Monday, July 26, 2004

Back in Bangkok

Well, we caught a flight back to Thailand, and as I write, I'm sitting in an internet cafe on Suhkumvit Road. I think were here for a few days, but our plan was to come to Bangkok and make a plan. There's so much we still haven't done...full moon party in Koh Samui...snorkeling is Rai Lei...Not to mention responsible stuff like getting dental work done, and a screening for skin cancer.  I  got a job offer in Hong Kong that I'm considering, but I really don't want to delay the trip to China....like I said decisions decisions.

In the comments, you guys have been asking some questions about some of the little things, like food and prices, so I thought I would answer some of those questions here.  Hmmm... where to start? Sara asked "what was the most exotic things we've eaten?". Well, not being the most adventurous of eaters, I think it might be better to tell you what I didn't eat. BUGS, oh my god, there are carts full of roasted bugs to eat on the corner every night. The other night at California 2 I watched some of our friends happily eating grasshoppers out of a plastic bag. I didn't have any. While I'm on the subject of the street carts....they also sell a variety of seafood from them as well. There is dried squid, and fried squid, or perhaps you would like yours barbequed mmmmm then it looks like your eating sea horses. In Viet Nam we went to a restaurant that had like six or seven dishes that featured frog, or eel. I had chicken. 

Sage was asking about prices. Like "how to live like a king on 10 bucks a day".  I've seen how the Kings live around here, and it cost a bit more than 10 dollars a day. For those kind of prices its far more like living like a local. The more westernized things get the more it costs. In Siem Reap you could spend up to a thousand dollars a night for a hotel room(but it must be really nice). On the other hand if you want to a stay at a inexpensive guest house you could spend as little as twelve dollars. Food is generally pretty cheap. It's pretty easy to find a meal for under three dollars. Beer can get really cheap, in Viet Nam we were drinking beer at this little beer hoi that sold beer in one liter plastic jugs (it looked very similar to gasoline). It was good beer, and I think it was less than a dollar for a liter.  Clothes are really cheap, Tee shirts for a couple bucks, shorts for five dollars, and if you're adventurous there are tailors everywhere trying to get you to let them make you a suit, usually for around seventy five dollars(although I heard one say eighteen dollars). I have been warned about these guys scaming you once you're in their shop,  but I have no first hand experience....What do I want a suit for? So, you really could live one ten dollrs a day, but certainly not like a king.  I've found that living like a king costs around one hundred bucks a day, but it's good to be king.......

While I'm talking about clothes....before we left the states Harv and I got a bunch of these new shirts and shorts that are made from a new kind of fabric. It's a synthetic the call "dry-fit", or "stay-dry" something like that, and it's the best. Most everyone wears cotton, and once it gets wet, it just holds the heat inside your clothes. This new fabric wicks moisture to the outside where it evaporates, and cools you. I have one cotton tee shirt, and when I wear it I definitely feel the difference. You actually can see the difference, I've noticed a couple of times where other people have sweat stains on there shirts and are glistening with sweat, and Harv and I are dry. If you visit a humid environment I would definitely recomend getting this stuff. All the major sportswear brands have some variation of it.

1 Comments:

At 4:11 PM, Blogger sage said...

Party on, intrepid travellers!

Gotta love modern science when it comes to clothing attire, (spandex not withstanding!)

Thanks for the info on cost of living and expenses, it sounds more than reasonable and I'll bet if you ate more grasshoppers food would be even cheaper!
ICK!

I'm not certain if the point about dental work was an inside joke or not (seeing the pix with toothbrushes) but if you need work done then there is nothing more important then your dental health.
Bad dental can make you mental.

How is the weather?
The international news has been showing massive flooding across parts of southern Asia and we hope you guys are staying safe and dry and fending off the plethora of exotic tropical bugs and such.

About the food;
Is the Thai food we know in the States a reasonable approximation of the fare you all have been slurping?
Pad Thai noodles and the ubiquitous Tom Kum Kee Soup?
It probably means you have to like or at least acquire the taste for Lemon Grass!
I'll wager the seafood is spectacular!

Have you and Harv learned any useful Southeast Asian phrases you could share?
Other than the obvious "more beer!" in six dialects?!
;^)

Good luck on the new opportunities in Hong Kong and wishing you and Harvey much continued success and adventures in the land of far-eastern mysteries.
Cheers
sage

 

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