Wo gen Cathy qu Taiguo!

Thailand.  I seriously didn't think my travels would bring me here.  I know it's on most people's hit list for traveling in Asia, but it really wasn't on mine when I first left Canada for this side of the world.

Well, it so happened that Cathy could easily get a tourist visa for Thailand.  Unlike some countries (ahem...Canada), Thailand more or less accepts Mainlanders if they want to see the country.  And so Cathy and I chose it for a destination of travel.  And what a beautiful country it is.  I can now see why so many Western expats love Thailand.  It's freakin' awesome.  The weather is great and Thai food is pretty much superior to most Asian cuisine.

We flew into Bangkok fairly late, but caught the last train away from the airport towards our hotel near Th Khaosan, a major enclave for foreigners. Khaosan Road isn't accessible by the train, so we stopped at the station closest to it.  Typical Asian antics immediately ensued once off the train - arguing with drivers over taxi or tuk-tuk fares.  Fortunately for us, a somewhat confused Frenchman and extremely confident middle-aged Aussie were willing to pile into a taxi with us.  The Aussie bargained hard for all of us and won.  We got to Khaosan Road by 1 AM for cheap.

The driver dropped us on the other side of Khaosan and told us to walk through it.  We were confused, but followed his directions.  Walking down the foreign enclave at 1 AM with luggage wasn't really our cup of tea, especially with blaring disco music, half-drunk washed-up hippies, and half naked women.  Okay, okay, the half naked women thing I can dig.  But, it wasn't the most ideal hotel-searching situation.  We eventually found our hotel after a tuk tuk driver helped us.

The next day, we set out for the Grand Palace.  Although there were so many people in and around it, Wat Phra Kaew proved to be quite photogenic.  We stayed around the premises for a while taking many pictures.  After that, we went to check out the Sunday Chatuchak Market.  We went snack-food crazy.

Tuk Tuk rides are as fun as they are dangerous. You don't have much
of a choice but to take them. I didn't mind it, but I'm not sure about Cathy...

Wat Phra Kaew. Thais get in for free. Foreigners paid 10 bucks or something ridiculous like that.
I probably could have passed off as Thai, but I saw a group of Filipinos get busted for trying to fool the guards.

Trying some manual shots with my SLR.

"Are you looking at that handsome Thai guy over there?"
"Are you looking at that GROUP of hot Thai girls?"

We spent the good part of the morning just taking pictures of this beautiful place.

Cathy's rented long dress. We weren't allowed into the Wat unless we covered our legs.

Elaborate artwork was all around us.

Gorging on marinated pork kababs and coconut ice cream at the Sunday Market.

Fresh fruit smoothies.  I seriously couldn't get enough of these when in Thailand!

Delicious and flavorful skewers

Some sort of chocolate drink

After the market, we went back to Khaosan Road in the evening for dinner.  We went into a Pad Thai restaurant.  2 groups of white tourists were in behind us.  They were given bigger, nicer tables.  We were given the rickety table that leaned to one side.  Our server acted dismissive to Cathy and I and interested in everything this American couple were saying.  Also, they were seated after us, got their food before I even got my drink, and left while I got my drink after I asked for it 3 times!  An older female server got me my drink. The guy server was unapologetic.  I can't stand so-called "people of color" kissing up to the white man.  It makes me puke when Asians put on a yellow-face (or in this case Thai-face I suppose) for laowai just to seem "friendly" or "authentic."

Also, hen Asians look down or talk down to their own people, all I can think about is the word "traitor."  I've seen such a person before in the Philippines.  Heck, some students at the school display this spiteful attitude towards the Chinese teachers and counselors.  Uninspiring fools.

Is it too much to ask to be treated like equals?

Maybe the server hates Chinese.  I can only speculate, but he did seem like an effing racist who has in turn internalized racism and acts in a typecast way.  Way to go Uncle Tom.  After waiting an hour, after inquiring about our food multiple times, I threw down the money for my beer, and told them to get serving lessons before we left.  While the woman who served me beer seemed worried, the guy didn't even flinch.

While Cathy and I kept somewhat civil about this incident, I hope that server pisses off some Thai boxer in a 'roid rage who so happens to look Chinese in the future.  That'll teach him a lesson.

Th Khaosan

After leaving that establishment, we went down a side-road that veered off Khaosan.  Getting to a part-street-food-part-restaurant that had mostly old women as workers, we knew this place would serve up some good eats.


Restaurant tip in Asia #1: Food tastes better if there's a old person cooking.

The place was pretty packed...

Restaurant tip in Asia #2: The more customers in a walk-in restaurant, the better the food.

...so we had to sit at a fold-out table across the street behind some middle aged Italians.  Service was excellent despite the place being so busy.  After about a minute of ordering beer, it appeared at the table.  The old lady who was cooking barbecue seafood even came over to us and took our order. As you can see in the picture below, the prawns were pretty big.

Failing the Pad Thai, we opted for good ol' barbecue.

After eating, we walked around a bit more before going for our First Thai massage.  It would have been nice to go into a Thai spa to get our first Thai massage, but now I see places like that are just filled with useless gimmicks to up the price.  Cathy and I stumbled across a place on a road that was not frequented by pedestrians.  The sign read "Real Thai massage," but when we entered, it was a barber shop.  A couple in their mid 50s were sitting there reading newspapers.  They looked like they were a Filipino uncle and aunt of mine.

Bringing us upstairs, where there were 4 roll up beds on a bumpy laminate floor surrounded with tasteful but slightly worn netting.  It looked like something out of my relatives' house in the Philippines!  Once the guy started massaging me, I almost fell asleep because it felt so good.  Cathy looked like she was in heaven when getting her's.

Ended the night writing postcards together in our hotel room. What an interesting first day in Thailand!