Eid?

What a day, days sorry. I have only today logged onto the Web after Eid, not because I didn't want to but because I couldn't. It isn't easy dishing out 25 bahts per hour use of the 'Net when I have never in my entire 'connected' life paid even a pai for it! And I don't want to sound like a kvetch, even while admitting that I am, at times guilty of being one, but...Well there is a whole lot of things I don't like and want to report and bitch about but the blasted time limit again. On another note I, proverbially, asked for it. This trip to BKK I mean, and while there is so much happening each day and so much that I would like to post here, somehow the very idea of coming to a cafe after a mentally draining albeit stimulating training sessions and typing on an alien keyboard saps and sucks, resulting in ignoring this cyber love of mine. Even now, when I would like to go on and on and on, I don't somehow feel upto it, with so much to tell and this 'brain drain', but once I am back, there would be no point in posting long pieces of verbosity with no appreciation of the hard word work, which even now isn't anything to write home about. Since the last post I have become quite good at finding my way around the city, with a bit of urdu, punjabi, english and lots of mime. Have taught some choicest Urdu words to two very darling Indonesian girls, bakwaas band karo (Shut Up!) and gandi bachi (Bad Girl!) and they, in a classic Frankestinian case, throw it my way quite liberally. I have wasted on whole roll on meaningless unartistic photographs and the second roll is just only fine, will have to spend yet more moolah on getting copies of others pix... and if this post seems disconcerted and not my usual self, that is becuase I AM NOT my usual self, the Thais don't drink water, they drink crushed ice and give the same to everyone and that has left me with what I think is tonsillitis. The food story is still a tale best not told, and well, again this is life and I had asked for it.

Another day another adventure

And today we decided that we wud no longer starve ourselves and so with Himmat e Niswan Madad e Khuda, we set out to explore BKK. Oh, btw did I tell what I meant by 'we'? There's this other girl from LHR on her training and her dam is a real ghaneemat. She arrived a whole day after me but we have been real good friends ever since, brought together by the same language and the same awaaragardi spirit in both of us. Yesterday we went off to the Chatuchak Weekend Market, tried out two different stores scouring for anything edible that had the halal mark and did a great many things I would rather not post here and save for that travel peice of mine. Today was a mission sort of an errand, the search for muslim food. After a vain attempt to mime and talk to the hotel people, we decided that a cab was the sole way we could get around to the 'Little Arabia' area in Bangkok where Halal and muslim food could be found. So armed with some maps we wenat out tp chart our own course. only except that the cabbie was perhaps as new to Bangkok as we were. We wanted to go to the Thanon Charoen Krung and God knows where he took us. And as his meter rose, so did our pulse, we have a budge within which we juggle our adventures. At 135 bahts, we jumped out, but not after Mahvish, the girl with me. had her share of fun trying to talk to the guy in Punjabi and Urdu, insistent that he would understand as much of it as English!!! Then we sought more directions, walked out of a winding Thai residential alley, crossed a khlong on a ferry (for a mere 2 bahts, considering the joyous expereince it had been), walked some more and finally we found on muslim restuarant. Again no one understood a wod of english but luckily the menu was in the language we could understand and so it was mime and part 'one this, one that' and we had some food befor us. That the chicken biryani wasn't the most appetizing in neither looks nor taste is another story. Ditto the Chicken Kurma. But all the same it was food we could eat without worrying so it was worth it. Then more askings and this time we came by bus, two in fact and would you believe it, it cost us a total of 7.50 bahts to get back!!! Next time we take the public buses. good enough for us, hum konsa nawaab hain? And know here we are typing away at the cafe, seems like I couldn'y survive without logging on and posting something new here. Till another day, Its good bye from BKK.

I still can't belive that I am here in BKK. Well again, perhaps my protesting stomach shud jolt me to reality. All day yesterday I survived on a packet of Marie biscuits I had the aqal to bring with me. That and the sole tin of Pineapple juice that was there in the room frigde. And today was no better. Still partly starving. Why are the Thais so fond of pork, and octopuses and serpent heads, among other things? Still have to search out a muslim halal food serving place cuz the food here is...Yech! And even if it is not then the smell of it is really off putting...And to add to it, the very place selling some edible looking stuff in the morning, as we walked to this cafe tonight, had a dog being pampered by its owner, one never knows what one may end up eating... Went to the Chatuchuk Market and beared the smells there. The place is quite nice but I have a doubt that they charged us more, us being foreigners. (Yes, there is a place where the green passport is categorized as 'Foreign'!). Ah so much to shar of today's adventures ans so littlte time, Till next time... Ciao. (I still don't know the farewell in Thai :)