I arrived at the H District Boutique Hostel by around 5pm. With the travel and timezone difference I was fairly shattered but I was keen to check out a gig that my Berlin bud, DJ Adrian, told me about. He mentioned some good DJs were playing at a Palestinian fundraiser at Salon Kiku. The bar looked close enough to where I was staying, but this was before I realised the scale of Bangkok! I was gonna hop in a tuk-tuk but the driver quoted me double the price of a Grab (an Uber equivalent) so I went with that instead.
Initial Exploration
The gig was very enjoyable. It started off with some spoken word poetry, followed by a mix of sweet electro beats. I Shazammed a bunch of the tracks so that’s always a good sign. What I didn’t realise beforehand is that it was a wine bar, so instead of knocking back cheap Changs like I was expecting, I was sipping on pricey Pinot Grigio. Still though, it was a good intro to the city. I even picked up a nice solidarity cap as they were selling some merch on the door.
Starting off with some spoken word
After a while I decided to head back to Nana. I thought about taking the metro, but a lad on a bike offered me a ride for 100 Baht. An absolute bargain, and far cheaper and quicker than any other mode of transport. It was my first time on the back of a bike in Bangkok, and it was a proper experience! Unfortunately though, my original cap blew off somewhere along the way smh.
I had a couple of beers and just soaked in the atmosphere—Friday night so the place was fairly hopping. It had been a long journey and my body clock was all over the shop so I called it a day then. On the walk to the hostel I bumped into an Irish lad (can always tell a big Irish head) and he gave me some tips on apps and things to do, which was pure sound. He’s a fellow Liverpool fan so we arranged to meet up on Sunday evening at Fitzgerald’s for the Liverpool Vs Man City game.
Irish bars - our gift to the world
Nana is a spot that never sleeps
In terms of the accommodation, for the first weekend I opted for a cheap spot in a good location. Ended up being pretty decent for a dorm—we each had a locker outside the room and the bunkbeds themselves had curtains and a lock.
Small lodgings but private at least
Nice place to relax up on the roof
General Election
The next day I had the laptop out and got stuck into the Ocean FM election coverage! Funnily enough, the OceanFM website is blocked in Thailand saying “Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons.” Thankfully I could catch the stream on YouTube and I even got a shout-out (Cheers G!).
Watching coverage of an Irish General Election (which I didn’t even vote in) isn’t on many people’s Bangkok Bingo Card, but I really enjoyed it!
The Bash Bros
The Reds
For the remainder of the weekend I stayed local, figuring the proper touristy things can all be done in good time. On Sunday evening then I met up with Cormac as planned. Was good craic watching the game and it ended up being a great result on what was a great first weekend in Thailand!
Beauty
DavAI SummAIriser
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