Patrick goes to Thailand, shaves head.

As per request, I have fired up the ol' travel blog again. No need to thank me, just knowing I have a strong reader base is thanks enough.

Anyway, we've apparently only been in Thailand for three days, but it feels like a hell of a lot longer. For those of you who aren't up to date, I am with my friends Rob and Greg and we will be here for a month.

The trip over was mostly uneventful. Greg almost created havoc when it was discovered that his passport expires 5 DAYS after we were scheduled to return. Most countries? This would be a big deal. Thailand? No problem. Anyway, the flight to Japan was killer long. We played gin (card game) to 1000. (That's a lot) And we drank until Greg fell asleep. Some Japanese girls wanted a picture of us. We think it was because we are sexy. Really, there is no other logical conclusion. In Japan we got McDonalds. The Coke tasted funny. And then we went to Thailand.

We got in at like 9 15 and got through customs with a disinterested wave of the hand from the guy at the declarations desk. You learn quickly in Thailand that they don't care about much. I managed to decipher our location in the city using a crappy map and street signs that were spelled differently from the street names on said map. I was pretty impressed. So we went for a walk to try to find Rob (he was there 2 days before us. He also spent more on a cab ride in Tokyo on his layover than on his first WEEK here. Mindboggling. Check his blog; linked) and instead found countless prostitutes encircling a park. The sign at the place we were staying implored us to not bring one (or more) back to the rooms (they insisted it was for our own safety), and we begrudgingly obliged. We were tired anyway. We woke up Rob at his room the next morning after what was apparently (and surprisingly) a long night of drinking. He was happy to see us anyway.

We wandered for a while, and then we met up with a couple British guys he had met the night before and went to the 'Weekend Market', where we dropped a surprisingly small amout of money on such quality brand names as Gucci, Diesel, Billabong, and Oakley. We all mean to find a Rolex by the trip's end too, but all the ones we found are surprisingly poor at keeping time. We have penned a strongly worded letter to the people at Rolex and have yet to receive a response. For those of you who don't know, I packed 3 pair of underwear, 1 pair of shorts and 1 t-shirt. I wore 1 pear of jeans and 1 t-shirt and also, after long debate, a pair of underwear as well. I had to shop fast.

We returned to the area near our room, and decided to try the infamous Thai 'Buckets', which consist of Red Bull (which you can buy, uncarbonated, for CA$0.33 a bottle), Coke and a liquor of your choice. The original is with Sangrsom (sp?) whiskey, but we only had one of those. It's tough to fight down, especially at the end after no one warned you that the whiskey would float. So we moved on to Bacardi rum instead, and had a little too much, especially for the sunburned Rob, so we went back to the room for a nap before going out that night. The nap ran a little longer than scheduled, ending at 1 30 AM, so we hit a 24hr restaurant and then went online for a couple hours before playing cards until daybreak. (I am up 600 baht, which sounds impressive, so I son't convert that for you)

We then checked out and booked a bus to Chiang Mai, and then proceeded to have my head shaved. Rob has pictures, but he can't upload them yet. Until we find a USB port. We then got massages (legitamate!) and relaxed by the pool for a while, before doing some more shopping. (I am up to 4 t-shirts, 1 peasant shirt and 4 pairs of shorts, along with sandals and sunglasses) We headed to the Grand Palace, but, because we couldn't get in (short pants) we just took shots from afar. And on the way we were harassed (anyone who has dealt with vendors in Mexico etc. understands harassment, but this was really off the charts) to feed the pigeons corn for good luck. Now, I'm all for good luck, but this corn must have been genetically modified in some way to make it awesome, because the price was higher than I had expected. Anyway, we took the 12 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, and now we have booked a 3-day 'trek' that involves riding elepants. I don't really know what else, but I was sold on elephants. There appears to be tons to do in this city, so we may be here for a while. Also, the place we are staying at runs us CA%3.33 a night per person, so we are in no rush to leave. Oh, and we get to watch Thai boxing tonight. Ringside!

Things to do before we leave: Get tailored suits, get acupuncture, get a tattoo. Don't worry Dad, it'll be tasteful. And big! They're cheap here.

Will keep you updated.

-P