I had a good night's sleep and got down to breakfast about 9:00 AM. It was a Thai style breakfast, no eggs. So I had toast, rice, some veggies (very spicy, I will try the other ones tomorrow), watermelon slices, and coffee. I took my time and just enjoyed the meal while reading a magazine. I then took my laundry back to the same paundry service that I used last week. This time the cost will be 90B!
A bit later I walked down to the boat dock and caught a boat to Bangkapi Mall. This time I got off at the mall stop--only 2 stops east, only 7B. I wanted to see more of the mall, and I also wanted to find a travel agent for my ticket to India, and also my next trip here in Thailand. I found a travel agent, but was told by Air India that it would be very expenxive to buy the ticket here in BK, and that I should wait until I get to Singapore. OK, I just hope that I am still able to get the flights that I want then. I also inquired about flights to northeast Thailand, and finally decided on the flight tomorrow evening to Udon Thani.
Soon after I met my internet friend R for lunch here at the Mall. We went to a Thai restaurant where we shared a plate of stir fried veggies, and fried fresh-water fish called "Serpent Head" fish. The head of the fish is long and slender, like a serpent (if you use your imagination). Anyway, the fish was tender and tasty, so it was a good meal. R wanted to find a bookstore but we were unable to find the book she was looking for. We also walked to another mall across the street, just so I could see it.
While walking around I called K, whom I had lunch with a couple weeks ago, and asked him if he could recommend a suit maker. Here in BK there are lots and lots of tailors advertising custom made suits. My reading tells me that BK has taken over from HK as the best place to got the best deal on a custom made suit. I have been considering the idea, and figure when else am I ever going to have the opporunity to get a custom made suit for the same price as a Sear's off the rack suit? Anyway, K gives me two phone numbers, and after calling them both I choose one and decide to go there this afternoon.
R and I say goodbye, and I get back on a river boat, which I take to the end of the main line, and then take a taxi for the short ride to Angel's Boutique. I am greeted by XY, the owner, who is from Delhi, India, but who has been in the suitmaking business for about 30 years. He patiently discusses with me the various issues and choices to be made, and I finally settle on 2 suits, one a very dark green formal busienss suit, and the other a pale green/beige casual suit, together with two custom made shirts. I have opted for nicer fabrics than the cheapest suits, and also for a longer lining in the pants to protect against my knees. After measuring me every which way, XY asks if I can come in for a fitting tomorrow, and we agree that I will drop by in the mid-afternoon on my way to the airport.
While in the taxi going to the tailor I had seen Panthip Computer Mall. This is one of the biggest computer and tech shopping malls in BK, and there are several others. I wanted to see it, and so I took a taxi to it. Amazing. 5 floors of nothing but computer and IT related stuff. Harware, software, accessories, DVDs, even food. Almost tech overload! I spend a couple hours just wandering and looking.
It is now after dark and I am getting hungry. I decide to go back to the hotel. The ride back is very long. At first the traffic was reasonable. Then, at one point, traffic just stopped. We never did learn why. After sitting at a dead stop for 10 minutes, and this after literally crawling for 30 minutes, the driver was able to get around the tie-up and take a back-door way to the hotel. Very creative. Thank goodness he knew his way around the city!
I then went back to the Chaleena for dinner. Although I had different food than last night, I did way hello again to X who was already singing. Then it was back to the room to work on this journal and start getting ready for my travel tomorrow.
I then have my fitting. First I try on the pants and one of the shirts. The pants look great, but I want a little more room across the front pockets when I sit down--they are a little tight there. The shirt is perfect. Later I get fitted for the jacket. The fitting does not use the actual material for the jacket. I guess this is like a pattern. The actual tailor--the person who is making the suit--marks the fabric with chalk marks and takes several measurements. Finally he is satisfied.
It is now about 3:30, and I have an hour to kill before heading to the airport. R asks if I have been to the malls down the street. No, I have not, but it sounds like a good way to spend some time. R asks if I would like to have her come with me, and I readily agree. So R and I walk a short distance down the road to Siam Center, which is both a shopping mall, and also a location and major intersection. There are three malls here, and we take a quick tour through them. As we are walking around R tells me that when she goes to the USA her friends there do not understand why she does not do any shopping. What they do not realize is that BK has much beter shopping, and much better prices, than the USA. About the only thing that is a better deal in the USA are computers, especially laptops.
R also tells me that she has a son in England at university, and she will be visiting him later in February. We talk about hotels in London, and she says she will email me with the names of some B & Bs. Great!
It is getting time to go to the airport, so we walk back to the shop where I collect my bags and then get a taxi. The ride is fairly quick one we get out of the central business area and onto the expressway. I try to tell the driver that I am going to the domestic terminal. I end up at the Amari Hotel, which I know from seeing their ads is connected to the airport. OK, I guess this is close enough. What I did not realize is that they are connected to the international terminal, and it takes me a good 15 minutes to walk to the domestic terminal.
Luckily I still have enough time, and I check in for my flight to Udon Thani. I am not checking any luggage. There are no window seats left, and when we board I can see that this is a very full flight, even though this is an Airbus with 8 across seating. I am in the last row, 70D, and luckily the seat next to me is empty, so I have a little elbow room. As we take off it starts to rain again. Even though the flight is only about 50 minutes in the air, we do get a meal. The flight attendants really have to work fast to get the meal served, and then cleaned-up, all before we land. They really work hard!
We were supposed to depart at 6:30, and we push back from the gate at about 6:35. But we do not actually take off until about 7:10. Later the captain announces that the delay was due to heavy air traffic in BK. I guess the rain slowed down things a bit. We land in Udon Thani at aboput 8:00. It is also raining here. There are no jetways. There are two stairways to the tarmac, one in front, and one in back. I am at the back and so it is easy to deplane. It is raining lightly but steadily, and at the bottom of the stairs I am handed a large umbrella, which I give back upon reaching the terminal abolut 200 yards away. I do not have to wait for my luggage, and so I just walk into the terminal and look for my hotel pick-up.
I meet T, the driver, and we walk out to the car for the short 5 or 6 minute ride to the hotel. As I am registering K comes to meet me, and after I drop my stuff off in my room we go to one of the hotel restaurants so I can "finish" my dinner (the food on the flight was not enough). I learn that this is one of the nicest hotels in the area. It was built in the 1970s during the Vietnam war, and housed USA military people at first. Over 300 rooms, swimming pool, two restaurants, two karaoke bars, a night club with a Filipino band, and a disco with a Thai band. Yes, this is a big operation. K tells me they have about 400 employees! I get something to eat at the dinner buffet--only 100B! K and her husband, also K, are good friends with J, who is the husband of my friend P in Miami, who is the cousin of T in BK. They met J while the three of them (K, K, and J) were studying for their MBAs at the Univ. of Hartford in Connecticut back in the early 80s.
After eating K shows me around the property. She then leaves to go home (it is nearly 10:00 PM now), and I spend the rest of the evening wandering from one hotel nightspot to the other. At first there were not many people, but as the night wears on more customers arrive. There are a lot of local people in addition to the hotel guests. The bands are very good, and it is also fun to listen to the karaoke singers! After a couple beers I decide to call it a night and hit the sack.
I woke up this morning to an unusual sound. I didn't even notice it at first, but then I realized that the sky must be falling! Yes, it was raining. This was the first rain that I have experienced since Beijing in early November. It was a nice steady rain, and I learned later it had been raining since about 2:00 AM. We sure needed it! But the rain stopped while I was eating breakfast. After eating I walked to the laundry and picked-up my clothes. The sidewalk had many puddles of water, but the air was cool and fresh.
I spent most of the morning re-packing my stuff. I now have 4 bags--one very large one, one medium large one, one small one, and one computer bag. Today I will travel with only the computer bag and the small bag, so I must shift things around. The luggage is getting very full and very heavy. I may have to get a larger bag to replace the medium large one, especially now that I will have two business suits to pack. I am also carrying lots of books and flyers, etc. Mostly stuff that I have accumulated during the trip. I don’t want to discard all of it unless I absolutely must. Well, we will see. I hope I don't have a weight problem with my checked luggage on tmy future flights.
Also during the morning I talk with T, who calls her cousin's friend K in Udon Thani, who calls me. K and her husband's family own a hotel in Udon Thani, and I make arrangements to stay at their hotel, the Charoen Hotel. K says she will have a driver pick me up from the airport. Great!
At 1:00 PM I go downstairs and check-out. I eat lunch at the hotel café, and then take a taxi to the tailor. The ride this afternoon is no problem. Yes, there is a lot of treaffic, but no real tie-ups like last night. I had called V earlier and he had said that he had not yet opened the shop but he would get there about 2:30. I arrived about 2:25, and after less than a minute V pulled up in his car. Good timing!
V was with R, who as I learned was his ex-wife and his current friend and business partner. R is of Indian descent, but she was born in Thailand. Both V and R speak fluent Thai, English, and Punjabi. They also speak a little bit of German, just enough to fit a suit! They asked me if I wanted some coffee, and I said yes. Another man, DC, entered the shop. He was a regular customer and they greeted him warmly. DC also sayd yes to coffee, and R came back a few minutes later with some very nice and elegant coffee cups with some very nice cappucino style coffee. We sat and talked a bit. DC is a restired Brit from The Isle of Man. He winters here in BK. He will be traveling to Pattaya tomorrow.
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