Thailand Day 7 - Hangover Day in Bangkok (24th July 200)

Arriving Bangkok's Hualamphong Train Station, we were jolted from our slumberland by the sudden screeching of the coach coming to a halt at the scheduled time! Bangkok at 6.00AM felt too early to begin the day with. It would obviously be another uneventful day for us as we spent the day fighting hangover - a result of yesterday's delirious beer extravaganza in Phitsanulok! Interesting objects and landmarks that Bangkok promised so much did not attract the hallucinated heads in us. Fret we were not as we would be in this "City of Angels" for the next 3 days.




Still starry-eyed Andy caught us unaware with this unfocused picture! Couldn't blame him really! Perhaps the picture approriately summed up best our moods for the day: blurry views, clouded minds, lousy feelings, sleepy...this is what hangover is all about!




Each one of us took turn to watch our backpacks as two of us went to the toilet. The toilet were crowded (locals and foreigners) doing the DIY selfcare routine: brushing teeth, facial washes (yupp...men nowadays also do facial!), wiping themselves clean, changing clothes...even I saw a local policeman brushing his teeth and wetting his hair after his graveyard shift! There were actually 2 toilets at the station - one ordinary but big toilet that we went to (cost B10) and another one that looked poshy when I peeked inside and provided with hot water shower, hair blower, free use of towel, free small matchstick-sized soap...(cost B20 for the extra privileges).


Hualamphong Train Station

We left Hualamphong Station to go to Siam Paragon to regroup with Jeremy. Perusing the limited Bangkok city map we got from the airport days before, Siam Paragon seemed to be close by from the Station. We decided to walk.

We were lost in the Bangkok's myriad spaghetti-like thanons and sois (roads and streets). The lack of details on the map coupled with a clouded mind were quite a challenge! We would follow this certain road which looked like a shortcut to our destination only to be greeted with a deadend! Darn...I should have brought along my trusty Silva compass.



After walking for sometimes, we would rest whenever benches caught our eyes as our backs began to feel the strain of our heavy backpacks (mine was 15kg - no idea what I put inside!). We would recheck the map again to be sure we were going the correct way!


Even our precious derrières were not spared from Andy's naughty intoxicated mind!
To cross any roads in Bangkok is to go through the provided pedestrian tunnels or pedestrian walkway bridges.





We reached Siam Paragon finally after trudging for about 1 hour! The scorching sun made a sweat of us! This sweaty affair has somehow managed to reduce the effect of our hangover. Retracing our route from the station to Siam Paragon, we actually walked in a longer L-shaped route instead of taking a hypotenuse-like shortcut.




Double waitings! For Jeremy to show up and Siam Paragon to open!





Once inside Siam Paragon, we went straight to McDonald's. Jeremy appeared 10 minutes later. Feeling hungry, we scoured the menu and we ordered this burger. Looked like a typical burger in any fastfood outlet. What so special about this burger that is not available in Malaysia? Folks...you are seeing a pork burger! Tasted like any burgers - just damn delicious! (Cost: B59)





You know you are incredible very tired when you fall asleep inside McDonald's!




Having put our heavy backpacks at the Siam Paragon's counter for safekeeping, we explored Siam Paragon floor-to-floor. The variety and collection of goods sold were incredibly huge and all are branded too meaning this place was for the well heeled customers. Us backpackers were limited to just wash our eyes with gasped mouths. There was this one floor whose 50% of the floor space was occupied by golf sets!And I saw a 70-meter long display of golf sets of all brands imaginable. Tiger Woods, being a half-Thai with a Thai mother, must have done wonders to popularising the game of golf in Thailand.




Stumbled over this weird-looking chair with computer and associated paraphernalia similar to Formula One driver in paddock checking the timings of other drivers! After much observation later, this chair turned out to be a gamer's paradise. Sitting on the chair and playing Halo, the chair simulated the contour of battlefields. The chair would rock in rocky areas, felt the effect of flying when shooting at enemy targets below, etc! Hardcore Halo gamers (DARRV - inits of my colleagues) would surely love to try! (Pricey B100 per game. Minimum 4 persons!)



We succumbed to temptation over this yummy cakes as these were all we could afford!




Neal and I were tempted again by the nice food pictures in a Japanese restaurant inside Siam Paragon, so we might as well try just for the experience! Poor Andy doing his usual routine now whenever we went to! (B50-B65)




Towards the evening, we were too tired to continue exploring Siam Paragon. There are 2 or 3 floors not yet touched upon as our legs were slowly getting wobbly! So we went out to look for a reasonable hotel nearby. We were not disappointed as we found one with all basic facilities provided (air con, hot water, pail to wash our stinky clothes, tea-making facility) nearby National Stadium Skytrain Station with B600 rate for Double-bed (shared equally by all 4 of us: B150).

We took a well earned rest and fell asleep.




Woke up around 7PM and all of us went to look for dinner somewhere. We took the opportunity to scour the newly opened Central World Plaza. It was a huge mall but obviously very few tenants during that time. We stumbled upon food stalls behind Central World Plaze. We had our dinner there. (B45-B55)

to be continued...