Time flies in Bangkok
Sat 5th Dec 2009 — drew
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We've suddenly found ourselves 4 weeks into our stay in Bangkok and 6 months into our year away. We have not been very good at writing blogs recently because we have settled into quite a routine here; and as it says on the popular t-shirts in the tourist areas, it is a little bit same, same.
We have been very busy with our various projects. Drew has got three different websites on the go, which is plenty to keep him occupied! Sadly the IT gods have not really been smiling on us. The laptop we've borrowed has a habit of switching off unexpectedly (after which it thinks the year is 1904, and it takes a while to persuade it otherwise). Progress was also hindered somewhat when our little netbook, which has served us so well thus far, developed a problem just weeks after its warranty ran out. After yet another trip to IT City proved fruitless, the solution eventually came in the form of an internet phone call to a company in the UK and Drew's dad kindly forwarded a parcel on to us here. It arrived in record time and the laptop is now up and running again. Could have done without all the messing around though. Generally Drew is quite enjoying wearing his web developer hat again after wearing a few different ones in recent months.
Meanwhile, Heather has been involved in a few different projects – the main one still being teaching English to disadvantaged women. Although the three hour classes are quite tiring, the advantage is that you get to know the students well and all the groups are very fun and friendly. Unfortunately, the project teaching English to refugees was cancelled out of concern for the refugees' safety; tensions are running a bit high at the moment. There are a lot of refugees stuck in detention centres in pretty harsh conditions. Families are separated, and the only chance they get to see each other is when they have visitors. Heather has got involved in visiting the centres, and the first visit was a moving experience, seeing a Sri Lankan family reunited for the first time in weeks. It's sobering to think that the situation they find themselves in here is better than what they left behind. (Probably ought not to get too political in this blog though...)
As well as the English teaching, Heather's got involved in a community garden project which is seeking to set up a green space in a slum area of the city. Having a break from travelling all around the city (which has warranted a card for the metro), she's also started volunteering online for an environmental organisation. This involves doing some research and trying to make sense of a lot of scientific publications in order to write reports (sounds a bit closer to her job at home than some of the other things she's been up to).
Our adventures with Thai food continue to be a little hit and miss. One night we went for dinner at a lovely little bar round the corner from the apartment. There was something a bit strange about the hot and sour salad; there were slices of something that looked like a cross between hard boiled egg and gelatine. The 'whites' of the egg were translucent purple and the yolks a disconcerting greenish black colour. We couldn't decide if these were actually eggs or some Heston Blumenthal-style contrivance – if they were eggs, how on earth did they end up looking like this? We were slightly puzzled by them, but we managed to eat them all – they didn't taste too bad, but the texture of the dark yolks was a little bit suspect. When we got home we tried to find out what we'd eaten, and read about thousand-year-old eggs. The article about on them on wikipedia suggests that their name in Thai means 'horse urine eggs'. Probably not something we're in a hurry to have again, but to be honest the thought of it is worse than they actually were to eat. What do they say about the British eating with their minds rather than their stomach? We have had plenty of very tasty Thai food though – fresh, fragrant and spicy.
We're continuing to enjoy being able to cater for ourselves and have had quite a few simple dinners of pasta or noodles with veg, which provide respite from culinary exploration. We've settled into a very pleasant morning routine; straight out of bed and up to the swimming pool, then breakfast with strong coffee and Radio 4 over the internet! Very civilised.
Unfortunately Heather's splashing about in the pool and explorations of Bangkok have been slightly tamed by a sore back. A last visit to the Tollygunge club in Kolkata saw both of us realising that we are not as young as we used to be when we excitedly decided to go and play on the diving boards. Drew managed a very impressive pool-emptying belly flop from the spring board but somehow managed to focus the impact of the landing on the most sensitive parts of his anatomy! Heather meanwhile hurt her back in an over-rotated dive off the high board. Still having some pain 3 weeks on (probably not helped by playing with energetic little children after classes!), she was persuaded to go to the doctor. Bangkok turns out to be a medical-tourism destination and modern, state-of-the-art, hospitals seem to be the norm rather than GP's surgeries. Heather was directed straight away to an orthopaedic specialist in an immaculately clean, efficient, hospital where doctors and nurses outnumber the patients. Hopefully it is just a back strain and a few more weeks of taking it easy along with some strong anti-inflammatory drugs should clear it up...
This week has seen a build-up to a big celebration of the King's Birthday. It's his 82nd and his health has not been great recently (he's been in hospital since September). Everyone's very excited about him making a special appearance today. The king is very popular; the first time Drew saw 'Long live the King' emblazoned across the front of a taxi, he thought the driver must be a big Elvis fan!
Last night we crossed the city to the Grand Palace, where a few of the main roads have been shut off for a huge street party; there were fireworks, fairy lights which would give Oxford Street at Christmas a run for their money, dancing fountains, illuminated floats put together by various public sector bodies, and lots of music and street food. There were thousands of people there, many of them wearing pink as the colour has apparently been deemed auspicious, and good for the King's health. In one of the main parks nearby they were setting up for today's celebrations; several families were setting up camp last night to ensure they had a good spot.
Time is seeming to pass quickly – we've not got long left on our 30 day visas for Thailand. We're going to have to do a 'visa run' to a neighbouring country in order to get new ones. We're thinking of a quick trip into Cambodia, although there are other options. We don't need much of an extension, as on the 22nd of December, we're off to Australia to spend Christmas with Drew's aunt and cousin and their family in Melbourne, which we're really excited about.
It's almost exactly 6 months since we left the UK now. The last 6 months have gone fast, but looking back through our blog posts, our arrival in Kathmandu in June seems a long time ago already. In some ways we maybe feel less far away here than we did in Nepal and India, as we've got all the creature comforts (including internet and Radio 4 on tap!), but no doubt there will be more adventures to come in the second half of our year away.
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