Landed!

Got to Bangkok a day and half ago. After about 20 hours on a plane, I got dropped off at 4am at a spot my cab driver seemed convinced was the one I asked him to drive me to. It wasn't. Luckily, I wasn't too far, and after some help using a 7-11 employee's cell phone / FM radio, I made it. I'm staying with my Mom's friend's, Nora and David, who own a ridiculously nice condo in the heart of the city.

First impressions of the city are definitely not what I expected; The image of Bangkok seems to come from what it's name sounds like - Sex Penis. The stereotype seems to be that the city's populations consists mostly of hookers and one-eyed pimps. I always imagined the place is just a crazy, chaotic third-world shit storm, but, believe it or not, I was actually wrong. The place is actually really built up, huge amount of skyscrapers, multi-lane highways, subway and and elevated trains. It's actually fairly modern,, which is somewhat of a disappointment to me, but maybe not to most Thai's though. People so far have been retarded nice too, and I haven't felt like a walking hulking target for scams. The culture shock is definitely not nearly as strong as when I got off the plane in Hanoi last year. I do seem to see a good amount of middle aged white guys walking around with Thai girls and boys that would be well out of their league back home however. I guess there's always something to a stereotype.

It's also good that many Thai's speak very basic English, because uttering even the most common Thai phrase seems to require magic powers. I almost feel like I'm being punked. I'll ask "How do you say blah blah blah in Thai," I'll hear the reply, and then I'll repeat it. It seems like I'm saying it fairly well, or at least getting close enough for someone to understand me. Well no, I'm just dead fucking wrong, and not even close. Thai is a very tonal language, so the inflection in the vowels are key. What seems to me like an indistinguishably subtle difference in tone, to Thai's is probably the only difference between saying the phrase "Where are the Infinity Condos" to "Where is the child prostitutes." (Nobody likes it when you can't even ask for underage hookers using good grammar either) I sometimes feel like Helen Keller here, moaning and grunting to a confused local, in vain desperation trying to just say thank you.

Yesterday nonetheless was good. I hung out with Nora and David for lunch at a nearby place, got an arrange of food; BBQ chicken, papaya salad, this kind of seafood and rice noodle dish, and Thai iced tea, which I think the locals may actually call "Thai iced-tea." Food was pretty awesome, and can't wait for more. Later, Nora took me to the MBK center, a large, fuck-you-all mall in the center of the city, in order to get a cell phone. After getting one (searching at length to finally find a phone that was a whole eight dollars cheaper than the first one we looked at), we eventually met up with David at and Irish Bar, to listen to a local singer that they're fond of. Thai girl, really awesome voice, doing covers of Western top-40 classics. Initially was planning on going out after David and Nora retired for the night, but jet lag hit in, and I was passed out before midnight.