Some funny things around town today

Since I've been in Bangkok I've not been able to find just a regular post office. There was a large post office near our other apartment, but you had to take a number & wait like 20 minutes just to get stamps. There are lots of little places like Mailboxes Etc... at the subway stations, so I've been using them, but of course they charge you a bunch extra. I've found this very frustrating and nobody seems to be able to give me a good answer as to how I can find a post office. Before Christmas someone told me there was one behind the Bangkok Bank building, so I circled it twice & all I found were lots of stalls selling everything BUT stamps. So today I asked the manager of our apartment & he said, "behind the Bangkok Bank building, just go down our street and you will see it". I was not very hopefully.

I walked down the street (1.5 blocks) & noticed a sign "Thailand Post Office". I got the attention of the security guard & pointed to the sign & he pointed into the parking garage, under an overpass. No wonder I didn't see it last time! So now I'm happy, I've found a post office & it's only a 3 minute walk from the apartment.

This is a photo of a 2 car garage, Thai style. This is just around the corner from our apartment.

This other photo is along the street next to us. The guy is setting up his "restaurant". Honestly, they have entire restaurants on these little carts. They will have folding tables & plastic chairs for about 20 people. The cart has a propane tank & most everything is cooked in a wok, whether it's deep fried or stir fried. It is amazing the variety of foods you can get from these street shops. I don't eat at them often, but when I have they are very good. I mostly get fruits & veggies from the street vendors. It is jack fruit season right now - I'll get photos.

We needed a few more things for the apartment, so I decided to make the trek out to Carrefour (Thai version of Walmart, I think it's French owned). I got as close as I could on the subway & then walked about 20 minutes to the store. The area I walked through was definitely not the tourist section of town. There were lots of car & motorcycle repair shops. Shops for reupholstering cars seats, buying car supplies, and installing car sound systems. I guess this is car/motorcycle servicing neighborhood. The funniest thing was motorcycle washing station (like a car wash, but for motor cycles). They drive up onto these raised cement areas & spray down the bike with a hose. There were 5 cement raised areas & all were full. I should have taken a photo.

At Carrefour there were employees skating around the store on roller blades. I guess it's so big that this is the best way for them to get around. It was pretty funny.

Tonight I went back to the park and participated in one of the aerobics classes. Good workout. Luckily it was not one of the hip hop ones, so it was pretty easy to follow & fun to be there with the throngs of locals working out. It's nice to do this now because the weather is so "cold" (it actually has been getting into the 60s at night). Most people were in sweat pants & jackets working out. I've moved to wearing short sleeved shirts instead of sleeveless. It'll be hot soon enough!

On my way home from the park, I saw a motor cycle taxi driver with a can of beer drinking it with a straw. Glad I was walking & not riding!!

That's it for my random observations for today.