My Travel Adventures

I did not expect to go out on Sunday as it was supposed to be cloudy, and my impressions of the weather when I woke up seemed to confirm the forecast. As I sat at my desk, however, the sky kept getting bluer and bluer until I could no longer bear staying inside. Walking along the road, I thought I would stop a passing tuk-tuk, but the farther I walked the less inclined I felt to pay money to cover the remaining stretch. My first stop was San Chaopho Suea, a Chinese temple also known as the Tiger God Shrine. Relatively small and lacking an open courtyard, the place was hot and heaving, its thick trails of incense smoke assaulting the senses. In addition to the Tiger God, the Goddess Mazu, and other mainstays of the Chinese pantheon, I noticed that the temple had a large statue of the Monkey King Sun Wukong.     

Having figured out almost all the logistics of my long-term stay (including accommodation), I spent my second morning in Bangkok touring more monuments in my neighbourhood. For the next few months, I will be living and working in northeastern Phra Nakhon, a district that encompasses Rattanakosin Island, which was designated as the capital of Rattanakosin Kingdom by Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I) in 1782.

After a few weeks working as a research assistant at Oxford, I had the good fortune of finding a job to bring me back to Asia. My position began online towards the beginning of the month, and my visa was approved shortly afterwards. I arrived in Bangkok on the 27 th of June. Careful as I am never to let myself form idealistic expectations of my travel destinations, I was surprised when – in the land of smiles – one of the guards at immigration hit me on the arm and pointed in front of me. He only spoke Thai, and the gesture meant to convey the simple and unnecessary instructions that I should move forward in the queue by about five centimetres. Thankfully, my carefulness not to form idealistic expectations of countries is matched by an equally strong resolution not to judge them by first impressions.