20th Episode of Bangkok days and Nights

Bangkok railway station












The departure board to Bangkok railway station


28th July continued:
There was much post-mortem discussion about the bag snatch and of course Sheila felt violated about the incident in only the way a lady can feel about having her handbag stolen.
Dinner was a huge beef lasagne prepared by Khun Noy under supervision from Rosalind, it was great comfort food and the huge green salad that accompanied it made us feel a little more virtuous. However Sheila and I paid the price as we both endured each other having 'bad' wind, though of course Sheila felt more pain both in her stomach and her nostrils.
29th July
As we postponed our trip to Chiang Mai we felt a bit disoriented feeling that we should be in a different place. I went for my usual walk, though it was more of a hobble or hop, patting the heads of all four dogs who were pushing each other out of the way to get their head scruffed.
The two dogs with the longest hair were now sporting a close clipped look and I guess that was why they were missing the other day.
I struggled to the paper shop in Suanplu and the lady to whom I had given the photograph gave me a 5 baht discount on my paper. I also picked up the English translation of the Thai Police report, it cost 400 baht for the one page, that is about 14 Australian dollars, not bad when a couple of other places gave me quotes for 1,500 baht. Deciding to return via the market I called into the video shop and was pleased to hire 'Nanny Macphee' for 30 baht overnight. I could have saved myself the $2 though as when I got back Sheila and Rosalind said that they had seen it and Adam said he did not want to; Ce la vie, or mai pen rai. A more well received purchase was a couple of bunches of mint for 5 baht. I also managed to get some thin 'elastoplasts' to bind my two smallest toes together hoping that the larger one will act as a splint for the smallest one. But as Sheila says, "there really is not much we can do with it."Sheila and Rosalind decided that a bit of retail therapy was needed for Sheila and they went cruising in the shopping centres looking for sunglasses, bags etc to replace the ones that were stolen. When they returned much later they had 'only' bought some very large slabs of pate for dinner and various sauces etc to accompany it. Very few Thai wear sunglasses, there is not much direct sunlight, and the only ones on offer were 'wrap around' fashion statements that would not be suitable for the prescription variety that Sheila needed. Handbags will be the focus of a more intensive search on another day as more new season stock arrives.
Adam went to the gym, but I decided to stay home as my sore toe would make my normally powerful 'dolphin kick' into a 'tadpole wiggle'.
I watched various sporting events on the television including badminton, golf, and American football from last season. Adam came back from the gym and we just 'veged out' in front of the television until the girls got back from shopping. Truth be told we 'veged out' until dinner had been prepared and then we ate that.
I also kept up to date, via the computer. with the scores of the New Zealand versus Australia rugby union match about which I will say very little; from the scores it was a close result, but I did mention New Zealand first. We watched the qualifying runs for the German Formula one car race then in response to a special request from Sheila we watched the A.F.I award for 'Life time achievement' being presented to Sir Sean Connery. I must it was quite enjoyable and a vast improvement on most award ceremonies.
Adam was keen for us to watch 'Gladiator' as Sheila and I had expressed some antipathy towards the claimed acting prowess of Russell Crowe.
However Adam was unable to find his DVD copy and instead we watched 'DOWNFALL' which I think won an Oscar as the best foreign language film in the year that it was nominated. I was very impressed it would have been very difficult to make a film about Adolf Hitler in 'Der Fuhrer's Bunker' featuring his last days in April 1945 without bumping into various political, racial and religious concerns, but I think that the director and producer Oliver Hirschbiegel and Bernd Eichinger managed very well and have crafted and excellent film.
Sunday 30th July 2006
After my late night film experience and it being a Sunday I was not keen to rise too early and I managed to fulfil my ambition. After breakfast I decided to crawl down to Suan Plu and return the unwatched DVD of 'Nanny Macphee' and buy my paper. On the way various taxi drivers stopped their cabs enquiring if I needed a cab to relieve my struggles to progress down the road.
I declined believing that I need my daily exercise and that suffering a little is good for the soul.
I also showed the security guards opposite some pictures of our dog Chloe, that we had received from our friends June and Eric. The photographs showed Chloe in a smart woollen coat that Bette Paterson had made for her to keep her warm. I tried to explain to the guards that she needed the coat as it is cold in Australia at this time, but I think cold is a concept that the Thai do not experience therefore do not understand.
On the way back I called into the 'Tops' supermarket to get some soy milk as I would need some in the morning for my cereal and Sheila and Rosalind had been unable to find any for me in any of the large shopping centres they went into. Hmm I guess that Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuiton don't do much in the way of soy milk.
Adam went to the gym about 1230 for a work out and Sheila and Rosalind followed at about 1415 to do Pilates, again I declined feeling that my laps would lack my dynamic kick.We watched the German Grandprix and to be continued