As a suggestion before moving abroad, several people mentioned I should write a blog to document my adventures. I've never claimed to be computer savvy or always gramitcally correct, but it can't be that hard right? So here goes my friends...welcome to my crazy life =)

Welcome to Bangkok. After a brief overview from the Hangover 2, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that Bangkok can actually be quite a lovely place. Yes, you have your seedy bars, flirty bar girls, and interesting ladyboys, but Bangkok is also a beautiful and colorful city with lots of smiling faces, 7-11’s, busy markets, cheap foot massages, and the best street food around! I could eat noodle soup with fried pork every night! A few minor mishaps, but I feel I’m adjusting quite nicely.

8/05/2012

Sunday, August 5

I finally gathered the courage to order my first thing from a food cart…a coconut! You might think, why does this take courage? But it does! I don’t speak Thai, I’m not sure what to say, how much to pay, what to do...so normally I walk on by, but not today! I smiled and pointed at a coconut and the man pulled it out, chopped off the top with a big machete looking knife, and stuck a straw in it. I gave him 20 baht (less than a dollar), and left a happy girl. So proud of myself, I decided I had earned a second foot massage of the week. Life is good.

Afterwards, it was time for another first. The motorbike taxi! Now everyone says these are dangerous, not to get on one without a helmet, and probably just avoid them altogether. Sorry mom… I did it anyway!  I debated telling the man it was my first time so he would drive slow and show me how to sit, but then I feared he might try to overcharge me. So I just climbed on and held on for life as we weaved in and out of stopped traffic (which is why they are faster than cabs), and he kindly dropped me at my destination. The whole experience was less than a dollar and quite fun I must say. However, I will be purchasing a helmet before riding again…safety first!

I met friends at the BTS (train) and we headed to the mall for some dress shopping. One of the new girls (to our school, but not to Bangkok) was nice enough to take us newbies around to all her favorite places. We went to a cute vintage dress shop, where they put elastic in the waist so the dresses fit us “fat” westerners. I bought two cute dresses for 5 dollars each, and bought a cheapo phone since mine apparently doesn’t work in Thailand. Using it takes me back to high school when you had to type each letter 2-3 times to get the letter you want! Haha, I am purchasing an iPhone as soon as I get a paycheck!  Our friend suggested we take the water taxi back. Water Taxi? How exciting, I thought. Thailand used to be know as the Venice of the East because of all the waterways. This was no Venice. I'm pretty sure most of the water was sewage and runoff and it STANK. As we were boarding, my friend suggested I keep my mouth shut in case water happened to splash on board as we passed other boats. Good thing they have rain flaps. As we were riding along, we both caught a glimpse of something big and round floating in the water. We looked at each other in disgust when we both realized it was a dead pig. A few minutes later we hopped off, said goodbye, and took our motor taxi’s home. What a day!

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