I feel like Julia Roberts

Got up this morning and had a great breakfast. It was just like the standard 5-star buffet, but it had more deluxe foods. Things like smoked salmon. Yum! Then it was off to the lasik center for my one week check-up.

I took a taxi because the public transit system is unfamiliar and there were too many transfers that I would need to make. Taxi’s are easier! We hit a bit of traffic though. It took about half an hour just to cross the river. I ended up being about five minutes late for my appointment. As such, I went right into the exam room. I had some trouble reading the eye chart, but am still 20/20 apparently. The guy who was examining me tried to improve my sight with lenses (for nearsightedness and astigmatism) but nothing improved, so they say it is mostly due to the fact that my pupils hadn’t had a chance to get used to the dimmer light inside. I hope so. Overall my vision is a bit blurry today, but that comes and goes. It also might be because I didn’t sleep well last night and I am tired. I did ask the doctor about it when I saw her though. My left eye seems perfect, but she said the right eye would take longer to adjust because there was more correction in that eye.

So, with my check-up completed, I was off to go shopping! I had made plans to meet up with Barb (who I met in Phuket) at Big C near MBK, which is a huge mall in Bangkok. At first I thought the taxi driver was going the wrong way, but it ended up ok. I arrived a bit early, so I went to the pharmacy (Watson’s – like a Boots) to see if they had birth control pills. Last night I had looked up my pills active ingredients and wrote them down. Glad I did – my pills are branded differently here. And… oh my god! They are so cheap! Only 63B a pack! That’s less than US$2! Yes women in first world countries, you are totally being ripped off. Needless to say, I cleared the store out – I bought every pack that was on the shelf. (Yes, I did check the expiry dates). I also picked up some eye drops. Unfortunately, those weren’t quite as cheap. I hope they were they same price as what I’d pay in Japan, because they were about US$10 for a pack of them. Yikes!

I ended up finding Barb pretty easily, and we started wandering around. I bought a leather wallet, and a cotton towel because I was sweating to death (and had forgotten to bring one). I also spent a good thirty minutes bargaining for a present for my parents – which I can’t go into details about because they read this… and then it won’t be a surprise :)

We ended up at a pizza place for lunch. I couldn’t deal with anything too spicy because my stomach was a bit upset. It ended up being great because we both like root beer and pineapple on our pizza! I usually have to fight people for pineapple. Our pizza had shrimp and pineapple – it was pretty good.

After lunch, it was off to the shoe store. Compared to other places, it was expensive; however, the quality was excellent and overall the shoes were well worth the price. Everything I saw in other stores afterwards looked like total crap. I ended up getting a nice pair of strappy sandles to wear at my sister’s wedding, as well as a pair for my mom.

From there, we went down the street a bit to the underground market. I was a bit concerned about my suitcase popping open again, and I was also buying things that would definitely not fit in it, so I ended up bargaining for a new one. After much bargaining, I got a hard case, largish suitcase (one size down from the massive one I already own) for about US$50. Pretty good.

Barb’s tailor was in the same market, so we stopped in there. I ended up getting two suit jackets and one pair of pants made. I had hoped to get some jackets in bright colours, but they didn’t have any material like that. So, instead, I just got two that matched my grey pants. Since I buy my jackets separate, nothing ever really matches. They are going to deliver them to my hotel sometime in the wee hours this morning – since I am leaving tomorrow! Barb has dealt with them for years, so I trust them to deliver my stuff. I just hope everything fits, because I don’t have time for the second fitting.

From there it was time to bargain for bags! I found this beautiful leather bag. The shop clerk was one of the lady-boys. Apparently, he was wearing a bikini top yesterday. He pranced around and did the stereotypical hand flinging and hip wagging. I just joined right in and did it back to him. We had a great old time. It was the most fun I have ever had bargaining. In the end he had to go and get approval for the final price, so I know it was as low as I could get the price. All up, US$50 for a giant, leather bag. Love it.

From the underground market, we took a cab to Barb’s hotel. We, er I, had too many bags to carry! What with the suitcase and the big box that was the present for my parents, I had no arms left. And they were heavy! So, we had a drink and some hors d’oeuvres and relaxed for a bit before we headed out again.

Next on the shopping itinerary was MBK. This place is huge! We got Barb a wheel chair because her leg was swelling up (she’s not supposed to be walking on it anyway with the cast). At this point I was just looking. I did have to buy souvenirs for everyone back in Japan, but they were easy enough. I also stocked up on curries and stuff. So cheap! They only cost like 20 yen here. In Japan they are like 400 yen. Needless to say I bought enough curry to last the next year. Other than that we just went into several shoe stores. I couldn’t find any that I really liked. Nothing comfortable enough to walk around in for several hours (which I need for work), so that was the end of the shopping spree.

So, we went back to Barb’s hotel to pick up my stuff. We had to wait for about half an hour in the taxi queue to get a cab. We asked the driver to wait for me when we got to the hotel, so he could take me on to mine. I ran up and got my stuff and made my good byes. I must say that I had a really fun day. I normally do not like shopping, but with Barb it is a lot of fun – mainly because she knows where all the good stuff is!

The taxi driver took me back to my hotel. I tipped him very well – I was feeling generous. He was also young and said he was saving to go to school. A worthy endeavor, so I gave him double the fare to contribute to that, and thank him for waiting. The whole fare was only 100B so all up I paid him 200B – US$6 for an hour of driving around and waiting. He was clearly surprised and thanked me profusely.

At the hotel, the doorman opened the taxi door for me, and started to pull out my bags. He said, “I’ll have the porter bring these to your room”. Man, I love this place. I then stopped by the concierge before going up to my room. I wanted to tell them about the delivery of my tailoring. While I was there they remembered that I had ordered a car for the morning, so they reconfirmed the time. Then it was back up to my room for my last night in Bangkok. Sadness :( I want to stay here longer. I love the Peninsula. After packing and organizing all my stuff and talking to Hiroshi, I didn’t have time for one last bath either. Oh well. Guess I’ll just have to come back some time! You won't have to twist my arm either!