a little niche in Bangkok

Despite its negatives and quirky drawbacks, I have become comfortable (to an extent) in Bangkok, as I normally would after staying for a prolonged period of time in any city.

I have a set routine on days I go to Thammasat University. I’ve learned the local bus routes between my place and the university. I have a “designated” librarian in the Faculty of Political Science who helps me with material that I need called from other libraries. The photocopy service assistants recognise me on sight and now know that I wouldn’t understand a word they say but know what I need done. The girl at the coffee stall in front of the Faculty knows that I take my latte less sweet than the locals would.

I’ve pretty much learned the floor plans and store locations in the main (better?) shopping centres in the city. I know where all the bookshops that sell English Language books are located, including the clearance store of the main local chain. I’m slowly getting an intuitive feel for the urban geography of Bangkok as well as how it operates. I’m beginning to not register the “third worldliness” of the city and to live in it as I would anywhere else in the world.

There is a regular pad thai (Thai-style fried noodles) restaurant that I patronise in my neighbourhood - the waiters all recognise me now. There is a place I go to have steak and the stall owner/operator automatically comes and takes my order as he’s the only one who speaks (a smattering of) English. The housekeepers in my service-apartment talk to me despite our language barriers - they know that I am a university student. The receptionist helps me figure out how to get to government ministries scattered across the city - she probably wonders why I need to speak with so many government officials. And there is a rider of the local motorbike service with a swagger, attitude and look that I find quite sexy and quite attractive…! Sadly, I’ve only ridden him… err.. yes… three times, but even he recognises me by now!

Yes. Somehow, unintentionally, I have found a little niche here.

  

Posted on September 30th, 2006 by jl
Filed under: Life!, VivaVoce | 1 Comment »

Coup…? What Coup?!?

What does one do in the middle of a coup?After spending a whole morning writing emails, chatting with friends and reading the latest developments on the internet, I ventured out to the local high street (of my neighbourhood) to look for lunch. In the evening, I went out again, although I ventured further afield, to the main commercial areas of the city - Siam and Silom.In general, life is pretty much “normal” in the city. Of course the volume of activity is much lower than usual and traffic is not as congested as it normally would be, but most shops were open, public transportation was running and people, both Thais and foreigners alike, were going about their business. Most people appeared to me either to be oblivious of, or are ignoring the coup. The shops and restaurants were closing earlier than usual - although in Bangkok that still meant between 1800H to 2000H - but the night market in Silom, catering mainly to tourists, was open.

I saw a few light armoured vehicles, not tanks, in the Siam area and there were armed military officers stationed at a major intersection but they all looked rather relaxed. None were standing at attention, a few had their weapons resting against the hand-rails, and some were even sitting down around a table of drinks. I was told that the army were patrolling my neighbourhood in the afternoon but I didn’t see them.

Although the banks were closed, the ATM machines were working so presumably I’ll have access to cash when I need it. Some currency exchange offices were open - I guess God forbid that the tourists would be stopped from spending their hard earned foreign currency.

The “authorities” had stopped transmission of CNN last night but it was resumed at about 14H today although they seem to be erractically censoring some, but not all, reports about Thailand - from what I can tell they are only censoring the bits where Thaksin features prominently in the report. This suggests to me that “they” have better control and are feeling rather more secure, of the situation.

So far I don’t feel unsafe here. Having been in this city for two and a half weeks now, I’m quite comfortable in Bangkok even under current circumstances. Of course, I haven’t yet been to the Western side of the city where the government ministries are primarily located and where the military has reportedly taken up position. At some point, I’m going to have to venture in that direction since Thammasat University, where I have an office, is located on the far side of the Western part of the city.

Banks, government offices and big organisations were closed today and public transporation did not seem to be running as frequently as they normally would be. I was told that Thammasat University was closed today. News reports suggest that business will return to “normal” tomorrow, however, I think I will stay home another day - I have enough work that I can do at home - but I will most probably head out to Thammasat on Friday, barring further “undesirable” developments.

 

 

  

Posted on September 20th, 2006 by jl
Filed under: Life!, VivaVoce | 1 Comment »

an impression of Bangkok

Bangkok is a funny sort of place. I’ve been here a week and I still can’t make up my mind whether I am enjoying being in this city or not (this being different and distinct from my enjoying the research work that I have to do while I am here).

On the one hand, it’s not a developed, first world city like Singapore but it does have some really fantastic, modern shopping centres that I would say would put most of Singapore’s existing ones to shame. On the other hand, while the modern, developed bits of it look like it’s pretty much on par with Kuala Lumpur, much of the city’s infrastructure and urban life(style) are probably behind Kuala Lumpur by about 10 years. There are a lot of street vendors in the city centre - the sort that you used to see all over in KL but that are now pretty much confined to the Petaling Street, Masjid India, and Chow Kit areas.

Among these street vendors, are the local food outlets. The food at these places, as well as those in proper street level shops, are cheap - probably about ten to twenty percent cheaper than in KL. However, the portions are also smaller than in KL, so, in effect, I’m not sure if I’m actually getting better “value for money” here.

Furthermore, I haven’t seen so much pork on public display since before the Islamisation of Malaysia in the late 1980s (sorry, I couldn’t help the reference!!), and even then, there wasn’t that much pork on the streets of KL as there is here in Bangkok now. It’s obscene! There has been hardly a meal where I haven’t inadvertently had to eat pork. While I have no dietary restrictions against it, it’s not one of my favourite meats and now I remember why - it’s just plain vile in general.

That said, I’m not really eating all that much at the moment - the heat really does take my apetite away. And that brings me to the one thing that I do passionately dislike about this city - THE HEAT! It’s unbearable. VERY unbearable. If I thought that Kuala Lumpur and Singapore were hot, Bangkok has now made me reassess my impression. Not only do I think Bangkok is hotter than KL and Singapore, it’s also a lot more humid - the city is largely an agglomeration of concrete structures densely built, thus resulting in heat being retained within the city structure. It’s not pleasant at all. You may get some wind at various points in the city but it’s warm air that’s blowing. There are token trees planted along most streets but honestly, they are really token - they don’t really do anything other than make this city look quaint.

As such, I have been drowning myself in water everyday and therefore haven’t had much space in my stomach for real food. I think I’ve actually lost a couple of kilos since arriving in Bangkok a week ago. The other way I have been losing weight is through the “natural sauna” - I’m literally drenched in sweat all day. I used to hate this condition (when I was living in Malaysia) but I’ve now resigned myself to the situation here.

  

Posted on September 10th, 2006 by jl
Filed under: work | 2 Comments »

markers of time

I suspect most of us would use major (life) events to mark the passage of time and we would relate minor (life) events to these larger ones when asked to place them in the continuum of time. So for instance, if I was asked when event ”A” occurred, I would remember that “A” occurred shortly before event “B” and that “B” happened on “X” date, so “A” must have been shortly before “X”.

Thus, my major life markers: mid-1996 was marked by my return to university. In September 1997, I went to the UK. I began my Masters programme in October 1998. In August 2001, I finished that lot of studying and returned to Malaysia. I started on one of my better work-experiences in February 2002. In August 2004, an eight-year relationship ended. I went back to university for the PhD in February 2005. And in January 2006, I made my first apprehensive return to Kuala Lumpur.

On Saturday, someone asked me how long I had known a particular friend. I went through my memory and recalled that I had met her after I had begun on that wonderful work-experience but before the relationship ended. However I could not quite place when I had met her in the time between February 2002 and August 2004 - those were the lost, and best forgotten, years.

—

It’s been almost exactly two years since I last saw him. Truth be told - although I have managed to find happiness (however short-lived) and build a life elsewhere, there’s still a part of me that still grieves for the (early) end of what could have been; a part of me that wonders if things couldn’t have turned out differently, a part of me that asks if perhaps we might not find each other again on this long journey of life…

I wonder what he is doing, where he may be and whom he might be seeing… but I know it still hurts too much to know. A part of me still hasn’t let go…

  

Music: "Hurt", Christina Aquilera

Posted on September 4th, 2006 by jl
Filed under: work | 1 Comment »