05.07.10 BANGKOK

Is it ok to have prejudices? We all have images in mind when we go to a place we don't know yet. But what do we want to see if we are going on a trip do we expect to see something new or do we want to get our prejudices being confirmed? I guess both. Sometimes we are afraid of the new and happy to get what we expected even if the expectations were bad.

My idea of Bangkok:
1. looks like the City in Bladerunner
2. dirty
3. poor
4. crowded
5. stinky
6. fat ugly eurpoeans looking for a woman to marry

Starting with the famous boat tour, through the canals and yippieh I got all my prejudices confirmed within 5 minutes and my camera chip full of pictures we all know from all the guides about Bangkok, good trip, worth its money! Running around the palace and the markets we decided to give up the little german Marco Polo travel guide recommendations and put ourselves in the hands of Wallpaper city guide and Bangkok seems to change from yesterday into tomorrow.I was so excited to take a Tuktuk (a typical asian car rickshaw) to the Tearoom recommended on the first page of the 24 hour tour. But the Tuktuk guy didn't see a good profit in taking us as we denied a trip to another attraction where he prefered to drive us because might get a fee by whoever in bringing us there and buying some plastic buddhas. So he refused to take us and we had to choose a taxi instead. Bangkok is so crowded that you should avoid taking a car, your are even faster by walking and for sure faster by taking the very modern sky train. After the stinky harbour where you leave the boat through sandbags and wooden slats we ended up at the Erawan Shoppingmall in the very fine super stylish Erawan Tea Room in between the Lanvin Shopwindow and the Comme des garcons store. On our way home in the sky train we felt like giant stone-age retards, to big and to slow for the tiny little busy thai metropolists. Beside the fact that we didn't know how to use the ticket machine i thought we have to put our ticket tokens into a slot which turned out the ticket token have a chip inside which can even be read in your pocket like on a skilift. The MRTA Subway reminded me of Hearthrow Airport with an extra second glass door on the tracks which opens when the train arrives. Every day after 5 o clock it started raining which is a relief after a hot day and turns the city into my Bladerunner dream, me in my transparent Muji raincoat as Pris the robot, thank you Bangkok.