Please do read my writings here, but I do not wish for you to merely read and say, “oh that was good, or interesting”, for they need more than to be read, rather take them as road signs to direct the path of your mind when you come to a split in the road. If you do not know which way to go, may some of my words remind you somehow of where you want to go, or provide confidence that you know the real truth inside. And do not forget that this world does not exist beyond your next breath. If it all may come down on you, so that you feel the edge of life sharpening to slice, just know that it all means nothing if you don’t breathe the next breath, it all comes down to this, nothing more into it. This doesn’t mean you have no control, This doesn’t suggest to just end life if it is hard to get through, it simply means you have everything you ever need in this exact moment, you can not dwell on the past – it steals even more years from living, you can not leap into the future – it is empty and can never embrace you. So please take it to heart that there is meaning in everything, and a reason that at this moment you are reading this. For I have seen it along with the ten thousand things, they say now is the time, if there ever is such a thing a time, to be everything you need to be and destiny constantly cradles you, even when you struggle to get out. So keep peace in knowing that you are here now and it is simply to be you – then the waves of the heart will have less resistance, and you can walk with your eyes closed along the coast of bliss with a constant sunrise to the east.
Dancing with Mrs. Truth
The art of poetry is speaking the truth.
Do we let our inner nature out,
Or let the world’s nature in?
If I am true in my words,
Then the realization will be in front of you.
So do not separate letters,
In order for you create comfort.
When you read them,
And do not associate,
That’s it!
Mango Me
A time, time ago, I lost my virginity to the taxis in the city
As they lifted me away to a soul I had never known
Though I wish life could be as sweet as sticky rice on a mango tree
But alas it is not like that
No it’s not exactly like that
While a woman cries for the fever of love
Yelling for the sickness to drown her heart again
As she once had a piece that pulled peace out of the dark
And made time just a novelty of life
But if we only walked in a straight line
I would miss the temples
That provide the daily diamond shine
Now what about the conflicts we hear about
When two people choose their own route
Can I still hear her cry,
Even if I’m half a world away
I think it is better to discover your home through taking leave for awhile
So what can I do to comfort you
I all have is a pen and paper
There is so much inside of me breaking down the gate
So why does the page remain blank
Though I wish life could be as sweet as sticky rice on a mango tree
But alas it’s not exactly like that
Salty Skin
What’s it like to be on an island, with no surrounding sea
There’s people all around who don’t communicate
You’ve lost the familiar feeling of friendship by your side
And here trust is kept in the same company as money
We are alone when we realize there are so many of us
And not one can hold you in reassurance
Not one can speak words you need to hear
And not one will solace you with silence
So where is the sea, not where it should be
The gap is the expanse that love generates
It can only show its face in one place or the other
Singing lifts your mind away, but the shadows still remain
Who here doesn’t want me for my skin
Expecting me to be one of them
Torture I proclaim, when one of a kind is one too many
Fastening the facets of life, survival gear in this wild
An empty sea can at least reflect my face
And bring emotion to a legible level
I often forget who it is that lives in this place
Waterlove
I am floating in a bowl of milk love
Waiting to be discovered
Am I the black speck, tainting the aroma?
Or a lotus amongst the mud?
What is a life of waiting,
If some can see themselves cradled
While others thrash against their cage
We will all be floating by ourselves
Until we realize we are floating within ourselves
If we claim fate as our saint
Then this shell will molt, quietly evaporating
And we can penetrate the lungs of love,
Giving us the breath of being
If in these days of courting,
You converse behind a door,
Then the wheel will spin evermore,
While the knight of your dawn burns waiting
If you say there is a destiny,
Yet in fear you run from it,
Fate will fly in like the eagle’s claws
And rip you from your own pages
Alas you must adapt the way of water
For the Way loves your soul in its stream
Monday, August 30, 2004
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Friday August 13, 2004
Today I have a class, Society and Economy at 12.30, so there’s not much to do before then. I ate some of the pineapple and bananas we bought at the market for breakfast, my usual morning snack. Went to class and it was pretty good. It seems fairly easy and the teacher is good at thoroughly explaining things. After class me and a couple of people at down in the cafeteria and we went to the office to get some books copied. After that I went out on my own to the library and check some mail and such. Then walked around outside a bit, and after sweating so much I decided to go back to my apt. Met up with Jason there and we just vegged out for a few hours. A lot of people were going out for this one guys 21st birthday, but I declined. This girl down the hall had just bought a small guitar so we went to the roof of the building to play a bit. I showed her what I knew, but my style is really not technical and I don’t know the name of any chords. We played for about a half hour then she went back down and I decided to say on the roof. It was about 9pm by then and you could see the whole skyline of Bangkok. The building is about 8 stories high, and it is pretty peaceful and calm up there. So that’s my new relaxation spot. Back in Richmond everytime I wanted to get away I would go up to the top of the VCU parking garage and just watch everything from up there. But here in Bangkok it is hard to find a spot where there is an open space, with no people, and no motor noises. So this was it and I laid out on the picnic table up there and just stared up at the stars, or what little I could see of them. I have noticed every time I looked up in Bangkok I have never seen the moon, not even once. And still I laid there wondering if some clouds were covering it or it was a new moon, but I have never see it. I fell a sleep a bit on the table with my guitar on my stomach, very blissful. I opened my eyes again and decided that I should go back because I didn’t know how long I had been up there for. Got back to my room and read some more. I had finished Walden, and am halfway though The Prophet now, and also almost done with the energy book. I also have reading to do for my classes but I don’t have the books yet, but its not a problem. Stayed up until about 1am and then drifted off to sleep.
Saturday August 14, 2004
Woke up at 8 with nothing really to do, so I went back to sleep. Woke up again to the phone ringing at about 10.30, it was for Jason of course because no one has been able to call me yet. I read a bit more and then decided to go get on the internet downstairs and sent out some emails. Someone has been interested in buying my beetle, so I hope that it can work out. When I was leaving I peaked in and saw a few friends in the restaurant, so I sat and they told me about all the crazy stuff that they did last night. They ate dinner at a pretty expensive restaurant on the river, and then went to “Club Hip-hop” and said that they had a good time, drinking and dancing on the tables and such. Brandon told me that in the bathrooms there they had a guy put a hot towel on your neck, and also rub and crack your neck all while you are standing at the urinal. Interesting, they said it was a bit awkward. A couple of the guys were headed out to PATA Department store to get some groceries so I decided to go along with them. I went up to my room to see if Jason wanted to go with us, but he was asleep on the bed. I yelled “Jason” and he woke up quickly, then I laughed and told him we were going if he wanted to come. But I know he takes about a half hour to get ready before we go anywhere so he said he would meet us there, in the supermarket section. We traveled there and got our food stuffs and whatnots, I waited around for Jason but never saw him. The other guys wanted to go to McDonalds, so I followed them into that gross place but didn’t get anything. We then took a taxi back because we had many bags of things, and I got back to the apt with no sign of Jason. Me and Brandon made plans to go see a movie later and get some food at the “Central” department stores. I just chilled in my room and Jason showed up a half hour later with some more food, some good rations. I bought a bunch of nuts and raisons and dried fruit to make a trail mix, good stuff. We just kicked back in our room for a few hours and I caught up on readings. Then at about 6pm I went up to Brandons room to see if he wanted to go. Jason wasn’t feeling up to it was just Brandon and me. We took the bus for 5B for probably 10 minutes till we got to the right area, we just followed all the masses of people and saw where they were headed. We walked around the Mall and found an Italian restaurant, which was not so Italian, and sat down to eat. I ordered regular spaghetti, and Brandon got a Hawaiian pizza. The servings were small and bland, and didn’t fill me up so I had, had to, get a slice of apple pie, which was also not so good. We went to the theater in the mall to get the tickets to see Collateral, we paid 120B, about $3. I got some popcorn and bottled water for a total of 50B. Our theory of “Thai Time” was reinforced, I’ll explain. You see all of us international students agree that the Thai people run on a relaxed version of standard time. Everything starts and people arrive later than the scheduled time. The movie ticket said 8:45pm, so we tried to get in at 8:35, as in the U.S. you show up a couple of minutes before that time because the movie theoretically starts at that time. Well apparently not here, the theater wasn’t ready until 8:45, where we finally sat down as the only people in the theater, then waited 10 mins until the commercials started playing, then finally the previews. This took about 30 more minutes, and also the National anthem is played before every movie. We were watching previews when all of the sudden music started playing and people started standing up, so I just followed along and there was a 3 minute film and anthem about the Thai king, this was a worthy tribute and a good experience. The move finally started, by the end I was waiting for it to be done. I thought it was good, but just another flick, nothing new. We walked out of the theater and everything in the mall was closed up and it was pretty dark. We had a hard time figuring our way out, because the main entrance was already closed and locked. A guard had to show us the way out through a parking garage and out the back. We finally escaped and walked to see if the busses were still running. We decided to take a Tuk-Tuk back, for 30B. These are always fun to ride in, because its like a go cart and these guys always drive like they are in a race, swerving in and out and cutting people off. We got there quick though, and all in one piece. I said goodnight to Brandon and then went back to my room. Told Jason about the movie and did some more reading. There was a note from the girl down the hall that a bunch of people were going to meet at Thammasat at 11 to go to the “Weekend Market”, supposedly a big marked about a half hour away. I set my alarm and went to sleep.
Sunday August 15, 2004
Woke up before my alarm and just stared and took a while to gain consciousness. I had a few weird dreams that night and also a hard time sleeping. One dream that I can remember is that I had come back from Bangkok to Richmond. I was walking around the streets and I found Meaghan walking with her new friends, she wad dressed differently, like popular or Britney Spears like. She was also smoking and she ran away from her friends to see me. But it was weird then and we were mad at each other and we both had changed. We were both distant but finally we broke down and just laid on the grass together, I was holding her in my arms and we were sleeping. Next thing I remember I woke up hugging my pillow thinking it was Meaghan, I wanted to go back to sleep and dream I was holding her, but I couldn’t do it. That was a bit depressing cause I do miss her and it reminded me of being home. Also had another dream where we were, well I don’t remember but Rob was a pilot and we flew out of our house because the area was flooding for some reason. So I got ready and headed out to meet people at Thammast for the Weekend Market. I got there and Thai Time was again at work. I met some people that were going, but we didn’t leave until about 11:40. There was about 20 of us cramming into 2 vans that could sit 8 people, but it worked out ok and the trip was about 20 minutes. When we got there I saw the masses of people and the large tents and vendors all sprawled out through this area. They dropped us off and the Lady that was in charge said to meet at this one spot at 5pm. Ok, so was about noon time and we had five hours to walk through this market, that was just too much for me since I rarely enjoy shopping and there was stampeding people everywhere. I sucked it up and followed a few people until I was eventually by myself wandering through the endless valleys of people selling you things you didn’t know you needed. I will admit there were some cool shops with original handiwork, but most were just masses of manufactured chopsticks or purses. There was also a whole pet section, where I was a bit heart broken to see these baby animals being sold like meat. There were a lot of different types of species if you would like to know I shall list the types of animals that I can remember seeing: dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, snakes, rodents, lizards, fish, arachnids, scorpions…and several sub species of those animals. I petted the furry things for awhile then moved on to other sections, I walked around and bought a few items but nothing big, but all of the 5 hours I walked constantly without ever seeing the same vendor twice. That was how big this thing was. I eventually realized that I had no clue where I was so at around 4pm I decided to find the meeting point, and it took all of the whole hour to find it. I got there and waited a while for more people in my group to show up. Then once we were all gathered we took a taxi to this big department store where we would all be eating. We had one huge table with all of us sitting, so it was like we took over the restaurant. The place was called MK, and was an upscale place too. The bill was to be paid by the school, so no worries about ordering too much. The school ordered the classic Thai meal there, which consisted of a bunch of meats thrown in a pot cooking right on our table, so it was a kind of stew, with a lot of seafood. So I just ate some noodles that were served separately and had a lot of green tea. We all finished and took awhile to gather together, and then took the brand new subway to a station where the vans were meeting us. The Bangkok subway had just opened a month earlier so none of the Thai students knew exactly how to use it. But we got it figured out and got to the right station alright. We got into the vans and rode back to Thammasat. By this time it was about 9pm, so I walked to the ferry and got back to my apt on time. When I arrived at the building and went up to the room, I found that the door was locked and Jason had gone out with the key. See we only have one key for the room, and when either one of us goes out we leave the key at the front desk, so who ever returns first can pick up the key. Well not this time, Jason had forgot to leave it at the desk, but they had an extra key and I got in Ok. So now I have to find out where Jason went, it is Sunday night and he usually doesn’t stay out too late. I waited a while before I started calling around for him, but then he came back at around 11pm. It turned out that Moo called looking for me to do something with, but since I wasn’t there Jason went instead. They had lunch, then went to a play at the school (which apparently was all in Thai and about protection and some gang people), Jason said the play was pretty funny even though he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Then he ate dinner with her and got back, so it turned out he had a good time which I was glad to hear. I was really tired from the long day out in the heat walking for miles so I showered and went to bed.
Monday August 16, 2004
Woke up at about 8:30am because I had class at 9:30 with Jason. The class was Buddhist Institutions and it was the first class because it was cancelled last week. We arrived a bit late and had to sit in the back, there were already a lot of people there and the teacher didn’t expect that many to be signed up. Well we got the overview and talked about some topics, and had a break in between. This class is only one day a week, but three hours long. The professor is American, but has been living in Bangkok for 12 years. He is a practicing Buddhist and knows quite a bit about the subject, the class is going to be specializing in Thai Buddhism (there are different sects just like Christianity), and this type of Buddhism I am unfamiliar with, so it should be a good course. We got done then I went to pick up some books that I had requested to be copied for my society and economy course, two books for a total of 460B. I then went with a few people to eat lunch at the cafeteria. I got the vegetarian food, which is always fantastic, and also a Boba fruit Shake. I was thrilled to find out that the cafeteria sells them, just like T T lounge in Richmond, and they are only 10B here, so that is amazing. The lady knows me know because I have stopped there frequently, so far my favorite flavor is blueberry, but they have quite a variety. My next class started three hours later so I went to the library a bit, then went to the international office to talk to the people there. Moo was there and I talked to her a bit, and she had given me a flash card with basic Thai words that I would need for ordering in a restaurant, and the written Thai words so I could show it to people also. It said that I was a vegetarian, and also a Vegan, or “ken-jae”. I know quite a bit now and am starting to feel comfortable conversing the standard good day and thank you and how much and all that. I am still learning the numbers, but it comes quick when you are living in the place where you actually use the language every day. So I got some tutoring with her, and then headed to my civilization class. This class is going to be a hard one, because of the unfamiliar names and places, just the phonetics will be hard to remember. This class was only a hour and half, all of constant note taking. But not bad to learn some new things about the country you are living in. So after that I just headed back, by then it was 5pm. I saw this street restaurant that looked fairly appetizing, all they made wad Pad Thai. Oh by the way I always thought that Pad means peanut, but now I know it means fried. So just remember that. Well I told him I didn’t want any meat in Thai, just tofu and the basics. It was pretty good stuff, but not a large enough portion to fill me up. It cost 45B, which for street food is expensive. I headed back to my apt and saw that some black clouds were rolling in. Just a quick rain storm, as usual for the rainy season. I arrived back at my apt. a little moist but refreshed, and while I was waiting for Jason to get back I played the guitar for a bit. Then Jason arrived and we decided to go get some food at a restaurant we have never been before. I got Brandon to come along and we walked until we saw some place that looked decent. There was no one inside and the staff was all over us. They waited over the tables until we decided, while one of the guys seemed to be in charge, telling the waitresses what to do. He was pointing at the menu trying to get us to order things that were more expensive. I ordered pineapple fried rice. Sounded good and it came inside a hollowed pineapple, which was cool too, but it had chunks of meat in it, not a lot so I just sucked it up and took the pieces out which were easy to decipher. The guy made Brandon eat the “right” way, he took his plate and put the rice in the bowl and then put the vegetables and meat in with the rice. But that was weird because it just grabbed the plate and did it for him, and also he yelled at Jason for putting soy sauce on the rice, because apparently that is only a Chinese tradition, not a Thai one. Once they were out, the rice was pretty good. It had pineapple and peanuts in the rice, which was quite delightful. I also ordered some hot jasmine tea, all this cost me about 110B, this was fairly expensive and I don’t think I will go back to this restaurant to eat any time soon. Well anyway me and Jason decided to go to Pata to get a new battery charger for his rechargeable batteries. We got everything taken care of and took a taxi back. Then just stayed in for the rest of the night, typing and reading.
Tuesday August 17, 2004
Not much today. I have a class at 12:30, Art and archaeology. This class was pretty large, compared to the rest of my classes, and it was three hours long. The teacher is pretty good, she told us that we will be learning art history, thai history, archaeology, and thai architecture. We will also be having two field trips to go see some old temples and ruins, so I am looking foreword to that. After I got out of class, I ate some food in the cafeteria, and of course got a boba shake. Then I walked around with Jason to Cosaun Rd because he wanted to get something. So we walked around a bit and I tried looking for this Vegetarian restaurant that I ate at before, The Cozy House, but I couldn’t find it amongst the masses of buildings and vendors. So we continued to walk and decided to stop at a different place that had some vegetarian food, we had eaten there before and the prices are really cheap. I got sweet and sour vegetables with noodles, it was almost like a soup, all for 35B. Jason took a taxi back to the apt and I decided to walk a bit more, and walk back to the apt. I do a lot of walking, as you may have noticed. But I like it better than taking taxi’s all over the place. So I get back to my apt alright, but really sweaty, it was really humid and sunny. Then I get all cleaned up and decide to type a little, and read some of my Economy and Society text book, which is pretty good stuff. Talking about the makings of society and the history of economy and what systems people employed to fulfill their needs. I at first though it was Thai economy and society, but it is really global economy and society, so it is not too difficult. Well anyway, it was about 8pm and we got a call, usually no one calls me so I figure it was for Jason. It turned out to be a girl I had met the day before, just for a few minutes at lunch and she had asked where I was living, so I guess she got the phone number and decided to give me a call. So that’s a little weird, but Thai people are extremely friendly like that, but still I was suspicious. Her name was Fone, it means rain in Thai. She asked if I wanted to come over to her apartment with her friend to watch a movie, so I really had no good excuse at hand and agreed. Jason didn’t want to come and thought I was crazy for going, but I am up for any experience, but know my limits and when to get out of a situation. So she and her friend met me at front of my building and we took a taxi to her apt building, only like 5 minutes away. We got there and it was awkward at first, but they were normal kids like me and we got along good. They made fun of me for just coming over when I didn’t know any of them that well, but I argued that they called me so they couldn’t call expecting me to say no. But it turned out that they did expect me to say no, but whatever. So she pulled out her guitar and they sang a few songs, oh another thing about Asian countries, karaoke is really big and they are used to just singing for fun and memorizing words to famous songs, so they expected me to know a lot of songs and I didn’t. They laughed because they know more American lyrics than I do, and I’m American. But they turned out to be good kids, not party animals like half the people I meet here, and they just like hanging out in small groups. I got to know them pretty well, her friend’s name was Gift. She is Thai also, but has a British accent because she studied there for 2 years, its just weird to hear a Asian person speaking good English but in a British accent. We watched Euro-Trip, which was a good laugh. So it turned out to be a good idea, because I met some people that I’m not afraid to hang out with, they are going to tutor me in Thai. We talked about Buddhism and what I knew, and about vegetarianism and whatnot. I got back around 2am, so Jason thought I was dead. Well that’s about it, I went to sleep…out.
Wednesday August 18, 2004
Not much happened today, just a regular schedule of classes. I woke up and finished The Prophet, I underlined a bunch of good quotes and it is an amazing book to read. After that I went to go eat some fruit at the cafeteria on Thammasat, then I had class at 12:30, Society and Economy. After that I ate lunch and talked to some people, then I went to the library for a bit and got on the internet. Then I headed back to my apt. It was raining, as the usual afternoon rain shower had come in. Sometimes it is a constant downpour for a half an hour, but it is usually just a little rain for 10 minutes, then light sprinkles for a little bit afterwards. But when there are downpours the streets get flooded quick, kind of like Richmond. When a huge portion of the land is covered with cement and paved over, then the water is not absorbed easily into the earth. So many streets fill up quickly and it is hard to maneuver around these swimming pools. The cars and mortocycles go slightly slower, but you sill have to watch yourself because they create giant waves of slimy street water, which can also soak you. Some people have mentioned that the rain irritates their skin or eyes, because of the pollution, but I don’t feel anything abnormal. It is good when it comes along because it cools down the air a bit and it is easier to tolerate. Well I got back mildy wet and changed. Then talked to Jason about what we could do, so I suggested going to a vegetarian restaurant that I had been to before. So we just took it easy in our room for a bit. Then we I got a call from Fone, seeing what we were up to. I said we might go out to eat and anyone could join us if they wanted to. But by then it had started raining again, pretty hard, so we decided that we were just going to eat at the bottom of our apt building. So Fone was getting a cold and she didn’t come, it was just me and Jason. We walked down to eat and we were surprised by Moo and Joe (Joe works at the international office), who had come by to see us. They came bringing gifts, some Thai music CD’s and some Thai desserts. So that was awfully nice of them to come over in the rain. We sat down and ate together, I had the usual of Pad Thai with Tofu. We were down there for about an hour, then went said goodnight and thanked them for coming over. The desserts they gave us were pretty good also. One was gelled coconut pressed and grilled between pieces of palm tree leaves. You open the leaves and pull out the coconut filling, not bad. The other was more of a candy, they were little shapes of fruits and vegetables that were gelled over and shiny looking. They turned out to be made of a bean related curd mixed with sugar cane, they were pasty and interesting, but good to have one or two. After we said good night we went up to the room to finish a few things and then went to sleep.
Thursday August 19, 2004
I had Thai Civilization at 12:30 and then Thai Boxing at 2pm. The Thai Boxing class sounds like it is going to be awesome. It is actually a class, where you get graded and tested. The first class we had was just in a classroom, to get us informed as to what we had signed up for. The teacher is great and I am surprised that he would be teaching at a university. He had been light weight champion in Thailand several times and had gone to the Olympics a couple of times also. His brother is also one of the best Muay Thai Boxers in the country and even won a Gold medal in Atlanta in the last games. They were both trained by their father who was also a great boxer. So this guy knows his stuff, but he doesn’t know a lot of English, so there is a translator there also. He went over the course and what we would be learning. He said at the end of the course we will go see a real match at one of the biggest stadiums in Thailand, the teacher has free entrances there because he was once champion. He said that there are only three places where you can see real Thai Boxing in Thailand, the kind with the gambling and hardcore fighters. So we have to learn the techniques and scoring before he takes us, but I am looking forward to it. We watched a video, and it showed some techniques and it looks like it will be a challenging course. After we got out of that I was walking out and back to my apt when I met Fone and Gift on campus. We made plans to go out to a Vegetarian place that served Thai and Indian dishes. So I got back and told Jason to come, but he wanted to say and read and take notes for his Thai history class. I met up with Anna and Dane from my building and they came with me. Anna is also a vegetarian; she is from northern California, U.C. Santa Cruise. Dane is from the Chicago area, and kind of a 90210 Beverley Hills type of guy, takes a half hour to do his hair, but he’s a decent guy once you get to know him. So we met up with Fone and Gift at the pier because we were going to take a boat to the restaurant. It costs 10B to get on the faster boats that go down the river, as opposed to the ferries with just go across the river to the other side. We stayed on for about 8 minutes and got off and walked a couple of streets to the restaurant. It was called Healthy Food, vegetarian restaurant. So that’s cool. We were the only ones in there and the way you order food was interesting too. They had pictures of the dishes and the names on two large pillars centered in the restaurant. So you go look at the pictures and point at the one that looks the most appetizing to you…ha I’d never thought I would be ordering my food off a pillar in a restaurant. But it was a more informal / cafeteria style restaurant so it some how worked. I got something that was imitation squid, which I didn’t know when I ordered it. There was long tentacle like protein strips in with rice and vegetables. It wasn’t bad at all, but a little chewy. We also got some tea that was excellent. After that we all got a taxi back to our Apt building and we had a jam session. Dane had a harmonica and Fone also plays the guitar, Gift can sing, and Jason had bought a wooden flute at the market that is like a recorder. So we were all trying to sound good, but it didn’t work out so much, but it was fun. So we then decided to go out and play some pool, down by Cosaun road. We went into this place called Shamrock’s, a bar/restaurant. They had a live band playing, a Thai band covering American rock songs, like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182, and Offspring. It was funny to hear, but it was pretty good stuff. The pool table had a lot of people in line so we went somewhere else after hearing a couple of songs. The girls knew a small place where there would be little people, so we headed there. We eventually found a good place, and got to play a few games of pool. We decided to leave at around 12:30, and got a cab back to drop off Gift and Fone and then we took it back to our place. I got in and Jason was on the phone with his family, and told me that I had miss a call from my mom. Ah, the first time she gets through and I wasn’t there! Well it sounds like I have a package on the way. I got cleaned up and went to sleep.
Friday August 20, 2004
I woke up at about 9am, Jason was still sleeping. I got up and had to write an answer to a question, about a page in length, for Society and Economy. I finished and Jason was still sleeping, he had class at 11:30 and he usually leaves at about 1030, but it was already 10 something and he was still sleeping. So I debated weather I should wake him up or not, but I decided not to because he’s can handle his own. So I just typed a bit more in my journal and herd him slowly waking up at around 1030, and then herd him say “ah shoot”. I guess he realized he was a little behind. I also have been thinking about his passport, his expires the 26th of this month and he has to get his visa renewed before that time or they will fine him or kick him out of the country, but he needs to learn to take care of his own situation, it’s a tough lesson but someone’s got to teach him. He’s 22, and this is the first time he has lived on his own away from his parents. I’ve gotten the impression he is not used to too much responsibility beyond school work and his own interests. He leaves our stuff everywhere and dishes on the floor because it is easier for him to get things if they are down lower, I don’t mind it but we only have one fork and one spoon, and we agreed to clean them after any use…but I don’t yell at him, I just don’t tell him when he’s gonna get deported…so it seems fair enough. Well anyway he took a taxi to school because it was quicker, and I had class at 12:30 so I left around 11:45. I got to Thammasat and waited for the class before me to get out, as they usually run late and our class starts late. After class I ate some vegetarian food and then talked a bit, about any plans for tonight. I went to go get the Thai language book copied that Brandon lent me, because I am not taking the class but I still want to learn it. Then I went to the library to check email and send some out. Then I walked back to my apt. My new thing everyday is stopping and picking up some fried bananas at this lady right next to my apartment. She knows me now, and there is always a guy there too, they don’t speak English well, but it works out. I say good day to them and then “Glouy”, which means banana and I get a bag of the small fried ones, fresh, for 10 B. It’s a good amount of them too. But today after she handed me the bag and I handed her the money, she held up one and said “Ba-nan-A?”..i didn’t know what she meant but she kept repeating it. Then I figured out she was asking if that is what you call it in English…so I said “ohh, banana, Ka, ka”.. ka means yes. The they laughed and I went on my merry way back to my apartment. I think I’m addicted to these, they are really good and sometimes I put peanut butter on them, but Jason seems to think that is repulsive. They are really greasy though, but everything here is fried or grilled so I guess there is no other option. I have had some grilled bananas too, with a sweet coconut marinade; these are good too, but not as good as the fried and battered ones, I think there is a little coconut shredded on them too with some sesame seeds. Mmmmm’. Well I just read a bit and waited for a call from anyone to see if they wanted to do anything. I took a little nap, for about an hour. Then decided to call Fone to see if she was done working, but no answer. So I called Gift and she answered and said that she was just around Thammasat looking at the shops, so we decided that we were hungry, and I told here just to wait there a bit and I would gather Jason and Brandon to come along. So we left and headed to Thammasat, took the ferry and by this time it was about 7:45, and we met her at the pier by the university. We walked to a restaurant down the street. It had a tea house atmosphere, relaxed feeling. It did in fact have a wide selection of tea, which was good and also some vegetarian dishes. The restaurant was not that big, probably only 6 tables or so, but it had a tree in the middle with stones around it, so when you had to walk by you ducked under the tree. The whole restaurant was enclosed though, and air conditioned. We got our food and the meal was good, and not too expensive. I think my drink and noodle dish cost me 80B. After there we decided to go back to meet up with Fone at her apartment, the same building where Gift lives. We listened to music and played some of our own. We had gotten word of a “party” that this guy Nathan was having for his new apartment at Three J court. About a block away from where we were. Basically most of the international students would be there, so we were going to check it out. Jason and I don’t really go to these things because it is nothing special, just people getting drunk and screaming obscenities. We decided to head over there at about 11pm, and we walked through some weird areas to get there, the back alleys. The girls explained that they were massage parlors, the ones with a “happy ending” is what they called it. Ha, so it was funny to walk by and see all the taxi’s waiting out front and all the scandalous activity that goes on there. We got to the apartment and the security guy knew about the party and greeted us and escorted us to the elevator. That’s another difference here about how people act, I guess they all like to party, but they didn’t care about all these people in the apartment building drinking and being loud, in fact it is almost like they encourage it. When we got upstairs we said hello to a bunch of people and I talked to Nate, he is in 3 of my classes and a funny guy, but he likes to have a good time also. He told me that when he asked the management of the building if he could have a party they got excicted and gave him a few cases of beer. That was nice of them. Well there was probally 30 people or so in this upstairs lounge area, where his room was next to. I made my rounds and talked to the people I knew and refused drinks every 2 minutes or so. Jason didn’t enjoy the scene so he just left and I didn’t get to talk to him about where he was going or anything. By then it was about midnight. I found Fone and Gift again and we decided that the party was a bit boring so we decided to just go to Cosaun rd, actually I found out it is spelled Khaosaun. We walked around and saw all the night life, there were a lot of people out, locals playing guitar on the street and may people selling various items. We went into a couple of places but all of them were crowded, so we got fed up and just went back to Fone’s apartment. Then she called one of her European friends, who was having a little get together, not a party. Ha, I guess that is one difference between Americans and Europeans, they just get together and relax and have a few beers. Unlike American college students who get drunk and wasted, these guys are used to the accessibility of alcohol and don’t look at it as a big thing. So we headed over there and it was a nice place. They were on the 16th floor, and had an amazing view of the city. They had a huge bay window in each of the two rooms. They got hooked up because one of the guys from Holland gave a soccer jersey to one of the managers, and they somehow got one of the nicest rooms in the whole building. So, again, that is how they do it here. Me and Brandon were the only Americans there, but we got along alright. They asked us why all the Americans always hang out together, but we countered that all the Europeans hang out together. So they agreed, but there were no hard feelings. Some dutch, germans, sweedish, finnish, and the like were lounging around. All the girls looked the same, blonde hair, tall, and …Europeanesk beauty, but lacking something. A few of the girls came and talked to me and Brandon, and most of them are from the business program at Thammast, not the Thai studies, so we never really had seen them before. We mingled a bit with other guys, and met two Espens…which means Bear in Finish. One of the guys actually lives in our building, Ruen Indra, on the Third floor. He’s one of the less arrogant and rowdy Europeans. People slowly trickled out and we and three other guys were left, it was about 4am. We got in with Heiner, the guy who lived in the place. He is in Brandon’s Thai language class, so they had known each other before. But I just had met him and he’s an interesting fellow. We agreed to hang out again, and Fone and Gift said that since he had a kitchen we could have a traditional Thai dinner party. I want to learn how to make some Thai vegetarian food, or even the Pad Thai with tofu. Well we said goodnight and left and headed back to Ruen Indra, with Gift and Fone. We went to Dane’s room and just listened to music and looked at his digital pictures of everything he had done here. Gift left at like 5:30 because she had to get a bus down to her parents in southern Thailand at 8am, but the bus ride would be something like 11 hours, so she planned on sleeping then. I went outside and watched the sun rise and admired the scenery from the balcony, and heard the roosters right next to our building crowing. A perfect morning in Bangkok. I headed down to my room at around 6am, and was surprised to find Jason still awake, typing on his computer. He had been awake the whole time. When he left the first party, he walked a bit and then took a taxi to Khaosaun Rd. to check out the scene there and got a watercolor character of himself, which we agreed we had to get one later of us together. So we eventually went to sleep and closed the curtains to keep the approaching sunshine out of our cave, in which I proceeded to hibernate for the next week.
Saturday August 21, 2004
I woke up on and off during the next few hours, but eventually got up around 12:30. Fone called and asked if we wanted to go to Nuan Luan, a night bazaar tonight. I said alrighty then. I had to go pick up a book that I was getting copied at Thammasat, so I left to go there at around 3pm. I walked to campus, picked up the book and got a boba shake, then walked to the market to pick up some bread and bananas for the upcoming week. I got back at around 4:30 and asked if Brandon wanted to go with us to the market. He said “cool, whatever”, because we were all still sleep deprived that nothing much mattered. I went and took a bit of a nap until we were going out. We talked to Fone and decided to meet at around 7 by the Chang pier, next to the Grand Palace. We got there and met up with Fone, Gok-kai, and Vesa, her boyfriend from Finland. This guy is pretty Finnish looking, long blond hair with big hands and big feet, and tall too. He spoke good English and was pretty funny throughout the night. We sat down at an outside restaurant and I got the usual, Pad Thai with Tofu. After we ate we headed to Thammasat where we were going to me Heiner, and his Brother Espen, they were going to go with us to the night bazaar. On the way I stopped at a Thai bookstore and got a children’s Thai alphabet book, to trace and color and learn the Thai letters. When we were leaving the bookstore it started to rain, and it advanced to a down pour. We ran through the rain to meet the guys at the “canteen”, and we waited there until it slowed down to a drissle. Then we set off to the Nuan Laum market. We took taxis and it was about a 20 minute drive. We got there and decided to get something to eat first, so we went to “Safari Steakhouse”, my first choice as you may have guessed. I just got a fruit salad and some fried cashews, while others were ordering crocodile steaks. After that we split up and walked around for only about 30 minutes because by then it was about to close. They shut down at midnight, so we met up…and everyone except me, Brandon, Jason, and Fone were left. So we took a taxi to her apartment and watched a depressing movie, Thirteen. Well after it was over we looked at Fone and she was asleep, so we snuck out at about 3am and she didn’t even wake up. We got back to our apt, and I went to sleep. The next thing I know the phone is ringing and it was about 7am Sunday morning. It was Fone and she had just woken up and realized we were not there, so I laughed at her and we had a 4 minute talk about something …but we were both half asleep so I said I would talk to her later and then I went back to sleep.
Sunday August 22, 2004
“Ring, Ring, Ring”…eh someone is calling me again. Jeez… I pick up the phone and to my amazement it was Meaghan! So we had a long talk about what’s been interesting in our lives and what’s not so interesting. The pone line cut out a few times, because for some reason my line here wont let you have a continuous conversation for more than 20 or 30 minutes. Well it reached a point where I had to leave the room and call her from the international phone booth down the street. By that time it was about 11:30 and we had to say our usual torturous goodbyes, with our hearts not knowing which way is home. I left the phone booth not knowing what to feel, but I remembered that Moo was going to meet me and take me to a Blind children’s school. So I returned to Bangkok, as my head had been elsewhere. I got changed and met her at the bottom of my apartment. We took a taxi to the School, where I we could be volunteers and help out with anything during the day. When I arrived I was glad to be in a place that needed me, the blind children have enough charisma and love to make me smile a lifetime. I met a few kids and we had to organize them into groups of six. They were going to have a “field day” type thing, where they had to play games and such. I watched them play a relay game, as they had to pass a coke can after running around these two poles with ribbon tied between them, so they could feel their way along the ribbon. The fastest team would advance to the next round. As I was watching these games, someone came up to me with a blind girl on his arm, she looked about my age. He said she wanted to meet me, so I didn’t hesitate. He pulled her towards me and I held her hand as she introduced herself, and she spoke great English. She had been going to a college in England, and studying English for a year. So we talked about England and what she likes about it and if she had visited America. She seemed to enjoy talking with me and hearing why I was in Thailand and I certainly enjoyed her beautiful energy and holding her hand as we talked. After about 10 minutes her friend came back and they had to go so I said I was glad to have met her. After they left I went and found Moo, and we helped pass out snack to the kids. It was any one of the various kinds of chips, or nuts in a bag, and a small cup with orange liquid in it. After they ate, they held the trash in the air and we had to get it from them. Then after we didn’t have anything to do, we went out to get some lunch at a small side of the road place, and we both had Khao Rik Pad Puk, rice with fried vegetables. When we got back we saw they were all just hanging out and listening to music. I went over to another group of boys that were playing some guitars. All the kids here were in grades K-9. They were playing the guitar and singing pretty well, and I suppose they love to listen and play music. After a while they gathered in the cafeteria and listen to someone talk and they handed out little desserts to all the kids. Me and Moo went to another area to listen to one of the counselors, who is also slightly blind, play the piano for a bit. She was great, and she played some traditional Thai music. I was really tired by then, and I was drifting in and out of sleep. So Moo asked if I wanted to go, and I reluctantly said OK. So we said goodbye and got in a taxi back to my apartment. I thanked Moo for taking me to a great experience, and I went back to my place and took a nap for an hour, until 6pm. Then me and Jason went out to get some food, we took a taxi to Khaosaun Rd, where there is this good vegetarian restaurant, called Health for You, or something like that. I got this Tofu and vegetables sandwich, with also a peanut sauce on it…it was good but not that filling. So I had to get the amazing black sticky rice with coconut, banana and mango in a bowl with coconut milk. The sticky rice was warm, so it had the same effect as a warm brownie and cold ice cream. Ahh…I could go for some more right now actually. Well we finished that and walked over to Khaosaun Rd. because the place is close to, but not on the road. We looked around and bought a few items here and there and then got a taxi back. I read a little for my Buddhist institutions class, then hit the sack.
Monday August 24, 2004
I woke up at around 8am and had remembered through the night Jason had been typing and he actually went up the roof to type, and I heard him come back in at around 5 in the morning. So we both have Buddhist institutions at 9:30 and I debated waking him up. But I figured if he wanted to go he could get himself up, so I let him sleep. I got ready and it was about 8:40 and he hadn’t budged. So I left him and went to Thammast. I got some fruit and juice there and then made it up to class. At the halfway point in our class we took a 15 minute break, and I noticed Jason had come in when I got back from the break. I laughed at him and he was a little bitter, but nothing serious, he just said for me to wake him up next time if I don’t know what he’s doing. So after class I went and ate some lunch and waited for my next class to start at 15:30 (they use military time here so get used to it, I did). I went to the library for a bit, sent out some emails and read a little. I also had to write a few post cards. So I burned time until class started and then went to Thai civilization. After that class, I went down to the “canteen” and ate some really spicy vegetarian food, and had 2 bottles of water to wash it all down. I met Moo there and told here that me and Brandon planed on going back to the Night Bazaar because he wants to get things for his family. Brandon has decided to go back home and not stay the rest of the semester. He said that if he does a semester in Bangkok, then he has to do one more at his home institution. Otherwise he could just do one more at home and not another one, so he decided that it would be best if he goes back. So he leaves on Wednesday, and wants to get all the souvenirs before he goes back. He said he would also sell his cell phone to me for a 1,000B, which is good and I will probably buy it because it cost him about 2000B to get it all set up. So moo agreed to meet us at around 8pm to go to the market. I came back to the room and Jason wanted to go to the supermarket to get some food, so we walked to PATA and got what we needed. We took a taxi back and by then it was about 7:30. I cleaned the sweat off me and met with Moo and Brandon downstairs. We went to the market, Brandon went off on his own and me and Moo went to get some dinner. The only vegetarian stuff we could find was Pad Thai, and I was fine with it because it is one of my favorite dishes to eat here. So we ate and listen to the live band that was playing. After that we walked around and she got a call from her friend that co-owned a pet shop next to the market. So we walked over there and she had a few small and fluffy puppies to play with. They were miniature dogs, with very long hair so it almost seemed they were a moving shag carpet. When one laid down you couldn’t see its face or decipher its legs, it was just this mat of fur. We stayed for about 10 minutes then walked and looked at the shops for a bit until we found the spot were we were going to meet Brandon. After he showed up, we went back the apartment, but dropped Moo off first. By then it was about 10:30 and I got to my room, read some and typed some then went to bed at around 1am.
Tuesday August 24, 2004
I woke up at about 9am, and just putzed around, ate some peanut butter and jelly and some cereal, fruit loops, with a new kind of soy milk. It’s called Nature UP!, doesn’t sound delicious. Actually this kind is a lot better than the first one I got, which was sugar free and just not that tasty. This kind is made from soy, grain, and corn milk and it has some vitamins and calcium added, and it is also sweetened. So it’s pretty good, but it is really too sweet to have with fruit loops. So I read a bit and then headed to class an hour early, so I could talk to the international office. I went there and tried to pay for the trip this weekend that would be going to the floating market and to some caves. The guy I needed to see wasn’t there, so I had to come back later. I went to the canteen and met up with some people in my next class, and after a bit we went up there and low and behold my only class, Art and Archaeology, was cancelled. So I really had nothing to do, I went back down to the canteen, because I figured I might as well get some real lunch at the Vegetarian place, so I did and sat with some people. After that I went back to the international office to pay for the trip and the guy was finally there, so I got my ticket for this weekend. I also had seen a note up in the office that I thought may be for me. It reads: “To Michael, I sent you an email last week. Did you get it? Anyway, I wish to see you sometime, if you’re free. Call me O.K.!!! Fon Punyarat 01-3072926.” So I figured someone might be wanting to meet me, or it could be another Michael. So I decided to take the note with me this time, because I had seen it for the past week hanging up on the board. I grabbed it and went out, I had to drop off some paper for ISEP that had my classes on it so that the coordinator here could sign off on it. I found her office and greeted her and she told me to come back tomorrow because she had to verify the classes. So after that I went to the library a bit to check email and read some. Then I left and headed back to my apt. Brandon would be leaving tomarrow to go back home, so I wanted to see if he was going to hang out and do something before he left. I got back and he wasn’t in his room. So I called Fone to talk to her, the Fon that I had met before not the one from the note, and she wanted to say bye to Brandon too. So I waited to hear from him. I rested a bit, then Fone called me back and said that she talked to Brandon and he was coming back to the apt at around 8pm, so it was about 7 then and me and Jason were hungry. So we decided to go to a restaurant near Thammasat that Jason had been to before, and we took a taxi there. As we were walking to the restaurant Jason stopped at this street vendor that was selling delicious little insects, yes, bugs. He had crispy little critters, meal worms, beetles, cockroaches, and large grasshoppers. Jason got a bag of grasshoppers and the guy sprinkled some seasoning on them and sprayed them with soy sauce, so they looked pretty gross. We continued to this empty restaurant, that had a small stage set up for live music and the lighting was dim also. We sat down at these shakey tables and chairs and Jason tried the Grasshoppers, and said they actually were not bad, just crunchy but pretty good. I looked at the menu to keep from looking at the bag of insects on the table and noticed lack of vegetarian dishes. So I had the usual Khao Pad Puk, any place can make if even if it’s not on the menu. They put a candle on the table to increase the romantic feeling and then a guy and girl went on stage to start playing some music. It was weird because me and Jason were the only ones there, and it was like they were playing just for us. The guy was playing the piano and the girl was singing, it was pretty good but awkward because they were like 20 feet away from us. So after ever song she would say that her English wasn’t that good but asked if we like the song. We said yeah and smiled and waited for our food to come. When I got my plate I noticed that the rice with vegetables was molded in the shape of a heart, so that was also romantic. So we finished and all the while maybe one or two people came in to eat and they continued playing music. The meal was too expensive and not good enough for that price, my dish and a bottle of water were 90B, so I don’t think I’ll go back to that place again. We walked down the street and surprisingly saw two people from the international program, so we said hi and then two other people came walking from the other direction that I knew, one of them was Moo with her buddy Brenden, so it was weird to run into all these people just on the street. We talked for a bit, then me and Jason headed back to meet up with Brandon to see what he was up to. I got to the apt and went to his room and talked to him and bought his cell phone for a 1000B, and he was packing up to leave at 4am on Weds. Fone said she was going to stop by in a bit so I waited down in my room and decided to call the Fon from the Note that I found in the International office. I called not knowing if it was the Fon I knew or not because it was a different number. So some one answered and I said hello and introduced myself and why I was calling. It turned out that she was looking for her buddy named Michael also, but with a different last name. So I was a bit embarrassed and it was a little awkward but she asked if I wanted to meet anyway and I say what they hey, and decided to meet her for lunch at 11am at the international office. She asked if she could bring some of her friends so I said I didn’t care, and so…yeah im going to meet some random girl tomorrow, but I think it will be ok. I then called the other Fone to see where she was and it turned out that she was in the building at someone else’s room. So I she came down to my room and we went up to see Brandon. We talked for a bit and Brandon decided he wanted to go to Khaosaun one last time before he left. Fone had to go back and do some work, so just me and Brandon went, by this time it was about 10:45pm. We walked around and he got some fake Adidas that looked pretty good. For some reason all the shops had to close at 11pm, and the police was there to enforce it, so you couldn’t buy anything off the street past that time. I later found out it was just a temporary ordinance because they were on an electricity shortage or something, I’m not too sure. So I was a bit hungry because that plate of rice I ate with Jason didn’t really fill me up, I stopped by my regular place, 247 Thai, which is right off Khaosaun and they have cheap vegetarian food. I got Pad Thai and Brandon walked around until I finished. After that I walked outside to meet up with Brandon and ran into Dave, Mia, and another Michael that all live at Ruen Indra. So we talked and when we me up with Brandon we all took a taxi back. I said farewell to Brandon and wished him a good trip and a good life. That’s the last I saw of him, and so I went to my room and read some economics and then went to sleep at around 1am.
Wednesday August 25, 2004
So I wake up at about 9:30 and stare for a bit. Jason got up, got ready for class, then headed out at around 10:30. I had to meet the other Fon at 11, so I got ready too and left to go to Thammasat. I took the ferry as usual and was feeling a bit nervous, and wondering what I had gotten myself into. So I go to the international office to see if I can find her, but no luck. So I go upstairs to pick up my form from the ISEP coordinator, then head back down to the International Office, and as I was about to open the door a girl comes out and says “Are you Michael”, yes indeed, that’s me. So I meet her and she said she has some friends I can meet too. So we go around the corner and there are about 15 of her friends waiting there, like it was a surprise party or something. This was a bit overwhelming, I only expected 2 or 3 of her friends to come, but I went down the line and introduced myself while they told me each of their names, which I cant remember but 2 of them. So after that about half of them had to go to class, and just wanted to meet me, and the other half came with us to get lunch by the Prachan Pier, right outside Thammasat. We got to this nice little restaurant, and I think there were about 8 of us. I told them I was vegetarian, and I got the usual “Ohhhhh”, and they talked amongst themselves in Thai for a bit. They helped me find something to order and we just talked about the usual…where I was from, what was I studying back home, do I like it here, and all that stuff. I asked them the same vague questions and it seemed to be going well. It was weird, like I was some celebrity because I was the only white guy, surrounded by 7 Thai girls, and ..yeah so it was a bit weird, but I got over it. So we talked a bit, and Fon was nice and easy to talk to, and also her friend Bo, the only two names I can remember. So we left there about 12, I had class at 12:30, so we departed and I said we could hang out again anytime, if they wanted to do something. I walked over to the canteen because I still had about 20 minutes till class started, and I met up with some people I knew and talked a bit. Then headed up to the class, Society and Economy, and waited for the class before me to get out, because they are always behind schedule and our class usually doesn’t start until 12:40-45. Well we had class, and I learned more about “society and economy” and then I went down with Josie and Anna to get some lunch. I wasn’t too hungry, but I always take advantage of the cheap food there while I can, because once I go back to my apt from school it is hard to find a cheap decent meal within walking distance. So we ate and talked for about an hour, and I walked to the library and did the internet thing, and then went upstairs to meet Fone, for she said she wanted to tutor me in Thai at 4pm. So I waited and called her cell and no answer, so I walked to the soccer field where they were having a game and watched about 15 minutes of it. Then called her again, no answer so I headed back to my apt. Once I got there I got a call from her saying she left her cell phone at home and couldn’t meet me because she wasn’t feeling too well. So that’s cool, not a problem. I got word that some people were meeting down stairs to eat some dinner at 8pm, but I didn’t really know. Moo called me and said she would be coming over, so me and Jason said we would eat with her. When she got here, Fone called and said she was coming over to meet some people to eat in the restaurant underneath our building, so we went downstairs and meet with Fone, but me, Jason and Moo went to a Vegetarian restaurant, The Cozy house of course. We ate there and I had sticky rice for dessert again, and felt a little sick for eating so much throughout the day, but I couldn’t resist the sticky rice. After we were done we went back to Ruen Indra and Moo went home. I had been doing some water color painting of a lotus throughout the day, and I finished that tonight, and then read for a bit and went to bed around 1am again.
Today I have a class, Society and Economy at 12.30, so there’s not much to do before then. I ate some of the pineapple and bananas we bought at the market for breakfast, my usual morning snack. Went to class and it was pretty good. It seems fairly easy and the teacher is good at thoroughly explaining things. After class me and a couple of people at down in the cafeteria and we went to the office to get some books copied. After that I went out on my own to the library and check some mail and such. Then walked around outside a bit, and after sweating so much I decided to go back to my apt. Met up with Jason there and we just vegged out for a few hours. A lot of people were going out for this one guys 21st birthday, but I declined. This girl down the hall had just bought a small guitar so we went to the roof of the building to play a bit. I showed her what I knew, but my style is really not technical and I don’t know the name of any chords. We played for about a half hour then she went back down and I decided to say on the roof. It was about 9pm by then and you could see the whole skyline of Bangkok. The building is about 8 stories high, and it is pretty peaceful and calm up there. So that’s my new relaxation spot. Back in Richmond everytime I wanted to get away I would go up to the top of the VCU parking garage and just watch everything from up there. But here in Bangkok it is hard to find a spot where there is an open space, with no people, and no motor noises. So this was it and I laid out on the picnic table up there and just stared up at the stars, or what little I could see of them. I have noticed every time I looked up in Bangkok I have never seen the moon, not even once. And still I laid there wondering if some clouds were covering it or it was a new moon, but I have never see it. I fell a sleep a bit on the table with my guitar on my stomach, very blissful. I opened my eyes again and decided that I should go back because I didn’t know how long I had been up there for. Got back to my room and read some more. I had finished Walden, and am halfway though The Prophet now, and also almost done with the energy book. I also have reading to do for my classes but I don’t have the books yet, but its not a problem. Stayed up until about 1am and then drifted off to sleep.
Saturday August 14, 2004
Woke up at 8 with nothing really to do, so I went back to sleep. Woke up again to the phone ringing at about 10.30, it was for Jason of course because no one has been able to call me yet. I read a bit more and then decided to go get on the internet downstairs and sent out some emails. Someone has been interested in buying my beetle, so I hope that it can work out. When I was leaving I peaked in and saw a few friends in the restaurant, so I sat and they told me about all the crazy stuff that they did last night. They ate dinner at a pretty expensive restaurant on the river, and then went to “Club Hip-hop” and said that they had a good time, drinking and dancing on the tables and such. Brandon told me that in the bathrooms there they had a guy put a hot towel on your neck, and also rub and crack your neck all while you are standing at the urinal. Interesting, they said it was a bit awkward. A couple of the guys were headed out to PATA Department store to get some groceries so I decided to go along with them. I went up to my room to see if Jason wanted to go with us, but he was asleep on the bed. I yelled “Jason” and he woke up quickly, then I laughed and told him we were going if he wanted to come. But I know he takes about a half hour to get ready before we go anywhere so he said he would meet us there, in the supermarket section. We traveled there and got our food stuffs and whatnots, I waited around for Jason but never saw him. The other guys wanted to go to McDonalds, so I followed them into that gross place but didn’t get anything. We then took a taxi back because we had many bags of things, and I got back to the apt with no sign of Jason. Me and Brandon made plans to go see a movie later and get some food at the “Central” department stores. I just chilled in my room and Jason showed up a half hour later with some more food, some good rations. I bought a bunch of nuts and raisons and dried fruit to make a trail mix, good stuff. We just kicked back in our room for a few hours and I caught up on readings. Then at about 6pm I went up to Brandons room to see if he wanted to go. Jason wasn’t feeling up to it was just Brandon and me. We took the bus for 5B for probably 10 minutes till we got to the right area, we just followed all the masses of people and saw where they were headed. We walked around the Mall and found an Italian restaurant, which was not so Italian, and sat down to eat. I ordered regular spaghetti, and Brandon got a Hawaiian pizza. The servings were small and bland, and didn’t fill me up so I had, had to, get a slice of apple pie, which was also not so good. We went to the theater in the mall to get the tickets to see Collateral, we paid 120B, about $3. I got some popcorn and bottled water for a total of 50B. Our theory of “Thai Time” was reinforced, I’ll explain. You see all of us international students agree that the Thai people run on a relaxed version of standard time. Everything starts and people arrive later than the scheduled time. The movie ticket said 8:45pm, so we tried to get in at 8:35, as in the U.S. you show up a couple of minutes before that time because the movie theoretically starts at that time. Well apparently not here, the theater wasn’t ready until 8:45, where we finally sat down as the only people in the theater, then waited 10 mins until the commercials started playing, then finally the previews. This took about 30 more minutes, and also the National anthem is played before every movie. We were watching previews when all of the sudden music started playing and people started standing up, so I just followed along and there was a 3 minute film and anthem about the Thai king, this was a worthy tribute and a good experience. The move finally started, by the end I was waiting for it to be done. I thought it was good, but just another flick, nothing new. We walked out of the theater and everything in the mall was closed up and it was pretty dark. We had a hard time figuring our way out, because the main entrance was already closed and locked. A guard had to show us the way out through a parking garage and out the back. We finally escaped and walked to see if the busses were still running. We decided to take a Tuk-Tuk back, for 30B. These are always fun to ride in, because its like a go cart and these guys always drive like they are in a race, swerving in and out and cutting people off. We got there quick though, and all in one piece. I said goodnight to Brandon and then went back to my room. Told Jason about the movie and did some more reading. There was a note from the girl down the hall that a bunch of people were going to meet at Thammasat at 11 to go to the “Weekend Market”, supposedly a big marked about a half hour away. I set my alarm and went to sleep.
Sunday August 15, 2004
Woke up before my alarm and just stared and took a while to gain consciousness. I had a few weird dreams that night and also a hard time sleeping. One dream that I can remember is that I had come back from Bangkok to Richmond. I was walking around the streets and I found Meaghan walking with her new friends, she wad dressed differently, like popular or Britney Spears like. She was also smoking and she ran away from her friends to see me. But it was weird then and we were mad at each other and we both had changed. We were both distant but finally we broke down and just laid on the grass together, I was holding her in my arms and we were sleeping. Next thing I remember I woke up hugging my pillow thinking it was Meaghan, I wanted to go back to sleep and dream I was holding her, but I couldn’t do it. That was a bit depressing cause I do miss her and it reminded me of being home. Also had another dream where we were, well I don’t remember but Rob was a pilot and we flew out of our house because the area was flooding for some reason. So I got ready and headed out to meet people at Thammast for the Weekend Market. I got there and Thai Time was again at work. I met some people that were going, but we didn’t leave until about 11:40. There was about 20 of us cramming into 2 vans that could sit 8 people, but it worked out ok and the trip was about 20 minutes. When we got there I saw the masses of people and the large tents and vendors all sprawled out through this area. They dropped us off and the Lady that was in charge said to meet at this one spot at 5pm. Ok, so was about noon time and we had five hours to walk through this market, that was just too much for me since I rarely enjoy shopping and there was stampeding people everywhere. I sucked it up and followed a few people until I was eventually by myself wandering through the endless valleys of people selling you things you didn’t know you needed. I will admit there were some cool shops with original handiwork, but most were just masses of manufactured chopsticks or purses. There was also a whole pet section, where I was a bit heart broken to see these baby animals being sold like meat. There were a lot of different types of species if you would like to know I shall list the types of animals that I can remember seeing: dogs, cats, rabbits, turtles, snakes, rodents, lizards, fish, arachnids, scorpions…and several sub species of those animals. I petted the furry things for awhile then moved on to other sections, I walked around and bought a few items but nothing big, but all of the 5 hours I walked constantly without ever seeing the same vendor twice. That was how big this thing was. I eventually realized that I had no clue where I was so at around 4pm I decided to find the meeting point, and it took all of the whole hour to find it. I got there and waited a while for more people in my group to show up. Then once we were all gathered we took a taxi to this big department store where we would all be eating. We had one huge table with all of us sitting, so it was like we took over the restaurant. The place was called MK, and was an upscale place too. The bill was to be paid by the school, so no worries about ordering too much. The school ordered the classic Thai meal there, which consisted of a bunch of meats thrown in a pot cooking right on our table, so it was a kind of stew, with a lot of seafood. So I just ate some noodles that were served separately and had a lot of green tea. We all finished and took awhile to gather together, and then took the brand new subway to a station where the vans were meeting us. The Bangkok subway had just opened a month earlier so none of the Thai students knew exactly how to use it. But we got it figured out and got to the right station alright. We got into the vans and rode back to Thammasat. By this time it was about 9pm, so I walked to the ferry and got back to my apt on time. When I arrived at the building and went up to the room, I found that the door was locked and Jason had gone out with the key. See we only have one key for the room, and when either one of us goes out we leave the key at the front desk, so who ever returns first can pick up the key. Well not this time, Jason had forgot to leave it at the desk, but they had an extra key and I got in Ok. So now I have to find out where Jason went, it is Sunday night and he usually doesn’t stay out too late. I waited a while before I started calling around for him, but then he came back at around 11pm. It turned out that Moo called looking for me to do something with, but since I wasn’t there Jason went instead. They had lunch, then went to a play at the school (which apparently was all in Thai and about protection and some gang people), Jason said the play was pretty funny even though he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Then he ate dinner with her and got back, so it turned out he had a good time which I was glad to hear. I was really tired from the long day out in the heat walking for miles so I showered and went to bed.
Monday August 16, 2004
Woke up at about 8:30am because I had class at 9:30 with Jason. The class was Buddhist Institutions and it was the first class because it was cancelled last week. We arrived a bit late and had to sit in the back, there were already a lot of people there and the teacher didn’t expect that many to be signed up. Well we got the overview and talked about some topics, and had a break in between. This class is only one day a week, but three hours long. The professor is American, but has been living in Bangkok for 12 years. He is a practicing Buddhist and knows quite a bit about the subject, the class is going to be specializing in Thai Buddhism (there are different sects just like Christianity), and this type of Buddhism I am unfamiliar with, so it should be a good course. We got done then I went to pick up some books that I had requested to be copied for my society and economy course, two books for a total of 460B. I then went with a few people to eat lunch at the cafeteria. I got the vegetarian food, which is always fantastic, and also a Boba fruit Shake. I was thrilled to find out that the cafeteria sells them, just like T T lounge in Richmond, and they are only 10B here, so that is amazing. The lady knows me know because I have stopped there frequently, so far my favorite flavor is blueberry, but they have quite a variety. My next class started three hours later so I went to the library a bit, then went to the international office to talk to the people there. Moo was there and I talked to her a bit, and she had given me a flash card with basic Thai words that I would need for ordering in a restaurant, and the written Thai words so I could show it to people also. It said that I was a vegetarian, and also a Vegan, or “ken-jae”. I know quite a bit now and am starting to feel comfortable conversing the standard good day and thank you and how much and all that. I am still learning the numbers, but it comes quick when you are living in the place where you actually use the language every day. So I got some tutoring with her, and then headed to my civilization class. This class is going to be a hard one, because of the unfamiliar names and places, just the phonetics will be hard to remember. This class was only a hour and half, all of constant note taking. But not bad to learn some new things about the country you are living in. So after that I just headed back, by then it was 5pm. I saw this street restaurant that looked fairly appetizing, all they made wad Pad Thai. Oh by the way I always thought that Pad means peanut, but now I know it means fried. So just remember that. Well I told him I didn’t want any meat in Thai, just tofu and the basics. It was pretty good stuff, but not a large enough portion to fill me up. It cost 45B, which for street food is expensive. I headed back to my apt and saw that some black clouds were rolling in. Just a quick rain storm, as usual for the rainy season. I arrived back at my apt. a little moist but refreshed, and while I was waiting for Jason to get back I played the guitar for a bit. Then Jason arrived and we decided to go get some food at a restaurant we have never been before. I got Brandon to come along and we walked until we saw some place that looked decent. There was no one inside and the staff was all over us. They waited over the tables until we decided, while one of the guys seemed to be in charge, telling the waitresses what to do. He was pointing at the menu trying to get us to order things that were more expensive. I ordered pineapple fried rice. Sounded good and it came inside a hollowed pineapple, which was cool too, but it had chunks of meat in it, not a lot so I just sucked it up and took the pieces out which were easy to decipher. The guy made Brandon eat the “right” way, he took his plate and put the rice in the bowl and then put the vegetables and meat in with the rice. But that was weird because it just grabbed the plate and did it for him, and also he yelled at Jason for putting soy sauce on the rice, because apparently that is only a Chinese tradition, not a Thai one. Once they were out, the rice was pretty good. It had pineapple and peanuts in the rice, which was quite delightful. I also ordered some hot jasmine tea, all this cost me about 110B, this was fairly expensive and I don’t think I will go back to this restaurant to eat any time soon. Well anyway me and Jason decided to go to Pata to get a new battery charger for his rechargeable batteries. We got everything taken care of and took a taxi back. Then just stayed in for the rest of the night, typing and reading.
Tuesday August 17, 2004
Not much today. I have a class at 12:30, Art and archaeology. This class was pretty large, compared to the rest of my classes, and it was three hours long. The teacher is pretty good, she told us that we will be learning art history, thai history, archaeology, and thai architecture. We will also be having two field trips to go see some old temples and ruins, so I am looking foreword to that. After I got out of class, I ate some food in the cafeteria, and of course got a boba shake. Then I walked around with Jason to Cosaun Rd because he wanted to get something. So we walked around a bit and I tried looking for this Vegetarian restaurant that I ate at before, The Cozy House, but I couldn’t find it amongst the masses of buildings and vendors. So we continued to walk and decided to stop at a different place that had some vegetarian food, we had eaten there before and the prices are really cheap. I got sweet and sour vegetables with noodles, it was almost like a soup, all for 35B. Jason took a taxi back to the apt and I decided to walk a bit more, and walk back to the apt. I do a lot of walking, as you may have noticed. But I like it better than taking taxi’s all over the place. So I get back to my apt alright, but really sweaty, it was really humid and sunny. Then I get all cleaned up and decide to type a little, and read some of my Economy and Society text book, which is pretty good stuff. Talking about the makings of society and the history of economy and what systems people employed to fulfill their needs. I at first though it was Thai economy and society, but it is really global economy and society, so it is not too difficult. Well anyway, it was about 8pm and we got a call, usually no one calls me so I figure it was for Jason. It turned out to be a girl I had met the day before, just for a few minutes at lunch and she had asked where I was living, so I guess she got the phone number and decided to give me a call. So that’s a little weird, but Thai people are extremely friendly like that, but still I was suspicious. Her name was Fone, it means rain in Thai. She asked if I wanted to come over to her apartment with her friend to watch a movie, so I really had no good excuse at hand and agreed. Jason didn’t want to come and thought I was crazy for going, but I am up for any experience, but know my limits and when to get out of a situation. So she and her friend met me at front of my building and we took a taxi to her apt building, only like 5 minutes away. We got there and it was awkward at first, but they were normal kids like me and we got along good. They made fun of me for just coming over when I didn’t know any of them that well, but I argued that they called me so they couldn’t call expecting me to say no. But it turned out that they did expect me to say no, but whatever. So she pulled out her guitar and they sang a few songs, oh another thing about Asian countries, karaoke is really big and they are used to just singing for fun and memorizing words to famous songs, so they expected me to know a lot of songs and I didn’t. They laughed because they know more American lyrics than I do, and I’m American. But they turned out to be good kids, not party animals like half the people I meet here, and they just like hanging out in small groups. I got to know them pretty well, her friend’s name was Gift. She is Thai also, but has a British accent because she studied there for 2 years, its just weird to hear a Asian person speaking good English but in a British accent. We watched Euro-Trip, which was a good laugh. So it turned out to be a good idea, because I met some people that I’m not afraid to hang out with, they are going to tutor me in Thai. We talked about Buddhism and what I knew, and about vegetarianism and whatnot. I got back around 2am, so Jason thought I was dead. Well that’s about it, I went to sleep…out.
Wednesday August 18, 2004
Not much happened today, just a regular schedule of classes. I woke up and finished The Prophet, I underlined a bunch of good quotes and it is an amazing book to read. After that I went to go eat some fruit at the cafeteria on Thammasat, then I had class at 12:30, Society and Economy. After that I ate lunch and talked to some people, then I went to the library for a bit and got on the internet. Then I headed back to my apt. It was raining, as the usual afternoon rain shower had come in. Sometimes it is a constant downpour for a half an hour, but it is usually just a little rain for 10 minutes, then light sprinkles for a little bit afterwards. But when there are downpours the streets get flooded quick, kind of like Richmond. When a huge portion of the land is covered with cement and paved over, then the water is not absorbed easily into the earth. So many streets fill up quickly and it is hard to maneuver around these swimming pools. The cars and mortocycles go slightly slower, but you sill have to watch yourself because they create giant waves of slimy street water, which can also soak you. Some people have mentioned that the rain irritates their skin or eyes, because of the pollution, but I don’t feel anything abnormal. It is good when it comes along because it cools down the air a bit and it is easier to tolerate. Well I got back mildy wet and changed. Then talked to Jason about what we could do, so I suggested going to a vegetarian restaurant that I had been to before. So we just took it easy in our room for a bit. Then we I got a call from Fone, seeing what we were up to. I said we might go out to eat and anyone could join us if they wanted to. But by then it had started raining again, pretty hard, so we decided that we were just going to eat at the bottom of our apt building. So Fone was getting a cold and she didn’t come, it was just me and Jason. We walked down to eat and we were surprised by Moo and Joe (Joe works at the international office), who had come by to see us. They came bringing gifts, some Thai music CD’s and some Thai desserts. So that was awfully nice of them to come over in the rain. We sat down and ate together, I had the usual of Pad Thai with Tofu. We were down there for about an hour, then went said goodnight and thanked them for coming over. The desserts they gave us were pretty good also. One was gelled coconut pressed and grilled between pieces of palm tree leaves. You open the leaves and pull out the coconut filling, not bad. The other was more of a candy, they were little shapes of fruits and vegetables that were gelled over and shiny looking. They turned out to be made of a bean related curd mixed with sugar cane, they were pasty and interesting, but good to have one or two. After we said good night we went up to the room to finish a few things and then went to sleep.
Thursday August 19, 2004
I had Thai Civilization at 12:30 and then Thai Boxing at 2pm. The Thai Boxing class sounds like it is going to be awesome. It is actually a class, where you get graded and tested. The first class we had was just in a classroom, to get us informed as to what we had signed up for. The teacher is great and I am surprised that he would be teaching at a university. He had been light weight champion in Thailand several times and had gone to the Olympics a couple of times also. His brother is also one of the best Muay Thai Boxers in the country and even won a Gold medal in Atlanta in the last games. They were both trained by their father who was also a great boxer. So this guy knows his stuff, but he doesn’t know a lot of English, so there is a translator there also. He went over the course and what we would be learning. He said at the end of the course we will go see a real match at one of the biggest stadiums in Thailand, the teacher has free entrances there because he was once champion. He said that there are only three places where you can see real Thai Boxing in Thailand, the kind with the gambling and hardcore fighters. So we have to learn the techniques and scoring before he takes us, but I am looking forward to it. We watched a video, and it showed some techniques and it looks like it will be a challenging course. After we got out of that I was walking out and back to my apt when I met Fone and Gift on campus. We made plans to go out to a Vegetarian place that served Thai and Indian dishes. So I got back and told Jason to come, but he wanted to say and read and take notes for his Thai history class. I met up with Anna and Dane from my building and they came with me. Anna is also a vegetarian; she is from northern California, U.C. Santa Cruise. Dane is from the Chicago area, and kind of a 90210 Beverley Hills type of guy, takes a half hour to do his hair, but he’s a decent guy once you get to know him. So we met up with Fone and Gift at the pier because we were going to take a boat to the restaurant. It costs 10B to get on the faster boats that go down the river, as opposed to the ferries with just go across the river to the other side. We stayed on for about 8 minutes and got off and walked a couple of streets to the restaurant. It was called Healthy Food, vegetarian restaurant. So that’s cool. We were the only ones in there and the way you order food was interesting too. They had pictures of the dishes and the names on two large pillars centered in the restaurant. So you go look at the pictures and point at the one that looks the most appetizing to you…ha I’d never thought I would be ordering my food off a pillar in a restaurant. But it was a more informal / cafeteria style restaurant so it some how worked. I got something that was imitation squid, which I didn’t know when I ordered it. There was long tentacle like protein strips in with rice and vegetables. It wasn’t bad at all, but a little chewy. We also got some tea that was excellent. After that we all got a taxi back to our Apt building and we had a jam session. Dane had a harmonica and Fone also plays the guitar, Gift can sing, and Jason had bought a wooden flute at the market that is like a recorder. So we were all trying to sound good, but it didn’t work out so much, but it was fun. So we then decided to go out and play some pool, down by Cosaun road. We went into this place called Shamrock’s, a bar/restaurant. They had a live band playing, a Thai band covering American rock songs, like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blink 182, and Offspring. It was funny to hear, but it was pretty good stuff. The pool table had a lot of people in line so we went somewhere else after hearing a couple of songs. The girls knew a small place where there would be little people, so we headed there. We eventually found a good place, and got to play a few games of pool. We decided to leave at around 12:30, and got a cab back to drop off Gift and Fone and then we took it back to our place. I got in and Jason was on the phone with his family, and told me that I had miss a call from my mom. Ah, the first time she gets through and I wasn’t there! Well it sounds like I have a package on the way. I got cleaned up and went to sleep.
Friday August 20, 2004
I woke up at about 9am, Jason was still sleeping. I got up and had to write an answer to a question, about a page in length, for Society and Economy. I finished and Jason was still sleeping, he had class at 11:30 and he usually leaves at about 1030, but it was already 10 something and he was still sleeping. So I debated weather I should wake him up or not, but I decided not to because he’s can handle his own. So I just typed a bit more in my journal and herd him slowly waking up at around 1030, and then herd him say “ah shoot”. I guess he realized he was a little behind. I also have been thinking about his passport, his expires the 26th of this month and he has to get his visa renewed before that time or they will fine him or kick him out of the country, but he needs to learn to take care of his own situation, it’s a tough lesson but someone’s got to teach him. He’s 22, and this is the first time he has lived on his own away from his parents. I’ve gotten the impression he is not used to too much responsibility beyond school work and his own interests. He leaves our stuff everywhere and dishes on the floor because it is easier for him to get things if they are down lower, I don’t mind it but we only have one fork and one spoon, and we agreed to clean them after any use…but I don’t yell at him, I just don’t tell him when he’s gonna get deported…so it seems fair enough. Well anyway he took a taxi to school because it was quicker, and I had class at 12:30 so I left around 11:45. I got to Thammasat and waited for the class before me to get out, as they usually run late and our class starts late. After class I ate some vegetarian food and then talked a bit, about any plans for tonight. I went to go get the Thai language book copied that Brandon lent me, because I am not taking the class but I still want to learn it. Then I went to the library to check email and send some out. Then I walked back to my apt. My new thing everyday is stopping and picking up some fried bananas at this lady right next to my apartment. She knows me now, and there is always a guy there too, they don’t speak English well, but it works out. I say good day to them and then “Glouy”, which means banana and I get a bag of the small fried ones, fresh, for 10 B. It’s a good amount of them too. But today after she handed me the bag and I handed her the money, she held up one and said “Ba-nan-A?”..i didn’t know what she meant but she kept repeating it. Then I figured out she was asking if that is what you call it in English…so I said “ohh, banana, Ka, ka”.. ka means yes. The they laughed and I went on my merry way back to my apartment. I think I’m addicted to these, they are really good and sometimes I put peanut butter on them, but Jason seems to think that is repulsive. They are really greasy though, but everything here is fried or grilled so I guess there is no other option. I have had some grilled bananas too, with a sweet coconut marinade; these are good too, but not as good as the fried and battered ones, I think there is a little coconut shredded on them too with some sesame seeds. Mmmmm’. Well I just read a bit and waited for a call from anyone to see if they wanted to do anything. I took a little nap, for about an hour. Then decided to call Fone to see if she was done working, but no answer. So I called Gift and she answered and said that she was just around Thammasat looking at the shops, so we decided that we were hungry, and I told here just to wait there a bit and I would gather Jason and Brandon to come along. So we left and headed to Thammasat, took the ferry and by this time it was about 7:45, and we met her at the pier by the university. We walked to a restaurant down the street. It had a tea house atmosphere, relaxed feeling. It did in fact have a wide selection of tea, which was good and also some vegetarian dishes. The restaurant was not that big, probably only 6 tables or so, but it had a tree in the middle with stones around it, so when you had to walk by you ducked under the tree. The whole restaurant was enclosed though, and air conditioned. We got our food and the meal was good, and not too expensive. I think my drink and noodle dish cost me 80B. After there we decided to go back to meet up with Fone at her apartment, the same building where Gift lives. We listened to music and played some of our own. We had gotten word of a “party” that this guy Nathan was having for his new apartment at Three J court. About a block away from where we were. Basically most of the international students would be there, so we were going to check it out. Jason and I don’t really go to these things because it is nothing special, just people getting drunk and screaming obscenities. We decided to head over there at about 11pm, and we walked through some weird areas to get there, the back alleys. The girls explained that they were massage parlors, the ones with a “happy ending” is what they called it. Ha, so it was funny to walk by and see all the taxi’s waiting out front and all the scandalous activity that goes on there. We got to the apartment and the security guy knew about the party and greeted us and escorted us to the elevator. That’s another difference here about how people act, I guess they all like to party, but they didn’t care about all these people in the apartment building drinking and being loud, in fact it is almost like they encourage it. When we got upstairs we said hello to a bunch of people and I talked to Nate, he is in 3 of my classes and a funny guy, but he likes to have a good time also. He told me that when he asked the management of the building if he could have a party they got excicted and gave him a few cases of beer. That was nice of them. Well there was probally 30 people or so in this upstairs lounge area, where his room was next to. I made my rounds and talked to the people I knew and refused drinks every 2 minutes or so. Jason didn’t enjoy the scene so he just left and I didn’t get to talk to him about where he was going or anything. By then it was about midnight. I found Fone and Gift again and we decided that the party was a bit boring so we decided to just go to Cosaun rd, actually I found out it is spelled Khaosaun. We walked around and saw all the night life, there were a lot of people out, locals playing guitar on the street and may people selling various items. We went into a couple of places but all of them were crowded, so we got fed up and just went back to Fone’s apartment. Then she called one of her European friends, who was having a little get together, not a party. Ha, I guess that is one difference between Americans and Europeans, they just get together and relax and have a few beers. Unlike American college students who get drunk and wasted, these guys are used to the accessibility of alcohol and don’t look at it as a big thing. So we headed over there and it was a nice place. They were on the 16th floor, and had an amazing view of the city. They had a huge bay window in each of the two rooms. They got hooked up because one of the guys from Holland gave a soccer jersey to one of the managers, and they somehow got one of the nicest rooms in the whole building. So, again, that is how they do it here. Me and Brandon were the only Americans there, but we got along alright. They asked us why all the Americans always hang out together, but we countered that all the Europeans hang out together. So they agreed, but there were no hard feelings. Some dutch, germans, sweedish, finnish, and the like were lounging around. All the girls looked the same, blonde hair, tall, and …Europeanesk beauty, but lacking something. A few of the girls came and talked to me and Brandon, and most of them are from the business program at Thammast, not the Thai studies, so we never really had seen them before. We mingled a bit with other guys, and met two Espens…which means Bear in Finish. One of the guys actually lives in our building, Ruen Indra, on the Third floor. He’s one of the less arrogant and rowdy Europeans. People slowly trickled out and we and three other guys were left, it was about 4am. We got in with Heiner, the guy who lived in the place. He is in Brandon’s Thai language class, so they had known each other before. But I just had met him and he’s an interesting fellow. We agreed to hang out again, and Fone and Gift said that since he had a kitchen we could have a traditional Thai dinner party. I want to learn how to make some Thai vegetarian food, or even the Pad Thai with tofu. Well we said goodnight and left and headed back to Ruen Indra, with Gift and Fone. We went to Dane’s room and just listened to music and looked at his digital pictures of everything he had done here. Gift left at like 5:30 because she had to get a bus down to her parents in southern Thailand at 8am, but the bus ride would be something like 11 hours, so she planned on sleeping then. I went outside and watched the sun rise and admired the scenery from the balcony, and heard the roosters right next to our building crowing. A perfect morning in Bangkok. I headed down to my room at around 6am, and was surprised to find Jason still awake, typing on his computer. He had been awake the whole time. When he left the first party, he walked a bit and then took a taxi to Khaosaun Rd. to check out the scene there and got a watercolor character of himself, which we agreed we had to get one later of us together. So we eventually went to sleep and closed the curtains to keep the approaching sunshine out of our cave, in which I proceeded to hibernate for the next week.
Saturday August 21, 2004
I woke up on and off during the next few hours, but eventually got up around 12:30. Fone called and asked if we wanted to go to Nuan Luan, a night bazaar tonight. I said alrighty then. I had to go pick up a book that I was getting copied at Thammasat, so I left to go there at around 3pm. I walked to campus, picked up the book and got a boba shake, then walked to the market to pick up some bread and bananas for the upcoming week. I got back at around 4:30 and asked if Brandon wanted to go with us to the market. He said “cool, whatever”, because we were all still sleep deprived that nothing much mattered. I went and took a bit of a nap until we were going out. We talked to Fone and decided to meet at around 7 by the Chang pier, next to the Grand Palace. We got there and met up with Fone, Gok-kai, and Vesa, her boyfriend from Finland. This guy is pretty Finnish looking, long blond hair with big hands and big feet, and tall too. He spoke good English and was pretty funny throughout the night. We sat down at an outside restaurant and I got the usual, Pad Thai with Tofu. After we ate we headed to Thammasat where we were going to me Heiner, and his Brother Espen, they were going to go with us to the night bazaar. On the way I stopped at a Thai bookstore and got a children’s Thai alphabet book, to trace and color and learn the Thai letters. When we were leaving the bookstore it started to rain, and it advanced to a down pour. We ran through the rain to meet the guys at the “canteen”, and we waited there until it slowed down to a drissle. Then we set off to the Nuan Laum market. We took taxis and it was about a 20 minute drive. We got there and decided to get something to eat first, so we went to “Safari Steakhouse”, my first choice as you may have guessed. I just got a fruit salad and some fried cashews, while others were ordering crocodile steaks. After that we split up and walked around for only about 30 minutes because by then it was about to close. They shut down at midnight, so we met up…and everyone except me, Brandon, Jason, and Fone were left. So we took a taxi to her apartment and watched a depressing movie, Thirteen. Well after it was over we looked at Fone and she was asleep, so we snuck out at about 3am and she didn’t even wake up. We got back to our apt, and I went to sleep. The next thing I know the phone is ringing and it was about 7am Sunday morning. It was Fone and she had just woken up and realized we were not there, so I laughed at her and we had a 4 minute talk about something …but we were both half asleep so I said I would talk to her later and then I went back to sleep.
Sunday August 22, 2004
“Ring, Ring, Ring”…eh someone is calling me again. Jeez… I pick up the phone and to my amazement it was Meaghan! So we had a long talk about what’s been interesting in our lives and what’s not so interesting. The pone line cut out a few times, because for some reason my line here wont let you have a continuous conversation for more than 20 or 30 minutes. Well it reached a point where I had to leave the room and call her from the international phone booth down the street. By that time it was about 11:30 and we had to say our usual torturous goodbyes, with our hearts not knowing which way is home. I left the phone booth not knowing what to feel, but I remembered that Moo was going to meet me and take me to a Blind children’s school. So I returned to Bangkok, as my head had been elsewhere. I got changed and met her at the bottom of my apartment. We took a taxi to the School, where I we could be volunteers and help out with anything during the day. When I arrived I was glad to be in a place that needed me, the blind children have enough charisma and love to make me smile a lifetime. I met a few kids and we had to organize them into groups of six. They were going to have a “field day” type thing, where they had to play games and such. I watched them play a relay game, as they had to pass a coke can after running around these two poles with ribbon tied between them, so they could feel their way along the ribbon. The fastest team would advance to the next round. As I was watching these games, someone came up to me with a blind girl on his arm, she looked about my age. He said she wanted to meet me, so I didn’t hesitate. He pulled her towards me and I held her hand as she introduced herself, and she spoke great English. She had been going to a college in England, and studying English for a year. So we talked about England and what she likes about it and if she had visited America. She seemed to enjoy talking with me and hearing why I was in Thailand and I certainly enjoyed her beautiful energy and holding her hand as we talked. After about 10 minutes her friend came back and they had to go so I said I was glad to have met her. After they left I went and found Moo, and we helped pass out snack to the kids. It was any one of the various kinds of chips, or nuts in a bag, and a small cup with orange liquid in it. After they ate, they held the trash in the air and we had to get it from them. Then after we didn’t have anything to do, we went out to get some lunch at a small side of the road place, and we both had Khao Rik Pad Puk, rice with fried vegetables. When we got back we saw they were all just hanging out and listening to music. I went over to another group of boys that were playing some guitars. All the kids here were in grades K-9. They were playing the guitar and singing pretty well, and I suppose they love to listen and play music. After a while they gathered in the cafeteria and listen to someone talk and they handed out little desserts to all the kids. Me and Moo went to another area to listen to one of the counselors, who is also slightly blind, play the piano for a bit. She was great, and she played some traditional Thai music. I was really tired by then, and I was drifting in and out of sleep. So Moo asked if I wanted to go, and I reluctantly said OK. So we said goodbye and got in a taxi back to my apartment. I thanked Moo for taking me to a great experience, and I went back to my place and took a nap for an hour, until 6pm. Then me and Jason went out to get some food, we took a taxi to Khaosaun Rd, where there is this good vegetarian restaurant, called Health for You, or something like that. I got this Tofu and vegetables sandwich, with also a peanut sauce on it…it was good but not that filling. So I had to get the amazing black sticky rice with coconut, banana and mango in a bowl with coconut milk. The sticky rice was warm, so it had the same effect as a warm brownie and cold ice cream. Ahh…I could go for some more right now actually. Well we finished that and walked over to Khaosaun Rd. because the place is close to, but not on the road. We looked around and bought a few items here and there and then got a taxi back. I read a little for my Buddhist institutions class, then hit the sack.
Monday August 24, 2004
I woke up at around 8am and had remembered through the night Jason had been typing and he actually went up the roof to type, and I heard him come back in at around 5 in the morning. So we both have Buddhist institutions at 9:30 and I debated waking him up. But I figured if he wanted to go he could get himself up, so I let him sleep. I got ready and it was about 8:40 and he hadn’t budged. So I left him and went to Thammast. I got some fruit and juice there and then made it up to class. At the halfway point in our class we took a 15 minute break, and I noticed Jason had come in when I got back from the break. I laughed at him and he was a little bitter, but nothing serious, he just said for me to wake him up next time if I don’t know what he’s doing. So after class I went and ate some lunch and waited for my next class to start at 15:30 (they use military time here so get used to it, I did). I went to the library for a bit, sent out some emails and read a little. I also had to write a few post cards. So I burned time until class started and then went to Thai civilization. After that class, I went down to the “canteen” and ate some really spicy vegetarian food, and had 2 bottles of water to wash it all down. I met Moo there and told here that me and Brandon planed on going back to the Night Bazaar because he wants to get things for his family. Brandon has decided to go back home and not stay the rest of the semester. He said that if he does a semester in Bangkok, then he has to do one more at his home institution. Otherwise he could just do one more at home and not another one, so he decided that it would be best if he goes back. So he leaves on Wednesday, and wants to get all the souvenirs before he goes back. He said he would also sell his cell phone to me for a 1,000B, which is good and I will probably buy it because it cost him about 2000B to get it all set up. So moo agreed to meet us at around 8pm to go to the market. I came back to the room and Jason wanted to go to the supermarket to get some food, so we walked to PATA and got what we needed. We took a taxi back and by then it was about 7:30. I cleaned the sweat off me and met with Moo and Brandon downstairs. We went to the market, Brandon went off on his own and me and Moo went to get some dinner. The only vegetarian stuff we could find was Pad Thai, and I was fine with it because it is one of my favorite dishes to eat here. So we ate and listen to the live band that was playing. After that we walked around and she got a call from her friend that co-owned a pet shop next to the market. So we walked over there and she had a few small and fluffy puppies to play with. They were miniature dogs, with very long hair so it almost seemed they were a moving shag carpet. When one laid down you couldn’t see its face or decipher its legs, it was just this mat of fur. We stayed for about 10 minutes then walked and looked at the shops for a bit until we found the spot were we were going to meet Brandon. After he showed up, we went back the apartment, but dropped Moo off first. By then it was about 10:30 and I got to my room, read some and typed some then went to bed at around 1am.
Tuesday August 24, 2004
I woke up at about 9am, and just putzed around, ate some peanut butter and jelly and some cereal, fruit loops, with a new kind of soy milk. It’s called Nature UP!, doesn’t sound delicious. Actually this kind is a lot better than the first one I got, which was sugar free and just not that tasty. This kind is made from soy, grain, and corn milk and it has some vitamins and calcium added, and it is also sweetened. So it’s pretty good, but it is really too sweet to have with fruit loops. So I read a bit and then headed to class an hour early, so I could talk to the international office. I went there and tried to pay for the trip this weekend that would be going to the floating market and to some caves. The guy I needed to see wasn’t there, so I had to come back later. I went to the canteen and met up with some people in my next class, and after a bit we went up there and low and behold my only class, Art and Archaeology, was cancelled. So I really had nothing to do, I went back down to the canteen, because I figured I might as well get some real lunch at the Vegetarian place, so I did and sat with some people. After that I went back to the international office to pay for the trip and the guy was finally there, so I got my ticket for this weekend. I also had seen a note up in the office that I thought may be for me. It reads: “To Michael, I sent you an email last week. Did you get it? Anyway, I wish to see you sometime, if you’re free. Call me O.K.!!! Fon Punyarat 01-3072926.” So I figured someone might be wanting to meet me, or it could be another Michael. So I decided to take the note with me this time, because I had seen it for the past week hanging up on the board. I grabbed it and went out, I had to drop off some paper for ISEP that had my classes on it so that the coordinator here could sign off on it. I found her office and greeted her and she told me to come back tomorrow because she had to verify the classes. So after that I went to the library a bit to check email and read some. Then I left and headed back to my apt. Brandon would be leaving tomarrow to go back home, so I wanted to see if he was going to hang out and do something before he left. I got back and he wasn’t in his room. So I called Fone to talk to her, the Fon that I had met before not the one from the note, and she wanted to say bye to Brandon too. So I waited to hear from him. I rested a bit, then Fone called me back and said that she talked to Brandon and he was coming back to the apt at around 8pm, so it was about 7 then and me and Jason were hungry. So we decided to go to a restaurant near Thammasat that Jason had been to before, and we took a taxi there. As we were walking to the restaurant Jason stopped at this street vendor that was selling delicious little insects, yes, bugs. He had crispy little critters, meal worms, beetles, cockroaches, and large grasshoppers. Jason got a bag of grasshoppers and the guy sprinkled some seasoning on them and sprayed them with soy sauce, so they looked pretty gross. We continued to this empty restaurant, that had a small stage set up for live music and the lighting was dim also. We sat down at these shakey tables and chairs and Jason tried the Grasshoppers, and said they actually were not bad, just crunchy but pretty good. I looked at the menu to keep from looking at the bag of insects on the table and noticed lack of vegetarian dishes. So I had the usual Khao Pad Puk, any place can make if even if it’s not on the menu. They put a candle on the table to increase the romantic feeling and then a guy and girl went on stage to start playing some music. It was weird because me and Jason were the only ones there, and it was like they were playing just for us. The guy was playing the piano and the girl was singing, it was pretty good but awkward because they were like 20 feet away from us. So after ever song she would say that her English wasn’t that good but asked if we like the song. We said yeah and smiled and waited for our food to come. When I got my plate I noticed that the rice with vegetables was molded in the shape of a heart, so that was also romantic. So we finished and all the while maybe one or two people came in to eat and they continued playing music. The meal was too expensive and not good enough for that price, my dish and a bottle of water were 90B, so I don’t think I’ll go back to that place again. We walked down the street and surprisingly saw two people from the international program, so we said hi and then two other people came walking from the other direction that I knew, one of them was Moo with her buddy Brenden, so it was weird to run into all these people just on the street. We talked for a bit, then me and Jason headed back to meet up with Brandon to see what he was up to. I got to the apt and went to his room and talked to him and bought his cell phone for a 1000B, and he was packing up to leave at 4am on Weds. Fone said she was going to stop by in a bit so I waited down in my room and decided to call the Fon from the Note that I found in the International office. I called not knowing if it was the Fon I knew or not because it was a different number. So some one answered and I said hello and introduced myself and why I was calling. It turned out that she was looking for her buddy named Michael also, but with a different last name. So I was a bit embarrassed and it was a little awkward but she asked if I wanted to meet anyway and I say what they hey, and decided to meet her for lunch at 11am at the international office. She asked if she could bring some of her friends so I said I didn’t care, and so…yeah im going to meet some random girl tomorrow, but I think it will be ok. I then called the other Fone to see where she was and it turned out that she was in the building at someone else’s room. So I she came down to my room and we went up to see Brandon. We talked for a bit and Brandon decided he wanted to go to Khaosaun one last time before he left. Fone had to go back and do some work, so just me and Brandon went, by this time it was about 10:45pm. We walked around and he got some fake Adidas that looked pretty good. For some reason all the shops had to close at 11pm, and the police was there to enforce it, so you couldn’t buy anything off the street past that time. I later found out it was just a temporary ordinance because they were on an electricity shortage or something, I’m not too sure. So I was a bit hungry because that plate of rice I ate with Jason didn’t really fill me up, I stopped by my regular place, 247 Thai, which is right off Khaosaun and they have cheap vegetarian food. I got Pad Thai and Brandon walked around until I finished. After that I walked outside to meet up with Brandon and ran into Dave, Mia, and another Michael that all live at Ruen Indra. So we talked and when we me up with Brandon we all took a taxi back. I said farewell to Brandon and wished him a good trip and a good life. That’s the last I saw of him, and so I went to my room and read some economics and then went to sleep at around 1am.
Wednesday August 25, 2004
So I wake up at about 9:30 and stare for a bit. Jason got up, got ready for class, then headed out at around 10:30. I had to meet the other Fon at 11, so I got ready too and left to go to Thammasat. I took the ferry as usual and was feeling a bit nervous, and wondering what I had gotten myself into. So I go to the international office to see if I can find her, but no luck. So I go upstairs to pick up my form from the ISEP coordinator, then head back down to the International Office, and as I was about to open the door a girl comes out and says “Are you Michael”, yes indeed, that’s me. So I meet her and she said she has some friends I can meet too. So we go around the corner and there are about 15 of her friends waiting there, like it was a surprise party or something. This was a bit overwhelming, I only expected 2 or 3 of her friends to come, but I went down the line and introduced myself while they told me each of their names, which I cant remember but 2 of them. So after that about half of them had to go to class, and just wanted to meet me, and the other half came with us to get lunch by the Prachan Pier, right outside Thammasat. We got to this nice little restaurant, and I think there were about 8 of us. I told them I was vegetarian, and I got the usual “Ohhhhh”, and they talked amongst themselves in Thai for a bit. They helped me find something to order and we just talked about the usual…where I was from, what was I studying back home, do I like it here, and all that stuff. I asked them the same vague questions and it seemed to be going well. It was weird, like I was some celebrity because I was the only white guy, surrounded by 7 Thai girls, and ..yeah so it was a bit weird, but I got over it. So we talked a bit, and Fon was nice and easy to talk to, and also her friend Bo, the only two names I can remember. So we left there about 12, I had class at 12:30, so we departed and I said we could hang out again anytime, if they wanted to do something. I walked over to the canteen because I still had about 20 minutes till class started, and I met up with some people I knew and talked a bit. Then headed up to the class, Society and Economy, and waited for the class before me to get out, because they are always behind schedule and our class usually doesn’t start until 12:40-45. Well we had class, and I learned more about “society and economy” and then I went down with Josie and Anna to get some lunch. I wasn’t too hungry, but I always take advantage of the cheap food there while I can, because once I go back to my apt from school it is hard to find a cheap decent meal within walking distance. So we ate and talked for about an hour, and I walked to the library and did the internet thing, and then went upstairs to meet Fone, for she said she wanted to tutor me in Thai at 4pm. So I waited and called her cell and no answer, so I walked to the soccer field where they were having a game and watched about 15 minutes of it. Then called her again, no answer so I headed back to my apt. Once I got there I got a call from her saying she left her cell phone at home and couldn’t meet me because she wasn’t feeling too well. So that’s cool, not a problem. I got word that some people were meeting down stairs to eat some dinner at 8pm, but I didn’t really know. Moo called me and said she would be coming over, so me and Jason said we would eat with her. When she got here, Fone called and said she was coming over to meet some people to eat in the restaurant underneath our building, so we went downstairs and meet with Fone, but me, Jason and Moo went to a Vegetarian restaurant, The Cozy house of course. We ate there and I had sticky rice for dessert again, and felt a little sick for eating so much throughout the day, but I couldn’t resist the sticky rice. After we were done we went back to Ruen Indra and Moo went home. I had been doing some water color painting of a lotus throughout the day, and I finished that tonight, and then read for a bit and went to bed around 1am again.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Saturday, August 14, 2004
To Feel For One
Back from the those who wait, in a distance dove like
A flower scented gift that will cut the fog in your days
I burn, I burn
My cup is dry, yet I drown
Feeling full with an empty guardian, grown alone
Whose eyes pierce me at night?
I feel a hand holding mine, yet I never see it
The breath on my forehead awakens
Igniting the wick of wisdom
Yet I know no thing
And feeling is another language to be learned
Eyes of a babe
Sometimes beauty does not come in packages
It is the gestures through the glass and past the thoughts of many
Yet I easily access it
It’s hard to say, sometimes I feel estranged
When I find myself looking for the first time
At the things we all have seen before
Am I the only one to not feel pain in the rain?
Am I the only one granted peace without having to call for it?
For what cause do I get taken hostage
With the willows who weep for attention
The sky grumbles, but they do not hear
The sun shoots fire, but they do not see
Unless we have an interpreter
I suppose my words may try
But they tire without the reader’s experience
One is better than none
Our blessings remain to be counted
Yet I sleep with them
Woven into the blankets I was born with
Back from the those who wait, in a distance dove like
A flower scented gift that will cut the fog in your days
I burn, I burn
My cup is dry, yet I drown
Feeling full with an empty guardian, grown alone
Whose eyes pierce me at night?
I feel a hand holding mine, yet I never see it
The breath on my forehead awakens
Igniting the wick of wisdom
Yet I know no thing
And feeling is another language to be learned
Eyes of a babe
Sometimes beauty does not come in packages
It is the gestures through the glass and past the thoughts of many
Yet I easily access it
It’s hard to say, sometimes I feel estranged
When I find myself looking for the first time
At the things we all have seen before
Am I the only one to not feel pain in the rain?
Am I the only one granted peace without having to call for it?
For what cause do I get taken hostage
With the willows who weep for attention
The sky grumbles, but they do not hear
The sun shoots fire, but they do not see
Unless we have an interpreter
I suppose my words may try
But they tire without the reader’s experience
One is better than none
Our blessings remain to be counted
Yet I sleep with them
Woven into the blankets I was born with
Monday August 2, to Monday August 9
So much has happened and I have found no time to write. I can only summarize from here. Before I start I have to say I got a guitar finally. We went to Pata again and I checked out the acoustic guitars and made a decision on a Kimus (a highly recommended guitar). I paid 2,700B and it works fairly well, enough to satisfy my cravings. Ok so we went to Ko Chang – Jason, Brandon, and I. We took a bus which was about 5 hours, costing 198B. We took it to Trat then took a boat ride across to the island. We had no clue where we would be staying and by the time we got on the boat it was dark and probally about 7pm. There were other people going to the island and we questioned them to where they were staying. When we landed on shore we decieded just to follow the Canadians we met that were staying at “Cookie” resort and bungalows. We discovered that there was only one truck taxi left traveling to the resort area, because the island is fairly undeveloped. Mostly forest and only one main road circling the island. There were 16 people who needed a ride on this truck taxi, the size of a pickup truck with a covered roof and bench seats with a riding bar on the rear. So we ended up fitting, or rather cramming, all 16 of us on the back with 4 people hanging on the rear. The island is fairly mountainous and we had trouble getting up the hills with all the weight in the back. It was pitch black out and all I saw was what was illuminated by the trucks headlights, it seemed as if we were trying to escape out of the country. Everyone had a good time and we followed the Canadians to the resort and got a bungalow right on the beach for 600B a night, now that’s 200 each…so about 5 bucks a night to stay right on the beach! We got situated and decided to walk a bit down the main road and get something to eat. There were not too many shops but definitely a few for the tourists. After finishing we had nothing to do but go to bed. Brandon slept on the floor and me and Jason shared a king size bed. We could hear the waves crashing 20 feet from our door and I went into a deep sleep. Next thing I remember is hearing the wind howling and a downpour of rain flooding our hut. The rain was so heavy that you couldn’t see outside at all, almost like looking underwater. I tried to ignore it and we had to close the door so that Brandon wouldn’t be soaked. I woke up at about 6am and it was still raining, I had planned to take an early walk and maybe yoga on the beach but that plan didn’t look like it would happen. So I went back to bed and woke up a little later when the rain was down to a light drizzle. We ate breakfast and decided to rent motorbikes to ride down south more and find another place to stay for the upcoming night. We checked out and got the bikes, mine was a manual transmission 125cc, it was 150B for 24 hours. I had to put Jason on the back of mine and his crutches and all our backpacks made the bike a little unbalanced. We went slow until I had the hang of it. We traveled down the road for about 15 minutes until we found another area where we could rent a bungalow and as soon as I stopped on the side of the road we tipped over and Jason and I fell off with the bike landing on top of us. No one got hurt and we all had a good laugh from it. After we got our bungalow, me and Brandon drove our bikes around the island and planned to go to a nice waterfall but it was closed, we think because of the extra rain may had made it dangerous. The roads on the island were fun to navigate. There were many hills and curves and it was also raining slightly. I enjoyed risking my life several times and forgot only two times what side of the road I should be driving on, no biggie. Brandon fell off the bike on one massive curve that had a 50 or 60 degree slope. I didn’t see it because he was quite a bit behind me, but I noticed he wasn’t behind me and waited for him. There was no damage to him, and more importantly none to the bike. We decided to head back when Brandon’s gas gauge was reading empty. We slowly found a place to fill up and then headed back to meet up with Jason. We shopped around a bit and got some souvenirs and ate some more good food. We stayed the night there for 400B, or about 133B each. The experience was pretty good and we met some interesting people along the way. We took a mini bus back that fitted about 10 people and that took longer than we expected, about 7 hours, because the driver kept stopping and resting and eating and all sorts of random activities. We made it back in one piece and my first island trip was a success. We got back on Wednesday evening and had to register for class on Thursday. I woke up Thursday and got my stuff together for registration. I got to the building and met all the international students and it was good to see some fresh faces. The day went smoothly and we had a terrific lunch, free of charge. I signed up for classes, and they all sound interesting. I also signed up for a Thai Kick Boxing class, so we will see how that goes. I did meet some Japanese and French students that seem easy to get along with. It is a new experience to meet so many different people and all of us are unfamiliar with Thailand, so we have a common goal. This is what gets me up in the morning and keeps me excited about the day ahead. I can’t get enough of the exploring and meeting new people. I go to sleep late at night and wake up early so I get the most out of the day, I always feel like I am doing something and although I love life that way, I need to take things a bit slowly. There is too much to do in 24 hours.
I meet more people that are staying in the same building and there was a consensus that we should make the most of our 3 day weekend and go to another island, Ko Samet. I agreed and we met at 7 am to make the trip. This time only a 3 hour bus trip that cost 128B one way. We arrived on the beach and the weather was nice, and we had trouble finding a place to stay. We ended up getting a 2 large bungalows with 3 king size beds. There were 6 guys and 5 girls. So the guys were in one and the girls in the other. We all ate dinner and enjoyed the beach before the sun went down. We stayed up late and talked at the restaurant/bars on the beach. There were a fair amount of other people there and we made friends quickly. The locals are the best to talk to and they are all very friendly and laid back. At night there was a “fire” show where they would spin a flaming stick and some nun-chuck type things. It was entertaining and some of the guys tried it with no real success and a couple of burn marks. We did some night swimming and the water was always warm. The sand was white and extremely soft under my feet. These islands were known for their coral reefs and I felt a few rocks and coral a few times. After going to sleep and waking up early I felt relaxed and amazed at where I was. I off the Cost of Thailand and it all seemed so surreal. It was all hard to take in, there was too much beauty surrounding me and I couldn’t help but notice it all. The new day was a perfect one at that. The sky was deep blue and white clouds whisked high above, if any place was paradise, it was here. The island mountains rose up behind me while the cost line made several inlets so as to hug the crystal water. There ocean had no quarrel and remained placid and smooth all day. This made swimming a dream, like diving into a warm vein traveling to the heart world. After swimming a bit I decided to trek the island and see what was out there. I got packed up and took rations and headed out exploring while the others relaxed on the beach. I just followed the main dirt road up until I hit another beach where, it just so happened, I saw several topless women sunbathing. I didn’t not stare of course and it seemed normal yet foreign to me, and I believe only Americans would feel this way. I kept hiking up to the northern tip and went through several local villages. They had huts on stilts out on the water and also on the land. I traveled by the main boat dock, where there were many shops, and found a woman making fried bananas on the side of the road. These I had to try, and believe me they were worth the 10B. I have to say they have been my favorite food I have tried in Thailand. After exploring around the whole island and eating a bit here and there I managed to find my way back to the beach were we were staying. I had spent 4 or 5 hours out in the sun and had put little sun tan lotion on. My skin did feel a bit burned but it only got worse later on that night. We played some soccer and Frisbee on the beach with a few other locals and ate a good meal again on the beach. We all stayed up, the others drinking and carrying on, but I enjoyed it still. They respected my choice and we all had a good time. We checked out and got on the boat the next morning and I sat in a hammock for the ride to the island. This was the highlight of my weekend, it seemed like bliss for that 30 minutes, with me swinging back and forth in the back of the boat floating along the coast of Ko Samet. I closed my eyes and didn’t want the moment to end, but of course we had to land on shore again, and the journey continued. Took the bus back with no problem and made it back alive for one more day. By this time it was Sunday at about 4, so a few of us needed to get some last minute uniform items before showing up at Thammast on Monday. I had to get some black pants and search for inexpensive black shoes. I got the pants, which desperately need hemming but no luck on the shoes. I decided I would just wear my converse. We were going on a tour so we had to be in basic uniform, but the shoes didn’t really matter.
After waking up Monday morning I headed to Thammast for the Vimanmek Mansion tour and the Grand Palace tour. Jason decided to stay behind and sleep until his class later in the day. So I went with the group from my building and we met other students at the meeting point. The first tour we went to was the mansion, it was “the worlds largest golden teakwood mansion”. It was built by King Rama V, the most adored and respected Thai king. He enjoyed western architecture and so the large mansion had many styles built into it. It had the first electric chandelier and first shower and many other technological advances for their day. The mansion was huge, it had 78 rooms and several sets of staircases. The sections were color coated and separated different parts of the mansion. I believe there was blue, green, ivory, pink and peach. The king’s area was peach. This mansion housed millions of dollars of artifacts and gifts given to the previous kings and whatnot. I enjoyed the Chinese section with many teapots and paintings. The king had a different colored tea set for each day of the week. I also found out that Vimanmek means “paradise”. The tour took about an hour and a half and we saw some traditional Thai dancing at the end. I got to talk to my Japanese friend, Eshike, and also the French one, Mail. After eating some rice and cantaloupe, we got back on the bus and headed out back towards Thammasat. We stopped and let out anyone who didn’t want to go on the next tour of the grand palace. Then drove down the street towards the entrance of the Temple, which is within walking distance from the school. The Grand Palace “(the temple of the Emerald Buddha) is the city’s landmark and should be the first place on any visitor’s itinerary. The Palace built in 1782, consists of several buildings with highly decorated architectural details. The magnificent Royal Chapel, Wat Phra Kaeo, which is the same compound, houses the Emerald Buddha, one of the most sacred Buddha images in Thailand”. That is the description the school gave us on the handout describing the trips. When we arrived at the Grand Palace, we had to wait a bit for another group to show up. Once our guide got everything taken care of, we were able to proceed into the compound. We got in for free, where normal tourists would have to pay 200B. We had a another lady meet us and she was our tour guide inside. I will attempt to recall all that I had seen, and give some history that I have in one of my Thailand books. When you first walk in through the gates and pass through the surrounding wall and roofing, you spy the enourmous sparkling temple and other tall structures. Everything is brightly colored and gleaming in the sun. You are suddenly transported into another world. You are greeted with the Wat Phra Keo, the temple that houses the Emerald Buddha. This structure has several overlapping roofs and shingles in blue, red, and orange. The points at the top are covered with gold, and as you eye extends down you notice all the detailed work inlayed in the pillars and on the side of the building, words can not describe. There are many other structures jutting out high into the sky. The Phra Si Rattana Chedi, is the tall gold covered cylindrical building. It contains a pieced of the Buddha’s breastbone. As I turned around and looked around the whole place I saw many tall statures of the Ramakien Monkey Guardians. They are the classic Thai figures and there are, I believe, eight sets of them. Each with different characteristics, for example, one pair had a elephant trunks for their noses. After walking with the guide and hearing the history behind the many buildings we headed towards the old throne hall. We passed by the may wall paintings, and this too was amazing to see. The “Ramakien Gallery extends clockwise all the way around the 178 panels depicting the complete story of the Ramakien.” This distance is about 2,080 yards, which is just amazing. The story is a mythological tale of the monkey king, love and war. As we pass by the tour guide explains some sections as to what is happening. All of it was hand painted and very detailed and beautiful. We continue walking under the roofed wall, and then the dark clouds rolled in and it began to downpour. It rained hard for about 10 minutes, then it slowed up enough so that we could walk to the old living palace of the Kings. This area is closed off to normal tourists, but we had special privileges because we were Thammasat students. This area we had to take off our shoes at the door and we were not allowed to take pictures, but it was all very beautiful and antique. I enjoyed walking without shoes and many places require it, like the Vimanmek mansion and some restaurants. We saw many artifacts and the rooms were expansive and grand. As we were about to leave it began to downpour again so we waited inside and we all had time to relax and take it all in. I sat crossed legged on the floor, closed my eyes, and just felt the energy in the room. It had a very serene and comforting feeling that allowed me to meditate easily. We sat for about 20 minutes, until the rain let up a bit and some people sent over large umbrellas for us to share. We continued out of the palace and followed the tour guide as she pointed out new things. We stopped at the royal guest house and this is where any of the kings guests stay, like queen Elizabeth or other royalty. By this time I realized I was late for my first class which started at 3:30, Thai Civilization. A few other people were headed out to go to class so I went with them. We walked back to Thammasat, which took only 8 minutes or so. When we got to the class it was about 4:15 and we snuck in the back and sat down wherever there was a seat available. The teacher didn’t notice, or ignored us, and kept on teaching the material. What, material already! She had already started teaching on the first day of class, which I did not expect. I noticed that there were about 10 international students, which were all wearing their uniform, and about 20 Thai students, which only one was wearing his uniform. So I figured the dress code was pretty lax. I also found it interesting that the Thai students talked constantly amongst each other and some were even crashed out sleeping on the table. There was constant chatter during the teachers lecture and she didn’t tell anyone to be quite or wait for people to give her silence. So learning here will be different, but I think I can manage. After class was over I waited for the other international students which had been sitting on the other side of the room. Anna in particular because we had gotten to know each other a bit and I wanted to see what she was up to. Anna is from Florida, but she has been going to schools all over the world and has an accent. Her parents live in Spain now, so she said that even though she is from Florida she has no other home at the moment other than here. I first noticed her when she was carring one of those grocery bags that are canvas, it has a rainbow and turtles on it and says “save the environment” in German, the same one that Meaghan has. So we walked and went over to the international office where I picked up my student I.D. card and she had to revise her schedule. There I met two other Thai students and Matt, a guy that lives in my building that I had not talked to much before. They said they were going to get food at the cafeteria so I joined them and said bye to Anna. One of the Thai girls had just graduated Thammasat. She introduced herself as Joop, it means kiss. We talked a lot and she was very interested in finding out more about both of us and America. She said she has traveled a lot, but has never been to America. She made us laugh and taught Matt and I how to pick up Thai girls. She taught us Koon Soo-Ay Mah Krup – you are so beautiful, and Pom Chorp Koon – I like you. I was a fun experience and by then it was about 6pm so Matt and I headed out and said good bye, and they took down our emails and our room numbers. After getting back and meeting up with Jason, I was tired and took it easy for the rest of the night.
Tuesday August 10, 2004
Jason, Brandon, and I decided to go to Cosaun Road today. This is one of the largest market streets in Bangkok, you can basically buy anything here. There are always a ton of tourists and backpackers, and this is a place you have to be careful in. I had not previously been there before, but Jason and Brandon gave me the low down. You can negotiate on anything and if you want something you don’t see you can just ask and they will probally have it. You want ninja throwing stars, tazers, pirated software and movies? You can get it, and for cheap. When we arrived we agreed to go our separate ways and meet at the Burger King right at the top of the road in about an hour. There was clothes, hand carved elephants and Buddhas, jewelry, books, insense, knives, swords, electroand plenty of places to buy fruits and the like. I had only been there for about 10 minutes when:
Experience: ...will tell you guys later...So after I had gotten out of the alley it was already time to meet the guys at Burger King. I walked feeling stunned and stupid. I needed time to digest it all, so when I showed up to meet them I must have looked a little out of it, I just said all the shopping and things to buy overwhelmed me. I asked if anyone was hungry because I saw a place where they had cheap food and some vegetarian stuff. We walked to the place and it was a traditional Thai restaurant. By this I mean open to the street, small, and with wooden tables and stools. Very simple. I ordered Pad Thai with Tofu and an Ice Tea. All this was delicious, and only cost me 35B. Brandon had class so he took a taxi to Thammasat while me and Jason took one back to our apartment. We rested a bit and then Jason and I walked down to the market by the Phrachan pier, about 15 minutes, where there is a fairly large market. Along the way we found the Post Office and I mailed 3 post cards, one to Mom, one to Pops, and one to the Samahas. We got some food and miscellaneous items, I needed some thread and needles to hem up my black pants because they were excessively long. So we got back and just took it easy for the rest of the evening. I read some Thoreau and typed some, and attempted to send pictures via the internet, but no luck. I have class tomorrow at 12:30, Thai society and economy. Brandon and I are in the same class so we are going to walk it together. Did a half hour of yoga and meditation that helped clear my head of things and kept me centered, I got to sleep easy.
Wednesday August 12, 2004
Woke up early, too early so I went back to bed and woke up again at around 9. I had class at 1230 so I went to Brandon’s room to see if he was up yet because we are in the same class. We talked and agreed to meet at 1200 downstairs and walk to class together. The walk to Thammasat isn’t so bad. We have to go up cement stairs and across a bridge, then down a set of stairs again. Then we turn though Wat Amarian, which is a fairly big compound. It has the standard temple with beautiful architecture, but what I find mysterious about this Wat is an old, smaller temple structure that looks as if it had once been burned down. It looks very old, yet it miraculously remains it posture. It has a black and white feel to it, with the temple roof in ancient green shingles and monotone paintings. Every time I pass, it feels like a haunted house, yet it contains wisdom, and I am speechless and awe struck every time. It is off to the side and many others pass by it without even a glance, but I am swallowed by it every time. After we pass through the temple grounds and walk out through the golden gates we continue down the street towards the pier. This pier is the “Railway” pier and connects us to Phra Chan pier right next to Thammasat. The whole trip usually takes 15-20 minutes. It costs 2B to take the ferry, and we usually arrive fairly dry. We walked to the class and made it there at 1230, but it seemed that the previous class had just gotten out. We waited and then sat down with a few other people I knew. I had heard that the Thais just use time as more of a basic guideline and not as an exact measurement. After the teacher came she explained that we would probably be starting 5 to 10 minutes after 12:30, so that’s OK with me. The class was Thai society and economy and the topics she explained were interesting. After class we talked a bit with some other people and then decided to go eat something at the cafeteria. I got some veg. food again with some corn chips and corn and tofu and just some random stuff with spicy sauce on top, it was interestingly delicious. We met Josie there, another international student from Louisiana who is 2 feet taller than me, and we ate together. We went our separate ways afterwards and I went to look in the bookstore. I met up with Brandon there and we decided to find out if the library has the books we need because many people make copies of the book instead of buying it brand new, which leads to me questioning the copyright laws around here but the teachers even recommend that we copy them. It costs about a quarter of the price, which compared to text books back home, it is extremely cheap. I think about a 100B per book, which is less than three bucks. So we went to the library and Brandon found out that the books were somewhere else and I sent him on a mission to find them and get them copied while I used the schools computers to send some emails. Afterwards I decided to rent a dvd from the library and watch it. You see the school has a big multimedia area where there are about 30 tv’s with dvd players and head phones where you can watch movies, so this looked like a good idea. I got the movie Bad Company with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins, it was alright but I got bored of it after a while. After I finished that I went back to eat some more at the cafeteria, because it is good and cheap, but the Vegetarian place was closed. I tried ordering at another place but I ended up getting a dish with meat in it so that was no good. While I was sitting at the table a man came up to me selling bottle openers. I had seen him go up to many people and they all rejected him. He then came up to me and spoke surprisingly good English. He said that he was unemployed and needed to get money for is underprivileged children. He had a soft voice and his eyes were truthful, even behind his thick glasses I could see someone in need. He said they were 25B and only 5B is profit for him. I really didn’t need a bottle opener and even if I bought one just to help him out I wouldn’t use it. So I just gave him 20B and he blessed mean and said that he knew I was kind and generous from my hansom face. I’m glad to help anyone, and what goes around comes around. After I left the cafeteria I headed back to my Apt. There was another International student I ran into. I forget his name at the moment, but I think it is Matt. Anyway he waned me to go get some beer with him later and told me to meet him out front of Pata, the department store at 9pm, I said I wasn’t sure I would make it, but I think he expected me because I really didn’t object too strongly. Well I crossed the river again and went back to my apt to see what Jason had been up to. We decided we were hungry because I didn’t eat the dish that they gave me with meat in it at the cafeteria. We got Brandon and went to the little restaurant near our place, a traditional Thai sidewalk dinner, like I had previously described. I ordered papaya salad, or Som Tum I think. We got several dishes and didn’t know whose was what. After dissecting the dishes I we all found ours and began eating. Then, a funny feeling came over me, my mouth felt like it was lit on fire. This dish was freaking spicy, and I mean deadly spicy. I went through two bottles of water and a bowl of rice before I even got halfway done. My head was throbbing and I felt light headed, like I was about to pass out. I thought the dish was delicious, but just really spicy. It was a cold dish, like a salad, with tomatoes, sliced papaya and peanuts, and of course chili peppers and red flakes which meant it was dangerous. I turned out all our meals were spicy and we must of looked like fools downing water and our faces turning red. Mine and Jason’s eyes and nose were watering pretty bad. I couldn’t finish my meal and mouth and lips felt like they had gone to hell and back. Well that was an experience. I left still hungry so when we came back to the apt. I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I went up to Brandon’s room and we brought down the movie Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, that is an illegal copy he bought on Cosaun Rd. The Quality was pretty poor but I watched it all the way through. After it was over I began typing this. Then I expect I will read a bit then go to bed.
Thursday August 12, 2004
The Queen’s birthday, no class. So I wake up to the phone ringing, I answer it and it is Moo, a Thai student. She says hello and wants to know if I want to go with her and some other international students out to lunch today, so I was glad someone wanted to hang out with me and agreed to meet at 12:00 at Thammasat. We debated where we would go eat, but since Moo and I are vegetarians we had limited choices. She finally decides we will go to this good vegetarian restaurant near Cosaun road. The place is underneath a hotel, but looks homely. The whole menu looked delicious and I had a hard time choosing, but I decided on the noodles with fried tofu and vegetables and peanut sauce. Then I got a banana shake, that was awesome too with a hit of coconut milk. After I finished that I had to get this desert: Black sticky rice with mango and banana in a bowl with coconut milk. This was amazing too, like a sweet cereal. After we ate there, we decided to look around on Cosaun Rd. and some one wanted to look at books. So we did that for a bit then went to a ice cream place where they got fondue and multiple flavors of Ice cream. I have been having trouble keeping the vegan diet here. About half of the dishes you get have egg in them and I have since learned to say Mai Kai, no egg, but I have eaten egg out of hunger and frustration that I can’t order what I want. I haven’t had any cheeses or cows milk here, but I cant read the ingredients on any of the packaging, so I’m not positive that the bread I’ve been getting is vegan either, well any way I had to have a few bites of ice cream too. It’s hard here, a good 95 percent of the students got out late and drink a lot, and of course I don’t, and also I am a vegetarian and I have only met 1 other international student that is also a vegetarian. So it is hard to go out and have fun with people who don’t like the same things you like. It then gets to the point where they either naturally filter me out of their daily activities or they pressure me into doing things I don’t want to do. Well either way I feel like the outcast, even amongst foreigners in Bangkok. I do feel guilty and like I had committed a grave sin because I had some ice cream. Well after we were done there, we decided to head back and we walked through this park to get on the nearest ferry. There are some festivities already starting, little girls are dressed up and having a formal dance. We continued on to the river where we took the speed boats back to the pier close to my building. By this point everyone else had gone separate ways and I was left to walk back to my apt alone once again. Before I got to my apt. I had planned to call Meaghan, and that’s just what I did. I got to hear her voice for the first time since I left and even though she was mad I was happy to talk to her. We couldn’t talk long because she was just getting to work, so the time difference is always a problem. Well headed back to my apt. and I met up with Brandon and Dave eating in the downstairs restaurant, they said they were going to see the festivities near the grand palace and national museum. There is this gigantic circular field that is used for these purposes. I went up and got Jason and we left with a group of people from my building. As I walked down the streets I saw white lights adorning the trees, like Christmas. The streets and trees are filled with this warm glow, people are flocking to the area to celebrate and honor the Queen. As we were getting fairly close we begin to hear loud bangs in the air. We look around and realize that they have started the fireworks show. Everything has slowed to a standstill and everyone is looking in the air at the massive fireworks that are exploding off in the distance. By this time we are in the middle of a main road looking up into the air with palm trees light up and surrounding us. It was quite a breathtaking moment. The fireworks lasted a good 10 minutes and they came from 3 different directions around where we were standing, so when one side stopped a new side would start theirs, so all of Bangkok was lit up with these explosions of color. After it had all finished we continued to follow the crowd into the massive field where there were about 5 stages set up. Each stage had its own performance. Some dancing some musical and some comical, at least that’s what I’m guessing. The crowd was thick at this point, and we all had difficulty following each other through this mess. The must have been half of Bangkok in this area because it was packed, shoulder to shoulder. We passed the usual vendors, selling unidentifiable meats or canned drinks. We made our way to one stage, but it just was not that enjoyable. There was music and noise coming from every direction and people were brushing and shoving past us. We decided that we had taken in enough so we headed to the outside and less dense area. We got to an area where we could regroup and decided that we needed some food. We headed out to Cosaun road again, and if you hadn’t figured it out this is the main road to go to if you want anything and everything. We stopped at quite restaurant, but it turned out to be not so quite after all. The man at the table next too us was a bit intoxicated and kept asking us questions and just blabbering on while we were trying to enjoy our meals. It was interesting. I ended up getting a watermelon smoothie, which was basically blended up watermelon (sill delicious), and some vegetarian spring rolls. We all talked for a bit and had I had a good night overall. We took a taxi back, it was almost midnight and the traffic was still horrible. Brandon found out the hard way that it is impolite to talk about any of the royal family’s age. The driver said “it’s the queens birthday”, and we said “yeah…uh happy birthday queen” because we felt the driver was expecting us to say something. But Brandon said “yeah, how old is she again, 72 or something?”.. and the driver just stared back at us in silence, that was the end of that conversation. So when we got back Brandon tipped they guy a little extra because he didn’t want to get reported and deported. I stayed up a bit and read, and then got some ZZZ’s. I didn’t sleep too well though
So much has happened and I have found no time to write. I can only summarize from here. Before I start I have to say I got a guitar finally. We went to Pata again and I checked out the acoustic guitars and made a decision on a Kimus (a highly recommended guitar). I paid 2,700B and it works fairly well, enough to satisfy my cravings. Ok so we went to Ko Chang – Jason, Brandon, and I. We took a bus which was about 5 hours, costing 198B. We took it to Trat then took a boat ride across to the island. We had no clue where we would be staying and by the time we got on the boat it was dark and probally about 7pm. There were other people going to the island and we questioned them to where they were staying. When we landed on shore we decieded just to follow the Canadians we met that were staying at “Cookie” resort and bungalows. We discovered that there was only one truck taxi left traveling to the resort area, because the island is fairly undeveloped. Mostly forest and only one main road circling the island. There were 16 people who needed a ride on this truck taxi, the size of a pickup truck with a covered roof and bench seats with a riding bar on the rear. So we ended up fitting, or rather cramming, all 16 of us on the back with 4 people hanging on the rear. The island is fairly mountainous and we had trouble getting up the hills with all the weight in the back. It was pitch black out and all I saw was what was illuminated by the trucks headlights, it seemed as if we were trying to escape out of the country. Everyone had a good time and we followed the Canadians to the resort and got a bungalow right on the beach for 600B a night, now that’s 200 each…so about 5 bucks a night to stay right on the beach! We got situated and decided to walk a bit down the main road and get something to eat. There were not too many shops but definitely a few for the tourists. After finishing we had nothing to do but go to bed. Brandon slept on the floor and me and Jason shared a king size bed. We could hear the waves crashing 20 feet from our door and I went into a deep sleep. Next thing I remember is hearing the wind howling and a downpour of rain flooding our hut. The rain was so heavy that you couldn’t see outside at all, almost like looking underwater. I tried to ignore it and we had to close the door so that Brandon wouldn’t be soaked. I woke up at about 6am and it was still raining, I had planned to take an early walk and maybe yoga on the beach but that plan didn’t look like it would happen. So I went back to bed and woke up a little later when the rain was down to a light drizzle. We ate breakfast and decided to rent motorbikes to ride down south more and find another place to stay for the upcoming night. We checked out and got the bikes, mine was a manual transmission 125cc, it was 150B for 24 hours. I had to put Jason on the back of mine and his crutches and all our backpacks made the bike a little unbalanced. We went slow until I had the hang of it. We traveled down the road for about 15 minutes until we found another area where we could rent a bungalow and as soon as I stopped on the side of the road we tipped over and Jason and I fell off with the bike landing on top of us. No one got hurt and we all had a good laugh from it. After we got our bungalow, me and Brandon drove our bikes around the island and planned to go to a nice waterfall but it was closed, we think because of the extra rain may had made it dangerous. The roads on the island were fun to navigate. There were many hills and curves and it was also raining slightly. I enjoyed risking my life several times and forgot only two times what side of the road I should be driving on, no biggie. Brandon fell off the bike on one massive curve that had a 50 or 60 degree slope. I didn’t see it because he was quite a bit behind me, but I noticed he wasn’t behind me and waited for him. There was no damage to him, and more importantly none to the bike. We decided to head back when Brandon’s gas gauge was reading empty. We slowly found a place to fill up and then headed back to meet up with Jason. We shopped around a bit and got some souvenirs and ate some more good food. We stayed the night there for 400B, or about 133B each. The experience was pretty good and we met some interesting people along the way. We took a mini bus back that fitted about 10 people and that took longer than we expected, about 7 hours, because the driver kept stopping and resting and eating and all sorts of random activities. We made it back in one piece and my first island trip was a success. We got back on Wednesday evening and had to register for class on Thursday. I woke up Thursday and got my stuff together for registration. I got to the building and met all the international students and it was good to see some fresh faces. The day went smoothly and we had a terrific lunch, free of charge. I signed up for classes, and they all sound interesting. I also signed up for a Thai Kick Boxing class, so we will see how that goes. I did meet some Japanese and French students that seem easy to get along with. It is a new experience to meet so many different people and all of us are unfamiliar with Thailand, so we have a common goal. This is what gets me up in the morning and keeps me excited about the day ahead. I can’t get enough of the exploring and meeting new people. I go to sleep late at night and wake up early so I get the most out of the day, I always feel like I am doing something and although I love life that way, I need to take things a bit slowly. There is too much to do in 24 hours.
I meet more people that are staying in the same building and there was a consensus that we should make the most of our 3 day weekend and go to another island, Ko Samet. I agreed and we met at 7 am to make the trip. This time only a 3 hour bus trip that cost 128B one way. We arrived on the beach and the weather was nice, and we had trouble finding a place to stay. We ended up getting a 2 large bungalows with 3 king size beds. There were 6 guys and 5 girls. So the guys were in one and the girls in the other. We all ate dinner and enjoyed the beach before the sun went down. We stayed up late and talked at the restaurant/bars on the beach. There were a fair amount of other people there and we made friends quickly. The locals are the best to talk to and they are all very friendly and laid back. At night there was a “fire” show where they would spin a flaming stick and some nun-chuck type things. It was entertaining and some of the guys tried it with no real success and a couple of burn marks. We did some night swimming and the water was always warm. The sand was white and extremely soft under my feet. These islands were known for their coral reefs and I felt a few rocks and coral a few times. After going to sleep and waking up early I felt relaxed and amazed at where I was. I off the Cost of Thailand and it all seemed so surreal. It was all hard to take in, there was too much beauty surrounding me and I couldn’t help but notice it all. The new day was a perfect one at that. The sky was deep blue and white clouds whisked high above, if any place was paradise, it was here. The island mountains rose up behind me while the cost line made several inlets so as to hug the crystal water. There ocean had no quarrel and remained placid and smooth all day. This made swimming a dream, like diving into a warm vein traveling to the heart world. After swimming a bit I decided to trek the island and see what was out there. I got packed up and took rations and headed out exploring while the others relaxed on the beach. I just followed the main dirt road up until I hit another beach where, it just so happened, I saw several topless women sunbathing. I didn’t not stare of course and it seemed normal yet foreign to me, and I believe only Americans would feel this way. I kept hiking up to the northern tip and went through several local villages. They had huts on stilts out on the water and also on the land. I traveled by the main boat dock, where there were many shops, and found a woman making fried bananas on the side of the road. These I had to try, and believe me they were worth the 10B. I have to say they have been my favorite food I have tried in Thailand. After exploring around the whole island and eating a bit here and there I managed to find my way back to the beach were we were staying. I had spent 4 or 5 hours out in the sun and had put little sun tan lotion on. My skin did feel a bit burned but it only got worse later on that night. We played some soccer and Frisbee on the beach with a few other locals and ate a good meal again on the beach. We all stayed up, the others drinking and carrying on, but I enjoyed it still. They respected my choice and we all had a good time. We checked out and got on the boat the next morning and I sat in a hammock for the ride to the island. This was the highlight of my weekend, it seemed like bliss for that 30 minutes, with me swinging back and forth in the back of the boat floating along the coast of Ko Samet. I closed my eyes and didn’t want the moment to end, but of course we had to land on shore again, and the journey continued. Took the bus back with no problem and made it back alive for one more day. By this time it was Sunday at about 4, so a few of us needed to get some last minute uniform items before showing up at Thammast on Monday. I had to get some black pants and search for inexpensive black shoes. I got the pants, which desperately need hemming but no luck on the shoes. I decided I would just wear my converse. We were going on a tour so we had to be in basic uniform, but the shoes didn’t really matter.
After waking up Monday morning I headed to Thammast for the Vimanmek Mansion tour and the Grand Palace tour. Jason decided to stay behind and sleep until his class later in the day. So I went with the group from my building and we met other students at the meeting point. The first tour we went to was the mansion, it was “the worlds largest golden teakwood mansion”. It was built by King Rama V, the most adored and respected Thai king. He enjoyed western architecture and so the large mansion had many styles built into it. It had the first electric chandelier and first shower and many other technological advances for their day. The mansion was huge, it had 78 rooms and several sets of staircases. The sections were color coated and separated different parts of the mansion. I believe there was blue, green, ivory, pink and peach. The king’s area was peach. This mansion housed millions of dollars of artifacts and gifts given to the previous kings and whatnot. I enjoyed the Chinese section with many teapots and paintings. The king had a different colored tea set for each day of the week. I also found out that Vimanmek means “paradise”. The tour took about an hour and a half and we saw some traditional Thai dancing at the end. I got to talk to my Japanese friend, Eshike, and also the French one, Mail. After eating some rice and cantaloupe, we got back on the bus and headed out back towards Thammasat. We stopped and let out anyone who didn’t want to go on the next tour of the grand palace. Then drove down the street towards the entrance of the Temple, which is within walking distance from the school. The Grand Palace “(the temple of the Emerald Buddha) is the city’s landmark and should be the first place on any visitor’s itinerary. The Palace built in 1782, consists of several buildings with highly decorated architectural details. The magnificent Royal Chapel, Wat Phra Kaeo, which is the same compound, houses the Emerald Buddha, one of the most sacred Buddha images in Thailand”. That is the description the school gave us on the handout describing the trips. When we arrived at the Grand Palace, we had to wait a bit for another group to show up. Once our guide got everything taken care of, we were able to proceed into the compound. We got in for free, where normal tourists would have to pay 200B. We had a another lady meet us and she was our tour guide inside. I will attempt to recall all that I had seen, and give some history that I have in one of my Thailand books. When you first walk in through the gates and pass through the surrounding wall and roofing, you spy the enourmous sparkling temple and other tall structures. Everything is brightly colored and gleaming in the sun. You are suddenly transported into another world. You are greeted with the Wat Phra Keo, the temple that houses the Emerald Buddha. This structure has several overlapping roofs and shingles in blue, red, and orange. The points at the top are covered with gold, and as you eye extends down you notice all the detailed work inlayed in the pillars and on the side of the building, words can not describe. There are many other structures jutting out high into the sky. The Phra Si Rattana Chedi, is the tall gold covered cylindrical building. It contains a pieced of the Buddha’s breastbone. As I turned around and looked around the whole place I saw many tall statures of the Ramakien Monkey Guardians. They are the classic Thai figures and there are, I believe, eight sets of them. Each with different characteristics, for example, one pair had a elephant trunks for their noses. After walking with the guide and hearing the history behind the many buildings we headed towards the old throne hall. We passed by the may wall paintings, and this too was amazing to see. The “Ramakien Gallery extends clockwise all the way around the 178 panels depicting the complete story of the Ramakien.” This distance is about 2,080 yards, which is just amazing. The story is a mythological tale of the monkey king, love and war. As we pass by the tour guide explains some sections as to what is happening. All of it was hand painted and very detailed and beautiful. We continue walking under the roofed wall, and then the dark clouds rolled in and it began to downpour. It rained hard for about 10 minutes, then it slowed up enough so that we could walk to the old living palace of the Kings. This area is closed off to normal tourists, but we had special privileges because we were Thammasat students. This area we had to take off our shoes at the door and we were not allowed to take pictures, but it was all very beautiful and antique. I enjoyed walking without shoes and many places require it, like the Vimanmek mansion and some restaurants. We saw many artifacts and the rooms were expansive and grand. As we were about to leave it began to downpour again so we waited inside and we all had time to relax and take it all in. I sat crossed legged on the floor, closed my eyes, and just felt the energy in the room. It had a very serene and comforting feeling that allowed me to meditate easily. We sat for about 20 minutes, until the rain let up a bit and some people sent over large umbrellas for us to share. We continued out of the palace and followed the tour guide as she pointed out new things. We stopped at the royal guest house and this is where any of the kings guests stay, like queen Elizabeth or other royalty. By this time I realized I was late for my first class which started at 3:30, Thai Civilization. A few other people were headed out to go to class so I went with them. We walked back to Thammasat, which took only 8 minutes or so. When we got to the class it was about 4:15 and we snuck in the back and sat down wherever there was a seat available. The teacher didn’t notice, or ignored us, and kept on teaching the material. What, material already! She had already started teaching on the first day of class, which I did not expect. I noticed that there were about 10 international students, which were all wearing their uniform, and about 20 Thai students, which only one was wearing his uniform. So I figured the dress code was pretty lax. I also found it interesting that the Thai students talked constantly amongst each other and some were even crashed out sleeping on the table. There was constant chatter during the teachers lecture and she didn’t tell anyone to be quite or wait for people to give her silence. So learning here will be different, but I think I can manage. After class was over I waited for the other international students which had been sitting on the other side of the room. Anna in particular because we had gotten to know each other a bit and I wanted to see what she was up to. Anna is from Florida, but she has been going to schools all over the world and has an accent. Her parents live in Spain now, so she said that even though she is from Florida she has no other home at the moment other than here. I first noticed her when she was carring one of those grocery bags that are canvas, it has a rainbow and turtles on it and says “save the environment” in German, the same one that Meaghan has. So we walked and went over to the international office where I picked up my student I.D. card and she had to revise her schedule. There I met two other Thai students and Matt, a guy that lives in my building that I had not talked to much before. They said they were going to get food at the cafeteria so I joined them and said bye to Anna. One of the Thai girls had just graduated Thammasat. She introduced herself as Joop, it means kiss. We talked a lot and she was very interested in finding out more about both of us and America. She said she has traveled a lot, but has never been to America. She made us laugh and taught Matt and I how to pick up Thai girls. She taught us Koon Soo-Ay Mah Krup – you are so beautiful, and Pom Chorp Koon – I like you. I was a fun experience and by then it was about 6pm so Matt and I headed out and said good bye, and they took down our emails and our room numbers. After getting back and meeting up with Jason, I was tired and took it easy for the rest of the night.
Tuesday August 10, 2004
Jason, Brandon, and I decided to go to Cosaun Road today. This is one of the largest market streets in Bangkok, you can basically buy anything here. There are always a ton of tourists and backpackers, and this is a place you have to be careful in. I had not previously been there before, but Jason and Brandon gave me the low down. You can negotiate on anything and if you want something you don’t see you can just ask and they will probally have it. You want ninja throwing stars, tazers, pirated software and movies? You can get it, and for cheap. When we arrived we agreed to go our separate ways and meet at the Burger King right at the top of the road in about an hour. There was clothes, hand carved elephants and Buddhas, jewelry, books, insense, knives, swords, electroand plenty of places to buy fruits and the like. I had only been there for about 10 minutes when:
Experience: ...will tell you guys later...So after I had gotten out of the alley it was already time to meet the guys at Burger King. I walked feeling stunned and stupid. I needed time to digest it all, so when I showed up to meet them I must have looked a little out of it, I just said all the shopping and things to buy overwhelmed me. I asked if anyone was hungry because I saw a place where they had cheap food and some vegetarian stuff. We walked to the place and it was a traditional Thai restaurant. By this I mean open to the street, small, and with wooden tables and stools. Very simple. I ordered Pad Thai with Tofu and an Ice Tea. All this was delicious, and only cost me 35B. Brandon had class so he took a taxi to Thammasat while me and Jason took one back to our apartment. We rested a bit and then Jason and I walked down to the market by the Phrachan pier, about 15 minutes, where there is a fairly large market. Along the way we found the Post Office and I mailed 3 post cards, one to Mom, one to Pops, and one to the Samahas. We got some food and miscellaneous items, I needed some thread and needles to hem up my black pants because they were excessively long. So we got back and just took it easy for the rest of the evening. I read some Thoreau and typed some, and attempted to send pictures via the internet, but no luck. I have class tomorrow at 12:30, Thai society and economy. Brandon and I are in the same class so we are going to walk it together. Did a half hour of yoga and meditation that helped clear my head of things and kept me centered, I got to sleep easy.
Wednesday August 12, 2004
Woke up early, too early so I went back to bed and woke up again at around 9. I had class at 1230 so I went to Brandon’s room to see if he was up yet because we are in the same class. We talked and agreed to meet at 1200 downstairs and walk to class together. The walk to Thammasat isn’t so bad. We have to go up cement stairs and across a bridge, then down a set of stairs again. Then we turn though Wat Amarian, which is a fairly big compound. It has the standard temple with beautiful architecture, but what I find mysterious about this Wat is an old, smaller temple structure that looks as if it had once been burned down. It looks very old, yet it miraculously remains it posture. It has a black and white feel to it, with the temple roof in ancient green shingles and monotone paintings. Every time I pass, it feels like a haunted house, yet it contains wisdom, and I am speechless and awe struck every time. It is off to the side and many others pass by it without even a glance, but I am swallowed by it every time. After we pass through the temple grounds and walk out through the golden gates we continue down the street towards the pier. This pier is the “Railway” pier and connects us to Phra Chan pier right next to Thammasat. The whole trip usually takes 15-20 minutes. It costs 2B to take the ferry, and we usually arrive fairly dry. We walked to the class and made it there at 1230, but it seemed that the previous class had just gotten out. We waited and then sat down with a few other people I knew. I had heard that the Thais just use time as more of a basic guideline and not as an exact measurement. After the teacher came she explained that we would probably be starting 5 to 10 minutes after 12:30, so that’s OK with me. The class was Thai society and economy and the topics she explained were interesting. After class we talked a bit with some other people and then decided to go eat something at the cafeteria. I got some veg. food again with some corn chips and corn and tofu and just some random stuff with spicy sauce on top, it was interestingly delicious. We met Josie there, another international student from Louisiana who is 2 feet taller than me, and we ate together. We went our separate ways afterwards and I went to look in the bookstore. I met up with Brandon there and we decided to find out if the library has the books we need because many people make copies of the book instead of buying it brand new, which leads to me questioning the copyright laws around here but the teachers even recommend that we copy them. It costs about a quarter of the price, which compared to text books back home, it is extremely cheap. I think about a 100B per book, which is less than three bucks. So we went to the library and Brandon found out that the books were somewhere else and I sent him on a mission to find them and get them copied while I used the schools computers to send some emails. Afterwards I decided to rent a dvd from the library and watch it. You see the school has a big multimedia area where there are about 30 tv’s with dvd players and head phones where you can watch movies, so this looked like a good idea. I got the movie Bad Company with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins, it was alright but I got bored of it after a while. After I finished that I went back to eat some more at the cafeteria, because it is good and cheap, but the Vegetarian place was closed. I tried ordering at another place but I ended up getting a dish with meat in it so that was no good. While I was sitting at the table a man came up to me selling bottle openers. I had seen him go up to many people and they all rejected him. He then came up to me and spoke surprisingly good English. He said that he was unemployed and needed to get money for is underprivileged children. He had a soft voice and his eyes were truthful, even behind his thick glasses I could see someone in need. He said they were 25B and only 5B is profit for him. I really didn’t need a bottle opener and even if I bought one just to help him out I wouldn’t use it. So I just gave him 20B and he blessed mean and said that he knew I was kind and generous from my hansom face. I’m glad to help anyone, and what goes around comes around. After I left the cafeteria I headed back to my Apt. There was another International student I ran into. I forget his name at the moment, but I think it is Matt. Anyway he waned me to go get some beer with him later and told me to meet him out front of Pata, the department store at 9pm, I said I wasn’t sure I would make it, but I think he expected me because I really didn’t object too strongly. Well I crossed the river again and went back to my apt to see what Jason had been up to. We decided we were hungry because I didn’t eat the dish that they gave me with meat in it at the cafeteria. We got Brandon and went to the little restaurant near our place, a traditional Thai sidewalk dinner, like I had previously described. I ordered papaya salad, or Som Tum I think. We got several dishes and didn’t know whose was what. After dissecting the dishes I we all found ours and began eating. Then, a funny feeling came over me, my mouth felt like it was lit on fire. This dish was freaking spicy, and I mean deadly spicy. I went through two bottles of water and a bowl of rice before I even got halfway done. My head was throbbing and I felt light headed, like I was about to pass out. I thought the dish was delicious, but just really spicy. It was a cold dish, like a salad, with tomatoes, sliced papaya and peanuts, and of course chili peppers and red flakes which meant it was dangerous. I turned out all our meals were spicy and we must of looked like fools downing water and our faces turning red. Mine and Jason’s eyes and nose were watering pretty bad. I couldn’t finish my meal and mouth and lips felt like they had gone to hell and back. Well that was an experience. I left still hungry so when we came back to the apt. I made a peanut butter and banana sandwich. I went up to Brandon’s room and we brought down the movie Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, that is an illegal copy he bought on Cosaun Rd. The Quality was pretty poor but I watched it all the way through. After it was over I began typing this. Then I expect I will read a bit then go to bed.
Thursday August 12, 2004
The Queen’s birthday, no class. So I wake up to the phone ringing, I answer it and it is Moo, a Thai student. She says hello and wants to know if I want to go with her and some other international students out to lunch today, so I was glad someone wanted to hang out with me and agreed to meet at 12:00 at Thammasat. We debated where we would go eat, but since Moo and I are vegetarians we had limited choices. She finally decides we will go to this good vegetarian restaurant near Cosaun road. The place is underneath a hotel, but looks homely. The whole menu looked delicious and I had a hard time choosing, but I decided on the noodles with fried tofu and vegetables and peanut sauce. Then I got a banana shake, that was awesome too with a hit of coconut milk. After I finished that I had to get this desert: Black sticky rice with mango and banana in a bowl with coconut milk. This was amazing too, like a sweet cereal. After we ate there, we decided to look around on Cosaun Rd. and some one wanted to look at books. So we did that for a bit then went to a ice cream place where they got fondue and multiple flavors of Ice cream. I have been having trouble keeping the vegan diet here. About half of the dishes you get have egg in them and I have since learned to say Mai Kai, no egg, but I have eaten egg out of hunger and frustration that I can’t order what I want. I haven’t had any cheeses or cows milk here, but I cant read the ingredients on any of the packaging, so I’m not positive that the bread I’ve been getting is vegan either, well any way I had to have a few bites of ice cream too. It’s hard here, a good 95 percent of the students got out late and drink a lot, and of course I don’t, and also I am a vegetarian and I have only met 1 other international student that is also a vegetarian. So it is hard to go out and have fun with people who don’t like the same things you like. It then gets to the point where they either naturally filter me out of their daily activities or they pressure me into doing things I don’t want to do. Well either way I feel like the outcast, even amongst foreigners in Bangkok. I do feel guilty and like I had committed a grave sin because I had some ice cream. Well after we were done there, we decided to head back and we walked through this park to get on the nearest ferry. There are some festivities already starting, little girls are dressed up and having a formal dance. We continued on to the river where we took the speed boats back to the pier close to my building. By this point everyone else had gone separate ways and I was left to walk back to my apt alone once again. Before I got to my apt. I had planned to call Meaghan, and that’s just what I did. I got to hear her voice for the first time since I left and even though she was mad I was happy to talk to her. We couldn’t talk long because she was just getting to work, so the time difference is always a problem. Well headed back to my apt. and I met up with Brandon and Dave eating in the downstairs restaurant, they said they were going to see the festivities near the grand palace and national museum. There is this gigantic circular field that is used for these purposes. I went up and got Jason and we left with a group of people from my building. As I walked down the streets I saw white lights adorning the trees, like Christmas. The streets and trees are filled with this warm glow, people are flocking to the area to celebrate and honor the Queen. As we were getting fairly close we begin to hear loud bangs in the air. We look around and realize that they have started the fireworks show. Everything has slowed to a standstill and everyone is looking in the air at the massive fireworks that are exploding off in the distance. By this time we are in the middle of a main road looking up into the air with palm trees light up and surrounding us. It was quite a breathtaking moment. The fireworks lasted a good 10 minutes and they came from 3 different directions around where we were standing, so when one side stopped a new side would start theirs, so all of Bangkok was lit up with these explosions of color. After it had all finished we continued to follow the crowd into the massive field where there were about 5 stages set up. Each stage had its own performance. Some dancing some musical and some comical, at least that’s what I’m guessing. The crowd was thick at this point, and we all had difficulty following each other through this mess. The must have been half of Bangkok in this area because it was packed, shoulder to shoulder. We passed the usual vendors, selling unidentifiable meats or canned drinks. We made our way to one stage, but it just was not that enjoyable. There was music and noise coming from every direction and people were brushing and shoving past us. We decided that we had taken in enough so we headed to the outside and less dense area. We got to an area where we could regroup and decided that we needed some food. We headed out to Cosaun road again, and if you hadn’t figured it out this is the main road to go to if you want anything and everything. We stopped at quite restaurant, but it turned out to be not so quite after all. The man at the table next too us was a bit intoxicated and kept asking us questions and just blabbering on while we were trying to enjoy our meals. It was interesting. I ended up getting a watermelon smoothie, which was basically blended up watermelon (sill delicious), and some vegetarian spring rolls. We all talked for a bit and had I had a good night overall. We took a taxi back, it was almost midnight and the traffic was still horrible. Brandon found out the hard way that it is impolite to talk about any of the royal family’s age. The driver said “it’s the queens birthday”, and we said “yeah…uh happy birthday queen” because we felt the driver was expecting us to say something. But Brandon said “yeah, how old is she again, 72 or something?”.. and the driver just stared back at us in silence, that was the end of that conversation. So when we got back Brandon tipped they guy a little extra because he didn’t want to get reported and deported. I stayed up a bit and read, and then got some ZZZ’s. I didn’t sleep too well though
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
Last Supper
The whisper of the orchids tell me
They have seen me before
I walk here my first time
Yet, in the same bound
I conquer time and continents
It is no longer passing scenery
No longer bread for a later supper
Only, another meal fried by the locals
And if I look out of place
And can not explain enough
It is because my eyes have been shaded
The wild dogs know
For they sit at my feet
As if I fed and sheltered their years
Why do I see an old friend within thy eyes
My fate has guided me long enough
So I can rest a little along the only shoreline
And share all that I have with my brethren
But not for the last time
Thailand Journel
Wednesday July 28, 2004 Bangkok, Thailand
After arriving at the Bangkok airport at about 11:30 pm, I exchanged my currency and then took my bags to the main exit. There were gates with hundreds of men standing with signs with people’s names. I continued through the narrow path to find the airport taxi stand with was outside the nicely air conditioned terminal. A blast of Bangkok heat came blowing at me and the air was dense. Then a Thai man came up to me and said “taxi?”, I said no, and pointed at the taxi stand. He said “No, no, me airport taxi” and I glanced at the long line for the taxi kiosk and estimated at least a half hour wait, then said “Ok, how much”, he said “550 bhat”, now this price I know was more expensive than the 300B that the school estimated we should pay, but I was tired and just wanted to get to my hotel. It was only about 10 bucks anyway. So I agreed and paid him then, and he took me out to the car. From there I got my first glimpse of the city and the infamous traffic, though it was only a glimpse. Pulling into the hotel down a back alley, with a outside restaurant and food market right on the side of the car I was a bit worried to the type of hotel I would be staying at. Then he pulled up to the main entrance and a bell boy came out and helped me with my bags, I checked in with no problems and he took me up to my room. It was air conditioned, and that was all I needed to sleep. I took a quick shower, which was more like standing in the rain due to the lack of water pressure. Then lights out and sleep came easily, for I had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep in 48 hours.
Thursday July 29, 2004
Woke up to sounds of construction out right out in the hallway. Turns out they are re-modeling the hotel, just my luck. It is about 8:30am, and I get dressed and contemplate what I am going to do today. I end up going down for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, this consisted of toast with strawberry jelly, watermelon, cantaloupe, and papaya, just enough to not feel hungry. I decided to venture outside the hotel and walk the city streets in search for….ah yes, an international phone to call my mom back home. I saw a 7-11 sign from my balcony at the hotel that didn’t seem too far away. I walk down these back streets and pretend like I know where I’m going. The streets has the smell as if we were in a giant wok, street vendors with carts of food, most of them fried or grilled. Dogs calmly walk the streets and eat what scraps are available. The people stare at me as I walk past their open houses and some smile. The pattern of the city streets makes no sense to me, they curve around and turn, and there are so many of them. Finally I reach the main road, and the traffic is crazy. I see 7-11 off in the distance and head for it like a bug to a porch light, it’s the only familiar sight around. Crossing the highway proved difficult, well difficulty verging on insanity. There are no traffic lights to be seen and the traffic is like a brick wall with a continous stream of motorcycles, busses, trucks, tuk-tuks, and taxis. Finally I make my way sprinting though a hole in it and make my way across the two lanes and get to the median where you have just enough room to stand and wait to cross the opposing lanes of traffic. After several minutes I make my way to the 7-11 and walk inside expecting to see familiar drinks and food, but no such luck. It all looked like a giant cartoon, with wacky figures and smiling bunnies and turtles on the packaging. I decide only to buy a phone card for 300B, which I have no clue to how many minutes I would get out of it, but whatever, I’m already sick of being the foreigner. After walking outside with my phone card in hand I search for a international phone booth. Walking down the street in Bangkok is like playing hop scotch when I was a kid. There are numerous vendors with stuff laid out on the side, and random pot holes leading to the sewer, and people you just don’t want to get near. I see a phone not too far away and make a stab at calling home. No luck, phone card doesn’t work with this type of phone, next phone please. So after trying several phones in the area I make my way back to the 7-11 to ask where I can use it at, and to my amazement I see a phone glued to the side of the 7-11 that says international, and has the same company name that is written on my card, “LENSO”. So go figure. Make the call and let everyone know I’m still alive (barely), and all that good stuff. Next I got to go to Thammasat and figure out what I’m supposed to do next. So I check out of my hotel, and take all my bags to Thammasat, well just my backpack and a large duffel bag, and meet the International Office staff, they are all very nice and were easy to talk to. I check in with them and find out that it is up to me to find a place to stay, but no biggie eh? So I’m now homeless in Bangkok and am playing it cool with the staff, but they were very helpful in giving me all the places to stay around here. I also met Gok-kai, and Thai student that works in the international office. She greets me with a smile that also makes me smile back. She gives me suggestions of places to say and helps guide me through it on a map that they also gave me. I’d have to say she is really the first Thai girl that is just beautiful and very pleasant to talk to. She says she has to go to class, or else she could show me around. So I said it was nice to meet her and she surprised me by making me repeat her name which I had no clue at all, so I’m sure I made a good impression. She repeated her name “Gok-kai, its my nick name. Kai means chicken and gok is like the sound they make, gok-gok-gok.” Hah, now I get it, I laugh and repeat her name. Then she continues off to class while I’m stuck in the international office staring at the map wondering where I’m going to stay tonight. Then another girl comes in a she looks Thai, so I’m still staring at my map and she asks me in perfect English why I’m at Thammast. So I find out that she is also an international student from Iowa. She was staying at the Thammasat dorm and didn’t know of the other options from the apartments in the area. So we both ventured out together looking at the list that I had and the out of scale map leading us on. Luckily, as I soon found out, she had been studying the Thai language before and knew how to speak it very well. So we were able to find the apartments and talk to the Offices to find out what was available and how much it would cost, well she was able to. She was a lifesaver and it seemed like she was my tour guide. It turned out that she is from Laos, Thailand’s neighboring country. Pam is fun to walk with and good company for Bangkok, because I was starting to get lonely and depressed about this whole situation. So we find one place that is fairly close to campus and in good condition, the room is pretty big and there are beds where you can spit into two for a second person. The price was 8,000B a month, which split in half would be 4,000B which is about $100 a month. Not bad at all considering the school will be giving us 14,000B a month as a stipend. So we end up at campus again and I still don’t know where I’ll be staying for the night. They end up calling the hotel for me and setting up a room with another student who just arrived today. So that sounds good, right. Sure I’ll be staying the night with someone who I’ve never met before, well its all part of the experience. So I head back to the hotel, and leave my big duffel bag in their office for the night. I wanted to walk but I really had no clue where I was going, just the general direction. So I head off and basically stay straight and look at the crude map that the school had that I also used for searching for apartments. After about 15 minutes of walking I’m starting to feel lost, then a Tuk-tuk driver pulls over and starts yelling at me to get into his three wheeled motorcycle. Well, at first I told him I was walking to my destination and pointed at the map, but he started laughing and said “no, no, you walk right into river”, so I took that as I was going the wrong direction. So I gave up and asked how much and he said fifty bhat. I thought this was too much so I said I don’t have any bhat on me, how about one American dollar, he said two, so I agreed. Anything to get back to the hotel sometime today. So I get in and he whips into traffic, while busses and motorcycles are flying around us shooting black smoke into my lungs. That’s one thing I figured out about this city, if the traffic won’t kill you then the pollution will. So he heads in the general direction, then he turns back and yells “you see big Buddha now…you see it now, you got camera?”, “no, no back to the hotel, Samsen road”, I yell back. “Extra money, one more dollar”, I am frustrated by this point and just hand over the dollar figuring my life was already in his hands, and I didn’t want to piss him off. He takes it and continues on driving but a minute later he insists on the big Buddha, I keep saying no, no, hotel, so he eventually gives in and takes me there. That was a bit frightening because he didn’t want to take me to the place I needed to go, then as he is about a block away he says “need more money, tip, for tip”. I say get me to the hotel first, so that gave him an incentive to actually get me close enough where I could see the hotel. As he stops again near the hotel he says “pay now, more money” so I give him another dollar and jump out of the cart. Man that was deadly. It cost 4 dollars which is about 160B, three times as much if I would have just given him the 50B. So I get checked in at the hotel and meet Jason, my roommate. He’s from Atlanta, Georgia and quite a humorous character. So I get settled in and go to sleep another night.
Friday July 30, 2004
Again I wake up to construction and the banging of a hammer on my inner ear. I try to sleep more and indeed I go to sleep for another half hour when I wake up to the phone ringing, this time in my other ear. It was the lady at Thammast U. She said there were two other guys there looking for apartments and I was the so called ‘expert’ since I went the day before and saw most of the ones in the area. So I talked to the guy, his name was Brandon and it turned out I had met him before on the airplane from Tokyo to Bangkok and then again at Thammast the first day, just briefly. So he came back to New World Lodge, where we were both staying, and me and Jason met up with him and Dave. Dave is from the UK but was going to college in Maine and Brandon lives and goes to college in Spokane, Washington. Both of them are good guys and easy to get along with. So I gave them a briefing on the appts. in the area. Then acquired taxi and showed them the best ones that I had thought were good close to the school. The taxi ride there was, to say the least, interesting. The driver spoke no English at all and the crude map from before was useless. He just started driving according to the picture on the map and he eventually raidoed in to the taxi headquarters and was talking and laughing on the radio for about two minutes. Us guys in the taxi, there were four of us, didn’t know what to do or say and we just all looked at each other wondering where exactly we would end up. Suddenly he just handed me the radio, because I was sitting in the passenger seat (which is actually the driver’s seat in the U.S., this is also a weird experience), so he hands me the radio and I am really speechless, I don’t know if I am supposed to say in English where we want to go or tell my life story. So I just say “Ruen Indra court apartments?!” and a thai voice comes back and I don’t know what he is saying, of course it is not in English. So he shoves the radio back in my face and I repeat it again. No luck in anyone understanding where we need to go. So the driver, who I got was a nice guy and was just laughing at the situation not at us, pulled over to ask some guys at the bus station if they could decipher the map to where we wanted to go. So we wait a few minutes then he comes back and zooms back into traffic, and it looks like he has an idea where we are headed. So we get to our destination in one piece. We check out the apts. and agree that they are pretty nice but the rest of the guys want to see the others so that they can have something to compare this place to. So I show them to the other place which was above this large food/clothing/misc. market and that in itself was crazy enough walking through that they decided not to even bother looking at a room. So we take the ferry across, which was right next to the market, the Chao Phraya river to Thammast, literally straight across the river. The river is a nice brown acid color that seems to be cemented in around the city, nothing new. We arrive at Thammast after dodging a few barges and speeding boats and then have to basically jump off the ferry to the dock. We then walk up and aim for Thammast which is about 200 yards away. I stop at the Thai Military bank and open an account there for the school to put my monthly stipend. This was no easy task, and I signed my name about eight times on pieces of paper covered in Thai writing. So yea, I probably sold my kidneys and my soul and all my possessions to the black market. After I get this done we all walk over to the International office to say hello to the nice people there. We tell them about our day and the apartments we’ve seen and we get promising reactions. Brandon and Dave had to be out of the hotel before 12 so they left their bags in our room until they found a place. So they were homeless for a bit also, until they decided on a place to stay. We met Pam there and she said she could show us the Dorm’s if we wanted to stay there. It is a 45 minute bus ride each day but the rent is cheap, 2,000B a month. So we say what the heck and head over in a taxi to check it out. Ok, now there is five of us, six including the driver, packed in a car that was tight with four passengers. I think the driver was a little mad at the situation so he preteneded like he didn’t know where he was going and drove in circles for a bit to increase our fare. Pam was yelling at him in Thai so we figured it wasn’t a good situation. At any rate we eventually arrived at our destination. The dorm was pretty big and fully furnished, so it wasn’t bad at all, just the commute was torturous. We decided to take the bus back to see what it would be like, and the amount of pollution I inhaled during that trip had to be equal to a pack of cigarettes. It was a long trip, but we saw a lot of the city and people on the way back. The traffic was horrible and that is the only reason why it takes so long. A motorcycle could probably make it to Thammasat in 10 minutes. So Dave and Brandon decide that the Ruen Indra would be our best bet, for the money and the quality it is actually decent. So they ran back to the apartments and got things squared away and then came back to the hotel to get their bags and the money they need for the deposit. Me and Jason check in for the night and decide we will also get an apt. at Ruen Indra. Later I headed out to give some of my family a call, but no one was available and I left messages with 3 different people. Then I walked back to the hotel and a street restaurant caught my eye, and my stomach. It caught it because the sign was written in English and there was vegetarian dishes available also. The place had wooden tables and chairs with an array of plants fencing of the area. There was Thai Jazz music playing, this also was very interesting and relaxing. The lights had red cloth over them so there was a glow about the place. I sat down and ordered some jasmine tea and vegetarian Pad Thai. The chef was off to the side in plain view and I watched him cook my whole meal, and once the food was set down with chopsticks I dug in. This food was amazing! Everything was fresh and crunchy. It had fried noodles and tofu which was seasoned with pepper. There was snap peas and carrots and spinach in with the noodles. There was fresh cucumber and lettuce as a garnish and little lime like citrus fruit cut on the side. It was the perfect amount to eat, enough to not be hungry but not too much as to I feel it was a chore, unlike most restaurants in the U.S. I could eat this way everyday, and I probably will too. Paid 55B, $1.40, and this also adds to the taste. Then I went back to the hotel and read a bit of Thoreau and went to bed.
Saturday July 31, 2004
Woke up at about 8am to the ever pleasant sound of construction in the hotel. This will be my last day here so I am not worried. Me and Jason made a basic plan for the day: Get breakfast, Go to bank and get money for deposit and rent-12,000B each. Then off to apartment to sign lease and set up our room. OK so off we go and we get it done without incident. Our room is actually nice though not like a regular apartment back home. It is a big room, two single beds, a TV and stand, desk, bookshelf, and wardrobe. Towards the back there is a area with a faucet and cabinets underneath. The bathroom is nice too, all of it is recently renovated and it has A/C too, definitely a plus. What I like best is that the bathroom door is the classic Asian style sliding door. All very clean and good enough for living. So we get set up and make a list of things we need to buy…
Toilet paper (a must)
Pillows and bed sheets
Towels
Food and rations
And anything else we could use for eating or drinking. Luckily the room came with 6 big bottles of water which cost us 90B. So we didn’t have to worry about carting tons of water around Bangkok. We head out and search for any one of those items. We find a small convenience store where we get six rolls of toilet paper for 40B. We keep walking and see a fruit vendor and buy a bundle of mini bananas for 25B. These taste just like their larger brother but just a quarter of the size. We decide to turn around because the distant roads don’t look to promising. We later find out it is the Buddhist lent holiday and many places are closed. So we head back to our place and as we arrive we spot Brandon and Dave walking up too. They say there’s a department store not too far away where we can get a pillow and some sheets, they basically have everything. Dave bought an acoustic guitar there for 1,100B ($27.00), which was some weird Asian brand and didn’t sound too good, but it was still cool and that kept my hopes up because I had been going through guitar withdraws. By this time Jason was tired and so he decided to go back to the room and Brandon and Dave walked with me back to the department store. They led me through the maze of vendors and citizens to the areas they found to be a good deal and they had what I needed so that was fine with me. I got 2 pillows, one for me and one for Jason, @ 89B each. Next I got a bed sheet set that had and cover and pillow case for 215B. Then Dave showed me to the guitar section where I scoped out the situation. They had some nice ones and they were pretty cheap, but I decided to hold off until I got my stipend to buy one. We then went to the Super market down at the bottom of the Department store. There was enough food items there to overwhelm me so I got the basics: Bread, strawberry jelly, peanut butter, cashews, chips, and two plastic bowls and a fork and spoon set. All this was about 340B, eight bucks. We head back and by this time it was getting dark. That’s another thing I noticed about this city, the sun rises fairly early at 6am and sets at about 6pm. So it starts feeling late at around 7pm but really that is no even close to being late. Well we arrive back without difficulty, which is a rarity, and I take my stuff up and show Jason what I got. I did pretty good for my first try at purchasing necessities. After a while we went down to get food at the restaurant in the bottom of our building. This place also has a nice atmosphere, it is roofed yet two walls are open to the outside. The rear is open to a Asian style garden with large palm trees and wooden benches, very beautiful. We sit down and I figure out what I can eat. None of it was vegetarian so I had to go with the Pad Thai which had chicken and tofu. I ordered and said “Pad Thai, mai kai.” My first attempt at speaking Thai because our waitress spoke no English, I did it correctly and there was no chicken on my plate when it was brought out. This meal was also very good and I drank regular black tea with it. A bit more expensive than I thought, but not a problem, only 100B or $2.50. So we finish and start walking and run into some more students that are staying here from Thammasat. Brandon and Dave arrive also and we all talk and introduce each other. 3 of them are from the University of California, but different locations. They said that there were also 9 others from U.C. that would be studying here. Brandon and I are trying to make plans to go to the beach before our orientation starts, in about 6 days from now. So we leave it up in the air to who ever wants to go, knowing that it is about a 3 hour bus ride but really cheap. So after a bit I said goodnight and went to get online at the computer room to send emails to people to make sure they knew I was still alive. Then up to my room to type this….then to sleep I hope.
Sunday August 1, 2004
“Crash!! Oh crap.” I’m now deciding weather I should ignore what I just heard or go back to sleep. I look over towards the noise and I see a broken glass cup on the floor and Jason standing by the bathroom. He accidentally knocked off the glass that I set on the counter by the bathroom. See this is the thing about Jason, he doesn’t have good use of his lower extremities and his coordination is quite poor. He had put his hand on the counter to balance himself while attempting to reach to bathroom. I look over and it’s about 9:30am, at least it’s not too early, so I get up to help him clean it up. We improvise and use a cloth to sweep and a piece of paper as a dust pan. So we get that cleaned up and I get ready for the day ahead. We made plans to search for some fresh fruit to buy and something where we can heat up water for tea or noodles. We first head out towards the boat dock where there is a market. The walk is about 15 minutes and we always see something new. I took many pictures this time of everything that stood out. I must really seem like a tourist now, camera in hand, snapping photos at the people and children smiling and laughing at us. As we approach to market we see a nice bakery and dessert store that we seem to wander into. It’s a nice place and everything looks edible, which for me is quite a challenge to find. I find a long skinny loaf of bread that looks good, it was full raisins and spices. So I buy it for 25B and we head out to the market. I start eating the bread and it was really good, the raisins ended up to be prunes but that was still alright with me. We reach the market and start aimlessly wandering through the maze of carts and vendors that are half indoor and half outdoor. Its really hard to explain how these places are set up. There are a lot of women’s clothes, purses and shoes, and random gadgets. I saw a man with a cloth set out with jade carvings on it. This caught my eye, he had square light green jade carvings for a necklace and also just smooth circle ones. I then saw a smaller carving that was a Buddhist mudra, a religious hand gesture usually used on statues of Buddha. I ended up buying the jade green one for 80 B, about 2 bucks. Then we continued on until we got overloaded with too much, we sat down and got something to drink and then headed back to our apartment. On the way back we stopped at a fruit vendor and got a watermelon for 25B. We continued back over the bridge and looked down at the river and saw these boys swimming in the river, they were have a great time of it. I took pictures and then we got back to the Apt. After great thought we decided to use Jason’s little pocket knife to cut up this watermelon. The size is about the same of a cantaloupe, not gigantic like the ones back home. We managed to get it open and scooped some out into the bowls we got the day before. This was good stuff and just what we needed after the long walk. The temperature is a lot like a hot day in Richmond, but a lot more humid. The sun shows no mercy and the pollution seems to open the atmosphere and doubles the intensity. I have yet to find sun tan lotion, yet I’ve heard they have SPF of up to 120. Anyway, we ate some melon and then made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then a half hour later Brandon knocks on our door to see what we had been up to. We talk for a bit and there is word about heading out to Ko Chang, an Island off the coast and about a three hour bus ride. This sounds promising but anything can happen so I keep my schedule open. Brandon says he’s going lay down for a bit because he is still trying to get use to the time difference. So I hang out for a bit and then Jason and I decide to go to the department store, the one I had visited the day before. We head down and get Brandon, then start on our way to the stores. We start walking but then notice one of the girls we met was about a hundred yards behind us. We waited to talk and it turned out to be Ellen, a Swedish student. She is a sweet girl, about my height, but defiantly Swedish. Her English is not good, but not bad either. I think she can understand it better than she can speak it. She joins our party, and off we head to the Department store. It is about a 15 minute walk and once we get close the congestion and walking traffic increases. There are many people selling random items on the sidewalk and, of course, food. Almost everything sold on the streets here are fried or grilled. The things I had found appealing would be the grilled bananas, and grilled corn. Everything else was unidentifiable and some of it made me gag. We get to the Department store, which is about eight stories tall. This place is more like a mall without the individual stores. Probably like a giant Wal-mart shortened and stacked up on each other. The vendors are have their own people and you pay in that area. There is always a person standing eight feet off watching you and seeing if you need any help. Other shoppers where filtering through the small aisles and people were everywhere. We picked up some groceries in the food store at the bottom of the building, we got some corn flakes and I bought soy milk while Jason got regular milk. We also bought a big knife for future melons and some jasmine tea. We needed something to heat water so we went to the appliance section and I wandered into some watches that were 199B, so I got a basic one, it says Sottas on the band and it is dark green. Good enough to know what time it is in Bangkok. We also found an “automatic kettle” that is electric and is just what we needed, for 255B. By now we about ready to hit the eject button because the amount of energy and people that surrounds us. We try to exit but we end up going out the back, and had to walk though another street market to get back to the entrance from which we started. We decide to take a taxi back because Jason has yet to get acclimated to this much walking. It is difficult for him, with so many people around it is hard for him to maneuver his walking sticks so as not to crush anyone. The steps kill him also, but sill I commend him for even making the trip. We look into our empty wallets and find all we have is 50B, all in coins. So we figure it should be enough, if not we would tell him to stop if it get close to our fare limit. I show him the apartment card where we live, which is written in Thai and is our lifesaver. He looks at it for a bit then starts off. We make it there and the fare is only 37B. We pay him and we go back up to the room to chill and decompress. We test out the water kettle and it seems to hold up just fine. We munch on some lays chips and some cashews. Its about six now and the sun is starting to go down. Brandon knocks on our door and says he just got back from the department store, we ended up getting split up, but not biggie. We talk more about this island adventure, and not much seems to be known about how we can get on a bus and go there for a day or so. Brandon leaves to get some food and says he will try to find out more….then I go to typing….Ok back again. Went out to get some cash in case I actually go to the island tomorrow. It was dark out and my first trip alone at night in Bangkok. This was a little intimidating, but I managed to survive. Of course I got more stares and random shoutings in Thai than usual, but I survived and am back to tell. I also saw some tentacles on a stick for sale, like a kabob, interesting to say the least. I withdrew 2,000B, and walked carefully with my wallet in my front pocket. I stopped at a 7-11 and got some bottled green tea with honey, this was surprisingly tasty because my last bottled tea that I got in Japan while I was waiting for my connecting flight tasted like liquid rice. So I leave and enter another little store where I finally get a lighter to light my incense. Then I decide to walk further down this road where I had not previously traveled, looking but not expecting to find a decent restaurant where some signs were in English. No such luck. I head back and then turn down another road to see if there was anything. There were many people who were saying things in Thai to me and I just smiled and walked on, some shouted out loud then I would hear others laughing behind me. I’m sure it would be easy to make fun of me in my face and I would have no idea what they were saying, in fact I’m positive that’s what they were doing. Well, I continue on until I reach an area where the street lights stop, so I figured that I should also. I turn around and head back to my place. I of course make it just fine, although I was a bit nervous. I tried out the lighter and it shoots a flame 2 feet in the air on the lowest setting, I almost burned my eyebrows off. I ended up going down to use the internet but found out they had turned the computers all off, but Brandon was down there on his way up, so we talked about tomorrow. The plans are a little clearer but still very uncertain. He looked some stuff up on the internet earlier and found where the bus station was and how much it would cost. He wasn’t sure about places to stay but claimed there were a lot of bungalows that are easily rented. We would probably stay for only one night, but who really knows. We made plans to wake up at 7am and meet at 7:30 downstairs. So off I go to discover another day.
The whisper of the orchids tell me
They have seen me before
I walk here my first time
Yet, in the same bound
I conquer time and continents
It is no longer passing scenery
No longer bread for a later supper
Only, another meal fried by the locals
And if I look out of place
And can not explain enough
It is because my eyes have been shaded
The wild dogs know
For they sit at my feet
As if I fed and sheltered their years
Why do I see an old friend within thy eyes
My fate has guided me long enough
So I can rest a little along the only shoreline
And share all that I have with my brethren
But not for the last time
Thailand Journel
Wednesday July 28, 2004 Bangkok, Thailand
After arriving at the Bangkok airport at about 11:30 pm, I exchanged my currency and then took my bags to the main exit. There were gates with hundreds of men standing with signs with people’s names. I continued through the narrow path to find the airport taxi stand with was outside the nicely air conditioned terminal. A blast of Bangkok heat came blowing at me and the air was dense. Then a Thai man came up to me and said “taxi?”, I said no, and pointed at the taxi stand. He said “No, no, me airport taxi” and I glanced at the long line for the taxi kiosk and estimated at least a half hour wait, then said “Ok, how much”, he said “550 bhat”, now this price I know was more expensive than the 300B that the school estimated we should pay, but I was tired and just wanted to get to my hotel. It was only about 10 bucks anyway. So I agreed and paid him then, and he took me out to the car. From there I got my first glimpse of the city and the infamous traffic, though it was only a glimpse. Pulling into the hotel down a back alley, with a outside restaurant and food market right on the side of the car I was a bit worried to the type of hotel I would be staying at. Then he pulled up to the main entrance and a bell boy came out and helped me with my bags, I checked in with no problems and he took me up to my room. It was air conditioned, and that was all I needed to sleep. I took a quick shower, which was more like standing in the rain due to the lack of water pressure. Then lights out and sleep came easily, for I had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep in 48 hours.
Thursday July 29, 2004
Woke up to sounds of construction out right out in the hallway. Turns out they are re-modeling the hotel, just my luck. It is about 8:30am, and I get dressed and contemplate what I am going to do today. I end up going down for breakfast in the hotel restaurant, this consisted of toast with strawberry jelly, watermelon, cantaloupe, and papaya, just enough to not feel hungry. I decided to venture outside the hotel and walk the city streets in search for….ah yes, an international phone to call my mom back home. I saw a 7-11 sign from my balcony at the hotel that didn’t seem too far away. I walk down these back streets and pretend like I know where I’m going. The streets has the smell as if we were in a giant wok, street vendors with carts of food, most of them fried or grilled. Dogs calmly walk the streets and eat what scraps are available. The people stare at me as I walk past their open houses and some smile. The pattern of the city streets makes no sense to me, they curve around and turn, and there are so many of them. Finally I reach the main road, and the traffic is crazy. I see 7-11 off in the distance and head for it like a bug to a porch light, it’s the only familiar sight around. Crossing the highway proved difficult, well difficulty verging on insanity. There are no traffic lights to be seen and the traffic is like a brick wall with a continous stream of motorcycles, busses, trucks, tuk-tuks, and taxis. Finally I make my way sprinting though a hole in it and make my way across the two lanes and get to the median where you have just enough room to stand and wait to cross the opposing lanes of traffic. After several minutes I make my way to the 7-11 and walk inside expecting to see familiar drinks and food, but no such luck. It all looked like a giant cartoon, with wacky figures and smiling bunnies and turtles on the packaging. I decide only to buy a phone card for 300B, which I have no clue to how many minutes I would get out of it, but whatever, I’m already sick of being the foreigner. After walking outside with my phone card in hand I search for a international phone booth. Walking down the street in Bangkok is like playing hop scotch when I was a kid. There are numerous vendors with stuff laid out on the side, and random pot holes leading to the sewer, and people you just don’t want to get near. I see a phone not too far away and make a stab at calling home. No luck, phone card doesn’t work with this type of phone, next phone please. So after trying several phones in the area I make my way back to the 7-11 to ask where I can use it at, and to my amazement I see a phone glued to the side of the 7-11 that says international, and has the same company name that is written on my card, “LENSO”. So go figure. Make the call and let everyone know I’m still alive (barely), and all that good stuff. Next I got to go to Thammasat and figure out what I’m supposed to do next. So I check out of my hotel, and take all my bags to Thammasat, well just my backpack and a large duffel bag, and meet the International Office staff, they are all very nice and were easy to talk to. I check in with them and find out that it is up to me to find a place to stay, but no biggie eh? So I’m now homeless in Bangkok and am playing it cool with the staff, but they were very helpful in giving me all the places to stay around here. I also met Gok-kai, and Thai student that works in the international office. She greets me with a smile that also makes me smile back. She gives me suggestions of places to say and helps guide me through it on a map that they also gave me. I’d have to say she is really the first Thai girl that is just beautiful and very pleasant to talk to. She says she has to go to class, or else she could show me around. So I said it was nice to meet her and she surprised me by making me repeat her name which I had no clue at all, so I’m sure I made a good impression. She repeated her name “Gok-kai, its my nick name. Kai means chicken and gok is like the sound they make, gok-gok-gok.” Hah, now I get it, I laugh and repeat her name. Then she continues off to class while I’m stuck in the international office staring at the map wondering where I’m going to stay tonight. Then another girl comes in a she looks Thai, so I’m still staring at my map and she asks me in perfect English why I’m at Thammast. So I find out that she is also an international student from Iowa. She was staying at the Thammasat dorm and didn’t know of the other options from the apartments in the area. So we both ventured out together looking at the list that I had and the out of scale map leading us on. Luckily, as I soon found out, she had been studying the Thai language before and knew how to speak it very well. So we were able to find the apartments and talk to the Offices to find out what was available and how much it would cost, well she was able to. She was a lifesaver and it seemed like she was my tour guide. It turned out that she is from Laos, Thailand’s neighboring country. Pam is fun to walk with and good company for Bangkok, because I was starting to get lonely and depressed about this whole situation. So we find one place that is fairly close to campus and in good condition, the room is pretty big and there are beds where you can spit into two for a second person. The price was 8,000B a month, which split in half would be 4,000B which is about $100 a month. Not bad at all considering the school will be giving us 14,000B a month as a stipend. So we end up at campus again and I still don’t know where I’ll be staying for the night. They end up calling the hotel for me and setting up a room with another student who just arrived today. So that sounds good, right. Sure I’ll be staying the night with someone who I’ve never met before, well its all part of the experience. So I head back to the hotel, and leave my big duffel bag in their office for the night. I wanted to walk but I really had no clue where I was going, just the general direction. So I head off and basically stay straight and look at the crude map that the school had that I also used for searching for apartments. After about 15 minutes of walking I’m starting to feel lost, then a Tuk-tuk driver pulls over and starts yelling at me to get into his three wheeled motorcycle. Well, at first I told him I was walking to my destination and pointed at the map, but he started laughing and said “no, no, you walk right into river”, so I took that as I was going the wrong direction. So I gave up and asked how much and he said fifty bhat. I thought this was too much so I said I don’t have any bhat on me, how about one American dollar, he said two, so I agreed. Anything to get back to the hotel sometime today. So I get in and he whips into traffic, while busses and motorcycles are flying around us shooting black smoke into my lungs. That’s one thing I figured out about this city, if the traffic won’t kill you then the pollution will. So he heads in the general direction, then he turns back and yells “you see big Buddha now…you see it now, you got camera?”, “no, no back to the hotel, Samsen road”, I yell back. “Extra money, one more dollar”, I am frustrated by this point and just hand over the dollar figuring my life was already in his hands, and I didn’t want to piss him off. He takes it and continues on driving but a minute later he insists on the big Buddha, I keep saying no, no, hotel, so he eventually gives in and takes me there. That was a bit frightening because he didn’t want to take me to the place I needed to go, then as he is about a block away he says “need more money, tip, for tip”. I say get me to the hotel first, so that gave him an incentive to actually get me close enough where I could see the hotel. As he stops again near the hotel he says “pay now, more money” so I give him another dollar and jump out of the cart. Man that was deadly. It cost 4 dollars which is about 160B, three times as much if I would have just given him the 50B. So I get checked in at the hotel and meet Jason, my roommate. He’s from Atlanta, Georgia and quite a humorous character. So I get settled in and go to sleep another night.
Friday July 30, 2004
Again I wake up to construction and the banging of a hammer on my inner ear. I try to sleep more and indeed I go to sleep for another half hour when I wake up to the phone ringing, this time in my other ear. It was the lady at Thammast U. She said there were two other guys there looking for apartments and I was the so called ‘expert’ since I went the day before and saw most of the ones in the area. So I talked to the guy, his name was Brandon and it turned out I had met him before on the airplane from Tokyo to Bangkok and then again at Thammast the first day, just briefly. So he came back to New World Lodge, where we were both staying, and me and Jason met up with him and Dave. Dave is from the UK but was going to college in Maine and Brandon lives and goes to college in Spokane, Washington. Both of them are good guys and easy to get along with. So I gave them a briefing on the appts. in the area. Then acquired taxi and showed them the best ones that I had thought were good close to the school. The taxi ride there was, to say the least, interesting. The driver spoke no English at all and the crude map from before was useless. He just started driving according to the picture on the map and he eventually raidoed in to the taxi headquarters and was talking and laughing on the radio for about two minutes. Us guys in the taxi, there were four of us, didn’t know what to do or say and we just all looked at each other wondering where exactly we would end up. Suddenly he just handed me the radio, because I was sitting in the passenger seat (which is actually the driver’s seat in the U.S., this is also a weird experience), so he hands me the radio and I am really speechless, I don’t know if I am supposed to say in English where we want to go or tell my life story. So I just say “Ruen Indra court apartments?!” and a thai voice comes back and I don’t know what he is saying, of course it is not in English. So he shoves the radio back in my face and I repeat it again. No luck in anyone understanding where we need to go. So the driver, who I got was a nice guy and was just laughing at the situation not at us, pulled over to ask some guys at the bus station if they could decipher the map to where we wanted to go. So we wait a few minutes then he comes back and zooms back into traffic, and it looks like he has an idea where we are headed. So we get to our destination in one piece. We check out the apts. and agree that they are pretty nice but the rest of the guys want to see the others so that they can have something to compare this place to. So I show them to the other place which was above this large food/clothing/misc. market and that in itself was crazy enough walking through that they decided not to even bother looking at a room. So we take the ferry across, which was right next to the market, the Chao Phraya river to Thammast, literally straight across the river. The river is a nice brown acid color that seems to be cemented in around the city, nothing new. We arrive at Thammast after dodging a few barges and speeding boats and then have to basically jump off the ferry to the dock. We then walk up and aim for Thammast which is about 200 yards away. I stop at the Thai Military bank and open an account there for the school to put my monthly stipend. This was no easy task, and I signed my name about eight times on pieces of paper covered in Thai writing. So yea, I probably sold my kidneys and my soul and all my possessions to the black market. After I get this done we all walk over to the International office to say hello to the nice people there. We tell them about our day and the apartments we’ve seen and we get promising reactions. Brandon and Dave had to be out of the hotel before 12 so they left their bags in our room until they found a place. So they were homeless for a bit also, until they decided on a place to stay. We met Pam there and she said she could show us the Dorm’s if we wanted to stay there. It is a 45 minute bus ride each day but the rent is cheap, 2,000B a month. So we say what the heck and head over in a taxi to check it out. Ok, now there is five of us, six including the driver, packed in a car that was tight with four passengers. I think the driver was a little mad at the situation so he preteneded like he didn’t know where he was going and drove in circles for a bit to increase our fare. Pam was yelling at him in Thai so we figured it wasn’t a good situation. At any rate we eventually arrived at our destination. The dorm was pretty big and fully furnished, so it wasn’t bad at all, just the commute was torturous. We decided to take the bus back to see what it would be like, and the amount of pollution I inhaled during that trip had to be equal to a pack of cigarettes. It was a long trip, but we saw a lot of the city and people on the way back. The traffic was horrible and that is the only reason why it takes so long. A motorcycle could probably make it to Thammasat in 10 minutes. So Dave and Brandon decide that the Ruen Indra would be our best bet, for the money and the quality it is actually decent. So they ran back to the apartments and got things squared away and then came back to the hotel to get their bags and the money they need for the deposit. Me and Jason check in for the night and decide we will also get an apt. at Ruen Indra. Later I headed out to give some of my family a call, but no one was available and I left messages with 3 different people. Then I walked back to the hotel and a street restaurant caught my eye, and my stomach. It caught it because the sign was written in English and there was vegetarian dishes available also. The place had wooden tables and chairs with an array of plants fencing of the area. There was Thai Jazz music playing, this also was very interesting and relaxing. The lights had red cloth over them so there was a glow about the place. I sat down and ordered some jasmine tea and vegetarian Pad Thai. The chef was off to the side in plain view and I watched him cook my whole meal, and once the food was set down with chopsticks I dug in. This food was amazing! Everything was fresh and crunchy. It had fried noodles and tofu which was seasoned with pepper. There was snap peas and carrots and spinach in with the noodles. There was fresh cucumber and lettuce as a garnish and little lime like citrus fruit cut on the side. It was the perfect amount to eat, enough to not be hungry but not too much as to I feel it was a chore, unlike most restaurants in the U.S. I could eat this way everyday, and I probably will too. Paid 55B, $1.40, and this also adds to the taste. Then I went back to the hotel and read a bit of Thoreau and went to bed.
Saturday July 31, 2004
Woke up at about 8am to the ever pleasant sound of construction in the hotel. This will be my last day here so I am not worried. Me and Jason made a basic plan for the day: Get breakfast, Go to bank and get money for deposit and rent-12,000B each. Then off to apartment to sign lease and set up our room. OK so off we go and we get it done without incident. Our room is actually nice though not like a regular apartment back home. It is a big room, two single beds, a TV and stand, desk, bookshelf, and wardrobe. Towards the back there is a area with a faucet and cabinets underneath. The bathroom is nice too, all of it is recently renovated and it has A/C too, definitely a plus. What I like best is that the bathroom door is the classic Asian style sliding door. All very clean and good enough for living. So we get set up and make a list of things we need to buy…
Toilet paper (a must)
Pillows and bed sheets
Towels
Food and rations
And anything else we could use for eating or drinking. Luckily the room came with 6 big bottles of water which cost us 90B. So we didn’t have to worry about carting tons of water around Bangkok. We head out and search for any one of those items. We find a small convenience store where we get six rolls of toilet paper for 40B. We keep walking and see a fruit vendor and buy a bundle of mini bananas for 25B. These taste just like their larger brother but just a quarter of the size. We decide to turn around because the distant roads don’t look to promising. We later find out it is the Buddhist lent holiday and many places are closed. So we head back to our place and as we arrive we spot Brandon and Dave walking up too. They say there’s a department store not too far away where we can get a pillow and some sheets, they basically have everything. Dave bought an acoustic guitar there for 1,100B ($27.00), which was some weird Asian brand and didn’t sound too good, but it was still cool and that kept my hopes up because I had been going through guitar withdraws. By this time Jason was tired and so he decided to go back to the room and Brandon and Dave walked with me back to the department store. They led me through the maze of vendors and citizens to the areas they found to be a good deal and they had what I needed so that was fine with me. I got 2 pillows, one for me and one for Jason, @ 89B each. Next I got a bed sheet set that had and cover and pillow case for 215B. Then Dave showed me to the guitar section where I scoped out the situation. They had some nice ones and they were pretty cheap, but I decided to hold off until I got my stipend to buy one. We then went to the Super market down at the bottom of the Department store. There was enough food items there to overwhelm me so I got the basics: Bread, strawberry jelly, peanut butter, cashews, chips, and two plastic bowls and a fork and spoon set. All this was about 340B, eight bucks. We head back and by this time it was getting dark. That’s another thing I noticed about this city, the sun rises fairly early at 6am and sets at about 6pm. So it starts feeling late at around 7pm but really that is no even close to being late. Well we arrive back without difficulty, which is a rarity, and I take my stuff up and show Jason what I got. I did pretty good for my first try at purchasing necessities. After a while we went down to get food at the restaurant in the bottom of our building. This place also has a nice atmosphere, it is roofed yet two walls are open to the outside. The rear is open to a Asian style garden with large palm trees and wooden benches, very beautiful. We sit down and I figure out what I can eat. None of it was vegetarian so I had to go with the Pad Thai which had chicken and tofu. I ordered and said “Pad Thai, mai kai.” My first attempt at speaking Thai because our waitress spoke no English, I did it correctly and there was no chicken on my plate when it was brought out. This meal was also very good and I drank regular black tea with it. A bit more expensive than I thought, but not a problem, only 100B or $2.50. So we finish and start walking and run into some more students that are staying here from Thammasat. Brandon and Dave arrive also and we all talk and introduce each other. 3 of them are from the University of California, but different locations. They said that there were also 9 others from U.C. that would be studying here. Brandon and I are trying to make plans to go to the beach before our orientation starts, in about 6 days from now. So we leave it up in the air to who ever wants to go, knowing that it is about a 3 hour bus ride but really cheap. So after a bit I said goodnight and went to get online at the computer room to send emails to people to make sure they knew I was still alive. Then up to my room to type this….then to sleep I hope.
Sunday August 1, 2004
“Crash!! Oh crap.” I’m now deciding weather I should ignore what I just heard or go back to sleep. I look over towards the noise and I see a broken glass cup on the floor and Jason standing by the bathroom. He accidentally knocked off the glass that I set on the counter by the bathroom. See this is the thing about Jason, he doesn’t have good use of his lower extremities and his coordination is quite poor. He had put his hand on the counter to balance himself while attempting to reach to bathroom. I look over and it’s about 9:30am, at least it’s not too early, so I get up to help him clean it up. We improvise and use a cloth to sweep and a piece of paper as a dust pan. So we get that cleaned up and I get ready for the day ahead. We made plans to search for some fresh fruit to buy and something where we can heat up water for tea or noodles. We first head out towards the boat dock where there is a market. The walk is about 15 minutes and we always see something new. I took many pictures this time of everything that stood out. I must really seem like a tourist now, camera in hand, snapping photos at the people and children smiling and laughing at us. As we approach to market we see a nice bakery and dessert store that we seem to wander into. It’s a nice place and everything looks edible, which for me is quite a challenge to find. I find a long skinny loaf of bread that looks good, it was full raisins and spices. So I buy it for 25B and we head out to the market. I start eating the bread and it was really good, the raisins ended up to be prunes but that was still alright with me. We reach the market and start aimlessly wandering through the maze of carts and vendors that are half indoor and half outdoor. Its really hard to explain how these places are set up. There are a lot of women’s clothes, purses and shoes, and random gadgets. I saw a man with a cloth set out with jade carvings on it. This caught my eye, he had square light green jade carvings for a necklace and also just smooth circle ones. I then saw a smaller carving that was a Buddhist mudra, a religious hand gesture usually used on statues of Buddha. I ended up buying the jade green one for 80 B, about 2 bucks. Then we continued on until we got overloaded with too much, we sat down and got something to drink and then headed back to our apartment. On the way back we stopped at a fruit vendor and got a watermelon for 25B. We continued back over the bridge and looked down at the river and saw these boys swimming in the river, they were have a great time of it. I took pictures and then we got back to the Apt. After great thought we decided to use Jason’s little pocket knife to cut up this watermelon. The size is about the same of a cantaloupe, not gigantic like the ones back home. We managed to get it open and scooped some out into the bowls we got the day before. This was good stuff and just what we needed after the long walk. The temperature is a lot like a hot day in Richmond, but a lot more humid. The sun shows no mercy and the pollution seems to open the atmosphere and doubles the intensity. I have yet to find sun tan lotion, yet I’ve heard they have SPF of up to 120. Anyway, we ate some melon and then made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then a half hour later Brandon knocks on our door to see what we had been up to. We talk for a bit and there is word about heading out to Ko Chang, an Island off the coast and about a three hour bus ride. This sounds promising but anything can happen so I keep my schedule open. Brandon says he’s going lay down for a bit because he is still trying to get use to the time difference. So I hang out for a bit and then Jason and I decide to go to the department store, the one I had visited the day before. We head down and get Brandon, then start on our way to the stores. We start walking but then notice one of the girls we met was about a hundred yards behind us. We waited to talk and it turned out to be Ellen, a Swedish student. She is a sweet girl, about my height, but defiantly Swedish. Her English is not good, but not bad either. I think she can understand it better than she can speak it. She joins our party, and off we head to the Department store. It is about a 15 minute walk and once we get close the congestion and walking traffic increases. There are many people selling random items on the sidewalk and, of course, food. Almost everything sold on the streets here are fried or grilled. The things I had found appealing would be the grilled bananas, and grilled corn. Everything else was unidentifiable and some of it made me gag. We get to the Department store, which is about eight stories tall. This place is more like a mall without the individual stores. Probably like a giant Wal-mart shortened and stacked up on each other. The vendors are have their own people and you pay in that area. There is always a person standing eight feet off watching you and seeing if you need any help. Other shoppers where filtering through the small aisles and people were everywhere. We picked up some groceries in the food store at the bottom of the building, we got some corn flakes and I bought soy milk while Jason got regular milk. We also bought a big knife for future melons and some jasmine tea. We needed something to heat water so we went to the appliance section and I wandered into some watches that were 199B, so I got a basic one, it says Sottas on the band and it is dark green. Good enough to know what time it is in Bangkok. We also found an “automatic kettle” that is electric and is just what we needed, for 255B. By now we about ready to hit the eject button because the amount of energy and people that surrounds us. We try to exit but we end up going out the back, and had to walk though another street market to get back to the entrance from which we started. We decide to take a taxi back because Jason has yet to get acclimated to this much walking. It is difficult for him, with so many people around it is hard for him to maneuver his walking sticks so as not to crush anyone. The steps kill him also, but sill I commend him for even making the trip. We look into our empty wallets and find all we have is 50B, all in coins. So we figure it should be enough, if not we would tell him to stop if it get close to our fare limit. I show him the apartment card where we live, which is written in Thai and is our lifesaver. He looks at it for a bit then starts off. We make it there and the fare is only 37B. We pay him and we go back up to the room to chill and decompress. We test out the water kettle and it seems to hold up just fine. We munch on some lays chips and some cashews. Its about six now and the sun is starting to go down. Brandon knocks on our door and says he just got back from the department store, we ended up getting split up, but not biggie. We talk more about this island adventure, and not much seems to be known about how we can get on a bus and go there for a day or so. Brandon leaves to get some food and says he will try to find out more….then I go to typing….Ok back again. Went out to get some cash in case I actually go to the island tomorrow. It was dark out and my first trip alone at night in Bangkok. This was a little intimidating, but I managed to survive. Of course I got more stares and random shoutings in Thai than usual, but I survived and am back to tell. I also saw some tentacles on a stick for sale, like a kabob, interesting to say the least. I withdrew 2,000B, and walked carefully with my wallet in my front pocket. I stopped at a 7-11 and got some bottled green tea with honey, this was surprisingly tasty because my last bottled tea that I got in Japan while I was waiting for my connecting flight tasted like liquid rice. So I leave and enter another little store where I finally get a lighter to light my incense. Then I decide to walk further down this road where I had not previously traveled, looking but not expecting to find a decent restaurant where some signs were in English. No such luck. I head back and then turn down another road to see if there was anything. There were many people who were saying things in Thai to me and I just smiled and walked on, some shouted out loud then I would hear others laughing behind me. I’m sure it would be easy to make fun of me in my face and I would have no idea what they were saying, in fact I’m positive that’s what they were doing. Well, I continue on until I reach an area where the street lights stop, so I figured that I should also. I turn around and head back to my place. I of course make it just fine, although I was a bit nervous. I tried out the lighter and it shoots a flame 2 feet in the air on the lowest setting, I almost burned my eyebrows off. I ended up going down to use the internet but found out they had turned the computers all off, but Brandon was down there on his way up, so we talked about tomorrow. The plans are a little clearer but still very uncertain. He looked some stuff up on the internet earlier and found where the bus station was and how much it would cost. He wasn’t sure about places to stay but claimed there were a lot of bungalows that are easily rented. We would probably stay for only one night, but who really knows. We made plans to wake up at 7am and meet at 7:30 downstairs. So off I go to discover another day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
