Tag: free

Bangkok Smile Bike

The world needs to know: You can get free bikes in Bangkok!

On our trip last January, Peter and I had read about these in our guidebook, but when we went to find them, the kiosk was abandoned.

No Bikes

Imagine our excitement then when, on this trip, we saw a crew of people zip down a street one day on very touristy bikes. Last time around, apparently, the system was way too broad–you could go anywhere. Now you’re supposed to take the bikes on only two set routes–one on the east side of the river, and one on the west. You can pick them up and drop them off at any kiosk along the route. And did I mention they’re free?

We hit the east side (EAST SIDE!) first. That’s where all the big fancy temples are, and the bike route takes you in a big loop past all of them. But Peter and I were so excited to be riding bikes that we didn’t bother doing any of the sightseeing at all.

We did cruise past our previous point of disappointment. Now much happier:

Smile! Bikes!

The bikes are well designed for city use, with just one speed (Bangkok is totally flat) and a nice integrated basket on the front. Only trouble for Peter was that the seats didn’t go up very high. These bikes were not made with American tourists in mind, much less Dutch ones. They have this cool built-in prong that ka-chunks the bike into place at the kiosk rack:

Ka-Chunk

Ka-Chunk

There were a lot of buses and other things in the way on the bike route, as well as mobs of schoolkids (next time, I’d make a point of being off the street by 3pm). But it was far less strenuous than riding in NYC. Traffic moves more slowly, and drivers are on the lookout for more crazy behavior, having to deal with mopeds zipping between lanes, and tuk-tuk drivers, and food vendors biking along with their carts full of sizzling whatever. We even got big smiles and thumbs-up from some drivers.

A couple of days later, we took the west side (WESSIDE!) (sorry, can’t help it) bike route. This was much niftier, because it was more residential, and we felt no obligation to sightsee at all. We followed a spur route to the royal barge museum, which was just closing (fortunately, or we might’ve been obliged to go in it!), and wound up in a neat little warren of canal houses, where we were riding along narrow little paths right next to the water. These women were sitting near a bridge.

West Side Life

Later, back on bigger boulevards, we cruised past some dudes unloading pig carcasses. They were stacked so beautifully. They could teach a thing or two to the halal-meat delivery guys around here.

Pig Carcasses

And, don’t tell the bike people, but we got a little lost and off-route, and while we were at it, we passed these girls, raising money for a charity.

Sidewalk Performers

And then Peter got transfixed by some locks.

Lock Opening

And then we finally got back on the route, and found the guy we’d been looking for, a candied bael-fruit seller. He was marked as a destination on the bike-route map. I had a dim memory of seeing some travel-show segment about him, on some flight or other, and this magical fruit that was so rare and odd-tasting. We rolled up, and there was no sign of any real commerce. But we asked around, and a guy turned up and took the cover off his display, which seemed to draw customers out of nowhere.

Bael Fruit? Sure.

We’d been biking for a while, so we took a breather, on the tumbledown couch in the alley.

Chillaxing on the Couch

The fruit was strange, slightly numbing, and so intensely candied that my teeth hurt just thinking about it. He also sold dried slices of the fruit, which I wish I’d gotten, but they were big bags, and they weren’t cheap. I don’t think being in a tourist brochure has gone to this guy’s head.

Bael Fruit Seller

Down the alley a bit, we found we weren’t the only ones out for a sunset bike cruise.

Dog on Bike

We were just getting a little tired when we passed a guy by the side of the road with an old-fashioned projector.

Projector

Peter stopped to take some photos for our friend Katie, and next thing we know, people were pouring us shots of booze, offering us Cheetos and giving us high-fives.

Eat! Drink!

One woman realized I was never going to drink all my hooch, and so took it back and poured it back in the bottle. I like that kind of sensible hospitality. We took a tour of the back room, where we finally figured out they were getting ready for a dragon parade. Oh, so that’s why the kids outside had been playing around with boxes on their heads!

Kids Playing Dragon

We left them some bael fruits (a little went a long way), gave some more high fives, and wobbled off down the road. Fortunately, it wasn’t too much farther to the next bike drop-off point.

We’d almost done the full circuit (it’s a straight line on the west side, not a loop). But we were somehow almost more pleased to be able to drop our bikes at the penultimate stop–because we got to use the word penultimate.

We wandered over the bridge back to the east side and found ourselves smack in the middle of the wholesale flower market. Which took us a little while to figure out. “Gosh, there sure are a lot of marigolds here…”

Marigolds

Stupendous, and so much better than if we’d made a special trip.

Thank you, Bangkok, for your wonderful free bikes. We’re smiling still!

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The Roommate speaks

My roommate does exist as more than a comedic foil. He also has a name: Aaron. And he’s more on the ball than I realized. Or he has more downtime at work. He spoke up for himself in the comments section of the “Condimental” post from last month, as he was a key player in that savvy analysis of fridge-lurking jams and jellies. I didn’t want it to get lost in all the scrolling back:

Well, it’s official: Peter is not the only human being to have read the entire list with, er, relish. [Har. Whatta card.]

Some thoughts:

(1) The Marks & Spencer crap can go. We’ll call it part of my moving on process.

(2) What’s the deal with the sun-dried tomatoes? Do I just keep buying more and more of the little buggers?

(3) I take issue with your criticism of Herloch’s Dipping Mustard. First, I have used it. Pretty tasty if you ask me. Of course, it’s now older than the hills — it can go.

(4) Your comment “Obviously my roommate’s” with regards to the Smucker’s sundae syrup could be misinterpreted. For the record, the only reason I got fat free syrup is because it was the only kind Key Food had. I used it to make that horrendous chocolate cake the first time you-know-who came to town. Need I say more? Chuck-o-rama!

(5) Bakewell rhubarb and ginger jam! I’ve been looking for that sucker… Can we keep it, please, please, can we keep it?

(Apparently he had a few more bullet points, but the comments section has a 1,000-word limit.)

His remarks reveal an interesting trend I hadn’t noticed: many of the condiments in our fridge can be dated according to who his girlfriend was at the time. The oldest known example is from the era of P., and didn’t make it into the inventory because it’s moldering on top of the fridge: a mostly eaten jar of homemade olives from P.’s dad, the little wizened black things bobbing around in a tea-colored murk. The British stuff–Marks & Sparks sauces, clotted cream–is all from the era of S., who hails from Sheffield via London. Maybe I should re-sort the condiment list according to this labeling system? Hello, Excel…

Also, I don’t think Aaron is aware of the suggestion made by an earlier reader, Megan, to just invest in mini-fridges to hold the overflow. (Her comments are mis-linked to the post after “Condimental.”) This is a dangerous concept, but I can see it working: one fridge for the Era of P., one fridge for the next few short-lived girlfriends, one fridge for Era of S… Plus, if we stack them all up, they’ll hide the floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the dining room.

My condiment collection can’t be organized that way, because I have dated about zero people in the time I’ve been in this apartment, and I never bother buying anything special to impress people when I’m cooking (hmm–a connection between those two things?). Maybe I can file according to trips I’ve taken? According to Queens neighborhood in which purchased?

Off to scour Freecycle for mini-fridges.

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