I walked down the tourist drag here in Kanchanaburi and somebody whistled to me. He spoke perfect English.

"Hey you! Asshole! Over there! I want you to drive me drive me drive. You can drive me all the way to some pretty waterfalls," he said.
"What's in it for me?" I asked.
"Companionship (just friends though--no funny business), transportation and the feeling that you're a real man. Arrrr arrr arrr."
"What's your name, anyway?"
"I'm Pound Pound Mound. Don't you remember my brother, Roger? What about my cousins Boom!, Fi-o-cwacka, and Dyn-o-Mite?"
"Oh yeah! We should go for a ride, Mr. Pound Pound Mound, what can I call you for short?"
"My friends call me Mr. Pound."

My flight leaves on July 9th early in the AM hours. I sat on Thanon Sukhumvit in Bangkok on the sixth and looked around at my potential surroundings for the next three days. What did I see?

Traffic, billboards, pollution, hookers, a giant market of useless tourist wares and an overall sense of "what the hell am I going to do here?"

I just received an e-mail from my friend, Karen. We get into all kinds of talks on travel theory because she herself is a veteran traveler. Did I just casually call myself a veteran traveler? Karen started talking about travel fatigue and when you finally find a purpose to travel. I wondered if I have a purpose. I'm still wondering now.

The adventures of boating medical student continues.

Despite all of the mention of whiskey, karoake and beef uterus, Dr. Sakda and I have actually managed to get some work done. I should be clear though. We've managed to get lots of work done.

For those of you who have asked, it's time to get this straight:

Siriporn is the woman who is taking such great care of me.
Pornthep is the doctor who took such good care of me last week.
Somsri is Siriporn's friend who brought me to Dr. Sakda.
Sakda is a riot.

As I sit here in Bangkok at Siriporn's condo, I'm convinced that I'm living in some other universe. It's not foreign as one would expect the other side of earth to be. Rather, my Bangkok demonstrates a western-eastern fusion that is successful at times, but often the two seem to be quite immiscible.

My days at Police General Hospital started to become routine. They sure weren't boring, but it became quite comfortable and ordinary. I generally rounded with Dr. Pornthep but I also spent some time with a pediatrician. I could never get the hang of pronouncing her name, so I will refer to her as Dr. กุมารแพทย์ (pediatrician in Thai).

Siriporn told me I needed to try acupuncture.

"My friend's name is Vibhanand Rangsit," Siriporn said in her notable British accent.
"She's trained for acupuncture in London but now she lives here and she's loaded with money but you still need to pay her."

Pay somebody to stick pins in my body? Don't mind if I do!

In a land that is quite concerned with politeness and attention to whom you are speaking, the cell phone has invaded and eaten people up, especially those in the medical profession.