· Bangkok AdrenalineBangkok, Thailand · 6th Jan 2008 · Posted by Chris
Ok, first things first. We're still alive! We haven't posted anything about our trip for ages, we realise that - sorry to all our loyal punters that have been following our travels so far. We've got a few places to write about but we'll get to those (Annie is sitting at another machine writing the article that will appear after this one as I type this). Stay tuned. :)
So ANYWAY, where is this post going to drop a dot onto the Google map? Oh yes, Bangkok, Thailand. Seriously, we LOVE Thailand. It might be a cliché to repeat the obvious about Thailand being awesome but it really is - if you haven't been here, you need to visit. If you have been here already, you should visit again!
We met up with our friend Bunna again - he's so cool he apparently has a yoghurt named after him haha. One of the highlights of this visit to Bangkok was meeting up with a whole heap of Bunna's friends and going to a hip-hop club called Escudo (Spanish for 'shield' according to my talking Chilean dictionary/translator). It's on the 4th floor of a building in an area called Thonglor and is 2 floors of hip-hop and, randomly, house music. When we got there we managed to find our group sitting right next to one of the main speakers. Needless to say we were pretty deaf when we left. Tom, you'd love it. :)
Still on the Bunna and Friends trail we went out for dinner to a Japanese restaurant with Jane, Moddy and her partner - I'm REALLY sorry if you're reading this Moddy but I can't remember his name! Maybe it's Pat? Dang. The food was awesome and the conversation was cool - we have to throw out yet another massive thanks to Bunna for taking us around again. Seriously, you rock dude. :)
After dinner Bunna wanted to show us a proper Thai night club so we headed out to a place called Giga Bite. They had a live band that seriously kicked ass. They played a couple of songs by a Thai group called Bodyslam, possibly the most popular group in Thailand at the moment. Met some more of Bunna's friends and hung out with them for a while. A very cool night and everyone is so friendly that we find it tough to leave some times.
We also went and visited one of the local IT Malls. It's like the other shopping malls in Bangkok but it's ALL computer and electronic stuff. There are heaps of shops selling, apart from every computer hardware item imaginable, every software package under the sun and all at prices which makes it obvious the software isn't exactly legal. Try 600 THB (about NZD $25) for a Alias 'Maya' Unlimited, a 3D Software Design software package that normally retails for around NZD $12,000. Police occasionally 'raid' these shops which causes a fair amount of panic but apparently it's mostly to keep up appearances and nothing really happens as a result. We saw a policeman browsing some of the goods anyway - pretty ironic after just talking about the raids.
During this visit to BKK we stayed near Khao San Road in a place called the Rambuttri Village Inn, a massive backpacker/inn/hotel complex on Soi Rambuttri. Costing 800 THB per night the rooms are nice and it's very central so it's well worth looking at if you're going to come to Bangkok and don't want to break the bank on your accommodation.
Speaking of Khao San Road there's simply no way you can visit Bangkok and not check it out - it's one of the most famous tourist destinations around and the thousands upon thousands of people wandering up and down the street confirms it as soon as you get there. It's a relatively short street but every single inch is packed with people selling cheap clothes, food, CD/DVDs (all 'original copies' of course) etc. For the right price you can even buy a degree or a driver's license! I was tempted to buy a degree and try using it to apply for the UK HSMP but I have a feeling it might get denied ... hehe. While we were wandering along Khao San we saw a couple of guys running pretty quickly followed by a film crew complete with lights and all the extras that go along with that type of crowd. We eventually found out that they were filming an action comedy called 'Bangkok Adrenaline'. We watched them filming for a while which was pretty cool.
At one point we (ok, I) decided I needed to go western for a bit and try Burger King's latest offering, the 'Triple Whopper'. No point going into details but while we were sitting at our table Annie suddenly said "Oh my God is that Becky???". And it was! For those that don't know her Becky is a friend we worked with back home and she was wandering about with Raukura doin' the tourist thing on Khao San Road. RANDOM! Naturally we had to go say hi and ended up having a few drinks with them and some other friends of theirs who also teach English in Japan. Chris and David (how's that haka coming along?), it was cool to meet you guys and we'll have to try for a couple more drinks when we get to Japan next ... watch this space! Sitting on Khao San Road watching the people go by while drinking of the famous Thai 'buckets' is a great way to pass the time for sure.
We also tried to check out the world-renowned 'Golden Buddha' but it was closing just as we arrived which we were pretty disappointed about. We knew we would coming back to Bangkok eventually though so figured we could see it then. We found a cat with freakishly blue eyes though so we played with it for a while. There are so many cats around here it's amazing they don't all get run over.
I think that's about it for Bangkok round 2 but we've got rounds 3 and 4 coming up over the next few weeks which will no doubt make for more interesting reading. After all, we know y'all love reading our ramblings.
Bye for now!
So ANYWAY, where is this post going to drop a dot onto the Google map? Oh yes, Bangkok, Thailand. Seriously, we LOVE Thailand. It might be a cliché to repeat the obvious about Thailand being awesome but it really is - if you haven't been here, you need to visit. If you have been here already, you should visit again!
We met up with our friend Bunna again - he's so cool he apparently has a yoghurt named after him haha. One of the highlights of this visit to Bangkok was meeting up with a whole heap of Bunna's friends and going to a hip-hop club called Escudo (Spanish for 'shield' according to my talking Chilean dictionary/translator). It's on the 4th floor of a building in an area called Thonglor and is 2 floors of hip-hop and, randomly, house music. When we got there we managed to find our group sitting right next to one of the main speakers. Needless to say we were pretty deaf when we left. Tom, you'd love it. :)
Still on the Bunna and Friends trail we went out for dinner to a Japanese restaurant with Jane, Moddy and her partner - I'm REALLY sorry if you're reading this Moddy but I can't remember his name! Maybe it's Pat? Dang. The food was awesome and the conversation was cool - we have to throw out yet another massive thanks to Bunna for taking us around again. Seriously, you rock dude. :)
After dinner Bunna wanted to show us a proper Thai night club so we headed out to a place called Giga Bite. They had a live band that seriously kicked ass. They played a couple of songs by a Thai group called Bodyslam, possibly the most popular group in Thailand at the moment. Met some more of Bunna's friends and hung out with them for a while. A very cool night and everyone is so friendly that we find it tough to leave some times.
We also went and visited one of the local IT Malls. It's like the other shopping malls in Bangkok but it's ALL computer and electronic stuff. There are heaps of shops selling, apart from every computer hardware item imaginable, every software package under the sun and all at prices which makes it obvious the software isn't exactly legal. Try 600 THB (about NZD $25) for a Alias 'Maya' Unlimited, a 3D Software Design software package that normally retails for around NZD $12,000. Police occasionally 'raid' these shops which causes a fair amount of panic but apparently it's mostly to keep up appearances and nothing really happens as a result. We saw a policeman browsing some of the goods anyway - pretty ironic after just talking about the raids.
During this visit to BKK we stayed near Khao San Road in a place called the Rambuttri Village Inn, a massive backpacker/inn/hotel complex on Soi Rambuttri. Costing 800 THB per night the rooms are nice and it's very central so it's well worth looking at if you're going to come to Bangkok and don't want to break the bank on your accommodation.
Speaking of Khao San Road there's simply no way you can visit Bangkok and not check it out - it's one of the most famous tourist destinations around and the thousands upon thousands of people wandering up and down the street confirms it as soon as you get there. It's a relatively short street but every single inch is packed with people selling cheap clothes, food, CD/DVDs (all 'original copies' of course) etc. For the right price you can even buy a degree or a driver's license! I was tempted to buy a degree and try using it to apply for the UK HSMP but I have a feeling it might get denied ... hehe. While we were wandering along Khao San we saw a couple of guys running pretty quickly followed by a film crew complete with lights and all the extras that go along with that type of crowd. We eventually found out that they were filming an action comedy called 'Bangkok Adrenaline'. We watched them filming for a while which was pretty cool.
At one point we (ok, I) decided I needed to go western for a bit and try Burger King's latest offering, the 'Triple Whopper'. No point going into details but while we were sitting at our table Annie suddenly said "Oh my God is that Becky???". And it was! For those that don't know her Becky is a friend we worked with back home and she was wandering about with Raukura doin' the tourist thing on Khao San Road. RANDOM! Naturally we had to go say hi and ended up having a few drinks with them and some other friends of theirs who also teach English in Japan. Chris and David (how's that haka coming along?), it was cool to meet you guys and we'll have to try for a couple more drinks when we get to Japan next ... watch this space! Sitting on Khao San Road watching the people go by while drinking of the famous Thai 'buckets' is a great way to pass the time for sure.
We also tried to check out the world-renowned 'Golden Buddha' but it was closing just as we arrived which we were pretty disappointed about. We knew we would coming back to Bangkok eventually though so figured we could see it then. We found a cat with freakishly blue eyes though so we played with it for a while. There are so many cats around here it's amazing they don't all get run over.
I think that's about it for Bangkok round 2 but we've got rounds 3 and 4 coming up over the next few weeks which will no doubt make for more interesting reading. After all, we know y'all love reading our ramblings.
Bye for now!
