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Thailand

Webmaster, 10 August 2008
Thailand Mae Sot

Home sweet home

Howdy pardners,

So here I am in Bangkok after a 3 weeks holiday in the US, trying my hardest not to fall asleep. I was up at 6 this morning, made it to the biggest market in Bangkok and did loads this morning…now I feel like I’m ready to sleep but its only midday. In the past month, I have had my longest Saturday and my shortest Friday…going to US from Thailand, my Saturday was 37 hours long, and coming here my Friday was practically long existent.

How was Houston this time around you might ask? I must say that I am really beginning to appreciate Houston, and maybe more importantly, the people in Houston. I can honestly say that Texans are so welcoming. I arrived in Houston and was invited along to family parties, where I didn’t know the host and everyone welcomed me, taking the new “your friends are my friends” to the next level.

I also enjoyed some real Texas steak, beef brisket, Tex-Mex, and salad bars. It’s really a good thing I don’t like there permanently ☺ Oh, and how could I forget the shopping…brilliant…but made me want to earn more money…luckily I have the rest of my life to do that.

A year ago, I told you about my Mary Kay encounter in Target. This year, my make up encounter was with Bobbi Brown. From the moment I arrived in Houston, I heard about Bobbi Brown from my mom: she practically transformed my mother in terms of make up. So, I wanted to know what this was all about so went with her and a friend to THE Bobbi Brown counter in the Galeria. Of course, I couldn’t get away without getting a make over (my first professional make over might I add…John you should be proud &#9786. It was so brilliant..Bobbi is now also my hero. Who knew lip liner could actually make my lips look natural AND like Angelina Jolie. Now, I get to Bangkok and walk into the mall close to my hotel, and what’s one of the first things I see: the Bobbi Brown make up counter. Oh how I love globalization (I shouldn’t say that as a development person but oh well).

The last Houston experience worth mentioning was my attendance at the Snoop Dogg and 311 concert. Snoop Dogg is the ugliest, most bling bling, funniest rapper on the planet. He came out wht a microphone with diamond wings! So was it cool? For shizzle to my nizzle.

On my way here I flew via Tokyo, and although I didn’t spend more than 2 hours there each way, the toilets (bathrooms) caught my attention. I entered the toilet cubicle only to find that there was an entire panel with buttons attached to the side of the toilet seat. There were 5 buttons on the panel. One was for this spray that comes from the toilet bowl to wash yourself, then there were 2 buttons to control how hard or soft the water should come out. However, most notable was the button with 2 musical notes on it. My initial thought “oh how nice, you can listen to music”…but the instruction sticker on the door explained otherwise…the musical note button, when pressed, makes a flushing sound, for when you do not want the rest of the people in the bathroom area to hear anything HA.

On my way to the market today, I was taking in the familiar smells, sights, and sounds of Thailand. Highlights were the smell of fresh street food, particularly noodles, the smell of durian (not exactly a highlight but I remember it…Durian the worst smelling and tasting fruit in the history of the world! There is actually a sticker on our hotel entrance door that shows a durian with cross through it), the smell of menthol, and the smell of toilet. The sights… all the beggars on the street…something that I didn’t see at all in the suburb of Houston, the people pushing/buttin in line completely ignoring other people in front of them, and the endless fruit stands along the road, and the endless range of products the weekend market offers. The sounds…of Thai: nasal and high pitched, and the sounds of traffic.

Soon to be posted: Laura Bush's visit to Mae Sot and more

Fun fact about Thailand: They BBQ eggs on a grill (yummy@)

Bo

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