Travelocity goofed, posting multiple hotels throughout Japan at just a fraction of their regular prices. Hotel rooms at some of the top end hotels around Tokyo and Osaka were available for $0 – $5 a night, much like the Expedia fiasco late last year. Unfortunately, instead of being home where I could find out about the deal and hop on, I was out having fun.
Hard to believe lighting strikes twice, though this time I get to follow along without having any skin in the game.
The photos from Bangkok are now online. Check them out.
I read when I’m on the road. Sometimes significantly.
Take my trip to Thailand. By my second day in Thailand I’d polished off three or four magazines and a book on Darwin. I picked up a few books along the way, reading China Doll (I think that was the title), a new book by Haruki Murakami, and finally The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh.
In fact, it was my addiction to the written word that amused Lek and the other staff working at Cafe@2. Every time I was there, it seemed I was reading yet another book with my meal. And of all my reading material from the trip, it was The Glass Palace that topped everything.
One of the best fiction books I’ve read in awhile, the novel presents a sweeping epic of almost 100 years of history, politics, and culture, spread over three Burma, India, and Malaysia, through the threads of three interrelated families. While the characters are fictional, the larger historical setting is largely true and very vivid.
The novel begins with the fall of the Burmese Royal Family, traces its way to India and eventually back. Slowly tracing its way out, the web of characters is spun wider and wider, with love, hatred, tenderness, and arrogance are all mixed with the whims of fate.
It’s a great novel, if you have a chance to read it. Certainly it beats this rambling, offbeat blog posting.
The real jet lag never kicks in until the second day I’m back. That’s when my body decides that it’s a good idea to go to bed at 7 pm and wake up at 4 am. I’m now in my third morning of having spontaneously arising at 4:30, only to toss and turn until giving in and waking up sometime between 7 and 8.
On the flip side, I did finally shave. And it felt so freakin’ good.
Even before I left for the airport, I knew my flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles was delayed by an hour and a half. I checked Northwest’s website, looking for the minimum connect times. With my flight from Los Angeles leaving at 10:15, and my Tokyo flight scheduled to arrive at 9:25, was I going to clear customs, immigration and security in time to make my flight.
When I checked in at the counter, I asked the friendly agent what she thought. She checked some things in the system, looking for options that would get me to Newark without too much difficulty. In the end, the only option that worked was Continental’s nonstop. A few phone calls, some printouts, additional phone calls, and some stamps, and I was on my way to the other terminal to check in for a new flight that would bring me home 4 hours earlier than scheduled.
Thank you, Makiko.
Auld Lang Syne was following me.
I stopped in to the HMV in Shibuya across from the restaurant where Kien and I had a late dinner. The meal was not without incident, but the staff was friendly and apologized repeatedly. As we split up after dinner, I decided to do my CD shopping so that I wasn’t rushing around in the morning.
I wandered about, checking out the various listening posts for the latest Japanese pop, rock and punk music. In the background, music hummed as I mixed among the many teens and twentysomethings crowding the store floor at 10:30 pm on a Saturday night.
I had nearly finished picking out the CDs I was to buy when the background music finally broke through: It was Auld Lang Syne. Floored by the decision to play a repetitive, monotonous song that celebrates the New Year at the end of February, I figured it was time for me to head back to the hotel. I paid for my purchases and ducked out, not wanting to deal with the blank stares at the counter by trying to ask the reason an HMV, with plenty of decent and good music, was playing that lousy song.
After a crowded train ride back to Shinjuku, I walked down the street that led to my hotel, the shuttle bus having long since stopped. The air was cool but not cold, the night peaceful on the relatively quiet street.
And then I heard it again. Auld Lang Syne, emanating from the entrance to a shopping plaza on my right. I picked up my pace when suddenly a sharp pain seared through my left knee. Limping onward, I feld to the hotel as quickly as possible.
Soon, I was covered in a dreamless sleep, with no Auld Lang Syne to be found.
Lek (I think that’s what her name tag said) suggested I try the mango and sticky rice dessert. No doubt I looked confused for a second as I pondered the susggestion.
“It’s a traditional Thai dessert,” she continued. “Not too heavy, you should be able to finish it.”
What the hell, I thought. “Ok.”
A few minutes later she was back with a plate. Slices of mangos arranged in two rows on one side, a clump of white rice on the other. The sticky rice lived up to its name, with a slimy, sticky texture. The mangos were sweet, wonderful specimens that were no doubt picked fresh just recently, like all the other fruit I’d had in Thailand.
I was finishing up a late dinner my last night in Bangkok. I’d just come from Siam Paragon, the off-the-hook shopping monstrosity. An aquarium in the basement, exhibition space, a bowling alley, and movie theatre on the top floor, and several floors of shopping in between, there’s probably nothing you could want that couldn’t be found there.
I had just finished picking up a few last minute items after spending the afternoon wandering around Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. The Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace was a sight to behold, perched atop a large shrine that rose nearly to the ceiling, lights pointed all around. The spectators that entered were awed instantly, staring intently and prostrating themselves before the image of the Buddha to show their respect. I stood for a time, watching and admiring.
The night before I first adventured to Siam Paragon, where the Bangkok film festival was holding multiple movie screens each day. I took in a late showing of Revolver, a Guy Ritchie film. In uniquely Thai fashion, the audience was greeted with the Thai national Anthem in place of dancing soda and popcorn. The audience rose for the playing. For one of the nicest theatres I’d ever been in, with a large soda, I spent about 200 Baht (about $5).
After three hours sleep Friday night, I woke up to catch my flight to Japan.
Flyertalkers show up in the most unexpected places. To that point, let me give a shout out to GPS123 (I think that was his handle), whom I met while riding the elevator down to the lobby as I was leaving the Sheraton in Chiang Mai this morning.
Today was a full day of fun. It began with a morning tour out to one of the elephant camps on the edge of Chiang Mai, where tourists (including me) congregate to see elephants bathe, play, and generally obey whatever commands their mahout gives them. It was actually a phenomenal show. That everything was done nonverbally throughout made the whole experience kind of trippy.
The afternoon I “rented” a private car with a driver to take me around the area to the four most important “wats”. I’m always taken away by the serenity of buddhist temples combined with the phenomenal carving and architecture. What made the experience especially nice here is that there were so many monks and monks in training around. Some of the dedication to these kinds of traditions are waning in other parts of Asia. When the one monk stopped reading his book to check out one of the ladies walking around, though, I had to stiffle a giggle.
English has become very important here, with children beginning to learn the language as early as kindergarten through second grade. In fact, while I was checking out one of the temples, a gaggle of elementary school girls accosted me to ask me a series of questions in English about where I was from, what I was doing in Chiang Mai, and the like. I give the teacher credit, that is a great assignment to give a class to do.
Dinner was at this chill place called “The House”, with some really good food and phenomenal atmosphere. And the tuk-tuk ride around the streets of Chiang Mai at night is an experience worth having even if you have nowhere in particular to go. Those have to be one of the greatest forms of transportation ever. So what if you feel like you’re going to die as you careen around the streets. It’s still a blast!
That my bags arrived today only piled on to the good news, so now I can finally have some clothes to wear and a chance to really freshen up (i.e. shave). And the surprise of having a birthday cake sitting in my hotel room when I got back from dinner was just the icing on the cake, so to speak.
With the day having turned out so well, it’s almost a shame to have to head back to Bangkok tomorrow.
Having bumbled around for a few days now, there are really a few things that have struck me about Thailand that I wasn’t expecting.