Shopping Experience

This past weekend I ventured into a couple of the malls here in Bangkok, and was more than a little overwhemled. I don't really know if I would call them malls really. Or shopping for that matter. The malls are more like cities, and the shopping is more like a marathon sporting event. The smallest of the centers we went to was called the Emporium. This mall only had 6 floors. With stores like Prada, Gucci, Sony, & Calvin Klein you can shop 'til you drop; most likely you will. The strangest thing we saw was on the top floor of the Siam Paragon mall there are Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Maseratti, and Porsche dealerships! This is utterly insane if you ask me. How many people go to the mall and end up leaving with a $500,000 car?

The other thing that is quite unusual is the number of people in the stores. The average salary for a Thai native is about 10,000 Baht per month (about $260), so I really didn't think that they would be purchasing $1500 Armani suits. When you walk around the malls, yes they are quite packed, however there is no on actually in the stores. Everyone is just sort of wandering around. I don't know if they're just trying to keep cool or what, but it's an amazing thing to see.

I guess all of these high end shops are for farangs (foreigners). And with the numbers of stores, Bangkok must have a booming tourist trade. That was our experience of this past weekend.

Wow!!!

I am now in Bangkok, and my first impressions are....WOW! It is so incredibly huge; and insanely populated. Traffic is a 24 hour event here. The differences are astounding. Right next to a multi-million dollar mansion, you'll find a shanty village with 10 families in residence. There are displaced, poor, and homeless people everywhere you look. It seems to me, that if you're one of the "haves" in this country, you're doing very good.

The flight here was beyond torture, more specifically the flight between LA and Taipei. There was an overwhelming sense that it was never going to end. Sleeping on the plane was out of the question for sure. The plane resembled more a flying cattle car than an airliner. However perseverance won the day...not to mention more than a few drinks.

I slept for the first 13 hours I was here...and I have still not quite adjusted. I'm sure I'll be back on track in no time.

The food here is amazing!!! The two meals I've eaten here have put any Thai restaurant in the States to shame, and for about 1/12 the price. A huge portion of pad Thai will cost you about 30 Baht, that's less that $1. Just from riding around in taxis and walking the streets for a little bit, I can tell you that Bangkok is a city that runs on its stomach. There are vendors and restaurants everywhere. Cuisine from every corner of the world are found in Bangkok. I saw a French bistro next to an Pakistani restaurant across the street from a British pub. I can tell that I'm going to enjoy that aspect very much.

Well that's all for now. More to come later and more pictures for sure.

Thailand To The World

Jan has been adventuring around Bangkok and Thailand for about a month now and has taken some pictures documenting his adventures thus far. The architecture is absolutely amazing. Surely there are Chinese influences as well and Indian. However beyond that I really don't know much more about it right now. However, all of that will change once I'm actually there.

So enjoy the pictures Jan has taken, and please make comments if you have some.

Sawatdee

Sawatdee. Hello. Welcome to our blog. Over the next year we're going to chronicle our adventures around Thailand and Southeast Asia. The adventure of a lifetime that's for sure. So be jealous! This is just the initial post to get things rolling. More and more will come online as time progresses. Hopefully enough to make every single one of you green with envy. I'm kidding of course.

Over time if you would like to subscribe to the blog all you have to do is let us know, and you'll be notified of updates and what not. For the personal friends and family you know our personal email addresses this much is certain; however if you'd like to email both of us the email address is adventures.thailand@yahoo.com. Here's a map of the region for those of you who are geographically challenged.

Some general information about Bangkok:

1. Full Name - Bangkok or Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit (I KID YOU NOT!)

2. Area - 1,569 sq km (606 sq miles)

3. Population - 8,000,000

4. Time Zone - GMT/UTC +7 (Bangkok Standard Time) SO DON'T CALL AT 3AM!

5. Languages - Thai (official) Thai is a complicated language with its own unique alphabet, but it's fun to try at least a few words. The main complication with Thai is that it is tonal: the same word could be pronounced with a rising, falling, high, low or level tone and could theoretically have five meanings!

6. Currency - Baht (Bht)

So, sawatdee! And enjoy!