Sawadee Ka

Promise of New World, originally uploaded by ShonC.

Pictures have been my chosen form of expression for a while now. I’m not a very great writer, but today for some reason I feel the urge to write. I think it simply has to do with the fact that I think today has been a momentous day in my life and unfortunately I didn’t have my camera at the ready to capture every little moment.

Where this blog should’ve really started was with this thought: Familiarity breeds comfort and I felt the comfort in Hong Kong this time. It was the third time I landed in HKG and I felt like I knew it all, even though 2 out of the 3 times all I have really done is hang out in a hotel room! But just the familiar streets, noises and smells seemed to make even a completely new place feel like home.

Landing in Bangkok was very different from HK. I was told there would be one of those boards with my name on it at the airport and I should be patient about finding it and not fall for any tourist traps. So I get out and start walking around the arrival area at the airport which was completely chaotic. I remember thinking to myself this isn’t much different from landing in India (probably a bit more crowded and noisier,) just take a minute to figure out the system behind this chaos (There is always a system to it!) Sure enough, a few minutes later I found a board with my name on it (spelt right too!!!)

Sawadee ka! Welcome to Thailand.

10 minutes later, a beat up old Mercedes pulls up in front of me, my bags magically find their way into the trunk (so does my camera!) I ask the driver about the distance to chinhouse ( http://www.chinhouse.com/ ) and he nods :) . I think to myself, “Welcome to Thailand!”

As we drive out of the airport, a billboard - Samsung LCD TV welcomes you. Now what’s wrong with that? Probably not much except I’m not so sure how I feel about a TV welcoming me to a new country, that too through a billboard rather than itself (Had it been HK, I’d expect a huge TV screen hanging in the middle of the sky suspended by nothing!) Just between that thought the traffic catches my attention. We just got off a ramp onto a highway and smack in the middle of the highway there are people attempting to make u-turns and drive in the opposite direction – imagine the energetic salmon swimming upstream to reach its spawning ground. Ok so this had nothing to do with fish or spawning, but for some reason the picture did remind me of salmon (where’s that trustee camera when you need it most!)

I couldn’t stop staring at everything on the way to the apartment. The buses are painted in bright colors with animated characters, there are cycle rickshaws (except these have the rider behind the load pushing it rather than pulling) sharing the roads with all the modern cars (just like home!)

The ride oddly reminds me of Bombay. It’s hot, humid, crowded and fast moving. There are lots of high rise buildings with the paint fading away under the strong sun. Clothes lines adorn most balconies. Palm trees spot the land between the concrete, but there seem to be a lot more of them here than Bombay (Thank God!!!)

I check in and make my way up to the apartment, filled with anticipation. After all I have to spend 3 months in this place. Yipeee!! It’s exactly like the pictures on the website! Satisfied with the living arrangements, I venture out on foot to find a calling card. The security guard at the gate gives me a sharp salute and a warm smile while a dog lying next to him on the sidewalk decides to remain disinterested. An uneventful walk to the closest 7-11 (yes hey have 7-11’s here) and I’m back at the apartment ready to order room service. Tom Yum soup and noodles with shrimp.. except when the order comes in, it’s missing the noodles :) only soup and shrimp for dinner tonight! I really need to pick up a little bit of the Thai language, quickly!