Anyway, Friday we left school, went home and packed up for a weekend in BKK. In order to get to Bangkok we had to take a cab from Soi 18 to Home Pro (a mix b/w Sam's Club and Home Depot) where we hopped on the orange bus 132. I use the word 'hopped' lightly for as we noticed the bus coming up we had to literally jump onto to it as it was pulling away and Josie was almost run over. The bus took us to the end of the sky train line (well we actually had to ask where to get off because we had no idea) at a place call On Nut--loved that name although it's pronounced ahnoot. On Nut took us to Nana where we left Ryan (he was staying at a hostel with a bunch of people from our program) and Josie and I met up with our friend Jenny to get to our place.
6 of us from orientation got 2 rooms at the Unico Leela Hotel which was seemingly smack dab in the middle of the Middle East aka it was heavily populated by Arabic muslims which definitely made the cultural scene in our 'hood a little different than your average Bangkok. The hotel was great though and we spent Friday night just hanging out and waiting for the rest of the crew to get in town. Jenny, Josie and I went to a British pub for dinner and for 99b ($3) we got a pint and an all you could eat BBQ (complete with Potato Salad and Cole Slaw!!) which was like stumbling upon heaven. This weekend was kind of dedicated to being American and was much needed after being immersed in Thai culture for the last few weeks. After dinner we just hung out, watched tv (a luxury for us as we don't have one) and caught up with people as they got in, exchanging stories about our kids and where we live. It was really funny as we realized how much we sounded like teachers. We all ended up all crashing in one room (floor, couch, bed wherever there was room) because we usually have to sleep alone in a strange place so it was great to have familiar faces all in one place!
6 of us from orientation got 2 rooms at the Unico Leela Hotel which was seemingly smack dab in the middle of the Middle East aka it was heavily populated by Arabic muslims which definitely made the cultural scene in our 'hood a little different than your average Bangkok. The hotel was great though and we spent Friday night just hanging out and waiting for the rest of the crew to get in town. Jenny, Josie and I went to a British pub for dinner and for 99b ($3) we got a pint and an all you could eat BBQ (complete with Potato Salad and Cole Slaw!!) which was like stumbling upon heaven. This weekend was kind of dedicated to being American and was much needed after being immersed in Thai culture for the last few weeks. After dinner we just hung out, watched tv (a luxury for us as we don't have one) and caught up with people as they got in, exchanging stories about our kids and where we live. It was really funny as we realized how much we sounded like teachers. We all ended up all crashing in one room (floor, couch, bed wherever there was room) because we usually have to sleep alone in a strange place so it was great to have familiar faces all in one place!
The next day we woke up and headed out to the Chatuchak weekend market which was insane. It is set on 35 acres and is full of anything you could imagine--
clothes, food, electronics, etc. There were some crazy animals for sale too (ie chipmunks, flying squirrels, sea creatures, etc). It was kind of awesome and sad at the same time as there would be laundry baskets filled pretty much to the brim with puppies and kittens and rabbits. I wanted to bring a puppy back, but I ended up just getting a polo cuz I need more school clothes; for less than $2.30 I think I got a pretty good deal. My friend Reuven and I even got the our lunches at the Thai price, because we noticed the numbers in Thai on the back of the menu didn't match the western numbers on the front (aka they were charging westerners more). So, we felt pretty cool that we knew to ask for the better price. Ah, the little things.
clothes, food, electronics, etc. There were some crazy animals for sale too (ie chipmunks, flying squirrels, sea creatures, etc). It was kind of awesome and sad at the same time as there would be laundry baskets filled pretty much to the brim with puppies and kittens and rabbits. I wanted to bring a puppy back, but I ended up just getting a polo cuz I need more school clothes; for less than $2.30 I think I got a pretty good deal. My friend Reuven and I even got the our lunches at the Thai price, because we noticed the numbers in Thai on the back of the menu didn't match the western numbers on the front (aka they were charging westerners more). So, we felt pretty cool that we knew to ask for the better price. Ah, the little things.After the market we were DRENCHED in sweat and headed straight to the hotel pool which was freezing, but so nice. Kinda funny to think we were in a pool in the middle of downtown Bangkok (not really where you imagine yourself swimming outdoors).
After the pool we came to the conclusion that our feet hurt and we went in search of the cheapest massage place we could find. We ended up choosing one a few Sois down from our hotel and I don't think I've ever made a better decision in my life. We went in thinking we were paying for a 1-hour foot massage, but it turned out to be a feet, legs, hands, arms, neck, shoulders and back massage. I haven't been that relaxed in a looooong time. They had us in these amazing chairs with soft music and aromatherapy smells filling the air (I actually dozed off for a bit). I did laugh a couple times as the lady was poking my feet with some rock thing while flapping my toes around like little snap peas. After the massage was done they brought us hot tea and we contemplated whether we really wanted to leave :) It was probably the best $9 I've ever spent (yes, we splurged and spent $9 including tip, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make some big purchases haha).
After the pool we came to the conclusion that our feet hurt and we went in search of the cheapest massage place we could find. We ended up choosing one a few Sois down from our hotel and I don't think I've ever made a better decision in my life. We went in thinking we were paying for a 1-hour foot massage, but it turned out to be a feet, legs, hands, arms, neck, shoulders and back massage. I haven't been that relaxed in a looooong time. They had us in these amazing chairs with soft music and aromatherapy smells filling the air (I actually dozed off for a bit). I did laugh a couple times as the lady was poking my feet with some rock thing while flapping my toes around like little snap peas. After the massage was done they brought us hot tea and we contemplated whether we really wanted to leave :) It was probably the best $9 I've ever spent (yes, we splurged and spent $9 including tip, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make some big purchases haha).Relaxed and ready for the evening we continued our American weekend with a trip to Charley Browns (a tex-mex restaurant that got us to come in with the promise of a free pitcher of margaritas with our dinner). What's better in the blistering heat than some mar
garitas, chips and salsa and quesadillas? When you're in Thailand...not a whole lot! Despues de cena we went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit and then went to meet up with the rest of the CIEE crew at a club called Route 66. It was on this street called RCA which is just a street filled with gigantic clubs. A lot of cities have clubs built vertically with each floor having a different theme, but these clubs were all stretched out horizontally. For example, Route 66 had 4 or 5 different clubs each with a different vibe (live music, karaoke, club music, etc) It was a blast and really fun to get to see people from orientation that we hadn't seen for a couple weeks.
garitas, chips and salsa and quesadillas? When you're in Thailand...not a whole lot! Despues de cena we went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit and then went to meet up with the rest of the CIEE crew at a club called Route 66. It was on this street called RCA which is just a street filled with gigantic clubs. A lot of cities have clubs built vertically with each floor having a different theme, but these clubs were all stretched out horizontally. For example, Route 66 had 4 or 5 different clubs each with a different vibe (live music, karaoke, club music, etc) It was a blast and really fun to get to see people from orientation that we hadn't seen for a couple weeks.The next morning we slept in and went to eat at a cafe that featured one of the foods we'd all been missing dearly: SANDWICHES! We all got some form of sandwich whether it was a club or grilled cheese and were able to say we were the happiest americans in Thailand at that moment. Shortly after breakfast we went back and hung out that hotel for a little bit before parting our separate ways--teaching calls!
Hey Nathan!! Sounds like your having a blast!
ReplyDeleteI was just reading the blog and your 7th/9th grade convo class-- the girl that was talking about the fish during the movie/music discussion-- could she have ment Nemo like the movie Finding Nemo?