A WEDDING & HIGH ON THAILAND 

AGAIN!

It was meant to be! Call it serendipity or wish fulfillment. The first trip of the year was to Thailand and I couldn't have asked for a  better beginning even though it meant lugging what I call dressing-up-clothes-whether-I-like-it-or-not because there was a wedding to attend at Pattaya. The most memorable event on the last trip to Pattaya was the rooftop Infinity bar at Hilton and the humongous Martini! I looked forward to an encore, but then wishes don't always come true; we just couldn't make time for it.  As to why...that's a long story.

Going from New Delhi to Bangkok, it felt good to get rid of the woollens and pack in lighter wear.The Thai capital however had a surprise up its sleeve. That was the day the temperature hit 15 degree Celsius at Bangkok. I know it wasn't freezing but it was certainly chilly and by the evening when we went up to the Lebua Bar (Hangover of Hangover 2!) we would have given anything for a great overcoat! We had to literally beg the management for something warm and they obliged promptly with  lilac-pink stoles irrespective of gender! So there were all the guests battling against the biting chilly winds and trying to have a good time. But despite gulping spirits by the minute, we knew it was a lost battle and we surrendered and went scampering down.

 

 

We had just one agenda in Bangkok - to binge, to feast on all the Thai fare that we could lay our  lands on. It helped that we based ourselves on Sukhumvit Road and the icing to the cake was that our friends, who have now been posted for two years in the Thai capital, lived nearby and knew where to go for the best local fares. Most of the places were not glitzy five star restaurants but places the locals frequented and the best part was that to some of the places you could carry your own spirits and you would be charged corkage. In fact, we walked to most of the eating joints, passing some tempting ones on the way. For some strange reason I develop a fancy for one of two Thai dishes on every visit and wherever I go I seem to simply gorge on it. This time  too, much to the exasperation of the spouse, it was winged beans salad with shrimps. Let's just say that if could I would have it for breakfast too! A year and half years ago in Chiang Mai, my passion of the moment was Nam Prik Ong. I even toted back several bottled version of the same, which, let's be polite was a @#$##@#$ wash out! This time I also made concession for an old favourite-Thai omelette with minced pork. One of the best eatery we went to was a place called  Seafood Sornthong Pochana. (Okay cut it out. What? Trying to break Sornthong into two words with a hypen and replacing the S with P! If you haven't got it, good for you.) I confess it had the best winged beans salad with shrimps!

 

 

 

There are malls and malls in Bangkok, but The EmQuartier, the new addition is something that needs to be checked out once especially its gourmet section. I wish I could have had a whole day in the gourmet section which seemed to have the  best of everything edible from every corner of the world, but unfortunately time was on a tight schedule- after all another binge session awaited! What did I like best, that the Thai fruit Durian,which seems to have more nay sayers then takers had its pride of place. Next time a whole day or more, I promised myself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming back to the story as to why no Infinity Bar at the Hilton, Pattaya, because we were there to attend a wedding and because we had so much fun at it. The fun factor was accentuated further by the fact that the foreign guests, especially the younger ones seemed to have been wired to forgo sleep and dance, drink,eat and have unrestrained fun for all the three days of the festivities. Some of the ladies took trouble to dress up in Indian attire complete with bindis, jewellery and mehendi. It was amusing to see that they just needed to hear the first beat of music to  work up a storm on the dance floor which is saying something considering that the music, mostly live with Bollywood singing stars having flown down, was all desi. And kudos to them for leading the baraat with their energetic dancing that went on for hours. They however stuck to one western quality without fail - being punctual! It was quite hilarious to see the Indian guests and,sorry to say,but even some of the family members, walking around in their casual attires way beyond the scheduled function time, while the foreign guests would be more or less the only ones seated at the venue, patiently waiting for the rest to arrive!

Pattaya to me translates into pani wherever you look and the Royal Cliff Hotel where we were based, certainly had one of the best views from every balcony. There's something about looking into the oceans and seas that is almost hypnotic and I say this even though I keep away from the waters; give me the hills and mountains anytime. 

 

This time we ventured out further into interior Pattaya, unwittingly of course since one of the wedding function's venue was an amusement park. Some of us took off on our after the function and we stumbled upon this spacious eatery with a view to die for. Our timing was wrong and there was no lunch available but we didn't mind that all because we were busy feasting on the view. I have no problems in admitting that I was green with envy at the family that owned the nearby house atop a green little rocky spot overlooking the waters.

 

 

 

Incidentally, the eatery had a banyan tree on its ground and close to it was a tiny prayer house perched on a stool and the base of the tree had multi-coloured cloth strips tied round it. That was so similar to the Indian practice of tying mouli at religious places seeking wish fulfiflment or the prayer flags flying in the wind near Tibetan settlements. 

Back to Bangkok and since it was the weekend, it had to  be the Chatuchak Weekend market. Everyone knows that it is one of the best market ever, the biggest with over 8000 stalls or so and is well laid out with a guide map and legend telling you which side you need to go to for your requirements. The merchandise covers the whole gamut from clothes, kids wear to decor, agricultural products to what have you and more. Thailand is one place where bad experiences are rare unless of course if you go to seedy places where you shouldn't have gone in the first place and try to argue with the sleazeballs that you are being charged double of what he had said it would cost (yep it happened to us, we were all girls and just one guy and we knew that the initial price he had quoted was too good and that there was a catch somewhere. But then we Indians believe that we can 'bargain' our way out of every hell!). This time was a shocker and a nasty one coming as it did from a taxi driver. There were three of us, the fourth friend scheduled to join us at the market after keeping a prior appointment. We got into the cab, the driver quoted a huge amount as fare.We asked him to turn on the meter which he adamantly refused. Fine said the friend seated next to him and took out his mobile to photograph the hanging tag with the driver's photograph, license number, car number etc. At that, muttering something furious under his breath, the driver turned the meter on and began driving us to the market. A few minutes later, he turns around and says, if you please, I know Thai boxing, want to taste it?  I am so glad that the friend promptly retorted with, how about Indian wresting, come on. That shut up the obnoxious driver. That driver for the record was Chatchapong Thupnamkham and his number was 155855. 

I should have know that going to the market on a weekend with two guys was the stupidest thing I could have ever done. The day was warm and that didn't help either, one didn't have to be a mind reader to know that they would be rather sitting somewhere gulping chilled beers and all that. I admit I did my level best not to tax their patience but a couple of hours and that was it - I was rushed back to the pavilion for more chilled beers, apple cider and Thai feast!