Real Bangkok Style

Technically I do live in Bangkok, specifically in the northeastern Saimai district. Here in Saimai, well, it is a little different than central Bangkok - the chaotic, thriving, sex obsessed metropolis and capital of Thailand. Clearly that is much more interesting than our rice fields and massive construction projects, so Lauren and I headed off this past Saturday to explore the growing city, which is now more than 7 million people (almost half of them drag queens - more on that later :).

Our day trip to Bangkok was an adventure! I mean that because we really went into the city with no plans, no real desire to see anything in particular but rather to just see where the wind took us - and took us it did! Immediately, we bumped into (literally!) a Thai man who suggested we take a tuk tuk (look below) to the Lucky Buddha, since the Lucky Buddha is only open one day a month and today was the day. Being the naive travelers we are, we totally believed that yes, it was our lucky day, take us to the Buddha! And off we went!


The reason I say naive is that tuk tuk drivers have people who work for them - telling tourists (like Lauren and myself) that certain landmarks are closed so that we will take a tuk tuk somewhere else. Needless to say, we have learned our lesson! Tuk tuks are definitely still my new favorite mode of travel - the wind is in your hair and death is at the throes as the drivers wind and veer all through the Bangkok traffic (which is notoriously bad!). Every so often, a gorgeous temple appears as if out of nowhere. Here is Mr. Lucky Buddha's temple!

After temple hopping with our tuk tuk driver Sai, he suggested we take a boat ride through the back canals. In the great fly by the seat of our pants theme of the day, we said why not and found ourselves on a large boat - floating through the back canals of Bangkok. It was an eye-opening, beautiful experience! Once in awhile, these ladies in boats (see picture) would come up to our boat and try to sell us different things - fruit, souvenirs, beverages. Being the expert negotiator I have learned to become in Thailand, we did not pay full price for one thing!

After the boat ride, we enjoyed an absolutely delicious meal of pad thai (with a huge egg fried right on top!) for 30 baht, or the equivalent of about 80 cents. It was glorious! Then, we browsed a small marketplace and headed for the Grand Palace - where the king lives - when yes, we got scammed by another tuk tuk driver who convinced us to see the "elusive" white and black buddhas. Our go with the flow attitude landed us right to the white and black buddhas, which were actually very cool. Now that we have seen a lot of temples, we can ease up on seeing those for awhile!


After temple hopping, we headed to Siam Paragon - possibly the nicest and most expensive mall I have ever been in. Gucci, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana - it is all there! The thing about Thailnd though, is man, they LOVE their malls. Connected to Siam Paragon (in a row) are about four more malls (that is just on one street), so we browsed some cheaper malls, one of which is like a marketplace indoors, which was awesome. They even have a store where they illegally pirate DVD's, CD's and software right there in the mall! Gotta love it!

There just so much I could say, and I just can't fit it all in one post! Lauren and I are definitely heading back into central Bangkok this weekend to see all the things we didn't get to do last weekend - and this time, we are armed with more street smarts than before!

The house that Lauren and I moved into (you may have heard) is quite the home. Decorated in the classic stylings of a 1970's motor home, it absolutely radiates with cheesy decorations - including a Looney Tunes mural, placed oh so well right in our dining room.

The home is hilarious, needless to say. The comfy abode is also decorated with plastic fruit, glass flowers, inflatable hearts filled with teddy bears while lacking hot water, central air conditioning and correctly working electrical system. More pictures of the house to come!

To celebrate our first weeks here in Thailand, Lauren and I decided it would only be right if we allowed ourself another spa day. I paid 250 baht (7$) for a 90-minute foot massage which was followed by a pedicure. We decided it was only right we treat ourselves to something every week because as soon as we both get home, there will be no splurging on these luxuries anymore!

Again, there is so much more to say about school, Thai culture, food (lots of it!) so stay tuned for more adventures in Thailand. Let's just say, it will definitely be interesting! I will leave you all with a picture of my roommte Lauren and I cruising on the tuk tuk through Bangkok! Sawatdee!