Harper's On Bangkok by venitha

• Advertised price of flight from Singapore to Bangkok: S$18
  
• Actual price of flight, per person, inclusive of taxes: S$116
  
• Length of flight: 2 hours, 20 minutes
  
• Currency lowdown: 100 baht ~ S$5 ~ US$3
  
• Time difference from Singapore: -1 hour
  
• High temp in Bangkok on departure day: 33°C
  
• High temp in Singapore on departure day: 32°C
  
• Amount of time that it rained: 2 1/2 hours
  
• Number of times we were told it was rainy season: 2
  
• Only Thai word we know besides wat (temple) upon departure: farang (foreigner)
  
• Only new Thai we learn in Bangkok: kháwp khun (thank you)
  
• Rank of Big Buddha and Hello! Where you going? among phrases most frequently addressed to us by Thai people: 2 and 1
  
• Number of big (that would be bigger than us) Buddhas we saw: 9
  
• Number of wats listed on our Bangkok tourist map: 87
  
• Number of wats your normal person (that would be me and Jim) cares to visit on one trip to Bangkok: 3



• Number of times those jokester Thai people told us that the place we were going was closed: 3
  
• Number of times it actually was: 1
  
• Time spent per person in Thai wrestling, er, massage: 1 hour
  
• Price for this pummeling, per person: 300 baht
  
• Number of taxis, sky train rides, and water taxi/ferry rides enjoyed per person: 13, 3, and 5
  
• Modes of available transportation which we forsook: rental car, bus, and túk-túk
  
• Number of afternoon naps: Jim: 3; Venitha: 2
  
• Number of cameras and pictures taken: 2 and 197
  
• Number of pictures-of-food and pictures-of-food-that-was-still-alive-and-kicking taken: 86 and 4


• Number of dishes maxing out the Jim-and-Venitha-spicy-o-meter (Jim stops, Venitha cries): 2
  
• Spiciest dish: tôm yam soup
  
• Yuckiest food: candied lotus root
  
• Number of som tam (spicy green papaya) salads consumed: 6
  
• Number of alcoholic beverages enjoyed per person at very welcome un-Singaporean prices: 6
  
• Happiest purchase: 10 baht mango shake from a street hawker just down the block from our hotel
  
• Number of pineapples from hawkers consumed: 11
  
• Number of Bexinor pills taken: 3
  
• Number of squat toilets used: 2
  
• Worst of Bangkok: Jim: the way the con artists and hucksters make you suspicious of even a person nice enough to offer directions to an ugly American tourist in perfect English; Venitha: poor air quality
  
• Best of Bangkok: Jim: the architecture; Venitha: the food
  
• Number of ziploc bags of currency currently residing in our safe: 7
  
• Next foreign destination: Shanghai. Jim will travel here for work the first week in September. On this adventure, Jazz will be playing the role of Jim's moody sidekick who scarfs all the spicy food; the usual player will be busy auditioning for a new role: that of a working stiff.

venitha

Click here for a map that shows Singapore, Bangkok, and Shanghai. Click on the map to enlarge it.