Feelin' at Home--wine, cheese and 80s parties galore

Now that I've been in Bangkok for over a month, I can call it my home. It's certainly different than my home in NY or in Princeton, but a home nonetheless. However, given that I have to move out of my first Bangkok home and into a new one at the end of this week, I wanted to have a housewarming/goodbye party for my apartment, and bring a little piece of my home in NY to my new home in Bangkok. So, what did I do? Have a wine and cheese party of course--showcasing two of my favorite foods.
In order to throw a proper wine and cheese party, I had to go to an upscale, more Western food market, so I went to Central Chitlom's food hall. This place was incredible; I felt right at home. After purchasing four bottles of wine, I wound my way through the store gawking at the amazing variety of fruits, breads, prepared foods--I felt like I was back in the States, it felt great. I tried almost all of the samples I could find, and came out feeling like I didn't even need to eat lunch! After 2 hours of perusing, I came out with a blue stilton, a brie, a manchego and an herb goat cheese; french baguette and onion-herb focaccia; grapes, dried apples and crackers; and six wine glasses, a cheese board and some knives. I was so happy and felt like I'd never spent my money better.

My cheese spread

The party itself went swimmingly. All of my friends were great and brought little things too--crackers, sweets, extra wine glasses, etc. It was a lovely night, everyone went home a little tipsy and happy from the wine, and all of the food was eaten.

Katie and Chris enjoying wine and good conversation

Then, to bring a little bit of Princeton (or college life in general) to Bangkok, my friend and I threw an 80s-themed boat Journey (get it?!) on the Chao Praya river. We had a boat of 30 people or so (all kind of random--a group of Princeton Review tutors; another group of Japanese flight attendants; another group of college girls studying abroad here; a couple traveling through Asia; the PiA crew; my boss and his wife....it goes on), all dressed in 80s duds, and blasted 80s tunes for four fabulous hours. It was an awesome party and despite being on a boat, I certainly felt like I was out at Princeton again.

80s snapshots

Me, Kate and Katie with Wat Arun in the background

Other than that, life in Bangkok is good, stay tuned for more updates on travel, work and life in general.

Fun and Sun in Samet

Two weekends ago, I went with some friends to Koh Samet, an island destination about 3.5 hours outside of Bangkok. We took an early morning bus (6AM) and then a typical Thai ferry (think fumes, old wood and cracking paint, and a precarious boarding dock) to the island, where we finally arrived at around 10AM. All 7 of us piled into a Song-tau, a large truck with an open back for seating, to get to the beach where we planned to stay for the next four days.\

Boats at the dock by the ferry

We arrived at Ao Pudsa (Pudsa Beach) and, seeing that we didn't book accomodation ahead of time, set out to find rooms so that we weren't stuck to fend for ourselves in a tent on the beach (Kate was very concerned that this would happen). Thankfully, we found a few little bungalows to call our own for our time there; each bungalow was a bargain at only $20 per night. Kate and I got a the only blue bungalow in a complex of wood-only bungalows; we fondly called ours "little blue," since "big blue" wasn't the most fitting name. Our bungalow consisted of a bed that took up 90% of the space in the room, and then a bathroom which was both our shower and toilet. There was no drain, water just seeped out of a hold on the floor, and we used a water bucket to flush our toilet since there was no flush. As rustic as this may seem, it worked well for our time there and we really came to appreciate our little cabin. Needless to say, we were ready to leave once the time came.

Kate and Big/little Blue

The beach itself was lovely--gorgeous white sand, pretty greenery, not too touristy--everything you'd want for a weekend getaway. There was also a great nightlife--a Reggae Bob-Marley inspired Karaoke bar; a big, sweaty gay club that definitely played the YMCA more than once; and a few empty bars that we could just take over and dance in--and we also saw a fire-dancing show on our last night (2 men dancing with fire-lit poles). The beach also had a nice range of restaurants with very good food, including American breakfasts, which are rare in Thailand. However, I did get sick on our last night there from something I ate; it was the first time I got sick from food since moving to Asia.

The beach at sunset

The beach at night

Fire dancing show

The sun, however, was devastatingly strong. We got back about 8 days ago and my feeling JUST ended yesterday. However, I did get a nice tan after the burn went away; thankfully, my face wasn't burnt at all, just my stomach and a bit of my chest. And then there was my under-arm burn--I fell asleep with my arms above my head so my under-arms, which never see the light of day, turned a lovely pinkish red.

Chris, Kate and me--sunburned as hell (minus chris)

Overall, a great trip!

Bangkok brief

So I thought I'd give those of you who are textually phobic some short blurbs of my faves thus far, in no particular order:

1. Som Tam--a spicy papaya salad that's eaten with sticky rice (which you use your hands to eat). So delicious, has tomatoes, peanuts, chili peppers and other delicious things in it

2. The Skytrain--I LOVE the skytrain, if only for showing the Madonna, "Give it to me" video as entertainment for my daily commute. There are also the Axe commercials, classic.

3. Street food--cheap, delicious. Some of my faves are Thai iced tea and iced coffee, freshly sliced mango, and Thai rice crispy treats

4. My street, neighborhood and pool--My street is quiet and green; it has this adorable little garden restaurant with lanterns and incense under the tables where I've become a "regular;" they cook my special vegetarian dishes which is great and they know what I like. The bar next to my building, Flow, is really laid back and they're so nice to me as well (free drinks on occasion). And then there's my pool, it's this little oasis that makes you forget you live in a city and is surrounded by palm trees, has a fountain and the steam room and gym are right nearby!

5. The smell of sweet dessert waffles near every BTS stop (skytrain)

6. The 3-minute motorbike ride from my apartment to the BTS stop: at first I was petrified of riding on a motorbike, but now I love it.

7. The ease of travel: Bangkok is so close to so many incredible destinations, outside of Thailand let alone those in the country! Flights are cheap and Bangkok is THE hub of South East Asia, making it easy to fly just about anywhere....tempting. I've already planned trips to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand; Bali; Southern Vietman and am in the process of arranging trips to Singapore and Malaysia, among other places.

8. Cheap DVDs--helps me catch up on so many movies!

9. Newness--new places, people, job. Getting to know it all is a constant discovery. Sounds cheesy, I know, but it's true.

10. Cultural differences. Sometimes they test my patience but ultimately, it's kind of fun.

1984

For the past week, I've been immersing myself in Thai culture, learning the lay of the land now that I'm all settled. Last week, I took a crash course in King Veneration 101. My education began last weekend when I was walking through Chatuchak Park on a Sunday afternoon, and all of a sudden, at 6 PM, a song started playing over the loudspeaker. I continued on my merry way but my friend reached out and grabbed me to stop me from moving. Then I realized that the entire park was completely still--no one was moving. After the song was over, my friend explained to me that that was the king's song, which gets played at 8AM and 6PM everyday, and everyone stops and listens until the song is over. The song also gets played before movies and everyone in the theater must stand out of respect.

Then, on Monday, as I took the skytrain to work, I noticed that the vast majority of people were wearing yellow shirts. Thinking this was a weird coincidence, I didn't say anything. Then, on Tuesday, everyone was wearing a pink shirt. At this point, I realized there was probably something that I was missing so I asked my friend, the same friend who stopped me in the park, thinking that she would know. It turns out, as she informed me, that there is a set clothing schedule that people follow to honor the King: Monday is yellow, the king's color; Tuesday is pink because when the King was in the hospital a while ago, he came out wearing a pink shirt and pink shirts flew off the shelves and now it has its own day. I'm not sure what the rest of the days are, they're a bit more ambiguous, Monday and Tuesday are the most important ones . People also apparently talk about the Royal Family frequently, though usually in hushed conversations--seeing as my Thai still consists of only a few words (I don't eat meat, hello, thank you), I can't really verify this.

In addition to this cultural rendevouz, I had another interesting experience at Bumrungrad Hospital, the premier Thai hospital where all the oil magnates from the Middle East go for treatment and surgery--the surgery is cheap and then they fly to the beaches like Phuket for recovery. Anyway, this meant that at the hospital, there were a ton of women in burqas--I know I've mentioned women in burqas before, but this was on a scale I've never seen. I'd also never seen the burqa that has a little piece of fabric between the eyes too, just in case you get a glimmer of their nose; some of the womens' glasses were larger than the slits for their eyes so that the glasses actually went over some portions of the burqa. This was just an anecdote that made my hospital trip memorable, no real comments on it, just don't think I'll ever forget being in that waiting room.

That's all for now. Stay tuned

Moving day, July 4th celebrations and marketeering

So I moved into my sublet apartment yesterday and it's absolutely wonderful. I love it and the neighborhood, Aree, is fantastic. The sublet is actually in the same neighborhood as my next apartment, only one block away. I'm going to be living here for one month until my apartment for the year is ready, though I can already tell I'm going to be sad to leave. The building is a lovely new construction with great amenities, a gym, steam room and incredible pool. The pool is this little oasis away from the city; it's on the fifth floor and has palm trees and wooden lounging chairs; it's very quiet and the pool itself is beautiful.

I also inadvertently made use of the steam room today as well. Having finally unpacked all of my belongings, everything I owned was wrinkled and needed steaming or ironing. So, after trekking all of my clothes around the neighborhoods trying to get them steamed, I remembered that I had a steam room! So, I took all of my clothes on hangers into the steam room. After about four separate trips, I was dripping with sweat (I went in my clothes), but my clothes were all perfectly de-wrinkled! I felt very resourceful and didn't have to spend a penny. Pretty productive day thus far...

Yesterday was also quite an interesting day. After moving into my apartment, I went to Jatujak Market, the biggest open-air market in the world, which is conveniently 2 skytrain stops from my apartment. At the market I got some great buys--shoes, earrings, t-shirts; I can't wait to decorate my permanent apartment with furnishings from the home decor section. However, I did have an interesting market "experience." Following my mother's "personal safety" mantra, I alway carry my purse directly under my arm and cover it with one hand. However, at the market, I felt a tug on the back of my purse and pulled over into a small stall. Turns out, the back of my bag, the only four inches that my arm wasn't guarding, was clashed--it was cut clean, with about a 7-inch incision. Luckily, nothing fell out before I noticed; in fact, the only way I realized it was cut was because my wallet fell out inside the stall! I ended up getting a plastic bag for all of my things (I had the bag sewn later to repair it, though it will never look the same) and purchased a gorgeous, sturdy leather bag (actually a vintage Marni bag) to replace it. The new bag rests very close under my arm--the straps are much shorter--so hopefully that will never happen again.

After the market, I went with some friends to a fourth of July bash held by the American Chamber of Commerce and co-sponsored by Democrats Abroad. It was fun--I had my fill of tacos, American beer (the tried to enforce the 21 drinking law too!), and other yummy things (the pecan pie was abysmal but the apple pie was good). There were things like a moon bounce and other inflatable fun things that I didn't partake in; fireworks which weren't half bad; activities like an egg toss, which I missed the first part of; and a band with good 'ol American classics. I must say, this was the most "traditional" celebration of July 4th that I've yet to experience; maybe we only do these "traditional" things when we're not in the US. It was amazing how many Americans were there, I was astounded. I kept asking myself, "What do all these people do here??" Anyway, it was a good time, I met some nice people and think I had my dose of being surrounded by other Americans.

The night was fun too--went out with some people to the famous Khao San Road. All in all, a great weekend. Off to watch the Wimbledon finals, Go RAFA!!!

And the rainy season has begun

Photo of the first storm approaching, taken by my colleague Austin

So, as you can see, those are some pretty intense clouds, showing that indeed, rainy season has begun. The first rain spurt was actually a day before, on June 30th. I had just gotten an apartment (finally! it's great), I was walking on the street about to get on the BTS to join a gym near my new home, and all of a sudden, as if without warning because it was already dark, it started to rain. And then it started to pour. It pours for about 30 minutes to a hour and then stops. The streets become huge contiguous puddles and no one moves. It's pretty nice though because it really cools down quite a bit. The weather's been really cool and lovely lately.

Also while on my way to the BTS, I saw an elephant on my street--my first elephant sighting. I was shocked and amazed, I thought it was a novelty. I told me friend who then told me I would get used to it, and that they just bring them into the streets for tourists. I saw an adult and baby elephant together last night, and I started to feel bad for them, since they really shouldn't be in urban settings. Anyway, they are beautiful creatures and I can't wait to see them in their natural habitat.

Elephant walking and greeting tourists

Other than the rain and the elephant sightings, I'm starting to really like Bangkok. I've met some really nice people and my job seems like it's going to be very interesting. I'd really like to learn Thai because I still get very frustrated by the communication barrier; hopefully I'll be starting Thai lessons soon. I did go to a very interesting party on Tuesday night with some friends. It was at one year anniversary party for a small "art gallery;" I put art gallery in quotations because it was more like a hovel. There was some interesting performance "art" (again with the quotations) and there were some very good illustrations and drawings. The party was filled with Thai hipsters and a few internationals. It's funny how the hipster culture totally translates across oceans and countries.

Anyway, trying to make these short but will post more soon!