Koh Samed

In a 6 week span I had been to Koh Samed twice, once for a day with mom and for a two day trip with my co-workers Dana and Kerry. On my first trip to Samed I wanted to take mom to a Thai beach and since I only had two days off I thought Samed, which was 2 hours away, would be a great idea. We woke up super early Tuesday morning and headed to Victory monument to catch a 7 am van to Rayong, the city where we would catch a boat to the island. It took a good 15 -30 minutes till we left Victory Monument because we had to wait until the van was full to leave. The van ride was quite uneventful it took us about 2.5 to 3 hours to get to Rayong. When we got there the van took us to a van stop that tried to sell us speed boat rides and hotel rooms. They wouldn't take us to the pier because they wanted us to buy more. We told them we wanted the slow boat and the lady charged us too much but we were stuck and didn't know what else to do. They did take us to the pier after we bought the slow boat ticket, we were then put on a fishing boat with all the locals. It was quite an experience, the ride to the island took about 30 minutes and the water was a bit choppy. I did start getting queasy but I powered through. When we got to the island we hopped on a green song tau to our hotel, Samed Pavilion. When you first arrive on Samed you land on a long pier that opens into a square full of parked green song tau with two 7-11s across from one another. You then travel on a proper road to the entrance of a national park, Samed is a national park so you must pay to enter. After you enter the national park there are no more paved roads. Thankfully our hotel was not too far from the gate. The road was incredibly bumpy, we were bouncing in and out of our seats, smacking our backs against the rails of the song tau, and getting whip lash every few seconds. After our intense journey we made it to our beautiful hotel and immediately went out to the beach to tan and play in the water.

After all was said and done we got to the beach around 1 o'clock, we went for lunch on the beach and then spent the rest of the afternoon tanning. Thankfully our hotel let us take two towels a piece so that we could put on towel on the sand and the other was used to dry off. It was so heavenly to just lay out and be near the ocean. For a person who has never been a fan of sand I always seem to be re energized when I am near the ocean. We spent as much time as possible at the beach and we left when the sun disappeared behind the trees. A funny event that did happen on the beach was that there are numerous dogs that live on the beaches in Samed. Surprisingly these dogs are pretty healthy and clean as well as playful. So as I am tanning and sleeping something tries to pull my hair and pull out my hair band. I literally jump into the air and scream, I then realize that one of the dogs had come up and tried to yank it out. What a way to wake up. Mom kind of chuckled but really didn't seem to care so when it happened to her not even 30 minutes later I had a good laugh. On the way back to the hotel we decided to have a drink at a neighboring resort. You are at the beach you should have a refreshing alcoholic beverage to make your time at the beach complete. We also had a Banana Fosters as we sipped Margaritas on the beach. Once we got back to our hotel it began to rain extremely hard. We were hoping that it would slow down so we could go out to dinner on the beach. It eventually stopped raining and we were able to go to a local restaurant for bbq on the beach. There are only 3 main restaurants on the beach. The one we had lunch at earlier in the day did not have beach eating because the sand was too wet to put out the mats and tables on the sand. The restaurant we had drinks and dessert at earlier looked quite busy and looked like there was some kind of event going on so we decided to walk down to the beach to see where else there was to eat. We found a restaurant that had low tables on platforms right next to the ocean and we decided to have dinner here. It had bbq or a full menu we decided to have bbq.

We went up to the seafood bar which is a wall of boxes filled with ice and the seafood is placed upon it. There is someone always there fanning away flies. It is so interesting the way they store food here is Thailand. We decided to have bbq large shrimp and beef shish kabobs. We then went to sit out under the stars and enjoy the night drinking beer and enjoying bbq. As we were finishing up dinner some teenage boys were walking around with what looked like a hula hoop and sticks, they were the fire dancers. They did a quick show as we finished up dinner. They were pretty good and extremely brave. I could never do what they were doing, it had to have taken a lot of practice and a lot of burns to get as good as they were. After the fire show and dinner mom and I headed back to the hotel to relax the night away. The next morning mom and I got up early to go for a walk on the beach and then we would come back to the hotel to have some breakfast. When we got out to the beach we first went to our right and explored the beaches to our right. We climbed over rocks and up hills to get to some of the other beaches as well as passed what looked like a statue to pay homage to the sea.

It looked like a mermaid and Buddha sitting on the beach. It was such a quiet morning, first because it was early but second because it was a bit overcast so not too many people ventured out yet. Every once in a while we would pass the occasional runner. Once we reached the end of that end of the beach we turned back to see what turning left at our resort would bring up. We had to first go through a neighboring resort to get to the smaller beach on the other side. This beach maybe had one or two resorts and I thought the beach was not as good as ours. So we made a good choice. We walked to the other end of the beach which lead to an entrance to a path into the hills/jungle. We walked the rocky path to the top of the hill and viewed the beaches near our resort. Even though it was an overcast day the beaches here were still beautiful. We continued our journey through the jungle and came out overlooking another much smaller beach. This beach was much more remote with maybe one resort in the area. We decided not to climb down the rocks because once we walked to the end of the beach there wasn't anywhere else to go. We headed back to the hotel to have breakfast which was a nice mix of Thai and Western food. It was all buffet style so we could have as much as we wanted. After breakfast we packed up and relaxed before heading to the pier to get back to Bangkok. The ride back to the mainland was much smoother than the ride to the island. On the boat we meet this Danish couple that were heading to Koh Chang, but would make their way to up to Bangkok to spend a few days. The wife asked for advice on things to visit and do in Bangkok, especially shopping. I gave her advice on all the best shopping places and good places to get jewelry. She thanked me profusely and couldn't wait to go shopping. Once on shore we called the van and were picked up within 5 minutes but as we went to the other pier to pick up another group of passengers we hit a snag. I guess this group of Thai tourists decided to wander off and would not pick up their phone. So we had to sit in the van while we waited for them to finish up whatever they were doing. It was really frustrating because in any other country the van would have just left, but the driver didn't want to leave so we waited. About 15 minutes later they show up and we finally get on the road. I swear every time I go back to Bangkok it takes longer than it did to get to my original destination. We were constantly stopping to pick up or drop off people. And once we got into Bangkok we were stuck in the infamous Bangkok traffic. Once we got close to any BTS stop mom and I jumped out of the van because I couldn't stand being in traffic any longer. We were home by 4 pm and thoroughly exhausted.

Bar where we had drinks and dessert.

On my trip to Samed with Dana and Kerry, I had a little bit more time to spend on the island. All three of us wanted to get away from Bangkok and relax.  We meet on Monday agreeing to meet at Ekkami at 10 am, a little bit later than usual, but we all wanted to be relaxed when we got to the island. We made it just in time to catch the bus to Samed. Once we were settled on the bus we spent the time talking about what we planned to do and of course talked about work. It took about 2.5 to 3 hours to get to the pier. This pier was different to the one I went to with mom. Once at the pier we exchanged our vouchers for tickets to the boat and made our way out to the end of the pier to get on the boat. What really sucked was that since it is slow season we had to wait until we had 20 people before we could get on the boat. Unfortunately we only had 16 people and every time a new group would start walking up we would get hopeful and then they would get on a speed boat. It felt like we waited forever till the boat was finally full enough to take us to the island. Since we had no idea where we were staying we decided to go to the same hotel I went with mom and see what kind of deal we could get. Also with going there I knew that there were other resorts nearby so if we needed to go somewhere else we could. The hotel was pretty empty so we were hopeful we could get a good rate, but as we went to the front desk they quoted us an extremely high rate and we decided to go elsewhere. We went back to the main road and saw this little hole in the wall of a place that was charging next to nothing for a night. It wasn't too great but it would do. We weren't going to spend too much time in the room anyway. It wasn't on the beach but it was short walk down to the beach. I am pretty sure we were the only guests and the one thing I will remember about this place was the mosquitoes were horrible. Once we put our stuff down we headed to the beach immediately.

First place we stopped for food.

We were starving so we went to the first restaurant we came across. After eating we walked down the beach to another restaurant/ bar to have drinks and dessert. We sat on mats on the sand with triangle shaped pillows to support our backs. It was just so relaxing sitting by the ocean having the waves come in. We really didn't do too much we wanted to get up early to spend the entire day tanning. We woke up relatively early and went in search of breakfast. We went to the place we had drinks at the previous night for a traditional western breakfast. The breakfast was ok, every once in a while you just crave western food. The service at this place was awful, the servers acted like we were an inconvenience and were whispering under their breath. Thankfully Dana, who is much better at Thai then Kerry or I, heard them and spoke back to them in Thai stating that she had heard and understood them. While we were having breakfast we were watching these ladies giving Thai massages under this tree and we all really wanted one but we would only do it if all three of us could have it done at the same time. Once we finished breakfast we went down to see the women and as we arrived they had enough space to give us all a massage at the same time. Dana and Kerry had Thai massages while I just had a back and shoulder massage. Ever since I have arrived in Asia my upper back between my shoulder blades at the base of my neck has been killing me. I have done any and everything to have the pain stop. I told my lady to use a lot of strength on my back and boy did she listen. I was nearly in tears as I was face down in my pillow. It was exactly what I wanted I thought that maybe she could workout the kinks. This was the second massage I had gotten in 2 weeks and it was heavenly, but painful. My massage ended earlier than the other so I waited for the others to finish before I put my stuff down. Unfortunately the strong massage did not fix the pain in my back. I wish I could find the cure. Everyone keeps telling me to get massages, but how many am I going to have to do to get rid of this pain? I have found that the pain diminishes when I do yoga, but when I do yoga especially the transition from up dog to downward facing dog the pain seems to make itself known. Maybe doing yoga more regularly will strengthen my back or maybe this is where my stress has decided to reside. My back doesn't seem to hurt when I am on holiday, but after being at work in my heels for an hour or two it is killing me.
Once all of us we done with the massage we went to grab lounge chairs on the beach and get our tan on. I absolutely love tanning I feel healthier when I have a tan, I feel like I am thinner when I have dark tanned skin. Being in Thailand almost 7 months I have yet to buy a beach towel so I had to use my sarong as one which wasn't too bad but when it got wet it got really wet and for such a thin piece of fabric is seemed to take forever to dry. As we laid on the beach we were constantly pestered by sales people, some were selling gorgeous sheets, which were way too expensive, and others were selling beautiful sarongs. By mid afternoon Dana saw a sarong she really liked and called the man over as he was trying to sell more sarongs Kerry saw one she liked too, so they both negotiated a deal. Dana got a white sarong with beautiful pink hibiscus flowers on it while Kerry got a bluish green sarong with elephants. I loved the color of Dana's sarong and the elephants of Kerry's sarong but I didn't give it a second thought until the man walked by an hour later holding a gorgeous pink sarong with elephants and a gem design. I swear the man read my mind and he knew exactly what I wanted, I ended up buying it. As the sun began to set we started to get cold  and decided to head back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner. I didn't bring too much in the way of make-up and clothes. I really wanted to be free of most things so that my body could rejuvenate and anyways I wasn't going to be hit on by anybody, any white male only wants Thai women so there really is no need to be pretty here. We decided to eat at the platform restaurant I had dinner at the last time I was in Samed. We had a great table with pretty good service. We were having a grand time and since we were pretty much the only table in the restaurant the servers were having a bit of fun with us.

We were constantly ordering drinks and just relaxing on the beach. At one point Dana went to the restroom and both Kerry and I felt bad that no one had given her a farewell gift from Wall Street Siam so we decided to buy her a lantern to wish away the bad. She was really surprised and happy to have a lantern. We sent up the lantern and she made her wish. We stayed at the restaurant for a couple more rounds of drinks and once the fire dancers had performed we moved on to the dance club next door. We got another round of drinks and decided to dance for a bit. After an hour or so of dancing we decided to head back tot he room. We wanted to catch an early-ish boat and bus so not to get to Bangkok too terribly late. The next morning we got up reasonably early and we wanted to grab some breakfast before we checked out. As I went outside to grab my shoes I noticed one of my shoes was completely soaked and the laces were cut off. I had no idea what had happened I assume that one of the dogs or cats had grabbed my shoe during the night and took it off somewhere.

 My guess is that the workers found the shoe and brought it back to the room since we were the only guests. I was a bit sad because I really liked those shoes, but I knew I had another pair at home that were pretty much done for so I would switch out the laces. After that little hiccup we went to the place we were at the night before. The food wasn't as good as the place we had breakfast at the day before. I had ordered french toast and garlic roast potatoes, the french toast came out reasonably fast but it reminded me of the french toast sticks you get from Burger King. It was good that the french toast had come out this way because I did not have any utensils and after asking numerous times for some I had yet to receive any. Eventually the potatoes came out or what we thought were my potatoes came out. They looked more like mashed potatoes but I dealt with it. Since I still had no utensils I had to eat the mashed potatoes with my fingers, I manged to do this by rolling up the potatoes and popping them into my mouth. A little while later my roasted potatoes came out. It seems that the mashed potatoes were Dana's hash browns. It was all very confusing and a bit disappointing. We just hurried up, finished our breakfast, and went back to the room to pack and check out. Unfortunately our timing was a bit off so we just missed the boat and had to practically wait an hour for the next boat. We pretty much just sat around on the pier shooting the breeze and reading. We were happy to make it to the main land in time to catch the bus to Bangkok, I don't know if we could have waited another hour for transportation. We made it to Ekkami in about 3 hours and we were happy that it was still early enough so we could relax before heading back to work the next day. It was so great having a girls' weekend, I haven't had one of those in ages.

Mom's Visit

Mom came to visit at the beginning of July and would stay for 3 weeks. It was so exciting to have her here as well as receiving all of my presents and just having her around. She is a great traveler she is pretty much game for anything, I can just giver her a map and she can take care of herself. She arrived late Friday night and I had to go pick her up from the airport after work. She was having difficulty explaining to the taxi driver where I lived so I had to come to the rescue. Once we made it home I was showered with gifts of clothes, shoes, candy, baked goods, and purses. It was so nice to have some new clothes in my wardrobe as well as some high heels, because finding shoes in my size in Thailand is pretty much impossible. We spent a good while talking and we went to bed pretty late. Mom was going to come into work with me and then I was sending her to Chatuchak market while I worked. It may have been a little too much for her first day in Bangkok but it was going to be the only time she would be able to go. When she meet me at work that evening she said she was quite overwhelmed and couldn't spend the whole day there. She ended up wandering around the Chatuchak area and the Siam area until I was finished with work. The first week mom was here we went to Hong Kong. The second week we spent time in the Bangkok area. On the first day of my weekend we went to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Thailand. We woke up extremely early and headed to Victory Monument to catch a van to Ayuttahaya. It was a 2 hour van journey and we were not really sure where to go once we got to the city. We both thought it was just a city of ruins but we found out that it was a real city with ruins spread throughout. The van driver dropped us off with a Tuk-Tuk driver who would drive us around for 200 baht an hour. We thought it was a good idea since we had no idea where we were or where we were going. He took us to numerous temples and we saw so many Buddhas in one day that I don't think I would ever need to see one again. Of course with this type of guy he had to take us to the tourist traps and he took us to this elephant place where we could ride an elephant through some temples. We decided to do a 30 minute tour which was still quite expensive, considering we were in Thailand. While we were walking to the elephant I saw some baby tigers and immediately wanted to take photos, stupidly since I love tigers and was so excited, I forgot to ask how much it would cost to hold the baby tigers. It ended up costing 300 baht which is a bit expensive but tigers are one of my favorite animals and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to hold one. After the minor distraction we went on our elephant ride.I did almost kill myself trying to get on the elephant, I slipped on the elephants neck while trying to get to the seat on the back of the elephant. I felt horrified and was more worried about the elephant than myself, I was pretty sure I was going to feel it the next day.  The ride was quite slow I was expecting the elephant to move a bit faster, but it was kind of peaceful and mom was a little bit nervous, as she gets older she always seems to be.

When we were almost done with our tour the mahout asked if I wanted to sit on the elephant's neck and ride. I of course wanted to so he asked for my camera and I slid down to ride on its neck. Mom was so nervous that she was constantly making sounds and for some odd reason kept holding onto a small piece of my tee-shirt. I eventually said, "you know if I fall the way you are holding my shirt is not going to save me, so I am not sure why you are doing it." She said she could always hold my pony tail so she could "save me." Riding on the elephants neck was an odd experience at first, I felt like I was constantly going to fall off and there really wasn't anything to grab so if I did fall I would be pretty screwed. Eventually I got the hang of it and had a great time, the mahout let me sit there for about 10 to 15 minutes which was pretty awesome. He then came back over and asked if mom wanted to try, she immediately said no so I slid back up and he took over the reins. The nice part was the mahout took loads of pictures and had the elephant pose for a lot of pictures. At the end of the ride he did not ask or expect any extra money so mom dropped him a very nice tip. He was extremely grateful  for the tip, his attitude when receiving the tip made it even more worth it. We continued on our exploration of Ayutthaya by visiting a couple more temples and Buddhas. We did visit this one site that had a Buddha face in the roots of a tree. It was really cool to see and you had to make sure your head was below that of the Buddhas at all times. At first mom and I could not find this Buddha in the tree but as we were leaving we saw the crowd and knew we had found it.

By 1 o'clock we were thoroughly exhausted, it was a very warm day and we had been up for hours, so we asked our driver to take us to the van back to Bangkok. He didn't seem too happy but when we paid him for 5 hours of work when we only used him for 4 hours he was shocked and grateful. We made it back to Bangkok with plenty of time to wander around until meeting some of my friends for dinner. We walked the Nana/ Asok area looking at the street vendors while chit chatting. We passed one vendor who had a pretty good knock off of a black quilted Chanel purse. It wasn't too terrible expensive but I just said no I didn't need it and mom got it for me anyway. I have always wanted a Chanel bag and since she will never buy me the real one I will have to make due with a fake. It is a great purse and I have used it numerous times. We had dinner at this western style restaurant called Soi 8. It is a bit expensive but they make some pretty good western food and they have curly fries! We got a table outside and mom was able to meet my friends from work. It was so much fun, a little too much bitching about work, but mom didn't seem to mind she actually gave us advice and said she does the same things with her co-workers. After such a long day mom and I called it a night relatively early. We had another early day with many things to do. The next morning we woke up early again so that we could go to this island outside of Bangkok called Koh Kret. It is at the top of the Chao Phraya River and is an island known for its pottery and market. It is supposedly very busy on the weekend and since we could only go Wednesday we thought it would be pretty empty. We went to Victory Monument to catch a bus to the city where we would catch the boat . It took about 30 minutes and cost us practically nothing. When we got off the bus we were the only foreigners so people knew where we wanted to go so they started pointing us in the direction of the boats to the island. A policeman pointed us toward this market so we went in and then another man said go right so we did and then we started to hesitate. Out of nowhere this man asked if we were going to Koh Kret. We told him we were and he said to follow him, at first we were a bit hesitant and his English was ok but there was two of us so if need be we could overpower him. He took us down all kinds of aisles in the market then past a school across a parking lot in front of a temple under construction and then we found a small pier to the island. We made it just in time to catch the boat across the river and it was a whopping 3 baht to cross the river. Once we got off the boat we thanked the man and tried to figure out what to do next. We first went to the nearby temple but got a little lost and decided to start over by heading back to the pier. Koh Kret is known for its great market and pottery so mom and I were trying to find the path to the market. Eventually we decided to just rent a bike for 40 baht.

We of course went the wrong way at first, we ended up in a school yard near two very large pigs. We doubled back and watched where the locals were going and we finally found the path that went around the island. There was a large tour group walking around the island so trying to ride though the market was quite treacherous, we ended up walking the bikes through the market. We did stop at a couple of temples and shop stalls. Since it was a weekday there weren't too many stores open but from the little we saw, this pottery was gorgeous and full of detail. We even went to a store that was making clay and pottery out in the open. We watched a couple of school girls create the clay logs which would be used to create the pottery. We rode through the market some more until we made it to the residential area. Had we not rented bikes we would have never seen how beautiful this island was. It was so lush and green and there were quite a few homes all of the on stilts with long raised walkways.

It was a fun journey around the island and I am happy we were able to come on such a quiet day so we could experience the entire island without tourists. As we were about to leave a couple of school kids kept looking at us and pointing, I had a feeling that they had a homework assignment where they had to speak to a foreigner. I was right they needed to interview a foreigner in English so they finally got up the nerve to come over and ask me some questions. It was really sweet and I was happy to do it. After the interviews we jumped on the boat and surprisingly remembered our way back to the main road. We caught a van back to Bangkok and since we still had a lot of time mom and I decided to check out the silver market at the bottom of one of the malls. This place sold wholesale silver, gems, beads, and jewelry. It was really quiet and there was a lot of great stores with excellent merchandise. If I want I could easily open a jewelry store in the U.S. and have the jewelry made in Thailand and I could still make a pretty profit. I got a new necklace and some other household items before heading home.
One night mom wanted to take me out for a fancy dinner since I would never treat myself . We wanted to go to Sirocco at the State Tower, where they filmed the Hangover 2, but that restaurant was all booked so we went to one of the other restaurants, Breeze, which was a better idea because that night it poured. Sirocco is on the roof of the State Tower with no overhead coverage at all.

When we left my apartment it was slightly raining and of course there were no taxis to be seen so we had to walk to the BTS. We were a little wet but it wasn't too bad and once we got to the river we tried once again to find a taxi, we once again had no luck. We walked through the busy market finally arriving at the State Tower. We were immediately greeted with wonderful service. We arrived early so we asked if we could have a drink at the Sky Bar. It was only slightly raining and the night view of Bangkok was amazing. You cannot believe how big Bangkok really is until you see it from the top of the State Tower. Mom and I both got Martinis, I got the Hangovertini while mom had a classic Cosmo. We both enjoyed the view some more before deciding to escape the rain and head back in. Good thing we did because right after we sat down at our table it began to pour. Unfortunately we had to eat inside at Breeze because it was raining outside. The service was impeccable and the menu was quite exquisite. Once we sat down we were immediately given a complimentary glass of champagne because of the rain.

Mom and I had a nice dinner, I had duck while mom had a foie gras/steak mixture. We ended the meal with a lovely green tea and chocolate mousse. After dinner we went home to get back to our regular Bangkok lives.
Throughout mom's visit I took her to numerous Thai restaurants more precisely my friend Passie did. Mom's first night here Passie took us to a street food restaurant close to my office that has all kinds of Thai dishes where we decided to have Tom Yum Gung, Chicken Knuckles, Vegetables, and Laab. Mom thought some of it was a bit spicy but she really enjoyed herself because she had authentic Thai food at a place where the locals would go. Other nights I would pick up food from the street food vendors at the end of my road and sometimes she did venture out on her own to different street food vendors usually pointing to a dish she wanted to try or she went to her safe dish of chicken fried rice. Another night Passie took us to a restaurant near her apartment that has traditional Esan food. Mom was able to try some real Som Tom as well as other traditional dishes. She found it all a bit spicy especially the Som Tom but she still tried it, but would not go in for a second bite and the last night she was in town we went out  for Thai bbq. This place was an all you can eat bbq place where you cook your own food on a hot pot. A hot pot is this dome like structure with holes in it that is surrounded by a moat of water placed over hot coals. On the dome a pork fat cube is placed so that the meat and seafood you cook on it does not get stuck. The buffet itself has numerous types of raw meat, seafood, and vegetables. You go up to the buffet bar pick out the items you want and bring them back to your table to cook yourself. You can either cook the food on the dome itself or in the water surrounding the dome. Mom had a great time, she was quite surprised how the food was presented, a place like this would never exist in the U.S. because of the cross contamination fears and the way the meat is left out in the open. The funny thing is that the amount of times I have eaten out in Bangkok with questionable food storage system I have yet to get sick. Mom and I made it an early night because the next day she had to wake up very early and she still had a bit of packing to do. 
The morning mom left she was up at 3:30 so she could leave for the airport at 4. She had a 7 am flight which was a pretty miserable way start to the day. She wouldn't let me walk her to get a taxi because I think she was going to cry and she didn't want to make a scene. So she gave me a teary goodbye while I was half asleep. I think mom had a great 3 weeks here in Asia not only did we experience Hong Kong, Ayuttahaya, and Koh Kret; we also made it to the island of Koh Samed and she made it out to Singapore. It was sad to see her leave but I think she was starting to get homesick.

Koh Mak

One of my friends and former Wall Street teacher, Liz, was getting married on this little island called Koh Mak in the South East of Thailand and fortunately I was able to take the time off from work to attend the wedding. I was going to travel to the island with another Wall Street teacher, Jim, his friend Rik, a Wall Street Manager, Jesse, and one of our PTs, Pyo. It was definitely going to be an interesting journey. I woke up extremely early on Thursday morning to a lovely rain storm. I was hoping the rain would pass and it would be sunny on the island, unfortunately that did not come to fruition. We got on a bus to travel to Trat at 7am. We were assigned seats in the middle of the bus, but the bus attendant just took us to the back of the bus at least 4 or 5 rows behind all the other Thais. It kind of made me feel a bit segregated as if we were not good enough to sit near the Thais as if we had some kind of disease. The good thing about being placed in the back of the bus was that we all pretty much got our own row of seats so we could actually lay out and sleep. 6 hours later we finally made it to Trat and the bus/van station would arrange our boat ride to the island. The bus had not stopped once so some of us headed straight for the toilet while others were in desperate need of a cigarette. We arranged for a speed boat to take us to the island because the slow boat would have taken 3 hours compared to the 45 minute ride we would take with the speed boat. The water was also a bit rough due to the storms so the slow boat would have been a very long journey. While we waited at the bus/van stop in Trat we noticed that there was a pig wandering around, we weren't too worried about it. The pig pretty much kept to itself so we weren't too worried about it wandering around the station, but when we would come back in a couple of days we were going to be thoroughly surprised. While waiting for the boat, Jesse, who hates being on boats was filling himself up with beer so not to get sea sick. It was quite funny to watch him get so anxious before going on the boat. Once we were on the boat both Pyo ad Jesse put on their life jackets immediately because neither of them could swim and the sea wasn't the calmest.

Pretty much all the Thai/Cambodian passengers put on their life jackets as soon as they got on the boat. I thought we would be fine but if it puts their minds at ease then they should wear a life jacket. The boat ride was very long and wet, I could not wait to get off the boat. It wasn't the worst boat ride I have ever been on but it wasn't the best. We were immediately greeted at the pier by our hotel van and we were immediately taken to our hotel. Koh Mak is quite a deserted island with very few people, homes, or transportation. We knew we would be a bit bored especially since it was raining but I could see how this place would be a great place to escape to when the weather is nice. Once we got to the hotel we were immediately greeted by Liz, who started off apologizing for the weather. She wasn't even sure we would make it to the island because of the storm earlier in the day. She was worried that the boats weren't even running. Once we put down our bags in our room we went back to the restaurant, where everyone hung out, to have some lunch. After our day of traveling with no stops we were all really hungry. The rest of the afternoon we spent sitting in the semi-outdoor dinning room talking and drinking.

By early evening the weather had started to clear up so Pyo and I decided to explore a bit while the wedding party did their rehearsal. We walked along the beach and pier; we were just so excited that it wasn't raining. Once the wedding rehearsal was done we all meet back up to drink and have dinner. We had a nice large party only missing Jesse because he drank a little too much and passed out at 7:30. We spent the whole time telling loads of stories and laughing. After dinner some of the group decided to go swimming while the other part of the group decided to play cards on Liz's deck. We were all having a great time until the rains started going again and that kind of killed the mood. We had to run back to our room in the torrential rain but at least we could have a nice warm shower to make us feel better. We went to bed relatively early hoping that in the morning it would not be raining so we could head out to this island that you could reach by foot from our hotel during low tide. At 6:30 the next morning my alarm woke me up and as I listened to the rain outside I decided it would be pointless to get up, so I rolled back over and slept some more. It is so hard to wake up when it is raining, all I ever want to do is sleep. Thankfully Pyo was there to get me out of bed and make me go to breakfast. We were the only ones up having breakfast so we sat for a while watching the storm blow past the resort until David came from his resort to work on the wedding music.As we were about to look through the music David realized he lost his glasses on the walk over to the resort so we walked back with him to search the beach and grounds for his glasses as well as check out the neighboring resort. It was a quaint little place which would have been a nice place to stay at as well. We sat in the restaurant admiring the storm from our seats as the others ate. After a while Pyo and I decided to head back to our resort and relax a bit. We ended up going back to the room to warm-up and watch television. I went back to sleep, because that is what rain does to me, while Pyo busied himself in the room. Finally at about 1 the rain had slowed down considerably so Pyo and I went to check out the area around the resort. There wasn't too much stuff within walking distance of the resort, but we found a fun little restaurant and a massage place. The only way we would get to see anything else on the island was to rent motor bikes, which we were not going to do because it was already late in the afternoon and both of us are not very good motor bike drivers. We decided to to get a Thai massage instead, my first massage in Thailand and Pyo's first ever massage. It was a pretty good massage I did ask for a strong massage, but I felt that the lady could have used a bit more strength. It must have been a strong massage because throughout the massage the lady kept asking if I was ok and at the end of the massage she asked again. Throughout the massage I kept saying "yep, great it doesn't hurt at all." After the massage we went back to the resort and began walking the beach in the opposite direction of our morning excursion. There really wasn't much at this end of the beach just a few little beach huts with hammocks, surfboards, a rope swing, interesting looking fruit, and rocks.

 I really wish it had been sunny because I really could have gotten a great tan because all I would have done was sit by the beach and tan. By about 3 the sun started to make its appearance and after a bit more exploring we started to get dressed for the wedding. The ceremony was to begin at 5 and originally set to be in the garden but do to the monsoon warning and the rain all day they decided to move everything into the reception hall. It was still a very beautiful venue. There were so many orchids on the tables, chairs, and altar. The resort had really done a nice job with the flowers. There weren't too many people at the wedding so it was a very intimate affair. Liz's walk was quite fast and the ceremony wasn't very long. The ceremony was presided over by the very nice Thai many who did have a little difficulty pronouncing some of the words in the script Liz and David had created but he still did a great job. Jesse did the reading which was a Bob Marley quote that was so Liz and David. The ceremony was over quickly and we were all ushered outside to take photos.

Wallstreet Group!

 Liz wanted loads of pictures with her guest so we did them on the balcony outside the reception room, on the pier, and in the garden. We had sunshine for the entire ceremony and the taking of pictures but as we were taking our last photos in the garden you could see the storm clouds rolling in and a few drops began to fall as we started walking back to the reception hall and as we took our shoes off outside the door the flood gates opened to a torrential downpour. The rest of the evening was spent dancing, drinking, and eating with all the normal wedding traditions of the bouquet toss, cake cutting, and the first dance. The best man and maid of honor speeches were so sweet and heartfelt. Unlike most wedding I have been to the bride and groom were asked to open one of their gifts in front of everyone and it was a honeymoon. A couple of the guests chipped in money to buy Liz and David an airline ticket and hotel room to Bali. At first Liz and David stood there staring at the gift, because Katie, who organized the whole thing, did not buy the tickets yet so they made fake tickets. So Katie and the others told them that those tickets were fake because we didn't have their passports but when we get your passports we will get you the real ones. Liz and David thought it was a joke not realizing that no one was joking, everyone had to tell them a couple of times that they really were going to Bali. Finally they realized that they really did get a honeymoon as a gift and were really grateful. To see the emotions on both their faces was so worth it. You know that they truly were not expecting this and really did not want gifts from their guests they were just happy we all came. The whole night was full of fun and dancing eventually we went to our rooms to finish off the booze and hang out. Some of our group went to bed while others went to the pool while we stayed in our room watching the pool group from our balcony. We thought it was much safer to sit on the balcony and watch as they played drunken chicken and Marco polo. We learned the next morning how much safer it was to sit and watch from the sidelines while someone hit their head on the side of the pool and another person was kicked in the eye during the game of chicken. We did finally go to bed because we unfortunately had to leave very early the next morning, we were told that the bus to the pier was leaving at 10:30 so we could get to the pier for the 11 o'clock boat so that we could catch the 12 o'clock bus back to Bangkok.

 Unfortunately the next morning the weather was gorgeous and our boat had broken down so we had to leave later than planned meaning we had to catch the later bus to Bangkok. We really didn't want to wait for the later bus because we didn't want to get to Bangkok so late in the evening. The journey back to the mainland was quite calm, the boat ride was smooth but once we got to the bus/van stop all hell broke loose. By the time we got to the van/bus stop we had missed the first bus and no other bus would come until 2. So we decided it was time to hunker down and eat. The last time we were at the stop the pig left people alone and hung out by the kitchen, but this time it was running around wreaking havoc. It was sniffing and chewing on everyone's bags, coming under chairs to get to people's food and butts, throwing chairs and boxes across the stop (and yes it really did throw the items across the van/bus stop) and in general it was running around the van/bus stop like a bat out of hell. Needless to say for an hour we were left alone with this pig and never had I felt more scared of an animal in my life. It would come charging at our table out of no where leaving a trail of sludge and stink behind. When we got our food it ran over so quickly we all jumped into our seats so fast that Jesse had broken his chair in the process.

We all screamed while the staff thought it was the funniest thing they ever saw. The pig left us for a bit so we began to feel safe so I decided to chance it and stand up to look in my bag and as I did that the pig ran past me grazing my leg. I literally screamed at the top of my lungs and somehow jumped into the chair as the Thai staff laughed hysterically at me. It took me a good minute or two to calm down and this all happened while Jesse had escaped to the toilet. As Jesse was coming back to the table the pig decided to run to that side of the van/bus stop tossing two plastic chairs in his direction. Had he been 10 seconds earlier he would have been hit by the flying chairs. The pig then ran off in the direction of the toilets which did not help Pyo or I because we both desperately needed to go to the toilet before getting on the bus. We tried waiting as long as possible hoping the pig would come back but when it was getting too late we had to just chance it and make our way to the toilets.

The Crazy Pig! 

I did a quick sign of the cross and cautiously walked toward the toilets next to Pyo. As we turned the corner to the toilets the pig came out of the mens toilet and ran into the adjoining field.We both quickly did our business hoping that the pig would be too interested in whatever it was doing in the field to follow or attack us. When we first left the toilets it seemed pretty interested in what it was doing, but when we looked back after walking 50 meters it emerged from the grass. We kept walking slowly but with urgency we were both so scared that it was going to chase or attack us. Thankfully it went in the opposite direction towards the kitchen. The pig pretty much left us alone for our last 30 minutes and when the bus finally came we ran to the bus hoping to never see that pig again. The bus ride back to Bangkok was pretty uneventful other than being so long. We had stopped numerous times to pick and drop off passengers we also got stuck in Bangkok traffic (no surprise there). I finally made it home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and preparing for the next day at work.

Hong Kong

On Mom's first weekend in Thailand, well my weekend (Tuesday and Wednesday), we decided to go to visit a family friend, Suzi in Hong Kong. We were both very excited and couldn't wait to visit Hong Kong for the first time. We were pretty awful tourists we didn't do any research or buy any maps before going to Hong Kong. Originally we planned on jumping on one of those red double decker tourist buses, but I wasn't too keen on doing that while mom was but we planned to play it by ear. We woke up very early Monday morning to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We made it pretty quickly through immigration and anxiously awaited our flight. Even though our flight was  3 hours we were fed and had individual televisions in the headrest. It was very different from the United States where you are lucky to get fed on a 5 hour flight let alone a 3 hour flight. Once we began our decent into Hong Kong I had the most excruciating pressure in my head. I had very difficult time equalizing and my head felt like my face was being split open. It originally started during the decent when I was popping my ears and then the pain began in my ears traveled down my my jaw line and then to the center of my forehead. I was doing everything in my power to see the Hong Kong harbor. I managed, even through the excruciating pressure, to see the magnificent Hong Kong skyline. I always knew that there were a lot of skyscrapers and tall apartment buildings but to see them in person was truly amazing. I also couldn't believe how much green I could also see. Once we landed we made our way to a taxi driver Suzi arranged for us to take us to her home. She and her husband Barry, who was in the United States at the time, live in Sai Kung in a national forest. It was quite difficult to get there especially if you have never been to Hong Kong. After the hour drive we finally got to Suzi's home where we treated with a wonderful lunch and a greeting from 4 very friendly dogs. After a lovely lunch in the garden we began to plan our trip into Hong Kong thanks to the advice of Sasha, Suzi and Barry's daughter. We planned to catch one of the buses that pick up outside of Suzi's home and catch a transfer in Sai Kung where we will hop on the amazing subway system of Hong Kong. After the game plan was made Suzi took us up to the reservoir in the national forest for an afternoon swim with the dogs. We did have to wait until 5 because you are not allowed drive to the reservoir so we had to wait until the park rangers went home for the evening. 

The Reservoir

It was a very peaceful and quiet area, the water was a perfect temperature and extremely clean. It was a nice way to wash off the stink of traveling as well as cool down on a hot day. The trip to and from the reservoir was gorgeous I never thought that this place would exists in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is known for being a concrete jungle who would believe that something so beautiful would be here. I am so lucky that I know someone who does live in Hong Kong and she took us to see  the other side of Hong Kong. That night Suzi took us out for a traditional Cantonese dinner with 10 of her closest friends. We had a giant circular table with a large lazy susan in the center. They ordered about 9 or 10 dishes with enough food for us all to share. It was so nice to have someone order us traditional items and that we were able to taste so many differ kinds of traditional foods. I truly enjoy having meals like this because I am able to experience all kinds of food. After hours of eating and drinking we finally went home. Mom and I were completely exhausted, we had been up since 5 am so by 9  we were falling asleep at the table. The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn once again for a full day of being a tourist. We took two buses to the subway and purchased a ticket for unlimited use of the subway lines in Hong Kong. I must say that the subway is the way to go in Hong Kong. It is really clean, the lines go everywhere, and most of the commuting is underground so you don't have to worry about being on the street to face the elements. Our first stop of the day was to The Peak. After getting off in Central Hong Kong we followed the signs to The Peak. The Peak is a place at the top of a mountain that overlooks Hong Kong, you can get there by an old time trolley or by bus. We decided to go for the full experience and go by the trolley. 

When we first got there we immediately saw hundreds of young children and we were a bit worried. They had already purchased their tickets so we just had to work through the crowd to get to the ticket window which had no line. Even though there were hundreds of kids we got on the trolley right away without the children. The trolley could not hold all the children and the group of tourists so fortunately the kids were taken off. Good thing for me because I hadn't had breakfast or coffee and it was too early in the morning for a cramped ride to the top of a mountain with screaming children. It is a pretty fun ride to the top of The Peak, you pass numerous high rise apartment buildings while still being surrounded by trees. I could not believe how tall these high rises actually are and that people actually live in them. I don't think I could live that high up. Once we got off the trolley mom and I decided to grab some breakfast at one of the many cafes on the top of The Peak. We had a nice breakfast sandwich and coffee while looking out the window to all of Hong Kong as well as  the trolleys coming and going. We then made our way to the first observation deck where we walked around a bit but I really wanted to go to the upper deck because I always like to go to the top of any structure when I visit a new city. 

There we took numerous photos of the Hong Kong skyline. It was a gorgeous day and we truly had some amazing shots. After taking loads of pictures mom and I walked around some of the shops and picked up a couple of souvenirs before heading back down to continue our exploration of Hong Kong. As we walked the streets one thing I immediately noticed was how clean Hong Kong is especially compared to Bangkok. I have been in numerous major cities and Hong Kong has got to be one of the cleanest. You never expect that from major cities, so it was another delightful surprise I experienced from Hong Kong. Finally after a little bit of searching found the bus to go to Stanley Market. The city of Stanley is a fishing village about 45 minutes outside the Central area of Hong Kong. It is known for its wonderful market. Stanley was a wonderful city with this great pier lined with restaurants and pubs. While we were in Stanley we visited Tin Hau Temple and Kwun Yam Temple. After exploring the city a bit more we ventured back to the market where we picked up painted Chinese writing of each of our family member's name. When mom gets back to the States she is going to have it framed to hang in the house. We thought it would be a cool art piece to have in the house, but unique enough to start conversations. I really enjoyed the market at Stanley, it was so much nicer than any of the markets in Bangkok. Parts of the market had air conditioning and the market was really clean. What I really loved seeing was all the art pieces if I had a home of my own and a way to ship these pieces I can see myself buying a couple of them. We didn't want to waste our afternoon in a market so we caught a bus back to Hong Kong to continue our excursion. 

We went to the Chi Lin Nunnery next and it was absolutely gorgeous. It was this beautiful wooden monastery built in the middle of concrete buildings. It had beautiful gardens and Lily ponds. It was so surprising to see such a calm and peaceful place like this in the middle of Hong Kong. We then hopped on the subway to see Wong Tai Sin Temple. This is another religious place in the middle of concrete buildings but surprisingly quiet. I really enjoy going to Chinese Buddhist Temples. I love the details and colors that are used. I thoroughly enjoy spending my time looking at all the intricate details each temple has to offer. After the temple I really wanted to have high tea at The Peninsula so mom and I hustled toward that part of the city so to make it in time. 

We did make it with plenty of time and we were able to have a traditional British afternoon tea complete with clotted cream, warm scones, fresh jam, finger sandwiches, and lovely desserts. It was a nice way to wind down after a hectic day of traveling and being a tourist. After tea we began walking towards the pier because we wanted to take a ferry ride across the harbor. On the way there we happened across this great historical restoration area called1881. I believe it was an old fort with a lighthouse and weather devices that was converted into restaurants and shops but still maintained a lot of it's old features. There was an old home that had been restored but the inside was still historical and stunning. We had a lot of fun exploring 1881 and were happy to happen across it. We arrived at the pier in time to catch a ferry in which we got to see sunset from our seats. It was a good day we finally made it back to Suzi's at 9:30 and we were thoroughly exhausted. We had a quick dinner and went straight to bed. The next morning we got up early with Suzi to have a walk in the forest with the dogs. There was a lovely path that went through an old time village and former tin factory that ran along the river. It is was a great way to start off the morning it was so peaceful and relaxing to have a walk with Suzi and Mom. After our walk we went to the seaport in Sai Kung to have a traditional Cantonese breakfast of dim sum and dumplings. I was so happy that I was able to have traditional dim sum before I went back to Thailand. I know that I went to a traditional place because all the elders of the city were there first thing in the morning having their morning dim sum. After running a couple of errands in the city we went home to pack so we could  go on our final adventure in Hong Kong before going to the airport. I wanted to ride the cable cars to see the giant Buddha.We took the crystal cable car so that the floor of the car was all glass so we could see everything as we went to the Buddha. It was kind of a long journey but it was really fun to go over the water, see the airport, travel over the mountains, and see the forest. Once we got off the cable car we exited into a little village full of stores and restaurants. It really was a cute little town. We walked through the town and went in search of the giant Buddha, which isn't too hard to find. 

We then had to climb hundreds of stairs to to the actual Buddha, which really showed me how out of shape I really am. The Buddha was worth all the bitching and moaning because it was pretty amazing and the view was spectacular. The climb down was so much nicer and easier. We then visited another Chinese Buddhist temple and then we made our way back down to civilization. We still had a lot of time before our flight left so we decided to walk around the mall and area surrounding the cable cars to just kill some time. We then made our way to the airport in hopes that we could catch an earlier flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately when we got to the airport the 11pm flight was had was the only night flight. Of course this always happens when you have to work the next day, the flight was over an hour late. When we finally arrived in Bangkok of course every other international flight arrived at the same exact time so the line for Passport Control was extremely long with not very many passport agents working the desks. We ended up waiting in line for nearly 2 hours. So by the time I got home and in bed it was 5 am and I needed to get up at 9. Needless to say I was a little exhausted at work but the whole trip to Hong Kong was so worth it. 

I took so many wonderful pictures in Hong Kong please check out my Flickr account to see them all:
Hong Kong Photos

Being a Tourist

I have almost been in Thailand for 5 months and I am proud of myself especially when it comes to visiting places in Bangkok. A lot of co-workers haven't even been to half the places I have already visited and they have been here longer. On my weekends I have tried to go to at least one tourist/cultural location. My first ever excursion into the city was to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. I started bright and early one Tuesday morning and made my way to Central Pier then got on a commuter long boat. Once I got to the pier for the Grand Palace Tuk-Tuk drivers, who were trying to get me to go anywhere but the Grand Palace, immediately greeted me; I ignored them and went on my way. You know you have made into the Grand Palace because you are greeted with a stark white wall. Once you enter the gates there is a long beautiful walkway to the entrances of the palace.   Here is where you are stopped and told how to properly dress. It was a pretty warm day and you must be completely covered when you go into the grounds of the Palace. Once you get into the Palace grounds you enter the temple part of the compound where you will find the most famous site in Bangkok, Wat Phra Kaew: The Temple of the Emerald Buddha. There were numerous people going into to see the Buddha. There were no pictures to be taken and with the crowds it was quite difficult to view the Buddha. I was expecting some giant Emerald Buddha and was greeted with a much smaller one on top of a tall shrine, it was kind of disappointing. Once I walked the ground where the temple was I moved on to where the real Palace was. It was a large traditional Thai building with immaculate gardens. What I remember most about the gardens were these cool trees that had balls of green leaves, it reminded me of a Dr. Seuss story. 

Eventually I left the Grand Palace and began my walk to Wat Pho, The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. As I walked down to Wat Pho I was harassed by Tuk-Tuk and Taxi drivers offering to take me to a "better" place. I finally made it Wat Pho and was much more impressed. Even though it was a smaller compound the reclining Buddha was so much more impressive. First thing that I liked was that I was allowed to take pictures of this incredible Buddha. I have no idea how tall or long the Buddha was, but it filled the entire room. I couldn’t believe how big this Buddha was and can't even imagine the amount of time it took to create this thing. As I was walking down the building I began hearing some kind of banging noise. As I walked around the giant feet of the Buddha I saw a table where people were paying 20 baht and given coins in return. I would then see people walk to a wall with bowls and drop a coin in each bowl. It was pretty cool to see all these people dropping coins and the noise was pretty loud. I wonder how much is made from this little tradition? After I left the Buddha I walked around the compound and found this cool courtyard with Buddhas lined all the way around. It was really cool to see all these Buddhas perfectly in line with one another. I explored some more of the gardens and temple and this statue garden with numerous orchids. I particularly enjoyed this garden because the statues were doing Yoga poses, by the way I could do about 75% of the poses. I wandered around for a bit more and then decided to catch the boat back to the BTS to head home.

Another adventure here in Bangkok was to go to the Jim Thompson house. Jim Thompson was this American who during the war fell in love with Thailand and saw a business opportunity to export Thai silk. After years of renting a property in Bangkok he decided to buy a plot of land and build his own home. His home is absolutely gorgeous; it is so full of character and one of kind pieces. The home is now run by a foundation because when Jim Thompson turned 61 years old he decided to go to Malaysia on vacation and went for a walk in the jungle, he was never seen or heard from again.  The Jim Thompson House has tours every half an hour led by English speaking Thai staff. The gardens and home are exquisite and full of detail; unfortunately you cannot take photos inside the house. He built his home with a mix of western and Thai style. He had an entrance hall and kitchen unlike Thai homes, but also kept the house very open like Thai homes. The home had amazing pieces of artwork and statues, a lot of artwork was from Burma. My favorite part of the house was his dinning room. To make his dinning room table he used two ornately carved mahjong tables to create a table to seat 6. It was beautifully carved and I would love to have this piece in my house. Unfortunately I was being good tourist and decided not to take a picture.

 I really enjoyed how his whole house was arranged and all the furniture in the home. Throughout the grounds there were numerous art exhibits, some of the exhibits by modern day local Thai artists and the other collections were his personal collection of silk artwork showcased in the old servants' quarters. Going to the Jim Thompson house was a nice easy afternoon excursion and a place for me to escape for a couple of hours. If you ever went to this house you would never believe you were in the city center of Bangkok, it is so surprisingly peaceful.

One Tuesday I decided that I was going to be adventuress and try to go to the National Museum, National Gallery, and the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center. Unfortunately when I went to the National Museum and Gallery both were closed. So I walked through old town and decided to go across the river to Wat Arun. Wat Arun is this gorgeous temple that you pass by when you are on the boat to the Grand Palace. I had planned to go on the day I went to Wat Pho and the Grand Palace but due to the heat I was too tired to cross the river. When I got to Wat Arun I was surprised at how small it was. 

There wasn’t really much to do. The only real activity was climbing to the top of Wat Arun and seeing Bangkok from a higher vantage point. It was a pretty tough climb because the stairs were so steep. I actually got a little winded on the way up and I was quite tense going down the stairs. After I wandered around a little bit more I decided to head back into the city center. I went to the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center. It is a free museum next my office that has all kinds of exhibits and the best part is it is free to the public. I spent my afternoon wandering each floor looking at Royal Art, Photography, Modern Art, and Interactive Art Pieces. The only thing I wish about the exhibits was better lighting to take photos of the art pieces. There was horrible glare off of the artwork and I would have loved to take a picture of some of the pieces. The building has a circular ramp that takes you from floor to floor. On the ramp between floors there are interactive exhibits. The exhibits on the ramp were pretty cool there were these cool lampshades that you went under and it felt like being in a kaleidoscope. 

There was also so cool ropes course exhibit and a fluorescent light exhibit. As I climbed to the top the top floor, the exhibit wasn't completed so I was unable to view it. It was still a pretty nice day out I got to see some pretty cool things and the best thing about the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Center is that it is right next door to my office so if I ever want to escape I can just walk across the street.

Songkran

Siam Square.

Songkran aka Thai New Years happens every year April 13th - 15th. It is a time when Thais spend time with their families, but more importantly it is three days of water fights. The water symbolizes washing away the old year and starting the new year clean. Pretty much it is three days of people getting completely drenched. You could be in business attire or a bathing suit you will get wet. You can be a young child or an elderly adult you will get wet. You will definitely get wet if you are a foreigner. I think the Thai people get a perverse joy out of attacking the foreigners with water. I had heard the best place to celebrate Songkran was in the north, Chiang Mai. Since I didn't know when my days off were going to be it was too late for me to plan a trip up there so I decided to stay in Bangkok. I was told that a lot of the residents leave to go back to their provinces to spend time with their families so Bangkok becomes a ghost town. I prepared for Songkran by getting a waterproof bag and a water gun. Unfortunately my water gun was not too great. It was a large gun that held plenty of water but had no water pressure. So it made me giant target and I pretty much lost all of my fights. The first day of Songkran I meet up with my friend, Adam, at Siam Square. At Siam Square they had a block closed off with a couple of stages and loads of water filling stations. Siam Center I felt was more family friendly. There was a lot more children and families enjoying themselves. There was also more room so it was easier to have water fights. I spent a couple of hours there and when the water started running out I made the trek back to my apartment on the freezing cold BTS. After being thoroughly cold I finally got off the BTS and started walking home. I luckily found some food on the way home since there weren't too many street food vendors my selection was limited. I was pretty much completely dry until I walked past this one restaurant and was thoroughly drenched with buckets of water again. I eventually got away from the people and was almost home when some people in front of my apartment building decided that I wasn't wet enough. I shrugged and let them pour a bucket of water on me not knowing that they water was freezing cold.

Crowds outside my apartment.

I was so happy I was home so I could put on some warm clothes and relax. The next day I got up late and then headed to Khao San Road with Adam and some friends. By the time I got to the BTS I was already soaking wet. The people outside my apartment building where up bright and early so I was covered in freezing cold water first thing in the morning. After a freezing cold BTS ride and a nice Tuk-Tuk ride I finally made it Khao San Road and it was packed. There were crowds everywhere. On the street people were squirting you from all directions as well as covering you with this clay mixture. Other than water fights the Thais like to use this clay mixture mixed with water to put on the faces of those participating in the water fights. This was the first time I had encountered the clay and I was covered by the time I got to Khao San Road. I am not sure what the significance of the clay is but they really seemed to enjoy wiping it on my face.You could not bring the clay on to Khao San Road which was very nice. Once I made it to Khao San I had to fight through the crowds to find my friends. I escaped the clay and was greeted with ice cold water on Khao San Road. Khao San Road unlike Siam Square did not offer free water. It was a bit of a pain in the butt because when you are trying to dig in your bag for money people are spraying you with water and getting everything in your bag soaked. Thankfully my gun held a lot of water so I didn't need to fill up as much. I meet up with my friend Adam and his two friends, we ended up in between two musical stages because it was the only area where we weren't squished in between people. There were a lot more water battles battles on Khao San Road. People were more vicious and had no problem spraying you in the eye or the ear. I am pretty sure that the multiple times I was sprayed in the ear was the reason for my ear infection. Next year goggles, quick drying clothes, better water gun, and ear plugs are a must.

Me after a day on Khao San Road!

We spent a good eight hours in water fights and as night dawned we decided to get off Khao San Road and head toward transportation. We went to the main road and were again bombarded with people coming after us with clay and water buckets. By this time I was getting a little sick and tired of being chased. As it got later and people got drunker the chasing of the foreigners became a little more prevelant, I decided that was my cue to head home. I had to meet up with a friend of a friend who was in Bangkok for a day before heading off to China. She came in very late and I was thoroughly exhausted.

Silom Road.

I woke up pretty late the next day and even the normal crowds outside my window seemed to have slept in later. I think everyone was getting a little too water logged. Bridget and I decided to hit the last place for water fights in Bangkok, Silom Road. I had heard from fellow co-workers that it was usually packed and crazy, they weren't wrong. When we got to Silom it was crazy and people were allowed to have clay so they loved wiping it on any foriegn face. There was hardly any room to have water gun fights it was just a giant crowd of people walking on top of one another. I had never had my face touched so much in one day. It was getting a little ridiculous people would come up with two hand fulls of clay and rub it all of your face getting it into my eyes and ears. As soon as I would wash some of the clay off another person would run up and do it all again. Some of the clay, I believe, had some sort of menthol or tiger balm in it so my face would start to burn after a while. After hours of getting covered in clay and really not water fighting Bridget and I decided that we were done and went back to my apartment. After we cleaned up we went out to dinner at this great little place called Condom and Cabbage. It was started by a gentleman who believed in family planning so all his artwork in the restaurant was made from condoms and birth control pills. Instead of a mint you got a condom. It was reasonable priced and had good food. It was a nice way to end my first Songkran. Next year I want to make it to Chiang Mai.