Sorry i haven't been around much. For the past few weeks i was on yet another vacation. Man this job almost gives too much time off hehe.
Where was I this time? Northern Thailand and Laos.
First i went to Bangkok though. Bangkok as always is full of hustle, bustle, pollution, booze, hookers, and amazing shopping. I scoped out this area of Bangkok which contained the single most impressive display of shopping i've ever seen. Contained within a small area were three major shopping complexes with an astounding array of stores...from bootleg video boutiques, to the highest end fashion and sports car dealers, everything can be found in the shopping complexes of MBK, Siam Center, and Siam Paragon. I've honestly never seen anything like it before.
First stop, book store. Now, i've searched high and low in Korea for a decent bookstore and by and large have found what are probably the best in the country. Unfortunately they all seem to have exactly the same crap and a rather limited selection--the exception being the used book stores around here. In fact just before i left i spent an entire day going to the 6 biggest/best bookstores in Seould (a city of 20 million people) and found jack shit of what i was looking for.
Enter amazing shopping complex in Bangkok. Within one hour of walking around i located every book that i was looking for in Korea and even found a full copy of the comic, the Watchmen which i have been dying to read (and currently am) for over a year now. God bless this lovely bookstore with it's huge and wonderful selection of English books of every genre. Many of you reading this have no idea what a welcome relief a good bookstore is after being in a foreign country for so long. It's a breath of fresh air. Overhwhelming and exhillerating at the same time. So many books! So little time! So, anyways i found everything i was looking for and it was a good day. Korea bookstores, you can kiss my ass.
Next stop, Northern Thailand's biggest city, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is one helluva big step away from Bangkok. It's Thailand's second largest city and it feels more like a suburb than a proper city when compared to Bangkok. It's much quieter and so much less busy. Unfortunately, it's ultra touristy just like Bangkok..and well, just about everywhere else in Thailand (though admittedly, i've only been to the tourist trap areas haha.) Basically everyone tries to sell you something and no one takes no for an answer and if you don't possess a heart of steel, you end up buying a lot of crap you really don't want. Still, the sights and sounds of the markets can have a small amoutn of appeal. From the fake hill tribe members dressed like old, female Liberaccis making frog noises with their crafts, to the street foods and silk wares, fake guccis, bootlegged anything and crafts of all manner of design, many interesting things can be found.
I saw a temple there and took a Thai cooking course and...ended up buying a bunch of stuff i really didn't want or need though i suppose i'll find some use for it all eventually. Anyways, the Thai Cooking course was the highlight of Chiang Mai. For only 15 bones, you get an all day course where they take you to the market to buy food and teach you how to make 6 seperate courses all throughout the day and give you a cookbook. I made some delicious Green Curry, Pad Thai, Soup, Spicey Papaya Salad, Steamed Bananas and something else that was delish. All in all, the sites, smells, and sounds of the kitchen were wonderful and i was really impressed that i was actually making some of the wonderful Thai food that i'd only had in restaurants before--and it was just as good as anything i've had in Thailand. I can't wait to make some of this stuff myself someday (that is if i can ever find the right veggies, herbs and spices outside of Thailand..and lord knows it's not too likely in the uber hemogenized Korean grocery stores).
The dissappointing thing about Chiang mai was the rain. It rained way too much there. In fact, one day, it rained so hard that a 500 year old pagoda collapsed! Thankfully no one was there, but holy crap! It's stood proud for 500 years and a torrential downpour does it in.
I did meet some cool people there though. These three Spanish speaking birds were quite fun to hang out with and it was really great meeting people from such diverse places as Argentina and Spain. Good times were had by all and then they had to leave.
Well, this has gotten far too long already so the few of you who still read my journal will have to wait another day or so until i can write about Laos which really blew me away. Pictures also forthcoming and i hope you like 'em.
Where was I this time? Northern Thailand and Laos.
First i went to Bangkok though. Bangkok as always is full of hustle, bustle, pollution, booze, hookers, and amazing shopping. I scoped out this area of Bangkok which contained the single most impressive display of shopping i've ever seen. Contained within a small area were three major shopping complexes with an astounding array of stores...from bootleg video boutiques, to the highest end fashion and sports car dealers, everything can be found in the shopping complexes of MBK, Siam Center, and Siam Paragon. I've honestly never seen anything like it before.
First stop, book store. Now, i've searched high and low in Korea for a decent bookstore and by and large have found what are probably the best in the country. Unfortunately they all seem to have exactly the same crap and a rather limited selection--the exception being the used book stores around here. In fact just before i left i spent an entire day going to the 6 biggest/best bookstores in Seould (a city of 20 million people) and found jack shit of what i was looking for.
Enter amazing shopping complex in Bangkok. Within one hour of walking around i located every book that i was looking for in Korea and even found a full copy of the comic, the Watchmen which i have been dying to read (and currently am) for over a year now. God bless this lovely bookstore with it's huge and wonderful selection of English books of every genre. Many of you reading this have no idea what a welcome relief a good bookstore is after being in a foreign country for so long. It's a breath of fresh air. Overhwhelming and exhillerating at the same time. So many books! So little time! So, anyways i found everything i was looking for and it was a good day. Korea bookstores, you can kiss my ass.
Next stop, Northern Thailand's biggest city, Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is one helluva big step away from Bangkok. It's Thailand's second largest city and it feels more like a suburb than a proper city when compared to Bangkok. It's much quieter and so much less busy. Unfortunately, it's ultra touristy just like Bangkok..and well, just about everywhere else in Thailand (though admittedly, i've only been to the tourist trap areas haha.) Basically everyone tries to sell you something and no one takes no for an answer and if you don't possess a heart of steel, you end up buying a lot of crap you really don't want. Still, the sights and sounds of the markets can have a small amoutn of appeal. From the fake hill tribe members dressed like old, female Liberaccis making frog noises with their crafts, to the street foods and silk wares, fake guccis, bootlegged anything and crafts of all manner of design, many interesting things can be found.
I saw a temple there and took a Thai cooking course and...ended up buying a bunch of stuff i really didn't want or need though i suppose i'll find some use for it all eventually. Anyways, the Thai Cooking course was the highlight of Chiang Mai. For only 15 bones, you get an all day course where they take you to the market to buy food and teach you how to make 6 seperate courses all throughout the day and give you a cookbook. I made some delicious Green Curry, Pad Thai, Soup, Spicey Papaya Salad, Steamed Bananas and something else that was delish. All in all, the sites, smells, and sounds of the kitchen were wonderful and i was really impressed that i was actually making some of the wonderful Thai food that i'd only had in restaurants before--and it was just as good as anything i've had in Thailand. I can't wait to make some of this stuff myself someday (that is if i can ever find the right veggies, herbs and spices outside of Thailand..and lord knows it's not too likely in the uber hemogenized Korean grocery stores).
The dissappointing thing about Chiang mai was the rain. It rained way too much there. In fact, one day, it rained so hard that a 500 year old pagoda collapsed! Thankfully no one was there, but holy crap! It's stood proud for 500 years and a torrential downpour does it in.
I did meet some cool people there though. These three Spanish speaking birds were quite fun to hang out with and it was really great meeting people from such diverse places as Argentina and Spain. Good times were had by all and then they had to leave.
Well, this has gotten far too long already so the few of you who still read my journal will have to wait another day or so until i can write about Laos which really blew me away. Pictures also forthcoming and i hope you like 'em.
VIEW 18 of 18 COMMENTS
mylf:
it's great to see that you are still having a great time overseas! I can't wait to see the pics.
gardimus:
How did the meet up go anyways?