Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Supernatural Powers
I have discovered, on my journey, that I have a super natural power. I can't control it and sometimes it can be a nusance. I'm working on it. It's the power of magnetism or as some may call it...the law of attraction. It's overpowering at times. The worst is when I'm in a hurry and speed walking down a sidewalk or a corridor or anywhere. Or when I enter a temple/shop/store/7-11. I'm not talking about the tour groups...because they're everywhere. that's not a super-power. everyone has it. for example, it's when i'm walking and people are in front of me...i have a clear path ready to overtake them...all of a sudden they start to drift in to my walking lane, as if they know. I'll make my move to the other side but they start to drift that way as well. it's this power...how do I shut it off when I want to? why can't i attract the hot guy into my path? not the old japanese men or the old korean ladies. another example is when i'm in a store or a temple. I can be the first one there with no one in sight and within seconds, i'll turn around and it's a group of 20 high school kids in front of me. This power, I tell ya, I need to work on it.
The Game...not the Dating Game...the Tourism Game
Some call me pessimistic, some call me cynical...and I don't disagree. But let me tell you why...after traveling for the past few months and having my brother tell me to watch out for scam artists, pick pocketers, locals, men, women...basically everyone it's hard not to question everyone that approaches you. Everyone is out for something. And if you're not, you're the only one. There are rings. Conspiracy rings that hotels, restaurants, tuk-tuks, guides, etc. form with one another. They get commission by sending their customers/guests to the others' establishments. I've been caught in several of these rings. If you do not like the ring you're in...it's hard to get out. It's become some sort of tourism game to them. whoever you happen to stumble across and befriend, you will be stuck in that ring for the duration of your stay in that city...and longer if you ask them to reccommend anything in another city. So beware as to who you encounter. sometimes they're not so great but you're stuck. And THIS is why I proceed with caution and am skeptical with all who approach me. I don't care how nice they are...they are always trying to sell you something which gets aggravating if you just want to have a conversation with a local.
Bangkok day 2 - 3
Bangkok surprised me. It's a very modern city and very clean too. I was expecting dirt, grime, and yucky men reaching out to me. But it was cleaner and more decent than China. I'm sure I wasn't going to the more seedy areas but in general it was a nice city. They Skytrain and taxi boats made it really easy to get around.
The taxi boats are really convenient...their like trains on the water. they stop for less than a minute at each pier letting locals and tourists off and on and then jet off to the next pier. If you are not hanging on to your belongings...it'll be floating down the river.
After 2 hours on the internet booking my flight and hotel for cambodia, my first stop was the reclining Buddha. it was breath taking. I don't know what the deminsions are...will have to refer back to the guide book, but it was enormous. the things that distracted me were the massive amount of chinese/japanese/korean tour groups and the pillars that were directly in front of the buddha. there was no good angle to get a decent picture from, on top of that, everyone is fighting to get a photo of the buddha.
I wanted to go to the Grand Palace next but by the time i was done strolling through Wat Pho, reclining Buddha, the palace was closed. So I was suckered into hiring a Tuk Tuk to bring me to another large Buddha, then to the Golden Mountain...but of course along the way the driver had to take me to TWO different tourist traps before actually dropping me off at my destination.
The Big Buddha was nothing spectacular. I took my photos and waited 20 min for my driver to "use the toilet" then left. when finally arriving at the Golden Mountain I was shocked to see another market/bizarre. it seems like everywhere you turn in thailand...or Asia...there's another street market/bizarre. This was like a Chinese/Asian/thai San Gennaro's festival. I call it Sang Gennarwoh. Street food, thai desserts, ferris wheel, duck rides, games, balloon popping, freak shows, clothes, and shoes. it was fun to walk through but if you're with someone make sure you have a meeting point because you will get split up if you're not literally glued to each other.
After that took a taxi boat home, got a thai massage, shopped a little, walked around my neighborhood which is mostly middle eastern, and called it a night.
The Emerald Palace
Since I missed the Grand Palace the day before I had to go the next day even though I had to leave the hotel by 1pm. The Grand Palace which is adjacent to the Emerald Palace was....shiny and ostentatious. all the temples and buildings are in gold with colorful shiny glass accenting them. it was truly remarkable. it was hard not to get mesmerized in the gleam of the reflecting sunlight. I had to breeze through that sight as well since the tour groups were unbearable. It was also hard to take a photo of myself and didn't want to ask others to take one of me. After an hour of blinding temples I headed off to Wat Arun, temple of Dawn, across the river. see photos.
I wanted to go to Chinatown but missed it since i ran out of time. I would love to go back to Bangkok and see the other sights that I had missed and also see the night life.
The taxi boats are really convenient...their like trains on the water. they stop for less than a minute at each pier letting locals and tourists off and on and then jet off to the next pier. If you are not hanging on to your belongings...it'll be floating down the river.
After 2 hours on the internet booking my flight and hotel for cambodia, my first stop was the reclining Buddha. it was breath taking. I don't know what the deminsions are...will have to refer back to the guide book, but it was enormous. the things that distracted me were the massive amount of chinese/japanese/korean tour groups and the pillars that were directly in front of the buddha. there was no good angle to get a decent picture from, on top of that, everyone is fighting to get a photo of the buddha.
I wanted to go to the Grand Palace next but by the time i was done strolling through Wat Pho, reclining Buddha, the palace was closed. So I was suckered into hiring a Tuk Tuk to bring me to another large Buddha, then to the Golden Mountain...but of course along the way the driver had to take me to TWO different tourist traps before actually dropping me off at my destination.
The Big Buddha was nothing spectacular. I took my photos and waited 20 min for my driver to "use the toilet" then left. when finally arriving at the Golden Mountain I was shocked to see another market/bizarre. it seems like everywhere you turn in thailand...or Asia...there's another street market/bizarre. This was like a Chinese/Asian/thai San Gennaro's festival. I call it Sang Gennarwoh. Street food, thai desserts, ferris wheel, duck rides, games, balloon popping, freak shows, clothes, and shoes. it was fun to walk through but if you're with someone make sure you have a meeting point because you will get split up if you're not literally glued to each other.
After that took a taxi boat home, got a thai massage, shopped a little, walked around my neighborhood which is mostly middle eastern, and called it a night.
The Emerald Palace
Since I missed the Grand Palace the day before I had to go the next day even though I had to leave the hotel by 1pm. The Grand Palace which is adjacent to the Emerald Palace was....shiny and ostentatious. all the temples and buildings are in gold with colorful shiny glass accenting them. it was truly remarkable. it was hard not to get mesmerized in the gleam of the reflecting sunlight. I had to breeze through that sight as well since the tour groups were unbearable. It was also hard to take a photo of myself and didn't want to ask others to take one of me. After an hour of blinding temples I headed off to Wat Arun, temple of Dawn, across the river. see photos.
I wanted to go to Chinatown but missed it since i ran out of time. I would love to go back to Bangkok and see the other sights that I had missed and also see the night life.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Bangkok Day 1
I'm exhausted. After almost missing my flight this morning I have been running around all day, first trying to find my hotel...it took me 3 hours from the time I landed until I actually got to the hotel...changing money, asking for the address to the hotel because i forgot to print it out, and finally catching the bus and walking to the hotel with my huge backpack.
After that ordeal, and checking in to the hotel, I went searching for the Weekend Market which was the reason I wanted to come on a Sunday. This market was a monster. It's similar to all the other markets but i'm always in awe of how ginormous they are. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to haggle as low as the markets in China or in Mongkok. I tried but the vendors were sticking their groud. they would only come down 5 baht or something which is cents. I would try the "walkaway" but no dice. They'd just let me walkaway. So i ended up only going down a few bahts for my purchases.
I could've been there for so much longer but I had to hurry back to go to the Muay Thai boxing match I signed up for. It was very interesting EXCEPT the fact that these were 13 year old little thai boys weighing 100 lbs! It wasn't too interesting after the 1st match. But the headliners were actual grown men...maybe 27-30? Now that's more like it. USA vs. Italy. HOT baby! I got to take a photo with the champion. His sidekick was very HOT! That was the highlight of the day and the match. I wished it was 7 matches of grown men kicking the sh*t out of each other instead of she-boys jabbing at one another.
After that ordeal, and checking in to the hotel, I went searching for the Weekend Market which was the reason I wanted to come on a Sunday. This market was a monster. It's similar to all the other markets but i'm always in awe of how ginormous they are. I wasn't sure if I was suppose to haggle as low as the markets in China or in Mongkok. I tried but the vendors were sticking their groud. they would only come down 5 baht or something which is cents. I would try the "walkaway" but no dice. They'd just let me walkaway. So i ended up only going down a few bahts for my purchases.
I could've been there for so much longer but I had to hurry back to go to the Muay Thai boxing match I signed up for. It was very interesting EXCEPT the fact that these were 13 year old little thai boys weighing 100 lbs! It wasn't too interesting after the 1st match. But the headliners were actual grown men...maybe 27-30? Now that's more like it. USA vs. Italy. HOT baby! I got to take a photo with the champion. His sidekick was very HOT! That was the highlight of the day and the match. I wished it was 7 matches of grown men kicking the sh*t out of each other instead of she-boys jabbing at one another.
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