Songkran: Thai New Year

Songkran at Khao San Road in Bangkok, April 2011

Which city do you think holds the record for the craziest party? New York City for New Years? Las Vegas during, well, anytime of year? New Orleans during Mardi Gras? Let’s take a trip miles away for what I think is the world’s craziest party….Songkran in Thailand!

Songkran, or the Thai New Year, takes place during the hottest time of year in Thailand and is the perfect time for a country-wide waterfight!

Although it is also a party, the Thai people also use this time to pay respects to Buddha, as well as elders, clean their homes and even cleanse themselves spiritually for the new year. Women, children, grandparents, and maybe even some monks bring their best waterguns and crowd the streets of Thailand. The Thai people aren’t only armed with ice cold water guns but also a thick paste that they use to rub on your face. This is the same paste used by monks to make blessings.  

Scented water filled with flowers for blessings.

If you’re looking for a crazy party try travelling to Thailand and experiencing the world’s largest water fight – don’t forget your waterguns!

Kindergarten is FUN! :)

It's been almost a month since I started my job as a Kindergarten teacher. I am LOVING it!!! It's quite a challenge but it's so much fun. The downfall to teaching in Bangkok is centered mainly around the VERY early mornings. I am NOT a morning person in the least bit so waking up at 6 am on a daily basis is a little difficult. However, when I get to school I am ready! I enjoy my days and they really fly by.

Some of the main challenges with my classroom are two of the newest students at my school who speak no English whatsoever. It is so difficult trying to keep an eye on the other 5 while they're doing their work and trying to explain to the other two what is going on with visual aids or hand gestures. It can be very frustrating at times but when they give me those sweet little smiles it's completely worth it. They are all so cute.

My classroom is finally coming together. I have a class jobs board, a very dirty white board, and a couple of bulletin boards that I've covered in dark green. We have an animal/safari theme in my room. Elephant borders all over the boards, zebra striped class jobs and class job sticks with animal heads - very fun! I'm really loving it so far! :)

Day 1 of teaching:

Well, it is finally here. I finished my TEFL certificate last week and start my first teaching job here in Bangkok tomorrow!!! I'll be teaching kindergarten at a school that I really like (I won't disclose where but it's a good school and the kids are too cute!). I can't wait for tomorrow! I am nervous and excited, but in a good way. The only negative is I'm basically on the other side of BKK until I move this weekend, so I'll be leaving here around 6:00 AM!!! That is SO early!

I'm shadowing the other kindergarten teacher for a few days to get a feel for things and then I'll be let loose with my teaching assistant. I am not sure what to expect...AT ALL! I have the class schedule per week but haven't received books or materials to begin my lesson plans. It will all work out though, I'm sure of it! Wish me luck!

chinatown.

Today, after putting the deposit on my new apartment, I hopped on the MRT and went to Hua Lampong to visit Chinatown! I had visited with my dad last November but we didn't see much of it and after hearing about the Execution Chamber I realized I desperately needed a trip back! After a tuk tuk driver attempting to haggle us, we decided to simply follow the signs and take a nice afternoon stroll to Chiantown. Passing areas that I distinctly remembered from my dad and I's father daughter trip was bizarre but made me feel even closer to Bangkok. One of the first things we saw down the road we went was this giant temple. It was gorgeous, but was a little pricey so we just took a gander at the remarkable wat from the outside. It's design reminded me of a smaller version of the Grand Palace. The details were similar although the Grand Palace is HUGE, especially compared to this little wat.

It's so weird knowing that I'm in Bangkok (especially after having been here for 2 months now) and then all of a sudden seeing Chinese writing and architecture everywhere! It's crazy. Some parts reminded me a lot of my trip to Hong Kong, especially the herbal medicine shops that we saw. It's also a vegetarian festival here in Bangkok so a lot of the dishes we saw were vegetarian. I saw lots of salads and of course, fruits everywhere. Lots of different smells. But don't get me wrong, you can smell fish (and durian) from miles away. I think that basically goes for any part of Bangkok though, even China Town.

We were planning on following this walking tour that is in this Thailand book I have but once we got to Chinatown there was just so much to do that we ended up seeing nothing on our list...but it didn't matter! We put the map and the book away and just explored. I love Chinatown and will definitely be back. To take it all in we stopped at this little bar on the street and people watched for an hour (and enjoyed a nice cold Chang). It was some of the best people watching I've ever done in Bangkok. I set up my tripod and bloggie while we were there and did a quick time lapse video, so check out our view from the bar at: www.youtube.com/cotimicheleasia. I'm sure I'll be back and maybe this time we will even make it to the Execution Chamber and I'll post some pictures of that. Either way it will be another Bangkok adventure! :)

I ♥ Tuk Tuks and KSR!

Last weekend, we had one crazy night on Khaosan Road! As I've mentioned, it is one of my favorite places in all of Bangkok. Since I moved here I've noticed the reasons people don't seem to like it: it's overpriced since it's a tourist area, it's always crowded, food doesn't seem to be up to par (my falafel last night was pretty good but didn't feel so good after I ate it and it seems the pad thai on the street sits there for months before it's cooked), pickpockets, and the fact that you can't walk a foot without being asked for a rip off tuk tuk, taxi with no meter, tailored suits, or a sex show. Besides all of that, I do love it. It's nice seeing Westerners in one area. We met a group of guys last time we went out that were from all over the world: Ireland, America, and England. They had just randomly each other and allowed us to ride free of charge in their taxi. Nice guys. And unlike America, guys that talk to you here aren't hitting on you. In fact, they're probably not interested in American women (lucky for me).

But, I'll go back to the beginning. Right when we got to Khaosan Road it started to pour. I mean severe rain! So what do you do when it's raining in Bangkok? Stop somewhere for a beer. We finally picked one of the many bars alongside the road and decided to stop for a couple of drinks and some appetizers. I hadn't eaten so anything on the menu looked quite appealing to me. My friend with me didn't drink beer but I ordered my Tiger beer (I try to have a different beer each time I'm out) and enjoyed the scenery while she dwelled over the menu, only to decide on a Long Island Iced Tea. How American of her. :) Nice to know they're international though.

One other drawback to KSR (Khaosan Road) is the fact that you are always being bugged by people to buy things! Even when you are sitting down peacefully at a restaurant! That's something that would NEVER be allowed in America. It's all part of the atmosphere here though, and I've actually gotten used to it. One set of people that walk around are these women with this crazy hats on that carry these little frog things that make ribbit noises. You can't walk far down KSR without hearing "ribbit, ribbit" everywhere. They are cute, although completely useless. The women also sell bracelets, wallets, you name it - they probably sell it! Well, as my friend and I are sitting down to enjoy our drinks this woman walks up with her headdress on and starts asking us to buy the frog (one can only assume that's what she is asking, neither of us speak Thai). She then takes her crazy headdress off of her and puts it on my head!

Entertaining, right? Kind of gross at the same time but seeing as my head isn't itching a week later I think we are in the clear! Another common sight on KSR are little adorable beggar children. One of them was this sweet little (scam artist) boy that came to our table asking us to buy his roses for 100 baht (rip off!). We didn't buy anything but he still stood at our table for a good 20 minutes so finally my friend decided she'd give him 20 baht to leave us alone. 20 baht later, he is still staring at us.

Cute though, right?? You're probably thinking..."how is this girl going to be a teacher when she can't even deal with kids?"...but I assure you this beggars are quite skilled and don't know how to take no for an answer. It can be quite annoying especially when you are just trying to take cover from the rain on KSR and enjoy a nice cold beer and some spring rolls. (Sorry for the blurry picture, no flash on my camera). After we left KSR we took a tuk tuk ride and I got a great video of it that I loaded onto my YouTube page! You can look at it here: http://www.youtube.com/cotimicheleASIA. Thanks for reading! I'll write soon but be patient as I'm finishing these last 3 weeks of school and (hopefully) finding a job not long after! Soon enough I'll be a certified TEFL teacher! :)

Bell Ringing at Wat Saket and Golden Mount in Bangkok!

Today I went to Wat Saket and Golden Mount here in Bangkok. It's a free Wat and overlook near Khao San Road. We bravely took a boat on the pier to the Wat and enjoyed a lovely day. I have lots of great pictures that are on my facebook page and I will be uploading them on here very soon. I haven't had as much time to update my blog lately with school, teaching this week, and a job interview! No complaints though, just busy! This picture here is at the overlook at Golden Mount. It was a rainy, hazy day but still an amazing view of the city. I highly recommend it to anyone. I also took a cool video of my friend ringing the bells at the Golden Mount. You walk along and ring all of the bells and at the end you bang this gong. You can check out the video here, on my YouTube account! Incredible day. Enjoy the video and here are a few pictures.... :)

Asian Sizzler

I've been trying to go out and try new foods as often as I possibly can. Some of them are quite adventurous foods, some aren't so adventurous. I try and eat real Thai street food every day I'm in class because it's cheap and usually there's someone there to lead me the way to something delicious. One night after class, a classmate and I decided to try the Sizzler here in Thailand for the first time. I don't have a good opinion of Sizzler in America but was assured Bangkok's Sizzler is different and delicious. So we opted for the salad bar, she's a vegetarian and I just love salad so it was right up both our alleys. I started with a basic salad, complete with PARMESAN CHEESE!!! I get really excited about cheese here in Bangkok as I've mentioned because it's quite hard to come by so finding this made me quite happy. I chose a Caesar dressing and found it wasn't too far off from American Caesar, I was pleased (I had tried a Caesar recently that was really sweet and not good at all so this was a definite step up). Also notice the one quail egg on the top right. I got brave later with those quail eggs...

Next on the menu was soup! I had heard great things about this pumpkin soup that Sizzler sometimes has so I decided I'd try it, even though I don't really care for pumpkin. It was great! I found some Ritz crackers to put in it. MMM....very tasty!

Then I went back up for some basic vegetables. I say basic but when would I have most of these on one plate in America?

There was edamame (cold and disgusting, I barely touched it), baby corn (also cold, but good), celery, "asian potato" which was basically just really thin asparagus, some type of Asian veggie salad thing, and quail eggs. Complete with more Caesar dressing for dipping. The quail eggs were probably my favorite thing on this plate! I loved them! And then a couple of nights ago I told some friends how I went to Sizzler and had several quail eggs after falling in love with them and I found out they are not good for you at all and have LOTS of calories. Oh well, they were quite tasty.

Next I went up for a plate of just fruit. I absolutely loveeee fruit here in Thailand, I've made it a habit to get watermelon and pineapple from fruit stalls on the street on my way home. It's amazing and I think it's probably because of this gorgeous tropical climate we have here. On this plate you'll see watermelon, pineapple bits, something that appears to be apple, and my personal favorite - dragon fruit (the white stuff with the black dots). The fruit that looks like apple turned out to not be apple at all but something not sweet and not very good. Papaya maybe? I'm not a fan of papaya, not even in Bangkok! The dragon fruit was awesome, I love it all the time and have learned how to cut my own (impressive, right?). Clearly I was getting my money worth at the all-you-can-eat Sizzler salad bar...but how could I leave without....

DESSERT???!!!??? I couldn't decide between the 3 possible desserts so, of course, I got all 3! The green one is a green tea mousse with some type of chocolate stuff on top. The red one is "jelly" with whipped cream (jell-o). The brown one is chocolate mousse topped with "jelly" (jell-0) shaped like a heart. I tried the green tea one first and liked it, until I got this horrid after taste. Green tea mousse is not for me, but I ate the chocolate on top! The jell-o was amazing, just like American jell-o, except for their whipped cream that has no taste. Thing #2343 I miss about America: COOL WHIP!!!! The chocolate mousse was a great way to end dinner though, it was absolutely superb. I contemplated getting 3 more of that one but then realized I was so full I may to unbutton my pants, so I passed on the extra mousse.

All in all, my experience at Sizzler in Bangkok was a pleasant one. Good prices for all this food and I enjoyed 99% of it, and enjoyed trying the things I didn't! I will definitely be going back to eat much, much more! :)

JJ Part 2!

I went to JJ (Chatuchak Market) on Sunday since I didn't have much to do. I had woken up at 7 AM Bangkok time to watch the LSU game via Skype (Geaux Tigers!). I went and had victory pancakes at JJ (they taste better when they are after a sweet, sweet victory) - the same ones I blogged about a few weeks ago. They were the yummy banana pancakes and an iced mocha. Talk about a good brunch after a good win!

I'm still constantly amazed about prices here in Bangkok. I was able to purchase that breakfast, 2 bottles of water, a bag for my school books (basically an oversized purse), a nice purple ceramic coffee mug, and 13 pairs for earrings for around $10.50 American dollars!!! How amazing is that??? I added a picture of all my beautiful earrings because it was such a great deal and they are good quality earrings. It never fails that I can find a good deal on something really awesome at JJ! One of my favorite places in Bangkok.

Also, today marks ONE MONTH that I've been a Bangkok resident! :)

I'm on YouTube!

I just created my new YouTube channel so you can see all the footage I'm taking with my bloggie camera (thanks mom!) while I'm in Bangkok! I'm uploading my first video right now...

Apparently some of the videos I created got deleted when my hard drive failed a week ago but I still have a few videos and promise I'll be taking lots more so be sure to check it out and subscribe to my videos.

My first video is one I took in the Siam area of the Thai guy singing. Remember me mentioning a show similar to American Idol here in Bangkok? Well, I got some footage of a couple of the contestants. The guy is really talented!

Check out my first video of the guy from "Bangkok Idol" here: Bangkok Idol.

Thanks! :)

Food, Food, Food!

Another thing on my list of things I wanted to try while in Bangkok was one of these little mini coconuts you see everywhere. They chop the top off, rip some of the meat back and stick a straw in it! (I'd seen them on numerous travel shows before coming and only heard great things about them) One of my friends was sweet enough to treat me to one of these little coconuts one day while we were walking around. It was pretty good, definitely different than a regular coconut - much more flavorful. I was disappointed, having heard how amazing they were, but it was still pretty good. I will definitely be having one again. My friend is an expert at eating the meat but I don't really like the texture of rubber so after trying a few bites, I decided the meat wasn't for me.

Next stop was shopping, she was looking for a watch and I got to see a mall I hadn't seen before but then it was off to dinner (my favorite time of the day). We went to a little restaurant that I'm not even sure how to describe...maybe Thai American? Anyways, it was really good. Our appetizer was hummus with pita bread and a couple of other dippings. Only thing was when she brought our pita and two other dippings there was no hummus. She failed to tell us when we ordered that they were out so this was our appetizer: pita bread, some white sauce stuff that I can't pronounce the name of but LOVED, and crushed up eggplants with seasonings...It was really good despite not having what we ordered. Typical Thailand.

For my meal, I ordered this deliciousness, a doner kebab. It had that same white sauce we used to dip the pita bread in and had chicken that was cooked on a kebab prior to being put in my sandwich, lettuce, and tomatoes and was inside the pita bread. It was sooo good...and so messy. But I loved every bite of it!

One thing that made it ok that my food was so insanely messy? We got ONE actual Western napkin! How glorious is that? Now that might not seem like such a big deal to those of you using your paper towel rolls in America but here in Thailand we get one measly thing that compares to one small square of paper towel. Thus, this was a giant improvement and actually pretty exciting for us. We even took a picture!

It's a beautiful thing. After this we walked around some more and ended up at an Australian bar that was pretty fun. We watched rugby and (gasp!) the Green Bay Packers game came on so I got to see Mr. Matt Flynn play QB. I was quite content. We were also hungry again so we ordered some food. This time I had crocodile. I'd love to show you the picture of the crocodile that made me incredibly sick but it didn't turn out very well. It came on a plate with peppers on a kebab, and with lots of bbq type sauce covering it. The sauce itself was very spicy and had a great flavor! The crocodile? Very tough (similar to alligator I suppose). It was an interesting night full of delicious FOOD!

Fish Massages!

I've been doing far less lately, focusing on schoolwork to be able to finish a week early and finding it difficult to get out sometimes. When I'm not doing schoolwork, it's hard to find someone to actually get out with since I only know three people here in Bangkok. I am thankful for them though, and when I do get out it never ceases to be a good time. Last week, my Chattanooga friend and I went to dinner at 8 (my second time there) and I opted to not get the octopus balls this time but instead to eat the dumplings (basically pork gyoza). I made a meal out of them ordering 12 and a delicious Coca-Cola. Then we were on the hunt for a place to grab a quick beer or just generally something to do. Well, what do we find but a fish massage stall! She had never had a fish massage before...I was lucky enough to have had one on my visit last November. It was amazing. No pedicure can ever compare. The guys working went to a nearby store and got us each a Singha and we jumped right in.

She made the most hilarious faces as she tried it for the first time! It's quite the experience. I'm very ticklish so for the first several minutes I giggle. She was more brave than I. I got in the same tank with her but all of the fish preferred her so I got in the other (very large!) tank. ALONE! This meant that thousands of little fish were attacking me and only me during this fish massage. Some of the fish were pretty huge, about the size of my hand, and when the bit - it was obvious! There were many times when I would let out a little yelp and jump in the tank because quite honestly, it stung a little bit. We payed 150 baht for 15 minutes and once we got out my feet were definitely soft. Not as soft as the last one since that time was unlimited but I am certainly going to return for another fish massage here in Bangkok, very soon! :)

How to beat the rainy season in Bangkok?

I've been here in Bangkok almost two weeks and, of course, I arrived during rainy season's peak. It rains pretty much every day. Some days it pours and pours and pours, which causes the roads to flood (Those days I stay indoors). Other days it just sprinkles for hours at a time. Sunday was a combination of the two. I was meeting a fellow Tennessean at JJ (Chatuchak market) for some shopping followed by dinner when it started to pour. Luckily, I had my pink Gap umbrella that I love. Take that Bangkok rainy season! She, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. 45 minutes of rain passed and we finally were able to meet each other! Trying to find someone in JJ is absolutely ridiculous and nearly impossible. We decided to take cover under some awnings. We sat down and realized the DJ for this little bar was right behind us. He played some hilarious American music - including "Sexual Healing" (while the French guys behind us danced with their Thai girlfriends, very funny). So how do we beat the rainy season here in Bangkok while attempting to shop at JJ? SINGHA of course! :)

Chicken & Rice. Chicken? & Rice.

Food courts in Bangkok are so bizarre. Unlike in America where you would pick the food you want, stand in line, get your food, and pay - all at that one stall - here in Bangkok you go to a kiosk, pay them, get a card with money on it, pick out your food, get your food, have them swipe your food, eat your food, and get the remaining money back at that same kiosk. It's something I'm having to get used to. The food is really cheap though, which is always a bonus (especially when you're unemployed). At the first mall I went to in one day, I ordered chicken yakitori and rice. It was quite good and simple. Some days I crave Western food so bad that I have to have something plain and simple like this.

(note the yummy authentic iced Thai coffee to drink. It was delicious!)

The next mall I went to that day I pointed to something on a picture that looked like chicken and rice but the texture did not seem like chicken when I got it. It also came with soup that they call water soup. Let's just say, it definitely tasted like soup water. It was not good and realllly plain. At least I tried it though!

(in the picture it looks like roast beef, maybe that's what it was?)

Every meal is an adventure to say the least. I branch out during certain meals and go for something simple when Western food seems like the only thing that will suffice. I'm hoping to get more accustomed to the food soon.

Bon Marche: "Good Market" in Bangkok

Yesterday, I had the privilege of touring a traditional Thai bilingual school. I really loved it! I would love to work there if they end up having an opening. The staff was all very friendly and, of course, the children were just adorable. I learned that the students take their shoes off before entering the classroom as well as the library. The teacher doesn't have to in the classroom but the students do. It was really enjoyable and good for me to see what they're like. It also made me feel like I really want to teach children instead of adults. I love kids and feel like I'm meant to be a kindergarten teacher!

After that we went to Bon Marche in Bangkok, literally translated into Good Market, and I loved it there. We stopped at a little sandwich shop for lunch and I had a ham & cheese sandwich - the cheese did taste a little funny. The view was great and it was really cheap! We got to overlook some water as we ate on these big, black, plush couches.

We then walked around the shops in the Bangkok market and saw the cheap bags and shoes as well as the neat Thai handicrafts. The shops there are really spectacular, some more expensive than others. We stopped for yogurt too which was really delicious. They serve you plain yogurt with fresh fruits. None of it has sugar so it's actually really good for you. Different than American yogurt but I could tell it was decently healthy and I loved the fruit with it. I had cranberry, strawberry, and banana on mine. YUM!

We then walked through the actual market area which had all kinds of fresh food! There were fresh chickens, rice, sauces, fruits, and veggies. Bangkok is known for having food in the markets that was just alive yesterday. Sort of a depressing thought for an animal lover like myself but at least you know it's healthy and hasn't been stuck in a freezer for several months like America! Nothing like McDonald's or horrid American fast food.

Needless to say if you live in Bangkok or plan on visiting Bangkok and want a neat market to walk around and have some good food, Bon Marche is worth it!

New food of the week? Ethiopian!

Wednesday afternoon, I finally got my lazy butt up and out and visited my friend. We were both very hungry, and decided on Pad Thai! I loveeee Pad Thai! It was literally the best I've ever had and she says it is some of the best in Bangkok and I wouldn't argue with that. It was at a little restaurant near Ari and it was only 30 baht! (that's about 1 USD!) It was quite amazing and I had a very happy stomach afterward.

That evening it was time for another new food. Ethiopian. I had no idea what Ethiopian food even consisted of so it was pretty interesting to try it! They bring out a huge flat bread and cover it with a variety of dipping sauces. I tried so many different things and wasn't sure what most of them were. I tried raw beef which was a blue color (they assured me it wouldn't make me sick so why not?), chickpeas (my personal favorite), some peppers, some spicy stuff, some other spicy stuff...it was great! Like I said, I couldn't tell you what half of it was but that was ok with me. I really enjoyed it!

There are so many new things to try here in Bangkok. My rule is I'll try ANYTHING! If I don't like it, I won't eat it again.

Backpackers, Beer, and Bugs

Two nights ago I found myself at my love of Bangkok, Khaosan Road, for some beer and pizza. I was really excited to go back there - I fell in love with it when I was here last time. We had some delicious, very cheesy pizza. I've been craving cheese a lot since being here because not only is it not abundant but it's also expensive because they have to import it. My friend is a vegetarian so we had a delicious veggie pizza, garlic bread with cheese and Singha. The garlic bread was much different than in America and that really wasn't that great.

After dinner, we walked actually on Khaosan Road and went to Hippie Bar. That place had a really awesome atmosphere and we sat inside where it was nice and cool. I saw on the menu the Shee Va Wop that I'd tried last time I visited Bangkok in November 2009. It's a light rum that they make here, I believe. I am dying to have it again because it's so light you can drink it straight. Very good flavor. After having a couple of beers, everyone stopped for some street food and I had one thing on my mind: BUGS!

They sell bugs on Khaosan Road and last year I was too scared to try them and regretted it. I mena, what's the worst that could happen? It's protein at least! I got an assortment of grasshoppers, ants, and bamboo worm or larvae or something in between. I tried the grasshopper first and had a very timid small bite...it wasn't bad at all. They put soy sauce or something on it so it had some flavor. I ate most of the grasshopper but couldn't bare to eat the legs or the head. Next we tried the ants. They had lemongrass flavoring and had an overwhelming taste of lemon. I didn't really like them very much but had two big handfuls to try. Not my favorite. The best of these three were the bamboo worms or whatever they were. They were delicious! I know that sounds crazy but I ate several. They were juicy and very good. These also had that soy sauce on them. So, I ate bugs! I had lots of funny pictures documenting this but lost my camera already so I will just have to try the scorpions next time and take more pictures.

It was interesting that everyone in line for bugs was Western. Everyone wanted to try some bugs! Definitely a once in a lifetime thing and I'm glad I was brave enough to do it!

Thai Moments

Well, I'm officially on my fourth day here in Bangkok. It's going by so quickly and I'm doing SO much! I do have days where I'm much more homesick than others and cry but some days are easier, especially when I stay busy.

Friday was the hardest day so far. I moved into my apartment in the rain...which wasn't fun. It is the end of rainy season though so it's expected. My apartment reminds me of a dorm. Simple, plain and kind of old fashioned. It's a great price though and not too far from the BTS (the skytrain). I just take a taxi from the skytrain and it is pretty cheap. Once I got here, I unpacked a couple of things and talked to my friend from Louisiana and we met up around Soi Arri. She needed to go to the IT mall so I got to experience what it'd be like to get something for my computer if I'd ever need it. That mall is crazy. There are literally electronics from wall to wall for several floors.

Then we went to get a Thai massage! My first one! It was only 100 Baht for 1 hour, that's about 3 US Dollars!!!! So cheap. I had seen video of Thai massage so I knew it was much different than a traditional massage. They do a lot of bending and stretching and they use their whole body to massage you. They brought us into a room with 5 flat mats and have you change out of your clothes into these weird scrub clothes (they pull the curtains closed so the other people getting massaged don't see you), then they come back and start massaging. They do move the curtains so it's one room and you can see everyone getting their massages. Some parts were painful but over all, it was amazing. My muscles felt great after! Then we walked back downstairs and they give you green tea.

After that we decided to have a couple of beers and appetizers at one of the many prostitute alleys. It's so funny to watch these old farang men in these areas. It's actually quite gross, in my opinion but to each their own. I had a couple of Singhas (pronounced Sing) and ordered some spring rolls. It was funny because the restaurant we were at doesn't even make their own food. She had to bring our order to a restaurant a few feet down and they delivered it when it was cooked. The spring rolls were unlike any other I'd had before, they had these clear noodles and shrimp inside them. It was served with this honey sauce that was soooo delicious!!! Sara told me that is usually served with fried chicken here. YUM!

After gawking at the older farang men, we went to Big C which is the Thai version of Wal-Mart. I'm so clumsy I wiped out in front of the store and wound up with a swollen knee that is all scabbed over now and quite gross looking. It was my first battle wound. I bought a fan and a pillow at Big C for my apartment. The pillows here are crazy, they are sooo thick. Needless to say I woke up with a bad neckache. After Big C, I was pretty exhausted from jet lag and drinking beer at 4 in the afternoon so I went home and unpacked a little. This is when my frustration hit. I started to try and put my sheets on my bed which are MUCH too small! It was annoying and made me miss my bed at home. I got really homesick and frustrated.

The next morning was easier, I woke up and unpacked a little more and then my mentor friend came over around 11:30 for us to go to Siam Paragon and meet her adorable Thai friend for lunch. It was funny because she mainly only eats Thai food and my friend usually only eats western food so we had an interesting time finding out where to eat, especially since the malls were crazy with people because it was a holiday weekend. We ended up eating at Greyhoud Cafe which I'm now obsessed with. It had a nice mixture of food. (Greyhound Cafe isn't actually in Siam Paragon, but in Siam Center)

I had beef lasagna with Italian Sausage. It was delicious. I'd been craving cheese because we are constantly talking about how cheese is expensive and pretty much nonexistent here, so it really hit the spot. We also had bruschetta as an appetizer which was also delicious. Appetizers don't come before the meal though which was interesting. I got my food first and they insisted I start even though no one else had their food, very different than American restaurants. The Thai couple that was with us (super nice and I really enjoyed meeting them) ordered a Thai appetizer that I really liked also. It was a square noodle that you fill with pork and lettuce and spices if you want (I stay away from the spices though). It was so good! Difficult to eat, especially since Thais are very delicate with their food. I ordered a beer with lunch and the guy with us said that I should try one that I hadn't tried before, it was Phuket beer. DELICIOUS!! It was the first light beer I'd had since coming here and it was so good, and of course a product of Thailand.

After lunch, the girls went for a walk around the Siam area at all the markets and shops and everything. I found the most adorable skirt! I love clothes here in Bangkok! :)

One area was full of people. They had a guy singing that was from the Thai version of American Idol. It was great! There were bean bag chairs everywhere for people to sit in in front of the stage too. Nothing like you'd ever see in America!

Then we walked around to the MBK area and I got to see my first spirit house. It was beautiful. They are in front of Thai buildings. Thais believe that theses spirits are in all the buildings so they give offerings to the spirits this way.

Then we walked to see the areas that had been burned during the protests earlier this summer. I really wanted to see Central World because that got a lot of damage but there were other places in that area that were destroyed also. One was a really old theater that they had around that same area here in Bangkok. It's so sad because people who lost money in this were people without a lot of money that really needed their income. The first photo below is what they are doing to rebuild Central World now and the second one is the area around the theater that was also badly burnt.

This next one is the front of Central World. It is difficult to see how badly damaged it was but apparently this was a pretty great mall. A mixture of different kinds of shops and people. There's a sign outside that says this great landmark will return to Bangkok, pretty sad.

After seeing all of these, we went into another mall and looked around. Then it was time to eat again! I'd been craving pizza so we went to The Pizza Company which I was warned wouldn't taste like Western pizza but I really couldn't tell a difference. It was delicious!!! I don't mind the cheese here at all..especially since I love cheese! Then we went to the supermarket because by this time we had been out for around 9 hours and the supermarket would be closing soon. I needed some things for my apartment like milk, cereal, etc. I found Cocoa Frosties that weren't too expensive for imported cereal and had them for breakfast today. Quite good. I didn't realize how much I take for granted having a car and being able to push the buggy out to my car and leave. It's much more difficult here. I had to carry my half gallon milk and two huge bottles of water all the way to the apartment which was a pain. We had to get on the BTS with all of this as well as get into a taxi. Finally arriving at my apartment was amazing! I was so glad we made it. I slept so well last night too after all the walking.

More adventures in store today! :)