Today is the last day before I start my ฿100 a day challenge. For the past week, I have done more preparations. I noticed I have been snacking a lot more – to make up for what I won’t be able to buy soon… I have also made trips to my favourite places to have a ‘last supper’ there. I have also started working out bus schedules and taken the bus on several ‘non-necessary’ occasions. Last time I went to Khao San road to meet some friends for one of the last suppers at Ethos, I was waiting for the number 15 bus for almost an hour! Although the BMTA (Bangkok Mass Transit Authority) website has a proper schedule, you can be sure the actual busses run on pretty random frequencies. The frustrating thing was that I saw the number 15 pass by at least six times on the other side of the road. Typical. Last night, I took the bus again. I could have easily taken the BTS for those five stops but I preferred to spend only ฿ 6.50 on a bus ticket. So, I punished myself with that – I waited for over an hour and arrived at my friend’s birthday party over an hour and a half late… Thus, in the month of October, I won’t be attending (m)any social events – or I’ll have to be ready at least two hours in advance…! This is going to suck big time.
This week, the annual nine-day Vegetarian Festival started in Thailand. Street stalls, supermarkets – basically everywhere there’s food, there are now yellow flags indicating ‘เจ’ (jay) food: vegan food that also excludes strong spices like garlic and onions. It has never been easier to be a vegetarian in Bangkok – no need to ask and confirm anymore! Additionally, there have been special food items on sale like vegetarian cup noodles. So, I stocked up on a couple, just in case of really broke days in October.
To sum up my ‘reserves’ for now: I have eight cups of vegetarian cup noodles, one pack of crispbread, and a pot of Nutella. In addition, I still have ฿125 baht on my BTS card, which I will use in case I need more speed – waiting for the bus for an hour isn’t always the best thing to do…
I am almost ready for the big challenge. I will have one last supper at what is apparently the best Lebanese restaurant in BKK. I will miss the good ‘foreign’ food. Soon, it’ll be just basic food, basic living. Let’s see how long I can go on ฿100 a day!
wwwanchi 