March 9-10, 2007
Flew from Los Angeles Airport to Taipei, Taiwan, on the way to Bangkok. Note: When
exiting the airport to go to the metered taxis, after customs,
leave the building out of exit
'B'. Go down the moving stairway,
down to the street.
March 11th
I arrived at 1 o'clock in the morning. I took a taxi to my friend's
apartment on
Sukhumwit Road and Soi Four. After quickly unpacking,
I went down to a nearby 7-11
store, bought a large bottle of water, and
watched the activities going on in the Nana
Hotel parking lot.
After about 30 minutes, I returned to my friend's apartment and
went to
bed. I got up at about 7:30. I had lunch with my two friends who
live in
Thailand at about noon at a new, small restaurant named 'The
Tavern'. I took a nap and
then went to a bar named 'Biergarten'
with one of my friends. After an hour there, I got
together with
my other friend, we ate dinner, and then we played pool for a couple of
hours. Afterwards, we went out for a few beers and then called it a night.
March 12th
After having breakfast at a small, local restaurant, I went shopping at the
Robinson's
store on Sukhumwit Road and Soi 13. I wanted to buy
some clothes that I would wear
while I was in Thailand. One thing
that I learned during past trips there was that I
could be more
comfortable -- and cooler -- if I wore a undershirt underneath a cotton
shirt. So, I bought a couple of those, a few shirts, some shorts, etc.
Later, I went with
my friend to the 'Biergarten' again and had
some Thai iced teas. We went to 'The
Tavern' again for some dinner
and went out partying again for a couple of hours.
March 13th
I met a couple of my friends from San Diego who were in Thailand at the same
time. We
met at Central Plaza mall and talked about living and
working in Thailand. One of my
two friends was considering the
idea. Afterwards, I went with one of my friends to 'The
Tavern'
again. While we were there, the waitresses were getting drunk because a
man
from Australia had bought a large bottle of red wine and the women
were working hard
at emptying it. That night, I met the author
Dean Barrett at 'The Londoner' restaurant/
pub. He was having
dinner and drinks with a gentleman who had won his weekly
contest.
After about 45 minutes, the three of us went out partying for a couple of hours.
I returned to the apartment at about 1:30am.
March 14th
That morning, I took a 2-hour taxi ride to Pattaya. I was delivering some
clothes for the
less-than-10-years-old nephews and nieces of a Thai
friend in San Diego. The clothes
completely filled up a large
suitcase. After arriving at the Royal Palace Hotel, I
unpacked and
then walked down to 'The Blue Parrot' restaurant and had some lunch.
After
that, I walked across the street and say 'Hi' to the owner, George. A
friend in San
Diego who knew him asked me to do it for him. I
returned to the hotel and called my
friend's family. After taking
a nap, I met three of my friend's family members in front of
the hotel.
They had planned on me renting a motorcycle and following them to their
house. No way! Even though I knew how to drive one, I didn't
want to risk it in that
type of traffic. So, we agreed that I would
remain on my own at the hotel that night, they
would take the suitcase of
clothes with them, and I would get together with them for
dinner the next
night. After they left, I went out for dinner and then went to check out
the scene along 'Walking Street'. One of the things was a Thai man
on the street,
working with a soccer ball and not allowing it to touch the
ground. Further along, I
watched some Thai boxing.
March 15th
I went to 'Shenanigans' for breakfast. Then, I walked around Pattaya
taking
photographs. I did some shopping, had lunch, then took
another nap. (The heat-and-
humidity combination, among other
possible reasons, really drains me. That's why I,
and other non-
Thai people, take naps.) About an hour before sunset, my friend's son,
Jeek (pronounced "jek"), picked me up and we rode his motorcycle back to
his aunt's
house. I was somewhat surprised at the poor living
conditions, but I'd seen it in
other places in Asia before, so it wasn't
a complete shock. (Refer to the images on the
corresponding picture
page.) They cooked a great shrimp noodle meal with some other
dishes. And for the first time, I ate durian. Wow, it was great!
And it didn't smell
terrible like I'd heard from others.
After struggling for about 30 minutes trying to
speak to each other
(because they speak little English and I speak little Thai), Jeek
took
me back to the hotel. I took a quick shower and laid on the bed, watching
TV and
gathering strength to go out that night. However, after
lying there for about 30
minutes, I realized that I was spent from the
previous 4 nights of going out and went to
sleep at 10:30.
March 16th
At 11 o'clock that morning, the taxi that I had reserved from the afternoon
before picked
me up at the hotel and gave me a ride back to my friend's
apartment in Bangkok. As
usual, my friend and I went to the
'Biergarten' for about an hour. It was more or less an
uneventful
day. That night, I went out for a while. I needed to prepare for
the next
day's trip.
March 17th
After having breakfast at 'The Tavern' again, I took a shuttle to the airport
and caught a
flight to Hong Kong. I would spend the next 4 days
there with my friend who arrived the
next day. I fortunately spent
a lot of time planning for the trip, primarily because I don't
speak
Chinese (neither Cantonese nor Mandarin). My friends emailed me the Web
page
-- in Chinese -- for the Shanghai Hotel that I would stay at in
Shenzhen. I showed the
printout to the people at the shuttle
counter at the airport and they directed me to a
company who eventually
gave me a ride to the border, and after going through
immigration and
customs, caught up with me on the other side and gave me a shuttle ride
from the border to the hotel. If it wasn't for this effort, who knows
what part of China I
might have ended up in! I was so tired from
the trip et al, I neither had dinner nor even
wandered around outside
that night, but went to bed at 10:30. I should note that the
Shenzhen Hotel is very nice and some of the rooms are semicircular-shaped.
March 18th
I had breakfast in the hotel's restaurant. It was expensive, but I didn't
know where to
go, so I took the easy way out. A funny thing
happened at the end of the meal. I was
finishing up and noticed
water splashing on my hand. After a few seconds, I realized that
water was dripping from the light located 8 feet above my table. Wo!
So, I informed the
restaurant staff. Afterwards, I walked
around a little bit and checked my email
messages. I watched a
movie in my room, biding time while waiting for my friends to
arrive.
At 1:10, I received a call from my friend that he would be arriving at
the hotel
within a few minutes. I went down to the lobby and
waited for my friends. Eventually,
he arrived, his lady friend
joined us, and we had some sodas in the hotel's restaurant --
at a
different table. He went to his room, got organized, and our other friend
arrived
shortly after that. We had dinner and then went to a
massage parlor. The 15-to-17
year old girl gave us foot and lower
leg massages. (They looked much younger than
that.) Then,
we went to a karaoke bar and spent about 2 hours there. We returned to
our rooms at about 2 in the morning.
March 19th
My friends and I had breakfast at the restaurant of one of their family.
(I was fortunate
to be traveling with them because they had many
connections since one of them had
grown up there.) Afterwards, I
went shopping for headphones and toiletries. One of
my friends
bought fruits for snacks. After that, we went for a head, shoulders, and
arms
massage. Then, we went to lunch. Then, we had lower leg
messages. We went back to
the hotel and took naps (separately).
After that, we went out for a third massage --
Lower legs and arms.
(My friends just can't get enough of that stuff!) We finished
the night by going out to a karaoke bar.
March 20th
After eating breakfast, I exchanged my headphones for another pair. The
one that I had
were already broken. Then, I was able to convince
my friend to go to another city in
southern China. His friend
wanted to stay in Shenzhen, but I said that I only had a
limited amount
of time in China and wanted to return to the original plan of seeing other
places. So, we took a 1-1/2 hour bus ride to Changping. Our other
friend stayed in
Shenzhen. We hired a taxi driver to drive us
around town to see different sites. I
learned that Changping was
used as an experiment by the Chinese government as an
experiment for
gambling; their version of Las Vegas. However, the gambling
establishments are not located in only two or three areas of town. We
had lunch at a
restaurant that was known for serving food the way that
ex-Chairman Mao liked it --
spicy. It wasn't nearly as spicy as Thai or
Indian food, but it was noticeably spicier than
most other Chinese food.
After taking a break at our hotel, we first went out to a
karaoke
bar for drinks. Then we had dinner. Then we finished the night as
usual -- At
a karaoke bar. We got back to the hotel at about 1:00am.
March 21st
We had breakfast and then we took a private car to a hot springs resort --
Yumengdong.
It was well-developed with a few different levels and several
different pools. We
rejoined our friend who arrived there before
us. After spending about 2 hours there (30
minutes of which were
spent waiting for a minivan taxi), we went to a seafood restaurant.
One
of my friends pointed out that we were only a 5-minute drive from the
city of Macau.
After finishing dinner, we took another couple of taxis
back to the hotel. My friends
wanted to go out for another massage
(at 10:30!), so we did that. I waited for 30 minutes
until they
finished and told them that I was too tired to do anything else and that I
needed to get up early in the morning in order to catch a flight back to
Thailand. So, I
returned to the hotel while they went out for more
activities. One of the things that one
of my friends pointed out
is that the haze that covers the cities -- Hong Kong, Shenzhen,
and
Changping -- never goes away. Apparently, it is "held captive" in the
valley that
leads down to Hong Kong. So, if there's any pollution involved, it makes for
very
unhealthy breathing conditions.
March 22nd
I got up at 7 o'clock to go to the airport. Everything went smoothly
until I was walking
to the immigration area. One of the airport
agents told me that my carry-on bag was
too big to take onto the airplane.
(I noted that the maximum dimensions were 56cm by
26cm by 23cm.)
It was the first time that it had ever happened to me, be it a
domestic
flight or an international flight. So, I returned to the
check-in counter and gave them
the bag -- After putting a lock on it.
After I arrived in Bangkok, I returned to my
friend's aparment,
unpacked, and went out to a local bar. I called another friend who
was coincidentally in Thailand at the same time. We made plans to get
together that
night. I returned to the apartment and took a
much-needed nap. Then, I went out to
dinner with one of my
friends. After that, I met up with my friend as planned and we
went out partying until 2:30. I was exhausted!
March 23rd
It was Friday, so my friend who had been working during the days was able to
spend
more time together. We had breakfast and I don't remember
what we did, but we did it
together. (I've just got to write these
things down or else I'll inevitably forget!) We met
up with our
other friend at the 'Biergarten' for lunch. I went back to the apartment
for
the obligatory afternoon nap. After chatting with my friend
for a while, the three of us
went to a BBQ. Only in Thailand -- If
you buy a drink (alcoholic or not), then you can
get free food.
After that, one of my friends wanted to go bar-hopping, so I went with
him while my other friend went to the 'Biergarten'. (What would he do if
that place
closed down?) We hopped from bar to bar until we tired
of it
(""Sacrilege" in Thailand!) and returned to our places.
March 24th
That morning, I went shopping for souvenirs for my work companions and some Thai
music for me. (I learn how to speak Thai by listening to the
music.) Then, I met my
friend at an Irish pub named Bully's.
Before we went in, he informed me that the king's
son was going to be
passing by in a motorcade. He knew it because the police were
stopping both the traffic and people walking along the bridges spanning
Sukhumwit
Road. About three minutes later, five cars sped by,
including police cars as the first and
last cars. (The prince's
car was an inconspicuous light brown, 4-door sedan.) My
friend and
I had lunch. Then, we played pool -- Eight games. He said that he
only had
time for a few games, but we were having a lot of fun.
We agreed to get together later
with our other friend and parted.
I took my final nap in Thailand. I don't remember
where I
went or who I did it with, but I had dinner. (Wow, was I on vacation
mode!)
Then, I met up with my friend and we went out partying.
After a couple of hours of
that, I went to a bar called 'The Big
Mango'. It is owned by a couple of Americans and
a guy from Sweden
watched over the place for them when they're away. I played
Connect-4 with one of the waitresses there and bought her a few Mekong
whiskey
drinks as thanks for her time. I returned to the apartment
at about 12:30 so that I
could get as much sleep as possible since I had
to get up relatively early to finish
packing and catch a taxi to the
airport.
March 25th
I woke up at 5:30. I finished packing, I cleaned the shower that I
was using in my
friend's apartment, and left the apartment to catch a
taxi. The plane left Bangkok at
8:45am, 30 minutes late. I
got lucky because it took quite a long time to get through
immigration --
25 minutes. The flights both to and out of Taipei were uneventful.
So,
another trip to southeast Asia that could only be described by
several adjectives.
During the last day, one of my friends asked me what
he always asks me -- "Craig,
when are you returning?". I answered
with the same response that I answered when I
was leaving from my last
trip to Thailand -- "Never." Honestly, it's time to go to other
countries in Asia. But it is easiest to get to many of them by using
Thailand as the hub.
That's what I'm planning on doing during my next
vacation.
And yet another fun, adventurous, interesting, and sometimes scary trip to
Thailand.
Last time, I told my friend in Bangkok that I would probably
not return to Thailand
again because there are too many other interesting
places and people to see elsewhere.
This time, I did not say that.
Maybe it will work this time. By the way, do you know
what you have when you make a Thai girl mad? You have a tiger!
(Thai girl ->
Ti gir -> Tiger)
Epilogue
For anyone visiting Shenzhen and Changping, I recommend the following hotels and
karaoke bar --
1) Shanghai Hotel (Shenzhen, mentioned above)
2) New Century Hotel (Changping)
3) Shazui (or New Century?) Karaoke Club (Shenzhen)