questions and answers

infamous bangkok traffic

Shopping.

Supposedly tons of people come to Bangkok just to shop.  I can see why.  But not really.

Certainly the destination for shopping must include the Siam area, which is where I spent most of my day today.  Within the span of three blocks, there are at least eight gigantic shopping megacomplexes, each grander than the next:  Siam Center, Siam Discovery Center, MBK, Central, Erawan Bangkok, Central, Paragon, and Gaysorn.  If an ambitious person who forgets to take his psychiatric medication suddenly comes into a large sum of money by killing his dearest relative and chooses to visit every store in every mall on this strip, it would take her more than a couple of days to do so.  I haven't killed anyone and I'm not on any psychiatric medication, so I just paid a quick visit to each place to see what the hype is all about.  Here's my report:

Cons:
1.  Many of these malls have the same retail stores:  BOSS, Cartier, Prada, Burberry, Giordana, Comme des Garçons, etc.  Why the repetition?
2.  The floors are so slippery that I almost slid onto my cherished butt a couple of times.  Maybe it's the flip-flops I was wearing.
3.  Once you walk in to a mall, you are no longer in Bangkok.  You are in any mall in any large city on earth.  Give me a unique, local store that sells things I can't buy elsewhere.  Let's reverse globalization!
4.  The prices are all quite high.  I compared a product whose price I know in the US and in Taiwan (fine, I admit it, it's Shiseido Men's facial cleanser - for men, okay!), and it is about 30% more expensive in Bangkok. 

Pros:
1.  The air conditioning in each complex is a most welcomed reprieve from the scorching sun.  It's like going from the ninth level of hell, according to Dante, and ascending to heaven via direct flight, bypassing all the middle levels where tongues are pulled out and eyes gouged.

 

 

2.  The food courts!!!  Every mall has at least one floor where the famished shopper, due to all that walking no doubt, can refill in between Dior and Gucci.  I've included four pictures:  they are not four separate food courts, they are all one floor at Siam Paragon, taken in different directions.

I settled in front of this aquarium for lunch, enjoying my delicious Thai noodle soup for 45 baht ($1.50 USD).  The beautiful white fish were stimulating as a visual feast, but what was more entertaining was this child sitting across from me refusing to eat her (I think it was a she, but hard to tell) lunch.  She kept turning her head away every time her poor mom tried to feed her.  Surely reminded me of myself when I was her age.  Finally, the mom put an iPad in front of her and played what I assumed was some program to the effect of Sponge Bob Square Pants.  Then every time the mom pointed at a fish, the girl would be distracted enough to open her mouth, just long enough for a spoonful of food to enter and exit.  What did people do before iPods, iPhones, and iPads?  I am proud to say I own none of those.  Yet.

The Erawan Shrine houses a golden statue of a four-faced Buddha.  The four faces grant wishes in career, love, wealth, and health.  If your wish comes true, you need to return to the Shrine and either buy some flowers or pay for the dancers nearby to perform a ceremonial song and dance.  Your choice.

Doraemon - my favorite since childhood

In the evening, I planted myself at a window seat in Coffee Society, got my Thai iced tea for the occasional leisurely sip, and took out my pen and notebook - it was time for some people watching and daydream writing:

The salesgirl at the shoe stand outside - I wonder what she's reading.  What is life like for a twenty-some year old Bangkok girl who sells shoes at the night market?  Does she have siblings?  What do her parents do?  What does she do in the day?  Perhaps she is in school.  What was her last big purchase?  Does she have a significant other?  Is she a virgin?  Who is that woman who just sat down next to her?  I wish she would move away.  Will I ever be forward enough to get these questions answers instead of just wondering?