Living in Bangkok

Even though I've only been working for a few days (and I've been working from home, making videos on my own schedule, at that), the weekend really felt like that—a couple days off to do whatever we wanted. On Friday, we headed down to Chinatown, and wandered a few blocks north of the metro stop. I was looking for a recommended street food-style restaurant, but as we circled the block, looking for where it was supposed to be, we ended up in a hidden back alley, where a couple men sat around on lawn chairs, drinking beers and playing with their phones, and two women fired up steaming stir fries on a couple hot woks. It seemed the restaurant I was looking for was shuttered, but the little street food stall was busy with people picking up to-go orders, so we decided to eat there, and had a seat amongst the trees in the alley. And it was so good! They made dishes we'd never had nor heard of—cooked wide rice noodles that were shallow-fried with oi...

We've been busy setting up our place. We brought pretty vintage-style pink and green and gold bowls and plates and glasses, a rice pot, and a wok. We bought pantry supplies for morning cereal, sliced bread, and soda waters. We bought five new house plants, which we carried in plastic bags from a scorching hot Chatuchak market to a waiting taxi. After several days of failed attempts at fixing our fridge, the building manager had one brought in from another apartment--and it is bigger, newer, and nicer. I've officially started teaching, which means--this week--that I am recording videos of me singing songs and telling stories for what seem like imaginary kindergartners. Next week I will go into school, though there won't be any kids there yet. We are getting to know Nana, our new neighborhood. There is a reasonably-priced grocery store nearby called Foodland, and there are several street vendors selling cut fruit. On our street, there is a food s...

I am writing this blog post from our new apartment in Nana, looking out at the nighttime city skyline through the window. It's been a busier couple of days. On Friday, I went out with Darren, a choreographer and director from the UK that I met through Kathryn. We met for iced drinks in Sathorn, then headed to the Thong Lor apartment of Darren's friends Cherrise (Cherrine?), a dancer and choreographer from the UK. I also met Laura, who is Thai-Australian, runs an arts program in Bangkok, and is super connected with the arts (and alternative therapies) community in Bangkok. It's been exciting to realize there's more of a theatre/opera/dance scene in Bangkok than I'd known (of course, there would be much more if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic). Darren is a total connector, and he's already scheming for me to meet up with various artists, composers, etc. I also went stand-up paddleboarding with Sean and Emma and another friend, Jo. We took a taxi to a ...

First, an update on the Immigration stuff: it seems for the moment like everything is going to be ok. On Tuesday morning, I went to Immigration with an HR person from my school (who I only know as Ms. Rundon) and applied for the Covid extension. They didn’t even ask for the TM30 form that I don't have—and that Ms. Rundon had thought would be a requirement (a situation which had contributed to my stress and the passive aggressive texts from our current landlord, please see Monday's post—or, you know, don't bother reading through that anxiety rant).  I didn’t actually get the visa extension yet, though. I paid the 1900 baht and I got a stamp in my passport saying my extension is under consideration— I have to return to Immigration June 4 to get the stamp. I’m not really sure why, and Ms. Rundon couldn’t really explain— maybe  it’s because it’s too early for me to get the extension? I don’t know—it’s almost easier to not question the convoluted nature of the Immigration p...

Riverboats and Immigration Woes As you can maybe guess from that headline, the first part of my day on Monday was more fun than the second part... Inspired by my trip on the canal taxi, I decided to take an express boat up the Chao Phraya river on Monday morning. I considered going to Nonthaburi, which is almost at the end of the route and is technically, I think, a separate city from Bangkok, though they are becoming one. Willy told us there’s a big wet market there and that the river boats wouldn’t be crowded because of Pandemic Times.  But I figured the trip might take a long time and it didn’t sound that fun making a big journey like that by myself, so instead I decided to head to the Wang Lang market, which we visited on our last trip to Bangkok. I figured I could pick up some pandan and fresh fruit, at least. Also, "large open-air market with many snacks" is one of the most appealing descriptions ever I walked the mile or so to the BTS, took that to Sathorn Pie...