I'm already in "Thailand reflective mode", which is honestly, a bit premature. It has been an interesting adventure, but I am much more eager to leave here than I was China, or especially Taiwan. While Thailand is an amazing vacation and party destination, I found living here to be slightly less amazing. That isn't to say it doesn't have it's good points, it has quite a few - but that will all be discussed in a future post. What I've been thinking about lately is why I have this burning desire to leave every year, because it's something that most people just don't understand, and up until recently I don't think I did either. Part of it is pretty superficial - "change of scenery, chance to see somewhere new" kind of thing. But for me, it goes a bit deeper. I saw on AskReddit a few months ago, "If you could go back in time, and start your life over with all your current memories, would you?" For me, the answer is a resounding "Yes", aside from the obvious reasons like "invest in Google early" and "Don't get excited, the Virtual Boy will suck." But it's a chance to reinvent yourself from scratch, and I think that's why I really like to move so often. You're a blank slate to everyone you meet. If you want to take the attitude of the wise, experienced sort, you can. The young, rambunctious backpacker, you can. Or any other attitude inbetween or under the sun. I think a lot about self improvement, but I also think that changing who you are in your current environment is super, super hard. You get into grooves, or more accurately ruts, and just kind of stay there. A new life somewhere far away really gives the opportunity to roll the dice again, which is oddly satisfying.

Although, on the opposite side of the coin, I find that people annoy me more than they have in the past. Maybe it's just luck. Maybe it's just the sort Thailand attracts. Maybe I'm just getting old. But I find myself becoming more introverted, and kind of bitter, which I don't think is the sort of person anyone wants to be. So, that's something I'm going to try and shake off for my next assignment. In terms of bitterness, I have realized I really do not care for people who are flakey, or people who are continuously late. And not only flakey, but constantly unavailable. I understand that not everyone I know in the world will be able or want to do everything 100% of the time, but the closer that number to 100% is, in general the more I will like you and consider you a friend. I suppose that sounds a bit selfish, but effectively someone who invites another is saying "My experience there will be made better by your presence", which is pretty amazing of them IMO. I would and do kind of feel like a jerk if I turn it down.

As far as being late, well, I think everyone knows it's rude so there's not much to say. But its kind of the culture here, so it's not really a good match for me. At the stand up comedy show we went to, the comedian said "I invited a Thai girl over to my place, and she got there 1.5 hours late. I was a bit angry, so I argued with her. Fellas, you know that it's never smart to argue with a Thai girl over being late. You might as well argue with a tree for having wood." I've heard there are other cultures where being late is expected, and to actually be on time is rude. That would be an endless source of frustration for me, and if on the outside chance I didn't commit suicide within a week, the only way I could cope is by adjusting all my clocks to offset.

Anyway, aside from the aforementioned comedy show, Ella and I set out to see this shrine for this vengeful dead person, rode bikes in the park, and went to this weird restaurant called Chocolate World. It's a big draw for Chinese tourists, but less so for everyone else. It's designed to look like a European village, but I think it looks more like "the good old days" southern USA looked like. Anyway, it's an impressive, massive outdoor restaurant, albeit an expensive one we didn't eat at. We also went to a toy museum close to Ella's house, which we've passed many times but never went inside. This thing should be featured on more tourist destinations of Bangkok. Admittedly it's a bit far out from the city center, but it's quite impressive. Around the size of a house, but it is stuffed with all sorts of toys, superhero, and other comic memorabilia. They had a section with the old Adam West Batman on the TV, and man, I forgot how good that show was. It's so cheesy, but I just can't stop smiling while watching it.

I also had more visitors, April from Taiwan and her brother Cliff. They're staying in Bangkok for 10 days, which is honestly 7 more than you need in my opinion. Ella and I have made a lot of progress in scoping out stuff to do here, but I still thinking cities like Taipei are better for tourists. I assembled a giant list of stuff for them to do. But it's funny how different perspectives are, because they spent 2 days at Siam and 1 at Asok. They're big shopping areas, and if I were travelling by myself those would be worth an hour each, at most. But hey, I'm a guy. Malls are just display rooms for Amazon.com. I don't think they did more than a few of the things I sent, which is of course fine. But I guess going at their rate they could spend a month here.

Anywho I unfortunately had to work during their visit, and also conveniently caught a cold. I managed to battle it off enough to visit a new island with them, Ella, and two other friends, at Ko Samet. It's sort of geographically located to Bangkok, but about an hour further than Ko Si Chang. Ko Samet has less to do, but nicer beaches, with probably the finest, whitest sand I've seen in my life. At the time it was nice, but that shit is like glitter - it never goes away. I'm still finding it in random places. The first night there we went to the beach, then pretty much just lied around drinking until Dmytro and Niece arrived that evening. Which, that evening was a fire show, similar to the one I saw on Koh Phi Phi. Except, with less audience participation, and less burning half of my hair off. They also had fluorescent body paint, which was tons of fun and something that should be more common. For starters, it looks cool as hell. And plus, I think it would make an easy conversation starter with anyone you meet. There's some really talented artists out there, and I was impressed with the rat Ella drew on my face (because it's my Chinese zodiac sign). Certainly better than anything Dmytro or I could muster.

The next morning, at least for me, was surprisingly not hangover city. We actually had a super tiny, maybe 2 week old cat meowing outside our bungalow, and was not interested in eating Niece's sukiyaki. He was interested in being in Dmyto and Niece's stuff, however. After saying goodbye to the cat, it was back to the beach for swimming, burying people, making sand turtles, and a sand city. Unfortunately it was time to head back to Bangkok, and back to our normal lives. Next weekend I'm off to the beach again, this time in Hua Hin. I have been there before as well, but this time I'm going as a guest to a wedding - we'll see if there's time for more sand and swimming.