Bangkok - as delightful the second time

This is a special place.

It is the rainy season so image it as hot as can be, as thick and steamy as it can be and then at some point all that moisture comes down - walls of water. The street in front of the hotel fills up - about knee deep. I had to wander on down the road to get on a call last night - so I can atest to the depth.

My power cord died for the laptop. That become one of the days adventures. I got sent to a huge mall that only deals in electronic related equipment - one huge and amazing place. I went from spot to spot with my dead Dell cord and got sent this way than that. Finally ended up in a corner on some level with a shop that was filled with mountains and mountains of plastic shopping bags full of stuff. We rummaged through bag after bag of power cords and finally the Dell showed up. He knew he had one and just kept asking me to be patient.

And then there was the hair cut adventure. I was wandering to the mall when a woman who worked at the hotel spotted me and wondered what I was doing. So we talked a bit and gave me some additional advice on where to get my hair cut. She also suggested I go to a government shop that was only open for another hour and just for today was open to non-retail buyers. So we got a discount on Thai crafts, silk, gems, etc. So I started wandering that direction.

As I wandered I came to another mall and thought I would check to see if they had a barber before I kept working my way to the government shop. Well another man stopped me and asked me what I was up to. He worked at the US Embassy and was on lunch. He suggested I go to this government store as well and I had to get moving. He took me down and got me in a little cart, negotiated the price and told me to tell them the Embassy sent me so I would get a greater discount. So I went!

And I did get back and got the hair cut - a ritual as well. It took 2 shampooings and 3 cuts to get the job completed on my bit of grey hair. I was there for an hour.

And then there was the front page news every day about the possible coup and violence. They were putting up additional security cameras all around the area where I stay.