So, Allya and I bought some tickets to go from Bangkok to Saigon... We reached the airport, and I handed over my passport to the agent. As she searched through my passport, she asked me, "Where is your visa?". I told her that it should be in there, I got one when I came into Thailand. She told me that I was wrong - I needed a visa to get into Vietnam. I said, yeah, a visa on arrival. She said that there wasn't such a thing for Americans, that I needed to get a visa from the embassy prior to embarkation. I ended up getting a taxi back into bangkok to the Vietnamese embassy, ran in there, and tried getting a visa - to no avail.
So, feeling dejected, I tried to figure out what to do. Without going into too much painful financial detail, I ended up having to purchase a new ticket for Allya and I back to Kuala Lumpur from Bangkok. We arrived in KL at midnight, instead of Saigon. Unfortunately, we had a good 5 hours before our flight left - and I figured I'd make light of the situation.
So, I decided to take pictures of the old men with young asian ladies. Seen here is just a small percentage of what I could take, just at the airport... there was many more on the streets. It was a bit like hunting for Allya and I. We'd try to position ourselves in the best place to take the best pictures... As you can see, we got creative.
How can I truly articulate Thailand? Well, it started out that Allya's step-father, it turns out, lived in Bangkok for about 10 years - during which time, he met alot of amazing people there. One of which, Uncle Tan, was one of his closest friends. Well, after asking Allya's step-father, Uncle Agu, what should we do in Bangkok - He made a few phone calls, and had Uncle Tan pick us up from the airport.
The first thing that amazed me was the fact that the people LOVE THEIR KING. If you just enter the airport, you can see what I mean. On every other business, building, etc - you can see an homage to the king.
Well, Allya and I were under the impression that we'd be in good hands, and he'd see us off to the hotel okay. We probably had gotten there in record time, as we saw the speedometer hit 150-160... Kilometers though... But, do the math, still intense. Before we hit the hotel, however, Uncle Tan asked us if we were hungry. He took us to a traditional Thai food restaurant. I found my new love. We also had found something else very interesting - Thailand was full of old white men with young asian women. It was the first time I had seen this... I guess I need more mirrors in my house, but seriously, this was the beginning. We ate an amazing 5 star dinner, Uncle Tan's treat, and made our way to the hotel. It turns out the street that the hotel I booked was located on a, well, sort of... hmmm... How can I put it... Let's just say, when we pulled up to the hotel, there were alot of girls excited to see me get out of the car - up until Allya stepped out also. However, the hotel was amazingly beautiful. Uncle Tan happily helped us with our bags, and Allya and I said our thank you's and good bye's - and assumed we wouldn't see him again. We checked in without a problem. Room 220, and there was a bell boy ready to walk us to our room. We went off.
As we turned around - There was Uncle Tan standing there on the side, making sure we were okay - He then says, "Okay? - Okay? What time tomorrow? 8am?". Allya and I, confused, said, 10am, it's too early... He told us 9am. We weren't sure what he meant. Was he to meet up with us and take us to breakfast? Was he going to make sure the night was okay? We figured we'd just go with the flow.
Uncle Tan came and picked us up - He asked us what we had planned. We really didn't know. I knew I wanted to go on the little boats around the waterways, and Allya wanted to do the floating market. I also wanted to go to the grand palace. I didn't realize, however, how big Bangkok really was. I was also told to go to Potpong.
Luckily, Uncle Tan knew his way around... more than we ever thought.
We headed straight to an alley, where there was an old man, dubbed the old man and the sea, wanting to take passengers, apparently, on his boat. Well, Uncle Tan said some things in Thai and we ended up following this guy down a smaller alley, and down a smaller alley, until we came to the river - where there was a security guard sitting in this Alley... Watch the video , I'm not making this up. I saw Uncle Tan flash his badge of some sort, and we boarded this little boat.
The old man and the sea helped Allya onto the boat.
It was a tour of Thailand by water... It was private and secluded, and just for the 3 of us. We went everywhere, all of which except for one place, because a boat sank.
Afterwards, Uncle Tan took us back to the hotel - and told us to get our bags. We weren't sure why, and we said that it was okay, we can go do something else. He asked what. Allya explained that she'd like to go shopping. Uncle Tan said the best place was like 2 hours away, but if she wants good shopping - this was the place to go. We agreed. We began driving... and driving... we got out of the city... and then... out into the country... I saw rice paddy's... I saw little farms... Then, mountains came into sight... we then hit the mountains... Then, finally we stopped... He said that it was time to eat. He took us to an amazing little eatery on the side of the road. The food was very good - and the atmosphere was just as good. Oddly, it was alot drier and cooler there than it was in Bangkok. I said it was alot like Los Angeles, only a little more humid. We ate like we'd never eaten before - the price was just as good... $15 for the 3 of us and alot of food!!!
We got back in the car and started driving again. We arrived in a beach city called Pattya - There was alot of shopping and tourists abound! We kept driving... We made our way to what looked to be an outlet mall. As I pointed it out to Uncle Tan, he shook his head and said - yes, we keep going. We finally pulled into a costco kind of super market. Allya and I certainly didn't expect that. We followed uncle Tan to the fish area. He began asking us what we'd like.
Well, long story short - we walked away with more fresh fish than I'd ever seen in one persons possession, short of the Bassmasters tour on ESPN. We got back into the car and started driving again - all of a sudden, we turned off onto some side street. We cruised down a one way street and ended up at some sort of resort. We got out, and Uncle Tan took all the fish and led us into the resort. He walked into the kitchen, and told us to walk around. When he came back out - he told us, "Dinner - 6:30 - okay?". We agreed.
We began walking around this resort paradise, and were amazed. As you can see, the beauty was unmatched. It opened up to the ocean, with beautiful white sand beaches. There was then a table set just for the 3 of us. Here are the pictures I'll write more when I can...
So, Allya and I decided that, since the baby was so comfortable with the family - we would take a 5 day tour of SE Asia.
So, sit right back, and you'll hear a tale. A tale of a fateful trip. That started from this tropic port, aboard a tiny plane. The mate was a mighty flying girl, the skipper brave and sure - Two passengers set flight that day for a five day tour... a five day tour.
Well, the economies of scale started getting rough - Singapore was rich. If not for the presence of American dollars, their money would be lost... their money would be lost...
The tour began on the shore of this, charted tropic isle with Jeremy... Allya too - The chinese with green bandana's - Aleee-e-sah - her flat mates and the professor and... there on Singapore Isle... By far, the cleanest subway I have ever experienced - and I've experienced just New Yorks... nah, just kidding - Lisbon, London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Madrid, Amsterdam, and Bangkok are all the metro's I've experienced - and none like this... Anyone have a one up on this?
Okay, for fear that my audience might not know Gilligans Island, I'll resort back to my original quips. This was eating at some Moroccan place in Boat/Clark Quay - I figured we'd been eating too much Malaysian food already, so we found this place... AMAZING... I think we'll make a trip to Morrocco, just for the food. Oh yeah, we had some AMAZING ice cream desert... $15 US dollars worth of it... We found a Hindu temple - amazing!! Outside of a Buddhist Temple Inside of that temple... Getting into Little India... Allya and I found an amazing 3D kind of art that no matter how you look at it, the face would be looking at you.. I had a buddha staring at me - SCARY... As we were walking, the people were relentless trying to get you into their restaurants. I had one guy calling me from across the street. "American - We have the best curry in town!!! Come over here - I get you good deal". We settled for something else.
This was Alyssa's school - Allya's sister... It was an amazing work of architecture... Anyone who knows architecture should know this school. I sure don't. Allya HAD TO go to the place where they Anthony Bordain or Andrew Zimmern went to while he was in Singapore to try the bone marrow soup.. It wasn't that bad, but the fact that they saw me - and immediately thought, "hey, we can over charge this guy since he is American"... That kind of got my blood boiling - pun intended... Anyway, she ate, and after I almost bought Chicken Satay for .50 cents a piece (it should be like .15 cents), Allya told them off, and I resorted to eating nothing... Except trying the bone marrow soup.. What is it called? This is the nightlife in Singapore!! Yeah baby... Just don't spit, or graffiti anything, unless you're into dominatrix... Well, apparently, it is a martial artist that whips you - I thought it'd be a shriveled old Member of Parliament... So, I was on good behavior. However, I did figure that I try to snatch this guy's suitcase... He had a very tight grip on it. Same place - But, during the day. Okay, so never pose for a picture in a fountain... Just wasn't smart. PURPLE DRANK!!!!
Yummm... got a golden shower from a merlion outside of the durien building. It is actually called the Esplanade and is a concert hall - Beautiful on the inside... Disney's concert hall ain't got nuthin' on it... Except maybe the design. The city skyline was beautiful... I guess what makes a city nice is having random sculptures everywhere... Maybe...
Of course, we had to go on it - It is the biggest one in the world, apparently.. I haven't proven it a fact yet. The Singapore flyer it was called. We almost got on one of the capsules with a group of Indians that apparently hadn't showered that day... Luckily, they let us go ahead, and we had a nice chinese family with a very cute little girl on board with us!! Yes, Ma'am - We'll gladly go in front of those Indian folks... Thank you for showing the way.
Yup - We made it on the capsule... Odor free... at least from other people! Some people have asked me what I think about the future prospects are for SE Asian economy vs. the American economy - I took this picture... I think it says it all... Okay, if that last picture doesn't - How about this? There must've been 100s, and I mean around 2-300 boats in and around the harbour waiting for their turn to get goods... Of course, it's one of the biggest ports in the world, if not THE Biggest, but still... This says alot.
So, Allya and I walked SO MUCH in Singapore, I literally couldn't walk that night.. It is typical with me, and I usually heal after about a day... but, I guess my age is catching up to me, because my feet were sore for almost 3 days... When I get back home, I am going to work out... or at least try to get into a good routine. This was a bridge - Beautifully taken care of...
Ooops... That's just Allya and I
