A Long Journey
Here I am, back in Bangkok. When I was here just over a year ago, I had no idea that I would be back so soon, yet here I am surrounded by familiar (yet oh-so-foreign) places, smells, tastes, and sounds. I am staying with my friend Jeff, who lives near Victory Monument, but let’s start at the beginning.
My last meal in the US was, appropriately, at Chipotle with my parents and Chris (remember Chris, from my Europe trip?) We went from lunch to DFW airport, where I checked my two bags (the backpack I used in Europe and a midsized duffel). After some teary goodbyes (though much less teary than I expected), I made my way through security without issue and went to my gate. Or at least I thought it was my gate. I waited at C26 for a while and talked on the phone to many of my friends. When it became clear that, an hour and a half before I was to depart, no one else was waiting at the gate, I checked the departure monitors. My flight said C4. Oops. So I walked a ways and found the hordes of people waiting to go to LA. Not a problem though, as I was still quite early.
After boarding the plane, I sat comfortably in my aisle seat and waited anxiously to see who my seat neighbor was. I breathed a little easier every time a large person passed my row. Then the boarding passengers came less frequently. Maybe I would have an empty seat….Alas, such was not to be had. The standby passengers began boarding, and much to my chagrin, a very large black man paused at my row. “15E – that’s me,” he said. I winced and stood up. This was possibly the largest person on the plane, and lucky me (and the guy in the windows seat), he was my neighbor. He easily took up a seat and a half, and that half mostly spilled over into my seat. So there I sat, leaning into the aisle as far as I could, as this man tried to pull something out of his pocket. I consider myself to be fairly comfortable with strangers, even in quite close quarters. Necessity teaches tolerance. However, this man was even more comfortable with it, apparently, as he delved into his pocket, finally pulling out a Bible. After briefly talking with our window-seated neighbor, he settled into his book. I was a little disturbed at having to sit halfway in the aisle, not so much because it was uncomfortable (it was), but because the man was clearly taking up more and more space. His legs expanded the longer he read, and then when he took a break, they moved closer together. His massive arm completely covered the arm rest between us, plus several inches in my direction. Every time a flight attendant walked by, she bumped into me or stepped on my feet. She would always apologize and look at me as if to say, “I’m apologizing, but really, you’re the one in my space.” But then she’d look at my neighbor and a look of pity would replace the one of reproach. Thanks.
Anyway, I made it through that flight and hoped that I had paid my dues to the airplane seating gods and that my next (much longer) flight would fare better in the neighbor department. And it did.
In LA, I arrived at about 8pm, and my flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1:15am. So I went and ate at McDonalds because at $8 for a meal, it was cheaper than anywhere else. I talked on the phone and munched on some nuggets and fries at a table while the crowds came and went. At one especially crowded time, two Filipino women came and sat at my table. Apparently they wanted my chairs but lacked a table to which to move them, so they claimed mine. I was on the phone and not expecting company, so I didn’t care. A few minutes later, several tables cleared, and the two women changed tables, leaving me alone once again.
Around 10pm, I noticed that the flight monitors showed the gate number for my flight, so I went to wait at the gate. I already had my ticket, so I tried to through security. A security officer looked at my ticket and informed me that I needed to change the ticket to a boarding pass and check in before I could go through. He gestured to the China Air counter at which I could check in, and I looked in horror at the line snaking around on itself several times. I got in line and scoped out the other people waiting to see what my odds were of being seated next to a favorable (or unfavorable) passenger. There were a few white couples my age in line. Two couples had a baby each, and one guy behind me looked exactly like Heath Ledger (see Brokeback Mountain). I had my neighbors and not-neighbors picked out. Not too bad.
After a long wait, I checked in and went through security. I was flagged as “Bag Check,” which ended up being nothing except an extra fifteen-minute wait while a security guard went through my pack (which I could spare, since I was still really early). It was either the bag of Brazil nuts or the contact solution. I do look like a suspicious character, after all. I went to the gate and took a seat near the wall near an electrical outlet. A Chinese girl arrived at the same time I did and plugged her adaptor into the outlet. It was one of those ones that hangs down below the plug, and when she plugged it into the top plug, I gave her a look that she must have understood said “Seriously? There are two plugs, and you’re going to take up both of them with your one adaptor?” because she moved it to the bottom outlet. I plugged in my MP3 player, and lay down to take a quick nap before the flight. About half an hour later, at about 12:30, I got up to go to the bathroom, so I unplugged my MP3 player to take it and my stuff with me. When I returned, the girl had plugged something else into the other plug and wasn’t about to unplug it for me. I guess I had relinquished my rights to one of the plugs by abandoning my post. It was only a few more minutes until boarding time, so I didn’t take issue with her outlet gluttony.
We boarded on time, and I found myself again on an aisle (thanks, Mom, and the ticket guy), with a Chinese man of about 45 in the window seat. Again, the seat directly next to me was empty. Having learned not to get my hopes up, I waited anxiously to see if my large friend would appear, but when the doors closed and the plane started moving, it became clear that the seat would remain empty. I thanked the airplane seating gods and stretched out my legs. I was still a little wary, though, because across the aisle from me was one of the American couples I had seen in line – the one with a baby. In the row behind them was the Heath Ledger lookalike and his girlfriend. I think the two couples were friends, as they talked a little, though maybe they had just met in the airport. I overheard one conversation regarding the book the young father was reading, called “Coyote Blue.” Something Christian. “Figures,” I thought. “Why else would a young American couple with a baby be going to Asia?” Not bad seating, though, as long as the baby wasn’t too loud.
There’s really not much to say about that flight. I slept most of the time, the people around me were quiet, and the food (pork with rice for dinner, French toast for breakfast) was pretty good. The flight was thirteen hours, but it really didn’t feel that long. By the end, I was sure the Christian baby was mute. She hadn’t made a peep the entire flight, and I was very grateful. As we landed, she squealed a little, impressing me even more – that she was, in fact, not mute but extremely well-behaved.
The Taipei airport was unremarkable and I have little to say about it other than that I spoke with a short, bald American from San Francisco who had an apartment in Southern China. I lost interest in that conversation after he mentioned that he loved the “weather, the culture, and of course the girls” of China. I guess I’m a cynic. I went off and buried myself in my MP3 player as I waited for my flight. Four hours later, I boarded and again waited for my neighbor. Instead of a 747, this was an Airbus 330, so I only had one neighbor (once again, I was on the aisle). I didn’t wait long before an elegant-looking Chinese woman came by and indicated that she sat next to me. I let her in, and began reading my book. “What are you reading,” she asked. I showed her the cover. “A Walk in the Woods,” I explained, “It’s about camping.” She nodded and asked where I was from. Her English was quite good, and we launched into a discussion about our origins and destinations. It turned out that she is Chinese but grew up in Burma before moving to Taiwan to go to school, and then to San Francisco, where she currently resides. Her husband works in electronics in southern China, and she spends half the year there, and half the year in SF with her three children (two of whom are done with college, and the third attends UC Irvine). After I shared a bit about myself, she said that if I go to Berkeley, I should call or email her, and I could come visit, and then she gave me her card. It’s really amazing how people are when traveling. People seem much friendlier and much more trusting, which is a nice relief from the culture in the US that is growing in cynicism and paranoia.
She got off in Hong Kong, and we said our farewells. I was herded to the side as I deplaned and tagged as a “transfer passenger” so I could board again and go to Bangkok. I and a few other transfers were escorted through the airport to the correct gate, where we waited only a short time before boarding the same plane bound for Bangkok. I had the same seat, but this time my neighbor was a young Chinese-Australian (as far as I could tell by the accent). We didn’t talk at all, except when he asked to borrow my pen to fill out his arrival card. Both flights (TPE to HKG and HKG to BKK) both served food, so I was quite full when I arrived. Luck would have it that I arrived on the very first day that all service to Bangkok was through the new airport. It’s a nice building, but there are a few design flaws that stuck out to me, which I won’t enumerate here. Not huge problems, but enough for me notice and mentally correct. After a long wait in the passport control line, I went to wait for my baggage. I’m always amazed when my baggage goes through such a trip like DFW -> LAX -> TPE -> HKG -> BKK. But it did – all of it. I went out and found my friend Jeff, and we got a taxi and went to his apartment. The lines of people waiting for taxis were really long, but they moved pretty quickly.
We got back to his apartment, and he showed me around a little. We went and got some food at an outdoor restaurant (a really spicy clear soup with beef and something called “prik gang gai,” which is a sort of chicken with ginger, also spicy). I wasn’t really ready for an entirely spicy meal, but it was very good. Then we came back, and I crashed. That much travel really takes it out of a person.
My first day in Bangkok, we went to a place near Jeff’s apartment, and we had something called “khao men gai,” which is boiled chicken breast over steamed rice, with a sort of spicy sauce (self-applied) over it. I really like the serving sizes here…much more practical, and you actually feel good after you eat. In the US, I usually feel stuffed and sleepy after eating, whereas here, I tend to feel satisfied and more energetic (despite the humidity and heat, which I have yet to mention). It’s really not that hot, but it’s quite humid, and it’s something I’m going to have to get used to (although I don’t expect it to take too long). After eating, we went to Siam Center and walked around the new malls there. Pretty upscale stuff, but it’s no cheaper than in the US (and some of it is more expensive). I was on the lookout for good, cheap sandals, and I found some when we left the mall to look at Pratunam (an area of market vendors selling fake name-brand items). Although I’m out of practice haggling, I got a pair of sandals that are exactly what I was looking for, for the price I wanted to pay (150 Baht ~ $3.80). The woman who sold them to me was not pleased – a sure sign of a good buy. Then we just walked around for a while before coming back to the room. I had some mango with sweet sticky rice (one of the greatest dishes in the entire world), and some fried egg rolls from a stand.
So that’s most of my first day in Bangkok. We’re going out soon for dinner, probably for pad thai (traditional Thai noodle dish – not spicy). I have a few pictures, but I’ll try to start taking more. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this first entry. I can’t imagine keeping this length and quality for the entire travelogue, but it’s a good place to start.
My last meal in the US was, appropriately, at Chipotle with my parents and Chris (remember Chris, from my Europe trip?) We went from lunch to DFW airport, where I checked my two bags (the backpack I used in Europe and a midsized duffel). After some teary goodbyes (though much less teary than I expected), I made my way through security without issue and went to my gate. Or at least I thought it was my gate. I waited at C26 for a while and talked on the phone to many of my friends. When it became clear that, an hour and a half before I was to depart, no one else was waiting at the gate, I checked the departure monitors. My flight said C4. Oops. So I walked a ways and found the hordes of people waiting to go to LA. Not a problem though, as I was still quite early.
After boarding the plane, I sat comfortably in my aisle seat and waited anxiously to see who my seat neighbor was. I breathed a little easier every time a large person passed my row. Then the boarding passengers came less frequently. Maybe I would have an empty seat….Alas, such was not to be had. The standby passengers began boarding, and much to my chagrin, a very large black man paused at my row. “15E – that’s me,” he said. I winced and stood up. This was possibly the largest person on the plane, and lucky me (and the guy in the windows seat), he was my neighbor. He easily took up a seat and a half, and that half mostly spilled over into my seat. So there I sat, leaning into the aisle as far as I could, as this man tried to pull something out of his pocket. I consider myself to be fairly comfortable with strangers, even in quite close quarters. Necessity teaches tolerance. However, this man was even more comfortable with it, apparently, as he delved into his pocket, finally pulling out a Bible. After briefly talking with our window-seated neighbor, he settled into his book. I was a little disturbed at having to sit halfway in the aisle, not so much because it was uncomfortable (it was), but because the man was clearly taking up more and more space. His legs expanded the longer he read, and then when he took a break, they moved closer together. His massive arm completely covered the arm rest between us, plus several inches in my direction. Every time a flight attendant walked by, she bumped into me or stepped on my feet. She would always apologize and look at me as if to say, “I’m apologizing, but really, you’re the one in my space.” But then she’d look at my neighbor and a look of pity would replace the one of reproach. Thanks.
Anyway, I made it through that flight and hoped that I had paid my dues to the airplane seating gods and that my next (much longer) flight would fare better in the neighbor department. And it did.
In LA, I arrived at about 8pm, and my flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 1:15am. So I went and ate at McDonalds because at $8 for a meal, it was cheaper than anywhere else. I talked on the phone and munched on some nuggets and fries at a table while the crowds came and went. At one especially crowded time, two Filipino women came and sat at my table. Apparently they wanted my chairs but lacked a table to which to move them, so they claimed mine. I was on the phone and not expecting company, so I didn’t care. A few minutes later, several tables cleared, and the two women changed tables, leaving me alone once again.
Around 10pm, I noticed that the flight monitors showed the gate number for my flight, so I went to wait at the gate. I already had my ticket, so I tried to through security. A security officer looked at my ticket and informed me that I needed to change the ticket to a boarding pass and check in before I could go through. He gestured to the China Air counter at which I could check in, and I looked in horror at the line snaking around on itself several times. I got in line and scoped out the other people waiting to see what my odds were of being seated next to a favorable (or unfavorable) passenger. There were a few white couples my age in line. Two couples had a baby each, and one guy behind me looked exactly like Heath Ledger (see Brokeback Mountain). I had my neighbors and not-neighbors picked out. Not too bad.
After a long wait, I checked in and went through security. I was flagged as “Bag Check,” which ended up being nothing except an extra fifteen-minute wait while a security guard went through my pack (which I could spare, since I was still really early). It was either the bag of Brazil nuts or the contact solution. I do look like a suspicious character, after all. I went to the gate and took a seat near the wall near an electrical outlet. A Chinese girl arrived at the same time I did and plugged her adaptor into the outlet. It was one of those ones that hangs down below the plug, and when she plugged it into the top plug, I gave her a look that she must have understood said “Seriously? There are two plugs, and you’re going to take up both of them with your one adaptor?” because she moved it to the bottom outlet. I plugged in my MP3 player, and lay down to take a quick nap before the flight. About half an hour later, at about 12:30, I got up to go to the bathroom, so I unplugged my MP3 player to take it and my stuff with me. When I returned, the girl had plugged something else into the other plug and wasn’t about to unplug it for me. I guess I had relinquished my rights to one of the plugs by abandoning my post. It was only a few more minutes until boarding time, so I didn’t take issue with her outlet gluttony.
We boarded on time, and I found myself again on an aisle (thanks, Mom, and the ticket guy), with a Chinese man of about 45 in the window seat. Again, the seat directly next to me was empty. Having learned not to get my hopes up, I waited anxiously to see if my large friend would appear, but when the doors closed and the plane started moving, it became clear that the seat would remain empty. I thanked the airplane seating gods and stretched out my legs. I was still a little wary, though, because across the aisle from me was one of the American couples I had seen in line – the one with a baby. In the row behind them was the Heath Ledger lookalike and his girlfriend. I think the two couples were friends, as they talked a little, though maybe they had just met in the airport. I overheard one conversation regarding the book the young father was reading, called “Coyote Blue.” Something Christian. “Figures,” I thought. “Why else would a young American couple with a baby be going to Asia?” Not bad seating, though, as long as the baby wasn’t too loud.
There’s really not much to say about that flight. I slept most of the time, the people around me were quiet, and the food (pork with rice for dinner, French toast for breakfast) was pretty good. The flight was thirteen hours, but it really didn’t feel that long. By the end, I was sure the Christian baby was mute. She hadn’t made a peep the entire flight, and I was very grateful. As we landed, she squealed a little, impressing me even more – that she was, in fact, not mute but extremely well-behaved.
The Taipei airport was unremarkable and I have little to say about it other than that I spoke with a short, bald American from San Francisco who had an apartment in Southern China. I lost interest in that conversation after he mentioned that he loved the “weather, the culture, and of course the girls” of China. I guess I’m a cynic. I went off and buried myself in my MP3 player as I waited for my flight. Four hours later, I boarded and again waited for my neighbor. Instead of a 747, this was an Airbus 330, so I only had one neighbor (once again, I was on the aisle). I didn’t wait long before an elegant-looking Chinese woman came by and indicated that she sat next to me. I let her in, and began reading my book. “What are you reading,” she asked. I showed her the cover. “A Walk in the Woods,” I explained, “It’s about camping.” She nodded and asked where I was from. Her English was quite good, and we launched into a discussion about our origins and destinations. It turned out that she is Chinese but grew up in Burma before moving to Taiwan to go to school, and then to San Francisco, where she currently resides. Her husband works in electronics in southern China, and she spends half the year there, and half the year in SF with her three children (two of whom are done with college, and the third attends UC Irvine). After I shared a bit about myself, she said that if I go to Berkeley, I should call or email her, and I could come visit, and then she gave me her card. It’s really amazing how people are when traveling. People seem much friendlier and much more trusting, which is a nice relief from the culture in the US that is growing in cynicism and paranoia.
She got off in Hong Kong, and we said our farewells. I was herded to the side as I deplaned and tagged as a “transfer passenger” so I could board again and go to Bangkok. I and a few other transfers were escorted through the airport to the correct gate, where we waited only a short time before boarding the same plane bound for Bangkok. I had the same seat, but this time my neighbor was a young Chinese-Australian (as far as I could tell by the accent). We didn’t talk at all, except when he asked to borrow my pen to fill out his arrival card. Both flights (TPE to HKG and HKG to BKK) both served food, so I was quite full when I arrived. Luck would have it that I arrived on the very first day that all service to Bangkok was through the new airport. It’s a nice building, but there are a few design flaws that stuck out to me, which I won’t enumerate here. Not huge problems, but enough for me notice and mentally correct. After a long wait in the passport control line, I went to wait for my baggage. I’m always amazed when my baggage goes through such a trip like DFW -> LAX -> TPE -> HKG -> BKK. But it did – all of it. I went out and found my friend Jeff, and we got a taxi and went to his apartment. The lines of people waiting for taxis were really long, but they moved pretty quickly.
We got back to his apartment, and he showed me around a little. We went and got some food at an outdoor restaurant (a really spicy clear soup with beef and something called “prik gang gai,” which is a sort of chicken with ginger, also spicy). I wasn’t really ready for an entirely spicy meal, but it was very good. Then we came back, and I crashed. That much travel really takes it out of a person.
My first day in Bangkok, we went to a place near Jeff’s apartment, and we had something called “khao men gai,” which is boiled chicken breast over steamed rice, with a sort of spicy sauce (self-applied) over it. I really like the serving sizes here…much more practical, and you actually feel good after you eat. In the US, I usually feel stuffed and sleepy after eating, whereas here, I tend to feel satisfied and more energetic (despite the humidity and heat, which I have yet to mention). It’s really not that hot, but it’s quite humid, and it’s something I’m going to have to get used to (although I don’t expect it to take too long). After eating, we went to Siam Center and walked around the new malls there. Pretty upscale stuff, but it’s no cheaper than in the US (and some of it is more expensive). I was on the lookout for good, cheap sandals, and I found some when we left the mall to look at Pratunam (an area of market vendors selling fake name-brand items). Although I’m out of practice haggling, I got a pair of sandals that are exactly what I was looking for, for the price I wanted to pay (150 Baht ~ $3.80). The woman who sold them to me was not pleased – a sure sign of a good buy. Then we just walked around for a while before coming back to the room. I had some mango with sweet sticky rice (one of the greatest dishes in the entire world), and some fried egg rolls from a stand.
So that’s most of my first day in Bangkok. We’re going out soon for dinner, probably for pad thai (traditional Thai noodle dish – not spicy). I have a few pictures, but I’ll try to start taking more. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this first entry. I can’t imagine keeping this length and quality for the entire travelogue, but it’s a good place to start.
