Hi Denise, Sitting here hoping for a fill, just one more fill, then I'll get off, hey I'm in control, no compulsion here, I can handle it...Thanks for the reply. The bikers in Bangkok are actually a very organized taxi service used by many. 2 - 10 Bhatt will get you a range of distances. Of course, they love to show off their riding prowess to foreigners. Scads of bikes threading and zooming through the disel choked streets, like counting heads in Akihabara on a Sunday. Used to be 25 Bhatt to the dollar. Transportation for the masses and the fearless, no they don't issue helmets.
A couple of vignettes;
Was using a taxi in Bangkok, always check to see that most of the lug nuts are present on its wheels before negotiating the fare, good dickering point if a few are missing, we were charging through this large intersection angling left with, oh your basic twenty or 30 other cars, busses, mini trucks, bikes, etc, when this diminutive microbus loses its left rear tire and wheel directly in front of me. Yeah, severed right off the axle, wheel bearing parts spewing forth, dragging the axle, sparks flying and my driver was distractedly looking the other way. Seat belts ? Evidently not a taxi requirement. But the drivers are quite good and we had several centimeters to spare as we passed.
Another time, another place. Was touring my boss (grew up in San Jose, Ca - never been to Asia, considered Mexican food a foreign adventure) through the plants on my route. We started in Singapore, and that was a soft landing, nothing much more adventurous than hotel meals at the Holiday Inn on Scott ( my favorite ), so next day it was on to Malacca in Malaysia. Now Malaysia is a Muslim country, with an interesting mixture of cultures and ethnic groupings. We arrived in the early evening, after a 3 hour drive from Kuala Lumpur, down a beautiful and scenic tollway discussing the situation in Iraq with our Muslim driver. Missing contact with the locals already, I dragged him out of the hotel, up the alley around the back side of the hotel and a marvelous lane full of street merchants filled with smoky outdoor mini-restaurants, and fast food stands. Capitalists all of them. We stopped by one tasty looking display of live blue crabs in a back alley open area behind the hotel. Looking good, we went in for a feast. Unfortunately Malacca's principal water supply had been contaminated and was drained the prior week so all supplies of water were being trucked in from elsewhere. The maitre d' sat us down at a table adjacent to the day's dish pile, must have been 4 foot high and twice as wide so we ordered. As the night sprinkles set in, the crew dragged a slightly moveable awning over our table, we felt so honored, others, I think Japanese were left to deal with the cooling mist as they could. Across the lot in the shadows I could see some scraggly little cats playing and nosing around. As we were sipping our Tiger beers, my buddy suddenly tenses, looking over my shoulder. I sense his concern and turn to see this huge mean and nasty looking rat, the size of an American beagle approaching from the gutter brush aiming for the dish pile at our side...Evidently this was its supper-time too. Thats why the cats were huddling well out of the meal path. Now my buddy is a good 200 lbs larger than this creature but totally unnerved, evidently with deep rooted fears and loathing for rats, so I jump or do something and the creature ambles away. Oh yes, the blue crabs were great, but as we finished the meal, the cleaning had begun, and something like a chlorine gas came out of the large basin they were using to attack the dish mountain and caused us to start choking and tearing heavily. As we were finishing the last round of beers we elected to pass on desert. A memorable evening! Malacca is an ancient and intriguing city, a bit off the main path, but majestic and tranquil in an Asian sort of way. I recommend it heartily, but this is not like going to a Boston Market in Silicon Valley for a good meal.
Alas the trade has not settled and the price has moved. |
