Meet my Former Roommate

This is my former roommate.

She took up residence in my shower back in July.

She was moved to another bathroom by a brave soul.

Two days later she reappeared in my bathroom.

Then she mysteriously disappeared from my room a few weeks later.

I can't really say that I miss her. But I do wonder to where she has wandered...

Thailand Part III: One—er, Two (more) Nights in Bangkok

Thailand: August 14-21, 2009

So, for our last full day in Bangkok we had a hearty breakfast of beloved porkers, and headed out to see the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. We decided to take a boat taxi, rather than work off our breakfast by walking, or by haggling with a tuk-tuk or taxi driver. The boat taxis—or ferries, or whatever they call them—are cheap and run on a pretty regular basis. Although some only stop at certain stops, and we had to catch one back to our stop.

Big toes of the reclining Buddha

I had no idea how big this Reclining Buddha was—it filled a couple of rooms and was at least 2 stories high. It was awesome! I enjoyed all the Thai schoolchildren who were visiting—each one in a faded red top, matching black shoes for girls and brown shoes and socks for boys. A few said “hello” and waved—for the first time on my trip, I felt like I was getting a lot of attention—I felt like I was back at home!

Kat and I headed down to Chinatown where we found a huge area with stores selling lots of things we didn’t need. Then we headed to the Royal Barge Museum. That took a while—ok, about an hour—to find. We couldn’t figure out our ferry stop, then we followed a sign for “museum,” but it turned out to be for a hospital museum. We finally hailed a taxi—metered, to be sure—and he knew where to take us. He was pulled over after an illegal U-turn. He continued haggling with the traffic cop after offering him 20 baht ($0.75). A matter of principal, Katrina and I mused—the cop won’t take bribes! Not so—50 baht did the trick and we drove on. It still took a while to follow a winding, narrow path route to finally find this big building with royal long boats.

One highlight involved food, of course. I walked by a street vendor selling what appeared to be fuzzy bean pods. When this sigh registered in my brain, I asked outloud “Edamame?” and went back to inspect. The vendor gave me a sample. No, it was not edamame, but it was the closest I had come to it in 2 ½ months. So I bought a baggie of it and had a nice, healthy snack. Kat also bought a bottle of coke, but the vendor wouldn’t let her walk away with it. She gestured to a tiny plastic bag, Kat nodded, and dumped the drink in with some ice and a straw. Truly “take away!”

Close encounters of the edamame kind...

"You want that to go?"

Our last supper in Bangkok involved entering a restaurant/hotel from the back: walking down a dark alley, up a set of metal stairs, walking through a second floor lobby--and arriving at a swank spot. The food was fantastic: cucumber and tomato salad, falafel, hummus and chick peas, and baba ganoush. I was happy breaking away from the paad thai...but sad to break away from our Thai vacation the next day.

Fabulous Middle Eastern in...Thailand!

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/summerbclewis/ThailandAugust21282009#

Thailand Part II: No shoes...no shirt...no problem.

Thailand: August 14-21, 2009

We heeded the call of the sand, surf, and sun and headed to Ko Samet island. We took a transport package deal, as it was just a little more than hassling with local transport would have been. It took about three hours by bus, a half-hour by mini-bus, and half hour by boat. We had no idea where to stay, so we ended up walking for a while with backpacks in the heat of the sun. While the ocean and palm trees provided a lovely backdrop, hostel shopping was back breaking! Kat and I settled on a little place called The Lost Resort—set back in the hills, about a 5 minute walk from the beach. Kat was happy with A/C and tv. I was just happy to get rid of the backpack.

Kat and I ate lunch at Naga Restaurant—the BLT on homemade whole wheat bread was a welcome addition to our bellies. We walked the beach, swam a bit, and enjoyed the sand in our swim suits. We encountered Matt and Jalene on the beach, and pigged out at dinner at Pudsa Bungalows. They had discovered a little place a bit down the beach with cheaper bungalows, and a practically abandoned beach.

BLT baby!

I took a picture of our dinner too late! Here's what's left of onion rings, grilled beef, paad thai, fried calamari, and green curry.

The next day, I hiked over to the Wonderland Resort to secure a bungalow. It took a while to find, hiking the dusty road with very little shade. It took even longer for someone to show me a room for 500 baht ($15)—I insisted that my friends had secured a bungalow for that price the night before. What I was shown was a musty, dirty place. I got a bit of a sinking feeling, but rather than give up, asked to see something closer to the beach. The place I saw looked much better—a/c, double bed, no grandma’s attic smell. So I bargained the proprietress down to 700 baht a night. (I came to find out later that whoever had bargained with Matt and Jalene the night before wasn’t there and that 500 baht a/c room was a hoax). I had to pay 2 nights to get the special deal—but I didn’t have enough cash. So I had to hike over to the next beach to find an atm. That took a while, and I had to have my coffee break in the meantime. Finally, I paid for the room, and walked back to where Kat was to transfer her over to our new place. All that walking and bargaining was rewarded with a beer and a swim in an ocean almost all to myself.

While staying at Wonderland, I concerned myself only with eating, drinking, swimming, and procuring a massage. I took seriously my co-workers’ orders to RELAX! I spent a lot of time filling my tummy with good food and drink. While all the food on the island was around double the price of the same thing in Bangkok, we ate heartily all the same. The deep fried squid was amazing. (I really hope it was the squid we saw a fisherman catch earlier that day. I just get paranoid that they feed the tourists the frozen stuff!)

The view from our bungalow--not bad!

"Hey, wasn't this on a postcard somewhere?"

I was sad to leave the island, but also ready to exit my relax coma and start using my brain again. Our minibus driver gave us the ride of our lives (I think he’d had a few too many Thai iced coffees that morning)—Kat said she saw the speedometer hit 140 km/hr at one point. I couldn’t see it, but apparently he ran a few red lights. Driving back into Bangkok for 2 nights…I already felt like I was back in Bangladesh traffic.

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/summerbclewis/ThailandAugust21282009#