One Last Stolen Piece of Time

Just so happened to have the time to share about my last trip. Well it’s better late than never.

I have to agree with anyone who thinks that Bangkok is an interesting place. It didn’t take an hour after I landed my feet in this country that has never been colonized to realize that. Suvarnabhumi has definitely been pimped said some of my friends who also went there only last year. Now it looks a lot like Charles de Gaulle or KLIA and nothing like Soekarno-Hatta obviously. It was really cool to stay in Bangkok for four days. Well it wasn’t cool to think of my unfinished business in Jakarta, but I let them go this time…or not. Oh well, at least I wasn’t going to Bangkok for a holiday. Nonetheless, I did have fun. And here are some of the most interesting things that I found in my trip:

1. Day 1: Reunion. Met my friend that I haven’t seen for about 5 years, Champ. First met him in those good old days, Kumon Kokusai Gakuen exchange 2002. Lost contact for years. But good news he still remembered me. So we were planning to meet on my first day there after me and the Kumon people finished dinner and communication time. It sucked that it rained so haardd that night while he seemed to have a really cool plan to tour us around as there were quite a number of exciting spots near my hotel. I brought my Kumon friends as well and we ended up walking around inside the hotel, seeing him performing some traditional capoiera moves (he’s REALLY good at it), catching up with each other updates, wondering what our japanese and exchanges friends have been up to all these years, and feeding him with KCC stories heheh. Soo although we didn’t get to see those cool places, the meeting was just worth it. I like keeping in touch.

2. Day 2: The neverending meeting and the night market. Yes, this trip was all about the meeting. Our objective was to discuss about what we’re gonna do at the KCC Conference in July and some other important stuff as well such as the image that we want people to get from this organization. The meeting was pretty exhausting. But despite all the bumps in the road, we managed to find a conclusion or decision as some people would put it. After dinner, the Thai completers took us to the nearest night market where I could buy little stuff for souvenirs. I tell you what. Barang2 di Bangkok muraaah paraaaah. From bags, cute little stuff, shoes, clothes. Especially when you found the right places to shop. But I myself didn’t buy a lot of stuff. Karena emang bener kata Tika, you really have to search thoroughly for the things worth buying you know what I mean.

3. Day 3: KCC Thailand Gathering, more reunion, MBK, and Suan Lum Night Bazaaaar. Day 3 is practically my last day in Bkk as I’ll be leaving for the airport at 8am the next morning. So on day 3 we were supposedly joining the Thai KCC for their gathering but most hours in that day was spent wrapping up the conclusion of the meetings which was good cause that was our first objective coming to Bkk. Altho if it wasn’t for the Thai Gathering, we might’ve flew to Singapore (Kumon RHQ) instead of Bkk. Sudahlah ini namanya rezeki :D. About 4pm after everything was a wrapped, my Thai friends took us to this huge shopping centre that was really similar to Mangga Dua, called MBK. Pertama2 kecewa karena yah jauh2 ke Bangkok kok diajak ke Mangga Dua siih. I consider myself a traveler. I’m not really into shopping when I travel. I prefer visiting famous spots, going to beaches (yang impossible saat itu), seeing breath-taking views etc etc. Thinking of Grand Palace, any other what-to-see-or-dos in BKK that I grabbed from some traveler’s website. But oh well. Memang susah kalo jalan2 sama banyak orang dengan different interest ditambah lagi kalo waktunya sempit. But it was never important what I bought when I am traveling cause honestly I never really found a better place to shop than here in Indonesia and Singapore, and Germany of course heheh. Cukup untuk curhat colongannya. Well the best thing is there at MBK, I met Intan, my KCC friend from Jakarta who has been working for four months there. I haven’t seen her in quite a while also so it was really nice to make a small reunion. She took me to the famous Suan Lum Night Bazaar which rumor has it was about to be replaced by a huge mall cause the local government thinks that that way will produce more income. But as soon as I saw the place, I started to think that that might not be a good idea. The place was really nice. Cute little stores that sell a lot of work of arts and fashion items combined with many open-air cafes. There was a lot of quality stuff there. After each and every one of us found the things that we’re looking for, we sat at one of the cafes to enjoy the cozy environment until almost midnite when we managed to crash in Intan’s place before we headed back to the hotel.

I truly think that this was a trip for business where I only got to see Bangkok at night. Nevertheless, I am so very happy that the meeting went well and our main objective was achieved. Thanks to all the people who have made this all possible. But please let me rest my case on planning to visit Thailand again after I graduated with my dear friends (pastinya ada Yoanna). Hope there will be more attractions, more culture learning, more beaches and sunny days, and even more fun :)