Engineering Adventures in Thailand

Jetlag Finally Abating

2009-05-18T08:56:00.001+07:00

I've been home for exactly a week now, and despite sleeping twelve hours a night I'm mostly over the jet lag. Have already cooked Thai food for family - chicken coconut milk soup and pad thai. Both turned out delicious - fortunately there's a grocery store near my house that has an acceptable stock of Thai staples (though for some I had to go into NYC). Planning to do green curry and fried rice next weekend.

Posts will be more sporadic now, as I'm sure you've guessed, but I do have a number of pictures and stories left to share. I'll update once a week until further notice.

Goodbyes

2009-05-09T15:06:00.003+07:00

A very hectic last few days.

On Thursday, Charnice and I officially finished all our school work with the completion (finally) of the accursed CAD project at noon. After lunch with some friends we ran into at the Chula cafeteria, we wandered around MBK for a little while before returning to our apartment to start packing. That night, we had dinner at Sunrise Tacos with Dolly and her friend Jah, saying goodbye to both of them afterwards.

On Friday, we got up early (ish) and went to Dusit Palace. It was incredibly opulent - built in the style of European palaces with marble and high frescoed ceilings, but filled with gilt, enameled, diamond-studded artwork. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside - huge shame, because there were some beautiful pieces in there.

After our sightseeing was done, we went home so Charnice could finish packing. Then we went to Blue Elephant for dinner (finally!) with Salilla and Kiao. It was far and away the fanciest restaurant I've eaten at. Dinner can only be described as cuisine - food is far too plebian a word for the magnificent fare we were served. I felt like I was on an episode of Top Chef.

We went to the Sky Bar afterwards, since Charnice had still never been there, but since Kiao was under-dressed (they let him in with flipflops to Blue Elephant but not the Sky Bar), Charnice and I went up for just one drink and some pictures before rejoining Salilla and Kiao. Then, the four of us went to Khao San.

We ended up at Gazebo - it seriously became our club, we love it there - and danced for hours. At 2 in the morning we said good bye to Salilla and Kiao and went back to our place. I fell asleep, but Charnice woke me up to say goodbye at 4:30 AM. I was barely awake, and staggered back to bed for another 4 hours afterwards.

This morning, I woke up too early for the amount of sleep I'd had last night and went to join Pin, In, and Prajakta for lunch and "taking pictures." When they told me that, I thought they meant taking pictures of each other. What it meant, however, was going to a photo studio and having group photos taken. So, I got a series of shots taken of me wearing a mismatched T-shirt and skirt because everything else was packed or in the laundry. But it was a blast nonetheless. When I get the digital copies I'll post some online. Then the four of us had lunch, and said farewell. Prajakta will be in New York for an internship this summer, so we're planning to meet up in NYC at some point, but Pin and In are going to London.

While I was saddened to say goodbye to so many friends I've made here...I feel fairly sure we'll keep in touch. Facebook makes it laughably easy. And as Salilla said, we're all young. We'll see each other again in the years to come.

And now I just want to nap, yet I'm meeting up with one last friend to say goodbye tonight. Then when I get back to the apartment, I need to finish packing. And then, tomorrow at 8:30 AM, I fly out of here.

Disturbing News

2009-05-06T16:11:00.004+07:00

This is a personal blog, and so I have avoided linking to news stories except in the case of those that directly affect my situation. But I came across this story:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/05/04/laos.british.woman.drugs.trial/index.html

It is about a 20 year old British woman who was detained in Laos for allegedly trafficking drugs, faces execution by firing squad, and has not been allowed a lawyer. She is also pregnant, possibly as a result of rape while in prison.

The reason I am linking this from here, though, is because while it is receiving a lot of British press, for obvious reasons, the US news hasn't picked up on it yet. Too busy panicking about swine flu, I suppose. A google news search turned up one result, from FOX (of all places). So, it's up to the new media, this grand blogosphere, to inform the public. (Incidentally I also learned of it on a blog, Shakesville, a progressive collaborative blog I've started reading.

It's a little scary to me personally, as many exchange students I've met here have or are going to travel to Laos. And while I'd hope none of them would get involved in anything even questionable, the lack of due process in evidence scares me on their behalf. So anyway, that was...a news story I just thought you all should be aware of, that I don't think you've come across before.

Final Exams Completed

2009-05-02T14:40:00.005+07:00

Still have to finish a project, due next Thursday, but my finals are finished as of yesterday!

I am also in a new apartment as of yesterday, and said goodbye to all the other exchange students except Charnice as of yesterday. A group of about twenty of us went to Khao San last night to go out with a bang. We hung out at one of the open air bars for awhile, then went to Gazebo to dance the night away. At the end of the night I said goodbye to my friends, which was sad. Yet with the miracles of facebook and availability of international travel, I feel sure I'll see some of them again. Especially Nathalie and Joyce, since I promised them I'd go to Sweden and Amsterdam, respectively, within the next five years. So, I've got a destination and goal to start planning for.

Today, Charnice and I were going to go to Koh Samet for one night, but we ended up not waking up until noon. So the plan now is to chill the rest of the day, then leave very early tomorrow morning, spend Sunday on the beach, and then come back early Monday morning so I can keep working on the project (due to the insane policy of closing the computer lab on the weekends, I can't work on it today or tomorrow anyway). Koh Samet is an island about 2.5 hours away by bus...not the weeklong sojourn in Krabi and Koh Phi Phi we had originally envisioned, but one last day of beaching it up in Thailand before we leave will be lovely nonetheless.

And, because I discovered today that I have 1,389 pictures (i.e. >1 GB) from Thailand on my hard drive, here's some for your enjoyment:

Khao San Road last night

The bridge we had to walk over every day to get to Chula from the old apartment.

Professor Kennedy, Charnice and I in front of the engineering school at Chula.

The Bangkok skyline at dusk, from the rooftop terrace at my friend Salilla's apartment building.

Moving Out

2009-04-30T16:55:00.003+07:00

We have to leave Evergreen tomorrow, so this afternoon was spent packing. Charnice and I are moving in with a Thai freshman, Tim Tim, who lives across Bangkok. It's going to be a bear to move all this luggage tomorrow - and I definitely don't look forward to having to condense everything down to two suitcases to fly home.

It's so strange...in the past four months, Evergreen has been home. Not real home, but...close enough. The next nine days will be an interesting transition.

In good news though, am now totally done with 1 of 3 remaining classes. After tomorrow, it'll be 2/3.

Chiang Mai - cooking class

2009-04-22T18:05:00.004+07:00

First off - I was informed this evening by Professor Kennedy that there is a link to this blog on the Thayer website under the foreign study information. So, a shout out to anyone who actually explored the Thayer website enough to find it!

In recent news, this evening Charnice, Vincent, Geraud, Professor Kennedy and I had dinner with the director of ISE as a farewell party. We went to a lovely seafood restaurant and talked about the differences between Chula, Dartmouth, and the French universities, and about the political situation. Good company, good food, good times.

Finals start next week. The schedule has gone crazy, but basically - it's become as stressful as Dartmouth. I don't think I will sleep for the next week - I'll just set up a caffeine IV drip.

Despite the looming dark clouds, I feel a duty to at least begin posting about Chiang Mai. So here is the first installment of that adventure (picking up, naturally, from where I left off while up there): Cooking Classes!

On Saturday of our trip, Charnice and I took a class at The Greatest Thai Cookery School. I don't know if it lives up to its name, having nothing else to compare it to, but it was quite an experience. It began with Perm, the teacher, taking us to the market near our guesthouse. He showed us the produce used most in Thai cooking, how to tell if you should buy a lime (it should be soft), when to buy a pineapple (the top should be able to twist), and how to make coconut cream (you shred the white bits inside, then squeeze them. To make coconut milk, you add water). We also saw eggplants that are ACTUALLY shaped like eggs. Remarkable.

Then, we were driven to the school itself, which was about thirty minutes outside of the city center. Cooking stations were set up in a square, each of us getting our own burner, chopping block, apron, and wicked looking knife.

We began with soups. For each course we had a choice of what to make. First course was either Tom Yum or Chicken in Coconut Milk. Charnice took the former, I took the latter. We had actually learned to make Tom Yum from our friend Salilla, but there we had been mainly in charge of chopping things. Here, we got to cook the whole dish ourselves. Both soups have the same three ingredients for flavor - ginger, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves. The difference is the base - Tom Yum in water based, the other is obviously coconut milk based. I'll spare you all the details - mainly because for many of you, I shall cook this when I next see you - but it was delicious.

Next, we took part in cooperative cooking. Papaya salad, mango sticky, and deep fried spring rolls - the entire class of 15 all did different parts of this, which was a little disappointing, but still fun. We ate as we cooked, and quite enjoyed all three dishes (though the papaya salad was excruciatingly spicy).

After that, we moved on to the last three dishes, of which we again had a choice. I made green curry, pad thai, and sweet and sour chicken. The last was especially fun, because we did it in such a way that the vegetables flamed up as we tossed them in the oil. Charnice has a wonderful picture of me leaping away from the fountain of flame in my wok, but I haven't gotten it from her yet. But this picture is the immediate aftermath.

After we finished those three dishes, we took them out front and ate as a group. We got to talking with two Californians who were working in the finance industry, got tired of "taking it in the chin for two years," quit their jobs and left on a vision quest in Southeast Asia. Very cool guys.

Then, it was time to go home. We got loaded onto the trucks and driven back to Chiang Mai. Along the way, the first of the water throwing had begun. We got doused by buckets thrown in the open sides of the pick up, and then it started pouring down rain. Definitely a sign of what was to come - it was impossible to stay dry after that.

Situation in Bangkok

2009-04-15T04:58:00.002+07:00

The protest is officially over, I'm officially back in Bangkok after an exceedingly uncomfortable bus ride (our uber-comfy 1st class train got cancelled - jerks), so I'm officially tired.

I was going to post a long explanation of the current political situation, but then I discovered Bangkok Post had a handy short article detailing the events, which I'll post below (copy+paste because sometimes that website takes forever to load)

Actually, now that I've started writing, I might as well finish my long political discussion. Might be edited in the morning when I'm more conscious.

For those who don't know, Thaksin is a former prime minister of Thailand who was ousted by military coup in 2006, has been in self-imposed exile because he was convicted in his absence for breaking a conflict of interest law and faces extradition.

Thaksin is a complicated character; from my understanding, his government was fairly corrupt, he was the head of a huge telecom company and exploited his political power for his company's gain, and was at the least unethical in some dealings if not illegal (not sure laws in Thailand nor exactly what he did), was accused of vote buying...now that I'm clicking through Bangkok Post links, seems like there's a whole lot more he and his government were at least suspected of doing. Also, according to wikipedia, Amnesty International has criticized his human rights record. On the other hand, his government spearheaded significant rural development, hence his huge support base amongst the rural poor, and waged a war on drugs (though the method of this was probably what Amnesty International was condemning).

In general, the political opinion of Thaksin is incredibly divided. People either love him or hate his guts - the former mainly being in the rural areas of Thailand, the latter being those in Bangkok. The UDD, United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, are the red shirts, Thaksin's supporters, and the ones protesting this past week. The opinion seems to be that Thaksin or supporters financied many of these protestors getting to Bangkok, since they are mainly from northeastern Thailand. Interestingly, the other side, the yellow shirts who occupied the airport last fall, call themselves the People's Alliance for Democracy, and allege that while Thaksin's party wins on votes in a general election, vote buying is too rampant for it to be a real election.

Anyway, here's the timeline of the most recent events:

March 26: Thousands of Thaksin supporters in trademark red shirts begin rallying in Bangkok, calling on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his government to resign and allow fresh elections.

They are spurred on by Thaksin Shinawatra, who starts a series of almost nightly addresses to the crowd by telephone and video link.

March 27: Thaksin accuses Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda, privy councillors Surayud Chulanond and Charnchai Likitjitta of being behind the 2006 military coup that toppled him.

March 28: Gen Surayud rejects Thaksin's claim, saying privy councillors are not involved in politics.

April 2: Red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan says a mass rally planned for April 8 is aimed at pressuring Mr Abhisit, Gen Prem and the privy councillors to resign.

April 3: Thaksin refuses an invitation by Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban to negotiate with the government, and calls on his supporters to come out in force for a mass rally on April 8.

April 7: Mr Abhisit's car is attacked by red-shirts in Pattaya as he heads back to Bangkok after a cabinet meeting. Thaksin's three children and ex-wife leave Thailand.

April 8: More than 30,000 red-shirts rally at Government House, their main protest site.

April 9: Taxi drivers block main roads and Victory Monument, bringing the city to a halt. Mr Abhisit vows tough action against red-shirts who break the law, but no action is taken.

April 10: Thaksin's supporters, already spread out across Bangkok, launch a separate protest in the beach resort of Pattaya, where 16 Asian leaders are to meet for a major Asean-sponsored summit, with Asean chairman Thailand as the host.

April 11: Thousands of protesters storm the venue of the summit, forcing its cancellation. A state of emergency is declared as foreign leaders are evacuated - some by helicopter from the hotel roof.

April 12: A state of emergency is declared in Bangkok and surrounding areas as new anti-government demonstrations spring up. Pattaya protest leader Arisman Pongruangrong arrested in Bangkok. About 50 protesters force their way into the Interior Ministry grounds while Mr Abhisit is inside. He escapes. Thaksin says he will lead an uprising if there is a coup.

April 13: Army cracks down on protesters in Bangkok. Two people die and 123 treated for injuries in army assaults on groups of protesters and several ugly confrontations between red shirts and local people who formed neighbourhood militias.

April 14: Thousands of demonstrators who had retreated to their main camp outside Government House agree to disperse in the face of an overwhelming military operation to close down days of protests.

Government extends the three-day Songkran holiday for two more days.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/140563/red-shirt-revolution

A more coherent and/or edited post may follow in the morning.

State of Emergency in Bangkok

2009-04-12T22:42:00.000+07:00

Well, the news is kinda scary. I'm following the news reports and am still planning to return to Bangkok Tuesday night, barring any escalation. I'll keep you all informed.

But in happier news, city wide water fights are fun, though exhausting.

Chiang Mai, brought to you by: Internet Cafes!

2009-04-10T19:01:00.002+07:00

Charnice and I have been in Chiang Mai for two days now. We arrived Thursday morning, checked into our guesthouse, and immediately took a nap. The weather has been sweltering - it's difficult to go outside during the height of the afternoon. Last night we met up with Jordan, who's been taking a two week course to get certified in Thai massage. We went to dinner with her and two friends from that class at a place called Maykai Dee's, vegetarian Thai restaurant with amazing pumpkin hummus (seriously - doesn't sound delicious but it is).

This morning, at Jordan's suggestion, we went to a place called Art Cafe for breakfast. It was divine - the food here is cheap and so good I may never leave. Speaking of food, we're going to take a cooking class - granted, already had an informal one courtesy of Salilla and her boyfriend (which I have been unforgivably lax in not posting), but this one will teach us how to make green curry, pad thai, spring rolls, papaya salad....mmm. Lots and lots of food, basically.

For most of today, Charnice and I just wandered around inner Chiang Mai. The city used to be walled-in, surrounded by a moat. It's expanded since then but the moated part is the inner city, where we are staying. It's a square about a mile on each side - easy enough to walk in one day. When the heat got too much, we went to the Prison Spa. Not kidding about this - as part of a rehabilition/work release deal, the women's prison here trains inmates scheduled for release in different skills, one of them being Thai massage. The fees go to the masseuses so they have some money for when they get out. It was the most entertaining massage I've had here. They put on hip-hop music, as opposed to the usual relaxing instrumental music, and one of those not giving a massage started dancing. Kinda had to be there, but they were funny. Still not the best massage I've had here, that honor goes to Wat Pho - but since that's basically the top massage school in the country? Not surprising.

And now, we're headed out to meet Jordan and more friends for dinner at yet another cafe - this trip has been fabulous so far, despite the heat and the disturbing amount of roaches I've encountered. I really like Chiang Mai - it's much smaller than Bangkok, nowhere near as noisy, and a lot prettier.

Kanchanaburi Day 2 - Erawan Falls

2009-04-08T15:06:00.009+07:00

On our second day in Kanchanaburi, we signed up for a tour to the seven-tiered Erawan falls. I wasn't particularly excited - we had seen waterfalls in Khao Yai, and I wasn't dressed appropriately for trekking, and once again I had forgotten my swimsuit. But, I had no better plans, so I went along with Charnice and a young woman from London we met at the Tiger Temple, Rhianna. I wasn't expecting much.

It was phenomenal.

The trail from the base to the seventh and highest level was 1.5 km long - about a mile. Yet it was the most difficult and exciting hiking I have ever done.

The first level was called Hlai Keun Lung. A lot of families with young children were there, picnicking and swimming in the shallow water. It was pretty but not exceptional. We moved on.

The second level was called Wang Mut Cha, and was where the photo in our guidebook of this place had been taken. There's a rock in the middle of the falls that almost always has somebody posing for a picture on it. This level was also very crowded, so we kept going. Before the third level was a check point, where you were not allowed to bring food past, hence the preponderance of families eating at the lower falls.

The third level was Pha Nam Tok, and there we saw butterflies. Small and white, they hurtled over the falls and formed tornadoes around the swimmers below. We had noticed clusters of them farther down, but here they flowed in an unending stream. The higher we climbed, the more we saw, until I was half-convinced we would find at the seventh level a machine expelling a neverending supply of butterflies like snow. They never really showed up in the pictures, but if you look closely just to the right of the top of the fall, they are those white specks that look like water.

The fourth was called Oag Nang Pee Suar. There were backpackers there jumping from the rocks or sliding down their faces. We watched one girl psych herself up for about five minutes, and finally stand up to jump, when someone - I guess a park ranger - blew his whistle and motioned her to sit back down. It looked dangerous, but when does that stop anyone?

At the fifth level, Buar Mai Long, people were likewise jumping, but off much smaller ledges. This level wasn't particularly exciting or pretty - just a good place for families with children to swim.

The sixth level was high and pretty, but impossible to get a good photo of through the trees. Dong Pruek Sa was the only level that did not have people swimming in it, as I remember, since there was no easy way to get down to the water.

The signs posted with the names told the distance to the next tier. This told us that the distance to the seventh fall was 200 m. And perhaps that was accurate, but only when measured straight up. To get to the end of the trail was truly an Indiana Jones-style endeavor. We climbed wooden staircases, each more broken and rotted out than the last. We clambered over rocks and skirted ledges with ten foot drops, and got lost wandering in lesser falls. We walked through water and crossed the ever-so-cliched log bridge, and astonishingly none of us fell. Finally we made it to the end of the trail.

There was no butterfly machine there, but they get streaming over the top of Phu Pa Erawan. So perhaps the butterfly maker was higher. The falls here were small, and formed a lot of icy pools that were filled with people tired from their climb in the rapidly-increasing heat. Rhianna and Charnice swam a bit, while I wrote, took pictures, and ended up falling in the water anyway. But the bugs were out for blood at that level, so we decided to retreat. On the way back down, we came across monkeys, one of whom calmly sat eating an orange and staring straight into the camera lens pointed her way. Apparently they sometimes steal people's unattended bags - one of the unexpected hazards of the jungle.

We eventually found ourselves at the third level again, and that is where we stayed for the rest of our time at the park. I once again threw caution and dryness to the wind in the face of yet another cave-behind-a-waterfall, and swam out through the murky turquoise water with tiny fish nibbling at my feet. Charnice and I crawled over the rocks under the white water and sat behind the falls for an hour, while Rhianna sat on the rocky shore. Water dripped off the stalagtites that has formed in there, landing on our heads and in pits eroded into the rocks. We were surrounded on all sides, by water to the front, rock behind and left, and a curtain of tree roots to our right, small ones in nerve-like bundles and thicker vines dangling to catch the water. Outside the heat had become almost intolerable, but behind the falls I almost shivered in the cool breeze that whipped spray back in my face.

After we left Erawan falls, we were taken to see the Bridge Over the River Kwai. I have yet to read the book and never saw the movie, and the "guide" did little more than drive us from place to place. But some photos and captions told me the briefest overview of its history: built in WWII by POWs, mostly Australian and British, captured by Japanese forces (as Thailand was officially allied with Japan in WWII). It was first built of wood, then of steel two years later. It was bombed by Allied forces, despite the Japanese tying POWs on the bridge to discourage it.

It is no longer used as a railway bridge - instead, throngs of street vendors crowd around the end of it, capitalizing on the tourist caravans here. You can walk out on the bridge; steel plates are bolted between the rails, which are barely wide enough for two people to shuffle past one another. On either side is a long, long drop to the river, with no safety rails. In fact, nothing has safety rails here - they just let survival of the fittest run its course.

But anyway, I now need to read that book.

This is the last picture update you'll get for a little while - Charnice and I are leaving tonight to take a train up to Chiang Mai for five nights. An update while we're up there is possible - it's the biggest city in northern Thailand, replete with internet cafes. We'll be there for the Thai New Year, Songkran, aka The Nation-Wide Water Fight. Also on the list of Top Ten Parties world wide to go to. Due to the aqueous nature of the festivities, I doubt I'll get many pictures. But I shall describe it in great detail when we return.

And for those with another holiday in mind for this weekend - Happy Easter. I wish Songkran included Cadbury eggs, but alas, such is not meant to be.

Kanchanaburi -- Tiger Temple

2009-04-06T23:23:00.004+07:00

On Saturday morning, Charnice and I left early in the morning for Kanchanaburi. Our express purpose for the visit was to go to the Tiger Temple there we had heard about. What is the Tiger Temple, you might ask? It is a Buddhist temple that had a history of serving as a wildlife refuge, and a few years ago was brought an orphaned, poisoned tiger cub who had been captured and hurt by poachers. The monks cared for her, and though she died from complications, they continued to take in tigers orphaned as a result of poaching. They now have upwards of a dozen tigers living in the temple, and are building a larger habitat for them.

Now, I had heard mixed reports about this place. On the one hand, it sounds like a good place. On the other, I heard online that the tigers were mistreated, that it had turned from a good idea into a purely moneymaking endeavor, and that I should boycott it. But we went anyway, and...I really can't tell if the tigers were mistreated or not. They certainly wouldn't win any friends amongst those who think keeping animals in captivity is a crime, but the tigers didn't seem particularly ill-used.

In deference to the tourists and the extremely awesome photo-op, the way the temple operates is this: for about three hours, the tigers are chained in this canyon and volunteers take the visitors around one by one and photograph them with the big cats. Unlike the elephant farm my mom and I went to, the tigers have enough slack on their chains to get up and pace - as we saw at the end of the day, when they were getting ready to go back to their pens - but since this is during the hottest part of the day the tigers seemed perfectly content to just lie there sleeping, unfazed by the dozens of people petting them. I have to say, although the pictures were a nice bonus, I went in there just so I could pet a tiger:

In point of fact, I got to pet six tigers there, plus two other six month old tigers in a subsequent area. The cubs I felt worse for. While the adults were content to sleep, the young ones clearly wanted to move and play, but were instead chained up.

So should the Tiger Temple be boycotted? I really can't say...as I said, the tigers had better conditions, from what I could tell, than the ones at the elephant farm where they were heavily chained for longer and then released into small cages. Here they had larger pens, and an even bigger habitant was under construction (though rumor has it that its been much-delayed...but all construction here seems to take an eternity). I felt bad for the tiger cubs, but what is the alternative? Release them into the wild where they can't fend for themselves and are likely to get picked off by poachers? I don't know what's the best thing for them.

But moral musings aside, it was an exciting trip. After making the tiger circuit and wandering around the grounds observing the other animals (horses, oxen, cows, peacocks...lot of creatures), we ended up back in the tiger canyon just as the volunteers made an interesting announcement. If we hung out there for ten more minutes, the tigers would be returning to their pens, and we could walk alongside one of the (more tame) tigers (only long enough to get a picture, naturally - it is Thailand, after all). So, Charnice and I did.

Incidentally, in half of the photos taken of me with the tigers I'm looking down, more focused on petting the tiger than anything else. They're so cute. So dangerous - you have to sign a waiver going in - but so, so beautiful.

On the second day, we went on a tour around Kanchanaburi (which is incidentally the location of the famous Bridge Over the River Kwai, which we saw), and went up to Erawan falls - that's right, more waterfalls. But in the interest of not making too many long image heavy posts (because they're annoying to edit), that'll go up tomorrow or Wednesday. In the meantime, here's a tiger drinking from a water bottle:

Everyone with me - "awwwwwwwwww!"

Khao Yai

2009-03-31T14:55:00.020+07:00

Last weekend, Charnice and I went to Khao Yai, the oldest national park in Thailand. There a bit of downtime, so I ended up writing "real time" updates. So now you get a twitter-like representation of...The Trip!

Saturday, 3/28, 2:50 PM
I am lounging by a pond on a vinyl settee, listeninhg to the waterfall cascading into the pool and getting buzzed by flies (though not, for the moment, mosquitoes). The room for tonight, at Khao Yai Garden Lodge, is a double fan room with a shared bathroom, which smells kinda funky but is at least a real toilet. I was afraid we'd be camping out.

Despite the incessant heat, and the bugs, I am looking forward to going into the jungle tomorrow. I got a taste of that on Koh Chang, but I do miss nature in Bangkok. We're going on a tour run by the Garden Lodge - we'll see how it is. Tonight we're going on another tour, to the bat caves. Sounds exciting.

Sunday, 3/29, 8:02 AM
Sitting in the restaurant of the Garden Lodge, waiting for our jungle tour to leave. They are giving us leech socks, which implies leeches which...is just gross.

Last night we were taken to a cave temple by an old Thai guide called Tommy who was such a hippie, and alternatively called me "Tracy" and "Crazy." He was hilarious. Along the way he pulled over a couple of times to birdwatch, and pointed out parakeets and an owl. At the cave temple, he led us down some extremely narrow and slippery stairs, into a cave filled with horseshoe bats. We continued deeper, past old Buddhas and shrines, into another cave with bigger round leaf bats. There were thousands - smelled terrible but incredibly cool. Tommy showed us petrified wood, some that had turned almost crystalline over the years.

(Now we're underway with a new guide called J, but I'll finish this account in the converted pickup trucks we travel in).

In the caves, Tommy kept looking for a bug he nicknamed "Harry." He couldn't find it in the round leaf cave, so we crouched through a narrow passage and came out in a big cave where some roots were hanging from the ceiling. They belonged to a banyan tree Tommy had pointed out above ground, and the roots had punched through the rock into the cave below.

Nearby by a statue of Brahma, and a huge white Buddha lit from a hole above. And in the side caves off of there, Tommy finally found "Harry" - the scorpion-spider. Quite a hideous beast. Tommy let it crawl over his arms, unconcerned.

We left the caverns and drove to the foot of a large hill with a cave near its peak. We ate watermelon, waited for the big show, and talked about the way a rooster's crow is represented in different languages (cockadoodledoo vs eke-eke-eke (thai) vs co-co-roo-coo (japanese)). [By the way, I apologize to the linguists who read this for my terrible transcriptions]. What was the big show? At 6:15, millions of wrinkle-lipped bats streamed out of the cave in a black stream, headed to the jungle to feed. It was really quite epic.

2:22 PM
I am, at this moment, sitting in a sand-filled cave looking out over the base of a waterfall.

This morning we drove through the park, stopping to spot wildlife. We saw some white handed gibbons in a tree above the road - apparently it was an uncommon sight. It was extremely cool to realize I was seeing monkeys in the wild. We eventually got to the visitor's center, where I peeled off cavalierly to cross a footbridge (looked like wood and rope, but actually wood and steel) to wander a few yards into the jungle on my own. Saw a purple butterfly. Very pretty.

The group then proceeded to go on a 2-3 hour nature walk through the jungle. The leech socks were a VERY good idea. We saw a giant squirrel - and I do mean giant, apparently these things grow to 3 feet long. Not many other animals, but we saw strangling ficuses galore. These trees are nasty. I took a picture progression of what they do. First, they latch onto a big healthy tree, and grow up to the sun and down to the ground:

Second, they get really, really big and the host tree dies:

Third, they grow massive. They're also called banyan trees (same type with the roots that went into the cave yesterday). But, apparently their fruits are tasty for the local animals, so it isn't all bad.

I also discovered that apparently there is a lot of tree poaching here, in the form of sandalwood. 1 kilo of prime sandalwood will fetch...I think he said $30,000 but it might've been 30000 baht. Either way, it's plenty incentive for people to come into the park, chop out the good part of the tree and leave the rest to die, and take it out in a backpack.

After the nature walk, we lunched at a small restaurant at a campground and wandered about the stream there (and across another wood-steel bridge. These things apparently freak Charnice out but not me. I had fun with that).

Real time: something resembling a wet squirrel just wandered past, almost close enough for me to touch. The wildlife here are so tame - at lunch, a huge buck deer/moose/thing (no clue what it exactly was) came up and munched on some grass, completely unfazed by the half dozen humans rushing to photograph it.

Another sighting of note was a pink dragonfly. Combining two of my least favorite things, the color pink and bugs, yields...actually, a really cool looking bug.

After lunch we drove to the waterfall, and here I am. We're leaving in another fifty minutes to go to the scenic outlooks and try to spot wild elephants. In the meantime, I thinkm I'll go clamber over some more rocks.

This ends the realtime updates, but what transpired next...well, the logic worked for me. I climbed out on some rocks and sat watching the waterfall. I saw another cave behind the waterfall. The only problem, it would have required wading through the water to get to it, and I was lacking a bathing suit. But the water didn't look too deep, and it was warm out. So I handed my stuff to Charnice, and waded out to that cave. The water...turned out to be a little deeper than I antipated, but didn't come above the waist. I got out to the cave, and sat there watching the waterfall from behind. And I realized...well, I'm already wet, and when am I ever going to get the chance to swim in a waterfall again?

So, I did.

After the waterfall, we drove around for two hours, looking for elephants. We didn't see any, but what we did see were pig-tailed macaques. Dozens of them. Despite prohibitions on feeding the wildlife, many people do feed these friendly little monkeys, and so they wait by the side of the road for food. Makes for an adorable photo op, but apparently in other places monkeys who are accustomed to food from humans can become violent and aggressive, which is a shame.

We eventually got to the scenic outlook, which was nice but not the highlight of the trip (that was definitely the waterfall). After a few photos, we headed back to the trucks, and the long ride back to the lodge.

[The List] - Snake Farm

2009-03-26T21:12:00.006+07:00

So I'm updating out of order. I promise I will sometime soon post about the cooking and the temple visiting, but that's going to be a long post (or two long posts, more likely), while this one is a relatively short piece.

Today, Charnice and I actually went to the snake farm. It is the second oldest snake farm in the world (the first oldest being in Brazil), and was built in 1923. It has both venomous and non-venomous snakes.

The non-venomous snakes were kept in outdoor tanks and pits, while the venomous ones are kept in more secure pens inside. The one at left is an albino burmese python (non venomous).

After we walked around outside a bit, we went inside for the milking show. Snake venom is extracted from the snakes by persuading them to bite into a covered jar, like so.
Because the venom is an automatic process for snakes when they bite, the venom pours out of them and into the cup. This venom is then injected into horses and somehow that makes antivenins (they didn't mention exactly how this happens in the presentation, and I was too focused on the pretty snakes to think to ask. The one in the picture is called a banded krait, by the way).

In the afternoon, there was a live snake show outside. Which was quite intense. Although us spectators were sitting in bleachers right there, with no walls between us and the performers, they brought venomous snakes out to pose for us. Here is a cobra:

It is very cool, and very venomous. It's venom is five times more potent than a king cobra's venom, but it delivers less per bite. Both are deadly though. Interesting fact about venomous snakes: they can have fangs in either the front or rear of their mouths. If the snake has fangs in the front of its mouth, the venom is usually deadly. If the fangs are at the rear of its mouth, then the venom is excruciatingly painful but usually not fatal to adult humans.

The show concluded, as all good snake shows must, with a chance to hold a Burmese python around one's neck.

And how could I pass that up?

Reasons I'm Getting Sick of Bangkok

2009-03-25T14:52:00.002+07:00

Number 10* - because someone tried to rob me on the street today >.<

A preface first: if you look like a tourist here, people will approach you on the street and try to sell you things, like a tuk-tuk ride or cheap knockoff whatevers. Usually they're harmless and easy to brush off politely or just ignore. As I was walking back from the grocery store today I'd already run into two tuk-tuk drivers and brushed them off, so I wasn't thinking suspiciously. Big mistake. Just outside my apartment a guy approaches me and asks where I'm from. I tell him, and then he starts rambling on about it being a "lucky year" for me. I'm just about to excuse myself and walk away when his partner comes up behind me and basically frisks my back pockets for a wallet, then runs off.

From this encounter I learned: a) my reflexes really suck considering how many martial arts I've done, b) be more wary when strangers approach me - don't assume good faith, and c) I'm very, very smart to keep my wallet and all other valuables in pockets in my bag so deep it takes me two minutes to fish out what I want. Hence, nothing was stolen - just shook me up a bit.

I did however have a fun weekend, which I'll start posting installments of later today. Crossed four more things off the list - booyah.

*(Reasons 1-9, by the way, are heat, humidity, people incessantly trying to sell me things, looking obviously like a tourist, lack of fresh air, noise, lack of cheap bread, heat, and heat.)

Abbreviated Post

2009-03-20T12:44:00.004+07:00

Because for some reason, called Cleaning Day, everything at Chula is closed except the classrooms. This means the computer lab. So I have a rather more limited time on the internet to post than usual.

On Tuesday, I spent the day at Chula meeting the Thai exchange students for next year (nice people), listening to an interesting lecture by Prof. Kennedy about the failure of artificial knee joints, and eating dumplings for the first time in Bangkok (although dumplings are not Thai food, a friend of mine persisted in telling me 'eat some dumplings for her' while I was here. So, I have. They were delicious).

Yesterday, Charnice and I tried to go to the Snake Farm. According to her guidebook, admission was 70 Baht, and they milked the snakes for venom at 2:30 pm. When we got there, at 2:20, we discovered that the milking had taken place at 11 AM, and that admission was 200 Baht. So we decided to come back another day at 11 AM - probably next Thursday, because my Muay Thai class got randomly cancelled for two weeks (which is REALLY ANNOYING - I wanted to kick things!). So we spent Thursday afternoon at the IRW meeting instead.

The International Relations and Welfare club is the one I mentioned a few weeks ago. It consists of the international students here who live in Bangkok but don't speak Thai very fluently, and so they can't participate in most of the extracurriculars at Chulalongkorn because they are all conducted in Thai. So the IRW is planning to start various activities conducted in English, like the classes at ISE, to include the international students. Right now the meetings still consist of hanging out and chatting, but it's fun.

And now, I am off to my CAD class. The closing of the computer lab for cleaning hopefully means that we'll get out at 3 today instead of 6. Which is awesome.

Dartmouth Club Dinner

2009-03-16T10:30:00.002+07:00

Charnice and I were invited to a special dinner thrown by the Dartmouth Club of Thailand at the president's house. So on Sunday evening, Professor Kennedy and his wife picked us up from Evergreen, and we drove to his house on Sukhumvit road.

The president, David from the class of '48, has been living in Thailand for 29 years. His house is beautiful - classic Thai style, with exotic artwork and furnishings, including several furs from South Africa and ceramic pots his wife handpainted (they were amazing). There was an open stairwell with wooden steps that...well, they're hard to describe, but they were made of a shiny wood and beneath them was an open area filled with sand and plants and stones.

The meal was prepared by the host's wife, who is an amazing cook, but it was served by waiters, who also attended to the drinks. The food was fairly Western in style but with definite Thai touches - for instance, a cut of meat that you slathered in garlic butter which was to die for. Actually there wasn't a dish there I couldn't have eaten ten times more of. It was seriously classy entertaining.

And the people were fantastic. All Dartmouth alums and their family - the most distinguished guest was called Nit. He was Dartmouth '62, served as Thailand's ambassador to the UN, then the ambassador to the US, then as Foreign Minister of Thailand, though he's currently retired. Also there was another David (I'm terrible at names so I didn't mark anyone's last name, though I'm sure I could look his up), a journalist who was a correspondent in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and wrote a book entitled "The Fall of Saigon." I want to read it now, especially since his notes for the book are in the Rauner library at Dartmouth. Also in there, because he was editor and columnist for Playboy for several years, are eight years' worth of hardbound old Playboy magazines. I find this to be hilarious. Any fellow Dartmouthers know about this?

There were about twelve guests in all, including ourselves. One thing I realized during the evening was this: what I truly miss about Dartmouth are the conversations. Those conversations you have with your friends late into the evening about politics, philosophy, religion, morality, current events, and all of the above. And it isn't limited to Dartmouth by any means - they're the sort of conversations that naturally occur when you get a group of intelligent people from anywhere together in the same room for any length of time. The evening ended with a long discussion mainly between Professor Kennedy, Nit, and journalist David about Thai politics and how convoluted they have become - I learned more in that half hour than I've picked up in two months here.

And I mentally contrasted that conversation with one I had with Chelsea and Jordan - we were watching Chocolat and started discussing religion and politics, and it somehow came around to gay marriage. And Chelsea and I were just starting to talk avidly about it when Jordan shushed us, saying we should talk about it later because we "obviously all agree." We never did finish that discussion. So call me an intellectual snob - I prefer the conversations, which simply don't happen while amongst the other exchange students here.

[The List] - National Museum

2009-03-13T15:25:00.005+07:00

On Wednesday morning, Charnice and I awoke ridiculously early (aka 8 AM) to go visit the National Museum. We had heard there were English tours starting at 9:30, and we wanted to leave at least an hour to get there (if you've seen Bangkok traffic, you understand). After hailing a few taxis who either did not know where it was, or didn't want to go there, we finally got an amenable driver and were on our way. Surprisingly, it only took us half an hour to get there.

Because we were wearing our Chula uniforms, we got in for free (and looked like complete idiots when the ticket man told us that, in Thai, and we had no clue what he was saying). We had half an hour to kill, so we started wandering through the first building, which covered Thailand's history from prehistoric times to presumably modern day. I got as far as 1300 AD before it was time to go.

The tour was given by Sharon, an Australian expat who has lived in Thailand for five years. The two hour tour focused exclusively on Buddhism, which was a fascinating introduction. She led us through various aprts of the museum, tracking down different artifacts and images to illustrate her lecture.

The museum is housed in what used to be the auxillary palace. As I understand it: the system used to be that there was the main king, and then the secondary king who was next in line for the succession, and had his own palace. Then the system changed to a king and a crown prince as successor, and the old second palace was turned into a museum.

We were not allowed to take photographs inside the buildings, and inside the compound it was discouraged (as in, Sharon did not know for certain if we were allowed to take photos of the outside of the buildings inside the palace proper, and we didn't want to get her in trouble). Because I don't have the images to accompany all the facts she gave us, I won't recount them all here - plus I don't remember them all. The temples and Grand Palace, which we will probably visit next weekend, allow photos and have a lot of similar images, however, so I will add historical commentary when we go there.

What I do know and remember from the tour:
In traditional buildings, the demonic figure on the awning is called...something like Garoud, I believe. I cannot look it up right now because of the faulty internet (even at school...I swear the internet is conspiring against me here). It is supposed to represent the sky. Then the decorations that look like fingers coming up from the roof represent Naga, the seven-headed earth snake, in a very stylized form.
(You can see the snake things - the gold pointy bits - in the picture at left. I don't think it's a good enough picture to see the sky demon).

I have some other pretty, miscellaneous pictures I've taken of Bangkok, but they will have to wait for a better internet connection than I have today. I'll probably make a large, picture heavy post sometime in the near future.

Until then, happy Friday from 90-feels-like-94 degree Bangkok (and the sad part is, it felt comfortable today).

A New Update Schedule - Just Like A Real Blog!

2009-03-09T15:37:00.005+07:00

Due to internet constraints, this blog will now update REGULARLY (and I'll try my best to stick to this), on Mondays and Fridays. The reason: those days are the days I will be going into Chula for classes. While the wireless internet here is just as slow nd unreliable as the internet I previously bought from Evergreen, the difference is IT'S FREE. I don't even have to pay the electricity to power the computer.

When I get back to the US, I'm going to spend about twenty hours straight online, revelling in the speed of real internet.

This past weekend, a group of us exchange students went to sing karaoke, which is a fairly popular thing around here. You rent a soundproof room with couches and a karaoke set, and then sing for an hour. Annoyingly, we could not figure out how to work the system (extremely non-intuitive interface). Even when we called the staff in to help, they didn't explain it to us - they just clicked some buttons and left, even when we tried to get them to show us. So I doubt we'll go back to that place for karaoke. They did have midnight bowling there as well though - we're planning to hit that up at some point.

At the moment, I'm sitting in on a preliminary meeting of the International Students' Club at Chula, which some permanent international students (like my friend Dolly) are starting. As temporary international students, we were invited too. Right now it's consisting of everyone joking around, and talking of fun-colored turbans (well, it makes sense in context). Fun times.

This coming week, the plan is to spend our copious free time doing cultural things, like visiting temples and so forth. Update to follow on Friday.

Past Few Days

2009-03-05T09:11:00.003+07:00

I spent yesterday, my class-free day, wandering around Centralworld, which is (another) big mall in Bangkok, one I hadn't been to before. It's like all the other big malls in Bangkok - full of Western brands, Starbucks and McDonalds, with the strange addition of the Playboy brand of clothing that's popular here.

Something cultural and interesting will be posted soon, but that will be somewhat delayed as we are still having internet problems...actually more specifically, we had internet problems yesterday in that the cable stopped working. It's working this morning but expires at noon. Not sure yet whether we will renew it - that depends on our other two roommates who aren't here. But the internet is ridiculously bad, slow, and inconvenient for how expensive it is.

Today, I have my muay thai class midterm. Which doesn't really matter since I can't transfer it, but what the midterm is performing a Wai Khru Ram Muay, which is basically the ceremony of giving respect and then a stylized dance. It's kind of hilarious, especially watching the group of us who have never tried it before run into each other all over the ring. But I was walking by MBK the other day and they were having a muay thai fight between two little kids (apparently there's free Muay Thai in an outdoor ring there once a week - I'll have to go back next week and see). I caught the beginning of that fight, and saw the two little kids doing the wai khru ram muay. It was cute.
As for me though, I've only tried it once before, and that was two weeks ago. Soooo...we'll see how badly I bungle this.

Midterms Are Over!

2009-03-01T13:36:00.002+07:00

After a hectic week of exams, they're done, along with one of my classes.

This increased free time means I will once again start on my list...after I spend a few more days lounging by the pool doing nothing. Which, let me tell you, is fabulous.

As for the one thing on my list that has been done since my last update: hit up the nightlife at Kao San road. It was an interesting experience, but I doubt I'll be going back any time soon. Kao San road is the backpacker haven, and it is filled with people trying to sell you things by getting in your face, clubs with bad techno music, and way, WAY too many people.

I far prefer RCA for clubs - it's classier, better music, and cleaner.

Of Toilets

2009-02-21T19:05:00.002+07:00

As I told some of you, the toilet in our apartment recently broke. On Wednesday afternoon, it stopped flushing. This had happened before - we just called down to the front desk and they sent up a guy with a plunger. He came up, and it seemed like he fixed the toilet, since it was flushing again. Three hours later though, it was broken again. We called to the front desk, and they sent up another guy with a plunger. After thirty minutes, he declared it was broken and we shouldn't use it. Also, somebody would be in the next morning to take care of it.

So the next morning, I go down to the front desk to remind them about the broken toilet (I've learned from experience it's better not to assume that everyone's communicating well). They said a technician would be in that afternoon, and that someone needed to be in the room. Charnice and I had class but the other girls were around, so it was fine.

We get back from class, and find not one but four repairmen in our apartment (the bathroom is big enough for two people to stand in if they're close - no idea why they needed four to fix it). They stay for another hour after we get back, then leave without a word - leaving the toilet in two pieces. Fairly obviously broken. Later that night, a woman from the front desk calls us and tells us that the repairmen will be back the next day, Friday, to fix it for real.

Charnice and I are in class all day on Friday. When we come back, it appears that the toilet has not been fixed - although it is once again in one piece, an attempt to flush it produces no reaction. So we're annoyed, and we figure we'll go down to the front desk the next morning to complain. When Jordan returns a few hours later though she tells us that the four guys did come back to fix it, they just hadn't fixed it all the way. Great.

And I would still be fuming, but someone came today at 9 AM (on a Saturday! That's criminal!) to fix it for real. So now, we have a functional toilet. I am so happy.

Bread - A Random Encounter

2009-02-16T19:36:00.004+07:00

I was on Skype with my parents this morning, and they asked me what I missed most about home. My immediate answer was, "bread." Because I miss them, but I talk to them on Skype. And I miss the animals, and having my own room, and weather that isn't boiling hot. But I miss the food that I'm used to, and mainly what I miss is fresh baked bread.

After that conversation, I went to Chula to study for the midterms. I haven't been sitting there for five minutes when a Thai girl comes up to me, taps me on the shoulder, and says, "Excuse me, are you an exchange student?" (pretty obvious answer to that, huh)
"Yes, I am."
"Where are you from?"
"America."
"Ooh! Do you know how to make cheese?"
"...."
Apparently, she thought being from the US means I know how to make cheese? So I laugh, and tell her no, most people in the US don't. And she laughs too, and then asks, "Do you bake?"
"Well, yeah. I make bread - I actually really miss it, haha."
"Ooh! Will you come over to my house and teach me how to bake bread? Please?"
"Uh...yeah! Sounds awesome!"

So, sometime after midterms I'm going to go over to a random Thai girl's house and bake bread. I made the mistake of telling her I also know how to make bagels, because she wants me to teach her that too, which is probably a little too time consuming, especially since I am without my trusty baking stone.

But anyway. That random encounter made my day, even though I have the headcold of death right now. Stupid headcold.

Also! So apparently googling thephrase "obscene rock formations koh samui" in the US yields this blog as one of the top results. But for google.co.th, which is the only google I can get here, it doesn't show up :( So for a favor, would somebody mind googling that, and taking a screenshot of my blog in the results? Because that's just hilarious. edit: thanks Mom! <3

Full Moon Party

2009-02-13T15:43:00.006+07:00

Because we rage harder in Thailand than at Dartmouth.

The Full Moon Party is an event that occurs every full moon, on the island of Koh Phan Ngan in the Southern part of Thailand. Mostly a backpacker event, it takes place on Hat Rin Hok, or Sunrise Beach. The bars along the beach play loud music all night long, and the revelers party until the sun comes up, and then some.

So of course, being college students in a tropical climate with light class loads, we exchange students decided we simply had to go.

Most of the students went down on Friday night to Koh Phan Ngan, since the accommodations book fast there. Charnice and I did not decide until Sunday whether or not we were actually going though, so the only places available were on Koh Samui, a larger island a half hour ferry ride from Koh Phan Ngan. But we booked a bungalo for Monday night, and set off on the overnight government bus from Bangkok to Koh Samui.

The trip itself was fairly uneventful - I slept a lot, but was still tired. We arrived via ferry at Koh Samui at 7 am Monday morning. Tired, we managed to make our way to Chalee Villa, where we had made reservations, only to find that the bungalos we wanted, the 400 baht small ones, were all full. We had to instead stay in an 800 baht large one - a little annoying. Consequently, we made plans to only stay one night instead of two, and stay awake all Tuesday night.

After a long nap, we spent all day Monday on the beach. Koh Samui apparently is renowned for beautiful beaches - well, they weren't talking about the one we stayed at, that's for sure. The sand was coarse, the beach small and dirty, the water murky. All in all, it reminded me of the Jersey shore. Nevertheless, it was nice to bask in the sun for a day.

That evening, we set out to find the fisherman's village that was mentioned in our guidebook. After a 5 km walk, we eventually did. The name of fisherman's village conjures up the image of a rustic, backwater village filled with small local shops. Which I'm sure it was before the tourists came. It was filled with overpriced restaurants and touristy shops catering to the vacationers. Still, some of the buildings there were striking, and it was overall a classy tourist area, rather than some of the places I've seen.

We found a decently priced restaurant and had dinner, and wandered around the village a bit. From looking at the postcards on display, I made a discovery that I'm sure my fellow college students will appreciate. (Parents and other family members, feel free to skip this.) So, have you ever been on stumbleupon or collegehumor.com, and seen pictures of obscene rock formations? There are two in particular, known as grandfather rock and grandmother rock. Turns out, those two rock formations are on Koh Samui. No, I did not go see them - too busy sunning myself on the beach, and anyway the postcards there do them justice. It was a fact strangely absent from the guidebook we used.

I'll wait while you all google "obscene rock formations koh samui" before continuing with my story.
...
Told you.

So on the way back to the bungalo that night, we stopped in a tour boat shop and arranged the ferry to get to and from Koh Phan Ngan the following day. Since we were headed over early in the day, at 1:30 pm, it was cheaper than going over just for the party. But we knew the people staying there and wanted to go hang out before the evening.

The next morning, we lounged on the beach some more, then got on the ferry to Koh Phan Ngan. When we got there, we tried to get in contact with the people we knew were there...only to realize that either a) they weren't going to be at Hat Rin unti late that night, in the case of our roommates, b) we had the wrong phone number or didn't have their phone number, or c) they weren't answering the phone. Undeterred, and having nowhere else to go, Charnice and I got a taxi down to Hat Rin anyway.

We sat on the beach for awhile watching the set up process. Probably a thousand people were already on the half-mile long stretch of beach, which was lined with stands selling the famous buckets (alcohol + soda + energy drink, served in a plastic bucket with straws. You know you're at a college student party when...). At 4 in the afternoon, some people were already starting in on those, which gives you an idea the sort of party we're dealing with. But for the most part, people were just lying in the sun, listening to the sound stations that were set up.

After several unsuccessful attempts to contact those staying at Hat Rin, Charnice and I grew worried. We needed a place to store our bags for the night. We were planning to just leave them in the bungalo of the other students, but that wasn't panning out. Charnice got out her guidebook and started calling all the resorts in the area - all booked. Meanwhile, I got up and went for a long walk on the beach...

And very quickly stumbled upon four guys we knew. Almost literally, in fact - I walked right past them and didn't notice until they called out my name. They agreed to let us store our bags in their bungalo, and Charnice and I moved all our stuff over to where they were sitting. We spent the afternoon chatting and throwing around a frisbee, eventually leaving when it got dark to get dinner and go back to the bungalo. At said bungalo, we found the other fifteen-ish students who had also come down for the party, most of whom we knew. We all hung out at the bungalos, applying body paint and playing cards, until midnight when we set off for the beach.

The scene was pretty ragey. Half a mile of beach with five clubs blasting techno music, stands upon stands selling cheap and not so cheap alcohol in buckets, overhead lights and of course the full moon (which really was quite beautiful from the beach - it seemed to be surrounded by a hazy halo), illuminating around five thousand partygoers, nearly all foreigners.

The group very quickly lost track of each other - Charnice and I stayed together, but lost everyone else. So we wandered around a bit, trying to find people again. Eventually we found two of the guys we had hung out with earlier, and then the four of us found some more people. And so we danced for awhile, before this group broke up again. Charnice and I managed to track down our roommates and some of the random people they were with - stayed with them awhile until Chelsea predictably wandered off and Jordan went to find her. This pattern continued throughout the night - we'd hang with people for awhile, the group would disperse, Charnice and I would wander around a bit until we came across the people we knew again.

Around 4 in the morning, we left the group and went to a bar that was set up at the end of the beach in the rock face, up a set of somewhat precarious stairs - I'm honestly surprised no one fell, that I saw, considering how drunk a lot of people were. We sat there, then sat on the rocks below, talking and admiring the beauty of Koh Phan Ngan. The water was calm and tranquil, with smooth boulders and white sandy beaches. It would be lovely to go back there again when there isn't a party raging, because it was one of the most beautiful beaches I've seen in Thailand so far.

As dawn was approaching, we went back to the party to try to find the group, which had dispersed as usual. We walked back and forth as the sky got lighter, manuevering around the scores of people passed out on the beach. Tried texting some people but got no response, so we sat down in some plastic chairs and watched the sun rise over the ocean. Finally, we got in touch with one of the guys, Jelle (pronounced Yella), and managed to meet up with him and Chelsea. Then Jordan showed up, and we all left the party.

Charnice and I went back to the bungalo to grab our stuff - surprisingly, most people weren't back yet. We went and had breakfast, then snoozed on the bungalo's beach (far quieter than Hat Rin, though we could still hear the blaring techno music in the distance) before catching a cab back to the pier. The entire day was spent traveling and waiting to travel - the 11 hour bus ride was particularly grueling, since I couldn't fall asleep until very late. 3 AM, we got back to the bus station. We caught a cab and got back to the apartment, and after some much needed showers we went to bed.

All in all, the party was fun, though I would not go out of my way to get back there again. It was a little too crowded, and the trip down there was just too long. I'm glad I went, though. I had an interesting realization in my extremely sleep deprived state: as we're riding in the van to the pier on Koh Samui, I was staring out the window thinking about the recent past, things that happened in the fall before I left for Thailand. And I realized that I've done so many things that I had never done before since I've been here - specifically, I've set up the transportation and accomodations for an impromptu excursion to an island 13 hours away. While the idea of backpacking always seemed cool to me, I never before thought I'd have the guts to do it. But that's what it is, basically - just a long string of pseudo-planned impromptu trips. And it's very cool to realize that I can do that.

That's it for excursions for awhile, though, since midterms are in less than two weeks (it's terrible, I actually have to do work now). Planning on hitting up the temples for real this weekend - I will let you all know!

And in the meantime, happy Friday the 13th everyone!

The List: Jim Thompson House, Bangkok Art and Culture Center, Bangkok Fight Club

2009-02-08T16:34:00.005+07:00

Jim Thompson House
On Wednesday, my free day, I decided to knock some things off my Bangkok list. First stop was the Jim Thompson House in the morning. It's about a ten minute walk from my apartment - quite convenient. Before I left, I prepared a list of Thai phrases - "Do you have student prices?" "Do students get in free?" and so forth, and rehearsed them in my head on the walk over. I get to the ticket counter...and discovered that yes, indeed, there are student prices. Posted in English. Well, at least I know the phrases for future use.

I got there just as a tour of the house was starting. Some background: Jim Thompson was an American who worked with the precursor to the CIA, and lived in Bangkok for years. He was the first Westerner to discover Thai silk, and began buying and exporting it around the world. He got filthy rich from it, built a gorgeous house on a canal and filled it with antiques, then disappeared at age 61 in Malaysia. He was probably a ruthless businessman and an unlikeable person, but he had great interior decorating sense.

The house itself is beautiful, and at striking odds with the city as it is today. It must have been wonderful to come to Bangkok twenty years ago. All houses used to open on the canals, which were the main route for transportation. Unfortunately they've almost all been filled in since then and covered with roads for the relentless traffic jam that is Bangkok. It's a shame.

After the tour, I wandered around the gardens of the house, then found the Jim Thompson Art Gallery near the entrance of the house. It was free, and contained an exhibit of some artist. Not especially inspiring, but interesting enough.

Bangkok Center of Art and Culture
After lunch at MBK, I went to the Art and Culture Center on a whim. I entered this giant circular hall, in which they were clearly setting up for some kind of event. There was an information desk, but no one was at it, and all the leaflets were in Thai. But there was an escalator, and I could see there were a lot of floors up above (there's an open column in the middle of the building from the floor to the ceiling).

So, I got on the escalator, and when no one tried to stop me I kept going up. The second through fourth floors were full of empty glass rooms and a scattering of chairs, with some people just hanging out there. It would make a nice place to go read or study. On the fifth floor is a little shop, another information desk, and the escalator leading up to the galleries. Entrance was free, so I went up to the two floor gallery hosting an exhibit that was the history of Bangkok in art. My camera battery died after the first quarter of the exhibit, which was terrible, as I discovered some beautiful artwork I wanted a photo of in the latter half, including a digitally altered picture of Siam Paragon overgrown by jungle. I'll have to go back before the exhibit ends on the 14th so I can get a photo of it.

Bangkok Fight Club
That evening, I hit a third item on my list: a class at Bangkok Fight Club. From the website, I was expecting a big gym with a lot of people, with everyone really hardcore about martial arts. Twenty minutes on the Sky Train and twenty minutes walking up Soi Thong Lor, I found myself outside of a somewhat old tower building, with a banner reading Bangkok Fight Club suspended from the tenth floor. I went up, to find...well, a studio very much like IMA's. About the size of the IMA room, but in a different shape - longer rather than square. A row of heavy bags was by the windows, there were old mats on the floor, and gear scattered around. The class was mostly foreigners, but some Thais as well.

The class itself was not too intense. I took the Muay Thai class. The instructor did not give all that much instruction to me, especially after I showed that I knew how to do the clinch surfing, the kicks, and kneeing - this was a problem since the class also did things I was not familiar with, and so I had to ask for help on those. Two hour class, which was good. I was quite tired afterwards, in a good way. I learned a few new things for clinch work that will be useful. *cracks knuckles threateningly at the IMA people I'll have to try it on when I get home ;-p*

The problem with doing it on Wednesday night? I had my university Muay Thai class on Thursday morning. Yeah...I was a little dead after that. I'll probably go back to Bangkok Fight Club soon, and take a BJJ class there. Kicking things is fun, but choking people is even better.

And now, I am (most likely) headed off to Koh Phan Ngan for the full moon party. I say most likely because I have just heard from my friends already down there that there aren't many places to stay. So we're going to make a few calls and see if we can find anything reasonably close. Either way, expect a post about it on Thursday if I go!
edit: booked a bungaloo for two nights on Koh Samui! The trip is a go. Updates on Thursday.

The List: An Unstated Goal

2009-02-05T21:12:00.002+07:00

I had a goal that I didn't put on the list, because I didn't think I was ready for it. But then, I accomplished it anyway - I'm really being an overachiever with this list thing. That goal?

Eat food from a street vendor.

Because the street food here looks good, but I was nervous of just going to some random one. But tonight after dinner the French guys took me to this guy near our apartments who makes banana pancakes - pancake with banana and egg inside, fried and covered in sugar. So decadent. So good. Or as you say in Thai, aroy maak maak.

Chula-Thammasat Game, With Pics!

2009-02-04T15:51:00.011+07:00

Now that I have functional internet and a camera cord, the Chula-Thammasat game post has finally arrived. I can just sense your excitement.

Anyway.

Last Saturday was the big traditional football (read: soccer) match between Chulalongkorn and our rivals Thammasat University, played at the National Stadium and televised. A large group of us exchange students went together. We had all heard that the game started at different times, but the general consensus was to get there by 3 pm. We weren't exactly sure where the stadium was, but it wasn't hard to find - we just followed the streams of students in pink (Chula) and red (Thammasat) shirts. And yes, I was wearing pink.

So we got there at 2:30 and bought tickets. It was 200 baht to sit in the shade, or 100 baht to sit in the sun. We opted for sitting in the sun, despite the heat. It was actually a good call. It was hot for the first two hours, during which there was a parade and a ceremonial opening of the game, which did not actually start until 5 pm. Part of the ceremony were several dance troupes. At first I thought they were university-based groups, but they had swarms of paparazzi following them, and they cheered on both sides indiscriminately. So my guess is that they were professional dance groups hired for the entertainment.

There were actual cheerleaders too, in their pink splendor, doing typical cheerleader-y things. The players also wore pink. We were sitting by an informal pep band, a bunch of Chula students with drums and cymbals who kept cheering and chanting the entire game. It's great how even though I didn't know exactly what they were saying, it was easy to tell when to cheer and when to boo.

Speaking of sportsmanship, I had heard beforehand that this game is a friendly rivalry, and that both sides really hope for a tie. Well...maybe some people do, but it did NOT seem like a friendly game. Chula took out three of the Thammasat players in the second half - I mean they went off the field on a stretcher took out, though the reason for that is probably that they were all leg injuries. But every time a Thammasat player went down and the medics were running over to help, the pep band section would start counting to ten, and then cheer, like they were at a fight.

But for all their competitiveness, I guess they have nothing on Americans when it comes to free stuff. Before the game, some footballs emblazoned with a corporate sponsor (oh yeah, the game has corporate sponsorship) were thrown into the stands. They threw probably eight balls towards our section, and of our exchange group we caught two of them. And I got the first one. So now I need to find people to go play football in the park with me.

Chula ended up losing 2-0, which was disappointing. Apparently there was a concert after the game, but since it was 7 pm and we were hungry, me, Charnice, Joyce, and her newly-arrived from the Netherlands boyfriend Ariel left to go eat at MBK. A fun day, despite the loss.

Chula-Thammasat

2009-02-01T22:19:00.000+07:00

So until I find my camera cord (which has unfortunately vanished), there will be no pictures of the football match. But suffice it to say Chula lost 2-0. It was embarassing.

More details will accompany pics.

Internet Situation

2009-01-31T13:31:00.002+07:00

Going along with the whole being here a month thing, I realized that the month of internet we paid for is going to expire soon. The ridiculously expensive, unreliable-for-how-much-we-paid-for-it internet. So, it is as of yet uncertain if we will be getting internet in our apartment for the next month, or if we'll instead rely on pirated wireless, free wireless at Chula, and cheaper pay by the hour wireless cafes.

Related, I have learned of a SIM card that would let me make phone calls to the US for only 1 baht/minute.

So blog updates may be even more sporadic for a few days.

Last night, did not go to Khao San Road, but instead to Royal City Avenue, or RCA, which is a rather more upscale strip of clubs than Khao San. Quite fun, although when all the nightclubs close at 2 AM it is impossible to find an honest (read: metered) taxi in the area. Extremely annoying.

Soccer/football game this afternoon - we still haven't quite figured out the time of it, but we're dressed in our spiffy pink Chula shirts (yes, I will post a picture), and ready to go cheer.

The List

2009-01-28T20:03:00.004+07:00

I was completely floored when I saw today's date and realized that I have been in Thailand for exactly one month. Just as jarring was the realization of how little I have explored Bangkok. I justified this lapse as giving myself time to adjust to living in a city, take care of stuff for school, and learn a little of the language before venturing out on my own. And because of my delay, you, my poor devoted readers, have suffered the lack of updates brought about by inactivity.

But no longer! I have adjusted to the noise and stink and air pollution that is a large city - enough, at least, that I cannot use it as an excuse. I have for the most part sorted out everything for school. And I have learned enough of the language to ask for directions, ask someone to speak more slowly, ask how much something is, and ask for chicken fried rice and drinking water. I have learned how to hail a taxi and navigate the Sky Train. And I have compiled a list of things to accomplish in Bangkok thanks to my Lonely Planet guide and an iced chai tea latte in Starbucks today.

Things To Do In Bangkok:
take a cooking class
shop at an open air food market
take a lesson at Bangkok Fight Club
see a Muay Thai fight
visit Wat Pho (the Reclining Buddha)
visit a floating market
eat at Blue Elephant
visit National Museum
visit Th Maharat (Maharat Street)
take a meditation class at Wat Mahathat
visit Jim Thompson House
wander around Chinatown
see a Khon (classical Thai dance-drama) performance
see the Giant Swing
hit up the nightlife on Th Khao San
visit Wat Ratchanatda and the amulet markets behind it
figure out the city bus system
visit the Vimanmek Teak Mansion and Dusit Park
visit Wat Benchamabophit (Marble Temple)
take a river taxi
visit the Snake Farm
visit the Culture and Arts Center (which is a block from my apartment - no idea what's in it, but sounds cool)

My intention is to do all these things within the next 31 days. Hold me to it, dear readers.

Onto an account of my recent activities: Monday was the Chinese New Year, so I went with a few friends to Chinatown to see the festivities. However, we got there towards the end, so there wasn't much going on - we missed the parade and most of the live music. It was still moderately interesting, though, and I plan to go back to Chinatown again to wander around. Colorful area. All throughout Bangkok, the Chinese New Year's decorations are still up - they finally replaced the Christmas decorations, which were up for most of January (and were complete tourist pandering since most of Thailand is Buddhist).

Today, my activities were only interesting because I have yet to talk about MBK on this blog. MBK is a huge building that's a cross between a mall and a market - a little Walmart-y in places but there are huge areas that are dominated by permanent and semi-permanent stalls. It's a popular place for tourists shopping, but also popular with the teenage/college aged crowd. I spotted a number of kids in Chula uniforms while I wandered around there today, and I actually found the stall I purchased my own uniform at again, a surprising feat if you know the size and scope of MBK. I would go back and take pictures, but it's easier to post the link to MBK's website, according to which there is a bowling alley on the seventh floor of MBK. I didn't see that, but I did find a largish arcade. Was very tempted to play some Guitar Hero, but restrained myself (plus it wasn't actually Guitar Hero, it was some knockoff game).

Then tonight, Charnice and I went to eat at Yellow Tables. I don't think that's the actual name of the place - I don't think it even has a name - but that's what we call it. It's a hole-in-the-wall restaurant with colored plastic chairs like from a kid's toy set, and yellow plastic table cloths, hence the name. The menu is translated into English, but the clientele is primarily Thai. It's dirt cheap - a plate of pineapple chicken fried rice is 30 baht - and decent food for the price. Also, it's a two minute walk from my apartment, down a back road. All the exchange students in our building are regulars there now, which is how I heard about it in the first place. It's also a fun place to play spot-the-ladyboy, since it's a bit of a hangout for them (Fun game. The tells are hands, feet, and if they're taller than me after correcting for heels).

Busy class days tomorrow and Friday, but we're planning a temple trip on Saturday, before the big football game between Chula and Tammasat University (played in the National Stadium). Should be fun to see. I'm not sure which it's soccer or rugby, though. They call it football...but I've heard soccer called soccer here, and one of the other exchange students we saw at Yellow Tables tonight told me he heard it was actually rugby. So, it's some sporting event - I'll find out which when I get there.

Second Update Today

2009-01-25T15:53:00.002+07:00

(scroll down if you missed the Thai Elvis impersonator.)

Just got a Thai massage at the place down the street. It was interesting. I've heard Thai massage is like assisted yoga, but I'd characterize it more as Brazilian Ju-jitsu for the really lazy. That's because the masseuse stretches you into positions that feel a lot like grappling submissions, though not enough to hurt. Probably because I made that mental connection, it was hard to relax into it (also, I'm very ticklish, which does not help when being massaged). But it was fun - I could definitely get used to it.

And now to go lie by the pool. Not for fun though - I have homework to do. No day of pure, unadulterated hedonism for me - it's time to be productive.

Alum Party

2009-01-25T12:10:00.003+07:00

Not terribly much interesting going on right now, but a funny thing happened on Friday night.

All day on Friday, we saw tables and chairs and a stage being set up in the courtyard between the engineering buildings. We asked the Thai students, who told us that it was for a party for the engineering alumni. Current students weren't invited. But, when we were leaving the engineering building at 6 to go home, the director of the International School, who we had met during our orientation, comes up to us (me, Charnice, and Vincent), and hands us all these pink tickets to go get food and tells us to come sit as his table. So, we ended up sitting with a bunch of alums from '66 (though they use the Thai years, so from 2509 instead of 1966). The director keeps giving us more food tickets, and at varying points during the evening brings us a pitcher of beer and two bottles of wine, much to the French guy's delight.

(A side note on alcohol laws here: the drinking age is 20, so I'm barely legal. Yet I've only gotten asked for ID once, and same for all the others here who are about the same age. It's really interesting, especially considering the government was considering raising the drinking age to 25 - and in fact, it was only recently raised to 20 from 18 - but the Thais just don't seem to care about strictly enforcing the liquor laws regarding age. However, alcohol can only be sold in stores between certain hours of the day, with no exceptions. Different priorities, I suppose).

Anyway, after some long speeches and paying respect to the senior professors and the king's representative (I'm sure I messed it up - etiquette here is hard - but no one seemed to care), the entertainment came on. It was, I kid you not - a Thai Elvis impersonator. Yes, it was as hilarious as it sounds.

All in all an entertaining night, though I got drawn into one conversation that struck me. I'm up getting food, and this alum turns to me and asks if I'm American. I say yes, and he tells me he's a permanent resident in the US, just back in Thailand for the holidays. He graduated with an electrical engineering degree from Chula, got his masters at some university in the US (I'd never heard of it, but he said it's in Missouri), and now he's living in NYC working as a waiter and trying to find an engineering job. Just seemed a shame to me.

Double Post, because this doesn't fit with the travel tale - scroll down for Ko Chang

2009-01-20T20:58:00.001+07:00

I had originally planned to keep political stuff out of this blog and make it solely a description of my travels, but a conversation today made me break that rule.

Tonight (for us), is the inaugural address of Barack Obama. Because we get CNN, we are watching it here - the pre-address coverage is playing behind me as I write this. Charnice and I were talking about it while we walked to class this afternoon with Vincent, discussing how we planned to stay in tonight to watch it. I turned to Vincent and mentioned that he was welcome to join us, but since he's French he probably had no interest in it. He shrugged and said that even though he isn't American, it still affects him because the president of the United States is the "president of the world."

I've heard similar sentiments expressed within the United States, but I always dismissed them as cultural arrogance, Americans thinking that we are so much more powerful than everyone else. I always assumed there was a little truth to it, but that a phrase like "president of the world" was a gross exaggeration. And it's easy, being here in Thailand, which is a European haven rather than an American one, to think that America doesn't have all the influence we think it does. But to hear from a foreigner that yes, the USA really is viewed as the main player in the world, gives me pause. It makes me realize just how much power our country does have.

I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing, and a debate on that is beyond the scope of this blog. But it was just one of those moments that struck me as...relevant.

Ko Chang

2009-01-20T20:02:00.002+07:00

We left Bangkok at 7:30 am on Thursday morning. The bus ride was long - 5 hours, including a fifteen minute rest stop. I slept most of the way, since the previous night I'd gone with a bunch of people to check out the Sky Bar, which is exactly what it sounds like - a rooftop bar/restaurant with amazing views of the Bangkok skyline. Really swank place; apparently there are several bars/clubs/restaurants like this around Bangkok. I would have taken pictures, but my camera does not function very well - or rather, at all - at night.

edit: I found some pictures Geraud took from the Sky Bar on facebook: here's one of them. So beautiful from up there...

We arrived in Trat around noon. I should clarify who "we" are - me, Charnice, the three French engineering students, and seven other French students, some of whom were business exchange students and some of whom were visiting those exchange students. They were all nice, but spent most of the time conversing in French, which I don't understand (yet - I have a feeling I'll speak better French than Thai by the time I leave here).

Upon arriving in Trat, we took a half hour ferry ride to get to the island of Ko Chang. It was beautiful - a jungly beach island close to Cambodia. (Incidentally, there is now a map obejct at the bottom of this blog. If you click on it, you can get to a screen that allows you to zoom in. I've marked Ko Chang on there. I'll keep it updated with everywhere I go).

Upon arriving in Ko Chang, we schlepped around for awhile, looking for a place to stay. We ultimately settled on KP Huts, a collection of bungalos on the beach. Not air conditioned, and barely more than a room that just fit a large bed, but there was a toilet and a shower with running water, and the rent when split four ways worked out to $6 per night. Not at all bad. The first night it was just Charnice and myself, and we were glad for the lack of air conditioning - it gets COLD at night there. Subsequent nights we shared with a Swedish business student, Natalie, and a girl from the Netherlands, Joyce. Both very cool girls.

We spent the first day on the beach, which was phenomenally beautiful, though not very expansive - only about six feet to the waterline at high tide. The water was really shallow - you could wade out at least a hundred feet and still only be up to your chest in the water. There were coconut trees, too - the guys decided to knock a coconut down, then proceeded to crack it open so we could eat it. It was rather good, too.

The next day, we went to ride elephants and look at the waterfalls. To do so, we rented motorbikes. This is actually not nearly as dangerous as it sounds, provided you're riding behind someone who actually knows how to drive one. Some of the people who opted to drive had never tried before - I stayed away from them, and rode with two of the guys who knew what they were doing. Quite exhilarating.

It turned out that the waterfalls were not nearly as exciting as we had been led to believe, as it's the dry season and nothing is feeding them. The park was still very beautiful, and we walked along the stagnant stream aways. We were up in the foothills of the mountains, which were so breathtaking. We came across a group of trekkers who had climbed over the mountain we were at the base of, and were going over the next one that afternoon. It made me realize that I really want to do some serious hiking while I'm here. I'll probably start planning a day trip to the biggest national park in Thailand for sometime in early April - it's fairly close, only two hours' bus ride from Bangkok, and would make a good weekend excursion.

After the waterfall expedition, we rode the elephants. This was completely different from the time I rode elephants before. For one thing, it was through dense jungle, up and down steep trails that I thought were just wide enough for a person. Elephants are very sure-footed, as I discovered. For another, although we started by riding in the carriage on top of the elephant's back, the mahout who was driving the elephant dismounted about ten minutes into the trek, turned to Charnice and I in the carriage, and asked us if we wanted to ride on the elephant's neck like the mahout do.

So we did. The way you do it is, you sit straddling the elephant's neck, and brace your hands against its head. It feels very weird, a little off balance, and definitely like you're going to fall off. But it was really, really cool - I would advise anyone else going to Thailand who would like to ride an elephant to avoid the elephant zoos and touristy locations around Bangkok, but instead go to the outskirts of the country - Ko Chang, Chaing Mai, places like that with real jungle - and ride elephants there. It's cheaper, it's more authentic, and it's much more fun.

The next day we spent a lot of time lazing on the beach. I went for a long walk, trying to walk really far up the island, but got trapped by a lagoon half a mile from our huts. Exciting walk nonetheless. That day a couple people had rented kayaks to go to the islands off shore - one kayak kept going to the other islands while the second kayak came back in the early afternoon. Three of us borrowed that kayak and rowed out a little way into the ocean. We were intending to go to the islands, but halfway there we realized that the three of us - me, Charnice, and a French girl named Fanne - weren't strong enough to make it easily, and we decided to turn back. Probably a wise decision, since we had managed to overturn the kayak once already (in only two feet of water, but still). We then lay on the beach into the evening, watching the sun set over the ocean.

That night we all stayed out late dancing (we stayed out pretty late all three nights, actually - it's definitely an island for the young backpacker crowd, which translates to wild parties every night somewhere on the beach). The next day we woke up late, walked on the beach a bit, then had to leave to catch the ferry and the bus back to Bangkok. We got in around ten at night, all exhausted. Quite a fun time, though next holiday I think I'll go somewhere closer to Bangkok. That much travelling detracts from the fun.

One other thing I found awesome - there were swings EVERYWHERE on this beach - swings from palm trees which swung out over the water, swings built by the resort, tire swings - every hundred feet or so. I had a lot of fun with that.

Ko Chang

2009-01-18T22:12:00.000+07:00

I am back from Ko Chang, and very, very tired. Five hours on a bus is no picnic.

A full length and in depth post will follow very soon, when I get all the pictures from the other people who went (did not get nearly enough on my own camera), but I'll give you a little teaser. In Thai, 'Ko' means island, and 'Chang' means elephant. Which makes Ko Chang elephant island. Consequently, I once again rode an elephant, but this time, with a twist.

Stay tuned!

2009-01-15T06:38:00.001+07:00

Going to Ko Chang until Sunday night. I shall return with many pictures. Also, it's way too early in the morning right now >.<

Lumpini Park

2009-01-12T19:22:00.000+07:00

Today, we finally got the registration done for Chulalongkorn. That was such a runaround (I'd use a much stronger word beginning in 'cluster-' but this is a family friendly blog). But, finally.

Then Charnice and I took a walk down this elevated walkway that runs between two Skytrain stations (Siam and Chitlom, which will mean nothing to anyone except my mom). It was quite nice. We passed the Royal Thai Police Headquarters, and a couple shrines - one of which is a large one to Brahma, because apparently Buddism came from Brahmism.

When the walkway ended, we turned downtown and walked to Lumpini Park. We went to a free concert there last night with Professor Kennedy and his wife by the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra. There were some beautiful Thai pieces they played, in addition to Western classical music. So we walked back there today, and strolled around the park. It's arranged around a lake with an island in the middle (called Floating Island, fairly obviously), that can be reached by bridge.

We were walking around the island when we saw a huge lizard - 3 feet snout to tail - strolling along in the grass. Charnice and I froze, wondering if it had gotten out of a zoo somewhere, or what. But no one around seemed at all worried, so we followed it and took pictures. This brought us to the other side of the island, where we found four more of these things. It was quite exciting.

Something that I have noticed, from walking around and talking to the other exchange students here: Thailand is a very common destination for Europeans. According to one Swedish girl, almost everyone in Sweden goes to Thailand at some point, either on a family vacation or for backpacking. There are French people everywhere - in fact, the Thai word for foreigner is farang, which I believe comes from their word for French, farang-set. English accents abound. But, not so many Americans. I'm struck again and again how, despite Thailand's biggest industry being tourism, and despite the attempts I see everywhere to make it more appealing to Westerners, it still is really foreign.

edit: A google search has convinced me that the lizards were Asian water monitors. They're aggressive and will eat young crocodiles. And they're adorable.

Grocery Shopping in Thailand

2009-01-10T15:41:00.000+07:00

Today, Charnice and I went to the Gourmet Market at Siam Paragon to get some groceries. It was interesting to me to see how fruit that is so common in the US - in fact, fruit I was getting for free by working at an orchard - is so expensive here. Apples, peaches, and nectarines are in the range of $3 each. Meanwhile, fruits that would command a high price in the US, like Starfruit, or are completely unfindable, like Dragonfruit, can be had for less than a dollar per pound here. (This, by the way, is a dragonfruit). It of course makes sense, foods that can be grown locally are much cheaper than those that need to be imported, but it was interesting to me to see it in action.

Another thing that is fantastic is the selection of rice here. You can buy it in huge, multi-kilo bags, or you can go to the gourmet section and buy interesting and colorful rices by the scoop. I got blue, yellow, purple, black, and red-brown rice to try.

I also got myself a tray of spring rolls for lunch. It came with a big brown tub of sauce. Apprenhensive of how spicy it would be, I gingerly tasted a tiny bit - and found it sweet, not spicy. Then, I found a little pouch with a red paste in it. Naturally, I tasted that too. Then I drank a whole glass of pomegranate juice in one gulp because my tongue was on fire.

Moral of this story? When in Thailand, don't taste things that come in small pouches.

Vacation Time!

2009-01-09T19:46:00.000+07:00

My first week of classes just ended, which means (naturally) it's time for a week of vacation.

Figured out what my class schedule will be, definitely:
Monday, 1-4, Statistical Thermodynamics (the class that still hasn't met yet).
Tuesday: 2:30-5:30, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis
Wednesday: Free
Thursday: 10-12, Muay Thai, 1-4, Failure Mode
Friday: 8:30-11:30, Statistics and Probability, 1-6, CAD/CAM/CAE

For the rest of January, I also have a basic Thai language class from 4-6 Mon-Thurs, and the Failure Mode class ends at the end of February. This is a pretty sweet schedule, I have to say.

Statistics and Probability is pathetically easy. I feel like I'm in high school again, sitting there in class working ahead in the textbook while the professor goes over the same principles over and over again. I would be tempted to blow off the class entirely, since it's 8:30 am on Friday, but the professor grades such that as long as you show up to every class and aren't disruptive, you get an automatic C. Which is all I need since it's pass/fail. Win.

Tonight, sauteed some vegetables and made some rice for dinner, split with Chelsea and Charnice. Chelsea then made some more vegetables in an interesting sauce - I have GOT to try her way of cooking, which is essentially throw ingredients together and hope something delicious comes out of it.

This weekend, planning to go grocery shopping, explore Bangkok, and possibly get a massage. That would be fantastic.

I'll post some more pictures this weekend.

Interesting

2009-01-07T19:30:00.000+07:00

So the five of us exchange students are taking a Thai class (i.e. a learn to speak Thai class) and we learned today that mai means no, or not. Actually, it also marks a question, means new, and a few other things. I'm not sure which meaning is intended in the drink name, but the drink Mai Thai might then mean "Not Thai."

In other news, the Dynamics and Vibrations class is terrible. I'm taking computer aided design with the French guy instead.

First Classes

2009-01-06T17:57:00.000+07:00

Monday was the orientation, at which we - Charnice and I - met the other three exchange students here this term: three French guys, two from Toulousse and one from Paris. All three are quite nice and funny, and we've ended up hanging out with them a lot. Because of this, I've gotten very good at English to English translation - that is, translating English with a heavy Thai accent or with a heavy French accent for the other party. It was a heretofore undiscovered talent.

My tentative class schedule is: Statistical Thermodynamics on Monday, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis on Tuesday and Thursday, Dynamics and Vibrations on Wednesday and Friday, Muay Thai on Thursday, and Statistics Friday morning. My schedule means I don't have any classes before 1 pm on Monday through Wednesday, and only one 8:30 am day, Friday. Still awaiting word on how everything will transfer though, which could affect course choice.

I've only had one class so far, Failure Mode, since Thermo on Monday was cancelled. I think it'll be an interesting class, although the professor, an American from University of Connecticut, is not a very good lecturer. He mumbles a lot, to the eternal frustration of the French guy in that class. Furthermore, the Thai students all talk during class and don't pay attention. Cultural difference I guess, though the professors I've spoken to expressed frustration with that.

Am now at my apartment, attempting to make something with my new rice cooker for the first time. Sticky rice, take one. We'll see how it goes.

Last Day of Vacation

2009-01-04T23:44:00.000+07:00

Classes start tomorrow. Or at least, I will have an orientation tomorrow, quite likely followed by a class, depending on what my schedule ends up being. I shall post sometime tomorrow or the next day once my schedule is finalized.

Picture Post!

2009-01-03T21:04:00.000+07:00

Here is the long awaited (well, by some anyway) picture post.

Today, Mom and I went to the Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo, half hour from Bangkok, through a tour we set up through the hotel. It was an elephant show, in which elephants did cool things like play soccer and get up on their hind legs.

Then there was a crocodile show, where some guys poked crocodiles and stuck their heads in their mouths. Meanwhile all the crocodiles wanted to do was lie in the water and sleep. Poor things. (Interesting crocodile fact: they will often lie in the sun with their mouths open to cool off, like these. They look like statues, or like they're dead, but we saw them move. Definitely alive, just sleepy).

There were elephants walking around the grounds (small ones, closely watched by trainers) who we could pet, including a very young baby elephant (3 months old). It was adorable.

There were also some tigers that people could have their pictures taken with. They were chained down, and I felt sorry for them. They did not seem especially ill-treated, but their cages were probably too small for them, which made me sad. I like the set up at Six Flags better, where they have large open air cages with grass and ponds. I've read there is a tiger sanctuary fairly nearby that has better conditions for the animals. I'd like to go there before I leave.

Finally, Mom and I rode an elephant.

Internet Status

2009-01-02T22:33:00.000+07:00

We have four people in the apartment sharing one ethernet line, and the internet is a little slow. This is unfortunate. We are going to try to set up an access point so we can all use the internet at once, which will make it even slower (joy). BUT - I have internet.

As for the touristy things we've been doing in Bangkok:
This evening Mom and I went to the Night Bazaar, a huge open air market that's only open at night. It was quite fun. I got myself a Thai silk scarf, which I bartered down from 250 Baht to 150 Baht (and still probably overpaid by 50 Baht but whatever). Then we rode a tuk tuk back, which was exhilarating and terrifying.

Now, heading to some other students' apartment in the building to meet them and socialize. Hurray for having outgoing roommates.

New Apartment!

2009-01-01T17:35:00.000+07:00

Today I'm moving into my new apartment. It's pretty nice, centrally located, and has a pool and fitness center. Downside, the internet looks to be pretty crappy. We'll see how it turns out.

Met the two roommates I don't know, C. and J. from Florida. Both nice women in a graduate program. Other engineering student gets in tonight at midnight.

Updates will be more frequent once the internet is figured out at our apartment, but in the meantime here's some intriguing information for the crush group: remember that movie Ong-Bak? Well, an Ong-Bak 2 came out recently. Oh yeah. I will totally see it while I'm here. X-D.

First 24 hours in Bangkok

2008-12-30T08:02:00.000+07:00

It's hot and crowded and noisy. And fun!

Right now it's 8:00 am on Tuesday morning. Got in Sunday night and went right to sleep. Yesterday we went to Chulalongkorn and saw the engineering school. The campus is nice, set back a bit from the rest of the city so it's quieter. Everyone is walking around in uniforms - which are quite spiffy.

We then went and got my cellphone here. The phone number is 08-2345-9379, with whatever country code comes before it, in case anyone wants to give me a call. Also, if anyone would like a postcard email me your address and I'll send you one.

Short posts for now because of limited and expensive hotel internet (the hotel, Siam City Bangkok, is swank. I'll have to take pictures of the swimming pool and post them soon as I can).

Today, we're going to see the Grand Palace, temple of the Emerald Buddha, and any other wats we feel like going to. More posts to follow.

T minus Four Days

2008-12-24T06:18:00.000+07:00

I have my visa, I got all my shots, I've actually started packing -
I'm leaving Saturday morning for Thailand. It's actually happening.

Fairly frequent updates will commence when I get over there.