Interesting couple of days. Met Niall night of the 29th in the Irish pub. He wandered in wearing a baseball cap backwards and displaying his sleeve tattoos, decorating the full length of both arms. His wife had the latest baby okay - Rhea. We chatted about Ireland, Thailand, the king and his disowned playboy son, travelling, pubs... Then he got a text from a friend of his - Tony. Went elsewhere to meet him - a collection of crappy little bars, populated by attractive, welcoming girls. Find Tony with one, and himself and Niall have a catch-up, comparing pubs. Didn't realise Niall was part-owner of O'Donoghue's. They explain some of the dynamics of pubs to me - how people attract people, how the staff affect footfall.
We are joined by an Irishman, Brian from Ballybough, who knows Des! Small world. We adjourn to a different pub for some pool, and then darts, which Niall wins. I'm clearly inferior to the lads in both games - I suppose bar managers play a lot of pool. Get back to the hostel about 4.30am, sleep.
Hangover-curing shower the next morn, and once that passes, I'm happy to discover that the antibiotics have already taken effect. Make my way over to Khao San road via rail and tuk-tuk, meet Tori and Diana for breakfast. We wander around the stalls, laughing at the funny tshirts, and I pick up two baby tshirts for Anna-to-be and Donagh-to-be, and the 'Communist Party' for myself. Trying to figure out how we spent six hours doing nought... left them chilling in their hostel, went to meet Debbie in Silom.
She comes down the stairs, looking smashing in a black dress and heels, with a large heart pedant. Suddenly I'm self-conscious of my flimsy white linen top, shorts and sandals. Dinner in a Lebanese restaurant, conversation is great. Post-prandial drinks in the Irish pub, and she orders a half-pint of Guinness. Pub calls last orders, and we are left looking for another venue.
A man asks us if we want to see one of the Ping Pong shows. It's part of the Bangkok experience, so we agree. Everything seems a little dodgy, and when we arrive at a seedy strip joint, we are ready to turn and walk. He assures us there will be a show, and my eyes will never unsee that show. Blowing out candles, draining bottles with different liquids and then refilling them with the separate liquids, smoking cigarettes... astounding really. Finale of ping pong balls being fired into the audience. I am handed a table tennis paddle to try knock them back on stage and into a bucket.
Once the show finishes, we drink up quickly and find a street-side bar that is closing, but provides us with a table and two chairs. When that bar closes, we clamber on top of two stacks of chairs outside Starbucks, sitting atop them as if they were thrones.
The night must end though - I have a flight, and Debbie has work.
***
Reckon Singapore's going to be similar to Bangkok, a city which is constantly busy, bustling and buzzing, booming. The skyline is awash with skyscrapers, and the sprawl of a city of 12m is immense from the air. It's a stark contrast to Luang Prabang with its charming temples and cafés. The only downside was the open sewers lining the streets. Ventiane, the European-influenced capital with its wide boulevards, is a world away from dusty Phonsavanh, with its single traffic light.
Trying to compare them it Irsh cities - I guess Bangkok is Dublin, LP is Killarney maybe. Vientiane is Adare perhaps - pretty, but not much going on. VV is definitely Galway. Not sure if anywhere is awful enough to be Phonsavanh... maybe Sligo? :P
***
Been meaning to jot down my thoughts on language for a while. In Russia I made a huge effort to learn some useful or fun phrases. Came in handy a couple of times, and amusing some other times. But when we crossed into Mongolia, it was all rendered useless. I think I barely learned 'thank you' in Mongolian. In China the Germans taught me more Chinese in one day than I learned in a week by myself. Likewise in Cambodia, all I managed was 'cam om' for thank you.
Five weeks in Vietnam left me with still only the basics, and several terms for food -
pho,
ba,
ga,
muc, etc. It shames me that I didn't make more of an effort. Not even 'how are you?'. In Laos, I struggled to replace '
aw con' with '
kop chai'. ONly in my last couple of days did I success. And back to Bangkok - listening to Niall and Debbie speak even their basic Thai makes me envious. I must keep up my German, and take up a new language... Serbian? Russian? Vietnamese? Thai?
