What the Shrek just happened?

As you may have guessed from the title, I saw the latest Shrek movie yesterday.

The caption in the movie's poster says it all about the unfolding events over the past few days.

Along with my daughter, Mika, and some of her friends went to the Ekkamai Sukhumvit Major cinema. I told you things were returning to normal up here. This is the latest installment in the franchise, and it managed to take our mind off the situation in Bangkok for an hour and a half and entertained us all.

After the movie, a few video games and a late lunch at Shabu Shi. For the uninitiated, this restaurant uses a conveyor belt system that winds it's way through the restaurant, past your seat, to constantly deliver small portions of food. These consist of various types of meat and seafood, noodles, vegetables, all sorts. As they go by, you grab a plate of what ever takes your fancy, and slide it into your boiling pot of stock. In no time you can whip up a Shabu Shabu master piece. You have an just over 1 hour to consume as much of this as you can. I warn you, you will leave with a full stomach.

My old haunt, Pantip Plaza, has been closed for months due to the unrest. I loved to wander around this IT mecca for hours. Keiko, my wife, had asked me to purchase a few computer related items, so instead of Pantip, Mika and I zoomed off in a taxi to Fortune Tower. And I mean ZOOMED.

The taxi driver had a lead foot, and took us all over town in an effort to by-pass traffic jams. In these travels, we happened to pass through several areas that had been damaged during the past few days. The Channel 3 building, a bank near CareFour on Rama 4 Rd, the Thai Stock Exchange building to name just a few. The damage was a sight to bring some of the reality to me. As we passed through the Klong Toey area, a Redshirt stronghold, a feeling of something I cannot describe overwhelmed me. Most of the damage and debris had been cleaned, but the scars remained. The streets will be marked for some time to come.

Fortune Tower is another IT shopping plaza, be it much smaller. We quickly purchaced what we had to, then left. No browsing today. We had a special person waiting for us back at the apartment.

Keiko returned from Japan in the afternoon. She had been away for a week. She was not one of the people who decdied to leave Bangkok for a while, she had some family matters to deal with. Good timing for her.

It is great having her back. Sadly, we only had her home for a short while, and she was off. She felt the erge to go and check what was and what had happend at our restaurant. Because of the curfew imposed on the city, we changed the hours of opening. She did return home early and we were able to catch up on her travels.

By the way, our restaurant is called Gen Pu Kan. An Asian Style BBQ. If you are familiar with the Korean BBQ, Gen Pu Kan is similar but modified to make it a blend of Japanese, Korean and Thai.

Here is a link to our web site. http://www.genpukanbkk.com/

Don't be put off by all the Japanese writing, there is a bit of English as well, and the menu has plenty of photos.

So as the caption says, What the Shrek just happened? Did what happened here over the past few days (well for my part anyway), really happen? As the hours go by, all traces are being swept away but the numerous cleaning crews that work throughout the night. Having lived and visited Bangkok for many years, will those memories of a safe, happy city erase the sad events I have witnessed?