Bangkok!

I'm back from Bangkok! It was a quite a good trip, tho a little too short, and bangkok is not really the place for rest. Lotsa cheap shopping and eating, but not much of space as there are cars and people everywhere. Bought quite a lot of stuff like clothes, bags, shoes, notebooks...some for others too! We went to Chatuchak Mkt, the weekend mkt on sunday and that was where the shopping spree began! Most of the clothes were under 10 bucks, and was telling HY that we can come BKK once a year to stock up our goods, and that would be enuff for the whole year. Tho when we went back to the hotel that evening, I felt a little bad, and realised some stuffs were bought at the spur of the moment, and could have used that money more wisely. Indeed, having more goods does not make a man satisfied.

Our hotel is located and quite a quiet spot, in a lane, requiring a 1 min drive on the Tutu to drive us out into the main road. The room was spatan, simple, quaint and nothing much. But it was cheap, 71 bucks for 3 nights per person.









We had lotsa cheap and good Thai food. Think that presetation wise, its not very good, but the taste is really good. Had tom yum soup and all that. :)





Thais are very creative people, there were night mkts, and lotsa road side stalls. And on the last night we went to the Suan Lum Night mkt...wow, lotsa varieties of clothes- look like those from Flowers in the Attic at Orchard Cineplex. There were also different designs of lights, furniture, accessories etc. Think most of our stuffs in Singapore are imported from there actually! Was looking out for some bizness ideas, to import some stuffs over to sell. ;) Hope to set up my own small bizness to support the social stuffs.

Also met up with Sinee from Ashoka. yeah...she's always so motherly and nice.



Behind the alleys tho...the "hidden smiles" of siam. Lotsa caucasian men with thai ladies. I can see why they like Thai ladies-cos they have something gentle about them, and they are nice, and somewhat shy. Was asking HY, does she think that any of the caucasian men really love their thai ladies? Well..actually I looked at a book at the airport which said some of them really did end up marrying them. Saw some couples checking into my hotel- which was quite disturbing really.
Who was I to condemn the Thai ladies anyway? I think I am so blessed to be born in Singapore, have my education, and all that.
I appreciate Singapore so much for its clean streets, regulations etc., and the city plan we have, the roads...traffic etc. Yet in a way it kind of snuffed down creativity amongst the people.
Went into this place called Beer Garden for lunch on the last day, and saw like 20-30 Thai women in heavy makeup sitting there, and a few caucasian men. DOn't think HY and I were the right kind of customers there. But was glad in a way to have my meal there, and to observe my surroundings. It was like how this Pastor said- He chose to stay in the slums cos he wanted to be where the urgency was. And truly...yup..being there, among the people, remembering how Jesus ate with the tax collectors and prostitutes. I am no better than them with my own sinful nature- yet redeemed by Christ. Wondering how come I am so blessed to be on shopping spree while there were beggars on the streets and on the overhead bridge with their little kids. What can I do for them except for now to donate some money and give tips to them...and to buy stuffs from them to help them generate income.

Every night we watched BBC, and was thankful for the news. DOn't think local ST news is an adequate representation of world wide events, as compared to BBC. And they had interviews of ple in the middle east. Saw the Israelite Prime Minister speaking for the first time, with so much conviction and certainty. Saw a lady from Hezbolah being interviewed, and she was one gutsy lady who fought for the rights of the ple. I don't think we will ever understand how the people there feel. And they also showed this ship transporting 180 British citizens out of Beirut into Cyprus. Yup...we are all people, yet cos of their nationality as UK citizens, yup..they could get better treatment than those lebonese in Beirut.

Was reading Ecclesiastics....thru out the trip, and then Solomon- I believe rich, yet he said all was vanity...the poor, injustice...and how the rich made so much money but all was vainity. Yet he somehow put things into perspective, that apart from God, everything we did was meaningless. It never lasted. And then it was to be happy- in God, do everything...our work and all that, in God. And that gave meaning to it.

Shall continue on this again...