Hot Sweltering City
The salesgirl at the beauty shop where Kidd bought make-up and fake eye-lashes. The shop was clearly a one-stop place for every aspiring drag queen/show girl. In fact many shops at the bazaar we went to were dedicated to show costumes. Interessant, non?
Bangkok was a big seductive city with bright lights and beautiful people. It was so full of colours, smells, sights of roadside Tom Yam stalls, traffic jams, rows upon rows of shopping malls and all kinds of massage parlours and spas and cafes tepi jalan. But spending a night was never ever enough. I spent the first day shopping with Klubb Kidd scouring through Bargain Heaven, in an area I so cannot remember what name. But it was a fabulous bazaar and there were rows upon rows of shops selling everything- knick knacks, souvenirs, jeans, t-shirts. I bought one "Long Live the King of Thailand" T-shirt. Boleh?
After Kidd bought all his make-up pressies and stuff we retreated to the smallest McDonald's in the world to take-away some grub. We went back to our lovely lovely room- Kidd stayed at this swanky new hotel in the Sukhumvit area, which was right smack dab in the central shopping district. (By the way, Kidd was offered me a place to stay because we were covering the same event anyway....)
Classy, man. We just chilled watching TV while preparing ourselves for the "experience".
Then at 7pm-ish we put on our comfy T-shirts and jeans/shorts and hailed a taxi. Off we were to this arena just outside the city. huge place. But the people were all dressed to impress. Many were decked in Bootylicious clothes, while others failed in trying too hard. but the arena had shops, McDonalds, smoking areas. People were selling beer outside the venue and you could bring a huge cups of beer into the arena if you want. You gotta hand it to the Thais, they know how to have a good time.
But the show, oh golly..the show was wonderful- in my standards lah. I seldom watch concerts, so just being there was "wow" factor for me. I was happy to be there and I refused to just sit on my ass all night. I danced and moved, and sang along with abandon. Wah gitu. And thankfully the people sitting next to me were an equally sporting audience. (I sat separately from Klub Kidd, though).
Unfortunately there were no meet-and-greet session, so no cutesy pictures me getting chummy with Miss B.
Hello, how could you say no to an offer to see this singer. She's a great singer, great dancer, powerful performer, a style icon baby! And 10-time Grammy winner to boot! And to think I had second thoughts of accepting this assignment. Why? because it was at short notice. Only three days in advance- and I had to book flight tickets and figure out where to stay. Thankfully the accommodations were settled when Kidd asked me to join him.
My mistake was that I thought I'd just stay a night- just so that I could watch the show and leave. But that is such an insult to Bangkok, dude. Seriously. Bangkok mesti terasa gile dengan gua. Woohoo...next time babe.
I almost forgot. I had two near-heart attack moments in the City of Sexy Beasts. The firts was when I almost lost my concert ticket. I kid you not. The ticket slipped out of my jeans pocket when I was buying some concert merchandise. And the ticket lay there, on the floor, in front of the freakin' merchandise counter, inside this busy stadium for several moments, while I was acting like a mad man, frantically searching my jeans and bags and retracing my steps through the crowd. When I saw that "Bertuah" ticket lying on the floor, I was like Thanking God okay, saying prayers, okeyyy....as a gazillion Thai partygoers were guzzling Singha beer and comparing diva outfits. The girls manning the merchandise counter were flipping out when I showed them the ticket that I found on the floor. Gila, ke apa!
The second "heart-attacking" moment when I almost missed my flight home. I swear Johnny boy, you are one lucky son of a gun. There I was, Sivarnabhumi International Airport. It's already 1.45pm and it's already time for me to board my plane. But where was I? Still lining up to have my passport cleared by immigrations. And there were 10 people ahead of me. And why did I check in so late? Well, besides the fact that our taxi was delayed due to a minor tiny accident with a pick-up truck, I had the insane nerve to stop at a magazine stall in the airport. Aiyoh, syukur kepada yang Maha Esa that I did not miss the flight. The worst part was when I finally checked into the boarding gate, I was the last person to board the terminal shuttle bus, which brought us to our plane. Ever felt like everybody in the room was secretly cursing at you. Well that's what I felt. My flight took off about half an hour behind schedule.
Despite all the craziness, which I have no intention of repeating, I raise a toast to you, Bangkok. You sexy beast, you.
The salesgirl at the beauty shop where Kidd bought make-up and fake eye-lashes. The shop was clearly a one-stop place for every aspiring drag queen/show girl. In fact many shops at the bazaar we went to were dedicated to show costumes. Interessant, non?
Bangkok was a big seductive city with bright lights and beautiful people. It was so full of colours, smells, sights of roadside Tom Yam stalls, traffic jams, rows upon rows of shopping malls and all kinds of massage parlours and spas and cafes tepi jalan. But spending a night was never ever enough. I spent the first day shopping with Klubb Kidd scouring through Bargain Heaven, in an area I so cannot remember what name. But it was a fabulous bazaar and there were rows upon rows of shops selling everything- knick knacks, souvenirs, jeans, t-shirts. I bought one "Long Live the King of Thailand" T-shirt. Boleh?
After Kidd bought all his make-up pressies and stuff we retreated to the smallest McDonald's in the world to take-away some grub. We went back to our lovely lovely room- Kidd stayed at this swanky new hotel in the Sukhumvit area, which was right smack dab in the central shopping district. (By the way, Kidd was offered me a place to stay because we were covering the same event anyway....)
Classy, man. We just chilled watching TV while preparing ourselves for the "experience".
Then at 7pm-ish we put on our comfy T-shirts and jeans/shorts and hailed a taxi. Off we were to this arena just outside the city. huge place. But the people were all dressed to impress. Many were decked in Bootylicious clothes, while others failed in trying too hard. but the arena had shops, McDonalds, smoking areas. People were selling beer outside the venue and you could bring a huge cups of beer into the arena if you want. You gotta hand it to the Thais, they know how to have a good time.
But the show, oh golly..the show was wonderful- in my standards lah. I seldom watch concerts, so just being there was "wow" factor for me. I was happy to be there and I refused to just sit on my ass all night. I danced and moved, and sang along with abandon. Wah gitu. And thankfully the people sitting next to me were an equally sporting audience. (I sat separately from Klub Kidd, though).
Unfortunately there were no meet-and-greet session, so no cutesy pictures me getting chummy with Miss B.
Hello, how could you say no to an offer to see this singer. She's a great singer, great dancer, powerful performer, a style icon baby! And 10-time Grammy winner to boot! And to think I had second thoughts of accepting this assignment. Why? because it was at short notice. Only three days in advance- and I had to book flight tickets and figure out where to stay. Thankfully the accommodations were settled when Kidd asked me to join him.
My mistake was that I thought I'd just stay a night- just so that I could watch the show and leave. But that is such an insult to Bangkok, dude. Seriously. Bangkok mesti terasa gile dengan gua. Woohoo...next time babe.
I almost forgot. I had two near-heart attack moments in the City of Sexy Beasts. The firts was when I almost lost my concert ticket. I kid you not. The ticket slipped out of my jeans pocket when I was buying some concert merchandise. And the ticket lay there, on the floor, in front of the freakin' merchandise counter, inside this busy stadium for several moments, while I was acting like a mad man, frantically searching my jeans and bags and retracing my steps through the crowd. When I saw that "Bertuah" ticket lying on the floor, I was like Thanking God okay, saying prayers, okeyyy....as a gazillion Thai partygoers were guzzling Singha beer and comparing diva outfits. The girls manning the merchandise counter were flipping out when I showed them the ticket that I found on the floor. Gila, ke apa!
The second "heart-attacking" moment when I almost missed my flight home. I swear Johnny boy, you are one lucky son of a gun. There I was, Sivarnabhumi International Airport. It's already 1.45pm and it's already time for me to board my plane. But where was I? Still lining up to have my passport cleared by immigrations. And there were 10 people ahead of me. And why did I check in so late? Well, besides the fact that our taxi was delayed due to a minor tiny accident with a pick-up truck, I had the insane nerve to stop at a magazine stall in the airport. Aiyoh, syukur kepada yang Maha Esa that I did not miss the flight. The worst part was when I finally checked into the boarding gate, I was the last person to board the terminal shuttle bus, which brought us to our plane. Ever felt like everybody in the room was secretly cursing at you. Well that's what I felt. My flight took off about half an hour behind schedule.
Despite all the craziness, which I have no intention of repeating, I raise a toast to you, Bangkok. You sexy beast, you.
Comments