Bangkok days 1 and 2

People say Bangkok is dirty, but compared to Cambodia I could eat off of the street here.

What an incredible city. There is everything you could ever want here. Bustling traffic, huge markets selling everything from shampoo, underwear, beer, snacks, massages, and cocktails to live animals, fake IDs (even diplomas I should totally get a masters this week...heehee), there are also quiet streets with family restaurants by the river and serene parks where you can sit for hours.

When Debra left yesterday I was very sad. I decided to pretend that she was around anyways, got some funny looks from the passersby though...
I promptly did some walking around, sat for a while at a cafe, bought a giant 2 gallon sized bottle of water to keep in my hotel room, and then shopped like a rockstar. I found a dress for our friend Rachel that has been like the quest for the holy grail, yay! I bought a bra for about $2.50 and it's the best fitting one I've ever bought. I'm going back to get more before coming back home. And I succombed and bought jeans.

The jeans were worth the story behind buying them though. I'm all sweaty, of course, and shopping in the street market stalls. I find jeans and the size number is too big and the lady helping me explained (using hand motions and a few phrasebook words) that the sizes are different there, I should just try them on. Got it. Okay so I'm in the middle of a large crowd...how do I try these on? Right under my skirt with the help of the saleswoman. I'm really sweaty so we are both attempting to keep my skirt from getting inapproriately high up while also trying to pull the jeans up my sweaty legs. There was lots of laughing, pulling, jumping, and she even zipped me up. How could I not buy these? They also fit like a dream and of course since it's Asia they were the right length!! Love it. Oh they also cost me $18, even better.

The rest of the day was spent reading, napping, and then going out for dinner and beer while people watching. I sat for dinner with an odd group. A guy and a girl from the really far northern areas of Canada, the girl however currently lives in Shanghai, and two guys from Italy. A fun group, lots of political chats, and discussions. A fun evening. I got into bed around 10pm and watched some British murder mystery series until it was time to sleep.

This morning I woke up bright and early and instead of hopping out of bed (since it was 7am) I spent some time watching Autralian soap operas and BBC World. I must say the soaps are great and I might make them part of my AM routine....The morning was spent taking my laundry in (thank goodness a bra and dress were bought yesterday I was able to take everything else to the wash..which cost me a whopping $1.50 for all 3 kilos of clothes I took in).

I then went for a long stroll around the northern part of the city. I walked along a few rivers, saw the slums, went to the national library, walked through what looked at first like a sit in protest, people with tents and banners etc. but it was an "I love the king and I love Thailand" thing...wonder why a sit in is necessary. They all LOVE the king. I also went to the zoo here. A cooking show was being filmed there so I got to enjoy watching a woman in full leopard print clothing do a demo, so fun. I also saw an elephant performance. Man oh man the things those animals do. They dance! and have rhythm, wow is all I can say. I did some more walking and
just a few minutes ago I bought half of a watermelon (which the woman cut up for me) and a custard apple (actually tastes like apple custard inside, it's rivaling my love for persimmons at the moment) all for a total of 20 baht. That price translated to roughly 60 cents. Perfect.

The rest of the day will involve, some swimming (my hotel has a great pool), maybe a nap, some postcard writing and people watching, and a foot massage. I think dinner will be at the food stalls down by the river. I've had sooo much pad thai and pad see-ew that tonight might be a fun curry night:-) I'll prepare my taste-buds and have a beer on hand to tone down the spice!

Until tomorrow...