Taxis in Bangkok are the most colourful I’ve ever seen – I think each company tries to outdo each other with attention-grabbing colours. The winning company boasts taxis painted a brilliant pink, so bright and luminous that it almost hurts your eyes.
After two nights in our birthday hotel in Bangkok, we relocated to the impressive “White Palace Hotel” in the heart of Bangkok’s shopping district. During our travels we had assiduously avoided purchasing anything that wasn’t absolutely essential, saving ourselves (and the little room in our backpacks) for the many bargins to be had in Bangkok. This had seemed like an eminently sensible plan, until I remembered, within half an hour of hitting the streets, that I am a reluctant shopper at the best of times (unless I’m shopping for food or books). When shopping for clothes, I have the attention span of a preschooler. If I don’t find anything promising within an hour or so, I start to lose the ability to see individual items…everything starts to blend and merge, and a sense of futility rapidly takes hold.
For this reason, my preferred shopping style is to proceed directly to an area containing a few shops where I know, usually from past experience, that I am likely to find something. Ideally, the stock in such shops has already been well-selected especially for my tastes, and is displayed spaciously, so that my impatient eye can quickly scan the offerings, reducing the stress on my easily-tired brain.
These preferences unfortunately render me highly maladapted to cope with the shopping conditions in Bangkok. When I entered the popular MBK mall and saw corridors that stretched as far as my eye could see, my heart plummeted within seconds. As I inched my way through stall after stall of the same crap stuff in Pratunam Market, dodging swarms of tuk-tuk’s, pink taxis and other shoppers, I just wanted to curl up in a foetal position. When Colin wanted to enter yet another shoe shop in search of size 12 shoes (this is ASIA for GODS SAKE), I basically became the nastiest succubus that was ever birthed in the darkest depths of hell.
This is five floors up in an electronics mall, but these are typical brain-numbing mall conditions. (On another note, an entire mall dedicated to electronics? Have mercy…)
While Colin’s energy and determination saw him come away with a tidy pile of clothing (for the transport of which we were forced to purchase a new piece of carry-on luggage), I attempted to distract myself from my aching feet by working on a photo essay dedicated to the mannequins of Bangkok’s markets. No doubt there are several possible psychoanalytic interpretations for my choice of subject, but I shall keep those that occur to me to myself and simply present a few mannequins, of especial beauty, for your viewing pleasure:
Chez Moi 
HI CHEZ, IM GOING TO MISS THE FOOD UP DATES ETC, BUT IT WILL PROBABLY STOP ME FROM RAIDING THE PANTRY AFTER READING YOUR BLOG AND SAVE MY WAIST LINE A BIT.
HAVE YOU GOT TRAVEL BUG WITH DRAWALS YET. A YEARNING TO CARRY ON AROUND THE GLOBE?????
Yes we have got withdrawals…still thinking about Myanmar, Nepal etc – next trip hopefully. I still intend to keep the blog going Alan, although I won’t write in it as often. I’m sure that food will always make an appearance since I am so greedy!
OMG, mannequin with eyelashes! Poor Chez, surely you could have found yourself a spa to hang out at?
PS I’ve filched the black and white shot for my desktop.
Quite apparently then, this is the secret to eternal youth. To work as a mannequin. Too late for me, but not for you.
I hadn’t considered that line of work, but I can see it has advantages! Cool that you liked the black and white photo – it’s probably my favourite one. P.S. Colin wants to know the significance of the black and white photo, aesthetic or otherwise?
Tell Colin that, for me, it’s one of those rare photos that tells a story really well, even though it provides but a static shot in time. A question emerges as to why such a circumspect face should be found on on this woman, given the beauty with which she’s been endowed; and, we could assume, given all the social privileges that come with such an endowment. An answer lurks in the shadowlands, a shadowlands that dominates the background: a complex of interlocking associations whose lack of clarity appears to be challenging not only we the observer. And the black/white palette, in apparently simplifying the act of memory involved on the women’s part, reminds us the fantasmatic character of perception. Colin will understand.
Ahh, how wonderful it is to be understood.
Haha I can so picture this! Colin is the one who gets excited about going shopping. The Laos double strength coffee must have finally worn off. I can empathise with you though Chez, shopping is far too hard when your in relax/travel mode!
Great to chat with you last night, missing you heaps and heaps, enjoy your last day xxxxx
Yes he has shopping stamina, that’s for sure! To me, Bangkok was just big and smelly and crowded – not where I wanted to be!
HI CHEZ, HAHA, SOUNDS FUNNY. DID YOU HAVE A MOMENT.
WHOW.
5 STORYS OF ELECTRONICS. COOL
Yes, just a little bit of a moment that lasted three entire days while Colin dragged me around the shops!