I spent a few days in Bangkok this week. One of the things on my shopping list was fluorescent, non-permanent markers - the sort used on glass or LED lit advertising boards. So, off to MBK just past Siam Discovery.
Being a sort of lazy bloke I hailed a taxi on Sukhumvit. With the frustration only a city taxi driver can build up my driver set off along Sukhumvit like a frustrated maniacal hot rod driver. He weaved from lane to lane, scarcely missing mopeds and others items e.g. Bangkok City buses. At each set of red lights he pressed firmly on the brake pedal to come up just short but with millimetre precision behind the car in front. We eventually came to the lights at the Erawan shrine and at that point my elderly driver braked a little more gently than before and began to 'wai' reverently towards the shrine. While I was musing over the obvious reverence (presumably with his afterlife in mind) and thanking my lucky stars for having gotten thus far, the lights turned green. Had my driver has more horsepower under the bonnet he'd have left 10,000 km worth of rubber on the street as he took off again, such was the pedal-to-the-metal ferocity with which he took off.
A few more weaves and bobs and we were there - well, actually past MBK. As I realised he was in his own little world and he wasn't going to stop I called to him to so do. There was a sort of 'Ah' and he promptly, without signals, pulled towards the kerb and stopped much to the exasperation of other drivers. As I paid he apologised for his forgetfulness. Dismissing his apologies I mumbled a 'Thank you' and alighted. Little did the driver know that I wasn't talking to him but to any deity on my frequency! As I stepped on to the sidewalk I glanced rearwards only to see my Schumacher disappear in a puff of Bangkok smoke!
To make matters worse, after four hours of trundling around MBK and other stores in the area, I did not find my markers. I walked most of the way back before using the Skytrain for the last hop!!
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