One Night in Bangkok...

It was not really just one night in Bangkok but a good 3 days of non-stop shopping but it was one night in Bangkok when I was truly hit with a blast from my past....

Bangkok, or Krung Thep as the locals will refer to it, is a vibrant city of about 8.1mil people. A city that truly never sleeps and a woman's shopping paradise. Admittedly, there's much more to buy for women then for men. In comparison to KL, which only sports a population of about 1.7mil in the city proper, Bangkok blows your mind in terms of the number of people. Of course, most Malaysians stay in the outskirts of KL within the Klang Valley but in comparison, we are still about 2mil people less then those living in Bangkok city proper. We're used to having a certain amount of space between us and it is quite dis-orienting when there is so many people living together in one spot.

Bangkok has fond memories for me. Living there at my most impressionable age of 7 to 11 years old, it almost felt like I was coming home when I touched down at the airport. Of course, nothing can replace my true home in Petaling Jaya but the nostalgia was over-whelming. The language, the sights, the smells and the taste brought back fond memories of my childhood. Even getting stuck in the traffic brought a smile to my face. I was actually waiting for the cab driver to turn off the engine. Alas, times have changed in Bangkok and I don't think it is now such a common practise.

The first thing I had to have was my Pad Thai. No where else in the world or even in other parts of Thailand does the Pad Thai taste the same as in Bangkok. The combination of sweet, sour, crunchy from the raw beansprouts and 'pedas' from the chilli flakes makes this dish a treat for the taste buds. It was with pure and utter contentment for me when I was done with our late lunch.

Shopping in Bangkok.....how should I begin....shopping as usual was glorious. The pinacle of retail therapy, the absolute bliss of being able to buy an item at a fraction of the price that I would have paid at home. Bangkok has never let me down when it comes to shopping. One thing though, branded products in Bangkok is amazingly expensive. I can proudly say, if you want to buy branded products, come over to KL or go over to Hong Kong. But, no one goes to Bangkok to buy branded products anyways and cheap is good in this city of angels.

The additional empty suitcase I packed came in very handy and I managed to fill it up to the brim with my purchases. Fortunately for us, we ran out of Baht as we wanted to keep enough for Airport Tax, only to be informed at the airport that the ticket price already included the tax. I could have bought that blouse at Pratunam. Not to worry, Bangkok is only a 2hr flight from KL and with AirAsia tickets prices, who says I can't do this every year!

The last night in Bangkok was the most memorable and I have to say thank you to the two individuals who played a key role in my teenage years and who welcomed us so enthusiatically after 18 years. It was a different country and a different time when we first met but the most memorable years of our lives in Myanmar or Burma as we fondly remembered it. It brings tears to my eyes that it took us 18 years to finally find each other but that night in Bangkok, we found out that the bond that kept our friendship alive was still strong and kicking. I never truly realised until that night that the time we spent hanging out together doing silly teenage things at the age of 14 to 16 could have created such a strong friendship that spanned over so many years. In the 18-20 years, we had all taken different paths, some of us got married, some of us didn't but all of us have become successful in our own right.

The flood of memories of all the little things that we did together as kids. Of just hanging out at school and after school was so over-whelming that night that, if not for the all the drinks I had, I wouldn't have been able to go to sleep. It was like being re-united with family that I had lost so many years ago. Initially, I was a bit afraid to meet up, afraid that we, as individuals, have changed so much that there will be little or no common ground. Boy was I wrong to underestimate the kind of friendship that we had built. Even with the different paths we've taken and the different people we have made a part of our lives, nothing could have changed the past. I also realised that these were also the people who knew some of my deepest, darkess secrets of my childhood. These were the people who knew me before I became an adult, before I started building walls and fences to protect me from the harshness of the world around me. It did make me feel a bit vulnerable but I remembered the trust I had in my old friends and all that was forgotten.

One night in Bangkok....a truly memorable one night in Bangkok.