Weekend in Bangkok

Weekend in Bangkok

Friday, Sept. 29, 2006--Bangkok

The weekend has already started. I just came from the malls, and they are full of stylish teenages out to cruise and to shop. They are much more active places today than they have been all week. But to build up to that point....

Last night, I ate on the sidewalk after leaving here. I found a place with one of my favorite Thai dishes--one that I often order in Texas when I eat Thai food--Penang beef. It is slices of beef cooked in a curry sauce with coconut milk. It is rich and delicious. I had it over a bed of rice. The plate of food cost me 20 baht--about 55 cents. That's 1/10 of what I have to pay for it when I have it for lunch in Texas! And the people running the sidewalk restaurant were so happy to have me as a customer.

I had breakfast again today with Barbara, the lady I met yesterday at breakfast. She told me more about her travel agency. She provides guided tours to rather exotic places--Pakistan, Yemen, Bhutan, western Africa, etc. It's mostly women who go on the tours she said. The company is named Lost Frontiers, Inc., and I have linked the name to the website. Just click on it to go there. She suggested an itinerary for me to follow if I go to Pakistan next year (which is a good possibility).

I saw a final film today. It was another Japanese film. The story is an action fantasy about a young man who finds a notebook with directions that anyone whose name he writes into it will die either of a heart attack or of the method of death that he prescribes. He is a law student who is concerned about admitted criminals who never serve time for their crimes, so he begins to kill them. He becomes a hero in many peoples' eyes, and he is considered a killer by the police. The story follows the attempts to learn who he is and how he is causing the deaths. It also questions whether someone with such power can be good, or whether he will eventually become corrupted and bad. The English title was Death Notes.

Well, my time in Bangkok is coming to an end. I will leave on Sunday for Chennai. I stopped by the tourist office today to ask when the buses begin running on Sunday. They start at 5 a.m., so I should have no problem taking a bus to the airport. That will save a lot of money, since the airport is about 1 1/2 hours out of town and the train line going there won't be open for another year.

Will report on dinner tonight when I post tomorrow.