Slacker here... I wrote this awhile back and just saved it instead of posting... so here's a look back at my thoughts on Thailand. More to come later...
Two days back into the groove of things and I'm beep-boppin' up the stairs at work and feel a lot more refreshed then I did before I left Abu Dhabi two weeks ago. It's a nice feeling that I'd love to maintain until summer begins... I was so against letting this place change me for the worse that I didn't realize that I had lost a little bit of myself in the process of not turning into a spoiled brat. I lost my energy, bounce, carefree attitude, laughter, and bubbly-ness - not to say it wasn't still there... just not to the extent that it was back in the States. It took leaving this place to see how much thought you actually put into maintaining the status-quo here from what you wear to how you act in public. It had really taken it's toll and it took me getting on a plane for 7 hours and chatting up the locals to understand what had actually happened to my heart here.
I've decided to post my Thailand experiences by city instead of by doing it all in one post... too many wonderful things to say about this place for one post - it just wouldn't do it justice.
So without further ado -
Bangkok, Thailand (Day One and Two)
We arrived in Bangkok and immediately found our hotel taxi; which shuttled us to the Panthewam Princess hotel in the heart of the city. It was a good ways out and we didn't end up checking into the hotel until around 2:30 that morning, so needless to say--we were tired. Alison ended up getting sick on the plane over and you couldn't help but feel badly for her. Immediately, it was evident that this would be a warm and friendly place to be - I kept the bellhop in my room with a map on the table asking all sorts of questions about where to go and what to experience. He was hospitable and didn't mind staying and answering my bazillion questions.
The next day was a bit of a struggle for me to get up (complete opposite problem here in Abu Dhabi). I think I finally rolled out of bed around 9:00 and got ready for breakfast. Shortly after I ate my completely English-style breakfast (beans and all!) we hit the ground running to the Chatuchak Market - a name in which I never completely learned how to say correctly, but didn't really have to as all the locals referred to it as JJ's Weekend Market.
The girls and I had a rather humbling experience in an elevator on our trek to the SkyTrain station (we got on with a security guard and some ladies and all assumed that the security guard's job was to push the buttons of the elevator... when he got off on the 6th floor, we were left a little dumbfounded that it wasn't his job to stand in an elevator all day and push buttons... that's when I realized that I just might live in a country that has too much money.)
We hopped on the SkyTrain to the Mo Chit station for what I assumed would be a large market but was completely amazed at how insanely big it actually was! Kathy, Sonia, and I ended up going back the next day as well to take Alison (she was sick the first day we went)... we figured she needed to be exposed to this place and we realized it would be our last day to hit this place up and there were still areas we wanted to explore.
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| Asian countries are so organized... even getting off the SkyTrain is a cinch! |
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| Traffic was chaotic considering it was ONLY 10:00! |
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| Alison and I about to head into the shopping madness! |
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| Inside one of the million isles this market has. |
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| We had a man warn us that people will slash your bags on the outside to grab what falls out. |
I'm not huge into shopping but let me tell you how amazingly cheap this place is (which in turn, causes you to spend more money then you realize!) I bought several dresses for 100 baht (a little over 3 USD... yes, you read that right... 3... flippin'.... DOLLARS!) got a couple of sarongs for our island adventure, some sandals, and about 6 t-shirts for $10 (and I'm talking a Longhorn shirt, Cowboys shirt, and several others). People from Texas really get out and travel more than other states - either that or they just like to dump random HEB and sports teams and old high school shirts off in Thailand.
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| little bit 'o lunch before heading back to the hotel - don't even ASK how they do the dishes in this joint! |
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| friend rice and chicken at JJ's Market w/ Kathy |
My first "authentic" Thai food experience was the second night in Bangkok. I was told to try some Panang Curry and seeing as the menus in this place can be quite overwhelming when you don't know what the heck to eat, I decided tonight would be the night to try it. The first few bites were pretty enjoyable as far as curry goes but by the fourth bite my mouth was on fi-yah! Holy geeze, it was spicy. I thought it might just be because it was curry and I'd only every eaten it one other time, but my co-worker, Kathy, tried it as well and agreed that it was hot as all get out. She commended me for finishing it (well, I didn't eat too many more of the green veggies due to weird textures). I washed it down with a yummy glass of pineapple juice. All things considered, I was pretty happy that I'd survived my first real Thai experience and didn't chicken out because of the spices. Huge step for me on the eating front!
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| Panang Chicken and Pineapple Juice |
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