Musing of An Empty Mind: July 2007

I sneaked off to Bangkok with S last week for about three days! Though S had a conference to attend, I blissfully chose to do nothing!! Walked malls and streets of the city 8-10 hours a day and contended myself with some genuinely good bargains!! Here are some snapshots! We found this text lavished on local cabs. As English isn't particularly a forte of the Thai population one meets, such a sign is quite a relief, actually!! Infrastructure has been extremely strong in the Thai Land! What we see in the picture above was the view of two express bridges out of our hotel room. Though the glass was not cleaned in, god knows how many months, mornings yielded better visibility than at night. So the smoky effect in the picture is nether intended, nor because of pollution but simply the grime!!
There was this stall in a mall called Siam Paragon. It was selling a condominium project called Issara. A little farther away from main city it was quite cheap especially as they were throwing in a car with it!! What intrigued me the most was the way the stall was designed. It was actually a wall-less smaple flat that they had put up - fully furnished! You could sit on the couches in the living room or the bed or at the dining table to discuss the details with representatives. The selling and cross-selling was being done beautifully well. And nobody I saw could resist the shiny-matching yellow skirt giving out hand fans advertising Issara!! Imagine S-a doc who knows nothing about real estate- unwilling to move away!! Winks!! This was a square at the mall with this beautiful fountain and a crazy bench to sit alongside. Apart from near perfect proportions of sqaure which had become a great hang-out for tired shoppers and the sound and feel of the water fountain, I was amazed by the accuracy of slopes and water jet pressuers that ensured that no water ran away from the fountain creating ugly trails. (yup, I am from construction industry!!!!) Check the myriad colours of cabs!! And the photo below is of the skytrain tracks.
At the entrance of the Grand Palace - the traditional palace of the Kings of Thailand (though the king now stays elsewhere!) - there was this plaque that told the do's and dont's at the palace. It was quite intriguing!! What follows are some visuals at the palace temples. Though they look magnificient from distance, when you go closer, I found it all a little too gaudy for my liking. Some guardian angels - not looking particularly angelic, though!!
What I found most interesting was, obviously, the people! Here are some peculiar strangers caught in the act!