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Manila - BKK - Phuket - BKK - ManilaChad and I are back from another tropical island paradise vacation. This time to celebrate our first anniversary! Yeah, yeah, this overseas life isn't SO bad after all. Some days I'd give my little toe for a roll of Charmin or a glass of fresh milk, but then again we can spend a weekend in a plush resort or go to Bangkok. We overnighted in Bangkok and stayed in a hotel near the notorious Patpong area. People say the mayor has cleaned up this girlie-bar area significantly in the past 10 years, but it seemed pretty rip roaring to me. We checked into the Pan Pacific hotel and rode the elevator with two Japanese businessmen and two accompanying Thai hookers. High priced Asian hookers crack me up because they always show the men who is boss. They're always quite young, very attractive, dressed in sexy but not trashy expensive clothing, and have great heels. The businessman tried to look at her belly button, but she sharply smacked his hand. However, the moment they stepped off the elevator, she grabbed a handful of his butt. Chad and I giggled and said 'tonight is going to be interesting'. We got cleaned up and headed towards Patpong. The streetside markets weren't as good as the area we stayed in last, but we picked up some bootleg CDs (10 for about $6), and checked out some clothes. I've been dying to buy some fell-off-the-truck Diesel jeans ($15), but there's never a place to try them on. My American modesty plagues me - an Asian would just drop their drawers and try them. We got 2 Thai Red Bull T-shirts for about $10 (saw them on e-bay one for $9), skillfully bargained down by Chad by 75% from the original asking price. Once you turn onto one of the side streets, you are immediately propositioned by one or several men with small laminated cards. The cards offer girlie show details and price. As I mentioned, there is no modesty. The cards have about 20 descriptions such as "Pussy Cigarette, Pussy Candle, Pussy Bottle Beer, Pussy Frog, etc. Yes, you are correct. A woman smoking a cigarette with her, well, pussy. We took up an offer and were escorted to a bar and saw a woman smoke a cigarette and open beer bottles. Wow - that's all I've got to say. Amazing. The next morning we were off on our short flight to Phuket. The plane was packed with tourists from all over, but few Americans. Thailand has some isolated problems with Islamic insurgants, but it's over 500 miles to the south of Phuket. Oh well - those who cancelled should have browsed the old atlas beforehand. Our resort was amazing. It looks like a place right out the glossy pictures of a tropical hideaway magazine. The pools were all endless-type, built so that the water flows over the edges. They were also elevated perfectly so that when you were swimming you looked right over the beach at ocean level, so it looked like the water never ended until the horizon. The food was spectacular and the spiciness not dumbed-down for us whities. Four full days of the following strict schedule ensued:
1. Wake up, shower, go to breakfast buffet |