Bangkok and the Beanstalk
I am hand-writing a couple of blog posts with a view to typing them up as soon as I can. In fact, I am writing this on a lounger beside a swimming pool, sky high up, in a hotel in Bangkok. I have come from breakfast and an education of sorts. I’m in an exclusive space ― a contemporary space ― you might even say, an architectural beanstalk ― that, with the will of modern engineering ― grew to sixty-four floors. This is one huge beanstalk, grown from the ashes of a Bangkok sidewalk, and one that has a genius at the very top ― an open-air Sky Bar that is about to feature in Hangover II, the movie.
Higher and higher…
We take for granted the trust and courage such construction projects muster in their creators. In Bangkok, unsurprisingly, the building industry is short on native Americans, who were legendary for their fearlessness when facing great heights. As I look up and up and up, I am considering the very notion of buildings that compete to commune with the sky. In recent months the Shard in London has reached for the stars, but not many moons ago, it was the Canary Wharf tower that made it close to the moon.
Lift-loving or Loathing?
In those moments, I remember a client who was prompted to overcome her phobia of lifts and elevators some years ago. The prompt came from her boss, who casually announced one day that the team were moving from the eighth to the twenty seventh floor of the Canary Wharf Tower. My client had happily re-framed her trek up eight floors twice a day, or more, as her daily fitness regimen. So far this had been so good. Twenty seven floors posed a problem. She either sorted it or found another job! So, she turned to hypnotherapy and sorted it.
The State Tower, Bangkok
This building, the State Tower, takes the notion of scraping the sky to another, higher level. The truth is, you probably wouldn’t come to this hotel if you had a fear of lifts or elevators, or a fear of heights. Well, let’s say you could visit the lobby, which would be just the ticket for a Willy Wonka-inspired chocolate factory ― insofar as all that glitters is gold. Or you may prefer to think of Jay Gatsby. Both are in the spotlight at present.
Smart phones v breaking fast
I presume I should get back to breakfast and that ‘education’ I mentioned earlier. Next to me at breakfast were sitting a couple ― who have come, I learn, from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I am romping through a bigger breakfast than usual, of healthy delights, and am noticing, between eating and reading the New York Herald, that the girlfriend hasn’t shifted her gaze from her smartphone for twenty minutes or more. The guy is sitting phone-free. He is obviously sitting in silence ― nourishing himself on repeat platefuls of breakfast. In theory he is breaking fast with his girlfriend … or is he?
Flight Mode: ON
Remember I’m in flight mode. I turn to the guy… “Hi, where are you from?” Surprised? Reader, he is happy to chat, and now his lovely girlfriend is all ears and listening ― eyes down upon the smart phone. We chat generally, and eventually move to the subject of smartphones and my curiosity about connection or disconnection.
I am recalling how infuriated people may have been in the not too distant past when a wife or husband read the newspaper at meal times ― obviously getting ever more exacerbated if the person sitting opposite didn’t have one too.
Further, I am recalling my friend, who could give seminars to women on the wisdom of keeping up with the news and current affairs in relationships ― in essence so one has something fresh to talk about when sitting sharing food and friendship with whomever that may be, and especially partners!
For myself, I had been reading the New York Herald, endeavouring to find out what had been happening in the court of Washington, DC, with respect to the IRS, and of Reagan and of Bush. CNN had brought out a bunch of talking heads, and I have no tomatoes to throw in my hotel room. It is very likely too that, in Bangkok, the New York Herald as with other foreign broadsheets may well be yesterday’s news.
Stay tuned… the education was ongoing…
OMG, I may have to go online. And I promise… more on that education very very soon…
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