I woke up Tuesday to more noise, what was with this place. Can people not make noise. I had to get up anyway as I had to make it to the Chinese embassy. I was also going to buy my laptop today. Exciting. So I got to the embassy expecting to have to wait in line but I got brought to the side and some fellas said that they will put it through. I wasn't going to argue. I didn't have to hang around. I could have paid a lot of money to have it ready that evening, but I said it was OK I would go for the 2/3 days instead. Which meant it would be ready tomorrow morning instead. Wow a whole 12 hours later. So I definitely went that option. I left and went to the IT mall but it was too early for them yet. The shops weren't opened. So I left and went to go to see the palace. On the way I stopped at the paragon to have a falafel for lunch again. How come the second time is never as good as the first time? And when I came out, it was so dark. It was going to pour down with the rain. So I was trying to decided should I stay or should I go. I decided it was going to rain too hard, so I decided to go to the MBK centre again and have a look around. I wandered around for awhile, bought a couple of small things. I was getting tired of that really fast. So I decided to go back to the IT centre and get my laptop instead. So I went back and was looking at the different ones. I had an idea which one I wanted to get I just had to find it. I went into a couple of stores and they had the laptop but not the spec I was looking for so I moved on until I found a store with the one I wanted, in black. It was beautiful. It took them awhile to reconfigure it so that it was in English instead of Thai. So some things had to be reloaded onto the computer. In all I was there about 2 hours. A long time. They were asking me for my passport so that they could give me a form for tax back. But of course my passport was at the Chinese embassy getting a visa. I was asking them if I could come back tomorrow to get it but they said I had to do it now. So I wasn't sure what to do. I then had a brainwave. I asked if a copy would do, which I was told yes. Before I left Ireland I had scanned all my documents and had emailed them to myself for emergency. I know this wasn't an emergency but close enough. So they got me on the internet and we printed off my passport picture. It worked out prefect and I got my form to claim the tax back when I fly out of the country in January.
I left there happy with my new toy and went back to the hostel. The rest of the day was a quiet one. Charlie and martina were off somewhere. So I had a quiet evening and early night.
The next morning I woke up to the mother of all bitches, coming in and out of the room. Opening and closing the door, coming in a playing with plastic bags and going back out again. It went on what seemed like ages. Afterwards Charlie and martina and I had a good moan about it. Gez it seems to be getting worse. Charlie was telling me later that she was down in the internet room complaining about the girl that was making the noise to another hosteler and the girl happened to be in the room at the same time. So she heard it all. Ha ha.
I had to go back to the Chinese embassy to pick up my passport but I was making sure I got to the palace today as it was my last day in Bangkok. I was leaving for Cambodia in the morning. Charlie and I had also planned on seeing the new bond movie as it was coming out in Thailand that day. Charlie said she would come with me to the palace but she wouldn't go in as she had been before but she wanted to go to khao san road to look around and I wanted to buy some presents to send home. Cause if I sent it now it should make it home for x-mas. We convinced martina to come with us. So I organised to meet them on khao san road and I headed off to get my passport. When I arrived at the embassy they had it waiting for me, which was great. So I got back on the bts and got it all the way down to the river taxi which I then got up to khao san road. It took forever and charlie and martina ended up being there before me as they got a taxi over. So I met them on khao san and we decided we would go for lunch first before we heading for the palace. Charlie and martina are both vegetarians and we happen to get a flyer on the road to a veggie place just off khao san. So we decided to head there for something to eat. It was a nice place and they had cushions on the floor with small table so it was really nice. I actually had eating there before with aoife for breakfast one morning.
Afterwards we got ourselves a tuk tuk down to the palace. Martina and I went in the palace while Charlie stayed outside and I organised to meet her outside in about an hours time. The palace was quite nice. Very elaborate. Almost too much so. I'm a believer that sometimes less is more. We went into the temple of the emerald Buddha and sat in there for a little while. It was really busy, with local Thais and well as foreigners. After that we went towards the palace and had a look. We saw the guards there standing in front so we got our pictures taken with us standing beside them. We saw some monks walking around and martina took a couple of pictures of them. We were standing there talking about the guards when martina said to me that the monks were taking pictures of us. Which I thought was very funny. We went to walk past the monks and when we got near they actually stopped us and asked us to be in pictures with them. We were so surprised as we never expected monks to talk to us never mind ask us for our picture. Of course we said yes and so we got our pictures taken with two different monks. It was very funny.
After that we couldn't see the rest of the palace grounds as the kings older sister had died the month before and was awaiting burial. So it rest was closed off. But we did get to see the changing of the guards before we left. Which was kinda cool. So we then left the palace to find Charlie to tell her about our monk encounter. Ha ha.
Found Charlie waiting for us outside and told her about our monks and then she proceded to tell us she found female monks in the market. Martina said you said to out do us on our monk story didn't you. As we were walking to find a tuk tuk to bring us back to Khao San road. Charlie saw these landscapers, that she had been watching work outside the palace, resting against the wall and she wanted a picture with them. So she pretend to be resting aswell beside them. Then martina got in on it and did the same thing. So I went and did it too since the others girls did it. But that wasn't enough, we then got a passerby to take a picture of all three of us resting against the wall with the other landscapers. It was really funny. I thought we were safe then but no. as we were walking by the entrance to the palace, there were guards position outside and Charlie had to get a picture with them, and then that wasn't enough we had to get a picture with all of us in it again. She is a funny girl. I wouldn't have the balls to do it. I have the dick but not the balls yet. Ha ha.
So we got our tuk tuk back to khao san. And we proceded to go shopping. We were looking around at the different shops, trying to find a good price for T.-shirts, with different funny sayings. We got tired so we sat down for awhile to have a drink. That's when we got the frog ladies coming over offering different things. Martina got stuck with one lady, where she put a hat on martina and of course Charlie whips out her camera to take some photos. I then get in on it and ask how much her frogs are. If you have never been to Thailand, they sell these wooded frogs where you rub a stick over their back and it make noises. And it really does sound like a frog. I thought they were cool and I wanted to buy a few to give to my nephews and nieces. But as soon as I inquired about the frogs, I was done for, she wouldn't leave until I got them. But we had some fun and got some good pictures of us and of the frog lady.
Afterwards we tried to finished off our shopping but we weren't doing very good. We still hadn't found a cheap T-shirt guy. Well we found one but we wanted a cheaper one.
So we decided to go for food and recoup. The girls wanted to goo back to the veggie place we were in earlier so we headed there. In the restaurant, we ordered our food and Charlie wanted to get a mohito, but the guy in the restaurant said they didn't do them but a different version instead. Anyway I went to the toilet and when I came back , we were changing restaurants because while I was going to the loo. The guy in the restaurant was being rude about the mohito some how. I very did understand the whole reason but if the girls wanted to go, I was down with that, no matter what reason. So we went to another veggie restaurant down the road of the other one but this one atleast also served meat. So I actually worked out for the better. And it also served some good cocktails and we had a couple there while eating and playing pool after.
We left to go get T-shirts finally. Martina got a T-shirt that said “I like girls” it was very funny. Especially how she was bartering with the girls in the shop over the T-shirt, saying that she was very poor and look at the rest of her clothes, they have holes in it and she really needs this shirt, can you please give a cheaper price. It was really funny. She did a good job.
We then went to the cheap guy, but we did try our luck for more money off but he knew that he was cheaper than anywhere else so he didn't go lower. So with all our bargaining we went to spend the money we saved, on drink instead. But still in our bargaining mood, we went for buy one get one free buckets. And we went walking up and down khao san road, meeting people and having the craic. It was a really good night. And I ended up being hungover the next day when I had to get the bus to Cambodia Will I ever learn?
