December 2, 2006 Bangkok, Thailand

December 2, 2006
Bangkok, Thailand

We woke up this morning at 8:00, made our way down to breakfast, and met up with Spizz. After eating I quickly checked my email and sent B a message about what we were up to and what our plans were for the next few days. Just before 9:30 jumped in a cab and headed for the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

It was the most massive and crowded market I have ever visited. I could not believe how many vendors and shoppers were crowded into such a small area. Apparently, it is possible to buy just about anything at the weekend market. The main sections are: clothing, accessories, plants, animals, and antiques. Even so, I am pretty sure that I only made it through the clothing and accessories sections of the market.

When we first arrived we tried to stay together but decided it was impossible (and because Jackie felt as though I might be hindering her…). Instead, we set up a meeting place (under some large bronze cups) and time (13:00) and wandered around on our own.

I pushed my way through the crowds and into many of the shops but never found anything I liked at a reasonable price. I was surprised by the high prices and the reluctance of the vendors to barter. In the end, the only thing that I considered purchasing were some knockoff NBA shorts (very good quality)…NOTE: most of the clothing market was aimed at girls. Of the stuff for guys almost all of it was Abercrobmie, Ralph Lauren, or cheap imitation of surf brands.

I made it back to the meeting place about 10-minutes before 13:00. A few minutes later Jackie showed up. We waited another 20 minutes and Spizz never came. As we waited we decided to get some lunch and sit down. We waited at our meeting location for more than an hour! In a crazy turn of events B showed up as we were waiting for Spizz!

It was an incredible coincidence! We caught up with B and exchanged stories of our Thailand travels. After a while we decided that Spizz wasn’t coming. Instead, the three of us stuck together and decided to do a little a little more shopping. All the while I was keeping an eye out for Spank (never saw him).

At about 15:30 we decided we had had enough shopping (well maybe Jackie hadn’t) and that we weren’t going to find Spizz. The three of us got in a cab and headed to B’s hostel to pick up his stuff and move him to the place where we were staying. Incredibly, B’s hostel was only a block away from where we were staying! We had been visiting the same places and wandering the same streets!! Still, all was not well. When we returned to our hostel there was still no sign of Spizz…

We waited as long as we could and then hoped in a taxi to Ben’s apartment to meet up with my dad (who flew in this morning). Unfortunately, it was a long cab ride because of excessive traffic (almost an hour).

When we finally arrived at Ben’s place we were shocked to find Spizz and my dad hanging out on the couch. Apparently, Spizz had gone to the wrong meeting spot and waited for a long time. When we didn’t show up he decided to leave. He did not know how to get back to the hostel so he decided to go to Ben’s because he knew that we would be heading there later in the evening.

After catching up with my dad and hearing about his flight we decided to get some dinner. Spizz had the great idea of revisiting Cabbages and Condoms (where we went for Thanksgiving). We made the long walk and got a table for our large party. Once again we had Ju do all of the ordering. Once again she did an awesome job and everyone loved the food and the restaurant (pictures to come – they are on Ben’s camera because I forgot mine…).

Once we finished at the gift shop we all headed back to Ben’s apartment. Instead of heading upstairs we decided to visit a massage parlor. Everyone (except Jackie – who got a beautiful manicure/pedicure) was treated to an hour-long foot massage. Our large group ended up putting every masseuse at the establishment to work. In fact, they even had the guy at the counter start giving massages. Unfortunately, I was the unlucky one and was massaged by a guy for the first half of my massage…Still, it was quite fun because we were all in a room together having a good time. It was made even better because Ju could tell us what the masseuses were saying to one another.

When we were all done Spizz, B, Jackie and I headed back to our hostel to get some sleep. We were all very relaxed and tired and it was pretty late (22:30).