Monte Vista :)

I visited my friend Dex’s place this weekend. Talk about a slice of heaven. He said he lived at the top of a hill (try second hightest point on the island) and it was an adventure to get there! You take beautiful winding one lane roads inland. It was surrounded by palm trees, rubber trees and tropical flowers. Then you switch to winding, dirt roads, up and up to where you reach a spot where some cars are parked but since we were on motorbikes we went up a little further. Then finally when its too steep for the bikes we walked and climbed the rest of the trail, when suddenly the trail becomes blue gravel and there is a manicured garden of lush tropical plants, wild orchids, Thai Basil…..It smelled like a greenhouse, all warm and alive. There was a big wrap around porch with large cushioned bench seats and a huge papasan couch. The view was absolutely spectacular, it was so much higher than even the Amsterdamn café you could see all over the island. You could even see the lightning storms over the mainland and other islands way off in the distance. During the rainy season there is also a waterfall nearby and being that it is the beginning of rainy season I think I will be going back to see that soon!

Haad Tian Party

I had a Fantastic night last night. I was invited by some ex-pat pals to attend a local party in the jungle. To quote him, “the moon parties at the beach are a bunch of torn up tourists and if you want a proper party you have to go to the jungle, this is where you find the right proper parties” haha but imagine it with a great French Canadian accent ;) So a group of us took a taxi South to the East Haad Rin beach then got in a boat to head to a part of the island not accessible by taxis and cars. The boat was small and narrow and fitted with a motor on a long pole which moves and steers the boat, it was basically a 20 foot canoe with 4 benches in the middle. There was a good 6 inches of water in the bottom and though it was a quick 15 minute ride bumping through the waves and spray (which actually felt very nice) was a bit of a wild ride :). Once we got to the beach you could hear the music, YEA! We followed a trail up into the trees, then up some stairs made of 2 inch branches laid on logs, I seriously had my doubts that the stairway was gonna hold but it did…..haha. Once there the music was SUPERB, David and Danny were the DJs and I danced for 7 hours to some of the best house music I have heard in years, in the most beautiful place I have ever been! There were pillows and hammocks for lounging, water, drinks and Red Bull, and in the morning there were trays of cold fresh fruit passed around, PARADISE! An interesting note is the boat taxi will only come to the spot until midnight and then they don’t come back till starting at 6am (not that I didn’t wanna dance all night) so when you go you are there for the duration ;P

Amsterdam Cafe

The most beautiful sunset I have seen so far on my travels was at a place called Amsterdam, it is at the top of a hill on the west side of Koh Phangan near ThongSala. It is a bit of work to get to but totally worth it. You drive up a very steep entrance way which eventually narrows to barely be able to fit one vehicle as it winds and snakes up. Finally you reach a small gravel patch with a few motorbikes where you then have to take the stairway trail the rest of the way up to the top, I am fairly fit and was a bit winded by the end :P Then you enter a fabulous balcony all set with low tables and comfy lounging cushions facing the sea and sunset. All around the view is a jungle of Palm trees and beautiful green sloping down to the deep blue sea and wide open sky. They serve food and drink (including chocolate mushroom milkshakes) and smokey treats to enjoy while experiencing the beauty of the view. I will definitely be going back for another relaxing evening soon…..

Ferry

I moved to the next Island over today, just a 30 minute boat ride. I am meeting some English cats I met that live over there and also plan to check out some of the yoga & detox spas I have heard lots about. The ferry ride was nice, the water is so blue and beautiful and the sky is endless, with just a few fluffy clouds. When it does rain it is always just rains for a short while, like less than an hour, and then clears up for a nice sunny rest of the day. The boats were definitely “well used” and the ramp to get on and off was really just a 12 inch wide board. They do tend to go or wait not necessarily minding schedules just to cram as many people on each boat as possible each time, rather annoying but whatever. All along the way these Thai kids were walking around handing out flyers and coupons for all kinds of restaurants, shops, accommodations and stuff. Guerrilla marketing in Thailand, haha. Anyway on to the next step along the adventure…..

Wifi

So far the only downside to being on the beach is finding wifi, there has got to be a local service/secret I am not aware of. There are Internet cafes and “places” everywhere but just to use the desktops they have. I want to use my own laptop, with all my familiar programs, subscriptions and stuff :P So far I have found 2 spots both restaurants so I guess that’ll do for now. Sorry my dears if I am out of touch, I really feel like I am on vacation now. Not too sure if I like the out of touch thing tho, it’s not like I can watch the news in Thai when I wake up, but when I do find info in English it is interesting to see a different perspective on events than American media, Ha.

Wat Pho

So, backing up to when I was in Bangkok.....a nice short walk from the Khao San Road district will get you to many beautiful and historic sites. I saw the City Pillar Shrine, it was closed but still an impressive sight from outside. All the buildings are so ornate, intricately carved and painted and tiled, it is an amazing view though I imagine the maintenance, cleaning and upkeep is an enormous challenge as well :P The best by far I have seen to date was The Temple of the Reclining Buddha; Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangklaram, um, however its pronounced :P known to most as Wat Po. Wat meaning temple so all the Wat something or others that are everywhere on my maps are all temples. Haha, I haven’t yet mastered many words, just a few basics and I hate the way people look at you when you are butchering their language so I just write it down or say it in English....but it makes it easier to at least understand the language even if you can’t speak it!
Wat Po is actually older than the city of Bangkok itself making it the oldest temple in the city. And in 1832 was expanded as a learning center and so is also essentially Thailand’s first University and Traditional Thai massage as a medicinal art is still taught there. Guarding the gates are statues of Marco Polo….go figure? So many Buddhas, I totally lost count but I know there were hundreds These are called Chedi for they are decorated with ceramic tiles and three dimensional ceramic pieces which form intricate floral patterns .Reclining Buddha is forty-six meters long and fifteen meters high, decorated with gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and the soles of his feet. The latter display 108 auspicious signs which distinguish a true Bhudda…It was an amazing and beautiful place, so much effort, time, art and money put into the building of worship spaces and idols…..

Night Walk

I took a wonderfully long walk on the beach tonight. Chaweng Beach to be exact, it is in the northeast corner of the island and the beach I am staying at. It was beautiful. Some of the restaurants open up onto the beach and there were a few candlelit dinners being enjoyed by couples along the way. The stars were very bright and out on the water I could see the lights of just a few boats at sea. The sand was cool and soft and white and when I walked near the edge of the tide the water was warm and the salty scent smelled fresh and clean. Every so often I would walk by someone lighting a floating paper lantern, huge white cylinders that get lit and the lantern floats up and away and then burns in the sky, it is supposed to be good luck :) and the sky was dotted with them. About half way through my 2 mile journey I sat down to enjoy the view and serendipity would have it a resort down the way set off some fireworks, a delightful finale to my night and perfect timing! I half considered cozying up on a beach chaise and spending the whole night out there….

Meditations

Ah, the beach is always a place where Gaia sooths my soul. I can get outside my mind and really rest, I tend to be thinker, planner and organizer and am always sorting and filing input to be put to use at a later date. Especially in new places my head is always working overtime. Learning the language, the streets, the favorite shops, where do I want to go next, how do I get from here to somewhere else, its good I suppose in that it takes me very little time to learn to efficiently navigate new cities and it is always a challenge I love! But the beach is where I am truly on vacation :) I can feel my soul relax near the ocean. My mind can finally turn the unoccupied sign over ;P haha. In the city I get excited, then bored and am always looking for whats next but on the beach I could just stay for days, just letting my mind wander and I always feel healed and rejuvenated afterwards. My prayers tonight are with the Haliai, the Sea Nymphs of Greek mythology as I practice my understanding of the connection to the Sea….

Paradise

Ah yes I finally pried myself away from the party and made it to the beach. This is what I am talking about! What a beautiful place, I am loving everything about it, the smell of the ocean, which I always forget how much I miss until I am standing in it again :) and the vivid lush Green tropical paradise as far as the eye can see. HUGE coconut trees, and sparkling aqua blue water glistening under the sun. I love that its warm but not too hot outside….it stays around the 80s and the nights are so cool you just open a window and turn on a fan. The weather is perfect, I feel silly for doubting the beginning of rainy season being good travel time (knock on wood). I can swim and nap and relax all day and there are restaurants and shops lining the street just behind the beach. I am also staying on that road so all I have to do is walk out my door and across the street and I am at the beach!

Traveling on...

So to get to Koh Tao from Bangkok you have a few options. 1 you can fly to Surat Thani (mainland) then take a bus/taxi to the peir, ferry to the island and then taxi to your beach/guesthouse. 2 train to Suratthani Train station, then bus/taxi to peir and ferry etc. Or Bus the whole way – bus even gets on the ferry then taxi to your lodging. I was thinking train seems like it would be a nice ride but the folks I am traveling with wanna do the bus route, okay, sounds good, we'll give it a shot. Now to go figure out the timetables, fares, terminals and make sure we all get on the same one! They train and bus take the same amount of time but with the bus you have a lot less transport changes to make and that sounds good to me :) .....

Pictures are from the Pier at dawn, the ride was 3 hours on the ferry to the island....

Crystal Method

Sooo, guess whos playing a venue in Bangkok day tomorrow…..Crystal Method! Yep, they have a show at the Tunnel but there is also a smaller gig at a rooftop SupperClub called Gazebo. Should be a fun night, there is a group of us going together and I am looking forward to it, yea! I am going with a great group of girls I have been hanging with here and we all LOVE to dance. Dancing shoes, check; dancing crew, check; dancing tunes, check, check……To be continued …….

........Ah, great show, well it was actually a DJ set, but the music was good and it wasn’t as crowded as I had feared :) I guess they are sort of unknown in Thailand, most of the people there looked like foreigners, haha, well they don’t know what they are missing! They went on about 11 and were still going at 1:30. I saw a lot of familiar faces and got to say goodbye to the Bangkok crew……

Meditaitions

Love darts is my activity of the day :) Everyone I encounter will get a little dart from my heart to theirs filled with a goodwill blessing. Peace, harmony, happiness, strength, compassion, serenity, humor, honor whatever is needed. I am tuning my energy to those around me and letting love flow freely. I am energized today and feel like a font of well-being. Blessed Be!

The Bangkok Sky Trains

So I have been using the public transportation here a lot and I am pretty impressed. The BTS (Bangkok Sky Train) is an elevated train with 2 lines running in the central city area and connected to a third. I can get from the MBK/National Stadium area all the way past sala deuong sp? Where the night market is or back over to Sukhumvit with all the restaurants clubs and hotels are or up north to Victory Monument or Chuatuchuk park where weekend market is. It is clean and the trains are air conditioned, there are vendors for food and stuff but it is all spread out, organized and not like the cramped & tiny street stalls…there are also trash cans in the BTS stations TG! I have been carrying my trash around with me on the streets each day because I can’t bring myself to litter (the streets are FULL of it) but there are NO trash cans. Someone told me it they were removed for bombing scares but jeez louise the trash is outrageous, people just drop their trash on the ground anywhere! It makes me cringe, and then when it rains the streets just smells like wet garbage, ug. Now if only they would extend the rails to the Banglapoo area (meuseums, temples and hostels) but anyway, the BTS is very clean :) Kudos to the city on that one!

In the picture Nadalie, a french traveller I was spending the day with, recognized a billboard from a project she worked on and was taking a photo

Cardio...

I went for a long bike ride in Nachida Thani today. It felt great to get out and exercise, not that I haven’t been dancing my tail off but REAL exercise. It is such a different environment though, the air is heavier, the humidity is so high the air has weight. The temperature is nice, in the 80s mostly and there is almost always a breeze. It is nice out here, so green and fresh, its like everything had miracle grow dumped on it, all the vegetation is huge and thriving. Giant Palms and lots of tropical flowers. There is a big lake that all the homes circle and a beautiful brick paved road that goes all the way around. Lots of ex-pats, walking their dogs and riding bicycles and everyone is friendly and smiling….like a small Midwestern town transplanted to paradise, haha. Now if only something could be done about the mosquitoes…..

Tuk Tuks

So a form of transport here is the tuk tuk, they don’t have meter so it’s all negotiated beforehand. It is a little open air carriage with 3 wheels and almost always a relation of Evil Kenevil as the driver. These guys are nuts, weaving in and out of traffic, zooming across busy intersections. You definitely get where you are going very quickly but be sure to hold on for dear life! I gave one my first shot yesterday as Fatima and I were running late to meet Gayani for dinner and looking at the traffic we knew we couldn’t make it in time taking the taxi or bus. Sooooo, what a ride and it sounded like we were at a motorcross track! Racing along back and forth between cars sometimes even sharing a lane with oncoming motorbikes!!! Halleluiah what an adrenaline rush :) turning corners was the best part, it was like an amusement park ride but without the safety belt …. Whew. We did make it to our destination all in one piece and were even early to dinner, HA HA. I would recommend a tuk tuk for in town travel but not for the faint of heart.

Meditations

The Full moon. In plain view she displays her cycles of illumination and shadow and they are powerful enough to influence vast oceans. Incredibly beautiful and constant she brings light into darkness. Eternally feminine, my celestial mentor infuses me with the recognition of my own brilliance. Through the patterns of natural cycles, ebbs and flows, ups and downs, waxing and waning I am reminded that all will eventually return to full. I thank the goddess for my cup overflows, and I know I am in a full bloom of my life right now. Sister Moon smiles her blessing upon us tonight.

R & R

I decided to get out of the city center and came out to the burbs to stay at my friend Gayanis. She seems like such a party animal, and she is a great dancing partner, but truly its all hidden under a domestic suburbanite. Haha. This is totally going to spoil me. Having a cook to feed me and the maid doing my laundry….there is a pool right out back and her littles ones love to swim and are adorable but usually with the nanny. Ah, it’s a hard knock life eh :P I may forgo Saturday night in the city for just sitting by the pool and relaxing here again. Mhmm, time to get some reading and relaxing in.

Party on....

Oy, ya so I am hurting today…..rocked out a little too hard last night :p but still having a great time. The sun actually came out yesterday and today yea! I am taking that as a promising sign for going south to the beach. The plan for today is massage, eat, sleep, then maybe sleep some more…. Ha. So I think I will take it easy tonight and venture out into the craziness again on Saturday. Is it me or do the nights seem longer in Bangkok ….

Bed SupperClub

A fun gathering spot/watering hole, very western lounge décor with big beds lining all the walls upstairs and down, with white down pillows & cushions and white sheets. It is so cozy, everyone removes their shoes to lounge and get really comfortable....I can't imagine lines of shoes in front of the seating of any clubs I have been to back home, even with the big futon mattress lounge decor. Haha. Expensive cover, pricey but very strong drinks but great music – it was latin night in one room so I got my salsa on :) and progressive house in the other. The scene was all the beautiful people, it was a sexy international crowd, everyone dressed to impress and I don’t think I met 2 people from the same place all night. I love the diversity here, you can find anything, any kind of people or food or music you want. Makes me want to consider living in a more diverse city long term. The variety is so enticing I have heard a few travelers say you can’t spend more than a couple nights in Bangkok but maybe they were visiting a different Bangkok. I am having trouble prying myself away form all the wonderful people, new places, tastes, and experiences every day. I mean I am in no hurry since I have till whenever but the city has definitely been a FABULOUS jumping off point. I can see how the Khao San road area would get old quick, I haven’t spent more than a couple hours there total my whole trip so far but there is so much more to see and SOOOOO many interesting people.

Meditations

Today I am tending the temple, as in my body is a temple. I have been going non-stop for 10 days and am feeling the effects already. I normally lead a very active lifestyle but none the less traveling is so much more exhausting. Everything takes more energy to do in a foreign city. So, though I am taking my supplements and attempting to feed the physical body healthy stuff, today gets a little extra TLC…

Soi Arab

I visited an interesting area called Soi Arab, and as you could probably guess it’s the Middle Eastern district of Bangkok, between Soi 3 and 5 on Sukhumvit. It had a feel all its own, all the women in traditional Muslim garb with their heads (and many faces) covered. Speaking Arabic and Farci and even the signs were in Arabic instead of Thai. Walking by many of the open air restaurants/patios you could smell the many Shesha pipes being smoked. We wandered through till we came to a place Callum recognized and went in to eat. The smell alone was enough to encourage an appetite but I was already hungry so the small wait for our food after we ordered seemed longer, ha. The food was FABULOUS! The best Ganug I have ever had, actually everything was very authentic. We had Hummus, cucumber yogurt, ganug, curry, kabob, BBQ lamb and chicken all delicious! I was so full I almost needed to be rolled home but it was a great dinner!

Lampini Park

Today is Mothers Day J it is sorta rainy and drizzling again outside, and the gray skies are a little depressing. Though I can only blame myself for coming while it is still rainy season :P I had a chilled out afternoon today…met up with Callum, He is Scottish and I met his brother who sells kilts. Score, I know a whole community of men who love to where kilts! Haha. We walked a bit, tried some street food; sausage (what part of the “pig” who knows) on a stick, some pineapple and a strange purple fruit that looks like dragon fruit but the color was different. Also the street vendors with juice make the BEST OJ…fresh squeezed but sooo sweet and they strain all the pulp which is how I like it, YEA! We met up with others and walked the park and then took some paddle boats on the lake, a nice relaxing afternoon. The funniest thing I saw was a bunch of people doing aerobics in the middle of the park to cheesy pop music it was rainy but they were still really into it…haha, cute

Meditaions

“Like water, which can clearly mirror the sky and trees only so long as its surface is undisturbed, the mind can only reflect the true image of the Self when it is tranquil and wholly relaxed. Wind – and the ripples will distort the reflection; a storm and the reflection disappears altogether.” – Indra Devi

So much input, new experiences, new sights, new tastes, new friends, new fun! I am in overload mode and so today my focus is a quiet mind….

Thailands 3rd gender

They are called Ladyboys. So yes I have seen drag queens and the like back home but this is different…it’s a phenomenon, all these petite Asian girls who are really guys…boob jobs, great makeup, the works. I heard a couple traumatized western travelers say they were completely fooled, like they spent a few days with them before they found out she was a he, haha, makes me think of that song funky kole medina…..sheila was a man , LOL. They are very sensitive to being outed also, my friend Gayani asked a guy if he knew the girl he was dancing with was a ladyboy (which was obvious to some) and drama of it all almost became a fight! Yikes! Anyway there are soooo many ladyboy prostitutes, and prostitutes in general, I didn’t even realize until some locals explained to me that all the girls around (sitting at the bars, standing in front of massage parlors, etc) weren’t just girls hanging around. Whoa I was surprised it really is everywhere, its not just like a streetwalker thing nor is contained in like a red light district. Crazy. And ew.

Adjusting...

So I know its technically only day 5 but it feels like I have been here for so much longer, I have squeezed so much in and barely had time to sleep. I may have to think of slowing the pace to keep it up for 4 more months……or not ;P I have learned some Thai and can kinda communicate :P and know enough of the lay of the land to find the places and people I want to…..and the city is kinda growing on me. Yes at first my eco-sensibilities were a little offended by the smog, smell and ALL the trash but the people are so polite (granted everyone is hustling something) but they are really nice. Great attitudes and superb service.

I think I have adjusted to the time change well enough, since I have always been a night owl anyway its working out fine. Tomorrow is a national holiday (queen’s birthday) known as mothers day so it oughta be a fun night since pretty much ALL Thais are off work tomorrow :) Also a little trivia fact for the day the King of Thailand was actually born in Austin TX!! and he is the only living monarch to have been born in the US....cool.

Underground Bangkok Radio

Underground Bangkok Radio (check them out on Facebook) - Yea I finally found it, some real electronic music ;P I have been asking around some of the locals I know and trying to find a real dance music scene. I have been to a lot of clubs but the music is all top 40s remix bulloney. Haha, I know, yes I am a music snob :P Anyway I finally made a connection and found out UBRadio had a UK DJ spinning Drum & Bass tonight. I went to club 808 and heard the best tunes since I’ve been here. The crowd was mediocre; there just isn’t a scene (its in its infancy) here in the central city I guess, most Thai like either traditional or pop/hip hop crap. Oh well. It was a fun night tho, I made new friends from Barcelona, Bangkok, Scotland and New Zealand! I definitely got some good dancing in and met the peeps at the club so now I can keep posted on whos gonna be around…not that I am sticking around in Bangkok long but ya never know…It is really kinda odd that there are 10 million people and the nightlife is basically the travelers in very 6th street like bars or the sex trade. Haha, anyway I am sending some loving thoughts to all my ATX music creators I miss your art, my MP3 player will be tiding me over till I get home :)

Materialism Thai style

Today was Shopping at MBK and the Midwestern girl in me was fairly amazed, A mall that covers like 2 city blocks and is 7 stories high! HAHA. There are skywalks over the streets connecting the mall across blocks and to the sky trains, stadium, and museums, its nice (and I suppose even necessary) to not have to walk across the insane traffic in the streets to get to a building on the other side of the road. It is still outside so you get to enjoy the aromas of Bangkok, which I would describe as hmmm, the smell of NYC with some fish sauce on top. Yep, that good. And the mall was less of a mall in the traditional western sense and more of an indoor compact of vendors, stalls, stores, racks and tables. It was funny to because no “spot” sold any variety, it was all purses or all luggage or all perfume, or all phones and the purse places had all the same stuff as each other as did all the camera spots or shoe vendors, variety was not a major factor in the shopping experience. Also interesting was the wide open distribution by the DVD places of obviously pirated materials. Makes me think of those funny copyright commercials at the beginning of dvds with the guys “stealing” a movie, and it is all just ridiculously cheap….this coming from me with 48g of MP3s, I may be coming home with a movie collection too :P the real steal is the video games….that is a hard to resist one for me, I could have every game I want for the price of 1 back home……ah the temptations of materialism, ha.

Americans...

Crazy night in Bangkok #1. Haha, well it was a blast, have definitely had crazier but the twist of being in a strange place where you don’t speak the language makes it a little more interesting. I went out with the girls starting out at the night market, like a giant fleamarket but at night and in the red light district. There were trannies of every sort everywhere….and people advertising ping pong shows right and left but mostly just dirty and crowded so soon we headed to Khao San rd, hit up a couple dance clubs, it was fun the music was good and the drinks were cheap. There are travelers everywhere, more of them I think than Thai :P after the afterhours club, what the heck, we met some Americans and headed to a party, hopped in a couple cabs and we are off. One of the guys says he needs to make a quick stop, after 2 “quick stops” I notice the neighborhoods getting shadier & shadier and the rest of us losing our patience with him. Finally last stop I see him talking to some girls on the street, she joins the cab and says she is gonna take us to see her “friend” for him…..okay I am not an idiot the dude is on the hunt for a high and I (nor the others in the cab) am not interested in joining the chase. My alarm bells are ringing and I insist the cabbie stop for me and 1 other to get out, we grab our own cab and enjoy the rest of the morning, I hope he found what he was looking for without incident. I made it to the hotel and the fun was worth the roundabout adventure but so far the only jerks I have met have been Americans, boo.

Taxis and stuff....

Taxis and stuff…Okay day 3, time to really crack down and learn some Thai. Knowing where I am going is nice but not being able to communicate it to the person who is driving is bad, and these are cabbies in the true sense of meaning hustlers. If you can even find a car that will run his meter instead of trying to barter a straight charge (always very high), you will be coerced into a “quick stop” … this is where the cab drops you at a store/venue where they pay him a commission for bringing you, of course they want you to stay and/or buy something. It is really annoying, usually out of the way and they get more for this than usually what your fare is worth and still want you to pay them……an interesting note is that it is common for them to have an on call translation service via cell phone, and they advertise with signs in the window. I have had to use this service twice now :P

Overall it is kinda a strange vibe that everyone is willing to negotiate anything and everything costs something….(2baht to use the ladies room at the MBK, a mall) granted 2baht is like a nickel but still its weird, because in addition to wanting to haggle and charge you for every little thing tipping isn’t really a cultural practice at all.

Meditations

It was a long night and an exhausting day, but todays gratitude all goes to my inner voice and lucky me for my many life experiences that have fine-tuned it already. Years ago I read a great book called the Gift of Fear. It was about learning to hear that little voice and analyze those prickly back of neck feelings so that instead of overreacting or brushing them off, you can see through a situation and recognize the perhaps minute out of place details that tag it as “wrong” to your subconscious and remove yourself when necessary. Fear is a gift/tool to be used rationally as a security device. And twice now in Bangkok my gift of fear has told me “TIME TO GO” and I thank the goddess that I have the ears to hear it J. Today’s mediations are for listening on the inside….

Ping Pong

OMG, so scarred for life may be a little too dramatic but I am definitely disturbed. So the warnings and advice I got included, settle the show price before hand, DO NOT buy any drinks (they will be the most expensive you ever do) don’t pay till the show starts and be prepared to cover your eyes and/or leave early. So Nadia found a place, Gayani confirmed a 100baht price and we walked in. Seemed like your average strip joint styling but at least one of the girls was a guy with a bad boob job! Ack! Then the show began and few “girls” tried to sit by us and ask for drinks, again seemed like normal strip club behavior….but the show was brutal, not even captivating by disturbing standards. The greatest irony was the loud rap music they were playing had a chorus going “if your p**ssy’s clean let me hear you scream” I can’t imagine cleanliness being a description for anyone on that stage! Yikes….. and I have totally lost my taste for bananas after seeing a few get squeezed out into the air caught, put back in & used again, even if they fell on the stage and someone else pick it up it was reused, ug. Anyway the finale was a beaut, Towards the end I was getting a feeling we should be going and right about then 3 large Thai women approached us 3 small foreign women and tried to charge us and extra 2500baht for misc. stuff, including drinks we never bought for the “girls” … total scam and luckily Gayani is an aggressive fast talking no-nonsense gal (my first lesson in assertive interactions with Thai) and we left without more than minced words (and Nadias near heart attack …. I almost thought she was gonna faint from fear of the threats) So, when in Rome (Bangkok) do as Romans, ping pong, check, and never again, haha.

Meditations

One of my plans for this trip is to get back to my daily meditations. Why not share :) so here goes day 1. I am starting with cleansing and clearing... Love moves more freely through a clear heart and spirit. So I am off to cleanse, clear and center and will be sending out lots of LOVE today!

Day 1

I am sharing a room with Nadia, she is from Germany and this is her second trip to Thailand. She is cute and cracking me up. We are planning to go sightseeing tomorrow and to the night market tonight. She says she wants to see a ping-pong show. Yes, THAT kind of ping-pong show. I don’t know what the obsession is, I have talked to a few fellow female travelers and they all think its like a not to missed novelty??? Was I l less sheltered, I mean I am not a porn fiend, nor a porn hater but I think I could better spend my time and money…..perhaps resisting the donkey shows across the border gives me more will power experience. I Dunno but I have a feeling they will be disappointed, Ha.

The Escape :)

So I finally made it. For a while there I thought the universe was turning me in a different direction but it was just a series of postponements. And after all that preparing and waiting and wondering what could possibly hold me up next I had a most fabulous final week in the ATX. Yep, sometimes going with the flow turns out to be better than trying to force your own trail :)

28 hours in transit. Austin to LAX was easy, I’ve done that leg before but the almost 5 hour layover REALLY sucked. Not to mention the 6$ an hour wifi fees, I miss the ATX already, bye-bye free wifi. HAHA! The flight wasn’t packed tho and that was nice, 14 hours to Taiwan then another 3.5 to Bangkok. It wasn’t as bad as my worst imaginings and I have definitely had way worse airline experiences, in fact China Airlines food wasn’t half bad, and I passed up the last meal they served b/c I was still full from the previous two :P haha. I slept a bit and read a bit but was mostly too excited to do much of either. I met a couple other travelers and we might all head down to the beach next week together, YEA! Saran is on his way to Koh Tao to teach diving (score! I am planning to so some diving myself) and Erica is wanting to teach ESL and maybe rent an art studio here in Bangkok. The BKK airport was a hoot all the taxis and limo drivers and cars and buses all trying to be the most helpful (and get your fare). I made my first local call to meet up with Gayani & Nadia and it was all much easier than I expected. Bangkok is BIG. It was late (2am) when I left the airport but it took almost an hour to get to the other side of town on a fairly empty expressway. I am looking forward to exploring in the daylight. I am off to take a shower (been thinking of that for 26 hours now) and pass out. I am exhausted and I think after a shower the tired will finally win over the excited and I can really rest.