Signs of Bangkok

Advert for an underwear shop in MBK




sign on the back of taxi front seat

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The Kitten has been fixed!

Given our impending departure for Bali, I decided I had to stop procrastinating in the 'fixing' of the kitten...procrastination was due mainly to the trek it takes to get to the vet (which will be described later!).

So last Thursday I dropped the kitten off at the vet before work for her little 'operation', instructions received from the vet were that I could pick her up after work on Friday. We agreed that I would come to the vets about 8-8:30 in the evening.

Friday at about 6pm my phone rang...the Vet..."Where are you? We are waiting"..I reminded them that we had agreed between 8-8:30..."I know, but I want to go home now, so you have to come now"...rushing anywhere in BKK traffic, during the rushhour on a Friday night..is just never going to happen...but, I downed tools immediately, bolted out the door and then sat in traffic for the next hour, finally reaching the vet at 7:15pm.

The Kitten looked very subdued, not happy...mainly due to the huge collar around her neck (exhibit A & B).





The collar meant that her sense of direction and balance etc were all over the place, when we got home she kept reversing everywhere, wouldn't turn round properly and kept stopping still in the middle of rooms and corridors...not a happy Kitten!

I had to take her back to the vet on Monday evening to have the wound checked. Appointment was for 6:30pm. The plan was to leave work at 5pm...this is how the evening panned out....

4:50pm - leave basement (second basement) office (no windows, no idea of weather outside) with the aim of getting a taxi...look out the window and realise it is pissing (and I mean pissing!) with rain...(exhibit C & D)




4:55pm - grab umbrella from unsuspecting colleague! And go stand outside in the rain

5:30pm - finally get a taxi...by now am soaked, head, shoulders, bag, trousers up the crotch..shoes ruined...all soaked...

6:30pm - finally get home ( a trip of normally 10 minutes) to grap unsuspecting and unhappy kitten.... Kitten has (I realise belatedly) ripped off her collar and when I go to look for it...she has hidden it somewhere...

6:45pm - call vets...tell them I'm late due to weather etc..but am on the way. Leave my flat...down to the road side...water by this stage about half way to my knees (I have changed to grotty trousers and flip flops and hence look a sight!)

6:47pm - it starts to rain harder (if that's possible) and the wind starts blowing too...therefore myself AND the Kitten are now soaking...and both fairly miserable...

7:00pm - finally a taxi arrives (and stops) that will take an animal and a wet gweipo/farang/wild woman of Borneo...all pile in...got to love that air con...take kitten out of box and put underneath my Tshirt to warm her up..or at least try to...

8pm - finally arrive at the vet; ignore comment from receptionst along the lines of "You're late and will have to wait for next appointment".

8:10pm - vet calls us in...all ok...come back Wednesday for the stitches to be taken out....

8:20pm - outside again, in the pissing rain, waiting for a taxi...

8:40pm - elephant comes out of a neighbouring soi...goes to the animal hospital..they open the doors, elephant kneels down sticks his head in the door and vet does something to its trunk - elephant then stands up and leaves...vet locks double doors - only in Thailand!

9pm - get a taxi...after having to agree to pay about 10 times the normal rate....

10pm - get home....

11pm - find the collar.....

Midnight - discover the Kitten happily watching TV!! (exhibit E)

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2nd syllable.....

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If it's Monday it must be yellow....

When you are new into Bangkok, it takes a week or two before a weird phenomenon is noticed...every Monday the majority of the population (and by majority I mean about 60-70%) of the population wears yellow t-shirts of some description.

Apparently, yellow is the colour that Thai's associate with the day Monday. The King was born on a Monday, so since 2006 (his 60th anniversary on the throne) all have worn yellow on Mondays.

However, it seems as if pink will be the latest craze!

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OK...so it's time to start writing again!!!!

I am a little out of touch...in fact I haven't read anyone's blog entries for about four or five months (except Frayed's after the recent blasts in Manila). So bear with me while I catch up on all your news!

I've had a crazy few months since arriving...working all the hours that are possible - and a few more!! Anyway, hopefully life will become a bit more normal from now on in...so I can start tentatively blogging again....

Problem is - I don't know where to start!!!

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believe me....I'm busy...

It's non stop at work at the moment...my present task is interviewing...in the last three days I've interviewed about 100 people... and believe me, at the end of a day doing that it's really hard to look interested and happy to see the final candidate....and listen to them whilst looking as if you are listening!

There have been a few moments of humour....normally after the candidate has left... and normally from their application form...two that stand out...

1. Where it says 'birthplace' on the form, one candidate had written 'Hospital'
2 Where it asks 'have you ever been in hospital?', one candidate had written 'Yes, I visited my friend there last week'

In my particular line of business it seems that the junior staff really move around...a lot....!!! 6 months maximum in one job...it seems that the lure of a few Baht more is better than a stable career....one guy I'd seen was 23 and had already had more jobs than I have had...!

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It just felt like any normal Saturday morning...

I can't help wondering what on earth is going to happen next...my day so far.

1. Entire cup of tea deposited over my little Macbook (aka the love of my life!!), I can't believe it...four years we've been together...four years....its terrible...its little face went black, its breathing light went off and there was a very nasty whirring noise... It doesn't look good...

2. On leaving my apartment I go down to the lobby of my building and discover all the residents being prevented from leaving (actually being kept in a holding pen!!) whilst some poor unfortunate lady went completely mental out in the entrance area, smashing glass, hurting herself..blood everywhere....this went on for about half an hour until some form of authorities came and carted her off....what a mess...

3. SMS from the Blue-eyed Boy...he's getting married...now that was a bolt from the blue....!!!! I thought he was confirmed bachelor material!!

In about an hour I'm heading out to the airport where Island Boy will hopefully be arriving from his little island of Cebu...

Hope there are no more shocks this weekend...my little brain can't filter any more information!

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It's raining....

It's rainy season here....allegedly....and it's great...

When it rains here it actually drops the temperature quite dramatically so it becomes almost chilly....unlike in Hong Kong or Manila where the humidity makes it feel even more uncomfortable when it rains...it just makes the environment that much more liveable!

The drawback of this, is that I have discovered that electricity is a little unreliable here during heavy rains and thunderstorms...one Saturday evening, I lost power in my apartment six times over the space of two hours.... have just invested in sizeable collection of torches and candles!

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here...and settled....vaguely!

I must say...it all went according to clockwork!

Arrived in BKK, quarantine was a doddle, customs with a cat...no problem...picked up one of the 'authorised' limos into town, the apartment agent was waiting with the keys....after an hour or chiang Kai-Shek and I were unpacked and I was ready to start stocking the house...CKS in the meantime curled up on the bed and proceeded to sleep for about three days.

A few thoughts so far...

Tescos is good...but Carrefour...now that is amazing!!!

The Skytrain is wonderful, as are the taxis!

My colleagues are very friendly and welcoming...only the first day, but compared to some places I've worked on the first day you already know who's going to be a challenge!

The laundry downstairs in my condo block is great...washing, ironing...delivery..

Chiang Kai-shek has taken the loss of Chairman Mao very badly...and when she is not sleeping is wandering around howling..ensuring that I cannot sleep.... a kitty friend needs to be found for her.... she's a very disturbed cat. She was howling incessantly in Manila and I wondered if the move to BKK would help...obviously not....if possible, she misses him more than I do.

Without BBC World, my life is a little dull....without my work permit...no BBC World....!!

I'd forgotten how much I like Thai food!!

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And whilst on a car theme....

When I was in Bangkok at the beginning of the week, house hunting, I had an hour to kill whilst lurking in a shopping mall....and discovered they had an aquarium...actually a very good aquarium at that....

the only thing was that the mangement/creators of the aquarium should win an award for the oddest collection of items being used as fish tanks...

we had a car...




a fridge....



a microwave...


and one that didn't come out was a wine storage cabinet...

All I can say is that someone was obviously bored one day and thought..."what can I put the fish in today?"


One thing I can highly recommend here is the jelly fish section, I've never seen jellyfish in an aquarium before and this display is quite incredible...and makes your skin crawl...particularly for me who had a nasty experience when I was about 9, in Dubai....me, complaining for most of the day that my stomach hurts, my mother telling me to pull myself together, getting home and finding two little jellyfish had spent the day in my swimsuit!..not sure who screamed loudest when they fell out of my swimsuit in the shower!!

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The cats need more air miles.....!

Seeing as you have all become bored of me blogging endlessly about my numerous trips to Cebu and equally numerous gripes about taxis in Manila...I've decided to come up with a new subject to blog about.....and strangely a new location....

So, from the beginning of July (Insh'allah), I shall be living in the city which has this river...


a myriad of Temples and Palaces...


and neighbours like these...

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