Bangkok: So Farang It's White

Howdy!

The adventure started long before I arrived in "The Land of a Thousand Smiles"!

Our trip across the Pacific started in one of these, a UA Boeing 777.

Despite being poor and in economy class, the 12.5 hour ride to Tokyo wasn't horrible. Sarah and I had window/aisle seats, thanks to the 2-5-2 configuration. The flight attendants were very nice and friendly and mostly Asian. At this point, I've given up on trying to figure out who is from where. I'd guess Japan, because I didn't think to look to see if they had pins on with country flags to show they spoke that language.

Once in Tokyo, we boarded a 747.

It was a much more cramped 3-5-3 configuration. The FA's were polite and helpful, but I think they were just as tired as most of the passengers. The flight seemed extremely long (6.5 hours), however that's just due to the fact we wanted to be there already. A side note here...Sarah was pretty sick for the first few days of the trip...she was coming down from a 100+ temperature...so she didn't talk much or have anything to add in Sarah Says: The International Version.

Once we landed in Bangkok, we walked for miles around the new Suvarnabhumi Airport, finally making it to immigration, where I had no clue as to what to do. Luckily some hippee wannabees in front of us just said put guest house on the address line, since I didn't know Sean's address. Smart right? Fly to some foreign country and not know where you're staying.

After getting our luggage and exchanging some currency, we walked past security and into a huge lobby with about 50 Thais waiting for people, then I saw this!

Then I noticed two white men towering over the crowd...It was so wonderful to see Sean after 8 months. James calls me 'otter', after I told him what the term meant....not quite a bear, but with enough hair to be labeled something.

Ok ok...on to the more exciting stuff.

Day One:

I woke up in Sean's 7th floor apartment,

...greeted by great views of the city.

Sean had to work, so James, Sarah and I ventured off around town. Greeted by 7-11's, McDonalds, and Pizza Huts, I was a little surprised to see the Western influence around town. Let me make it clear, it didn't taint the charm or international flair of Bangkok. Street vendors, fruit stands, and local market stores line the roadways everywhere you looked.

The title of this post, "So Farang, It's White", is a play off So Wrong it's Right. A Farang, (pronounced fuh-wrong) is what Thai people call white people. They 'love' farangs...mostly because they assume white people have money and will spend it freely. Unfortunately, they also associate lighter skin with power or importance or prominence. There's a rather large infusion of Thai-Chinese people in Thailand, so they naturally have lighter skin, than the darker full Thai person. So you'd often see stickers like on this cab, claiming "I Love Farang."

I know I know, pink Taxis...cute, right? I loved taking them around town, just like the SkyTrain too, since I don't have a chance to take public transportation.

My first lunch in Thailand...pineapple fried rice, adorned with dried pork on top. After scraping it off and devouring the meal...I was left with the pineapple shell in which the meal was served. You can also see a lot of empty glasses in the background. Those were filled with fruit 'frosts'. I had a mango frost...a tasty smoothie like concoction with fresh fruit. That's perhaps one of my favorite parts of Bangkok...fresh fruit...EVERYWHERE.

I was amazed at how the street fruit vendors would serve it up...especially the pineapple. Much sweeter and riper and simply delicious, since they can pick it closer to being ripe...rather than having to import it like here in the US.

The vendors would also slice it for you inside a plastic bag, without cutting through the bag itself. I was amazed.

Ok...short on detail, I know, but it's taking forever to type and upload these photos. Tomorrow, I'll take you to the Grand Palace and introduce you to SongKran, the New Year water fun!

Later,

"W"