whatever happened to bangkok?
after day 4, i just stopped writing. and why? because i contracted food poisioning and i could barely move for a day.
it started innocently enough:
after a day of browsing through sampeng lane in chinatown and skipping lunch, i got the munchies. so i stopped to buy papaya and chicken balls (with the usual "you're not thai?!" exclamations from the vendors). on the way home in the boat and on the skytrain, my stomach felt... funny (funny-weird, because it wasn't funny-haha) and very, very painful. thinking that it was just hunger, i just got home to the hotel and ate what was left of my food. ten minutes later i was throwing them up in the bathroom. thinking that it was just hyperacidity, i just ate some more. guess where it all ended up?
finally, i gave up on the food, but i was starting to worry. the pain was getting worse and for the third time, i was down on my knees in the bathroom--projectile vomiting this time (not everything ended up in the bowl--eew). i decided this couldn't be normal, and so i called my parents and told them that i was going to be checking in at the hospital (bringing a doctor to the hospital would cost 3000 baht). of course, THEY panicked.
i got my stuff and rode the elevator in the grip of so much pain, it was making me dizzy and breaking out in cold sweat. by the time i got down to the ground floor, i had to rush to the nearest bathroom and throw up again. so that's #4 in the last hour and a half!
i told the taxi to take me to the nearest hospital (the most agonizing 10 minutes). they couldn't see to me right away because i had to sign some papers and information. good thing that when the doctor finally came, he spoke good english and could tell what was wrong with me right away. so yay! two injections and a trip to the pharmacy later and i was free to go. i went back to the hotel, dead on my feet, but i decided i had to eat something before i could sleep. so i had lugaw at the relatively expensive hotel resto.
that done, i asked for my room keys at the reception. they took a LONG time to do this and i was feeling queasy again, so as a precaution, i emptied the plastic bag holding my meds. good thing, because five minutes later, the guy behind the counter was watching me throw up into it (regrettably, there were spills).
in the end, they got me wheelchaired up across the lobby, into the elevator, and into my room. oh yeah, it was an experience.
i decided that if i'm going to throw up what i eat anyway, i'd rather sleep. so i did, and all was relatively well. i spent the next day in the room, recuperating. but that night, i decided on some last minute shopping (hey, it was my last night!).
so there. no regrets! i loved bangkok and it was just too bad that i got sick but i'll just chalk it up to experience. i wouldn't have missed eating thai street food for the world.
it started innocently enough:
after a day of browsing through sampeng lane in chinatown and skipping lunch, i got the munchies. so i stopped to buy papaya and chicken balls (with the usual "you're not thai?!" exclamations from the vendors). on the way home in the boat and on the skytrain, my stomach felt... funny (funny-weird, because it wasn't funny-haha) and very, very painful. thinking that it was just hunger, i just got home to the hotel and ate what was left of my food. ten minutes later i was throwing them up in the bathroom. thinking that it was just hyperacidity, i just ate some more. guess where it all ended up?
finally, i gave up on the food, but i was starting to worry. the pain was getting worse and for the third time, i was down on my knees in the bathroom--projectile vomiting this time (not everything ended up in the bowl--eew). i decided this couldn't be normal, and so i called my parents and told them that i was going to be checking in at the hospital (bringing a doctor to the hospital would cost 3000 baht). of course, THEY panicked.
i got my stuff and rode the elevator in the grip of so much pain, it was making me dizzy and breaking out in cold sweat. by the time i got down to the ground floor, i had to rush to the nearest bathroom and throw up again. so that's #4 in the last hour and a half!
i told the taxi to take me to the nearest hospital (the most agonizing 10 minutes). they couldn't see to me right away because i had to sign some papers and information. good thing that when the doctor finally came, he spoke good english and could tell what was wrong with me right away. so yay! two injections and a trip to the pharmacy later and i was free to go. i went back to the hotel, dead on my feet, but i decided i had to eat something before i could sleep. so i had lugaw at the relatively expensive hotel resto.
that done, i asked for my room keys at the reception. they took a LONG time to do this and i was feeling queasy again, so as a precaution, i emptied the plastic bag holding my meds. good thing, because five minutes later, the guy behind the counter was watching me throw up into it (regrettably, there were spills).
in the end, they got me wheelchaired up across the lobby, into the elevator, and into my room. oh yeah, it was an experience.
i decided that if i'm going to throw up what i eat anyway, i'd rather sleep. so i did, and all was relatively well. i spent the next day in the room, recuperating. but that night, i decided on some last minute shopping (hey, it was my last night!).
so there. no regrets! i loved bangkok and it was just too bad that i got sick but i'll just chalk it up to experience. i wouldn't have missed eating thai street food for the world.