Day 3: Bangkok "You cannot be ladyboy."

Chinatown

I thought Bangkok was crazy with hustle, bustle, food vendors, and markets galore, but its Chinatown area puts regular Bangkok to shame. Holy crowded crazyness! We first had breakfast at a dim sum (small dishes in cute little tins) restaurant on what I think was Texas soi (street) as many places had Texas in their name.

Afterwards, we did a walk through the area, and it was so narrow already with the vendors selling fried food, shoes, stickers, etc and food carts. Then you add in a mass of people walking/shopping. Then you add in a bunch of guys on motorcycles coming through. Then don't forget the guys with carts doing deliveries coming through. If you heard, "hello. hello." behind you, you knew something was trying to get past you.


Daily Massage Report

We took a tuk tuk (love these!) back to a major mall to get some ac action. This mall was crazy enormous. Besides having 5 stories of stores, it had an aquarium, a large Central Market type grocery store, a gym, a movie theater, and of course a high end car dealership - which was on the 5th floor. How are they getting those cars in there? By this point in the day, we are wanting our daily massage. So after deciding between 'Best Massage' and 'The King and I Massage', we went with Best Massage. And they did not disappoint! While they didn't give us the bonus treatment of a little neck and back action, they did do an excellent job on our feet. Boston was a little weirded out that he had a man, and Kavita couldn't relax again (of course not, people are touching her!!). However, mine was perfect! They did the reflexology on us and pushed hard into certain areas. It was a little uncomfortable for a few seconds here and there, but I've learned that good massages hurt a little. I give Best Massage: 4 1/2 stars (only deductions for not using soap to wash our feet and no bonus areas).Falling asleep in a chair while someone rubs your feet for an hour can really work up an appetite, so we headed to a Korean BBQ place we noticed earlier. While this isn't Thai food, we didn't feel that we were cheating on Thailand too badly since it still Asian and not McDonald's. That was yet another meal in my already long Thailand list of 'BEST MEALS EVER!'

Muay Thai
In the evening we headed to the Thai boxing stadium for some authentic Muay Thai. It's really less boxing with hands and more with legs. The tickets were expensive (relative our regular spending) at 1500 baht each ($45), but the atmosphere was great. We weren't ringside with the richer tourists or in the rowdy 3rd class section where most locals stood, made bets, and maybe publicly urinated (conclusion based on smells). We had the calmer 2nd class tickets which were quite good views. The crowd does a yell everytime one of the guys kicks the other in the side which is often. The betting goes crazy after the 2nd round when the contenders have shown some of their moves. Also, apparently 'Good Game!' butt pats are universal as the fighters would get quite a few before each round from their coach.

Suan Lum Night Bazaar
Next door to the fighting is a huge night market with tons of shops selling many of the exact same thing and a large beer garden. Shopping here I've realized is very different than in the US. Not only in that you can/should haggle over every price, but every shop (tiny markets to dept. stores) has someone following you around to see how they can convince you to buy whatever item you glance at for one second. In dept. stores, they just have a million people working there - ready to be of any help, and they won't say anything to you. At home, you would still feel that they think you're trying to steal something. "Hey lady, back-up! I've got money!" In the markets, many stall owners will start chatting you up if you so much as look in their area. If you pick something up, you're fair game now! "You like? ___ baht. I got this color, this color, and that color. Which one you like? Very nice!" I can't even figure out if I like the item or not sometimes because they are so distracting, and I still feel badly ignoring people who are talking to me. Although, it's only day 3. I'm sure I'll toughen up. And besides - the prices still make it worth it!

We hung out in the beer garden for a while listening to live music, and then this crazy guy came out with his back-up dancers. I have a feeling MJ's death hit a little close to home.

Around 11 we got a taxi to our favorite night food stalls (from day 1) to get mango sticky rice. The taxi driver was chatting up Boston telling him how handsome he was, how rich he must be, and how he couldn't be a ladyboy because he wasn't clean shaven. No wonder Boston loves Asia!

I've added some more Bangkok pics and put comments with the other ones.
More Bangkok Pics!