Thailand!
Last night I arrived in Bangkok. Kat and I will be spending 1.5 weeks in Thailand, first checking out Bangkok for a few days, and then traveling south to the islands for relaxing on the beach and scuba diving. It's pretty warm and humid here and this isn't even the hot season. It's been overcast the whole time I've been here, but it hasn't rained yet.
Yesterday I had a four-hour layover at the Narita airport (closest one to Tokyo). I just had to try some sushi while in Japan, even though it was still airport food. The spicy tuna rolls were pretty good. I was surprised to see that they had California rolls. I've also seen California rolls in Japanese restaurants here in Bangkok. For some reason I thought they didn't exist outside of the US.
This is the second time I've been on my own in a place where I can't understand what anyone is saying. Previously the only time I've experienced this was when I was in Beijing on my own for a few days in 2002. At least in Bangkok (and Beijing previously) many folks know enough English to deal with foreigners. I need to practice a little bit of Thai so I can at least speak some of the basics. I'm not familiar with understanding nor speaking Asian languages, so it isn't easy.
There are far fewer tourists here than I imagined there would be. I guess it's not the height of the touristy season since it's a little bit overcast and rainy. Today I'm checking out downtown Bangkok's shopping areas. I just went to the fanciest shopping center I've ever seen.
As expected there are tons of foot and body massage businesses everywhere. I feel tall here since most of the men and women are shorter than me. The people here remind me of Singapore where everyone is skinny and young looking and not wearing too much since it's warm and humid outside.
Yesterday I had a four-hour layover at the Narita airport (closest one to Tokyo). I just had to try some sushi while in Japan, even though it was still airport food. The spicy tuna rolls were pretty good. I was surprised to see that they had California rolls. I've also seen California rolls in Japanese restaurants here in Bangkok. For some reason I thought they didn't exist outside of the US.
This is the second time I've been on my own in a place where I can't understand what anyone is saying. Previously the only time I've experienced this was when I was in Beijing on my own for a few days in 2002. At least in Bangkok (and Beijing previously) many folks know enough English to deal with foreigners. I need to practice a little bit of Thai so I can at least speak some of the basics. I'm not familiar with understanding nor speaking Asian languages, so it isn't easy.
There are far fewer tourists here than I imagined there would be. I guess it's not the height of the touristy season since it's a little bit overcast and rainy. Today I'm checking out downtown Bangkok's shopping areas. I just went to the fanciest shopping center I've ever seen.
As expected there are tons of foot and body massage businesses everywhere. I feel tall here since most of the men and women are shorter than me. The people here remind me of Singapore where everyone is skinny and young looking and not wearing too much since it's warm and humid outside.
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