cannoooottttttt!
hey all!
so shehz and i are in the throes of bangkok life.
this is now our third day here and we're both pretty darn worn out! the show must go on though, and we'll see to it that it does. the first day was spent trying to arrange some little day trips and getting advice as to where we could go. ahh yes, and shopping.
we had heard quite a bit about a mystical road they call "khao san road". it's a backpacker mecca, and supposedly it was pretty nearby our hostel -- the mango lagoon. we took a walk, and were pretty impressed with what we found! this place is like a gaudy vegas strip-cum-little india market. there are hawker stalls covering the sides of the road, but there's also all these neon signs and clubs everywhere. it was time for a lesson in bargaining from shehz.
now did we actually need to purchase anything? of course not. did we? yes. many things. first up was some hats. they're selling a&f hats, quiksilver hats, etc for ridiculously low prices. shehz starts bargaining because he thinks he may want one. now the best part of bargaining is when you reach their bottom line. shehz and i have both heard the asian lament of "caaannnnoooooottttt!", after giving them an offer that they feel is a bit too low. we've also worked out a good cop, bad cop attitude to bargaining. shehz likes to start things off passive-aggressive. he'll ask for the "best price", right off the bat. they'll give him something, and then the fun starts. sometimes, my job is the "come on shehz, we don't want this, we're not interested" guy. other times, i try to be the charmer making jokes about how nice we are and how poor we are. both methods seem to work, as last night we bought two pairs of quiksilver swimming trunks and an a&f hoodie for less than CD$40. not bad! shehz is still the master though, and I have much to learn.
we've done some touristy things: mainly visiting the royal palace, wat pho, ayutthaya, bang pa-in, and a river boat tour. we've seen a fair bit of the city just from driving around in taxis, etc. it's a bit slummy, but charming! there are huge pagodas in the most random locations -- the history is right there in front of you! we're hoping to catch a thai boxing match soon, and we're still heading to some other stuff tomorrow. i'm losing track of what's happening because shehz runs such a tight ship: this vacation experience is much different than my lazy-time in KL!
we've also been brave about where we go. we walked down khao san road and decided we wouldn't be happy without entering "the club" -- a location littered with about 6 thai prostitutes at the entrance. i was scared, but it was pretty funny after we got in. these girls just stand there at the entrance... i'm not sure what you're supposed to do about it. we've discovered that the big thing in the khao san road area is cover bands. the band we saw last night was just doing "sweet child of mine", "shut up", "we will rock you"... it's great because they don't really seem to know what they're saying, but the mimicry is flawless! the band last night had 7 members -- including two people who JUST did vocals! crazy!
you really see the funniest things here though. people approach us with signs saying "we do not check id. cocktails, 60 baht". uhh, cool! then there's the stands in the middle of the street selling fake ids and degrees. we took a peek at that too.
shehz is just waiting back at the hostel, so i'm gonna run back to meet him now. if i've left anything out, i'll try to update you on it later.
bye for now!
so shehz and i are in the throes of bangkok life.
this is now our third day here and we're both pretty darn worn out! the show must go on though, and we'll see to it that it does. the first day was spent trying to arrange some little day trips and getting advice as to where we could go. ahh yes, and shopping.
we had heard quite a bit about a mystical road they call "khao san road". it's a backpacker mecca, and supposedly it was pretty nearby our hostel -- the mango lagoon. we took a walk, and were pretty impressed with what we found! this place is like a gaudy vegas strip-cum-little india market. there are hawker stalls covering the sides of the road, but there's also all these neon signs and clubs everywhere. it was time for a lesson in bargaining from shehz.
now did we actually need to purchase anything? of course not. did we? yes. many things. first up was some hats. they're selling a&f hats, quiksilver hats, etc for ridiculously low prices. shehz starts bargaining because he thinks he may want one. now the best part of bargaining is when you reach their bottom line. shehz and i have both heard the asian lament of "caaannnnoooooottttt!", after giving them an offer that they feel is a bit too low. we've also worked out a good cop, bad cop attitude to bargaining. shehz likes to start things off passive-aggressive. he'll ask for the "best price", right off the bat. they'll give him something, and then the fun starts. sometimes, my job is the "come on shehz, we don't want this, we're not interested" guy. other times, i try to be the charmer making jokes about how nice we are and how poor we are. both methods seem to work, as last night we bought two pairs of quiksilver swimming trunks and an a&f hoodie for less than CD$40. not bad! shehz is still the master though, and I have much to learn.
we've done some touristy things: mainly visiting the royal palace, wat pho, ayutthaya, bang pa-in, and a river boat tour. we've seen a fair bit of the city just from driving around in taxis, etc. it's a bit slummy, but charming! there are huge pagodas in the most random locations -- the history is right there in front of you! we're hoping to catch a thai boxing match soon, and we're still heading to some other stuff tomorrow. i'm losing track of what's happening because shehz runs such a tight ship: this vacation experience is much different than my lazy-time in KL!
we've also been brave about where we go. we walked down khao san road and decided we wouldn't be happy without entering "the club" -- a location littered with about 6 thai prostitutes at the entrance. i was scared, but it was pretty funny after we got in. these girls just stand there at the entrance... i'm not sure what you're supposed to do about it. we've discovered that the big thing in the khao san road area is cover bands. the band we saw last night was just doing "sweet child of mine", "shut up", "we will rock you"... it's great because they don't really seem to know what they're saying, but the mimicry is flawless! the band last night had 7 members -- including two people who JUST did vocals! crazy!
you really see the funniest things here though. people approach us with signs saying "we do not check id. cocktails, 60 baht". uhh, cool! then there's the stands in the middle of the street selling fake ids and degrees. we took a peek at that too.
shehz is just waiting back at the hostel, so i'm gonna run back to meet him now. if i've left anything out, i'll try to update you on it later.
bye for now!
posted by ian at 7:50 AM
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