IV: Thailand

I just got back from Thailand yesterday. We got there on the 14th and had the most jam-packed two days of my life. Talk about power-sight-seeing.

We went to Seacon Square Mall in Bangkok, visited 3 wats (temples), the royal grand palace, rode elephants, ate a ton of Thai food, watched a crazy crocodile show where this kid stuck his head in a croc's mouth, and visited the floating markets.

At the Bang Pa-In Temple, a buddhist monk sprayed us with Holy Water and prayed for us. Enlightened verses in Thai filled the walls of the wat, and a golden Buddha sat in lotus position at the front of the altar.

I fell in love with a Thai crepe called "Lotte," which is filled in with stringed molasses (I think) that looks more like stringy blonde hair than anything else. It was delicious, and I have a feeling I'll be craving it to no avail when I get back to the states.

At the floating markets, we paid 500 baht each to take a boatride through canals that were full of stores. The owners would pull you in with a big hook if you showed any interest in their goods.

Thailand is somewhat similar to the Philippines. The humidity is not as thick but it's hot as fuck. The weirdest thing about it though was that the people look very much like filipinos, but they don't speak much English. It's easy to forget how difficult it is to communicate with people when they look just like you.

I finally saw a squatting toilet for the first time - it's super low to the ground and toilet paper is nowhere in sight. Almost in every bathroom, there's a bucket under a faucet where you're supposed to scoop water to wash your bathing suit places after using the potty.

I got a couple of caffeine headaches out there for lack of available espresso. But hell, it was awesome anyway. It makes an American girl like me feel very grateful for having the luxuries I have back home. Walking down the streets of Bangkok are enough to make you sometimes feel like an asshole for having money in your pocket and a soft bed to sleep on. Outside one of the malls there, I stepped out to have a cigarette and saw a little girl, no older than 5, laying on the ground with a plastic cup in front of her- begging for bhat. But she did so with a sweet smile and a bow of thanks when you put a couple coins in her cup.

I know I'm forgetting much more details, and I don't have my little notebook with me to fill in the information. Right now, I'm sitting at an Internet Cafe in Eastwood City, Philippines. I'm not sure what time it is, but I do know it's the afternoon of Friday, July 18th.

Somewhere in the mall, my mom is getting her hair highlighted... The rest of my family is using the computers as well. I'll have to update again soon because it's super loud in here and my ability to give detailed insight is not working because of all the damned gamers in this room. That, and I'm kinda' hungry.