Bangkok, RW Genting (Malaysia), and Macau 12/9-12/19/2019

Thank you for all of the details of your travel! Having never been out of North America it seems very different but it's on our to do list when the kiddo is older.

Hope the gambling goes well!

 

First, some pictures from todays adventures.
First, Bangkok traffic




Just a sample of the ungodly congestion on the urban streets. It's like this about 20 hours a day.
Here is Central World, the 11th largets shopping mall in the world. I found out that it IS one large department store.

Another mall that I might visit tomorrow, but my focus may be on Terminal 21.


OK, so. Here's some "adult" stuff for your viewing pleasure.

Among the adult entertainment areas in Bangkok are Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza, and Patpong.

Right around the corner from my hotel is Soi Cowboy.

From the wiki:
"Soi (Thai: ซอย [sɔ̄ːj]) is the term used in Thailand for a side-street branching off a major street (thanon, Thai: ถนน). An alley is called a trok (Thai: ตรอก).

Here are some pictures of Soi Cowboy



From the other end of Soi Cowboy.
Lots of street vendors cooking food. I saw stuff that would have been interesting to try, but I had "other" priorities and was still full from the buffet breakfast earlier.
This is one from Soi Cowboy.

The second adult Entertainment Area is Nana Entertainment Plaza, or Nana Plaza for short. 10 years ago this was a pretty "rockin'" place, but it has toned down a little. Note that it:s only 7:30 in the evening




Another street vendor selling food.

Here's a video from Nana Plaza

OK, so here's what happened.

#1 girl that I wanted to meet no longer worked at the bar (on Soi Cowboy) that I went to, and nobody knew (or would tell me) where she went to.
#2 girl that I wanted to meet had passed away. The mama-san gave me some details in broken English after I showed her a picture, but it didn't really matter. She had passed on.

So, I was now in fresh waters looking for companionship. I am leaving Friday morning, so that leaves me with two nights. I went around to scout from fresh talent and found two candidates, but I told them both "maybe tomorrow", and left it at that.

I went out to Patpong, but didn't get a "good" feeling about the area, so I decided to go back to Soi Cowboy.
Here are some pictures of Patpong.

Lots of "Boy Bars" in this area




So, I went back to Soi Cowboy and visited the bar where #1 formerly worked. I was one of only three customers in the place and the girls were competing for my attention. I looked at several ladies, and finally selected one to have a drink with me. If we hit it off, I'd have a date. Here is Linda

And I'll leave it at that, since this is a family board.
After our date, she took me to a place where they supposedly sold insects, but I hadn't explained to her that I had already been there and there were no insect sellers, and let her go home.

So, time for my dinner. It was 10:45 and I didn't really feel like street food, so I went to a restaurant in the building next to my hotel.

I had a bowl of ramen

And brought an order of chicken wings back to the room.

So, that was it for the day. It;s 11:50PM now, and I'm officially ON Asia time. Time for bed. Tomorrow will be devoted to finding insects to eat, and visiting Terminal 21. I'm all checked in for the plane ride to KL, Malaysia on Friday.

Thanks for joining me on my travels.

 

Following along, safe travels.

 

@DaiLun thanks for the updates on your adventures. Decades ago I went to the Patpong district with the wife. We went into a bar with a "show" and had a couple of beers. When we were ready to leave we were given a bill for a huge amount -- I don't recall but it was for hundreds of American dollars (probably several months salary for a normal Thai at the time), we got into a big argument and a bunch of bouncers surrounded us and intimidated us and eventually we negotiated it into "only" a large payment. We weren't the only ones being ripped off, a couple of Western guys also got into an argument about their bill. We subsequently talked to the hotel staff and they said nothing could be done unless we wanted to wait in Thailand a few weeks or months for the police to conduct an investigation. So be careful. . .

 

@DaiLun Thank you for this TR, this is a trip I would love to take but I am very certain that Pookie woudl not go and therefore neither will I. I live vicariously through you.

 

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. The bills are now tallied in real time, and you have them in front of you at all times.

Patpong gave me a bad feeling, so that's why I didn't stay.

 

Looks fun. I will be an old man before I ever get there. Shame. My husband doesn't travel well.

 

OK, 5AM. I woke up at 4AM to plan my day. I have several destinations:

1)Orico Thailand - Electronics consumer store BTS to Phra Ram 9 - need to pick up a USB "C" cable. The adaptor that I'm using is suspect.
2)Chinatown - look for "melang tee tah kin" (romanized by me), translated to "insects to eat" in Thai
3)Terminal 21, I'd Like to see the layout of this place
4)Train Night Market at 5PM for "melang tee tah kin"

I have my rapid transit routes laid In, now it's time to back to sleep until about 8-9AM. Asian countries live on a different time structure. Last night, Linda told me that most stores don't open until 10AM or later, and 9AM was "early" in her words.

Just like in Hong Kong, where Starbucks didn't OPEN until 10AM.

It looks like I won't make the buffet at Lumphini Park. There's too many other nice restaurants and I should eat some local cuisine.

OK, more later today. See ya!

 

I was last in Bangkok over a dozen years ago, but Patpong still had that reputation for what was amounting to robbery. I recall that a Lonely Planet guidebook from the 2000's even wrote about it. I don't think I ever heard about anyone who got out without overpaying once the scam started and the thugs came out. I think that your negotiated settlement was the best outcome you could have gotten. I always assumed that there had to be a police arrangement for this to continue.

 

Great report! It’s been decades since I’ve been to Asia...I liked Thailand -so beautiful, great food.

 

OK, I had breakfast at the hotel's buffet, I essentially had the same food as I had yesterday., just more Asian and Japanese food.


It is very warm today. It's 90 degrees outside at 1:50-PM, so I'm back after accomplishing 1 of my objectives for the day.

Today, 12-12 is a free transit day. Unfortunately, I couldn't take advantage of it a whole lot because of my limited mobility.

I spent $2.00 USD to buy a hand towel that I can use to wipe my brow while I'm sweating away.

But I did start out on the train, and I had intended to go to Orico Thailand to get my cables, but due to my misinterpretation of the Google maps. Warning, Google isn't very good at interpreting floors in buildings, I ended up at a different mall but found the cables that I needed at a reasonable price, so I picked them up there.

So, my next stop was Chinatown, and I had the railway directions, and today the railway was free, but I wasn't really interested in hiking all over creation to get there I needed to go, so I hailed a cab to take me to Chinatown. The first two cabbies turned me down, but the third accepted. It was 400 baht (about $13.00), which for me was a "no problem" alternative.

I wandered around Chinatown for about an hour. The pace was more to my liking, but it was still a lot of time on my feet. I bought a few souvenirs for the folks back home. So, I got "fished in" to haggling. I took the mirror and hanging Fortune kitty #2. 180, she started. 150, I countered (which I know now was too high, but I wanted it over with quickly. 160, she came back with. I said OK and gave her 200. The other lady put Fortune Kitty #1 in my bag, and I assumed correctly that that was for the 40 baht change. So, I got the three items for 200 baht (about $7.00 USD)


Lots of food vendors in Chinatown. I would've stopped to eat, but I was still full from breakfast. I bought two bottles of orange juice and pomegranate juice, and I asked the pomegranate juice girl if there was some where to "khay melang kin", sell insects to eat in Thai. She said "6PM". and pointed down the alleyway.




This is the corner where I need to be at 6PM tonight.

I may eat dinner at Jumbo Lobster tonight, since it's right near where the insect cart will be.

I rode a Tuk Tuk back to the hotel, and the driver nearly missed the hotel.

Went to 7-11, picked up a couple of bottles of Orange Juice, and updated this TR. I am determined to do the insect thing tonight. So determined that I am planning on skipping my "date" tonight. The thing that is weighing on my mind is the moral implication of doing so without telling her. I mean, it's not like she is "future wife material" for me, I mean, she's a Bangkok bar girl. But, she IS a human being and should be treated with respect. I think I'll LINE her and let her Know that something came up and I won't make it to see her. That would be the most decent thing to do. No sense in going over with a "cancellation" fee. That would just lead to more questions.

Nope. Insects are the #1 thing on my priority list tonight.

See you guys later.

 

DaiLun

Well done, you have my respect for wanting to do the right thing re the girl.

Such things matter, for we are all human beings trying to do the best we can in life and at least you are giving her time to make alternative arrangements. And being a nice guy. Too many people just don’t give a @#d& about the effects of their actions on others and it harms society.

Love your trip report btw, keep it/them coming! Insects, yeh, must try that someday, please be as detailed as you can re tastes, textures, crunchiness etc.

 

Yeah, she replied "I understand". No sense in possibly ruining my karma since the next two venues will be gambling ones.

 

Right now im eating at Jumbo Lobster in Bangkok Chinatown. Ive ordered Lobster, Mantis Shrimp, and kale with oyster sauce. Pictures to come

 

OK, success!!!! I went to Chinatown tonight, ate at Jumbo Lobster, and bought insects to eat.

First, dinner
Jumbo Lobster . . . OK, some may call this a "tourist trap", because I saw only tourists (including me) eating there. You may be able to find cheaper and possibly better (this was pretty good), but the location satisfied my dual objective of being close to the insect vendor.

Now, I ended up ordering the large mantis shrimp (three), but due to Tapatalk messing up, I didn't get a picture until after I'd already eaten one. They were sauteed in butter and garlic

I also ordered kale with oyster sauce

I also ordered the "small" lobster done two ways, with cheese (right), and garlic and butter. (left)

I also ordered a coke, and the total came to 1645 baht (approx. $55.00 USD).
Everything was very, very, good. IMHO, well worth it.
Here is them cooking lobster

and fish

Dinner complete, I walked down the street to the insect vendor, a little old lady who I asked to "put a little bit of everything in a bowl". She punched in on her calculator 100 baht (about $3.00 USD)
Here they are on her cart . . . .
miscellaneous beetles and things

grubs and worms

and grashoppers

I bought a large orange juice and a large pomegranate juice to wash it down, and I got in a tuk tuk and made my way back to the hotel.


I will be making a youTube video of me eating this, but I will summarize the taste, and crunchiness.

For @Flowers , I've added a bonus video dedicated to her!

I'll have to see how the videos come out. If my voice is too annoying, I'll silence it and caption it with subtitles. We'll see how it goes. I also need to plan my trip tomorrow, whether or not to eat at the buffet before I go, or eat at the airport.

I'll post the videos later. Time for dessert!

 

Loving this report. Keep the updates coming

 

I ate the deep fried grubs before. I prefer lady. Enjoy!

 

I'd have to be on my deathbed from starvation before I'd eat those insects. But, you enjoy! lol.

 

This is fascinating. Great trip so far.

 

OK, to tell the truth, it wasn't a big deal. After all, I'm Chinese-American and "we eat anything", especially when you grew up middle-class and you ate whatever was served to you.

I was eating the bugs in the tuk tuk on the way back and couldn't see what I was eating, and it was just "fried something". It does make me stop and think to being grateful that I DON'T have to eat these for nourishment, but they are a very good source of protein. It's just the thought of eating something "creepy crawly" that gives some people pause to eat them.

If you can get over what it is you're eating, you can do it.

OK, onward:

OK, because 1)I'm a real amateur at this, and 2)I needed to take breaks to wash my mouth out of all of the bits that stuck in my mouth, I published several short videos.

From my YouTube page
Intro

Frog

Big Grasshopper

Large Grasshopper

Small Grasshopper

Cricket
Beetles
Grubworms

Meal worms


Bonus Video dedicated to @Flowers