Met another Malaysian family today on the bus from Chiangmai to Bangkok. Spotted them from a mile away from the
tudung the wife was wearing, only Malaysian wear tudung the way we do. Anyway, when I arrived in Bangkok, got off the bus, headed straight Ban Hualampong
(thanks to the girl on the bus for showing me the way to the taxi stand!), the guesthouse (GH) where I'm staying tonite.
Now, this is Bangkok, for 270 baht a nite, I really don't expect much. Nonetheless, when I got here, what greeted me not only exceeded my expectation, it was totally beyond my expectation. You see, I'm a pretty simple
(and anti-social?) kinda person. Normally, when I reach a GH, I get my keys, get to my room, and lock myself in until the next morning, or if I'm there before sundown, I'll wander around a bit. But tonite, I didn't' get that luxury. Instead, I HAD to go out for dinner, HAD to study the map of Bangkok, HAD to entertain talks about what sounded like MATRIX MULTIPLICATION
(wtf is this?? didnt know it then, still don't know it now, heck, don't even know if the spelling is correct) and some engineering maths, all because I didn't have the heart to say, "No" to him. Who is this guy, serious, I had no idea. But he had the characteristics of an eccentric mad scientist, with his wiry thinning hair, thick glasses and an excellent command of English. This is not somebody you wanna say
(If you wanna appear smart, that is). Especially, when he excitedly showed me places on the map of where you can find halal food. But him, he just eats at the other eateries as long as it's not pork, coz' (in his words), "I pray 5 times a day"
(ye la tu, pakcik :P).This man's really kind, helped me

carry my bag up the stairs
(kerja bellboy tu, hohohoho), drawing laughter from a fellow guest, I don't know, probably because that should've been somebody else's work, and the man even gave me a book o the history of bangkok to read....weird. Chatted with him a lil' and finally found the answers to all the weirdness. Apparently, he used to study Mechanical Engineering in Berlin in years. He even went to high school there.....And just 4 years ago, he was the Dean in one of the universities in northern Thailand.
Whoaah, that explains the cute, classy interior design of the GH,
the cool refreshing green tea served to me the moment I checked in, the extravagant European tea set complete with bread and butter at the lounge area that he was having while reading his German newspaper.

He offered to drop me at the Muslim village so that I could have dinner. Brought along a young guy/kid with whom he said would accompany us and be my translator. Fine. After we got off his Mercedes at this tiny night market-kinda place, I asked the kid, so how would I know what I can eat. He looked at me.... blankly. GREAT, my translator doesn't speak English. We tried to communicate, tried this method, tried that method, tired of trying. He asked me to wait, he needed to make a phone call. While waiting, I ordered a
roti pisang by the roadside. He arrived, immediately paid for the food with the money the old man gave him. What the....?? Great, but why?
Told ya, the man's weird, but extremely hospitable. Got my roti, a girl arrived, she introduced herself, "I'm from the guesthouse, sorry, my brother don't speak English". You mean you came running all the way from the GH???? Oh ok, that explains the sweat. Thanks for coming, but if only it was you that he brought along, that would've saved us all from all the troubles......

Ban Hualampong was a last minute decision that I made so that I be near the train station. But boy, isn't this the best decision ever (apart from Hotel Beautyland in Yangon). It may suffer from some eccentricity, clashing concepts of high-class owner and
kampung staff/gh keeper. Nonetheless, I feel welcomed here, from the friendly owner to the gregarious little girls that greeted me (daughters of the GH keepers, perhaps?). I may not yet be certain of who owns it and who the kids playing the video games are. It appears as though everybody does everything here, but I am sure by the time I find out, this place is gonna grow on me so much it's gonna be difficult for me to leave behind.
The younger sister | The younger sister | Kakak pon nak join |
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