Finally a day off

Finally a chance to catch up on some sleep on Friday as there were no orientations or the like, so I took the chance to have a lie in...until 8am when the heat coming through the window made it too unbearable so I called it quits to the attempted sleep in and got up and took a cold shower to cool down. I seriously don't know why people worry about not having hot water here...I have a grand total of about 1 time when I have used hot water, and even then, it was off after about 10 seconds. So, after my failed attempt at all forms of public transport yesterday, I can't say I was skipping to the bus stop with the prospect of trying to see if the 123, 124 or 201 would even come, let alone take me to Thammasat....but I figured at least it would be going somewhere near the city, so I would just get on, pay the money and see where I got too. So, bus taking...it's an experience...I doubt these buses are road-worthy in any way, shape or form....the floors are planks of wood nailed together, sometimes there is no closing door at the back of the bus, and you just kind of hang out the window in an attempt to stay cool if your on a non-aircondition bus. Adding to the excitement is the fact that the bus never actually pulls to a complete stop, so you either have to make a running jump on or off the bus as it speeds back off down the road again....getting on can be fun when you're trying to climb the steps whilst the bus is speeding off down the road, with no door behind you incase you should fall back in the process......but I lived to tell this tale, and even better....the bus pulled up at Thammasat....!!!!! So, I have decided that bus drivers on Thursday have no idea what they are doing and should be demoted to ticket selling guy instead......anyways

So, I went to uni incredibly pleased at my efforts to take the bus, and ran into law faculty students selling Thammasat books....the were a bargain at 50 baht for 3, so I got 3 in preparation for the start of class on monday. Went to the cafeteria for some lunch, and wanted to get this pork and egg thing they had at the place I went to yesterday, but they didnt have it today...maybe that was a Thursday special? Anyways, got some brocoli and then saw this minced pork dish which look spicy, so asked the lady if it was spicy, to which she responded with an enthusiastic....no not at all...so I got that. Well....Friday lesson.....dont believe nice old lady at right hand side curry store in the cafeteria when she says something is not spicy....her concept of not spicy and my concept of not spicy differ greatly.....anyways, it was still nice and is all part of the increasing chilli tolerance process right? Here is a picture of the meal

After lunch went to the uni bookstore to buy the rest of my uniform, but they only had shirts, and only had one in my size....the rest were like 5XL....why they have 5XL???.....what Thai guy fits 5XL????? Wait, they also had ties, so got one of those too. Then, went back to dorm and managed a nanna nap, this time with the aircon on to catch up on the sleep I was still to catch up on thanks to orientations and extreme heat at 6am. In the evening, went and ate dinner at the restaurant next to the dorm, and this awesome old man Lung Jar- "uncle Jar" runs the place and kept singing along to the radio and asking me if his cooking was delicious...yes it was very very delicious! I forgot to take my camera, so can't post what I ate...but it was like chicken with basil and an egg on rice.

Saturday was another transportation vicotry for James......2 to James 1 to Bangkok buses! So, today I was meeting David and one of his Japanese friends at Siam Centre coz his friend wanted to speak some English....we spoke nothing but Japanese in the end...so it seems my exchange in Thailand is doing wonders for my Japanese, but not so much for my Thai!! Anyways....took the bus to Siam, this time got nice new A/C bus...traffic so bad, took 1 hr to get there. So met David and Takeo then after discovering the food court in Siam Centre was closed for renovations we went to the food court in MBK. This one also a coupon system things.....I got some kind of Thai muslim meal which consisted of chicken which was so well cooked it just fell off the bone, and saffron rice, with a bowl of soup. After getting it, I decided the portion looked too small, so I also got som tum Papaya salad to go with it. The lady made the som tum fresh in front of me which was cool! Here is the meal, and the coupons you get are sitting next to the meal also

So, the chicken on rice...big hit with James....som tum....bit hit to the extent that it was made fresh infront of me....but the papaya was not quite as crunchy as I would have liked....it was kind of a little bit soggy but was nice! That and I forgot to ask for it to be only a little bit spicy and had to down a lot of water just to cool my mouth off at the end...but it's all good!

After that, my new Bangkok friend James (doesnt that confuse people here hahaha!) joined us for lunch. Then, said good-bye to David and Takeo, and we went in search of the remaining items of school uniform for me. Managed to find some...turns out there is a whole floor selling nothing but black pants and white shirts for uniforms. So, picked up what I needed, but the pants were too long so the lady took them up for me. While we were waiting, James introduced me to a famous toast chain believe it or not...famous for it's milk and toast with condensed milk....the place is called Mon Nom Sot. It was soooo crowded, but worth the wait...we ordered the speciality...plain milk (which actually as so much suger in it is just tastes like sweet and not milk at all!) and two pieces of toast....one with condensed milk, the other with kaya....mmmm it was actually really really good!!!

Went back and got my pants and shirts, then ventured back through MBK and my bag kept setting off the beeping machine, and the security guards kept having to search it...so frustrating
...and kinda sad that you can't even go into a department store without having to go through security now. So, after that, we went to Siam Paragon because we had to go to Kinokuniya book store for something....not quite sure what but according to James it was important. Except Siam Paragon is so big that it took like 1/2 hour of walking around just to find the store...so that made me tired and need of a food break. So, we went to Loft...they have Loft here whoot! So at the top of loft they have this super fancy food court...no coupons, this one you get a card which they scan everytime you want something, and all the food is international.

The card at Loft food court

So we got vietnamese, which was the spiciest Vietnamese I've ever eaten...I think they adjust it to Thai taste!! But this food court place was really nice...had a huge window overlooking Bangkok, and inside had a waterfall and everything!!! After that I had to try take the bus home, but I had no idea where I had to get off, so James kindly took the bus to show me how to do it! On the way home, there was all these lights on the main road...name I forget for the Queens Birthday....looked fantastic! Got home ok and proceeded to eat some of the pork crackling from Chiang Mai a friend gave me here...so so good...it came in such a big bag...but it's almost gone now....but I did only get half the bag, I havent eaten it all!