Lua Hagedorn

Recently went to Bankok.  Stayed for 6 days.  Wished I stayed longer. Will definitely come back. Will probably bring Leon and Lara the next time I do.

Bankok………….what is it with bankok that make tourist flock to it?  From the moment we landed,  all I did was compare bankok to manila and guess what city won?  For me,  manila is a much better choice.  No comparison.  Bankok,  appeared to me as a big version of old manila, divisoria and baclaran combined.  I’m not kidding.  It looked exactly like echague…… But with older wares. IT IS AN UGLY CITY.  I looked for famous nightspots….. and everyone pointed us to the Silom area. I thought "Is this it?" I logged into the internet and confirmed that was what they had to offer. Philippines have better nightspots.  Promise!!! By far. Even malate looked classier. And malate is old.  Decrepit actually.

What did we(tourist)go there for? 

1) When I travel……..my intention is really not to shop.  Maybe because I always have limited budget when I do travel.  Also,  I am happy with what I find in divisoria,  tutuban or when I don’t have a choice, the shops and boutiques in the malls.  Shopping in Manila is not that bad. Pero I admit,  mas mura talaga mga camera, phones and computers sa bankok.  And the bags!!!! So cheap!!! It’s because the thai have mastered leather.  They have beautiful bags.  We also went to their high end mall.  That’s where the Louis Vuitton shops are located(kasinlaki lang ng southmall) And the Louis Vuitton bags there are a lot cheaper than their shops here. The Tag heuer watches is about 30% cheaper. Anyway,  I travel to see……learn…….and most importantly EAT!!!!

2.Eat…………………the culinary scene of Bankok is to me, overrated. I expected to gain a thousand pounds in my visit.  The first two days was fun.  But the third day????? Waaaah!!!! Ayoko naaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Why do they have to put coriander in everything they cook.  The chilli was ok.  I am fond of spicy food.  But the coriander was everywhere.  Gosh!!!! How we use black pepper is how they use coriander.  Worst!!! I can smell it even in their dessert. From 3rd day onward…….I was eating streetfood.  At least I get to smell it before I buy it. And Oh….the fruits……. I don’t know what they water their fruits with.  But they were fantastic.  And I do suggest you taste their buko. Yumyum!!!!

3. See……. The freakshow in Patpong was hilarious.  Nothing sexual actually.  It’s a must see.  Just something to tell your friends back home.  But the whole situation is pathetic. Poor women.  I don’t understand the concept.  But I guess every country has it’s own quirks……too bad we couldn’t make smokey mountain as one of our tourist destination. Because if you ask me……our kababayans in  smokey mountain are luckier than those people in patpong.

4. Tourist destination…..We enjoyed the free tour.  That’s how they call the tour where they bring you to places where you are tempted to spend all your money.  Hehehe galing ng tactic. In one day,  they brought us to one temple, one leather factory, and the gems factory. Our tourguide "Kitty" brought us to the temple with the biggest Buddha.  After two hours….she brought us to the gems factory  where everyone bought something.  The showroom was fantastic.  All kinds of jewelry.  Beautiful.   The whole experience was educating.  first they brought us to a videoroom where we were made to watch the history of jewelry making in thailand.  Then they brought us to their work area.  Where you can actually see their jewellers make jewelry. Then lastly their showroom.  Beautiful jewelry.  Para akong nasa impyerno. Hehehe imagine how I felt?  Surrounded by beautifull jewelry,  di naman  makabili. But the prices huh?  It’s not that cheap.  But beauty really comes with a price.  After the gemstore, Kitty brought us to the leather factory,  where some of us spent more.

Our whole stay in bankok was actually going around looking and buying when it’s worth buying.  The place is one big divisoria.  Maganda pa ang divisoria. It’s like baclaran on a wednesday.  But what’s different is the attitude of it’s people.  It seems like everyone is selling something,  and everyone has the saleslady attitude.  Polite and nice.  Samwadika here complete with the bow and smile. Samwadika there.  It’s like being in a city full of fastfood personnel.  Everyone needing to sell something but with no regular price.  Everything is valued at how much the costumer is willing to pay for it. One ashtray can sell for 300 baht or 1,300 baht depending on the costumer. A silver rings asking price starts at 1,300 baht……but Carlo was able to get it at 300 baht.. That’s how fucked up the system is.  At least in manila the prices are regular.  BUT…..if you are a good  negotiator…..that’s another story.

The tour to the provinces was fun too.  The heat was unbearable. And the rivers were dirty.  But being in the floating market was fun.  I just see it on discovery channel.  It was fun being there.  But the shopping was horrible.  The history of the floating market is dramatic.  That was where the farmers bring their products to sell it to the city people.  Now it’s different.  The products are more expensive because they get their wares from bankok and travel 1 1/2 hours to sell it in the floating market. Funny no?   It can be compared to the philippines IT’s performing their harvest rituals just because there were tourists. hehehe it’s the same everywhere.

Anyway, the whole bankok experience was fun.  I’ll definitely go back.  With Leon and Lara.  I’d like to just walk around the city with my kids and come across an elephant anytime. Of course,  you have to pay them 20 baht to have your pix taken with the elephant.  And you have to buy the elephant food for 20 baht per pack( that’s about 5 pcs of bananas per pack) And since feeding the elephant was fun.  You’ll end up spending 100 baht per feeding. Riding on one was fun but scary.  500 baht per person. Watching monkeys and seeing real tigers is also an experience I want to give my kids.  Ulya enjoyed the trip except for the walking. She almost died of walking daw. We walked everywhere simply because the traffic in bankok was worst than manila.  And you will arrive at your destination faster when you walk.

I’d definitely go back to bankok.  But this trip made me appreciate manila more.  We’re not that bad.  Being an archipelago is part of our problem.  Travel in the philippines is more expensive than in thailand simply because we are divided by bodies of water. But overall impact,  we are lucky to be living in the philippines.  I just hope we talk nicely about our country when we are in other countries.  Let’s be proud of what we have.  We just have to change attitude towards our country.  Stop being so critical of things around us.  Better to talk nicely than to complain about everything.  Anyway,  I believe that philippines have so much to offer.  I wanted to go to malaysia next but will go to vigan instead.  Punta punta ako ibang bansa,  di ko pa nga nalilibot ang philippines. Guys……do come to palawan.  Email me…..I can help with pointing you out to the right direction.  Where to go for accommodations,  where to eat….etc….etc……… Come to Palawan first before bankok.

SEE YAH!!!

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 6th, 2007 at 5:49 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.