Stumbling through Thailand 5 weeks - Chiang Mai to the Andaman Coast |
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* From Bangkok to Austin
* We've Shopped Till We Dropped in Bangkok Part 2 * Lost In Chinatown & Muay Thai Boxing * The National Museum and Khao San Road * We've Shopped Till We Dropped in Bangkok Part 1 * The Grand Palace and Wat Pho * Bangkok is a beast! * Stranded on Ko Rok with a wounded calf * Cultural Differences: US vs them * Time for Lime cooking school & another night on the town * Around Koh Lanta by motorbike * Scenes from Ao Nang & Koh Lanta * From Ao Nang to Koh Lanta * 5 Island Tour in Phang-Nga Bay/Krabi Province * More Details... * Journey to Koh Phi Phi - post-tsunami Part 2 * Journey to Koh Phi Phi - post-tsunami Part 1 * Water, sand, and a terrific sunburn * Planes, trains and three-wheeled taxis from Hell * From Phitsanulok to the Sukhothai Historical Park
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January 27, 2005Layover In Japan
I am sitting in a free internet cafe in the Tokyo/Nagarita Airport waiting for our next flight to Bangkok. I am trying to get used to the time change. We left this morning at 8am and arrived in Tokyo at 1:27pm。In Austin it should be around midnight, perhaps later. In Japan it is sunny and gorgeous right now. We caught a bus to our connecting terminal, and the air was crisp outside. My body tells me I should be in bed, but my eyes are definitely getting the best of me. We have a four hour (or more) layover that has left us kinda confused. Our plane arrived here an hour earlier than listed on the itenerary。 The keyboard keeps switching languages on me from English to Japanese, randomly it seems。Whenever I try to backspace or correct my spelling, it highlights the whole sentence and switches it to Japanese. At this rate, four hours should fly by pretty fast. The flight over was rather uneventful. When we left Dallas this morning, I washed down a Xanax with three Bloody Marys.After that, the flight took a really pleasant turn. I quickly drifted off and crashed out for an hour or two. Fortunately, the flight was rather empty. We had the entire row to ourselves (five seats), so we took turns sleeping. As usual, the in-flight movies were dull. Since Shaunna opts for the vegetarian meals on flights, I figured it would be fun to give them a shot for this trip. The first one was pretty good and consisted of a square plate with a spicy bulgar concoction next to a Southwest black-bean and corn mix. Over to the side of the plate was a bland mix of white beans, onions and some mystery vegetable. The second meal sucked. No bones about it. Sliced pineapples, broccoli, tomatos, and cucumbers layered on a bed of fried rice mixed with pickled ginger and raisins. It tasted like a bad acid reflux after a night of sushi and drinks.Our next flight is supposed to have the Asian Vegetarian meal, which will hopefully be better than the last. One of the more interesting aspects of travelling is noticing the subtle (and not so subtle) differences in culture. I have seen alot of blogs talk about the shock from seeing an Asian toilet for the first time. It has been years since I‘ve visited Asia, so I forgot what they‘re like. I took a couple of pictures but can‘t load them now. To put it plainly, there is an oblong, porcelain hole in the ground over which you are supposed to squat. I have mastered the art of squatting while camping in the woods, but I always had a tree to hang on - thereby preventing me from falling over backwards into my stuff. This is totally different. No handles, no seat, no support. It will be midnite when we arrive in Bangkok. I confirmed the room for our first night, and our flight in the morning is secured. The next few days may find us out of touch as we make our way into the mountainous areas of Northern Thailand. Hopefully I‘ll be able to post pictures then. Comments
Please post a pic of you using the toilet you are talking about so I can really complete the mental image I have! Posted by: jscro on January 28, 2005 02:51 AMi see the magic has already started. Posted by: bobby-jo on January 28, 2005 05:34 AMwater go down the hole. |
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