back in town...

So last week I was spending a night in some Cambodian bordertown, one of those places where you can get two girls for roomservice, quite expensive, tough, so I skipped on that one.(Really guys, you must believe me! Especially you, Mr. Gozin, you must know I wouldn't dare stealing other people's dreams for a mere 20 dollars) Skipped on the "Blast-A-Cow" funpark as well, one cow is said to be sold for 60 dollars, and one shot from a rocket launcher will cost about the same, so it goes. But I'm not such a skilled sniper, so I would probably not get any steak out of my adventure anyway. Ahem, so, after being stuck in some dogtown at the border, I was in Thailand again, smiling way too much according to local norms, but still being smiled at, so I knew I was in friendly south-east asia allright. Funny thing happened, I was sitting on a bus that would take me straight to Ekkamai, Bangkok, not so far from a "friend's" appartment. But after waiting about half an hour somebody came to us and told us the bus didn"t go to bangkok. We had to take a slow bus, going to the Northern terminal of bangkok. After friendly inquiring why this state-run bus didn't go, the ticketlady told me that the driver was sleeping, and she smiled this typical I-can't-help-it-please-don't-make-me-lose-face-by-getting-angry-or-asking-embarrasing-questions-like-is-he-drunk?-thank-you-smile. You get to see this smile quite a lot when things go not exactly as planned, but I tend to smile back, say my Mai-pen-rai ("No Problem" works the same in Jamaica, so it goes) and change bus. Ending up on the other side of bangkok 5 hours later, i didn't feel like holiday-boy. It felt like coming home, or no, actually, it would feel like arriving in Brussels after a die-hard weekend of Antwerpian pubs and parties. It's not home yet, but it could be. Anyway, I prefer Bangkok above Brussels as far as my daily portion of Asian chaos and impressions requires from my system. A ew days later I had set up my camp at the ekkamai area, a little bit like Borgerhout in Bangkok, being densely populated with thai muslims. Well, okay, not like Borgerhout, because you can smile to people and not worry about insulting them while smiling. Hmm. I guess I say this because it's true. Because I seem to be addicted to smiling. I can just grin idiotically at anyone here, 8 out of ten I get a smile back, be it sometimes for other reasons. (sweat pearls dripping from your earlobes and nostrils is a good reason for giggles I guess) And 1 out of ten I get laid for a smile. (And 10 out of 10 with a smile) Ahem. Yes, i was saying? Bollocks. Anyway, being slightly bored because my roommate wasn't coming back until the tenth of November, I just started to stroll around in my 'hood. What I like so much, apart of the trade in smiles, is that you can be walking a big and busy road, like Sukumvith Road (one of the main arteries of Bangkok, lined with businesses, banks, international schools and other, less serious time-consuming businesses) all stuffed with traffic and commuters and foodstalls selling 50 cent dishes, and you just turn left or right in almost any sidestreet, and all is quiet again. There is still traffic, but considerably less. Then you can walk into another sidestreet on this sidestreet, and all will be even more quiet. But walk deep enough in this maze of sidestreets, past linnen hanging out to dry and street dogs trying to get some food out of the garbnage-bags, and you are most certain to hit upon a hidden village, mostly foodstalls catering to locals and beergardens filled with men drinking their hard works' paycheck, looking at the waitresses being busy waiting. Bangkok is filled with enclaves like this, and the more thai you speak, the more welcome you find yourselve.
It was on one of my outings, that a lady came over to talk to me. She spoke decent English, and was dressed decent, so I frowned a little because this was new to me. Anyway, to make a long story short, 2 hours later I was in some suburbian part close to the airport standing in front of 20 eight-year old kids in neat uniforms. Didn't sweat, thanks to the airconditioning. Did gave them an introductionary lesson on ordering Spaghetti and expressing satisfaction after having a belly full of bolognaise and pasta. "Mmmh, that was good..." Yes, these little fellas sure knew how to order Italian. I'm supposed to show up at 8 o'clock tomorrow, so I gotta do some shopping (Mr. Tie and me have never been good friends, but for 60 eurocents a tie one can't complain about the unnecessary high expense I guess.)Gonna get me some decent white shirt with a crease and a black pants with a crease as well, while I'm at it. If you're gonna do something, better do it good. It'll keep me busy for some time, keeps me from getting bored, and from going broke on Happy-hours...