Usually when I want to go back to a country it’s either because  it was so amazing and I want to experience everything again. However, the reason I want to go back to Thailand is because I feel like there is still so much left to see.  I don’t feel like I gave Thailand a fair shot at wow-ing me and I know that it can. This was due to poor planning on my part, similar to my experience in Taiwan. However, it was really fun to experience new things and get a better sense of how things run in Thailand.

When we arrived in Bangkok, there were a series of misunderstandings that definitely dampened the mood. Although the four of us on the trip had budgeted and planned to share one hotel room (two queen beds), the hotel had a limit of two people per room that we were learned of upon arrival. Furthermore, their pricy Internet only allowed one device at a time. And as nice as the front desk attendees were, their English was so limited that it was very, very, hard to communicate.

However we prevailed, through the use of sign language and pictures, and were able to secure a taxi driver to take us to Pattaya the next day. He looked sketchy at first and did not speak a word of English but was appreciative of the feeble attempts we made at speaking Thai and took very good care of us.

Our first stop in Pattaya was the floating market. Immediately I tried their mango and sticky rice. For a mere $2 USD I had THE BEST mango and sticky rice that I have ever had in my life. The mango was so perfectly ripe and sweet and the rice was dense and not too sticky – the perfect foil to the soft mango that practically dissolved in my mouth.

My friend Christine also got her coveted coconut milk. I’m not a fan of coconut milk (more aptly put, coconut water) but it was really fresh – much better than the coconut I tried in China. I also tried some other goodies, all of which were okay but not nearly as amazing as the mango and sticky rice.

Spicy sausage

Duck Bill

After the floating market we tried to go to see/ride some elephants but found out that it cost quite a bit (about $60 USD) and didn’t think that it was worth it. Our last stop in Pattaya was the beach.

There were some interesting occurrences on the way to the beach (boats breaking down, someone offering Connie a sea sickness pill and then asking her for money after she took it), but the Thai beaches were amazing. I really want to go to a proper beach town like Phuket. Even in Pattaya, the water was warm, the landscape was beautiful, and sun was perfect. Because it was a touristy location they did charge us for everything (chairs, towels, bathroom usage) and the food was overpriced but it was still worth the trip.

After the beach we took a boat back and our taxi driver picked us up at the wharf. Although we had intended to walk around the red light district in Pattaya, we were tired and didn’t want to keep our driver out too late so we just picked up a quick meal at McDonalds and drove back to the hotel. The girls really wanted a hamburger but I ended up really enjoying the meal I got at McDonalds. They do something different to the fried chicken in Thailand. The meat was juicy and tender and it was better than 80% of the fried chicken I eat in the States.

Thus, I stopped. There have been a few times where I thought about updating but that feeling came and left so I never actually ended up posting. Since my last post, a lot of things have changed. I got a new job, moved apartments, and learned a lot of new things about myself.

The reason I am updating this blog now is because I started traveling and wanted to share and chronicle my new discoveries this time around. I’ve been a workaholic these past few months but I’m also hoping to update regarding language learning so I can brush up on the languages I once knew how to speak. This is me dipping my toes back into the blogging pond but I will start working on some travel posts throughout the week.

At any rate, I’m back and ready to start living! To life!

It’s actually quite comical how things have turned out. Before coming to China I was so excited to finally visit Beijing, Xian, and all the other areas that I didn’t have a chance to see during my last time here. Allan, on the other hand, was absolutely dreading the pollution and unsanitary conditions he experienced the last time he was here. However, Allan is now the one who is first in line to visit all the historical monuments while I grumble on about redundancy in our itinerary (seriously, I know these things are old but after four museums  in two days everything starts to look the same) and how much squatting toilets suck.  This is also the first time I’m traveling in a tour group which, although it has its advantages, made me realize how much I value traveling alone. But before I go into China, let me recap a little about Korea.

Allan and I arrived in Korea on the 12th, exhausted and cranky from the 14 hour flight. Luckily my cousin didn’t abandon us despite the delayed flight and waited at the airport to meet us. We spent the majority of our time visiting a mix of museums, professional gaming events, and of course, great restaurants.  Korea was more about meeting up with family and friends and although we packed our days full with things to do, it never felt forced. If we didn’t feel like doing something, we didn’t do it and if we didn’t feel like eating something, we didn’t eat it. And although I did feel more pressure acting as Allan’s tour guide, I had so much fun just being in Korea and soaking everything in.

China is quite different.  First, the degradation of my Mandarin from when I visited two years ago to now really frustrates me. Actually, it’s not so much the act itself but more so that I cannot express myself and therefore cannot communicate at times. Even if the Chinese person can speak English, there are still language barriers so many times my questions or concerns remain unanswered. For example, today I needed toilet paper but when I rang the hotel operator, they had to transfer me four times before someone who understood English could transfer me to housekeeping (but yes, I did finally get that roll of tp). It’s my fault for not knowing how to say toilet paper in Mandarin but considering this is supposed to be a five star hotel (albeit by Chinese standards), you would think that they would be able to help me without making me feel like I’m calling Bank of America customer service (sorry BoA but that’s what you get for outsourcing all your customer service and not bothering to train them).

However, I do have to say that the hotels I am staying at in China are the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in. I don’t really stay in hotels to begin with but still, I’m sure these hotels would cost three times as much in San Francisco or New York. The nice things about tours is that transportation and lodging is all taken care of. But that also means that the itinerary and meals are also pre-planned. Pros and cons. Overall it’s the people who make the experience for you. Allan’s family except for his oldest brother is here so it is fun to hang out with them but because we’re usually just listening to the tour guide explain the story behind the next palace or artifact, I can’t say that we’ve really had that much time to hang out. There are also a few others on the tour so in order to make sure that they don’t feel left out, I try to sit next to them during meals and include them in the conversations. The food hasn’t really impressed me yet but it could also just be because I haven’t had much of an appetite lately. I was able to visit the Great Wall in Beijing, which I wasn’t able to go all the way up because of stomach cramps :[ , and see the Terracotta soldiers in Xian but again, it’s hard to enjoy things when your body is rebelling against you and the only thing you can think about is how to strategically plan out your toilets for the day so that you  never have to squat.

The history is admittedly amazing and varied and I wish that I had studied up more on these places before I came so I could fully appreciate the significance. However, I am glad I came because I don’t know when I would have had an opportunity to visit all these places and navigate China without a tour guide. Of all the places I’ve been to, I’ve definitely seen the most tourists in China. But that could also be because I’m on a tour in China and all the tourists go to the same places.

Anyway, I feel like I’m not doing Korea or China any justice writing about them while I’m indisposed so I will try to update when I’m not the toilet’s best friend. Until then.

Anyway, I’m in Korea now but I will do a proper update with pictures and stories later. See you then!

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever see the people from my travels again. Twenty years ago it would have been near impossible but in this day and age, technology makes it so much easier. Leo is the fourth visitor from my Asia trip to visit the US but the first that I’ve been able to meet with. It has been two years since I visited but the memories from that trip are still so vivid in my memory.