I'm in Bangkok. I've been here since yesterday. I'm staying on Khao San which is a big backpackers district. Really it feels like a bunch of weirdos and Western brats (which I suppose I am). It's just sorta the whole "backpacker" mentality that gets on my nerves I guess. Generally rich people pretending they're poor, haha.

Yesterday I got lost around this part of town / Chinatown / etc. Went and got a drink at a bar, saw some local music which was really good actually.

Today I woke up early cause I went to bed early. My hotel -- which was in and out of power during a 20 minute period yesterday -- didn't have running water this morning, which was great. I just got dressed and went to the local Wats (temples). Took a boat across the river and climbed Wat Arun, which was tall and gave me vertigo (I think you get vertigo from heights, maybe, I don't know). I took a tuk-tuk to Siam Square next. The tuk-tuk driver gave me two options, either a.) pay 200 Baht for the ride (around $6) or b.) pay 10B (about 30 cents) but go visit a tailor that he had a "deal" with on the way. I chose option "B" and was forced to poke around a tailor for 10 minutes, but it saved me around $5.50. Nice.

Siam Square is a mess of shopping malls and restaurants, all incredibly modern and nice. It took forever to get there and the first thing I saw was an Au Bon Pain and the hunger in my stomach made me go in, although I was excited to try the local Thai cuisine. I wandered around the square for a bit and then had enough. Took the skytrain to Lumphini Park, which is a beautiful park in the middle of the city. Sat there and relaxed. Next I headed over to the Red Light District just to see what it was like. It was 3PM, mind you, so nothing was open, but I did see the exteriors of sex clubs with names both innocuous ("Tip Top") and hysterical ("Super Pussy.")

Eventually I ended back up at Siam Square. It started to rain so I figured seeing a movie was a decent option, wait out the rain. The only thing playing in English was Die Hard 4, so I saw it. Was okay for a Die Hard movie I guess. Before this I had amazing Thai stir fry with pork and vegetables... really outstanding food. Best meal I've had in a while but it didn't fill me up.

Grabbed a tuk-tuk back to Khao San and now here we stand. I'm totally exhausted (my eyes are drooping as I type this and it's only 9:50PM). My whole goal of spending very little money on this trip fell through as soon as I sit down and figured out that I could spend $60/day and still come home with enough money to pay rent and live comfortably. So things are a lot more fun now!

Um... that's about it. I'm back in the USA a week from Wednesday and I'd really love if someone could get me the new Spoon, Iron & Wine, Interpol, Okkervil River, White Stripes, New P's, etc.

Until later.

- m