last hoorah in bangkok

My last week in Bangkok was somewhat eventful. After a fun, albeit exhausting, weekend in HK, our last week of school at Sasin was predictably full of presentations, papers and finals. Though these weren’t much fun, they weren’t especially stressful and so we still managed to have a pretty good time and fit in a few more Thai meals. Unfortunately halfway through the week I managed to also get my first bout of food poisoning (from a boring red curry at school) and so that slowed my eating for a couple days. Nevertheless we had a great going away seafood dinner on the river. Crab, prawns, various whole fried and steamed fish, goose feet, pork ears, and many other dishes were enjoyed by all (well perhaps not the pigs ear). I will certainly miss all this great food when I leave, and how easy it is to get at any time of the day.

The rest of the week was devoted to shopping. Ten new tailored shirts, two new pairs of pants, various t-shirts, a pair of shorts and plenty of other little trinkets were purchased at the weekend market and around town. The weekend market was somewhat like I remembered it (I hadn’t been back yet on this trip). It’s overwhelming, there’s tons of great food and of course there are endless deals to be had. You can buy everything from fish aquariums to giant brass horses to decorate your lawn. It’s also tremendously hot and crowded. Quite the experience.

Other than shopping and eating, I spent most of my time thinking about how much I’ll miss the conveniences of living in downtown Bangkok. Everything you could possibly need within a ten minute walk through any of the many massive malls and markets nearby, and aside from the traffic and pollution, it’s a pretty great place to live. So there it ends, now I’m off to Laos and beyond for sixth weeks before I return to reality and head back to Evanston.