

Besides, I haven't been to Bangkok since 7 years ago. That's a long time. I've had good memories from that trip back in 2001, so hopefully it'll be great fun again. I can hardly wait.

Thai Airways will be our carrier of choice this time round. No best airline in the world this time round, but surely it's comparable to our national carrier. We're almost late at the gate no thanks to some dwaddling at the departure lounge. Tian gets some off the counter medicine from 7 Eleven and that delays us a little. By the time we reach the gate, the lights are out and the staff are a little worried.

"You guys going on the flight?" the official asks.

"Yeah. We late or something?"

"Oh yes. Three of you. Just you two? Okay there's still one more person."

Apparently, we were that close to hearing a public announcement for us over the system. Damn, missed opportunity.

Seats were comfortable enough. Tian took the aisle seat since she felt that it was only chivalrous of me to sit beside the male stranger who was busy pecking away on his laptop.

A smooth takeoff later, Tian dozes off, while I check out the flight details. Strange. I always thought Singapore and Bangkok were in the same timezone. Apparently not. There's one hour's difference.

Drinks are served and I grab a glass of orange juice. I wake Tian up and she prefers apple juice. I should have asked for that. Too late.

As my sister dozes off again (yes she's not used to waking up at 5am in the morning), the guy beside me gets served his Muslim meal. Those croissants look inviting. When's my meal coming? I'm willing to ignore the fact that it's standard airline fare. The burger I had at the airport seems eons ago.

The meal is served finally while there's some really minor turbulance going on. The pilot seems capable though, it lasts no more than a few seconds, but the seatbelt sign comes on anyway.

We're given an option of Omelette or Noodles. I'm game for the Omelette. Tian asks for the same, "No noodles for me. Bleah." To our surprise, they seem to have run out and the sterwardess offers her a special set. 'Chicken Congee' the special label proclaims.

It is indeed bland airline fare. The omelette looks like a staler version of the fried egg I had the previous night while my sister's chicken serving comes in the form of chicken balls. She gingerly picks at her porridge while I take a bite of omelette then abandon it for the soggy hash browns. A few minutes later, we give in the the warm and buttery croissant. At least that's good. The yougurt's not half bad either though the fruits have seen better days.

Two hours later, the flight lands in Bangkok, the pilot bringing the lumbering beast down from the skys so smoothly there's not much more than a few bumps and the usual sound of engines backfiring. I wake with a start. Apparently I dozed off sometime after the meal too.

We're travelling light so once the doors are open, we make a beeway for immigration. Our plan is to burn rubber and get out of here as soon as possible. A long wait at the counters does not appeal.

True to form, we make it in double quick time and are soon picking our luggage up from the conveyer belt. I take the lead as we head for the meeting point marked on our map. My sis is horrible at directions, she tells me she got lost whenever her friend told her to navigate back during her trip to Australia.

We turn up at the meeting place, but the exit is blocked and there's no one to be seen. A mistake on our part surely? Ten minutes of wandering around the area later, we're still nowhere near resolving the puzzle. Tian suggests that we backtrack and sure enough, we find our guide near some railings a few exits away. We seem to be the only ones she's waiting for. My name on the sign is misspelled but I'm not surprised.

She confirms some details with us and packs us off into a waiting minivan and we make our way to the hotel. The driver tries to play an introductory dvd welcoming us to Thailand but it hangs repeatedly. Tian seems more interested in the pink taxis zooming past. The scenery is nothing to talk about. She mentions something about it resembling Malaysia.

A while later, we turn up on the doorstep on the Novotel, Siam Square. Our room's not bad, but the view is horrible. I knew we should have asked for something better, but as always, we've already passed that point.

Once the luggage is brought up to our rooms, we get our stuff in order and head off for our first stop of the day, the famous MBK shopping centre. Getting directions from the concierge, we set off on foot. I kind of remember the place vaguely from my last time round. My hopes are high. Hopefully, we'll be able to grab some bargains.

Sure enough, the place is huge and we're soon lost among the stores. There's plenty to see on the floor we're at and we spend some time flitting in and out of the shops, mostly window shopping and not buying anything. We spot some cute Ts and make a mental note to head back again later.

Two floors later, we're starting to get disillusioned. The stores are repeating themselves and there's only so much similar dresses and Ts you can take in a short time. It's not what I imagined. Kind of like Hong Kong. It's not as good as you remembered.

Tian comes across a bracelet she likes, "How much?"

"150 baht." The woman gestures.

"Erm, how much discount..." my sister's obviously not used to negotiation.

"No discount. No discount. 150."

"Uhh... 50 baht?" My sister tries, remembering my mother's advice to bargain as much as possible.

The storekeeper's eyes widen and my sister offers a 100.

"120 baht. No more."

A deal is struck. Not bad. That's about what? A bit over 4 dollars.

However, when we move off, my sister glances back and her face falls. "I think we've been scammed."

Sure enough, the storekeeper is gleefully going around to her neighboring stores and chattering excitedly with the notes and another bracelet in her hand.

"Ahh whatever. It's only a couple of dollars. We'll be wiser the next time." I comfort my sister.

There are plenty of shops selling jerseys. I make for one and enquire about an Arsenal jersey.

"Good quality! 190!" the storekeeper, a bald man exclaims excitedly, "Better quality 450!"

Ahh. Okay. Good. Better. Even Better. Got it.

I enquire about printed jerseys and he asks me what player I'm looking for.

"Erm, Nasri?"

He asks for the shirt number and I realise Arsenal's latest import hasn't been assigned one yet. Darn.

We have lunch at the foodcourt on the top floor. It's cheap but it's disappointing. The duck rice is edible but not filling. My sister's Tom Yum Goong fried rice is better but it's quite salty.

We've enough of MBK and we move on, after I purchase two books for extra reading.

Next stop is Siam Paragon. I can't say I've heard of it before but my sister has, apparently.

High end stuff apparently. The place is resplendant, the shops give off a sense of wealth and oppulence. Kind of like Singapore's own Paragon. We walk for awhile and snap a few shots. My camera shows a low battery. Uh oh, I forgot my charger and extra batteries. Strange it's running out since I charged it the night before.

We eye the Ocean World in the basement, but decide to leave it for another day. We move on to Siam Centre where the shops are more midrange. My sister's happy. I tag along and read wherever I can find seats. What's it with girls and shopping? Me I just see what I like, grab it and make the purchase. Some local singer's performing downstairs, but we're busy laughing at her effiminate escort.

We head back to the hotel to freshen up after that and then it's back to Siam Paragon for dinner. Food at the foodcourt here's much better and the selection much more varied. We eat facing an aquarium full of Koi. I come upon a perfect moment and snap a little child trying to touch the fish through the glass.

To our amazement, we find BreadTalk around the corner. Wow, taste of home, that.

Tomorrow's the city tour so we'll have to be ready by 9. It's my 21st too. Whee! Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me...