Note: If you accidentally bought a bottle of Bacardi Breezer at 7-11 that is not equipped with a twist-off cap and you just hopped in a taxi without a your Swiss Army knife, ask your friendly Bangkok taxi driver to open it. And he will. With his teeth.
Another note: If a section of your TV screen goes fuzzy around an actor's mouth, chances are they are smoking. The fuzzy bit is to prevent people from actually seeing the cigarette being smoked. You can see them holding or lighting a cigarette. You can even see the smoke from the fuzzy bits on the screen, but you can't see the act of smoking. This is all a way to prevent drug abuse in Thailand, apparently. They're trying to shut the bars down at 12 now too. Really, this is Bangkok. You shut the bars down before 2am (which seems too early here anyways) and you'll lose people.
The weekend was pretty uneventful for me. I spent all day/evening Saturday on the couch, watching the same episode of CSI:Miami I'd seen all week. My adventures in Thai street cuisine came to bitter end when something attacked my stomach and prevented me from staying vertical for much longer than it takes to run to the toilet. Yup, we've all been there.
I rallied for a couple of hours on Saturday night when I met up with Kate, Melissa and Noemie, all ultimate friends who I hadn't really seen in the past 2 years. We attempted to catch a poetery reading but missed it. But we did catch Tapas, in the Patpong area. You can substitute the name 'Tapas' for the name of any other expat bar in Asia. It's small, smoky, crowded and loud. And if you've never been to an Asian expat bar, take those adjectives and multiply them by a factor of 100. Crowded means you stand closer to strangers than most people do to those they're married. Dancing involves bumping and grinding out of necessity, not of desire. And loud is tinnitis-in-10-seconds loud. The music is OK though.
I rallied once again for Sunday's game of pick-up at the Tor Bor military base and made some solid plans for Xmas and New Year's. More to come later in the week, as they occur.
My first work assignment was 9am on Monday. I had to be at the Israeli Embassy for a terrorism talk, or something. Now, the Israeli Embassy being what it is, it's not the easiest place to find and they don't publish directions in the Lonely Planet. If you don't know where it is, you better find someone who does. That was my Monday morning; strolling around Sukhimvit Soi 19 looking for a non-descript office tower where I would travel to the 25th floor and listen to some academic talk about how Thailand is probably going to be attacked. I have to write 30 inches on it by tomorrow. And, I had the presence of mind to take my camera so I could take a picture of the fine gentleman who knows far more about terrorism than I want to know ever. Too bad the picture didn't work. Hey, end of the roll; not my fault.
Next: How Suzanne attempts to overcome writer's block.
Another note: If a section of your TV screen goes fuzzy around an actor's mouth, chances are they are smoking. The fuzzy bit is to prevent people from actually seeing the cigarette being smoked. You can see them holding or lighting a cigarette. You can even see the smoke from the fuzzy bits on the screen, but you can't see the act of smoking. This is all a way to prevent drug abuse in Thailand, apparently. They're trying to shut the bars down at 12 now too. Really, this is Bangkok. You shut the bars down before 2am (which seems too early here anyways) and you'll lose people.
The weekend was pretty uneventful for me. I spent all day/evening Saturday on the couch, watching the same episode of CSI:Miami I'd seen all week. My adventures in Thai street cuisine came to bitter end when something attacked my stomach and prevented me from staying vertical for much longer than it takes to run to the toilet. Yup, we've all been there.
I rallied for a couple of hours on Saturday night when I met up with Kate, Melissa and Noemie, all ultimate friends who I hadn't really seen in the past 2 years. We attempted to catch a poetery reading but missed it. But we did catch Tapas, in the Patpong area. You can substitute the name 'Tapas' for the name of any other expat bar in Asia. It's small, smoky, crowded and loud. And if you've never been to an Asian expat bar, take those adjectives and multiply them by a factor of 100. Crowded means you stand closer to strangers than most people do to those they're married. Dancing involves bumping and grinding out of necessity, not of desire. And loud is tinnitis-in-10-seconds loud. The music is OK though.
I rallied once again for Sunday's game of pick-up at the Tor Bor military base and made some solid plans for Xmas and New Year's. More to come later in the week, as they occur.
My first work assignment was 9am on Monday. I had to be at the Israeli Embassy for a terrorism talk, or something. Now, the Israeli Embassy being what it is, it's not the easiest place to find and they don't publish directions in the Lonely Planet. If you don't know where it is, you better find someone who does. That was my Monday morning; strolling around Sukhimvit Soi 19 looking for a non-descript office tower where I would travel to the 25th floor and listen to some academic talk about how Thailand is probably going to be attacked. I have to write 30 inches on it by tomorrow. And, I had the presence of mind to take my camera so I could take a picture of the fine gentleman who knows far more about terrorism than I want to know ever. Too bad the picture didn't work. Hey, end of the roll; not my fault.
Next: How Suzanne attempts to overcome writer's block.
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