Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Bangkok

     Firstly, I'd like to mention how absolutely horrible Thailand is about free WIFI.  They do not offer free WIFI anywhere.  There is no free WIFI at the mall and there is no free WIFI even at Starbucks!  It has been quite frustrating!  I was originally staying at my aunt's house who has WIFi, but then I went to stay at my cousin's condo and there is no WIFI.  I was unable to get on the net except for through my uncle's ipad.  Now I have discovered a prepaid WIFI connection here, but it is quite slow.  Anyways, this will be a long blog post containing events from a few days because I was unable to get online previously. 

Sunday 1/20/13

     On this day, I went to the Don Wai Market with some of my family members.  The market was filled with everything you could possibly think of from foods to toys.  When we first got there, we had lunch.  There was 7 people in our party and we had a seafood feast.  The cost was only 50 U.S. dollars!  Seafood is pretty expensive in the United States and a meal this big would have been at least a couple hundred if not more.   

 Don Wai Market

 On the riverboat.

 Another riverboat sailing by.

There was some really cool houses located on the river, some small and some very large.  There was also a lot of lush greenery everywhere.  It was very beautiful on the river!














     At the end of our cruise, we were sold ice cream of off a little long boat that pulled up to the side of our riverboat.  It was absolutely delicious although I have no idea what flavor it was!  HAHA!  We also bought bread on the riverboat in order to feed the catfish.  I had no idea fish enjoyed bread, but it was really cool to see them eat it up.








In the evening I met up with a couple people from Couchsurfing.org, a traveling website and went to a really nice rooftop restaurant/bar called Nest.  It was a great view of the Bangkok skyline.



     I met up with them by taking a taxi alone for the first time!  It was a very pleasant experience and my taxi driver was a really nice guy.  We communicated pretty well and he told me that my Thai was pretty good!  His favorite soccer team is Liverpool and he is a big fan of Gerrad!  I'm telling you, knowledge of soccer gets you far in this world...

Tuesday 1/22/13

     On this day, my aunt picked me up from my cousin's condo in order for us to go and get my National ID card made.  I am officially a Thailand Citizen!  I always had dual citizenship since I was born here and my mother is Thai, but getting my ID card made it official!  Traffic in Bangkok is absolutely horrible and so we really did no do much except for my ID card, but I saw a lot of great things as we were driving in the city. 

 Democracy Monument, located in the center of Bangkok.


 Thailand is well known for beautiful temples.

 Tuk Tuk

 They are everywhere in Bangkok!

 My taxi driver from the night before told me that "Farang" meaning white people in Thai, love to ride tuk tuks.

 Motorcycles are everywhere in Bangkok because the traffic is horrible!

 Young boy wearing a tradition school uniform.

A temple that was destroyed by water damage last year and is currently under renovation.

 Delicious exotic fruits!
Wednesday 1/23/13

     Today after going for a swim, I wandered the flee market and shopping center close to the condo.  I ordered some street food for dinner.  I thought I ate spicy food at home, but man... Thai spicy is crazy spicy!  I had to eat a couple pieces of candy to stop my mouth from burning.  Slowly but surely, I am becoming braver.  I am always very nervous when I try to order food, but it is fading.  After I order though, I feel really good about myself.  Really making an effort to be all the Thai I can be and speak as much as I can!!!  HAHA  

 View from my cousin's condo in BKK.

 Beautiful pool!

 Goofing around with my underwater camera.  The pool attendent forced me to wear a cap.

Such an awesome pool!

     Bangkok is a very busy place and it smells horrible in some parts, but I am really enjoying it.  I love seeing all the kids walking around in their uniforms after school, all the different vendors selling all their foods, and I just love being in a new place.  There are a lot of beggars and I am the same as I have always been and drop a little bit of money in their cups.  I just can't walk by and give them nothing you know, it is just too hard.  Anyways... what is 10 or 20 baht to me?  30 cents, 60 cents?  That little bit of money can go a long way here, at least a little meal.  If you can spare it, do it!

"If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble".  -Bob Hope

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