The Traffic: Crazy!! If you think East Lansing, or Los Angeles is bad, you’re in for a big surprise. These taxi cab drivers must have passed some super extreme death-or-survival driving test (or, none at all?) before they were put on the streets.
The Pollution: You can’t see the sun. The sun is there. You can’t walk down the streets without inhaling all the pollution that a smokers accumulate within a year.
The Women: They’re all 80 lbs, has super long legs, and perfect hair despite the humidity. Oh yeah, they’re gorgeous too.
The Men: I know a girl who went to Europe to study abroad this summer, and her facebook status was something along the line of: “Euro men are the shit!!!” HMM, wish I could say the same thing about the men over here. It looks like the women got the bigger end of the stick.
The Food: Let me tell you….Thailand is the place to be for food. Delicious food are lined all along the streets…and guess what?! Yes, you guessed it---my favorite food are either free, or cheap food… and most of the food in Bangkok is delicious AND free!! Happy days!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Sawat-kawadi
That means "hello" :)
Flying to Thailand from Los Angeles totaled to approximately 18 hours of immobilization, excluding the layover time. On the way to Taipai, I sat next to a woman in her mid 50s. After a couple of hours of watching movies and playing on my computer, I decided to be social. I asked her if she was going to Thailand also. Robin told me that she was a tax accountant in Las Vegas, and had a business with her three sons. She had a daughter who graduated from and taught at Notre Dame (booo). She has a condo in Thailand and goes there a couple of times a year. Her children were half-Vietnamese and often traveled to Vietnam. Naturally, I asked her how she met her husband.
Robin told me that she used to be a man. She told me that at the early age of 4 years old, she always knew something was wrong with her body, and she was supposed to have been a female. She joined the United States Air Force during Vietnam War during her early 20s, and later went to school to get two Master's degrees. She got married and had 4 children with a Vietnamese woman. However, after a couple of years, her ex-wife gambled away millions of dollars that they had, so they separated. Robin met Cathy, her current wife through Cathy's restaurant business in Las Vegas. They got married a year later. At this point, Robin was in her late 40s. She decided that she's had it--she can't be a man anymore. It just didn't feel right. So she went to Thailand to get a sex change. Now don't get me wrong--Robin is not gay, she just needs to be a woman. Robin explained that the procedure was very simple--the doctors simply dissect the penis and sew the ends to the crotch area. The procedure cost approximately $5,000. Robin is very happy and blessed, she claimed.
Robin gave me a book of "25 Things to do in Thailand". It included a lot of places to see, restaurants to eat at, etc. I was very thankful. She gave me her phone number so that if I had any questions, I can give her and Cathy a holler.
We got off the plane at Taipei, and went to our gates for the next flights to Thailand. Hers was an hour earlier than mine, so we separated. A young Thai man in a business suit began talking to me. I wasn't interested. He talked about how his dad worked with the Thai Embassy and he was the best athlete in his school and how he always broke school records for running, baseball, basketball, and blah blah blah. I tried to avoid him the rest of the trip.
Thailand.
As was expected, the taxi drivers tried ripping me off. 680 Baht for a cab ride? HELL NO, MISTER. I asked for 200 Baht. He said 480. I said 250. He said no. I walked away. He waved me back and said 300 Baht. I said ok.
That little liar. We got into the cab, and he said 400 Baht because I had to pay a "toll". Well apparently, we never stopped at a toll, but I already gave him the 400 Baht.
Note to self: Do not give in so easily to cab drivers!!!!!
So he drove me to my hostel, Hi-Sumkavit. He drove past a street where there were about 100 girls lined up. They were dressed in frilly, short skirts and with their small umbrellas to match (it was sprinkling). They all looked like dolls--all probably 90 lbs, way too much eye make-up, colored hair, and very, er, cute. The driver told me, "these ladies make American men very very happy". I was confused at first. Then it hit me. They were prostitutes. The cab driver continued, "At this time, they are 2-3,000 Baht a night... but by 4-5 a.m., they can come down to 500 Baht. You like, eh?". I was like "WTF". Some things in this world makes no sense.
Flying to Thailand from Los Angeles totaled to approximately 18 hours of immobilization, excluding the layover time. On the way to Taipai, I sat next to a woman in her mid 50s. After a couple of hours of watching movies and playing on my computer, I decided to be social. I asked her if she was going to Thailand also. Robin told me that she was a tax accountant in Las Vegas, and had a business with her three sons. She had a daughter who graduated from and taught at Notre Dame (booo). She has a condo in Thailand and goes there a couple of times a year. Her children were half-Vietnamese and often traveled to Vietnam. Naturally, I asked her how she met her husband.
Robin told me that she used to be a man. She told me that at the early age of 4 years old, she always knew something was wrong with her body, and she was supposed to have been a female. She joined the United States Air Force during Vietnam War during her early 20s, and later went to school to get two Master's degrees. She got married and had 4 children with a Vietnamese woman. However, after a couple of years, her ex-wife gambled away millions of dollars that they had, so they separated. Robin met Cathy, her current wife through Cathy's restaurant business in Las Vegas. They got married a year later. At this point, Robin was in her late 40s. She decided that she's had it--she can't be a man anymore. It just didn't feel right. So she went to Thailand to get a sex change. Now don't get me wrong--Robin is not gay, she just needs to be a woman. Robin explained that the procedure was very simple--the doctors simply dissect the penis and sew the ends to the crotch area. The procedure cost approximately $5,000. Robin is very happy and blessed, she claimed.
Robin gave me a book of "25 Things to do in Thailand". It included a lot of places to see, restaurants to eat at, etc. I was very thankful. She gave me her phone number so that if I had any questions, I can give her and Cathy a holler.
We got off the plane at Taipei, and went to our gates for the next flights to Thailand. Hers was an hour earlier than mine, so we separated. A young Thai man in a business suit began talking to me. I wasn't interested. He talked about how his dad worked with the Thai Embassy and he was the best athlete in his school and how he always broke school records for running, baseball, basketball, and blah blah blah. I tried to avoid him the rest of the trip.
Thailand.
As was expected, the taxi drivers tried ripping me off. 680 Baht for a cab ride? HELL NO, MISTER. I asked for 200 Baht. He said 480. I said 250. He said no. I walked away. He waved me back and said 300 Baht. I said ok.
That little liar. We got into the cab, and he said 400 Baht because I had to pay a "toll". Well apparently, we never stopped at a toll, but I already gave him the 400 Baht.
Note to self: Do not give in so easily to cab drivers!!!!!
So he drove me to my hostel, Hi-Sumkavit. He drove past a street where there were about 100 girls lined up. They were dressed in frilly, short skirts and with their small umbrellas to match (it was sprinkling). They all looked like dolls--all probably 90 lbs, way too much eye make-up, colored hair, and very, er, cute. The driver told me, "these ladies make American men very very happy". I was confused at first. Then it hit me. They were prostitutes. The cab driver continued, "At this time, they are 2-3,000 Baht a night... but by 4-5 a.m., they can come down to 500 Baht. You like, eh?". I was like "WTF". Some things in this world makes no sense.
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