Bangkok Day 7-9
Hello everyone!
Sorry for the backups in journaling. It's been ramping up as I am currently in Bali. Hope my diary entries are entertaining and thorough. I find it very thoughtful for those who respond, I know my entries are quite long. I figured for the next parts of my journal, I would do a little prologue to introduce my friends of the group. Everyone worked with me at my summer internship this past summer in New York City.
Chirag - Graduated from NYU, is the co-ring leader with me on planning this entire trip. He was on the same project as me over the summer and we worked together for 6 weeks (I’ve had enough of you). Spent many hours on zoom and facetime organizing this trip together. His girlfriend does to Drexel (in Philly) so I’ve seen him one too many times this past semester at school hahhhhh jk (or am I??)...
Erica - Graduated from Penn State (she ended #1 in her class she’s a smartie), got her BS and master's in 3.5 years. Makes me look bad. Her sister goes to UPenn with me and swipes me into the dining halls so I can avoid cooking. Erica has been my traveling buddy since the first day. This lady knows all my deepest and darkest secrets.
Gene - NYU student, from Thailand (we stayed at her house), best tour guide and host anyone could literally ask for, super sweet and bubbly. Can be a savage from time to time. Gene will only be with us for the first leg of the trip (Thailand) and will be heading back to USA to finish up her last semester at NYU.
Alex - Graduated from NYU, from Jakarta/HK and we will be staying at his place in Indo further along the trip. Interesting individual, doesn’t eat vegetables or fruits and is quite stubborn. Smart and sometimes friendly guy. Pretends he isn’t spoiled or posh but definitely is both.
Lucy - Still unfortunately an NYU student, missing the first 2 weeks of school because she is rightfully a second semester senior because school is fake and doesn’t matter anymore. Very outgoing and extremely talkative, has the funniest and wildest stories about random sh*t in her life. Definitely the life of the party.
Russell - Graduated from NYU, obsessed with poker and gambling, a lowkey degenerate, and reminds me of Stanley from the office. Russell rarely shows emotions but when he does, the whole room lights up.
Bangkok Day 7
We wake up, gym, and welcome Lucy and Chirag to the group after their long journey of traveling. We start off our day back at Icon-Siam for lunch, where I became a little tour guide since I’ve learned so much in my one week of Thailand exploring. Fun fact, “Siam” is the name of Thailand in the olden days! Very historical meaning. We explored the mall and got lunch at a restaurant called Ros’niyam. We got Tom Yom soup, Pad Se Ew, morning glory, crab curry, and a Thai omelet. This Pad Se Ew was SO MOIST AND YUMMY I want to know how they cook the noodles. We all have collectively agreed that this Pad Se Ew was genuinely the best we’ve ever had. It was so well cooked because the noodles were not overcooked yet were so perfectly soft, bursting with significant flavor. Chirag got an overpriced coconut (shame, we told him to wait, it’s such a touristy move). After, we went to a Michelin guide dessert restaurant called Pang Cha to try their tasty Thai shaved ice. I could definitely tell why it was Michelin's guide. It was a combo of perfectly not-too-sweet flavored shaved ice with many traditional Asian toppings like mochi, red bean, and boba pops. We waited a long time for the dessert because it was quite busy, but it was definitely worth the wait. After dessert, we left Icon-Siam and headed back to Gene’s to swim and lounge in her pool area. While we were lounging, a little 6-year-old kid who lives in the same building comes and runs to us to play with us. He screams in a little British accent and tells us we have been sent to jail and asks us to pay him money to become free. He asks us for 100, and Lucy screams back, “IN BAHT??” and the kid responds, “NO! IN DOLLARS!” After a few giggles and disbelief from the little kid, he continues to stun us by slapping Chirag’s butt. He was so talkative, I could not count to 3 seconds without him shouting another sentence. I’m telling you, this kid will be in business school one day. The boy proceeds to push Lucy into the pool, cackling with evil happiness after he successfully watches her downfall. This kid did a lot of damage let me tell you. Later, while we were leaving, he looks at me and says, “SEE YOU TOMORROW!” And I look back at him and respond, “YEAH, SEE YOU AT THE CLUB TOMORROW NIGHT!” His mother, walking in front of me, turns back and stifles a laugh as we exit the pool. We head back upstairs and get ready to travel to Chinatown. We went to a famous Thai-inspired Chinese restaurant called Hua Seng Hong and got some interesting dishes like Fish maw soup. I thought the restaurant was aight, I definitely prefer my Chinese food the way my parents cook it at home though. Afterward, we went to a dessert stand and tried a famous dish called Birds nest, which is a very unique and exotic dish that is made from a bird’s saliva. I tried it and honestly, I couldn’t get the knowledge that I was eating bird saliva out of my head. I think it definitely affected my experience. It tasted exactly like what you would imagine bird saliva to taste like- but add ice and sugar to it. It wasn’t a fav, but hey! At least I tried it. Green eggs & ham…right? A side note from our Chinatown experience is that I was quite shocked that we found an alarming amount of “old-white man with young Thai-lover” tropes. We played a game where if anyone could spot that kind of duo, everyone else would have to take a shot (of alcohol) later. I, with my quick and observant eye, spot a lovely duo as we drive away from Chinatown, and proceed to get hate from all my friends saying they “couldn’t verify” the couple and therefore I lied. WHAT ABSOLUTE BULLSH*T!!!! I can tell you that the Thai-lover was wearing a pink shirt and a long white skirt, while the fugly old crusty man wore a dark green flowery shirt with navy shorts. After that absolute party foul (by my menace friends for not believing me), we then returned home from Chinatown and went to bed in preparation for a long day.
Bangkok Day 8
Today, Russell arrives. After a treacherous 30 hours of flying, Russell drags himself in at 5 AM dead inside because he was unable to sleep on the plane. After welcoming Russell, we go to the gym as a whole unit (squad) and then get ready to go to the temples. We first go to a lunch spot called The Deck- it has a sick view of the temples and the water. The food was pretty mid, I feel like I’ve been spoiled up until now. Lucy got this crab salad that tastes JUST LIKE the Thai-tanium crab dish back at home (a solid Thai restaurant back in the good old Maryland). After lunch, we went to Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew. This next part makes me MAD to write about and I’m going to blame this incident on Chirag and Russell, but basically, we failed to sneak into the temples and were forced to pay the FOREIGNER FEE!!! Unfortunately, this was due to the fact that Chirag failed to shut up and was talking very loudly in plain English while we were walking in past the security guard and Russell is half white which led us to fail the “local Thai” vibe. We got caught by the security guard and were shamefully sent back to buy foreigner fee tickets which made me so upset. It ruined my entire streak. I HATE YOU GUYS IF YOU READ THIS!!!!!!! Anyways, besides the point, Gene gave us a fantastic tour. We first enter a room with a small golden elephant laying on the floor. Gene tells us that if you can pick up the golden elephant with just your pinky, you are lucky. Erica goes first and successfully picks up the elephant. Chirag goes next and also succeeds. Lucy walks up to the elephant, and struggles a bit to lift it up, but eventually succeeds. Then came my turn— and at this moment I remember that my two pinkies were broken at some point in my life and never healed properly. I walk up to the elephant, pick it up with all my might, and unfortunately completely fail. I have never been so humbled by an inanimate object. I walk away and pretend that never happened. We kept roaming around, looking at the big golden Buddha statue. Because it was Lunar New year, we got splashed with Holy water by the munk and also got cute marching red bracelets with white pearls that scare the sins away and bring you good luck. After the temples, we take the TukTuks to a dessert area (TukTuk = moped) and get coconut water, Thai iced tea, and mango sticky rice. After, we head back home to change and get ready for dinner. Dinner happens at this very popping Spanish tapas bar called Vasos- it’s a loud Spanish-inspired place that plays loud clubby music. The chefs get rowdy and it’s a fantastic vibe all around. While we were there, we see an old white man sitting alone in the corner. I joke around saying that he’s waiting for a Thai Asian woman to come. I get massive sh*t from all my friends (once again), but the best part is— 10 minutes later a THAI LADY-BOY comes in, decked in a hot pink dress, and sits right next to him. If you don’t know what a lady-boy is, please don’t ask me. Our table unfortunately cannot control our laughter and we get some looks from their table. I down the rest of my sangria because it was just too funny in the moment. After dinner, we walk around the restaurant area and go to a nice hotel to find four little cute teacup Pomeranians in a little basket. I chat with the owners for a bit and show them pictures of Casper on my phone, and we have a bonding moment. The one puppy that looked eerily similar to Casper licked my hand as a sign of love and in that moment I decided that if I had to die now I would die happily. The boys of the group got annoyed at us for taking so long at the puppy station and so we had to part ways with the cute pom-poms. Afterward, we head to a club called BEAM where we became boujee individuals for a night and buy a table #baller. We get premium service along with 2 handles of Grey-goose in a dark, laser-beamed smokey room as we spend the night clubbing away. This club experience was quite memorable because this was the first time ever that White people were in the minority. It was my first clubbing experience in Asia. It was an interesting feeling, being part of the majority made me compare my experiences back in the USA, and I felt a weird sense of belonging as it was an unusual comfortable territory. We see a group of what seems to be exchange students partying. I turn over to Alex and bet him that they were German students on exchange. He bets that they are definitely Russian students. I then lean over to ask a girl in their group where she’s from and she says she’s German. Of course, I am right. Sucks to suck Alex! After a long night of fun beverages scorching down my throat (mom I swear I’m not an alcoholic), we decide to call it quits the moment Russell’s eyes close shut due to jet lag, and we make our way home after a tiring night of clubbing.
Bangkok Day 9
Today we take a day trip to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is right outside of Bangkok which has the most historical and oldest temples in Thailand. We start off the morning by loading into the car bright and early at 9 AM. The van in which we are transporting is quite bougie with decked-out disco ball lights which means it’s a party bus. Unfortunately, there was no party happening here because a slick and sly mosquito wiggled its way into the van and started hunting me for the next two hours. Let me tell you, I am winning in the game of most desired blood (by mosquitos) and this is a game I really wish to lose. All my friends must have really ugly blood I guess. We take a two-hour car ride to one of the most famous restaurants in Ayutthaya, which is famous for the river prawns. At this restaurant, we get fried fish, squid with garlic baby squid, lots of morning glory, river prawns, coconuts, and some Thai iced tea. After our restaurant excursion, we peer over to a dessert shop that Gene recommended. This dessert is so unique and yummy. It's called roti saimai- some kind of crêpe-like wrapping and sugar floss wrapped like a long spring roll. Lisa from Blackpink (a famous K-pop star that is Thai) sponsors this dessert. After Lisa posted it on her Instagram story one time, that shop sells out every day with the line wrapping around the street. Once our eating explorations come to a halt, we drive to the first temple. This temple is quite grand and is the oldest temple in Thailand. We are stuck paying the foreigner fee once again, but I think I’ve been numb to the pain from Yesterday's experience. We walk around the temple and Gene educates us on Thailand’s history. There’s a bunch of soldiers/Buddha statues around the temple where the heads have been cut off. The history behind this is that looters came to chop off the heads of these statues and stole them during the war. While these Buddha statues have been recovered and found, they have been sent to many historical museums in England and the United States, which is very political because when Thailand asked for its historical pieces back they were asked to pay a price, even though they belong to Thailand. Thailand then just decided just to pay these museums back to get its ancestry and historical statues back. After the first temple, we headed over to some food stands where we purchased some dragon fruit and coconut ice cream. This coconut ice cream was freaking fantastic. My lactose-intolerant self was crying though. This coconut ice cream was just so creamy because it was made with coconut condensed milk. While we were at the stands, we saw a ton of large-sized elephants with people riding on top of them. I feel bad for these elephants because they are put to work in the scorching heat, transporting foreigners. I really hope they are treated ethically, but my gut tells me otherwise. We then make it over to our next temple, where this time we get away with paying the Thailand fee instead of the foreigner fee. Score! The security guards were for sure super sus though. We walk in, roam around and take some pictures, and stumble across a large tree with a Buddha's head perfectly centered at the bottom of the tree, entwined in between the branches of the grandiose tree. Legend has it that the Buddha statue's head fell on the floor and grew one with the tree. Gene educated us that the Bodie tree is quite symbolic because that’s where Buddha got his enlightenment. Unfortunately, the real tree is in India, so I was gaslighted for some time to believe that the tree we saw was the real deal. After our Ayutthaya trip, we head back to Gene’s place to settle down and rest. After a bit of chilling, we head over one last time to Healthland- the massage palace galore. We all decide to get a Thai massage- together. The 7 of us knuckleheads pile into a room and immediately we fight over who gets the traditional massage beds vs the regular beds. The masseuse tells us to play rock paper scissors (girls vs. guys) and all of a sudden the stakes become so high. It’s Gene vs. Chirag, and everyone is gunning for the traditional massage beds. We scream out, “rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!” And out Gene throws paper while idiot Chirag throws out rock. SCORE!!!! We all scream and celebrate in happiness and Gene accidentally bumps her head into some wood as she jumps up celebrating. She is ok though. Moving on, the girls got the traditional massage beds. After shits and giggles, our 7 masseuses come in. My lady was a quite “fat lady” (as the workers describe her) and I was excited for this massage. The ladies start massaging, and while there were small movements of shuffling throughout the room accompanied by silence, 5 minutes in I hear Russ go, “oh yes, that’s the spot” to the masseuse. We all burst out laughing and I look over to the other side of the room and this woman has gotten Russ’s leg entrapped, stretching his poor hamstrings. The main lady working on Gene’s massage asks Gene in Thai, “do you guys all play sports?” Gene responds, “no? Why?” And the masseuse responds, “all of your hamstrings are incredibly tight! And you all are so muscular!” While everyone was salivating in their own little world, 2 hours later, I feel like I was put in prison and had to pay $20 for the experience. My masseuse was genuinely the worst massager in the whole entire world, I have bruises 5 days later as I write this all scattered throughout my leg. I have no idea how she managed to be so horrible but the whole time the lady was so lazy and just poked me with one finger. I felt like I was put in jail and I just suffered through the silence, wincing in pain. It was like a forceful 10-year-old fat boy was kneading my back with one hand. I know I’m being so mean but I’m so angry that she bruised me so badly. She legit just used arm force, she didn’t use her entire body properly as a Thai masseuse should. She was lazy. And I am still suffering because of it. It was horrible, I was so incredibly horrified and dissatisfied. After the massage, I tipped the woman only 20 baht while the rest tipped 40+ baht, and the woman complained she only got 20 while everyone else got more. Well maybe if you didn’t SUCK woman I would have totally given you more. Whoever my first masseuse was, that experience can never be beaten. The 1st masseuse and I have a special connection, a special bond. After leaving Healthland, we head home to Gene’s and order in for dinner. We sit together as a family for our last meal, devouring boat house noodles and KFC. The boat house noodles were quite yummy, if you go to Thailand go find a place because it’s a staple meal that Thailand is famous for. I have to explain this KFC chicken for a bit to encapsulate my experience adequately. This is BY FAR the best KFC chicken I’ve ever had. Granted, I haven’t had KFC that many times in my life, but it surpasses Bonchon, Costco wings, Choongman chicken, and the list goes on. It was a fantastic wing. It’s a flavor that you can only get in Thailand, nowhere else. It was this spicy chili + lime combo that was tender and simply perfection. Think of a Taki (the purple chip bag) but throw that into spicy wings. Maybe it sounds mid, but I promise it was A BANGER!!!! Although I only got to have one piece, I will be dreaming about this KFC chicken until I die. I want it again. I will be unfortunately craving this KFC chicken when I go back to the USA, with no solution besides flying back to Thailand. The gang finishes dinner cleans up and presents a little thank-you gift to Gene. I make a little speech on how lucky we are to have met some seriously awesome people, and it’s so crazy that at the beginning of the summer internship none of us would have thought that in just 6 months, we would be flying to the other side of the world traveling through various of countries together. It was a cute and wholesome bonding moment, and after we packed up our things and said our goodbyes to Gene, heading out to Vietnam for the next leg of the trip. Stay tuned for Vietnam, it’s full of (meme)orable stories coming up. Best, Michelle