Lost in Ogawa

Thailand. The End! That would have been a great entry wouldn’t it? I’ve been accused of overwriting in my blog and to those that read it, I’ve decided to cut it short! NOT!! This is MY BLOG and I WRITE HOWEVER LONG I WANT! Muhahahahaha(evil laughter)……

Anyway, Awwww…yes…Thailand, Spring Break 2006! By saying that doesn’t it sound like there were other great Spring Breaks in my life like “aww…yes…Cancun, Spring Break 2000” …No, it never happened. I never even set foot in Mexico before! Well, Thai will be the start of my many if not only “memorable” Spring Breaks to come. I was in Thai for a full 8 days and believe me, it was TOO short!

Before arriving in Thailand, my image of this country was quite misleading. I had pieces of images left and right from media and things I’ve experienced throughout life. Basically I imagined Thailand was a jungle full of tigers and golden alligators(Mandalay Bay). I also imagined Thailand as a fighting ground where the mortals must battle the immortal monsters to save the world (Mortal Kombat!) I imagined huge monsters breaking out of the ancient temples and lightning would strike…….ok, I’m going off on a tangent but for those of you who saw the movie, you know what I’m talking about right? Okay, maybe it’s just me hehe. And no, I did not see “The Beach” so I wouldn’t know anything about drug lords chasing after me!

We arrived in Bangkok very late but there were still plenty of people around and flights arriving. I later found out that Bangkok is a major hub for flights going to Europe from Asia so many flights take off at very late hours. China Airline, which was the airline we took, was in transit to Amesterdam! I want to go there too! I was wearing jeans (no long johns) a t-shirt and a light jacket coming out of the airport and that was already wearing too much. I was freezing earlier that day back in Tokyo. Bangkok at night was still in its 30 somewhat degrees (Celsius not Fahrenheit!), about two times warmer than Tokyo! My friends were pretty surprised when my luggage only consisted of one backpack. I was actually pretty proud and thought it was the smartest thing I did in preparation for the trip. It made traveling around Thailand easier and efficient. I urge everybody to do the same if they head to Thai but for the girls?! Good Luck! In Bangkok, every foreigner know about the infamous “Khaosan Road.” That’s pretty much where foreigners or rather backpackers on cheap budgets congregate. It’s a street full with pubs and cheap places to stay (guesthouses). It’s quite alive as the day gets darker and the street fill with those cart vendors that sell food and whatnot souvenirs and clothings. Things were quite cheap. Pad-Thai (noodles) from street vendors were about 25 cents, a bag of mango cut up for you was 50 cents (I miss mangos!) and water from 7-Eleven was also about 25 cents. I was quite afraid that I wouldn’t be able to eat in Thailand because I really can’t handle spicy food AT ALL! Luckily there were plenty of noodle dishes (did you know I’m a huge fan of noodles?) such as Pad-Thai that was not spicy at all.

We stayed near Khaosan Rd. so we decided to check it out after we got settled in our hotel. By the time we got there, it was about 3a.m. Things were pretty much closed but still some people hanging around in the streets. Many looked like girls waiting for someone to buy them for the night. Remember I said “LOOKED LIKED” girls. We don’t know for sure! Thailand if not Bangkok is infamous for what they call “Lady Boys.” It’s not that they just dress like a woman or wear makeup like a woman, some actually have some serious surgery to make them into a woman. It’s really freaky because sometimes you really can’t decipher. As we were walking down Khaosan, we had many invitations and they yelled out in Japanese because they thought we were Japanese tourist (well, one of our younger companion was Japanese). It was quite interesting and freaky at the same time. So Khaosan was not really Thailand but a great place to hang out and relax. There was the old aspect of Bangkok with the palace and old temples and there was the modern Bangkok, with the big fashionable malls with any name brand stores you can think of. That aspect was surprising to me. Bangkok, a big city in itself was also a modern city with modern people!

Bangkok is also notorious for its nightlife or rather red light district. If you say “Patpong” in Bangkok, everybody knows where it is. There were also night markets in those areas so it attracted all walks of life. If you were a man walking in that area, there’s no doubt that somebody will approach you and if not ask you if you want to see a “ping pong show!” Ok, I won’t delve into that, you can use your own imagination! Bangkok was good for nightlife but we continued on to the little islands in the south (I had no idea Thai had islands!)

The islands or rather the beach, the sand, and the water were BEAUTIFUL. Two islands we visited were Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. Phangan was nice and laid back but got some money stolen there so I didn’t really have a good impression of that island. Samui was very cool(hehe Japanese pun). I recommend Chaweng Beach if you want the nightlife and Lamai Beach if you just want to chill. I really enjoyed Lamai because it was nice and laid back and our hotel were bungalows by the beach with the pool facing the ocean…awww… The water was nice and warm and many aspects reminded me of Hawai’i! But somehow the color of the water made it “Thailand.” Maybe you’ll know what I mean when you take a look at the pics. I had an awesome time on the islands with many nice moments dining on the beach with my friends (total 8 of us!) Snorkeling, kayaking, and taking a boat ride around the little tiny islands were fun. Even though I did put on sunscreen, my shoulders and my arm was burnt bright red! It hurt like a B@#$* for 2 to 3 days. I thought being naturally dark skinned I wouldn’t burn…I proved that theory wrong! Thailand was fun, I probably spent too much money but I still want to go back! Did I also mention I went skinny dipping for the first time in the ocean?! Thailand can change a man!

Pictures
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tonykao0627/album?.dir=e7a5