weekend excitement

well, another weekend in bangkok. it was interesting. yesterday i went first to a really touristy area (had to pick up train tickets for when tim is here). not my favorite part of bangkok, but what can you do. i got hit up by a classic scam, but i'm so savvy i didn't fall for it. then i was headed to the big weekend market on the north edge of town. to get there, i took a khlong (canal) taxi over to the skytrain station. the khlong taxi is really more like a khlong bus, there's a big boat you got on at specific stops and it drives you down the canal. its actually really convenient, fast, and cheap. definitely the best option for where i was and where i wanted to be. you have to put up a tarp along the side of the boat, though, so you don't get sprayed with nasty canal water. and you sort of have to jump from the boat to the "pier" when you get off. but its an adventure and mode of transport i recommend for east-west travel in bangkok.

then the weekend market. they have everything there. i got some souvenir stuff and food. it was exhausting, as always. too many people and things and too hot. but i did speak enough thai that some of the vendors would answer me in thai, and usually i understood. because i just asked how much did something cost. then i took the metro to the nearby train station, and then train back to school. i'd only been to that train station before when i was already on the train, but i was able to talk to understand when the guard asked me if i was going to hua lumpong (the main train station) and tell him no, i'm going to salaya. and he understood and sent me to the right place! it was a proud day for me and my thai skills.

today i went into bangkok again. i was supposed to meet the other american and one japanese teacher for dinner. first i went to a mall noted for cheap electronics because i wanted some new headphones. in the atrium part of the mall, there were just sort of stands all over, not real shops, more like a market. they sell all sorts of stuff. and then there were some real stores... all the stuff i looked at was clearly fake--i'm pretty sure Sony doesn't have major typos on their boxes--but i bought some headphones for about $6 anyway... at least they stay in my ears, even if they aren't real sony. and they work, so...

now, i'm pretty used to seeing weird stuff every day. i saw two very interesting new weird things today. first, people eating ice cream off of hot dog buns. the mushy, wonderbread, 5 bags for $1 kind of hot dog buns. with scoops of ice cream where you'd usually put the hot dog. i just can't imagine how that tastes good. and then, at one sausage/meat ball stand (pieces of sausage and/or balls of meat on sticks), i saw what appeared to be a corn dog! i couldn't believe it! but i was on the far side of the sidewalk and it can be hard to navigate and really i needed to get into the mall to find the bathroom. so i missed out on the corn dog! its not really a weird thing, a corn dog, but its the first such thing i've seen in thailand. sure, sausages out the wazoo (some are gross, some are good, i am pretty good at distinguishing now). but never a batter dipped sausage on a stick!! i should have gone back, but then i was running late.

and then dinner. we had mexican food! who knew, mexican food in bangkok! surely there's not many mexicans here... it was actually tex-mex, it said on the door. which isn't the same. but they did have quesadillas and burritos and chimichangas and enchiladas... it was alright, i can't rave and i don't know that i'd recommend it except for a serious mexican food craving when you've been without for several months. there was cheese on the quesadilla, but i'd like more and i can't really verify its authenticity as cheese other than that it was not american cheese. and the sour cream...grainy. but it was an experience.

my friend alex and his wife arrive on thursday night! i'm sooooo excited to see them! they better be ready to see me, because i plan on visiting them in their swank hotel (your tax dollars at work, i believe) all next weekend. and sure, i'll show them my limited knowledge of bangkok. at least i can show them shopping centers and movie theaters. and tex-mex food.

10 days of work left.