Ishicilelwe: 04.05.2019
I long a bit for the 16 hours of sleep from yesterday, because unfortunately it was only a quarter of that tonight.
7:15 AM: Jonna is still sleeping, so I grab my laptop out of boredom. It is so hot that you could fry eggs on it. 'Damn,' I think to myself, 'Please no!'. I try to turn it on ...... nothing. I get nervous, unplug the cable, plug it back in, turn it on ...... nothing! Nervousness slowly turns into despair.
7:20 AM: Curse so loudly that Jonna wakes up. Hold the glowing laptop in front of the fan for a few minutes. Turn it off, turn it on ... nothing! I'm about to cry.
8:30 AM: Google says I should throw away the laptop, Youtube says I should disassemble it. Well then!
9:30 AM: Removed the battery, discharged the device, removed the RAM, unplugged and plugged back in the graphics card. Turned it off, turned it on ...... nothing! No success even after tips from a very IT-savvy friend.
10:15 AM: To calm down, let's have breakfast first. We have selected a PC service. 60 minutes travel time, but 5 star Google rating and he is supposed to speak English.
10:45 AM: Waiting at the nearest main road for our bus. After 20 minutes, the bus stop coordinator tells us that 3 other suitable buses have already passed us by. Cool! Then he chats with the nearest bus driver, who takes us to our destination for free (for whatever reason).
11:15 AM: Buy tickets for the SkyTrain. Neither the machine nor the counter accept card payment. Well, then we'll withdraw some money first.
11:30 AM: Got our tickets and board the train. The ride is smooth and we arrive at the shopping center (Terminal 21) where the PC service is supposed to be located, but we have to climb 6 floors with illogical escalator principles to get there.
12:15 PM: Standing in front of the PC service, I explain to the expert in a slightly trembling voice and tears in my eyes that the device is overheating and what I have already done. He looks sympathetically, turns the device and presses the power button
12:17 PM: The laptop turns on and works perfectly.
12:18 PM: A mixture of speechlessness, stuttering, and hysteria fills the air. The expert looks at me as if I were trying to fool him; I look at the laptop as if it were trying to fool me. Jonna laughs.
After the dust has settled, we take a look at the shopping center because we're there anyway, and have something to eat and drink in a small mall. Have some iced tea (could drink it all day) and Pad Thai with shrimp and egg (6/10) and fried chicken with rice (8/10) - both for 1.50€.
Because it's so nice, we go back the same way, but before getting on the train, we turn on the laptop again to make sure there is no Buddhist curse on it and that it doesn't work again. Back at the hostel, we get some things done on the newly loved device.
Then we are drawn back out onto the street. We want to buy water for the last two days in Bangkok, then get a coconut to drink and enjoy the beautiful evening atmosphere.
- Alex