The Event

It wasn't a single event.  It was more of a series of events that led to a very interesting start to a trip to Myanmar.

The Set Up
It all started with an email long long ago.  Where we had decided to celebrate a birthday or two during the 1st full weekend in Bangkok.  Amazingly, plans held up and everyone went out on Friday.  The plan was dinner, rooftop bar, and a club.  I was busy booking my Indonesia trip so I decided to meet up with them at the club with two other stragglers (we went to Myanmar together).

When we got there, it was hopping and the locals were dressed to impress.  When we got to the front door, there was a large sign that read, "Foreigners, you must buy two beers (400 baht) for a single entrance or bottle service (1500+ baht) for entrance for 5 people."  Since there were three of us and the beers would work out to a similar price, we decided for bottle service.

Once inside we saw that it was very crowded.  We worked our way through the crowd and found a spot upstairs.  We waited about 20 minutes for our bottle to arrive.  NOTE: They CHARGE for Sprite and ICE.  It was about 100 baht each.  Anyway, we had fun and stayed till 1am.

We all took taxis home.  I decided to head to the airport right away considering I had a 730am flight.  There was no way I was going to wake up in 1 or 2 hours in my non sober state so I decided to go to the airport right away.  I asked the cab driver to wait for 20 minutes while I packed.  I threw everything into my bag, jumped into the cab and promptly passed out.

When I got to the airport it was about 4am.  I stumbled inside and saw that I had 3 hours to go.  There was NO way I was going to stay up for that long.  I sent a text message to my Myanmar travel partners and told them where I would be when they get here at 5:30am.  I took out my cable lock, attached my bags to myself and my chair and promptly passed out.

The Event
I jolted awake.  It was 5:45am.  It took me awhile to figure out where I was, what time it was, and what I needed it to be doing.  My head didn't feel too bad because I had the good sense to take some advil and drink some water b4 passing out.  I immediately texted my friends.  No reply. I call at 5:51am.

"It's 5:51?! Yea, we'll be right there."

He didn't sound tired but he definitely wasn't on the way to the airport.  His voice was one of sheer terror.  I knew they had till 6:45 to check in or they would be denied entry.  As long as they left quickly, they would get  here in time to make the flight.

I call them again at 6:04.  No answer. 6:12. No answer. 6:15. No answer. 6:16. No answer.  Now I am panicking.  If they don't make it, what do I do?  I don't know our agenda.  We are heading to a 3rd world country, how are we going to reach each other?  We don't have a hotel booked.

I decided do everything in my power to make it possible.  I got in line for them at the AirAsia counter.  I call 4 more times.  No answer.  They initially won't let me check in but the woman at the counter sees I'm freaking out and decides to help me out by checking them in for me.  She says that I should wait for them at Immigration because it will likely be a longer line. It's 635.  I get the 3 boarding passes and heard over to immigration 3, calling them 3 more times on my walk over.

7am. I see them! OMFG! They tell me that they were in such a rush that they dropped the phone because his pants were on inside out.  They were able to get ready in 5 mins, catch a cab in another 5 mins and get to the airport by 655.  We cut 20 people in line through immigration, both of them get held up in security, and we run to the gate.  Someone ends up throwing up during the run (remember, we r hung over with <2hrs of sleep).  We make it with 10 minutes to go at the gate.  WHEW!

Here's the kicker.  They checked in and starting waiting in immigration 1.  But someone told them to go to immigration 3 because it would be faster.  Well, it was longer but the important thing is that we would have missed each other.  BKK is a huge airport.  Our lines of communication were severed.  If they were never redirected, we would have had an entirely different story to tell.

Lumphini Park

So.  I woke up at 6am.  I woke up at 6am so I could go for a run.

Another reason I booked my hotel is that it is  half a block from Lumphini Park.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I figured if I went there early enough, I could avoid the crowds and get some nice running in.

Surprise #1: It was warm.. and humid... I thought this was supposed to be the best time to visit Thailand.  I don't want to know what it is like during the summer.

Surprise #2: It is impossible to cross the street.  Even the local thai seemed deathly afraid trying to get from one side to the other.  Thankfully, I only had to cross one street.

Surprise #3: Lumphini Park was packed.  It was 6:30 when I finally got there (I think I spent 10 mins trying to cross the road) and there were groups of people dancing, tai-chi, yoga, walking, jogging, eating, stretching.  The ages ranged from 25 to old.  It was pretty inspiring to see so many people about so early.  I took some pictures and started my run.  The sun came up around 6:40 and it provided some light for some better pictures.

People dancing.  This was hilarious.

People getting ready to work it!

Lumphini Park just before the sun came up.

There were many group spread throughout the park.  They all seemed to coordinate their outfits.  I'm not sure what drives the color choice of these groups.  I know each person has a color depending on the day that they were born.  For example, Monday is yellow.  Maybe it has something to do with that...

Waiting for someone to use them

Peaceful-ish... there are cars right to the right of the picture

Sculptures are dispersed throughout the park

Funny =)

 I thought it was Kirby when I first saw it.

Me trying to be a photographer.. Meh

They looked so peaceful and purposeful

One of many bridges

Woman stretching with herself

Old friends gathered for a early breakfast

"Sit on me"

Monks

This was something.  They had an outdoor gym in the park.

I'm sure this is a favorite when the sun is beating down

Like many other SE Asian countries, these are everywhere

Statue at the corner of the park closest to my hotel

I ended up running about 2.3 miles and walking another 2.  Not sure how this would work during the hotter months but I'm glad I came when I did.

BKK, Finally

I made it!  It wasn't too bad.  I definitely passed out on my last leg of the journey.  Of the 7 hours, I slept for the first 4.  I ended up sleeping at 2 am or so and woke up at 6am.  I don't think I'm jetlagged but we'll see. Also, don't know if the socks helped but I feel ok.

Steps for getting to hotel from BKK:
Once you get to BKK, clear immigration, & walk past customs (and I mean walk, they don't do anything), you are on the 2nd floor of the airport.  From here get some cash out of an atm ($5 fee from your bank and thailand bank), walk down to the 1st floor, and you will see huge signs for the public taxi.  Hop on in, make sure they use the meter and you are off.

General Observations:
1st observation: They drive on the left side of the road!  (No wonder I almost knocked someone over at the airport walkways).

2nd observation: They want payment right away.  Example, the first toll was 25 baht.  Instead of adding it to the meter, he asked me for the money.  Very unlike the USA.

My first Thailand transaction.  Change from 1000 Baht bill for my 25 Baht toll.

The trip to my hotel was relaxing?  My taxi driver was the worst.  We were getting passed  by EVERYONE.  He was going 90 km/hr.. so 55?  I'm like, it 12am.  Can u plz get my ass to my hotel?  Bangkok looks a lot like I remembered it when I was here 3 years ago.

People getting massages at 12am.

 Tuk-tuks (a mode of transportation that is an experience in itself, cheaper than taxis).  There seems to be a strong relationship between cost and safety =):

 McDonalds!  Gotta go there later!

 Night market around my hotel.

So.. after 30 hours of travel via car/foot/airplane/taxi, I got to my "lovely" hotel.  I had a few requirement when picking a hotel: cheap, free wifi, AC, & close to the university my friends are studying at.  I ended up picking The Regent Silom.  It is pretty ghetto but it is clean and even has free breakfast.

My room:

Gotta go get a sim card for my phone and meet up with the other exchange students for lunch.  Till next time!

Next post: Lumphini Park

The beginning

Tuesday night I was scrambling to get all the loose ends tied up: print boarding passes, photocopy passport & visas, take some clothing out to make room for stuff I'm going to pick up during the journey. It really didn't hit me until I was wrapping up.  On Wednesday, I would be leaving the comfort of the US and instead of communicating through English, I would have to resort to a month long game of charades.  And forget about the trying to be rested to fight jet lag thing.  I ended up getting 3 hours of sleep failing to subdue by anxiety/excitement so I could fall asleep.

Before I knew it, Wednesday was underway.  It kinda flew.  As fast as 15 hours on a plane and 4 hours in an airport can fly.  For my 1st leg which was EWR to ORD, I was pleasantly upgraded to 1st class (my 1st time!).  It is super comfy.  No fighting anyone for the armrest.  For my 2nd flight, I had the economy plus seats from United.  It is amazing what 5 extra inches means in terms of comfort.  Here is a little guy that you are going to see a lot of in my upcoming travels.

I slept for a total of 3 hours on the plane.  Fighting sleep with two movies, Crazy, Stupid Love and They Way, Suits, How I Met Your Mother, and reading...

View of the sunset/sunrise?

Mountains of Northern Japan

Now I sit in NRT eating some expensive airport food...

Cyall soon.. have to catch my flight to BKK...

Avoiding Jet Lag

Thailand is the absolute worst place for EST'ers (people on the east cost) in terms of jet lag.  Thailand's time zone is UTC +7 while NY/NJ is UTC -5.  What does that mean?  It means that it is exactly a 12 hour offset, absolutely the longest amount of time anyone has to adjust.

As a general guideline, it is thought that one day helps you adjust one hour of time zone difference.  This really depends on the person: some suffer worse than others.  For me, I am usually the one that requires the full allotment of hours.  Jet lag really can't be that bad, you just sleep during the day and go party all night. =)

However, This is going to pose a problem for me because I like to pack my days so tight that I need a vacation from my vacation.. I mean from my "study abroad".  I arrive in Bangkok on Thursday, 11:40pm and intend to go the Myanmar Embassy first thing Friday morning so I can go to Yangoon on Saturday. 

Not only do I have to wake up on time and function correctly in a foreign city.  I have to get up the next day on time and make it to the airport.  This is gonna be "fun".

So, I was going to do everything in my power not to be jet lagged.  Read about the condition, see what voodoo magic works, should I stay up all night, or be super rested.  After going through all the material (half heartedly - because I'm still trying to book my 1st hotel for bangkok), I decided that I going to buy some socks.

I think I came across them because I was looking at winter clothes on sale for my upcoming extended stay in Minnesota. (It's cold there) Apparently, compression socks help circulate the blood and prevent blood from clotting.  This was obviously very closely related to some potential solutions to jet lag that I read about: drinking lots of water and zero coffee.  They all help your body function well in an extreme environment (cramped in a tiny chair for 20 hours with some kid kicking your chair and a baby crying nearby).

It was good enough for me, I was sold.  But I remembered that my running friend recently bought compression socks for running.  Ah hA!  I can get two birds with one stone. (i don't want to ruin expensive non-running compression socks) So, I searched for and found running compression socks.  THAT is MY solution.  I will be wearing those socks, in addition to drinking plenty of water, avoiding coffee, putting myself on Thailand schedule as soon as I get on the plane, and exercising daily leading up to my flight.  Hopefully, it all works out.  At least I have some spiffy sox for a 10 miler that I just signed up for.

I will let you know if this strategy works...