Today is the first day of my Southeast Asia / Japan 5 month trip. After a grueling 27 hour trip from Charlotte to Bangkok, I'm finally in "The Big Mango." I slept for a reasonable 8 hours and found myself on my way to a coffee shop by 10 am. Walking in Bangkok is intense, especially initially. I didn't completely feel in my body if that makes any sense. It was like someone had dropped my into a new level of a video game and let me figure out what to do next. This city is an assault on the senses. The smells of car exhaust, brake dust, and food smells are constant on the main streets. There's also this persistent rotten egg smell, which after a quick Google search could be hydrogen sulfide from sewer gas or the smell of the famous (or infamous?) durian fruit. Then there's the sights of motorcycles whizzing around with passengers chilling out on the back and a grimy yet futuristic cityscape.
For breakfast, I found a cheap diner offering a full set American meal. I enjoyed the guava juiced the most if that tells you anything about the food. It was like Waffle House quality but without the waffle. I also got a Thai dish of Pad Krapow, but it was kind of bland without spice.
Following my lunch and nap and brief bit of exercise, I was happy to find the sauna at my hotel to help me relax and detox. This was the first time I'd gone nude in a sauna. I tried talking to a cleaning person about wearing a bathing suit, but it seemed that you couldn't. Not sure if I needed to strip to my birthday suit, but at least no one joined me in the sauna.
There's also an open-air pool on the 9th floor acting as an oasis from the chaos down below. For dinner I explored the local area hoping to find a good street vendor with authentic Thai, but after 30 minutes of searching I decided to instead settle on a more upscale restaurant. I'm glad I did because I had what may be one of the best desserts of my life: their mango sticky rice. The rice was sweet with a bit of saltiness and crunch, while the mango was fresh and juicy and the ice cream added a nice cold, creaminess to each bite. All in all I enjoyed my first day here in Bangkok. I'm looking forward to what ever else it has in store for me.
Other notes:
These toasty things from 7-11 (which are everywhere here like in Japan) are pretty good, especially the s’mores Nutella one after a good panini press they offer.
Pro tip: when using a taxi negotiate the price before getting in the car or at least ask for the meter (ask me how I know)
Bangkok does shopping malls well. Good way to escape the heat and humidity.
There are many exotic fruits in food markets here.
