Bangkok Day 1 - Traffic and malls

To say that Bangkok is a big city is somewhat of an understatement. At over 600 square miles it is considered one of the largest cities in the world. It has a population of approximately 12 million people, not including the many tourists; I suspect the numbers of vehicles and motorbikes on the roads are also in the millions. Moving from one part of the city to another, in this large mass of people and concrete, can obviously prove challenging.

The night we arrived we literally flew in our taxi cab from the airport to our destination and I marveled at the elaborate road system that allowed us to move so quickly through the city. I was less impressed with the driver who I’m sure believed he was infallible as he continually switched back and forth between lanes, coming within inches of other flying vehicles, all in the name of speed and time.

The perception of smoothly flowing, elaborate road systems was corrected the following day when we sat in bumper to bumper traffic trying to get to the MBK mall. Now, rather than flying, we were moving at a snails pace, competing with other vehicles and motorbikes trying to win this mad snail’s race. My marveling at this time was that I had not yet seen any injuries or accidents, as cars came within inches of people on motorbikes. The logic of who was turning when was lost to me. On the positive side, the lack of rules for the road meant there were less rules to be broken, or to be annoyed over and there is surprisingly little use of horns to signal one's disapproval. As my son indicated, a person thinks of death quite frequently when living in Bangkok. He suspected the Thai’s belief in reincarnation has some influence on their chaotic maneuvering about the city. This did not lessen my worry.

For those who love shopping, the MBK mall is a shopper’s paradise. With seven floors there are large sections devoted to everything anyone could ask for – electronics, clothing, shoes, furniture (even an Ikea replica store), jewelry, leather and food. And if it seems too overwhelming (which it did) one can even take in a full body massage or go bowling or to a movie. But the mall served its purpose – a cell phone fully hooked up with pay as you go minutes, all for under $40 Canadian. Our link to our safety net – Ryan and Meagen - was in place.

Ryan and Meagen tell us that most people in Thailand eat out and that it is more expensive to cook at home than to eat out. At least that's the story they are living by. But there is a farmer's market close to their neighborhood where once can pick up fresh fruit, veggies, unnamed critters (I'm sure someone knows what they are all but we didn't) and sticky rice and mangos (yum).

Are you excited?

Are you excited? That question has been posed to us many times over the last several weeks. I would always answer affirmatively while quietly pondering why I wasn’t really excited. I know I was thrilled when we booked this trip several months ago. I spent time reading about Thailand – about the people, their culture, their love of the king; about the many places to visit and all the things to see and do. But over the last several weeks I haven’t felt the same sense of anticipation and excitement I had weeks earlier. I wondered what was wrong, that as the time came closer I was not feeling the excitement everyone else obviously thought I should have.

Then I realized it was all about focus. The time was going by too quickly and I had so much to do. Christmas gatherings. Crossing everything off that priority to-do list at work. Christmas cards. Phone-calls. E-mails. Tending to all the details. Wondering what I was forgetting to do. But then, as I signed off from work yesterday, what’s that I felt? I think it might be some excitement.

And now, as our bags are packed and the last details are all tended to, when we’ve said all our good-byes, and no one else is going to ask us “are you excited?” Now I can finally say, YES, I AM EXCITED. My mind has shifted focus to this great adventure we are about to have. I can almost picture the people we’ll meet, the places we’ll see, the markets we’ll shop at, and the food we’ll taste. And I can almost feel the wonderful hugs we’ll have when we see Ryan and Meagen.

But you know what? I slept better when I wasn’t excited. (Written at 4 am).

Maureen and Glen's Thailand Adventure

Time. Hurry up... No, wait. Slow down.

We planned this holiday several months ago, and couldn't wait for the time to come. Now it's almost time to leave, and we're not ready. Slow the time so we can get everything done. But no matter how fast or how slow the time goes, there's always that last minute rush... And no matter what does or doesn't get done, we'll get out the door on time. Gotta go - lots to do....