Second Stay in Bangkok
Resolved never to take another sleeper bus in Asia, or at least so long as I'm over 180 cm in height, and decided that Vang Vieng and Vientiane were not necessary destinations for me at this time, I returned to Silom Soi 6 to stay in Kinnon Hostel.
As before, I found the staff lovely and hospitable. My friend Christopher happened to be in the city, so I suggested he meet me at the hostel. Soon, he decided to stay as well. We met some interesting young travelers who enjoyed engaging with the hostel staff as I do, amplifying my feelings of tribal connection.
Humans are tribal, a simple fact that I learned in a basic anthropology course. Maslow's hierarchy of needs positions relationships above survival and below self-esteem, suggesting that love is a prerequisite for mental health. Truly, it's difficult to imagine a healthy human being devoid of loving relationships. Isolation from friends or family leads to unnecessary anguish. The longing for love is, essentially, a form of survival instinct among social animals. None of this existence is possible without love.
Long story short, I love this place and the people it draws, due largely to the love offered by Pim and her staff towards giving travelers a home away from home. They never cease to impress me.
Christopher had a friend who performed aerial dance at Insanity, a nightclub in Sukhumvit. We went together to see one night. The evening started off fine, with a decent DJ playing some formulaic EDM. The lights were impressive, as was the aerial dance. Unfortunately, the enjoyment did not linger. Three strikes, I'd say. First, the main DJ who resides at Insanity sucks. This is a very significant shortcoming. I can't describe why he sucked, other than that I could not keep dancing to his shit whereas the opening DJ did a better job. If it's not danceable, what's the point? Strike two, some dolled up chicks on the dance floor were not dancing. It's not a big floor, so it gets crowded. And I need some room to dance, at least to move my arms and shuffle my feet. Dead weight on the dance floor kills my vibe, as I don't care to bump into people. It's bad enough seeing drunk, rapey Indian men and being associated with them due to my ethnicity. Lastly, on my way out, some Euro pissed me off. The VIP tables in this club have ashtrays, and this guy was smoking at one, but he threw his butt on the floor. The tray is right fucking there and he throws it on the ground. Such a lack of basic consideration triggered me. People shitting on Americans for being obnoxious need to look in the mirror.
After, I parted with Christopher and headed to nearby Sugar, where another Kinnon group was. This is Thida's favorite club and the hip hop music was certainly better than that of Insanity. My only problem was the density of humans on the dance floor exceeded that of Insanity. Staff working to clear glassware and ashtrays bumped into me every 90 seconds. One party member left early, and I would have joined if he had told me. Thinking it makes sense to grab a car with the others, since we were going to the same place, I lingered until the place shut down at 4:00. The music was good enough that I did not hate everything.
That this clubbing experience resembled my past ones in LA reflects the cosmopolitan vibes of Bangkok. Similarly, I stopped by Iron Faeries, a cozy bar in Thong Lo with live music. When I went, it was the Open Mic Finals, where I caught the soon-to-be-champion singing "Love On Top." That song is so hard!
Christopher is a talented musician, with piano as his main and ukulele as a second. I hadn't had the chance to play trumpet with him, so we discussed making this happen. Meanwhile, I met Konstancja, a Polish student of psychology researching how emojis affect communication. And she also plays ukulele. One thing led to another, and we played in public as a trio parade.
This was essentially a Takeaway Show, but without a camera. Takeaway Shows are live musical performances in public, usually acoustic, often mobile. Typically, an indie rock band plays some songs in some place, like a studio apartment in Toronto or the streets of Paris. They're performed in one take, showcasing the artists' musical talent.
In our case, we just had fun jamming. Songkin by Palmy is a recent Thai pop song built around the C major chord. At times it changes to G or to A minor. As a pop song, improvising is easy, and these chords made ukulele accompaniment simple as well. We stopped at a few times throughout our walk, serenading massage ladies and food stall workers, as we circled around. Upon arrival, Pair recorded our encore in front of the hostel, capturing my fatigue after playing continuously for a half hour. The marching band muscle memory persists but not the conditioning.
This was definitely the highlight of my second stay. Afterwards, I enjoyed a hostel hot pot party to send off Bef who won't continue working here. That's what I thought but when I returned in two weeks, I saw her still here! I guess it's a gradual transition, from full-time to part-time to gone. In any case, I feel like a part of this community even though most people here are travelers. No surprise I keep coming back.
