So, Saturday, as I said, I went to Siam which is one station away from the hotel, in fact it is so close that you can go in at one end of the shopping mall by the hotel and come out at the other end by Siam. There are signs of great wealth here. (I am writing this on Sunday). It reminds me of Dubai. I don't understand the economy of creating these huge temples - the cost of building them, the value of the stock, but very few people actually buying anything. They are spectacular but I end up buying stuff from Amazon and it arrives at my door next day.
This was my lunch. I know it is considered naff to take photos of food but this is a journal so I am sure it is OK. It was crispy pork and the drink was some kind of juice but it was mostly ice. The dish was cold. There was a weird underlying organic flavour in the sauce. Then I noticed something with claws. It was a small crab.. or maybe a large spider that had fallen in and drowned. The place was a total rip-off. Not only was VAT added afterwards, so was a service charge.
Later on Saturday I went down to the river on the Metro. I call it the Metro but there are three train systems here as I described yesterday. And they each have very similar names. BTS is the Skytrain, the metro. But then it connects with the BRT which I guess is more like a regular train but the appearance is virtually the same. The third is MRT (Mass rapid transport). Unfortunately it is written on maps with the letter M which of course makes it look like a Metro. I think they all ought to get together and make friends.
I had a meal in the restaurant in the evening, a buffet, which was great. I got upset with an English guy who was chatting openly to his wife on his mobile in Skype. I knew that because he was holding it up in front of him. I signalled that he should be using an earpiece and moved to the far end of the restaurant. I had virtually finished my meal anyway.
Later, as I left, I went back to chat with him - he hadn't realised I was British too, why should he? Not Asian, that's for sure! I was annoyed at the time because I think using the speaker of a mobile phone in public is very rude whether it is just music or, worse, a conversation. But this annoyance is quickly forgotten and we had a very pleasant chat. I knew it was his wife who he was talking to because he told me. He was from Sheffield. He just didn't realise that it affects people like me from a different generation. There was an American guy in the lounge in Barcelona Airport - seemingly oblivious to the other people around him who had also paid thousands of euros to be there - asking whether her tooth was still hurting!
Today, Sunday, I had signed up for another Meetup group, a writers' group. It was due to start at 11, I woke up really early, had breakfast, then slept till 10 so I had to leave in a hurry which was stupid. I don't have an internet connection when I am out and about and I forgot to draw a detailed map of the location of the meetup. Big mistake. In the end, I went into a steak bar and the owner was also the owner of the bar where I was going, so he led me to the meetup. Otherwise I would never have found it.
Most writers' groups tend to do the same, that is they read each other's work and then pass comments so unfortunately that is what they were doing. All were reading and I wanted to talk about writing. One funny thing. The organiser is Delia and she picked up a copy of Cat Life which I had brought with me and opened it at the chapter about Romania, also written by a Delia from my Meetup group. So I asked if she was Romanian. She was, from Transylvania which is where the chapter ends up. There is also a sentence where "Delia" in the story says, "I am dead". Delia (the organiser) thought that the whole chapter was a very spooky coincidence. Later I wrote a message to her explaining that I really wanted to chat a little more at the meetup and I offered to send her a copy of the chapter she was reading..... In Romanian and in my attempted translation using Google Translate!
Later, I went back to the hotel for a short while, had some lunch and then wandered around the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre which is almost next door to the hotel. Then I bought an ice-cream and the woman commented on my blue fingernails which is not surprising. Not many guys have pale blue fingernails. I explained that I was a ladyboy which made her laugh. If you don't like the subject of being transgender, then skip the next part!
I bought a pair of glasses with plane glass lenses but the woman selling them kept on saying, "No". She spoke no English. I guess she meant that they did not have any correction, but I could see that. It was exactly what I wanted, to wear them as a "fashion item" because some glasses make me appear more feminine. Maybe some people find this strange but, actually, I was only partly joking when I said I was a ladyboy. All it means really is that I feel a little "transgender" which is not a big deal unless it involves modifying surgery which I do not envisage. I am just having fun being a little more feminine, more girly, these day. I have never been macho-man anyway.
Here is my friend Nomel in Manila who I am seeing on Friday - he is a ladyboy, it just means that, inside he feels more like a girl than a guy. And he looks it! But in the UK, things have got ridiculous so please make no connection with what I am doing with some of the crazy ideas in the UK and the USA - kids taking hormones before puberty for example. The idea being put before Parliament that a guy can wake up one morning and say, without any certificate or doctor's report, "Hey, I am a trans woman, so I can use womens' toilets".
Nomel is interested to know about ladyboys in Bangkok and I would enjoy chatting with one or two but many of them here are prostitutes. It is all a bit seedy. But behind it all is that, in this modern era, one has a greater opportunity to break free from convention and be oneself in terms of sexuality. That can't be wrong can it? And it is accepted more here than in the Philippines. But not to be broadcast, not, for example. "... the first openly gay member of parliament...". Big yawn, who cares?
Written later......
After writing this post, I changed into my skinny jeans and packed 1000 baht in my top pocket, grabbed my little Nikon J1 and took the Metro to the (notorious) Patpong. I just got back and had a super evening. I feel very sad for the girls and ladyboys dancing in front of leering westerners, it is like the market in the street outside. They were very beautiful but I think I was more sad than they were - they seemed fine. I bought a beer and I think it was soon clear that is all I was buying, well I said so to a big brassy trans girl with a booming voice!
I left the change for the beer as a tip and went across the road where I found this young woman, Mon, taking orders for food. I ordered sea-bass which was fantastic, and some red wine. She sat with me at the table and we chatted about various things, including trans things, which was really nice! A guy with this iguana (?) came to see her, I guess he was offering it for photo opportunities. At about 9pm I ran out of money because I only brought 1000 baht which is about 27 euros. So I walked back up the street to the Metro station and I was back in my room within 20 minutes! I will go back for sure.
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