Back at the hotel, I changed into a comfortable home set, took a quick cold shower, and lounged at the bed for an hour watching movies on my phone.
And then I started to “pack” my bags.
The carry-on had to be light. So I packed only my travel clothes in that bag. I took out the toiletries and the liquids out and planned to put them in the duffel bag later. For the duffel bag, I put all my purchases in that bag. Everything did fit, and I simulated space with adding my toiletries and the toilet amenities I saved like lotion and soap bars. Worked nicely. But there was still space.
So I thought, well, snacks would be nice. I wasn’t sure what shops Don Mueang Airport has that I can buy stuff from outside of the check-in by 5AM, so I did not risk that. I instead went to the 7-11.
I also recomputed my money before I went down the hotel. There was good news, and terrible news. Good news was that I computed every baht I spent at that point, and turned out that I had 1,400 baht left. 3K still untouched. Bad news was that I lost 1K in Chatuchak. It was extremely likely that I gave a 1K bill among the 100-baht bills I paid for there and the vendor simply kept their mouth shut. It was so easy to confuse the bills because their colors lend well to being akin to one another in a bright setting. I spent 30 minutes crunching the numbers and that was the only logical conclusion I got based on the number of 1000 baht bills in my wallet and the number of items I bought in Chatuchak, there was a 900-something baht missing. Sucks. Lesson learned – next time I’m in Thailand, I’d keep the 1000 baht bills on a separate fold in the wallet. No more bill mixing.
But I had 1,400 baht – coins and bills – jangling in my bag. So I divided it to two – 400 baht for dinner, the 1000 baht, I go do a 7-11 shopping mini-spree. They had a veritable feast of things I wanted to buy. So I took a basket. I bought drinks, small snacks, and cup noodles. From my experience in 7-11 back home, they sometimes sold awesome noodles. Even if they still sold shit flavored Lucky Me cup noodles, there’s a Nongshim in close proximity to it. But in Thailand, I don’t know which are the “great” ones yet. So I bought one each of the cup noodles they had there that used Thai wording. I avoided the ones that looked too Western.
I spent nowhere close to the small budget amount I had, because the local items in the 7-11 were still relatively cheap and affordable. I had at least 15 cup/pack noodles in my basket, one can of beer, three bags of chips, one can of coffee and a small tub of ice cream and I still had maybe 300-400 baht left. Great. I went back up my hotel room and sized up if I could cram the noodles in the duffel bag. A few creative arrangements later and everything fit in very snug and tight. Nothing got crushed. No more shopping, it seems.
For early dinner, I thought, maybe I could check out the McDonald’s here? I trooped to the nearest McDonald’s to find… the same shit, only with CNY offerings, like their Prosperity Burger. I tried to look elsewhere for food options. But it was already 8PM, I was in the area full of bars and nightlife options and shady-ass establishments where the white boys come out like they just had a happy time. I’m not inclined to ride the train again. So I stuck to what I fully knew. I bought a CNY meal at McD for takeaway, and ate it at the hotel with ice cream while watching Global Trekker on TV.
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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