the markets

So I haven't even been here a month yet, and I am already incredibly cheap. Yesterday I bought a skirt, a top and a bag for 450 baht and I feel as though that was way too much...and it probably was. That's about $13, which is a good deal in Canada, but expensive over here. It does help at the markets if you are a teacher though. When bartering with the people, if you tell them that you work in Bangkok and that you are earning baht too, they give you better deals than they do to the backpackers who are walking around with thousands of baht in their money belts. The key is to go with hundreds because then you can take them out of your purse and say that that is all that you have with you, they will usually give you a better deal that way.

When I first got here, I never thought that I would be able to figure anything out. Now I know how to take the bus to a bunch of different places and I was even able to recognise landmarks as I was cabbing home (which is important because sometimes they try to take you the wrong way just to get more money, so now we know where we need to turn and in which direction they should be going).

Another thing about this city is that everything is loud. I had started to get used to the noise, but then my parents called me last night as I was just walking down the street and I could barely hear them because it is so loud everywhere. I had to hang up when we got into the cab because the music was blaring (and there were 5 of us in the cab, which also increased the volume). I love how this city is always going and you could go somewhere at 3 am and there would still be people all over, it's great.

This weekend we are planning on just staying in Bangkok, which we haven't really done yet, and seeing some of the touristy Bangkok things, like the Grand Palace and maybe Safari World (which is a huge safari thing right in the middle of the city, apparently it's really good). On Saturday it is my friend's birthday, so a bunch of people from Lertlah are going out, which should be fun. On Sunday we are going to go to Chatachuck market, which is a massive market that spans many many city blocks and is only open on the weekends. It is extremely crowded and you have to arrive at around 9:00 if you want to be able to walk around, in the middle of the day it is just insane...we went two weekends ago at around 1, and I will never do that again!

I hope that everyone has a good weekend, keep those emails coming!