p a s s i o n + r e a s o n

After arriving at Bangkok, I waited about 20 minutes for my host to show up. Apparently I missed them (and their sign for me) when I walked by all the other people and group tour operators holding up signs.

I should have changed money to Baht at the Bangkok airport. After checking out the exchange rates, I was a little mad at myself for being fleeced changing my USD to Thai Baht in Amsterdam. Since the exchange went through Dutch Guilders, I ended up with an exchange rate close to what the Canadian Dollar exchanges for the Baht. I don't know what I was thinking when I calculated the exchange rate on my Palm. That was a decisively bad moment, even given the fact I hadn't really slept on that flight.

Rungtip, my boss picked me up with another of her colleagues and then dropped me off at the Siam Beverley Hotel. I'll be here until they help me find an apartment.

A little past noon, I dozed off, waking up around 7pm and then getting up at 9pm to take a little walk around the 'hood. Even though some of the street vendors (outside a plaza complex) were shutting down, there were many people walking about. Standing on a pedestrian overpass, I saw the legendary Bangkok traffic jam snake all the way down Ratchadapisek Road as I walked to the grocery and department stores. Within walking distance there is a Robinson, Carrefour, Juscu, and Lotus department/grocery store. Instead of being fleeced on hotel food, I could just head over to the food courts inside and eat there, probably with the help of my Lonely Planet Thai Phrasebook. If I were more adventurous (or hungrier), I'd try some of the street food. Instead, I'm munching on TimTam's (an Australian choclate covered chocolate wafer - very yummy) as I'm writing this. Also in the neighbourhood are several KFC's, a MacDonald's, and to my delight, a DeliFrance.