The first and only time I came to Thailand was work-related. I was there to cover a sustainable development symposium in Bangkok organized by one of the country’s biggest conglomerates and although it was a four-day, three-night trip, I only got to go around the city of sin for less than 48 hours.

The trip was unfortunately uneventful. Mostly because it happened at a time when I couldn’t really fully appreciate the fact that I was in a foreign land. Normally, I’d be all excited about visiting a new country—I am a total geek when it comes to researching about a country’s history, the sights I need to see, things I needed to do, the food I cannot leave the country without eating, et cetera, et cetera—but the week prior to my departure, I had ended a three-year relationship and was basically going around Bangkok in a daze.

While my colleagues were all gung-ho about milking the most out of what little time we had, I was operating on autopilot. And because I didn’t really feel like talking to anyone, I hid behind my camera. :D

I think I took a ton of photos. Unfortunately, my hard drive crashed before I could save all of them—yeaaah 2011 was a rough year haha—but here are the ones that managed to survive :D

Some snaps from the Grand Palace:

The view from my room at the Pathumwan Princess Hotel..

While in transit..

Food and everything else at the Chatuchak Weekend Market…

I was obsessed with ceramics and wanted to take these babies home :D

More food, this time from different places our host took us in the city…half the time I didn’t know what these were, but they were oh-so-impossibly good.

So it turns out I actually saved a lot of photos. Even this one of dentures for sale outside the Grand Palace:

I never really got to go around the places I wanted to see in Bangkok, but looking through these photos make me want to go back and explore it properly. I’ll be in Chiangmai this coming weekend with my roommate in college to hopefully catch the Loi Krathong/Yee Peng Festival. Honestly not sure about when it is actually happening because I just booked a random weekend in November, but I hope we get lucky. :D

Because we wanted to explore Chiangmai at a chill pace, we decided to bypass Bangkok. Maybe next year I will finally get to experience sin city. Based on the few days I spent there in 2011, it proved to be an effective distraction. That Bangkok trip was like an assault to the senses. Even with me making like a zombie around the place, Bangkok somehow managed to seep through the haze brought about by my breakup. It gave me this feeling that I had left Thailand with unfinished business. I don’t know what this coming trip will bring—I wouldn’t even be in Bangkok—but I feel it will bring something unexpected.

Oh, and I look forward to spending a day with the elephants in one of Chiangmai’s many elephant sanctuaries. And the food. Oh, the food. :D