Shop til ya drop in Bangkok

Bighead and I have lost hours upon hours wandering through the massive malls of Bangkok. It could be very easy to spend a shit load of money here, as things do seem more affordable.

As we wander, my evil consumerist side begins to emerge, knocking at my brain and whispering in my ear. That could be handy. Such good value. What else could you get? Buy that. You've always wanted one of them. You definitely need that. Two for the price of one!

I've resisted so far. I know what I need and I'm sticking to it.

Be sure to shop with something specific in mind, it's far to easy to become distracted and loose your way. Take regular breaks, sit back basking in the air con, and order one of these! Don't judge it because it looks a little funny, it was the tastiest coconut shake Bighead has encountered.

After making our way slowly through four gigantic malls sitting side by side in Siam Square, we thought we'd seen them all.

One local style, market stall type place with a million escalators, one jawdroppingly lavish creation that was so posh it made me feel guilty just stepping inside, one so funky it bursts at the seams with trendy young Bangkokians (once again, leaving me feeling uneasy), and one so massive you need a segway to get around in (it even had 16 very well appointed movie theatres!)

Well, little did we know that we'd barely scratched the surface! In Siam Square area alone, there must be hundreds. Something for everyone! For those of you at home who love to shop (you know who you are), this is the place for you my friends!

Assult of the Nostril

After a bit of a shit flight with Air Asia, including a late departure and very quick dash across terminals in Jakarta to meet our connecting flight, we arrived safely in the BIG MANGO! Yeh!

It feels great to be back! Although, after the pleasant aromas of Bali, Bangkok has been a bit of an assault on the old nostrils - the dominant smell being dog poo combined with an undertone of human waste. Nice.

You have to be able to look, and smell, past all the shit to get to the heart of BK and enjoy it.

In true Bighead and Samesame fashion, we've already made friends with all the local alley cats. Very pleased to see the Thai's like cats just in case we decide to bring ours over.

Much to our delight, Khaosan Rd is still the same, a bit more expensive, but still as same same as ever. We've already been busy seeking out old haunts (last seen in 2003).

We also thought we'd better check out the D&D Inn on Khaosan Rd (an old fav, bar the grumpy staff). I'm pleased to announce that not only have we been pleasantly surprised by friendlier staff, the whole place, including the rooms have had a make over. I recommend this place to anyone wanting to stay in the heart of Khaosan Rd.

The other thing I love about the D&D, is that they have a roof top garden/pool/bar/salon/internet/lookout area where you can spy on the action below.

We've wondered around quite a bit already, it's stinking hot compared to Bali. I haven't been feeling to good that last couple of days (stiff neck, headache something or other) so I've had to take it slower than usual and stop for breaks regularly, which is a bummer because I really wanna get into it. However, a wander round computer geek heaven, Pantip Plaza, in search for a lappy for Samesame and one look at Bighead's lunch perked me up heaps!

When we walked past this delightful array, I couldn't help but take a pic. Whenever I take pics like this, I always ask first. Sometimes I secretly shoot from the hip to catch the real action. In this case, I had asked first and it was fine. However, I don't think all of the cooks agreed, as while I was taking the second pic, I was pushed out of the way by someone on their way to the wok! Perhaps we won't eat here after all. Looks delish though don't ya think?

What are we doing here?

One of the reasons I started this blog is to share with you, the experience of downsizing, packing up and moving to Asia. Bighead and I are drawn to Asia for many reasons; climate, food, diving, cost of living to name a few. We are fortunate that we have a business back home that Bighead has been managing remotely.

The next few months of travel through South East Asia are a test to see how well this works (and confirm that it's possible). We're also using the time to explore the possibility of what it will be like to live in the tropics. Sometime during this journey, we hope to make a choice as to where, or if, we'll set up camp in Asia permanently.

One of the biggest issues we're experiencing is the internet. When I say we, I really mean Bighead because I'm not actually doing much at the moment except swanning around! Bighead tells people we're on a working holiday. He's working and I'm on holiday. Too true. Finding a wireless internet connection that is fast enough has been difficult here in Bali, that and the growing colony of ants living in Bighead's keyboard, are cause for concern.

There's certainly something special about this place that we're both drawn to, but I guess I've always had Thailand in the back of my mind as the place we'll most likely end up. Because of this, I've found it difficult to be in Bali without it feeling more like 'the holiday' before Thailand. It's difficult to start building a new life in a place that, in the back of your mind, doesn't feel like it's going to be the ultimate destination.

So. After much diliberation, we've decided to stop mucking about and head straight to Thailand to found out once and for all. We leave tonight.

Who knows, we may be back.

A samesame day in paradise

7am wake up.
Breaky at hotel (no cake thanks, that's weird), mmm... Indocafe 3 in 1 with an extra hit of Nescafe and a dash of strange milk, yum.

Read.
Swim.

Shower.
Decide to go to Denpasar.
Lunch, discover a hidden gem! Vegetarian Depot, the best vegetarian food I've eaten in my whole life, Satay Kim, some kind of wonderful mushroom creation, chargrilled with peanut sauce served with meaty looking mushroom broth.

Get lost in the maze of one-ways trying to get back home.
Intrigued by Balinese culture, bombbarred by sights, smells and sounds of daily life.
Pull over to ask directions every 5 mins, greeted everytime by very helpful, smiling people.
Swim.
Read on sun lounger.
Blog.
Salon, balinese massage, one hour full body.
Mooch about.
Dinner (already planned out well in advance), tonight, an old faithful, Warung Pregina for Nasi Campur.
More mooching about.
Watch NZ$1.20 DVD.
Bed.

Monument to the Struggle of the People of Bali

We came across this awesome structure by accident on one of our many scooter missions about town. Also known as, Bajra Sandhi Monument.
It's actually really hard to miss because it's so large. It's shear size and symmetry make it one of the coolest buildings I've seen. Bighead quite fancied himself living there!

On the inside there's a tacky series of dioramas depicting the history of Bali.

You can walk up the spiral staircase in the centre for a pretty cool view of Denpasar and if you really want to, you can buy some food to feed the large goldfish that live in the indoor pond or surrounding moat.

I just can't help myself

Everytime a new meal appears in front of me, I just can't fight the urge to share it with you. Bighead sits very patiently while I photograph just about every meal he eats :-)

The following images speak for themselves, besides I'm running out of ways to express how scrumptious the food is. Mmm... smokey.
And the usual daily dose of tropical fruits.

Seaside Shrine