Bloggers Bunking Bangkok: Shopping, Scorpions & Sweating

Before heading off for our trip we received a Mandate from Mum: Don't Buy Any More Clothes.

The usual about t-shirt quality being questionable and lack of wardrobe space was brought into play, but heck, even our last trip there we didn't shop much on t-shirts - it's a bit tough if mum goes, "So, what did you buy?" and we hold up a t-shirt that says Oral Me. Asides from the Mandate, we only had mum's request to get some tablecloths for her.

So, our initial stance on shopping in Bangkok was, "Not gonna buy anything." Like real. But it was just that we had nothing specific in mind to buy (save mum's tablecloths), whether in Chatuchak or the malls. We decided to stick to Impulse Buy, although this time we have the advantage of Chief Control (so we don't spend too much).

One day in Chatuchak. A walk down Patpong. One proper round about Siam Paragon and MBK, a quick stint at Central World. End result?

So no t-shirts nor pants. Didn't say anything about DVDs, ties, leather shoes, socks, Boots shower gels or even McDonald's (aka McThai) mugs. Oh, a $15 iTunes Gift Card too (just in time for the new iPod Touch 2.0 update, yay!). The Chief did so much better - incense, leather shoes, glass mug, stationery, pajamas, mat, sauce bowls, a sports jacket for smart casual to formal wear, even a keychain and fridge magnet. Amazing how it all fit inside the near-exploding luggage.

Speaking of DVDs. On sale everywhere was The Phantom Of The Opera and Death Note Box Set. Safe to have had assumed that they were originals, right?

We'd bought our Phantom DVD from this store on the third floor in MBK and noticed some of the DVDs that the store sold were glaringly pirated stuff. It was only when we got back to the hotel and decided to take a closer look at our Phantom DVD that we saw cartoony fonts on the hologram sticker. Cartoony fonts on a hologram security sticker???

Closer inspection revealed The Phantom Of The Opera to be a Scorpion Brand DVD.

Now based on our last trip we sorta knew that going around Bangkok was gonna be hot, and reminded ourselves that for this trip we need to pack light clothings (then again, everywhere's freakin' hot, not just Sporeland or Bangkok). Every time we stepped outdoors, it's only a couple of minutes before we've our own private waterfall while everyone else only had a slightly damp face. And throughout the entire trip, we only bought wet wipes from Boots on the final night we were there. And used probably only 3 sheets in all.

Well, on the upside we'd probably sweated off some 5kg on this trip.