Well, I’m sorry I haven’t written more, for those of you who are reading this blog. I’ve actually gotten some comments from completely random people, so I guess more than 5 people are actually reading this blog. I’m writing this at 17,000 feet on an ATR 72 (what?) plane headed to Luang Prabang, Laos, for what it’s worth. Screaming kids whose parents don’t care, a super loud propellor. Solution? Blast death metal. Problem solved. My ears are going to hurt anyway.
Super update: sorry for posting this three more days late, aarrghh!
So when I last left off, we had gone back to Bangkok. We headed back to the Siam Journey Guesthouse where we stayed last week, and got our Monopoly Deal fix. We still had to figure out what our plans were going to be though. It was becoming increasingly clear that the best idea would be to split up, because Dion’s flight home was out of Kuala Lumpur, and getting there (and then onto Johor Bahru) was far more expensive/inconvenient than just flying directly to Singapore a couple days later. I mulled this idea throughout the afternoon, as we unsuccessfuly attempted to play badminton at Chulalongkorn University. We decided our main plan for the night would be to go to Pat Pong and the Bangkok Red Light District – something we had managed to skip the week before. After some pad thai and noodle soup, it was off. We once again fit 7 people into a taxi, complete with beer – this time uneventfully.
We wandered amongst the stalls, and eventually ended up at some gogo dancing bar, which was pretty unexciting. We stumbled into a couple more, which all reeked of smoke, and then finally we decided that the solution was to go dancing. So Mai suggested we go to his favorite club. And Mai is a total life of the party, so it was bound to be a hopping place.
And wouldn’t you know it, Mai’s favorite club, since Mai is gay, his favorite club just happens to be one of the biggest gay bars in Bangkok (called Cabaret, I think). No getting out of that one. I lasted all of 5 seconds before getting hit on, and yet somehow it took us a good five minutes to squeeze all the way through to the bar. Shots ensued, and we awkwardly huddled into our own group, and tried to dance. It just wasn’t quite working, so we looked for a less crowded spot. And then we found the cages. Yes, Dielle, Dion, Bryce, Leo, the random Polish guy with us, and Mai spent the next 90 minutes taking turns dancing in cages at a gay bar (no strangers were involved). It was actually a ton of fun, and it wasn’t super crowded right there, so we kinda just did our own thing, and got our groove on.
After the club closed at 3, we wanted to head to another club, so we broke our record, and stuffed an additional person into the cab, for a grand total of 8 people (including the driver) in the cab. We had to pass through a checkpoint, and the cop just looked at us and laughed (and waived us through). But then we found out the club had a huge cover, so we stopped for some 4AM fourth meal. By this point, I was literally falling asleep on my spring rolls, but Leo wanted to stay out, so Mai and I called it a night, and from what I understand, the rest went to Khao San Road, shot pool, and hung out at a rooftop bar for two more hours.
And this entire night, we managed not to go to a ping pong show. Way too expensive! *laughs*
The next day was decision time. I had decided that the best course of action was to stay in Bangkok for a couple extra days, and the Saldanhas would head out to KL the next morning. Once we were all finally ready for action, we attempted to play badminton again, at another location this time. This time, the joint was full, so we had to settle for playing ping pong. I actually worked up a sweat sparring with Nate, and also worked up an appetite. But we did make reservations to play badminton the next day.
Next, we grabbed some street food from nearby, and went to Stephanie’s (a German girl living in Bangkok) apartment rooftop in Saphan Khwai. Remember, a little money goes a long long way in Thailand, so a lot of the people we met living in Bangkok were on 28th floor apartments with panoramic views of the city, with rooftop gardens and pools fit for a king. We in fact ate our dinners up on the rooftop, and shot the breeze for a couple hours. Too much of this time was spent talking about Twilight, but hey, just about any discussion is better than one about Scrabble politics.
See, what I was starting to find pretty cool about my return to Bangkok, and what was making me even more glad that I was staying the extra couple days, is that I was already starting to feel at home. I no longer felt like a tourist, but rather like just another person. I already felt like I’d made some cool friends, and the activities we were doing were far more reminiscent of everyday life, than of being tourists. And I loved that.
When we went back home, we played lots of Monopoly Deal, and I started uploading pictures. And then it was 4 AM. And then, Dielle, Dion, Bryce, Leo, and I started telling life stories. Bedtime = 6 AM again. Oops. Well, no bedtime for Dielle and Dion, whose flight left in two hours.
Holy hell, someone shut this kid up in the row behind me. In more positive news, there is absolutely no civilization below us right now, and there are approximately 94.38 trillion trees. Where was I?
Oh yeah, so when I woke up, Dielle and Dion were long gone, and our badminton reservation was almost up. CRAP. Bryce and I stumbled/ran over to the badminton place by way of BTS, and met up with Nate. Fortunately the place was empty, so we were able to play for an additional hour. I hadn’t played badminton since after-school league in middle school, but there was some muscle memory there, and I had a blast. Definitely something to look up when I get home.
Next, we walked over to the weekend market, which had started up again since the floods. Reenergized by Thai tea and pad Thai, we met up with a few friends and walked around. I’m not much of a shopper, and the only item I wanted (a specific shirt) I was unable to find. But then I decided I’d get a Christmas present for my Mom (who is undoubtedly reading this, so I’m not saying what). After awhile, exhausted and sweaty, Nate and I took the subway to another part of town to go to a weekly dinner at another guesthouse, Thailek’s.
There were lots of random people from all over at this dinner, and we ate on the floor (on mats) which was fun. And wow, was the food amazing. The best [green] curry I have ever had, hands down. I had four bowls, and that doesn’t even count the Tom Kha I finally got to have, and assorted other homemade Thai classics. After dinner, yes, we played Monopoly Deal (the game had migrated from Thailek’s with Bryce to Siam Journey).
I think that kid just made me deaf. And now my deafness is deaf.
The next day, my final one in Bangkok, Nate and I attempted to take a day trip, but it just wasn’t possible, and a lot of the options were unfortunately still flooded. So we met up with Carmen, another German girl, and did some sightseeing. We actually went back to Wat Arun, which was not nearly as cool during the day. We also went to Wat Po, with the sleeping Buddha. The sleeping Buddha was pretty awesome, but I honestly just wasn’t that into sightseeing.
But by the time we were done, Carmen had to catch her flight back to Germany after a quick meal on the rooftop of Nate’s apartment building, and Nate wanted to show me his secret cheap massage place. It was definitely a bargain, and I learned that you’re actually supposed to tip for massages – apparently the only thing you do tip for in Thailand. It was a good place, although my legs were sufficiently burnt by a towel. *shrug*
We tried to get onto some tennis courts, but they were booked. Actually, the lady let us rally for 15 minutes, which was cool. Speaking of old hobbies I should really get back into, hah.
Nate then insisted we take motorcycle taxis to BTS. I reluctantly agreed. Amazingly I still have my legs, as the driver squeezed through too-tight spaces surrounded by busses and SUVs. I was pretty scared for my life, yet somehow it was amazingly exhilarating, even if it was only for 5 minutes.
Back at the guesthouse, a group of us went out for dinner, which may have been a double cheeseburger and fries, and then went back and played more Monopoly Deal. I actually had to wake up for my flight the next day, so I went to bed at a reasonable time.
Tuesday morning, it was up and off to the airport again. I flew Tiger down to Singapore, and got in on time. I finally got in contact with Jesse, who was arriving an hour after me, and we met up in Singapore. From there it was a quick snack (and potable tap water!), and a bus over to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, for the Causeway Scrabble Challenge. And that’s where I will stop for now.
I figured the least I could do was add some pictures for this entry, but there reall aren't any good ones / ones that should be posted here, so I'll save them for the Laos part of the trip, which so far has been unbelievably beautiful.
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