The school semester is winding down, with finals week and then a week of... well, nothing really. Finals week was quite relaxing, as I basically sat around and watched students write while I played Mother 3. Don't know why it's taken me so long to get around to that game. It's solid, but I dislike how it's broken into chapters. Anyway it was a very relaxing week, and we have this week basically off to do our grading. Except, I've been doing my grading electronically since day one, and "grading" involves me typing a formula into an Excel field and hitting Enter. Yup, grading done.

On the weekends we've been involved in more nonsense. There was a round of KTV somewhere in there, which there's never enough of in life. We went with Heather and travelling friend Stewart, who I think had a bit of a culture shock from the Asian KTV experience. There's nothing quite like seeing your drunk friend screaming Queen at the top of their lungs, thinking they're nailing it when they're totally not.

Ella and I also went to the World's Largest Restaurant. I've said many times, I'm a huge sucker for World's Blankiest Blank, so I was pretty pumped. They have an all you can eat lunch buffet for 200 baht (~$6) so it's a total steal. The place is quite massive, with something like 20 different dining rooms. The regular menu is super expensive, so I'm not sure why they discount the lunch buffet so heavily - but hey, I'm happy. It's in a traditional Chinese style, except the place is so big the waiters wear roller skates to get around. It's quirky, weird, and I love it. After, we went to Rama IX Park - A big park with a few things to see, but overall just really big and really quiet.

We went out drinking next weekend, and met new friend Danny. Danny is hilarious, also from China. He wants to learn English for his MBA. We hung out at Asiatique later, and it was a total bromance for us. Hope to be seeing more of him. The following morning, Ella and I went to find an art gallery which totally didn't exist anymore. However, we were also near a Cat Cafe. Yes, it's a thing. Where you drink tea and eat cake while surrounded by cats. It's something more suited to Japan or Taiwan IMO, but Bangkok is big enough to accommodate. I guess they're cute but like... I dunno. Ella loved it, and I appreciated it for the novelty alone.

The next day, we headed off to do something else I've been meaning to get around to, the Science Museum and Planetarium. Like Taipei's, I feel it was probably a good enough place when it was created. But unfortunately now it's drastically under budget, with about 50% of the stuff there not working. They had some cool stuff (dinosaurs!!!) but the lost potential was kind of sad. I know Thailand isn't the richest country in the world, but I wish they could divert a small amount of money their way just to get everything working again. Dinner that evening was at another place on the back of my mind that I just haven't gotten around to yet, Cabbages and Condoms.

Mhm.

Why does this place exist? I really don't know. Apparently the best way to teach about family planning is to run a restaurant? Also it was not vegetarian, so I didn't see a single cabbage. BUT, they made probably the best Massaman Curry I've had yet. Honestly it's pretty much like a normal restaurant with a few condom themed things. Strange, but not overt.

With my grading accomplished by a few key strokes, on Monday I bugged out of work pretty early to make a trip up to the Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Their location is at Don Meaung Airport, so I took the bus up there. Turns out yes it is, but on the other side of the runways, and no way to get there by foot. So I had to get a taxi around to the other side, and it honestly would have cost the same as a taxi from my place. It's kind of neat, but wow their stuff is outdated. I guess that's the point of the museum, and yes in some ways that's good. The most modern thing they had there was a F5, but there were some other interesting things. A WWII Spitfire, the last surviving O2U Corsair in the world.. and a few other miscellaneous things thrown in. A worthwhile distraction for an hour or two, especially because it was free.

Tuesday I was due back at work though, because I was to chaperone a field trip to Nong Nooch. I've been there before, so I had much the same experience. Fortunately the bus was really comfortable so I slept like a baby the 3 hours there and back. The actual time at the place was a little brief, almost a waste to drive all that way. The place is still weird, and it doesn't know what it wants to be... part zoo, part garden, part classic car show. I always enjoy seeing and interacting with the elephants, I just hope they're treated well. Amazing animals, for sure. Plus staring down a tiger is always thrilling. However, standing in the hot Thai sun while some guy prattles on about how they process manure is not particularly enjoyable, so I was glad when we left. One group of students was having a lot of fun interacting with the elephants, so I stuck around with them. We got quite lost and after a few phone calls, we finally got our bearings and made it back to the bus while everyone was waiting for us.

And now for these next 2 weeks, I'm mostly going to take it easy. My work obligations are practically nil. Maybe do a little sightseeing, but probably catch up on TV. Next week I'm going to be teaching a conversation class to Thai teachers, which could go really well or really... not well. We'll see! And the week after that, a bunch of classy folk and my sister are coming from America to visit. I really hope they'll bring me deodorant.