And so ends my second weekend in Thailand.

It's a bit more chill than the first one. At the end of Friday, a few of my classmates suggested going out and getting a beer, which I was all too happy to do. I got a massive Heffeweisen, and I can't even remember the last time I had a good German beer (actually, I can - the Paulaner Bierhaus in Nanjing). It was a bit pricey by Asian standards, but with dinner the entire night was about $18. Works for me. I went around Patpong and decided to see how low I could get this watch that everyone was selling that I quite liked - a definite fake, but impressive looking Rolex. The highest was 4000 baht. And the lowest that was offered was 500 baht. I wonder how much it actually costs? 500 baht is pretty darn low, it probably won't be much less than that. I also found the gay district near Patpong, so that's fun. Near the gay district there's a club with 50 baht beers, which is just amazing. I'm quite proud of that find - that's about 1/3rd the price of everywhere else, and it's a fun place to boot. For a late snack I drunkingly ordered some sort of noodle dish from a roadside stall. It worked, and tasted amazing.

Saturday was more sightseeing - in fact, it turned into the day of Wat. Wat being the Thai word for temple. You've maybe heard of Angkor Wat. Well I watted my way across town, seeing various forms of big, expensive buddhas. Such as the pure gold one. And the "super wtf big" reclining one. And the ominious super tall one. Honestly I'm pretty watted out. I imposed a strict "No more Chinese temples" policy after being in the mainland and Taiwan, and I think I'm pretty close to doing that for Bangkok. Unless there's something amazing about a Wat, I'm not going to to check it out anymore. For lunch I enjoyed a hot dog crepe, corn tea, and pad thai. What the hell is going on with this country?

I found a museum called the Siam Museum, which turned out to be pretty cool. It's kind of a "History of Thailand" kind of thing, but it was very interactive. I played a game where I got to make a country in Southeast Asia. Wegtopia quickly became a Wegdistopia, as my country encompassed two groups that don't much care for each other. Eventually civil war broke out, and the country was divided ala Korea. My failure was documented by a lovestruck couple holding hands across the border.

After bringing misfortune to Asia, I hoofed it up to the Throne Hall on this scorching hot day, to see where the King entertains his guests. They said no photos, but I assumed it was going to be one of those "Oh yeah, okay, "no photos" but then I secretly take them anyway. NOPE! Bags in the locker, metal detector, patdown by security. So you'll have to rely on my words for this, but this place was really damn impressive. I do have a "no art" policy, but holy crap. There's these giant murals made entirely out of silk, that took armies of people years and years to finish. It's crazy cool. There's also the Vimanmek Palace, which is honestly just an old house and much less cool. It warned the carpet going downstairs is quite slippery (no shoes inside), and I apparently didn't heed those warnings well enough. I had a bit of a tumble, and all the Chinese tourists I was near were quite concerned. I said in Chinese that I'm actually quite nimble, which led to the typical "Oh wow, you speak Chinese?" Which actually brings up another point - when people ask me where I'm from, I say Taiwan. I know this isn't really genuine, and it definitely isn't anymore. Part of it is I really did feel Taiwan was my home. But also, I find "American" to be so boring and generic. If I say Taiwan, people are immediately surprised and it leads to conversation. But I also feel like a fraud claiming that. So, I'm not really sure what to do at this point. It's something that I think is deserving of a long conversation with friends about over some beers.

The last stop was Chatuchak Weekend Market. This place is really cool, but I was too exhausted to really enjoy it. My pedometer registered almost 18km walked today. I drank about 5 bottles of various bizarre Asian drinks during the day, and was absolutely starving. I had 1st dinner of garlic pork, then a strawberry-yogurt smoothie snack, followed by 2nd dinner of pork fried rice. The only thing I wanted to do after that was to take a shower and sit in air conditioning for the rest of my life. But the Weekend Market itself is quite cool, and if you like to shop and bargain hunt, you could entertain yourself for almost an entire day here. It's a network of stalls, music, and vendors selling everything under the sun.

Sunday was the chillest day yet. I was pretty tired to begin with, and Saturday didn't help. To start I went to the much lauded Erawan Museum in the morning.




The Erawan Museum can go screw itself.

I have never felt more "ripped off" for anything else ever. It was 400 baht to get in, which is like, $13. That's pretty expensive for Asia. The reviews online said it was a several hour sight, so I thought, alright... maybe there's a lot of value there. They said I could come this way for an audio guide, which was outside the ticket area. I thought that was weird. So I walked up to the ticket booth, and said I can't find this guide thing. They said it's over there, on the other side of the ticket booth. So I was going to walk over, but they said no, you have to go all the way around and approach from the other direction. The hell? You saw my ticket, and I just came from there. That's retarded. So I walked over, and they said you can't get them here, you have to get them at the ticket booth. At this point I wanted to punch someone. I walked back over to the ticket booth, they said no no, its over THERE, at this other building. They again want me to walk around the whole museum instead of stepping to the side of a rope. I finally get the guide thing, and they want a 1000 baht deposit. I told them to get bent, and they said an ID is OK. I gave them my old student ID. Anyway, this stupid museum of dumbassery has a big elephant statue (actually, an incredibly incredibly large statue.. its absurdly big), and everything else? Done in 30 minutes. Anyone who wants to go to the Erawan Museum, don't. It's absolute bullshit, and should be illegal.

The next thing was to see the "Big Swing", some thing on every map of Bangkok. I don't get this place. It's not even a swing, its like an arch... thing? And not even that big. Of course, it had a gold buddha along with it. Okay.

I stopped off at a restaurant in a not-frequented part of town, and tried out my new word "Ally kodai!" I have no idea how to write that out, but it apparently means "I don't care, give me whatever." They asked again, I said again. So they said okay okay, and made me, essentially, chicken noodle soup. It was pretty solid, but in typical Asian style a bit thin. I played a game on my phone, and the kids working there were in awe.

After I got the boat to Central Pier, and then took the Skytrain back. Along the way I saw the robot building, which is exactly that. A building that kind of looks like a robot. From the Skytrain it was more clear, but I didn't have time for a picture. I decided to get out and see it, but there's no good place to get a clear shot of it. Anyway, here's a picture from the internet, likely from the roof of a nearby building. I went back to the hostel, BUT, I found a guy selling fried banana chips on the street. They were only 10 baht, and pretty much the most delicious things I've had in a while. But still, I was completely exhausted. It was only 4ish, but I had no desire to go out anymore. I chilled in the hostel with some fellow travelers, got an early dinner, did some homework, and went to bed. God, I'm boring. Hopefully next week will be a little more exciting! I feel that Bangkok is pretty much "done", or at least all the big attractions. I've got a few ideas for excursions a bit on the outskirts, which may be more exciting. Fingers crossed!

Still love it here, though.