Many Pros (and a few cons)

I'm discovering that there are many things that I can appreciate about Bangkok. I've already mentioned the quality and affordability of the food here, but there is more to Bangkok than just great food and swanky apartments. So, at the risk of establishing a precedent of including a list in each of my blog entries, here is a list of some of the things that I quite like about Bangkok:

• Massages - again, the quality and affordability of these is remarkable - about $6 for a one hour Thai massage or $12 for a one hour oil massage (no, it's NOT what you think; you get naked and someone massages oil all over your body - shame on you for thinking it might be something dodgy).
• Public Holidays - I thought Australians took their public holidays seriously, but they have about twice as many here in Thailand. Very civilised.
• Bars - I have already discovered some very nice bars in Bangkok and they are generally much more reasonably priced than Australia, but even when they're about the same price (some of the funkier bars tend to charge western-type prices), because I've saved so much money on food, I can justify drinking there.
• "Home Help" - someone is happy to come and clean my entire apartment for about $10 a week. I believe it's very important to contribute to the local economy.
• Live Music - I know I bagged out Thai music in my last blog entry, but I have since discovered some good Thai punk music and one or two places where I can see good live bands for free - joy! Although I must admit I've had some very unsatisfying live music experiences here as well - why do Asian people love bad cover versions of really bad western pop songs?
• The "Live and Let Live" Mentality - I'm assuming this is tied into the very strong Buddhist influence on Thai culture, but I really like the fact that people (and animals for that matter) tend to be just accepted here as they are. Whether it be a taxi blocking an entire street to drop someone off, a pack of stray dogs lying in front of the entrance to a restaurant, or one of the many transexuals just living their everyday life, people here tend to just accept everyone's right to be there as they are, without judgement and without the stigma that we would put on them in the more "cultured" western societies. I really respect that.
• Banks - I know in the past I have launched the odd impassioned tirade against banks, but in Bangkok they seem much more civilised, they don't charge ludicrous fees for just looking at an ATM, and they are open on Sundays!

(By the way, all prices quoted above are in Australian dollars and are fairly approximate conversions.)

Of course, it's not ALL positive unfortunately. There are a few things that I find a bit frustrating about Bangkok as well:

• The orange juice they sell here is so sickly sweet it's pretty much undrinkable.
• I can't speak fluent Thai yet.
• It's rather humid at times.

That's about it really. Some might suggest these are rather petty complaints and they may well have a point. The truth is that things are going remarkable well for me really and I don't have much to complain about. Work is going well. Non-work is also going well. Weekends have involved a fairly healthy mixture of relaxing and going out. There is seemingly no limit to the options for eating and drinking in this massive city, so my weekend nights have tended to be spent exploring some of these places with some of the other staff from school. Weekend days have tended to be spent vegging out, listening to music, reading, getting the afore-mentioned massages, swimming and watching cheap DVD's.

So I hope you have enjoyed this second edition of my little blog. I might write a bit more about work and the school in the next entry. Cheers.