One Thailand?

I had a lovely weekend with the boyfriend, my kpop star. Since I am renting my new place, I have hardly left it and the boyfriend loves coming here - no wonder - it's a cracker of a place.
I dont have my 14th floor view from before but I can see trees and the sky now. I also have a living room AND a bed room. And a nice swimming pool in a great neighbourhood...cant ask for more.

View from the living room

But yesterday, I thought it was time to show the nice sides of Bangkok to the boyfriend. He has been living here since October, but hardly travelled around. He hates the heat and is a bit shy to interact with locals.

The noodle soup. yummy.

We took the bus, out to Nonthaburi. The tiny green bus. It was very uncomfortable, but who cares. I am 174cm tall but I could hardly stand in this bus. Luckily I am not Dutch...
In Nonthaburi, we just got off at a random place and ate noodle soup. Im sorry but noodle soup has to be the `f*cking best food in the world. If you try 100 soups, you get 100 different tastes, it's simply amazing!

The noodle soup troop

After the noodle soup, we strolled through the markets, saw fish (live and dead), meat, veges, spices, chicken blood, flowers, clothes, towels, shoes - and desserts. Well, bangkokbitch and his bf are sweet boys, so we bought some desserts. A special rice with coconut, sticky coconut rice with custard (my favourite), naam daeng (red syrup with condensed milk over ice) etc...

market in nonthaburi

Flowers on the market

Our tummies filled, we took the ferry back to Bangkok proper.

We then arrived at National Stadium, where the OTOP (One tambon (district) one product) festival was running. This festival is meant to be a showcase for the provinces and their special products (clothes, other manuf goods, sculptures, and most importantly - food food food).

The OTOP festival

There were HEAPS of people and the central stage was abuzz with shows of look tung singers, kathoey plays and strangely, there was something like an advertisement film of Thailand and it's products.

Look Tung show - amazingly kitchy!

I found that part a bit odd. Why does Thailand have to market itself to Thailand? Nevertheless, the thing that amazed me the most is the variety of Thai products and people that was on display. I think Thailand should increasingly celebrate its diversity and not hold on to the illusion of one Thailand of Thais.

The new home in Ari and the plumbers...

Nono, HE didnt visit me...

I am now back in Bangkok, for nearly a week. Coming to Thailand after Europe is a bit of a shock of course. Most of my readers will know that in fact. I landed at Subvarnabhumi at about 10pm with the Nanny State Airline. The border control took about 10 minutes as always. It always takes them about 5 minutes to find the Visa and another 5 minutes to stamp my passport.

The lovely boyfriend waited at the airport - ah dont we love these welcomes? He was by far the cutest of the whole bunch of people waiting at the exit...and I was proud that he was waiting for ME!

I love Subvarnabhumi airport. It's a melange of rich hi-so people coming back from a Japan shopping trip, rich students coming back for the holidays from Australia, working-class European single males up to probably some naughty things here, young backpackers from Aussie, Europe, America and Japan, tons of Korean tourgroups with old women wearing huge golf-hats and the odd Thai countryside person (99% a woman with a skirt that is too short).

All in all, a cacophony of rich and poor, West, East, North and South which I have never seen at another airport.

The next morning, I felt extremely foreign. In fact, I felt like exactly a year ago, when I first arrived in Bangkok. Only that I spoke the language (more or less) and knew how to get around. But nevertheless, I had heaps of luggage and needed to take a taxi, in 35 degrees. Like a real tourist...

That feeling of foreignness subsided soon - very soon in fact - and the next day I had a new home, in Ari. I actually live between Ari and Saphan Kwai - a very good location. From here I can venture to the gastro-paradise and hangout-place for the beautiful and rich, ARI, but also to the absolutely solidly Thai middle-class suburb of SAPHAN KWAI.

This situation, much alike bkkdreamer's (since he moved recently) is awesome. Every evening I can choose which side I want to dine or hang out at. So far, I like being served by kathoeys at Yum-Saap in Big C and walking through seemingly 24/7 stands of food in Saphan Kwai just as much as sipping a drink at Iberry in Ari.

So my new place is awesome, I even have a proper bedroom, and therefore I needed to celebrate. I invited a few friends for dinner and me and the boyfriend prepared fingerfood. Bread with cream cheese, salmon and lime. Dark bread with salami, onion chutney and parmesan cheese, salads and tons of fruit.

However, before that, I had to call a plumber, twice!




And the Polish one didnt come either:)

A Plumber - in gay minds, this only leads to one picture. Some topless hot guy with a muscly body coming to "fix" some pipe but you end up doing something else with his pipe...:)

I had three plumbers coming in two days...coming as in paying me a visit not the other thing...

Just before the arrival of my guets at my little party, the tap in the kitchen BROKE OFF. Yes, it just broke off, which resulted in a friggin fountain! The boyfriend was smart and knew how to turn off the water feed within seconds but the kitchen was wet - and we were too!!

The plumbers came within minutes, were not hot, not muscly and not topless, but got me a new tap within 5 minutes. Good job!

The next day, I wanted to do laundry, but alas, the washing machine had no plug, only three fuzzy wires at the end. I called the plumber again. This time a different one. He was a little bit cute, smiled a lot and when he bent over the washing machine, I thought that this must be what many people imagine - and more....

Well, there was no more of that......but moreover a new plug:)

someone got angry (not me)

some guy wrote me on a gay internet contact site. read the exchange of words (and hate) here.

he is from the philippines, hence my reference to Imelda (Marcos, the wife of the former dictator and president of the philippines, she seems to be an icon for gay Filipinos thanks to her garish style and love for shoes)

pinoy man: hello cutie, can you drop at my place in nonthaburi?????

bangkokbitch: Why, did I forget something?

pinoy man: well not exactly....maybe you'll see something

bangkokbitch: tell me my dear what makes you think i would like to have sex with you?

pinoy man: did i tell you anything about sex? i dont know if u would like it with me

bangkokbitch: hahahaha, what else did you mean? discussing imelda's shoe collection?

pinoy man: well if u are forgetfull of the word "friendship" then i would think thats u are.....and if u cant think of an expression like "no thanks" i would think you never had a chance to educate ur self

pinoy man: hey little idiot are u still alive????????

pinoy man: remember this and take it from me huh....if u cant behave well here in thailand better leave and go home to ur homeland....we all offer friendship here in asia not war and we dont tolerate rude people here....this is land of smiles dont change it! it can never be like germany! EVER!

pinoy man: i hope i can see you in some gay spots here and see your angelic face...IN PERSON, FACE TO FACE

bangkokbitch: relax man.

1. you invited me straight away to your home. for my taste that is too straight-forward

2. you were writing naughty messages. i am not looking for sex.

3. i did no say anything rude. look at my messages. i hardly said anything.

4. why do you have to be racist against white people? if you differentiate people by the colour of their skin and continental origin, YOU are sowing war and not me.

5. why do you have the guts to tell me i should go "home" and judge where my home is?

5. thailand is not the land of smiles (or do you work for the tourism authority?) and I am not german.

As you might have noticed, I have something against people thinking they have the right to fuck someone, especially when they think they can do that by writing ONE cheap "sexy" message. I think it's very rude in fact.
Then, he obviously went bonkers...

Nearing Bangkok - in Singapore

I am now in Singapore, waiting for my connecting flight to Bangkok. I cant even remember the last time I did NOT fly Singapore Airlines. I am quite a loyal guy, as you can see:)

I prefer!

There are four reasons why I prefer Singapore Airlines.

1. It flies everywhere I need to go.

2. The service, reliability and cabin is solid and top-notch. You may not get wai-ed 100 times (as in Thai) but the girls (and guys) are polite and EFFICIENT. I like that.

3. I am a member of their frequent flyer programme, which gives me hardly any bonuses, but it still feels good. I am a Silver Star Member now:)

TG has the most beautiful planes and ads, but it's EXPENSIVE!

4. Singapore Airlines is actually quite cheap from Bangkok. At least compared to THAI, which is constantly a few thousand Baht more expensive. I hear from my Singapore friends though that for them, SQ is very expensive...THAI must live (well at the moment they make huge losses) off the Thai officials, businesses, hi-so people and Europeans/Aussies that go to Australia/Europe.

It is apparently the policy of the Thai state that any employee MUST fly TG. When we flew to Europe, our professors had to fly TG. It cost them over 60'000 baht, versus 35'000 for Qatar Airways.

I read yesterday that the employees of the Swiss bank UBS must now choose the cheapest airline for their business travels, in order to save money. I suggest the Thai state calls UBS for some advice...

Oh, by the way, for the ones that know the airport in Singapore a bit, I am in Terminal 2. Recently, since they opened the sparkling new Terminal 3, they distributed the SQ flights according to the destinations.

Europe, North America, Australia/NZ, Japan and Korea from Terminal 3.

Southeast Asia, Africa, Russia, Middle East, India from Terminal 2.

See the difference? They could also write: rich countries: T3, poor ones T2.

What airlines do you like to take to Bangkok? Or from Bangkok to your home countries?

crazy german language

The German language is famed for its long words. I saw this on display in a shop window in Switzerland. That German word even makes Thai writing appear not overwhelmingly difficult.

Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher.

and this is how the thing looks like:)

This "thing" is meant to be a device that can break eggs evenly. I was told it literally means: egg shell breakage point producer. German is really not an easy language to learn it seems. And by the way, this device is very pricey too!!! 38 Swiss Francs. That's about 1200 Thai Baht. To break your eggs evenly. Time to fly back to Bangkok!

By the way - I went skiing again. Isnt it nice?:)

Sleazy Zurich

Today I visited my best high school mate, who now lives in Zurich.

I suppose that most of you think "chocolate", "banks", "watches" and maybe "beautiful landscape" when you hear Zurich. But not everything in this rich, little country is how it seems.

Zurich is Switzerland's biggest city and it is cute, rich and rather clean. But, it is also really quite tiny, very multicultural and has an "underbelly". I am not sure, if anywhere in the world, such a small city can be so global, both in its international importance as well as a melting pot of cultures.


Langstrasse (long street), the heart of Zurich's red-light district.

In Zurich's Kreis 4 (district no 4), the melting pot is the most visible. Kreis 4 is notorious for its red-light district but is recently going up-market by targeting the cool 20-35 crowd (e.g. bangkokbitch *wink*). My mate moved there recently so we had a walk around Zurich's Soi Nana.


I was quite surprised. First of all, the area was huge (for such a small city) and it was very much more "in your face" than I thought. Girls were standing, sitting, lying and reading in the lit up windows, which were decorated with red suede. Of course they pouted lascivously into me and my friend's direction.

Of course, we wouldnt have any of it. My (straight) friend didnt need it - and I prefer the gender with a stick between their legs, and preferably the ones that cost nothing. The situation (I was in the same situation in Amsterdam before) is quite odd, as I am curious to see the prostitutes on display, how they look like, how old, where they are from without looking too much like a potential customer.



The red-light district in Zurich with a famous s*x-cinema.


To be honest, I felt more unsafe in Zurich than I ever felt in Bangkok. It has mostly to do that there are a lot less people on the street. As my mate and me were wandering around the red-light district, there were just the odd elderly looking men, some girls and very few other people on the street.


As I went back to my accomodation, I had to walk up longish stairwell, and down a tube-like overpass. I went into the toilet to get rid of some of the wine, standing at the urinal. There was only one urinal, and one cabin. As I turned back, I saw that the cabin was locked and I smelled some smoke. I went out of there quickly and felt that it's time to go back to Bangkok.

Belgium - België - Belgique

This morning I arrived in Geneva - late, because two Russian men felt "unwell" in the plane so we turned around in Brussels, as we nearly took off already. They had no bags to be unloaded and also no handbags. Nevertheless, the Russians didnt blow up the EasyJet flight, so I am still alive.


Belgium was quite interesting - contrary to what I thought prior to flying to Brussels. I had in mind: Fries, mayonnaise, mussels, chocolate and....not much more honestly. I ate all of that though - and hence I must come back to Bangkok to lose some weight!!!






The European Parliament in Brussels - huge.



Brussels is quite a nice city. Something between a big little scenic countrytown, a capital of a big state (including the enormous administrative buildings), a glorious proud city with history (all the royal buildings) - all with the sleaze of many homeless people and crime (which I didnt see luckily).





The main square of Brussels in typical European weather.


Then we went on the Flanders, the north of Belgium, where people love to speak Flemish, and just keep speaking it despite my English answers. You can also expect to find ALL signs and descriptions only in Flemish. Luckily, English is quite close, so I understood most.





Plenty of old people - Brugge.


Brugge - THE tourist town of Flanders - and...were disappointed. This town is quaint and cute just like expected, but lacked charme. Busloads of 60+ tourists from all over Europe, overpriced and bad food and European high-street fashion shops (the bad ones) dont do it for me.







Medieval fairytale in Ghent.



Ghent however is much, much better. The centre is a little medieval dream, complete with waterways, castles, churches and the lot. It has a buzz, is not perfect - but quite enjoyable. I also slept in an abbey there, which is an interesting experience.





Belgian fashion (Dries van Noten) and the cathedral in Antwerpen.


Antwerpen is a big boy among the cities. It is probably more cosmopolitan then Brussels (my feeling), is a fashion hotspot, port town with amazing city centre, and world capital of diamonds in one - an interesting spot!






The last night I spent in Leuven, supposedly a buzzing student town. I was bored to death and slept before 10pm.






Nice sunset in Leuven. At least nature is enchanting.

Here in Switzerland, it's bloody raining and half-snowing again, when will this stop? Well at latest on Monday, then, bangkokbitch is finally coming back home again!

Italy

wow, Italy was fun. I must say, I am a bit in love with it. It's not too different from Bangkok. But step by step.

Me and the two girls caught the train from Switzerland to Verona first. In Verona, I bought new underwear. A set. Brown and white, grey and white, blue and purple and the rest I cant even remember. But they look amazing!!!

I must say, in Bangkok I always loved when guys wore the white briefs. I think it looks the sexiest...but then I got a bit bored of them. And it's not easy to find nice-looking undies in BKK...
Anyhow, Verona, of course known for its Romeo & Juliet story (I wrote my and the bf's name on the wall next to the balcony) is a really pretty and very wealthy town.

Then, we took the train to Bologna, quite a big town south of Verona. The people were a bit less well dressed but the food was outstanding!!!

On to Rome, where we met the rest of the class...and with 15 girls, 3 gays and 5 ajarns (professors) we were quite a group. My gay friends and some lesbians went to a gay bar but I didnt feel like joining.

I must say, I fell in love with Rome - again. As a teenie with my first bf I visited Rome twice (he was Italian) and I still love the place.

It's dirty, chaotic, loud, the people are rude and there are also many strange creatures around. But it's such an exciting place, it really thrives. I have never seen that in a European city before (except Athens)...

And the men....I must say Italian men are very handsome and stylish. I know this is a cliche but it's actually quite true. They just know how to carry themselves.

We had meetings with four Italian politicians and bureaucrats , one is Andrea Sarubbi, (his blog is here) and Ugo Papi.



Andrea Sarubbi........handsome, no?

Andrea is a very very handsome tall man with a youthful face and grey long hair and Ugo, the speaker for the Partito Democratico on Italian-Asian affairs is often in Bangkok (according to him) and gay (according to me). If he has a Thai boyfriend and he is reading the blog, say hi please:)

Now I am in Brussels and it's actually not bad...more later.