To say that Bangkok is an eclectic city, though accurate, is probably an understatement. My first 48 hours have taken me from burned out, desserted buildings with roaming bands of orphaned dogs to one of the most amazing, intricate palaces I have ever seen. Bangkok is both a welcoming city and also an intimidating city at the same time - everyone is incredibly friendly with smiling faces everywhere, but trying to find something to eat that seems "safe" on the streets can be a bit scary at first.
Here are links to my pictures from Day 1 and Day 2.
I am staying off of Sukhumvit which is one the main drags. Though I haven't seen too many of the other areas yet, I'm told this is probably a bit seedier than most places. The streets are lined with vendors and there are massage parlors and bars all over the place. I am right near a SkyTrain stop, which is actually incredibly efficient and clean (it reminds me a lot of the DC Metro). I'm about a 15 minute ride to school.
The food has definitely been a highlight so far - everything you have (regardless of where you are on the street or at a restaurant) is delicious, the best Thai food you have ever had (which I guess stands to reason), but Thai food in general is incredibly flavorful with great spices and vegetables that I've never seen before. I think the fact that it is also so cheap only adds to it - you can eat on the street for 20 Baht (~$0.50!). The portions are small, but the food is pretty filling and its everywhere so its never a problem to find something.
Marc and I went out for drinks on Sunday night - drinking is actually relatively expensive (70 Baht for a beer -- ~$1.75). The bars are filled with women and they definitely are not shy. They come up and chat you up. While I imagine you could negotiate "extracurricular activities" my feeling is that in the bars is that they are mostly there to make sure you stay and keep buying drinks. They are nowhere near as forward as the women were in Bejing (over there they basically came up to you, grinded you and said "take me home, give me money.") Here it seems to be more a friendly-type thing - they are very polite, they taught us some Thai words and really liked Marc's eyebrows. They thought he was Italian so I've taken to calling him Tony when we are out.
I bought a cell phone at this enormous mall complex called MBK Center - it consists of both regular stores and also black market stands and you can pretty much buy anything - and I mean ANYTHING. My cell phone # is (66) 7102-4780. If you can figure out how to dial it, feel free to give me a call (just remember the time different - 12 hours from EST!)
That's about it for now, I'm off to my first class -- take care...
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