After an early wake up and grabbing a quick bite from our hotel’s breakfast spot one last time, we headed to the airport. Unfortunately there were no public transportation options to get us to the airport early enough, so we had to pay for a cab for our 2+ hour drive. Along the way, we got to enjoy views from all sides of Mount Yotei that we didn’t get on the drive up to Niseko after dark.
Checking in and getting through the airport security was seamless, and we stopped at a ramen spot in the airport for a quick bite before our 8 hour flight to Bangkok. I spent the entire flight time writing overdue posts for Niseko (01/15/2023). I find working on planes to be an efficient use of time, and flights go by quickly when you keep busy.
During our descent to Bangkok, you could see a spectrum of post sunset colors out the window. The temperature shift of 20 degrees (F) in Niseko to 85 degrees (F) in Bangkok was the first thing to notice getting off the plane. The airport was much more crowded and chaotic compared to our arrival in Tokyo. After we got through immigration, secured Joseph’s luggage, and “customs” (3 workers sitting in a circle on their phones letting everybody through), we were picked up in a ride that our Air BnB host arranged for us. Joseph and I shared my AirPods and we listened to “One Night in Bangkok” and many of its covers and remixes on repeat until we got to our place 30 minutes later.
Morgan, Joseph’s partner, joins the adventure and had arrived to our Air BnB a couple hours prior. We chatted with her for a bit, dropped off our luggage, then Joseph and I hit the streets in search of eats. As soon as we walked out the gate for our complex, we were passed by a group of about 6 boys around age 10, one of which was walking wielding a massive knife 18” in length. This definitely set the tone of the vibe switch from Japan to Bangkok. Also immediately noticeable was an increased level of trash and a sewage smell that is touch and go walking around the city. Not speaking negatively about it, just very noticeable compared to Tokyo.
We found a cool outdoor eating spot called Beer Belly, where I enjoyed a drunken noodle dish and we shared a beer tower. Before heading back to our Air BnB, we stopped at Marley’s smoke shop. It was cool to see a head shop here in Bangkok with weed being legalized very recently (Summer ’22). At Marley’s, they had a DJ booth set up I couldn’t help but notice (Pioneer DJM9000 connected to two CDJs). I took mental note of this and thought perhaps I could mix here in the future… We then we head back to our Air BnB and called it a night.