Monday morning saw us both with ENORMOUS headaches courtesy of severe de-hydration and stupidity. I couldn't believe just how much my head was pounding but managed to sit up to take an aspirin which, just for kicks, my stomach forcefully ejected North along with all the water I had managed thus far to keep down. I felt so wretched that I couldn't even face breakfast I managed to get myself there, with no small amount of cajoling from my dearest husband, but the effort to keep myself upright was just to much and I headed up to our room to wallow in pain and self pity.
We checked out around one in the afternoon, feeling only slightly more human. I confess I pinched one of the big white towels, a flannel as well as all the soap, shampoo and bog roll. One classy lady, you don't need to tell me! Making off with the loot after a minor panic waiting for our room to be okayed before we could check out, we got into a taxi and speeded to our new apartment. Djalma sorted out all the paperwork and details while I wilted, sorry, waited outside for him and the keys. Our long stay apartment didn't include any sheets, nothing other than the permanent fixtures and fittings. Crap – a spot of home ware shopping is not what you want when recovering from a hangover. We headed out to town, a surprisingly short walk, we didn't realise just how central we were – a fifteen minute walk to the main street with all the big shopping centres.
We spent a painfully long time inspecting the bed linen in Big-C, a huge supermarket selling everything you could possibly want, except affordable high thread count 100% cotton sheets, we settled on a fetching green design, only to find when we got home that they were for a queen size bed and not king (if only we had realised when congratulating ourselves at the checkout for the discounted price). We decided on some filth for lunch and got a McDonald's. Djalma had forgotten to bring out enough money for bed sheets and a fan, we decided to splurge and put the air-conditioning on that night and use the rest of the money to go to the cinema. When we got to the box-office there weren't any 3D films on and Djalma refused to watch a boring old normal film which we would be able to download for free and watch on the computer at home. We headed back home on the bus and tried to fit our incorrectly sized sheets on our too-big bed before giving in and sleeping on our sarong under the air-con.
The following day, Wednesday, we were slightly more with it, Djalma taught part of a lesson as part of his interview and was offered a job! Meanwhile I went back to Big-C to get household supplies and kicked back at home reading the awesome 'Touching the Void'. We went out for noodles with duck and then onto the cinema where we watched Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D (not really worth the 3D effects in my opinion but Mr Depp was gorgeous as ever).
Back at home I read out listening tests for the informal IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Djalma was going to take as a part of his offer of work. He studied a lot, reading, listening and especially writing.
Thursday and Friday passed by without much to comment on, I practised yoga and Djalma studies, his groups weren't due to start for almost two weeks. On Saturday I took myself off to the market, Djalma too traumatised from previous joint shopping experiences to come with me. I got on the right bus, got off at the right place and after a long while found the right section (no mean feat if you remember that Chatuchak Market covers 35 acres). I spent three solid hours trawling the market and found nothing, not a sausage, the only things I bought were a coconut ice-cream and a lime juice drink. Not the most successful shopping trip ever, all I want is a pair of shoes! That evening Djalma and I got some big noodles with pork and kale from the local Chinese/Thai joint and then lay in bed watching the awful hummus filled film; Don't Mess with the Zohan.
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| From Week Three: Bangkok, Thailand |
Sunday. My 27th Birthday. Wrinkles. Things heading South. Older. Not much wiser. Another birthday. I did some yoga in the morning, following one of the downloaded videos, getting in damage limitation for all the cakes I planned to eat later in the day. We headed across town on the BTS to Sukhumvit, an arterial road with plenty of capillaries leading off it (these side lanes are called Sois) lined with bars, restaurants and cafés We had done a spot of research and headed to Coffee Alley which served up good coffee, good food and had free wifi. We had blended iced coffees and an excellent breakfast – warmed croissants, mine was a big one filled with bacon and salad and lots of other yummy things, Djalma had smaller ones with a cooked breakfast.
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| From Week Three: Bangkok, Thailand |
We sat in the air-con and dialled my Nan and my Mum on Skype. We had planned to use some of the wedding money given us by Colin and Mary (my Dad's cousin) to go to the Aquarium in one of the shopping centres, but decided to give it a miss and go during the week when we anticipated it would be quieter. After a couple of hours we left the café behind and decided to head to a different shopping centre, MBK near Siam Square.
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| From Week Three: Bangkok, Thailand |
To look for... shoes. Another three hours before we gave up, it wasn't all in vain though, we passed by a Little Miss Grumpy T-shirt fitting my glum mood as we searched for shoes. After giving up we took a bus across the river to one of the riverside restaurants, Lakeside, where we had a delicious cold beer and some gorgeous Thai food; deep fried pork and prawn balls, a beautiful salad (I forget whether it was green mango/papaya or either of them) and a seafood curry served in a hollowed our coconut shell with white rice. It was gorgeous food and a beautiful setting, we had a table right by the edge and looked out over the river and the reflections of the city lights.
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| From Week Three: Bangkok, Thailand |
Stomachs full and legs tired, we headed over the bridge to try and get a bus home. The bridge was full of groups of friends with picnics and drinks, a group of girls were mixing something that looked suspiciously like cocktails, I was very impressed, there were also groups of men fishing with their rods propped up against the railings. It took us a good half an hour to get over the bridge, a ten minute walk, by now it was about 11pm and the buses had pretty much stopped so after a few minutes of mulling over our chances of getting home we decided to get a taxi.
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| From Week Three: Bangkok, Thailand |
We settled back in bed and watch a film, I wanted something light and fluffy so we put Sandra Bullock on in Miss Congeniality, love it! All in, despite the fruitless shoe search, it was a lovely birthday with some delicious food and some quality time with Djalma.
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