forward, always forward: Bangkok

Bangkok was a blast.
I was only there for a night but I thoroughly enjoyed my stay.
I landed at 830 AM and wasted no time.
I learned my first Thai word, courtesy of the gentlemen who helped me fill out the arrival form. KAPUNKA!!! means "Thank you!", and I kept on saying that to everyone just to bring out the tourist in me. Even if that meant getting ripped off by everyone every two hours. What the hell, it was my only time alone and I felt so brave. Even with my finances.
So I found a cheap hotel on Rum Ruadee Street(I have no idea how it's spelled), a place called Jim's Lodge. It felt like bed and breakfast. The people were friendly and they never disturbed me.
I called for a taxi to take me to MBK, the best known shopping center in the city.
The second I saw the tiangge stalls, I went on the offensive.
I shopped like craaaazzzy.
I bought a dress that I didn't think I would ever wear. I just felt so daring and independent when I bought it. Des'ree said I gotta be bold.
But damn. When I tried the dress on, it was like someone set me alight, and I was happy about it. It was combination of bright red and orange, and black, and the pattern looked like fire waiting to spread itself. But I bought it anyway, thinking it wold come in handy, say, on a date with the devil.
Which is highly likely.
I also bought a bikini. My black one was beginning to bore me.
I walked into a stall and tried on a bolero, but the Thai lady shooed me away and was probably cussing me in Thai.
So I ran away and found my self in Siam Paragon, desperate for an authentic Thai meal. Of course I didn't find it there. It's a really nice place, but it's just a little too commercial for a culture-hungry tourist like me. I ended up having rice topped with creamy cheese and some fish.
And to really bastardize the authenticity of Thai cuisine, I bought a venti Starbucks frappe before hailing a cab to my hotel.
I reveled in my purchases, trying out my bikini and my dresses and my skirt.
I had a cig on the balcony, took a nap, and woke up to find myself excited to see the Bangkok Night Bazaar. So I called a taxi, and in a few minutes I was there, looking around for bargains.
I found a few nice items, and finally started to retire in an equally tired chair in the open area where people were drinking and a show band was performing.
I had a glass of Argentinian wine. Alone. While taking pictures of the people, the band, the food. Don't get me wrong. I didn't feel like a loser at all. I enjoyed being by myself and the freedom to do whatever I wanted.
Without thinking, "Ooh, I might embarrass myself..." or "Oh, I feel silly doing this."
So I went ahead and shook hands, said hello, had a short chat with a lady boy, teased some punks on the pavement, and bantered with some go go girls.
I went home satisfied. Tired as hell my tongue was sticking out, but satisfied.
I woke up early in the morning for my four-hour canal tour, where I got seriously ripped off.
My tour guide, Noot, couldn't speak English very well, but managed to tell me we were going to the canal for a quick tour. We went to the pier and went on a boat ride around the canal. There was a cheeky woman on the megaphone telling us about what we were about to see.
Temples, temples, and more temples.
A few houses, a few monks, a few Coke cans.
Some catfish feeding on bread, and lotsa snakes.
Yup I carried a python and wrapped it around my body as if it came from my womb.
I also held a baby monkey in my arms. He wanted to be breastfed, and clueless as to how to explain that I was not his mom, I let him go.
So Noot brought me to a couple of places, like the lapidary, where they made precious stones, and the Thai silk store, where I looked at pretty dresses I couldn't afford.
I went back to my hotel and quickly packed my things. I went to the airport and found myself short 30 Baht. It was kind of the driver to accept dirhams.
Anyway at the airport I found out my flight was delayed.
So I called Mama and told her that, then decided I was hungry, so I bought lots of Thai snacks at the family mart at the airport, which seemed to charge triple that I thought it did.
Anyway I still bought food. Ate three siopaos, had green tea, and three siomais at the passport control area. I burped while the immigration officer inspected my passport. Bye bye Bangkok.
I walked the walk (about 2km), talked the talk (to myself), until I reached Gate E-10. Finally. Manilenos in the house.
I had five glasses of wine on the plane. I wanted to intoxicate myself before finally landing. I didn't want to be sober and go through all the drama and nostalgia.
But alcohol didn't work. When the captain announced we were about to land on Ninoy Aquino International Airport, a tear trickled down my right cheek, and the Brunei national to my right was less than sympathetic. Understandably.