Thailand - Day 15

Day 15
I sit here at home, dreading the finale of my entries of our Thailand (and Cambodia) trip. My traveling buddies share the same grief. It's like our trip is ending all over again. I've put it off for as long as I could. Some things we've done there have already escaped my memory, so it's best I do this now.

(Boy, is that a dramatic enough opening? Hahaha!)

Our flight was at 5 something, so we had several hours before departing for the airport. After we finished packing, Mae tearfully said goodbye to her lovely bouquet. Okay, maybe not tearfully, but she was utterly disappointed that she couldn't bring this thoughtful token of our friendship and her ##nd birthday back home. She snipped off a single rose and gingerly placed it in a side pocket of her backpack. The rest of the bouquet was left for housekeeping.

On this day, we decided to take our "same same" t-shirt pictures. Throughout the trip, we had joked and had many interesting discussions about the terms "same same but different." We found this phrase so intriguing and unique that all of us purchased a shirt in different colors with the words "same same" emblazoned on the front and "but different" on the back. I guess this was "our" thing. Haha. It's funny how a phrase like that could hold so much meaning and be the root of so many memories.

After a few indecent photos, our group split up again. Tommy and Eric decided to get a final massage while the rest of us made a trip back to JJ Market for some more shopping. This was a Sunday, a very busy day at the market. The anticipated crowds in my mind did not match what we encountered. It was a madhouse! We agreed to meet at 2pm by a designated area. I just remember the #18 on one of the buildings. Everything else looked pretty much the same. Little shops everywhere you turn! Victor and I stuck together and decided to stay in the less confusing outdoor area. It was basically just a big loop. We bought little souvenirs here and there, and as expected, I bought myself a crapload of clothes. Not quite a crapload, but a few articles. Heh heh... We also tried some foods. Not feeling as paranoid as when we first arrived, we bought some skewers of meat drenched in a sauce (not very good) and also tried a lychee slushy (could've blended in a few more lychees). So we finally met up at 2:15, 15 minutes later than planned because Victor and I were waiting at the wrong place! Ugh! >=( We rushed back to the hotel, trying to make our 3 o'clock agreed time to return, and guess what?! We were right on time! Pretty amazing. Heehee.

We made a last trip to the new Bangkok airport. This would be our sixth time coming here. This is a new airport, opened in 2007, I think. The style of architecture looks very futuristic with long corridors and carefully manicured courtyards outside.


There isn't too much else to say... We boarded our plane to Taipei, Taiwan, had a very short layover, then boarded our plane to SFO. Victor was able to sit next to me on both flights so we kept each other company. My plan was not to sleep so that I could adapt to pacific time immediately. Once the lights in the plane were turned off and Victor started dozing, my eyelids grew heavy too. Well, that's on the second flight. While our whole group slept, Mae wrote each of us letters, reminiscing about the trip and such. It was really thoughtful and touching. =) What wasn't thoughtful and touching was when Tommy whacked me on the head. I got him back though. Hahaha.

By the time we passed customs, all of our rides were already there. Giselle and Tommy split first. Victor's sister came to pick him up and we got to meet her. Eric left with him. Mae and I were picked up by Keith. It was only mentioned afterwards that we should have went out to dinner. It wasn't even 7pm yet. I think all of us wanted to hang on for as long as possible. The last two weeks we spent with each other was nothing short of amazing. We all got closer, learned many things about each other. We shared moments with each other that can never be matched, and I hope never forgotten. It was heartbreaking to release something that would inevitably come to an end, but also warmed by knowing that these fond memories will be deeply cherished and remembered as "the best vacation EVER."

Thailand - Day 14

Day 14
Today was Mae's birthday. Must have been nice to spend your birthday on vacation with the coolest people in the world, the coolest being your roommate! Hahaha! NOT kidding!! =D That lucky Mae... Despite it being Mae's birthday, it was also somewhat of a sad day. This was our last full day in Thailand.

This was a Saturday, a day we wanted to spend some time at the JJ Market, probably the largest outdoor market in the world. Before going, Mae and Giselle wanted to go back to Chinatown to buy their gold. They weren't able to buy it the previous day because they needed their passport numbers. While those two went to Chinatown, the boys and I got lunch and got Mae a little present. They decided to get her some flowers. I thought that was so sweet. Never occurred to me to get someone flowers for their birthday! Anyway, they left it up to me to choose the arrangement. Uh... this proved to be more stressful than it looked. I had no idea what looked good with what. Anyway, we ended getting a dozen red roses with these orange orchids. She arranged it so beautifully! Even the wrapping was so nice!


When we got back to the hotel, it was already 2pm, the time they were supposed to be back by. I left the flowers on her bed and quickly jotted a note for her, quick and dirty, afraid she would open the door finding me hunched over her bed writing something. I hid in the boys' room, eagerly waiting for her return. I think they finally got back at 3pm. (This tardiness was anticipated for traffic in Chinatown was pretty gruesome.) Giselle came into the boys' room, and I asked her where Mae was. Mae was in her (Giselle's) room. "Tell her to go to our room!" I whispered. She went to Mae and asked to borrow something. Tommy decided to come along because he had actually never seen our room before. I wanted to come because I didn't have my key? And the boys just tagged along. So all six of us made the little trip down the hall to our room. Mae opened the door and went straight to the table that had the repellent Giselle wanted to "borrow." I saw her head shift slightly, noticing the flowers on her bed. All of stood there, waiting for some sort of reaction. She did a double-take and curiously walked towards the bouquet. At the moment, she was thinking, "Wow! This hotel is so nice! They even give you flowers! Wait, it's only my bed... And wait... There's a note!" She proceeded to reading the note and we saw a huge smile spread from ear to ear. She started screaming and jumping with joy and gave a round of big, warm hugs for each of us. I've never seen her so happy. It was great.


Okay, back to business! The plan was to make a quick stop at JJ Market. Not much time to wander around because we had purchased tickets for a Muay Thai match for later that evening. Man. This place was H-U-G-E. I am so surprised that none of us took pictures of this place. Maybe I can paint a little picture for you. Imagine a street lined with little shops with really narrow aisles full of merchandise, some only about 5 ft. wide and 10 ft. long, separated by thin sheets of tin. Now add hundreds of people walking down the main road. Now multiply this by a few thousand. Yeah, thousand. The outdoor part of this market wasn't too bad. There was more space to walk around. But the inside was very tight and stuffy. People can easily feel claustrophobic inside. And getting lost? Count on it! I'm surprised I made it back to our meeting place in time. (Well, I got the times mixed up so was actually a little late, but in my mind, I was right on time! Hahaha!!) They sell everything here, from clothes to plants to live animals to just everything.

After the hour of shopping, Mae took all of our stuff back to the hotel and we immediately made our way to the stadium. (Mae decided not to go. She's not a fan of brutal sports.) The fights were cool. All liquids had to be in cups so that no one chucks bottles at the fighters. The contestants of the first were young! Must have been in their early teens! The really good fights must have been the 8:30 show, because barely any locals showed up for this. Oh yeah! It sucked because us foreigners HAD to buy VIP tickets! These tickets were around $60 each! You get ringside seats and get to take pictures with the fighters. Oooh, big deal. Well, okay, here's a pic of us with a victor.

After the fight, we went back and took our dandy time getting ready for dinner. By the time we all made it down to the lobby, most restaurants were closed or were closing. The concierge suggested one restaurant whose kitchen closes rather late. Heck. We'll take anything at this point.

I am usually hesitant and weary of suggestions made by any hotel staff. They are usually touristy and bad. This was quite an exception though. The decor was modern and romantic. Our table settings had a water lily theme. So pretty. Even the presentation of the fru-fru drinks were pretty! I've never seen such long straws! And the fusion of Thai and French cuisine was... wow. Very delicious. It was such a lovely meal. Perfect as Mae's birthday dinner and our last dinner in Thailand.


Partying hard was the last item on our agenda for the evening. By the time were done with dinner though, it was already 1am. We got a taxi that took us to Route 66, a bar that is hugely popular with DJs spinning hip-hop and R&B. Problem was that they close at 2 as do most bars and clubs. Our driver convinced us that it's already so late. He can show us another club that closes at 6am. Though all of us really wanted to check out Route 66, we realized it was late so we agreed for him to take us to this other club called Spicy.

The consequences of our early mornings and late nights were creeping up on us. All of us started nodding off. All but Mae and Giselle. I could hear nervous whispers from Giselle. "Where are we going?" "Where is he taking us?" The driver made a phone call during the ride. We picked up that he was getting directions. I assumed he was getting directions to the club, but Mae and Giselle were afraid they were directions to... our doom. When he finally pulled to a stop, I looked around. There's supposed to be a happening club here? It looked like a small business area, maybe even residential? A few local men were walking in our direction. I didn't see any club goers in sight. I didn't hear any faint sound of pumping music. I desperately looked for a foreigner, but nope, none that I could see. We asked our driver, "Where is the club?" "Inside," he said pointing his finger toward the building we stopped at. There was a courtyard, and people were walking in. All of us slowly reluctantly got out of the car, still nervously scanning our surroundings. Where the heck is this place? Are we gonna get screwed? I caught sight of a redhead. Aha! Foreigner! Seeing him walk into the courtyard made me feel so much better. The taxi driver told us to go check it out. He would wait for us in case we didn't like the place.

So we followed the sparse crowd through the courtyard and into a building. There was a man collecting cover at a counter. Don't remember the exact amount, but I remember thinking it was sort of expensive. We peeked into the club. There weren't many people inside yet. Well, it was only 2am and other clubs were just letting out. We assumed it would be packed in no time. So decided to stay.

I can summarize Spicy in just a few words. No ventilation and raunchy. Prostitutes were EVERYWHERE. There could be a western man standing by a wall, and in just a couple of minutes, a girl (or boy, you never know) would be all over him. It was insane. And there was this one girl who was dancing like she was simulating sex, and my friends said she had a cameltoe! Hahahaha!!! I tried looking, but it was too dark. Heehee... Something else I noticed was that many of the women don't wash their hands after using the restroom. As I was waiting for an empty stall, I noticed a couple of girls who walked right out the door from the stall. Hm. Maybe they just had to readjust some clothing. But then I noticed that maybe 1 out of 10 would wash their hands! Eww!! So back on the dancing area, the smoke was so bad, my eyes started watering. It looked like I was dancing in pain. None of us enjoyed this place much, so decided to leave. Wasn't too early, but definitely not close to 6am. That was a pity. We had planned on going crazy that night, but that didn't happen. It felt like we were leaving with a lingering desire to do that ONE thing. Oh well... =(

We got a taxi and headed back to our hotel. It was probably around 4am by then. We hung out in the boys' room again, complaining about how horrible the club was. As we recounted certain moments of our trip, Victor unknowingly fell asleep. The first person to fall asleep tonight was going to regret it. This was a nonverbal understanding amongst the group. As I stealthfully grabbed a wooden replica of a male's penis that Victor had purchased for his brother earlier in the day, let's just call it a "replica" for now, Eric and Tommy reached for their cameras. With stifled giggles, we put the replica in suggestive positions while snapping away with our cameras. All I have to say is "poor Victor."


In this picture, you can see Mae suppressing her laughs with her hands and Eric taking a close-up shot of the replica. =)


Victor finally woke up when we started taking photos with it in his hand. He didn't even know that he had fallen asleep. One moment, he was blinking. The next moment, he was fast asleep. Yeah, we were all pretty tired. But all of us knew better than to shut our eyes for more than a split second. The night ended shortly after that. Giselle and Tommy retired first to their room. Mae and I hung out with Victor and Eric for a little while longer. We could tell they were struggling to stay awake, so we bid them good night as well. Before leaving though, I gave them each a very big hug. It was our last night together, and I missed them already. Back in our room, Mae cooed over her bouquet while we both packed and chatted about everything. It would have been nice to have an all-nighter with the group, but it had been a long day. Heck. It had been a long two weeks! After we finished packing and taking a quick shower to wash off that horrible cigarette smell on our skin, we retired in our comfortable beds. I slept so well that night. I don't think I moved.

Thailand - Day 13

Day 13
Hahaha... This day was a very interesting day. It started with a tour of parts of the old city by boat down the Chao Phraya River. The tour itself was alright, however, we were unable to hear the tour guide through the loudspeaker so did not learn anything. We stopped by a snake farm where we saw masters of the serpents handle these snakes, some poisonous, with their bare hands. One of the snakes jumped out of one guy's hands and jumped towards us! That gave us a little scare. While we were waiting for the rest of the tourists to get back onto the boat, a boat merchant came up alongside our boat and sold coconut ice cream. Giselle treated us out to a few cups. It was a nice treat amid the rather uneventful day... so far.


We met up with our tour guide for the day at the pier, and he took us to a government approved tailor. There, the boys bought two suits each and Giselle and I bought some ties. After purchasing all of this stuff we had not originally planned on buying, he then brought us to a government approved jewelry store. Though the sparkly items sitting under the recessed lighting were practically calling us, none of us bought anything. I didn't like the fact that we were taken to these stores. We didn't ask him to. He just brought us there. Didn't occur to me at the time that we should say "no, thank you." It just seemed like we were suckered into it, even though we're happy with our purchases.

After being taken to these government approved places, we asked to be driven to a Skytrain station. Our goal was to see the reclining buddha in Wat Pho. Oh what a journey this was. We entered Chinatown. Chinatown was like every other Chinatown I've ever been to - compacted and polluted. The streets were lined with little shops selling everything you can think of. Gold merchants could be found in every direction. The sidewalks were also lined with people selling Chinese New Year accessories, lottery tickets, tourist items, and a lot of food. I found a stand selling durian. I've never tried fresh durian and having heard so much about fresh durian, I bought one. The guy cut it up for me and wrapped up each piece. I thought that was pretty coool. But the durian sure was expensive! I decided to eat this later. The streets were crowded, and the idea of eating it after being chilled in a fridge for a little while sounded good. Heh heh. That wasn't such a good idea. Will explain later. While waiting for G and Mae as they were looking at the gold, Victor and I had a little time to explore. We squeezed through narrow aisles looking at all the strange foods they were selling. We came upon dehydrated bale fruit, something Mae really wanted to get. I bought a kilogram. One kilogram ended up being a huge bag!


Oops. Forgot to mention that we had dim sum for lunch. That was so good and a nice change from all the thai food I've been having. I haven't had anything but thai until then. And it also felt good to speak Chinese, a language that was fully understood by our waiter. Up until then, we had spoken nothing but broken English to everyone. Their dim sum menu offered so much we've never tried before. My favorite was the one with the preserved duck egg. Our table was buried with bamboo steamer baskets. We found it sort of funny. These baskets didn't stay on our table for long. We literally devoured everything. This pic only shows a portion of what we ate. =)


Okay. So all of us regrouped and continued walking. We walked. And we walked. The distance on the map didn't look very far, but it sure was! Ugh. My feet were really hurting by now. Flip flops offer zero arch support. We stopped at a little shopping center that sold really cool foods, but before seeing all this cool stuff, we bought some Dairy Queen ice cream. Man. Wasted opportunity to try something neat. At this point, I really wanted to just take a taxi or tuk-tuk there. Oh yeah, ready to cry as well. My feet and legs screamed for mercy with every step. But we continued walking. Luckily, we finally met our destination soon afterwards.

We got there after 5pm. I'm sure we had to pay, but we just went in. No one asked us to pay. Maybe we went through a side entrance? At this time, the crowds were gone. There were just a few people milling around, so it was a nice change from the congestion of chinatown. Wat Pho was beautiful. The detailing on each of the structures was incredible. The reclining buddha was huge and beautiful. Half of our group peeked into a temple where a group of monks were meditating. My friends found it so peaceful that even they fell into a trance. They said it was an awesome experience.


We were all tired from walking so decided to head back to the hotel via Skytrain/subway. It felt so good to finally sit down and relax my tired feet. As I was revelling in the moment of relaxation, a station attendant walked by, abruptly stopped in front of me and asked, "Durian?" Oh shoot. I read somewhere that durian isn't allowed in many places because of the smell. "Yes, durian," I said meekly. She proceeded to saying something like "durian smelly" and gestured towards the door. "Can I put it inside a backpack?" miming putting my bag of aromatic durian in the bag. "No. Smelly." There was nothing I could do, so I got up to leave the train. Everyone else got out too. I urged them to get back on. There's no point in ALL of us taking another form of transportation back. Victor decided to stay with me, and everyone else reluctantly continued on their way.

Okay. What to do? The most appealing alternative was to take a taxi all the way back to the hotel. I really really did not want to walk any more. We got out of the station and walked to a taxi terminal. Got into the taxi and let the driver know that we had durian with us. He said it was okay. We rolled down the window slightly for fresh air. At one point, we rolled it up, but after a few minutes, the driver rolled his window down and said, "Sorry. Stinky." Man. I was just grateful he hadn't kicked us out of his taxi yet. He eventually pulled up in front of a hotel, but it wasn't the Dream Hotel, the place we were staying at. Turns out he thought we said something else, and when we were finally able to locate our hotel on the map, he refused to drive us there due to the traffic. So he let us off at a mall where there was a subway station. We walked through the mall looking for the station entrance and walked by this poster. Had to take a pic!


Before getting into the station, we had to pass through a security check. These checks are rarely ever thorough, but the chance of being refused entrance was still there. By now, the durian was already wrapped in two plastic bags and concealed in a pocket of Victor's messenger bag. It let off a slight stench, but not too noticeable. We hoped the security or anyone for that matter would not pick up any scent. I opened my bag wide for the security guard to peek inside. Victor's turn. He opened up his bag as well. Our hearts were pounding slightly. He received a nod from the guard. Whew! We found our way to the correct line and waited for our train to come. We gave each other nervous and relieved smiles. We weren't out of the clear yet. We had to make it to our destination still. Our train came. Oh no. It was pretty crowded. That means more people will be closer to us. I got in and found a seat. Victor stood next to me in the corner near the door. As the train glided along the tracks, I took a quick look at all the people in our proximity. Nope. No one wrinkled their noses or were looking around in disgust. That was a good sign. "Sukhumvit station" the automated train operator announced. Yes! Our stop. We eagerly squeezed passed other passengers and stepped onto the platform, safe territory. Victor and I walked out of that station with a slight bounce to our step. We were so glad we made it back with no additional troubles. Hahaha! But wait! Many hotels don't allow durians on their property either! Another obstacle. There was always a doorman waiting by the door to greet guests, but luckily, he wasn't there! We quickly walked in and rushed to the elevator. Once the elevator doors closed, we both breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Whew! Now we're in the clear!

We stopped by the boys' room first, threw the durian in their fridge, and told Eric of our little adventure. After we all showered, we took off again in search of food. Once again, I was carrying the durian. Why? Because when I opened up the boys' fridge before we left, an explosion of an incredibly horrible smell blasted from the little white bag holding the durian. We had to air the room out. What if we got fined for sneaking durian into the hotel? So that's why the insanely stinky bag of fruit was stuffed inside my purse. As we were walking down the street, I ate a whole piece. Hmm. Yeah, shouldn't have waited so long to eat it. By then, it was already pretty ripe and mushy from the day's heat and being transported for so long. That was too bad. Victor took a little nibble when the guy cut up the fruit, and he said it was actually pretty good. I could only imagine. Sigh...

Dinner was good. Ordered a lemon shake. It was kinda weird.

We only had two nights left in Thailand, and one of my must-do's was to eat bugs. This had to be the night. We walked around the streets of Bangkok. Walked by a bunch of massage parlors with women wearing matching shirts and heels chitchatting outside. Wow. Massage parlors are open so late here! Yeah, I bet tons of people get manis and pedis at two in the morning! Yeah right! We turned down one busy street, and I finally found a street vendor selling trays of bugs! Jackpot! Hmm... What to get... They all looked pretty unappetizing, so I selected a few from his great choices.

When we got back to the hotel, Giselle and Mae decided to rest. Victor and I were eager to try the bugs. Eric would try them if we ate them. We called Tommy over too. This was like a main event. All of the bugs were displayed on a plate. Cameras were snapping from every angle. We even threw in a bottle of Off! (bug repellent) for some humor.

Okay. Time to do some chomping. Which one shall I eat first. I chose what looked the most appetizing. The grasshoppers. I picked up a medium-sized one and popped it into my mouth. I started chewing. Hm! Not bad! I thought it tasted like crackers! It was deep-fried so nice and crunchy. Tommy went next. Then Victor and then Eric. We all eased our nerves with lots of laughs.


Next item on the menu was large ants sauteed in chili peppers and lemongrass. A small bag of fresh leaves were given to wrap up these ants in a roll type fashion. I tore a small leaf off and rolled up some ants in it and threw it into my mouth. Not bad again! The lemongrass flavor was actually overpowering and that was all I could taste. It was pretty spicy too.


Third course of the night were the crickets. These were black and probably deep fried as well. I popped one into my mouth, hoping it would taste like the grasshopper. Nope. It didn't. The shell and legs were crunchy, but the innards were mushy and gross. I can't compare it to anything else I've eaten. Tommy andEric said the aftertaste is like dried shrimp. I dunno. I like dried shrimp, and I certainly did not like the cricket. That was pretty darn nasty.


Okay! Time for the main course! I would be the only participant for this main event for it even scared the boys off. It was a huge water beetle, probably four inches in length. Before buying this beetle, I asked the vendor how to eat this. I tried to ask him if I eat everything including the shell by miming and his response looked like I got it right. Just eat the whole thing. So after taking some photos with this little monster, I stuffed the whole thing in my mouth. I chomped and chomped, but the shell wasn't getting any easier to swallow. A lot of guts and innards exploded onto my tongue, but the shell wasn't giving in. Ugh. The guts were disgusting. It was sort of grainy and cold. I've never tried eating dirt or mud, but that's probably how it tasted. I swallowed a lot of this and tried swallowing some of the skeleton as well, but my mouthful of beetle wasn't lessening. The shell wasn't edible. The guys told me to just spit it out after I complained I couldn't chew it anymore. So I ran to the bathroom and spat out the shell in the trash. I spat whatever I had left into the sink. Seeing the little bits of legs and black muck from the guts made me gag. The boys outside were laughing. They thought I had thrown up. Not only did it look gross, it tasted gross as well. I walked back to the table and started chewing on a grasshopper to wash out that water beetle taste in my mouth. It was nasty! But I was glad I did it.

Simple Pleasure - Cherry Blossoms

I've been so busy since I got back from my wonderful trip to Thailand and Cambodia that I haven't had the time to notice that the cherry blossoms are in bloom! The sightings of these beautiful soft petals is something I look forward to and admire every year. My fondest memory of these trees was when I lived in Milpitas as a child. After school, my sister and I would walk down our street and were just mesmerized by the two rows of huge cherry trees in full bloom before us. Their petals carpeted the floor, and their wonderful aroma wafted through the warm spring air. Sadly, these trees on that street are now gone.

Oh yeah, happy new year, everyone! May the year of the rat bring you much joy, prosperity, and good health!

May I Present... Isabella!

On Friday, February 1, 2008, my sister was admitted to the hospital for the birth of her first child. Two days later, her daughter was finally brought into this beautiful world. Her name is Isabella Ava Poon. To say that she is cute is an extreme understatement. She is now nine days old. She likes to look at people, sometimes with just one eye open. We call it her pirate eyes. She loves to wiggle around. Never seen a baby so active before. She loves to pretend to sleep. And she loves to smile her one-sided smile. She already looks very mischievous but so sweet at the same time. And we all know that she will be a spoiled one. =) I love holding her and staring at her. It never gets boring. I miss her when I don't see her for a day.

I hope this world will be good to you, Isabella. I know that your family will! We love you so much already!

Thailand - Day 12

Day 12
We left Phuket with a heavy heart. On our way to the airport, I stole final glances at the beach and the overwhelming Western influence of the businesses that lined the streets. Our flight to Bangkok was also our very last flight on Bangkok Air, an airline we have all grown to love. They serve meals no matter how short the flight is!

We checked into the Dream Hotel in Sukhumvit. This was a very nice hotel, but their eclectic style in their lobby clashed a little too much. Their rooms were lovely though. The down pillows and comforters were so soft, and the mattress was more shock absorbent than the other hotels. (Mattresses at the other hotels were so hard, I bounced off of one of them!) The carpet was so plush, I didn't want to walk on it with shoes to preserve it! (Is that really Asian of me?) They also had these blue lights installed in every room. Cold and kinky... Hmm....

In Tommy and Giselle's room, there were two of the same images framed facing their bed. They were of a woman staring at them with a very stoic expression and a tear running down her cheek. Why in the world would you put up images like these?! Giselle found them disturbing so chose to take them down and hid them behind the desk. Good decision.

Was this the day I wanted to take a 30 minute nap, but it ended up being 3 hours instead?! And Mae ordered a $20 salad from the restaurant upstairs. At least it was good! Yeah, while they ate and hung by/in the pool, I slept... and slept... and slept.

Again, we went to Siam Square for some shopping in the afternoon. This was our first time on the Skytrain. Their Skytrain is like BART, but it's newer and a lot cleaner! Everybody split up when we got there. The guys went their way, Giselle and Mae stuck together, and I decided to venture out to the little shops instead of staying in the malls, though the malls are very nice and modern, unlike the first one we went to on our first day. I bought SO MUCH stuff. It was fantastic! And all for $60!

The rest of the evening was a blur. I have NO idea what we did. (Hey! Traveling peeps! If you remember, please tell me!)

***Attention readers! The rest of this entry contains material not suitable for youngsters, so read at your own discretion!***

Oh yeah! OMG! How could I have forgotten!! The boys and I went to Patpong!! Since Victor and I missed the ping-pong shows in Phuket, we decided to visit Patpong, the best place to go to see such shows. Patpong is known for their dirty establishments. Okay, so the boys and I take the subway to this neighborhood. (Giselle and Mae decided to go eat and do something else instead. They weren't interested in seeing women do tricks with their vaginas.) To get to the heart of this area, we walked through a street full of hungry, gay men working for bars and other stuff (not really sure what "other stuff" means...) hungry for patrons. Our pace was brisk. We got through there rather quickly. All I can say is WOW. What a strange place.

Now. This is where all the shows happen. And you can tell because right when you step onto this street, men are waving menus at you, saying, "Look for free! No like, no pay!" And these menus aren't drink or food menus. These are menus listing the different "shows" these ladies will put on for you.

So after walking by a few offering their shows, we finally decided to visit one that promised "Look for free! No like, no pay!" All we had to do was buy a drink which was 100 baht (equivalent to about $3). We climbed up a flight of narrow stairs and entered a bar with bar tops in the middle and pleather seats stretched along the walls. We all ordered cokes. One of the strippers nearly begged me to buy her one as well, and since I can't say NO to people, I agreed. She was so thankful. I wonder how many cokes she gets to drink per day... We sat there, watching the women dance on the poles. It's funny. They all dance the same, rotating their hips in a circular motion. And that's it. Now, don't let your imagination go amok. These women cannot be compared to Playboy spreads. The majority of them are either somewhat unattractive, overweight, or old. Sorry to stamp out those delicious thoughts, fellas. =\ The only show-like thing we saw was an overweight gal pulling a string of flowers, an extremely long string of flowers, from her vagina. Shortly after this, a woman, probably the owner or manager, sat down next to Tommy and tallied up our bill. Since we got five cokes, it should have been 500 baht. But no. She said, "2900 baht." "WHAT?! Isn't it 500 baht?!" Tommy asked in shock. She said that we watched the show, therefore, we owe an additional 2400 baht. That was absolutely ridiculous. After some words that were thrown back and forth, we paid the 500 baht and stormed out of there.

Pissed off, we stomped down the street, only to be immediately approached by more men waving menus in front of us. One of the men read the expressions on our faces and was able to translate it correctly so his selling point was the other places are dishonest. At his joint, all you have to pay for are the drinks. The shows are completely free. After a bit of persuading, we gave in and walked into the strip club.

This place had a stage in the middle, about 10'x10'. The girls here weren't as unattractive, but most of them lacked sex appeal. How can you be sexy with your hair tied in a half ponytail and wearing absolutely nothing but socks! It sort of looked like they yanked these girls from a nearby farm... Again, these girls all danced that gyrating dance. In between the dancing were some "shows." I can't really call them shows because some of them were so lame.

The lamest show was a group of four girls walking in circles on the stage wearing long red robes with hoods holding candles. They waved the candles around and really did nothing. It sort of cracked me up because it was so non-entertaining except for the fact that any of their robes could have caught on fire at any moment...

Some of the more interesting things included a girl using her vagina to blow a whistle, honk a bicycle horn, smoke a cigarette, and using one or two straws, a girl picked up little disks and slid them around a coke bottle. That was pretty impressive. After the performance, the same girl, actually the most attractive of the lot, came up to a western man sitting in front of us, slid off her underwear, and started grinding on him. And he was groping her everywhere! OMG! A little distracting... So we waited for a ping-pong show, but it never happened, so we left. Though a little disappointed, I was still glad I got to see all of those talented women perform for us. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this was my first time going to a strip club, well, been to a male strip club before, but that's different. Waaaaaay different.

Oh yeah, cameras weren't allowed in these places, so there are no photos to show! Sorry!

We got back to the hotel and Mae and Giselle weren't back yet! I hung out with the boys for a bit, waiting for Mae to come back. The boys wanted to sleep, so I reluctantly left them for the night. Don't know what time she returned for I was fast asleep in my oh so comfy bed. =)

Thailand - Day 11

Day 11
Though I was really excited for the day to start, it was still pretty hard waking up early... again! For the entirety of the trip, I've averaged about 4-5 hours of sleep per night. I know myself. I need my eight hours. On this particular morning, Mae and I did our usual routine where I would get up first to get ready, and when I was done using the bathroom, she'd get up. This worked out perfectly because I needed the extra time usually.

Our tour guide picked us up at 6:15 and were now on our way to Thaplamu Pier, north of Phuket Island. The ride there was a little uncomfortable due to a bolt or something poking out from the back of my seat. About 1.5 hours later, we arrived at the pier. Here, we were to choose our own mask and fins. We all boarded a speedboat and set out to the islands. The Similan Islands is a national park consisting of nine islands. There are a number of these islands that people are not allowed to step on. Our tour guide even warned us not to get on the rocks. After the tragic tsunami in 2004, Islands 1, 2, and 3 are indefinitely closed to tourists.

As we were on our way to Koh 9, I observed the others on our boat. Most were middle-age Australians or Europeans. There were two other Asians. One of these men kept the strangest facial expression for the entire ride! He let his extreme underbite hang low and furrowed his eyebrows. This gave us many laughs! I tried taking a picture of him, but I didn't want to make it too obvious, so this was the best shot I got...

We visited four islands on this day. On two of the islands, we were dropped off in the water, where we were free to swim as we wish. Just don't get on the rocks, and don't go off too far for the tides will pull you out. One woman didn't heed this advice and was pulled out by the current and thrown against the rocks. She was rescued by our guide and received many cuts and bruises on her whole body. Poor lady.

As for the rest of us, we really enjoyed our snorkeling experiences. Some moments may not have been as enjoyable as some others. For example, being stung by tiny jellyfish numerous times. All of us got stung! At first, I thought something had just pricked me. Didn't think anything of it. But I kept feeling these little stings all over my body. I had not concluded that this pain is inflicted by jellyfishes until hearing the same complaints from my friends. At the third island, while in the water, I saw tiny glowing particles rushing towards me, and the very next second, I felt stings all over my body again! Even though it hurt, it was still pretty cool. At least the jellyfish that stung us were small. Victor and I saw a huge one, around 1.5-2 feet in diameter a few yards away. We swam above beautiful coral with swirly patterns, shockingly bright fish, a couple schools of fish, slithery fish, uh, what else... It was simply lovely being able to explore an underwater world in crystal clear water. Unfortunately, none of us had an underwater camera. Doh!

Our last island was Koh Miang (#4). We hiked through a short stretch of jungle barefoot (I felt like I was in "Apocalypto") to get to Honeymoon Beach. This had similar characteristics to Similan Island, sand so fine and white you can mistake it for granulated sugar and warm, tropical water with excellent visibility. Here, Victor once again held my hand as we snorkeled because I wasn't comfortable in the water and wearing the oversized life jacket wasn't too appealing. (Thanks again, Victor!) I had put on the life jacket at the first stop, and one of the guides saw that my jacket was too big, so he fastened a buckle that went in between my legs. It was like a harness from rock climbing or skydiving. I had a huge wedgie the whole time! So uncomfortable!

Here I am finding a great use for the super fine sand - exfoliating my legs!!

The time spent at Honeymoon Beach felt so short! We had lost track of time and were a little late getting back onto the boat. Tiredness fell upon everyone on our way back to the pier. Everybody napped, including myself. None of us brought back any tokens from these islands except for photos and a sunburn. I got burned pretty badly. I believe the only person who didn't get burned is Giselle. Many of our backs were red. My butt was the color of lobster. Seriously. Even to this day, it may look like I'm wearing underwear, but I'm actually not! Hahahah!! Sorry for the visual. =|

As we were driving back to Patong Beach, we saw such a beautiful sunset. Victor and I rushed to the top floor hoping to catch the last hues of color spanned across the sky before it became too dark.

This was our last night in Phuket. It was truly a sad thought. We tried to book a later flight the following day so that we could take another tour that included ziplining, but the times didn't work out. Before the trip, many of us looked for ziplining opportunities in any of the areas we would visit. Found nothing. We knew why then. They call it cable riding! Aha!

The rest of our evening was so fun. That night, we ate at a pub a few steps from the Mercure. Everybody missed western food so burgers and fries were on the table. Eric and I stuck to Thai curries. Everything was very good! After we stuffed ourselves with calories, we headed to Rock City, a bar with a stage and a really really loud band. They were good, but I found the first band at the Riverside Bar in Chiang Mai to be better. We couldn't take the noise anymore, so switched to outdoor seating. This place was sort of cool because they would have girls walking around offering shots out of syringes and one was dressed as a cowgirl with a holster for her bottles of tequila and shot glasses fastened to her chest straps. Fun idea!

We finished our drinks and headed over to Bangla Road for the last time. Once again, we were mesmerized by the visual trickery on sale before us. The groups of prostitutes could not compare to the lady boys. Funny thing is, we frequently saw westerners with these lady boys. Do they not know that they are men? Or do they just have a strange fetish? I was so curious to find out.

Our destination was the Tiger Discotheque, a club located above a bar. Walking through this bar was already quite an experience. So many prostitutes, lady boys, and whores were trying to coerce the guys to be with them that we had to pretend to be the boys' girlfriends. The entrance to this club was pretty cool. We entered through a tiger's mouth and climbed up a flight of stairs to find a cabana bar and the actual club in another large room. We paid the cover charge, I think $250 baht, received our free drink stubs, and walked into a large room with a long balcony overlooking the dance floor, a lot of tables with dance poles, and more bars. Many good laughs were had with Victor's pole dancing and the boys' attempt to find "original" women to dance with. Didn't look like they hit the jackpot every time though. Hahahahahah!!!!

After some dancing, we felt some tension from some pimps who wanted our stage and pole for their whores, so we left. We strolled down Bangla Road towards the beach for one final visit in Thailand with Tommy and Eric nearly stumbling along. Aaahh... the beach was still so lovely at night. There were just a few people here, a huge contrast from the masses of people who visited during the afternoon hours from a couple of days ago. The sand was now cooler and the water still warm. I walked along the water's edge, allowing as much of myself to get wet as possible. I just felt this draw from the water here. It was so inviting. What an unfamiliar feeling from something I usually fear. We tried taking pictures on the beach, some of them proving that the guys were drunk. I would mark these fleeting moments at Patong Beach to be one of my most memorable. There wasn't a worry in the world. It was just the six of us swimming in pure joy and peace.

After many laughs and wonderful times at the beach, we headed across the street to get back to our hotel. We came upon a crepe stand and decided to get a few. The banana chocolate one was really good! While the crepes were being made, I had to run to the ocean to relieve myself. Victor came with me. Haha. This was a continuation of my "who cares?" attitude. Pee in the ocean? Who cares!! Hahahahaah!!!! All of us continued down the street along the beach, picking at our crepes, and completely in love with the moment. We finally made it back to the hotel. It was pretty late in the night, er, morning... Mae and I finished packing before going to bed. This was such a wonderful conclusion to our stay in Phuket. None of us cared too much for Bangkok. It's too bad we couldn't stay just a couple more days!!