One Night in Bangkok (Plus one more)

I arrived in Bangkok. Hooray!  Someone was there to greet me as soon as I de-planed, which was wonderful. He walked me right through immigration, baggage claim and customs, where he handed me off to a lady who then got me in a van to go to the hotel.  It was very James Bond-like. I could get used to this first class treatment. At the airport and in the van I had a few first thoughts:

-Nobody told me that cars in Thailand drive on the left side of the street. 
-The taxis here are bright pepto pink. I love that!
-I knew it would be humid and it was.  Just waiting for the van for 5 minutes outside the airport made me break into an uncomfortable sweat.
-The language barrier is pretty immense.  I'm not confident enough yet with my Thai skills to say even the few phrases I know. I'm working on that.
-I was surprised at how modern and "Western" the city is.  Almost all signs are in English or at least part English.  Western brands are everywhere. It's kind of like being in an alternate futuristic universe where everything is similar yet not quite what I'm used to.

The driver got off the motorway and drove me through some narrow streets to the Omni hotel in the Nana section of town.  I checked in my room, which is lovely, and they gave me a really pretty welcome box with a book on Bangkok, some cool trinkets, a phone with a local number and a phone list.  I rested for a few minutes then got the call to go to my first production meeting. Woo hoo! 

 My cool Thai treasure box from the production company!

 View from my room on the 22nd floor.

Turns out the production office is located IN the hotel, which is quite convenient.  I took the elevator downstairs to join a meeting in progress and met the local producer as well as a few other folks.  Things are a bit more disorganized here but not in a bad way - it's sort of a happy chaos.  I spent a few hours getting acclimated and caught up to speed on things like casting, locations, scheduling etc.  They ordered me some Pad Thai which was delicious. My first Thai meal in Thailand. 

I was getting super tired by the afternoon but I forced myself to go for a walk to try to stay awake.  Nana is the red light district of Bangkok so there are a million bars, "massage" parlours and of course streetwalkers. There is also a 7-11 about every 500 feet.  I walked up and down the street, changed some money into Baht (rate is about 30 Baht to 1 US Dollar) and headed back to the hotel.

 Pink Taxis!

 One block down from my hotel - Nana Plaza. Very classy!

 Great names for the bars and restaurants 

By 9pm I couldn't stay awake any longer so I slept on and off until about 8am the next morning.  Jet lag is a killer but to be honest I felt great by that next day.

 My room! Nothing spectacular or exotic but a nice transition before I move on to more rural areas a bit later on.  Thai beds are very stiff, by the way!

After breakfast (a combo of Thai and Western style food at the hotel) we headed into a very long production meeting which lasted pretty much all day.  More thai food (Pad Kee Mao thankyouverymuch!) and a very productive work day.  Of course I've barely left the hotel because the truth is I'm working all day and there isn't really anywhere for me to go near my hotel at night. I did make it to a local supermarket which was a trip. I'm hoping to do some sightseeing this weekend.

 The supermarket cereal section. I got some "Frosties"

 Mix of Western and non-Western everywhere you go.

I had my first Traditional Thai Massage last night (in my hotel room, no less) and it was heaven!!!

Slept fitfully last night and actually feel more tired today than yesterday. I guess I don't have superhuman immunity to this jet lag after all.

That brings us to today. This morning we met with the Thai costume designer, then were supposed to do a location scout but it got canceled last minute, so I'm back at the hotel room resting for a bit before catching up on some paperwork type stuff.

 Our local production manager and costume designer hard at work in the office.