daily gripe

bangkok rocks!

bangkok was like damn fun la! think it was one of the better trips so far, or at least recently. bought some tee shirts, some pants (which do not fit; bloody hell), some bags and loads of snacks! not too bad really. spent the equivalent of $300-400 on shopping and food alone at least. friends tell me that it considered cheap already, so i shall not be local and complain that i feel slightly broke.

managed to get myself down with mild food poisoning on the first day, i swear that it is the lychee juice. rule #1 for travel people, AVOID the bloody juice at the breakfast buffet. it must have been done like 4 hours ago or something like that.

the satay at the road side stalls are simply delicious. they have this thick layer of fat and are marinated for like damn long to give that smoky, bbq-ed but not burnt taste. tam freaked out at the giant sotong, cos it had some liquid stuff inside but it was alright. they didn't really remove the hard head plate covering though. felt like eating plastic at one point. give me grilled sotong over bbq-ed sotong anyday!

stayed at this hotel called baiyoke sky, located smack right in the middle of pratunam market. those people there have gone 'wholesale'! it is nearly impossible to bargain with them below 50% anymore. they just look at you and go 'wholesale already! no more cheaper!' gawd, they even let you walk away nowadays!!

*typical conversation nowadays
Goods Owner(BO): 750 baht!
Me: 300 baht!
GO: no no! the cotton very good. handmade! see, you feel!
Me: 400 baht!
GO: cannot. *shakes head* 700 baht!
Me: *pretend to consider* *shakes head* best price how much?
GO: 700 baht can? please sir?
Me: 450 baht, i buy now. if not i walk away.
GO: cannot cannot. this wholesale price. wholesale cheap already. cannot cheaper.
Me: *walks away*
GO: *turns away*

i mean, what the hell was that all about? they are supposed to go at least 30% below. now with this wholesale shit, they claim they cannot even go 100 baht off the price. those selling shoes (poor tam), and accessories are the worst! they won't even round down the price, to the nearest 50 baht. basket. i think, 9 months later, if i go again, it would probably be difficult, they will say 'prices are non-negiotiable'. or something to that effect.

then i will stop shopping in bangkok. heh. *grin*

posted by inspirethereal @ 9:30 PM