I woke up this morning and decided to go to a cafe to work for the first time in a while.
There are tons of food stalls around me. Because my accommodation is in the middle of Khao San Road. But it is very noisy there. There is always music playing and EU and USA people in swimsuits. I’m a bit uncomfortable with real diplomats, because I’m an ENFP lol. So I decided to go to a cafe where I can work calmly.
Walked to the cafe. The temperature is 37 degrees Celsius.
Walking a bit up from Khao San Road, I walk toward a cafe I found on Google Maps that looks like it might be a good place to work. It’s very hot.
The reality is that I sweat a lot when I walk, so I don’t gain any weight at all. I think this is wonderful and great. The temperature is a big barrier to my goal of having a vacation home in Southeast Asia. But on the other hand, if I can “sweat a lot, which leads to losing weight,” I think it might be a good positive thing.
Arrive at the cafe and order a cappuccino and waffles as usual!
The cafe was cool and not too crowded, so it was a nice cafe. But there were ants when I sat by the window, which I didn’t like. But I got enough work done!
Order a chocolate waffle.
I was very happy to be able to work like this for the first time in a while. The place I am staying has no proper desk at all and no environment to work in at all. There is just a pool, music, and a bar. So that kind of place which is able to work properly was really great.
I was able to get some work done for the first time in a while and even decided to go to a different cafe. At the different cafe, I ordered a cappuccino as well, and the time quickly turned to 19:00.
I met Vera, a Russian girl I met on Tinder.
I’m a regular Tinder user, but I don’t meet many non-local people. So I was very surprised this time! And I was so happy to meet Russians for the first time in a long time. I was so excited to be able to communicate in my favorite language, Russian, for the first time in a long time. And she didn’t look like a bad person either.
We exchanged what’s apps and decided to meet at the biggest night market in Bangkok. To my surprise, she had not bought a SIM card, so we could only communicate in places with wi-fi. I could not believe this.
I thought she was really rude because she never replied to me even though it was an important contact.
I use the metro to get to the nearest station.
I used the metro in Bangkok for the first time to get to the nearest station. Until then, it was about 30 baht (120 yen), and the price in Bangkok was the same as in Japan with a system where the price changes depending on the distance. Still, the price is really cheap, or I think this is a good deal. However, the major drawback is that credit cards are not accepted. The environment where you have to withdraw money at the bank is really difficult because of the exchange rate and fees. And in Thailand, I find it really expensive, especially since all ATMs charge a fee of 220 baht.
I was able to buy a subway ticket without any problems and I am going to our destination.
Sanam Chai station. Very beautiful.
The moment I entered the subway, I was already amazed. It is really, really beautiful, so much so that you would imagine a Russian metro. The station is so beautiful that I could not hide my surprise. This is the moment I felt that Thailand is very beautiful.
A special round coin. This is the ticket.
Bangkok’s metro system uses round coins instead of paper tickets. You choose where you want to go, make your selection, and purchase the ticket. Then you scan the coin to open the gate. I think this is better because it is more environmentally friendly.
Vera and I finally meet up! We eat our Thai dinner at a food stall!
Vera was outside. I was told to meet at the entrance of the food stall, so I went there too. However, I took the wrong exit from the metro and was about 10 minutes late. She told me later that she was worried that I might not show up. Sorry. That’s why I wish she had bought a SIM card; it’s really unusual courage to venture out without one.
We get together and gave warm hugs each other. It’s been a while since I’ve been involved with Russians, so it’s like I’m back then. It feels really fresh. It reminds me of when I studied abroad in Russia.
We walk around, looking at food stalls and markets. She behaved like a European girl. I could tell from the way she interacted with people that she was involved with a lot of people on a regular basis. She also made eye contact with me, which was very comfortable.
We decided to have dinner for the evening. It was so hot that I was constantly sweating. So we always say, “It’s so hot,” as we eat dinner. Fortunately, she doesn’t seem to like spicy food, which I was very happy about. I don’t like spicy food either, so we could understand each other’s food.
Thai rice eaten for dinner
I had this for dinner. Rice with chicken and spinach. I don’t know the name. But I think it was very tasty. While we were eating dinner, we talked about Russian language, my going to Russia to study, and her family. Whenever I meet Russians, I always talk about family. This is very interesting to me, and because we can talk about family, the topic of conversation expands from there. That is why I find it very easy to relate to Slavic people.
Dine with Vera
Then, to my surprise, she asked me, “Do you want to come to my hotel?” I said, “Of course!” That’s the Tinder app! I thought. But for some reason, I didn’t feel like that was the case there. That’s how I feel. To be honest, I’m not the kind of person who wants to have sex right after meeting someone, so I was hoping it wasn’t like that.
We learned that we love to walk, so we decided to walk to the hotel.
According to Google Maps, it is an hour and a half walk. We love to walk, and according to her, she never use the metro in Moscow and always go somewhere on foot. This was unbelievable. So again, we decided to walk to the hotel because I wanted to talk a lot until we got there.
Apparently she is coming to Thailand for a month to travel and usually works as a Defectologist (a doctor who treats stuttering in children) in Moscow. Too awesome. I had never heard of this profession before. She seems to love kids and studied something related to medicine at university.
So they gave her a vacation and she came to Thailand for a month. But why Thailand? I wondered. I asked her why she was in Thailand, and she told me that she was watching a Thai series and loved Thai actors and actresses. She also said that the food in Thailand is delicious and that she had been to Thailand last time in December. So she fell in love with Thailand and is now in Thailand.
Apparently, she loves Thai gay series and watches them often. Officially, they don’t allow gay people to marry, but there are always many commercials of gay series on the screens in shopping malls. Besides, there are gays and ladyboys all over the city. Thailand is such a country. It was very interesting. I am straight and Vera is straight too. But she likes to watch gay series, and she really likes the peculiar kind of chemicals that she feels when they are involved.
