Saturday, April 4, 2009

Night arrival & Exploration - Day 2 (Bangkok)

how come every city you go you see the same thing? traffic signs, roads, billboards all look the same. regardless of U.S or Asia. What corner of the world do you have to crawl to to see something different?
city is eerily dark. all the skyscrapers are dark. city is quiet.
Oh wait.... here we go... sukhumvit road. 1am Sunday what are all these people doing on the streets? who goes shopping for clothes at this hour? There is food everywhere... on bikes, on motorbikes, plastic chairs setup on sidewalks, mini restaurants. wait what was that street? one full block filled with neon lights, women, bars. Oh our hotel... finally our hotel... sleep.

6:15AM. It's morning. Finally exploration. I think this may be one of those corners of the world. Thai people are NICE. Damn it is hot & sweaty here. and the motorbikes, they are everywhere. morning rush hour and it is crazy busy. culture shock. off to the grand palace. this is overwhelming. so much gold, so much detail, so beautiful. temples and buddhas are awesome. thank god for everything in english. again, food is everywhere, only thing they do is eat? wait Thai people aren't so nice.... tuk-tuk leaves us.... thai center aka government scam.

it's lunch. we eat pad thai + coca-cola, Gai + fanta. cheap 226 baht, roughly 7 bucks (and we are in the tourist area).

we visit the emerald buddha, standing buddha (release birds), mountain temple,Wat Po & leaning buddha (that sound is lovely... coins dropped in bowls), Wat Arun (treacherous climb). we ride tuk-tuks, water taxis, try street food. still hot. drivers are crazy. Matt will have good luck & happiness in life forever. free the birds. cats with chopped off tails.

Exhausted. hotel with rooftop pool. Ahhh. Order 4 Mai Thais + dinner all at once. server is confused were are your friends. no friends these mai thais are just for us. in bed by 8:30.

Us...Five! Five-a-Live!

Seriously. five. it's a big number. Okay. this year, there's no tellin', well maybe some tellin' since it's already May... Here's what I do know and the rest well it's all a big ole' question mark. Year five will inevitably bring change, career change! yay! attitude change! yay! I've been waiting. it's finally here. now Raybill... Matt scored our first investment property. and a tv show to boot (note: tv show used generously). watch for it peeps. It's going to be huge ;)

Us... cuatro ano

I really have no idea where this year will lead us. All starts with our biggest vacation yet... Thailand. And then from there who knows? We have (or should I say I have) been searching for a project maybe landlords, maybe a new fantastic job, maybe entrepuer, maybe a new house. Crystal ball anyone?

Us... On to year three.

Most exciting thing in our life... No more school! No more school! Well at least for me. Matt may think differently, like I told him vacation is on for me, over for him ;) Not quite sure how I will fill my time yet, we all know I don't do relaxation well, and the first two weeks have been interesting, a visit to NYC, re-sodding the lawn for the second time, planting the garden, a craiglist's garage sale, etc.

Us... Year 2

Year 2 of marriage. As Matt would say this is the year of being "young professionals"... Matt went independent in August and we are trying to figure out how to adjust to "tax-free" checks. It makes me a little nervous but Matt, the ever adivsor, says it is just fine. I just started my new job at ConAgra Foods, quite a change from industrial automation. Oh and there's school... never ending school. Someday, I will be done, right? With the house projects near completion, Matt traded smoking for a new boat. (I think he cheats by having a beer just to justify a smoke, but I secretly cannot bring myself to sell the boat - Sonny likes it too much) And then there is Sonny, 100 pounds and spoiled. He continues to rule the house.