When I am not studying.....

One of the many cool things about living near Bangkok is the flow of visitors who are stopping by on their way to more beautiful parts of the country.  January and February have been filled with visitors and I have been thrilled to step up to the "I am on vacation let's party!!" mentality.  Below is a quick tour of the past couple of months:

Meet Carina!  Timmy Reinhart's girlfriend!    Carina was in Bangkok on business so instead of whooping it up like a couple of 20 year old backpackers, we went to my favorite Italian Restaurant on Soi 11 and enjoyed a margarita pizza and loads of red wine.   Before this dinner date in Bangkok, Carina and I had only briefly met.  The wine helped the conversation flow and soon enough we were gabbing away like old friends.   Although the encounter was short, we got along famously and I am anxiously awaiting her next business trip to Bangkok!  Carina is not only a former professional skier, she is also a total babe, super smart and fun to hang out with.  I will personally kick Timmy in the shins if he is not signing up for the long haul with this one.

Meet Kim Trompke and friends Ben and Josh!   Kim and I are friends from college (roomies!) and Ben and Josh are her good friends from Seattle.  Ben and Josh spoiled us like crazy with the fanciest dinner I have ever had and two nights at the fanciest hotel I have ever stayed in.  The suite had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, four balconies, two living rooms and a dining room....the list goes on and on.  I pretended it was my apartment on more than one occasion.  We were four fiances hanging out, but not in the traditional sense.   Josh had proposed to Ben just days before (YEAH they can get married in Washington!) and Kim and I both had fiances back home.   The day after partying our faces off at the sky bar, we watched The Hangover, while hungover, in the hotel where scenes for the movie were filmed.

I LOVE big white fluffy hotel beds!!!

Lotsa shotsa....

Lebua at State Tower Hotel.....hard to describe how cool this place was

 

Sky Bar!!!

Meet Christine Cresswell!  I am quite certain that Christine and I haven't spent this much time together since we were rehearsing for the  grand finale of our 6th grade talent show.   We went to school together from 4th grade through high school so we had about a decade of stories to catch up on.  Christine gave me directions to her hotel and once I got off the sky train I quickly realized that she was staying in Patpong which is the red light district of Bangkok.  In this neighborhood the beers are expensive and the sex is cheap, neither of which were appealing to us.   We hopped the train and I took Christine to my favorite Italian Restaurant on Soi 11 where we shared a margarita pizza and loads of wine.  After dinner we couldn't resist the "bus turned bar" on the side of the road.   We bellied up to the table on the sidewalk to enjoy some cheap tequila shots then called it a night.  It was really a treat to get this much time with Christine and so cool to hear about her travels in Thailand.

Meet James and Michelle!  James and his brother Charlie grew up with Tim in Toronto.  Charlie and his wife Lisa and their two daughters live in Bangkok and I see them often.  Having James and Michelle thrown in the mix in Bangkok was way too much fun.   The only photos I have are of the three of us in a cab, after a late night beer run, heading back to Charlie and Lisa's where we stayed up  late and enjoyed the taste of cold beers on a hot evening.

"Shuper Shweaty"

 Bangkok is a crazy place and many people have negative reviews.  But, for me, it is my connection to the world outside of Rangsit and I love spending my weekends there.  Soi 11 has become my home away from home, away from home.  It is a little ally way filled with restaurants ranging from a New Zealand fish house to Spanish Tapas.   I often treat myself to an evening at Lemoncello Italian Restaurant where I love to take guests or dine alone.   I can tuck into the corner with a good book and enjoy decently priced red wine and great wood fired pizza.   I always stay at Suk 11, a funky, bohemian guesthouse with  cheap rooms and loads of cool places to tuck away and study.  Below is a photo of Suk 11:

This weeks marks the halfway point in my one year stint in Thailand.  The first half was full of unexpected events and challenges that nearly pushed me to the point of giving up.  Since returning to Thailand from holiday break it has been refreshingly mellow and void of any dramatic events.  I have arrived to the mellow zen space of living abroad.  I enjoy the countless hours of studying and the occasional moments of completely letting loose.  Seeing these friends in Bangkok remains to be a huge highlight of 2012 and I hope to see more familiar faces soon.  I really have loads to catch everyone up on from my exciting independent study topic and upcoming travel to the Thailand/Burma border, to the daily events that seem mundane to me but will probably make me laugh if I force myself to write them down.   So hopefully soon I will document some of my daily routines mostly so I don't forget them in 6 months when my entire life and routine changes yet again......