Thailand - Day 2

Day 2
This morning didn't start out too great. We were planning on waking up at 4:30 and be down at the lobby by 5am to check-out. Throughout the night, I kept waking up, wondering if it was time to wake up. I didn't want to be late. Strange. The alarm never sounded. I finally checked the time, and OH MY GOD. It was 5:07. I broke my record time of getting ready. I was done and packed in 8 minutes, and was in the lobby soon afterwards. When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by a man in uniform and a megaphone screaming at everyone in the temporary parking area. Screaming! It was kind of funny. Well, Giselle forgot her backpack in the taxi, so that wasn't great, but it turned out fine. There really wasn't anything too important in there. The flight there was great. We were even served a meal on a one hour flght! (We flew Bangkok Air.) Our first impression of Chiang Mai was great. The weather was much cooler and the town seemed smaller, and in a way, more honest. Hope that makes sense. Anyway, we had an awesome day. It was the first series of "the best day ever."

BTW, the coffee so far has been incredible! What a great surprise!

We checked into our beautiful hotel, Malil...something hotel. (Will fill in later.) During the cab ride to the hotel, our taxi driver offered full-day services to drive us around anywhere in the area for the entire day for 1000 baht. I don't know if that's expensive, but we all agreed it was okay. Our guide for the day was Nong. He took us around to wherever we wished. He suggested many other places he thought that we might like to visit. Our first stop was to see the long neck woman originated from Burma. Nong drove us to (name) where we can see a number of different tribes that live here. This entire setup was really strange. These people were like zoo exhibits almost, but sold things to tourists. They all lived in their own homes, but in front of thier homes, there were signs in Thai, and sometimes in English, saying what tribe they're from. These families are not allowed to leave this area, so it was basically like a refugee camp. I thought that it was really sad that people would have to tolerate living this way. People were constantly peering into their homes, peering at them, and taking random photos of them. And they're supposed to smile and pretend they enjoy these visitors' company. I wouldn't! But that is how they make their money, and it's actually really good money too. So I guess it's a good for both parties.


We were pretty hungry so we were thinking of going to one of the restaurants recommended in my Thailand book. But we ended up going to Nong's favorite restaurant for a delicious bowl of fish ball noodle soup. This would be our first time trying street vendor food, so we were all a tad nervous. We all turned out fine. =) I treated all seven us for this meal (including Nong), and it was only around $6! What a steal.


Nong then drove us to Doi Suthep temple. This was very intricate and beautiful. There are so many Thai customs that we weren't used to so it made us a little uneasy. For instance, when seeing a monk, you're supposed to "wai," but it just didn't feel right doing that, so I ended up giving them nervous smiles and a small nod. Not sure if that was rude. =\


Stopped briefly at a jade factory and saw how they make beautiful jade pendants and sculptures. Sounds boring, but it was actually really cool.

We took a brief break at the hotel, and then proceeded to a cultural show and dinner. This was created for tourists showing us traditional dance and music. It was very enjoyable because of the company I had.

After washing up back at the hotel and buying some booze, we retreated in one of our rooms and played "I Have Never." What a dangerous game. Let's just say we all got to learn things about each other, some things NO ONE knows...

Greetings from Thailand! Day 1

Greetings from Thailand! I will try to recount much of what we've done. It may be a little detailed for some of you, but I don't want to forget anything! Happy reading! Will post pictures when I get back.

Day 1
The flight here wasn't too pleasant. On the first day, we spent approximately 18 hours on the plane. The adventure started on our first day in Bangkok. Bangkok is like many big cities - dirty, polluted, crowded, and overdeveloped. They drive on the different side of the road here and their love for their royalty is amazing! They have billboards and posters of them plastered everywhere! There wasn't much time to explore on our first day, so a few of us hit a mall. It's interesting to see how the malls are like here. They're kind of like megamalls with a huge basement food court and cheap shopping. (The rest of the floors are like any other mall in the US. You can find all the brands that we are familiar with there.) I had my first massage of our trip that night. It was an hour-long foot massage for only a few bucks. It sure was painful (and at some moments, ticklish), but I just kept convincing myself that it was good for me.

When all of our massages were done, the mall was already closed, and concerned that we wouldn't be able to easily find the taxi stand, I asked the receptionist behind the desk "taxi?" She got one of the masseuse to walk us to where a few taxis were waiting for patrons. Luckily, we asked because this place was not easy to find. With our feet all relaxed, we had to follow his brisk pace through several streets and up and down a few flight of stairs. I thought that it was awful nice of him to lead us so far, but he bummed a ride with us. Oh well. At least we got back to our hotel safe and sound. Restaurants were closed already so we decided to eat at the hotel's restaurant. We wanted to try something different, so one of the dishes we ordered was snake head something. Didn't read the rest of what it said, but I bet it would mention fish in there. We were slightly disappointed after taking numerous photos of this dish thinking that we were eating a snake's head, but to find out later that it's just a fish with a snake-like head. Oh well. Fun, nevertheless. Exhausted, we retired for the night at around 11. We had to wake up early the next morninig for our connecting flight to Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

Farewell to a Legend

Wow. Sir Edmund Hillary passed away today at the grand old age of 88. He, along with Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa, were the first known people to summit Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. Well, another legend passes, and some more are realized. Here's to life...


(The above image was borrowed from Rolex's site.)

Catalytic Converter Thief

Check out this article from SFGate:

(01-10) 11:55 SAN LEANDRO - The owner of a San Leandro auto supply business was arrested at his store today on suspicion of trying to purchase stolen catalytic converters from undercover police officers, authorities said.

Police said Christopher Panarra's willingness to buy the converters is directly related to hundreds of vehicle thefts in the Bay Area. Forty of the stolen cars have been recovered and 14 people have been arrested in connection with the thefts, authorities said.

Panarra, 44, who lives in Castro Valley, was arrested this morning at his Albran Court business, Converters West, the California Highway Patrol said.

A 10-month investigation showed that the San Leandro store was a "central delivery and processing location for the stolen converters," CHP Sgt. Les Bishop said in a statement.

Catalytic converters convert pollutants into less harmful emissions before they are released from a vehicle's exhaust system. They contain small amounts of costly precious metals that can be recycled, Bishop said.

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Yes! Someone finally gets caught! I wonder if my converters are lying around in his shop. That horrible bastard! He deserves YEARS in prison not only for stealing from innocent people and supporting crooks, but also harming our precious environment! Okay, my environment obsession may be overkill sometimes. I know. I know... Heh heh...

Fun Fact #2 - Dog Years

Did you know that one human year is no longer equal to seven dog years? The new calculation is the first two years of a dog's life is equivalent to 25 human years. Every year after that is four human years. Using this new calculation, how old is YOUR doggy?

It's Raining! It's Pouring!

Yay!!! I love it when it rains! Especially when there's a storm! Things are so dramatic! Heavy traffic, blackouts, road closures, lightning and thunder.. But then there are relaxing things that come from a heavy downpour, like hot chocolate, movies, warm beds... The main reason I'm so happy that we've had quite a bit of rain in the last three days is because the Bay Area needs it. Desperately. Thank you, Mother Nature! Only thing is, I wish I was away with my camera attempting to take spectacular shots of Yosemite blanketed in snow. Later, I guess.

Finally! Justice!

Can you imagine being sentenced to 99 years in prison for a crime you did not commit? Can you imagine spending every day in prison for 27 years for a crime you did not commit? There is no way I can imagine myself in that situation, but Charles Chatman can. This man spent nearly 27 years of his life incarcerated for wrongfully accused of raping a woman. Our judicial system is definitely flawed. There's no doubt about that! After a DNA test, they finally realized they have imprisoned an innocent man for more than two decades. He was 20 at the time, now 47. I hope he is able to create a new and happy life for himself and is able to share this with loved ones. If I were him, I'd be the angriest yet happiest person alive.

I wonder how many other innocent people are in our prisons... The next time I complain that life isn't fair, I'll try to remember Charles Chatman. Life REALLY wasn't fair for him. We've got it easy...