Bangkok Trip..

Was greeted with 2 consecutive days of rain upon arrival in Singapore from Bangkok. It was a great time for me to sleep-in, finish reading my 514 page book, take naps and attempt to solve a Sudoku puzzle which up till now, I've yet to complete.

The trip was a relaxing one though I'm ready to swear off shopping cum eating trips in major cities for my next few holidays. After a while, it gets a bit meaningless hopping from one shopping centre/mall/market to another, looking aimlessly for cheap things to buy. The thing that I enjoyed most was map-reading. It's exciting to read the map and navigate from Destination A to Destination B. And it's extremely pleasurable when I get it right since my female travelling companion relies heavily on me to navigate our way through.

The number of items that I bought can be counted using the fingers of one hand. Yes, that's shocking considering I am a female, who's supposedly a shopaholic. T-shirts, bags, shoes and many other goods are so cheap that I fear for their quality. Afterall, I'm a firm believer of "you get what you pay for". And I simply can't bring myself to buy a 150baht (S$6.50)T-shirt. Perhaps I could wear them at home but I am perfectly comfortable with my decade old T-shirts.

My source of amusement or entertainment comes when my female companion engages in bargaining with the sales people. It's funny because I know jolly well that she can afford the items but she makes it sounds as if the difference in 50 baht really means a lot to her. I simple walk away when I can't contain my laughter. Bargaining is never for my forte. I think all the shop owners at the flea markets love me simply because I can't be bothered to waste my saliva on slashing down prices. Call me stupid but it's really beneath my dignity to bargain for a S$2 reduction for something that costs S$8. I seriously think those people need the S$2 more than me. I could always go without recess.

The moment that I enjoy most was going back to the hotel after a tiring day of walking. I admit I'm getting old. By 9pm, my legs are exhausted and I just can't wait to get back to my hotel room for a hot steamy shower and watch tv before retiring to bed. I have no energy left to chill-out or explore new places. Or maybe it's because subconsciously, I know that I paid S$90 per night for the hotel room. I'm cheapskate. I feel contented staying in the confortable hotel room rather than loitering in the streets of polluted Bangkok.

The most nerve-wrecking moment was when we almost missed our flight back. The queues at the immigration were so freaking long. As each 5-minute block passed, I felt like screaming at the inefficiency of the immigrant officers as the queue hardly moved. We tried out best to persuade the people in front to let us go first, but each time our efforts were thwarted by fellow Asians, who told us "no cutting queue", even though we pointed to them at our boarding pass that the boarding time is 1220pm, and it was already way past the time. Only the kind Japanese man in front of us let us go, perhaps he could see how desperate I was with my constant pacing up and down. We finally got past the immigration at 1245pm, which was the departure time. The ground crew were frantically looking for us and I bore the brunt of the scoldings simply because at every stage, I was ahead of my friend, who couldn't run because she was wearing sandals while I was wearing track shoes. I never ran so fast in my life. I was cursing and swearing that the boarding gate had to be so far away but I was thankful that our seats on the aircraft were the 3rd row from the front. I would never forget the old hag air stewardess barking at me the moment I stepped into the plane, " Where did you all go????!!!!" After this frantic experience, I've learnt my lesson to board-in early.

One more week to enjoyment before school starts. Sigh.