Saturday, August 25, 2007

Lost in Transit

After two and a half years away from Canada, I decided to make the trip home from Japan. Usually, I fly direct. I go straight from check in to the airplane, and I don’t rely much on airport facilities. This trip, however, I made a few pit stops along the way, including a surface from Bangkok, and a three hour transit in Taiwan. Three hours in a transit area gives you time to think. I thought that while the newer airports certainly do look great, they seem designed more to appeal to shoppers than travelers.

After two and a half years away from Canada, I decided to make the trip home from Japan. Usually, I fly direct. I go straight from check in to the airplane, and I don’t rely much on airport facilities. This trip, however, I made a few pit stops along the way, including a surface from Bangkok, and a three hour transit in Taiwan. Three hours in a transit area gives you time to think. I thought that while the newer airports certainly do look great, they seem designed more to appeal to shoppers than travelers.

Take Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand. Although the check-in is pretty much S.O.P., once you get past customs – the point of no return – you are a bit of a captive audience, and the powers that created this airport clearly decided to capitalize on this fact. From the passport check to any gate in the airport or to any lounge, you are forced to walk past an endless and mind-numbing collection of high-end shops. This comes as no surprise given that the uber-corrupt ex PM of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, was the guy running the show.

It was much the same during the 3 hours I spent in the transit area of Taipei Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan. As I walked in from the X-ray check, the first sign I saw was Burberry. I saw high-end electronics stores. I saw cosmetics shops. No, let me rephrase that. I saw dozens of cosmetics shops. There was alcohol and tobacco on sale everywhere. And this pattern was repeated in every wing of the airport. I kept thinking, "Who needs all this stuff?"




The answer of course, is nobody. Nobody needs to buy a Louis Vuitton bag at 11PM at night on their way to a 14 hour trans-Pacific flight. What I needed at that moment was food and toothpaste. And a bit of deodorant probably would have been a nice touch as well. Yes, I do carry personal sundries when I travel. I cannot, however, carry them with me on the airplane, as the authorities are concerned that I might cleverly make an explosive composed of Colgate and Mennen’s Speed Stick.

There was not, however, a single store selling sundries. The closest I found in Taiwan was a deodorant body spray. But it was a liquid, which means I would have had to throw it away before boarding. I decided not to throw away the $25 they were asking, and hoped instead that the person beside me on the flight to Vancouver had a bad cold.

If these high-end stores were full of shoppers, I could understand that I was the odd man out. In a sea of rich shoppers, I would be the poor, stinky one who didn’t fit in. But the stores were all deserted, excluding, of course, the gaggle of shop ladies who occupied them, fighting to stay awake. At least the electronics store offered some reprieve for the staff, as they took turns playing PSP. I was interested in seeing how much a PSP costs, but I didn’t want to throw them off their game.

It is easy to understand that Gucci is more willing and able to afford the sky high rent to pimp their wares in major hub airports than, say, some mom and pop store selling toothpaste and deodorant. But which is more relevant to a traveler at 11AM in transit in Taiwan? Likewise with restaurants and other areas to pass the time. They were all closed. Instead, the hoards of weary travelers were lying in departure lounges trying to get some sleep. They didn’t have a choice, really, since Burberry doesn’t sell the blended coffee drinks that might have kept them awake.

I suppose that people who love shopping appreciate this thoughtful concentration of commercial prowess. But for a person who just wants to go from A to B with no fuss and no muss, plus have some semblance of traveler-oriented convenience, the newer hub airports leave a lot to be desired. Or rather, they offer everything you desire, but very little of what you really need.

Well...OK...maybe ONE thing.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Bangkok, Baby!

On my way back to Canada this summer, I decided to save a few bucks and go via Thailand instead of flying direct from Canada. I took a couple of days stop over in Bangkok to meet up with some friends there from Japan, and to have a few beers with friends I already know in Thailand.


I've never officially lived in Bangkok, but thanks to friends there, I've gotten to know quite a few good places to hang out. So in the days leading up to our summer vacation, me, my office mate, Tim, and his wife, Nobuko, had a few good nights out over beers in Japan talking about things that might be fun to do in Thailand. They would be in Bangkok for a few nights in transit to Chiang Mai, and I would be there in transit to Canada. They planned to do their own thing during the day, then they left it up to me to suggest a few night activities. Most of them involved food or beer.

Our first day there, we had a late lunch at a restaurant / bar called Bus Stop on Soi Nana. It's not the street you'd expect to find good food, but here it is. However, although it was Tim and Nobuko's first day in Thailand, notice that we all had British fish and chips. You can take the Brit out of England, but you can't take England out of the Brit.




For dinner, there are two places we hit that I'm sure Tim and Nobuko would recommend to others. One was the Suam Luam Night Bazaar. We chose an outdoor restaurant / beer garden that had a menu with both Thai and foreign food. Tim is a vegetarian, and had no problems finding stuff to eat. To get there, just take the subway to Lumpini Station. Ask somebody where the Thai theater is, and if you can get there, you'll arrive at an intersection with a load of restaurants. The one we went to has the huge Heineken beer keg and glass in front.



One other night, we went to a more upscale Thai restaurant called Lan Na. Tim and Nobuko said it was the best food they'd had on the trip, which is saying a lot coming from them, since they love food. We ordered a lot of food, beers, and some fancy desserts, and the final total came to about $70 a person. Not bad at all if you knew the quality of the food and the atmosphere of the place. Definitely worth a visit. Sorry, no pics, but here's a pdf map for those interested: http://www.facebars.com/bg/c_4.pdf

As for after-dinner nightlife, it was pretty standard fare. One night, we went to The Londoner Brew Pub on the corner of Sukhumvit Soi 33. Loads of fun there. And the highlight party, at least for me, was a gathering with Tim, Nobuko and some of my Thai and ex-pat friends at the Absolute 7 bar on Sukhumvit 7\1. They always have great live music there and I love the atmosphere, so it's a place I always seem to return to whenever I pass through Bangkok.








Overall a great stop in Thailand, but as I write this, I'm actually far away, sitting in my brother's basement – my home away from home – in Victoria, Canada. More about the Canada trip to follow.