a Bangkok Affair`

well rested, that's what i am now.
told Jamie while we were killing time at Suvarnabhumi Airport, how great it'd be if we had our laptops with internet connection then and there, while sipping some Black Canyon Coffees... hmm.. back home, after a quick session of unpacking and a serious nap, i am once again seated at my desk, devouring ALL of the wholesome worldwideweb...

just a few days being away from kl, away from the comfort of my everyday routine, away from how life as it is now, i have came to realize just how much i easily miss these comforts.

Eye-opening as they already are, visits to other places, -the country location irregardless- never fail to provoke and make me realize more things.. things that i thought i already knew...

it was just bangkok. it's the second time i've been to this Vibrant and Colorful city.

yes, colorful indeed. the hotel we stayed in, the Baiyoke Boutique, were decked and decorated in various bold colors. the people we see thrawling the streets at the Pratunam area, nearby Indra Square, they too, were verrry colorful. v didnt mean to be discriminating or anything, but what were they doing there, really? okay, i should skip this part.

all in all, the city Bangkok never sleeps!!!

but we do. we did. it seemed just too risky for us two gurls to just wander out near midnite on our own... even when our simple wish was just to satisfy our Starbucks crave... hmm... we had to be Sensible i guess...

so this trip, it was just the two of us. and the ultimate objective? TO SHOP.

to the extent that i got the 'teasing' from my boss nontheless, how "some people take leaves just to go shopping". Yes, i guess that meant me. dont think nobody he knows does the same.

anyhow, yes this was meant to be a shopping trip.

but being the usual lazy me, and with just the two of us this time, i guess we werent really that savvy enuf, however 'close' Jamie was getting to becoming an "assassin in the making".. (^^)

yes. we went temple touring again... =P

ahh, yess... my affiliations with bangkok's temples... =)

we were told by some frenly "teochiew-nangs" at the airport that the half-day tour was Free Of Charge, (except for a USD7 tax). fine.. enuf said about that.

but all is not lost.

the tour came together with a local tour guide.

a tour guide with a moniker "King Kong" that asked us to give him 5-minutes to fill his breakfast need.

a tour guide that held a very ol'fashioned styled 'paper' brolly, to shade us (and himself from bangkok's hot sun).

a tour guide who'd been full time in the line for only 1 year.

a university-grad, 37 year old tour guide, witty, who doesnt look his age at all, who doesnt look like pure Thai at all, who used to be a lawyer.

fascinating ehh? well, i hav to admit that i was intrigued.

why the change of pathways at 35++, from a profession of law to travel guide??

Destiny.. yes, that was his answer.

to cut things short, i guess, Destiny is equivalent to an easy way out of explaining things in details. heheh...

but i think, we got his point. this chance meeting between us too, was Destiny he said.

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so then i guess, Destiny must've brought me to Asoke Rd. to have this chance meeting with Wan too. yes, Jamie's colleague in Bangkok. and of course also, a few others with very quirky names... Niki, Art, Nine, and Tieng? and also the french guy Mathieu.. (i think).

the piece of 'fortune paper' i received at Wat Pho, 'fortune no.22' said: "Will benefit from anybody you will be visiting."

indeed, i think this trip had been a peculiarly different one. not so much on the places or sightseeings, but really, more to the people and insights reaped.

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to me, all along, Bangkok was knowned to be vibrant, a fusion of Old and New.

touristy with its grand, old temples and floating markets.

modern with its BTS and MRT, Siam Paragons and Platinum Malls..

yet this trip, perhaps i could say, i chose to look at it differently in perspectives.

the people that we met, they sort of showed me, some reflections of life in kl. my life, in kl.

they face the same stresses. they encounter the same crossroads. they too, wait for Chance and Opportunities.

the point is, its very seldom that i think this much when on vacations. haha...

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something that i cannot explain though, why did i devour the Star Online even before i checked my Facebook today~?

the local news seemed too trivial and boring, i moved on to the world updates pretty quickly.

Obamas, Thaksins, Asos... korea's Taepodong-2, and australian bush fires...

and then a few of my fav columnists A.Asohan, Celeste Fong, Alexandra Wong, et`cetera, et`cetera...

and of course, law teacher Azmi Sharom's views on our Constitution.

it was all very enlightening indeed...

so now, it's almost nearing another day.

another weekday.

another day at work.

but i am grateful, for all the insights i got from this trip.. huge or little, i believe they make a difference.

it is indeed sad, that i shall be confined to just another one up north to the Chinese cities, for the rest of the year...
till then, i guess this is adieu`.. to travels.

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another itch scratched...