Thailand - March 2004

Tuesday, March 9
A crazy week with 2 hot ladies... Kari and Christine came to visit Thursday before last, and we had the best time for their spring break. We just hung out in Hong Kong for the first few days, went up to Victoria Peak, went to a few malls (since Hong Kong is basically just one huge shopping mall anyway) and got trashed at night. But then on Saturday we left for Thailand and had the best trip ever. We stayed on Khao San Road in Bangkok the first night with nine other international students from my school and it is just one huge dirty street with all the backpackers' hostels located on it and tons of clothes, CDs, and bars for really cheap. The baht is my new favorite money, it goes so far! On Sunday I sat for 4+ hours in the middle of Khao San Road in the extreme heat and humidity so that these 12-year-old Thai girls could pull at my hair. I got dreads and they kinda looked like crap but I kinda liked em too. I don't know, I was torn. I know Kari liked em and Teeny didn't, and honestly I'm not sure who I agreed with.



That night the 3 of us and my friend Jeanne left for Phuket in southern Thailand. PHUKET RULES. On Monday we rode in a van up to Phang-Nga province and went white-water rafting. The guides on our raft seemed to take a shine to the girls and kept pulling them into the water. It was funny. :) Jeanne and Teeny even got to paddle and steer for a while. Afterwards, the guides took us on a "Jeep safari" through all this beautiful scenery to this awesome waterfall where we swam and Kari was crowned "princess of the jungle" by a wreath of leaves the guide put on her head. We had an amazing lunch (all the food in Thailand was SO GOOD) and then saw a monkey cave and finally went for a brief trek on the backs of some elephants. Normally you just sit on the bench up on the elephant's back but the 4 of us all got to sit on the actual elephant too, right behind his head and ears. Honestly, I thought I was gonna fly off cuz they walk very unevenly and I didn't think I could keep my balance. But it was fine.

The next day we stayed in Phuket at Patong Beach which is where our hotel was. We just chilled on the beach all day and got Thai massages and the girls went jet skiing. The water was SO WARM. It was fantastic. That night Kari and I went bungee jumping, which was one of the funnest things ever in my opinion. Adrenaline = good times. Finally on Wednesday we went snorkeling on the outlying islands off of Phuket, including Ma Ya Bay, where "The Beach" was filmed. White sand beaches and warm, clear water. Frickin paradise, it was incredible. I actually liked snorkeling a lot more than I thought I would too... literally swimming in the middle of a huge mass of tropical colored fish. That night we were back on Khao San Road ready to go back to Hong Kong. The girls went out and got drunk while I just passed out cuz I was cranky. I loved Thailand... I would tell absolutely anybody to go there. The coolest place in the world. And we didn't even see the northern part! The other kids from my school who were separated from us, they ended up near the Burmese border on a trekking trip and it sounded pretty tight. Also, Asian kids are all the cutest kids in the world. It doesn't matter if they're Chinese or Thai or Cambodian, they're all so cute you just wanna steal em. So many of my friends have random pictures of tiny Asian children.

We got back to HK on Thursday afternoon, went out that night... and I LOST MY PHONE. Yeah, this was a huge ordeal. We came home completely drunk and I reached into my pocket and my phone wasn't there. And it was a nice phone. So of course I start yelling and swearing and throwing things. And punching walls. And yelling. And did I mention throwing things? So of course when you're really pissed off and drunk and you realize you just lost an investment of a couple hundred American dollars, what is the best thing to do? Well, go online and check your bank account to see how much money you've spent, of course! That just about sent me over the edge right there. I kicked everyone out of my room and was just like, "I'm going to sleep!!!" So not a good night in general.

Saturday my roommate officially moved out. He hadn't set foot in the room in 3 weeks anyway, so it wasn't totally unexpected, but wow, is it nice to know that I can do anything in here now without that possibility of him walking in. I love having my own room!!!!! Saturday night we went out again and it was crazy and FUN. All the other kids got back from Thailand on Saturday afternoon and it was Cathrin's 21st birthday on Sunday, so we got everyone except for 2 people to come out on Saturday night. Kari and Teeny were leaving for the airport by 6 AM, so we were like, "Ok we'll just stay out the whole time!" There was a ridiculous amount of people out that night. Our group was so big! It was a perfect way to top off the week, everyone was celebrating, it was great.

Now it's back to school, and wow. I don't know how to function. This semester has been very very bad for me. Right now, it's 3:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. I have a presentation due tomorrow about the conflict between the US and North Korea over nuclear arms... kinda in-depth, right? Have I started even researching yet? What do you think? Also, a midterm in my hardest class tomorrow... and a paper due for my Pepperdine professor, Dr. Reilly, on early Thursday morning. I have hit a new low point in my apathy toward school and I have a hard time caring anymore. God help me I wish I did, but I really really don't. This dorm situation really doesn't help matters either. Too close in proximity to too many slackers. We breed apathy here, I tell you, breed it, raise it, and then it becomes that dirty 28-year-old who still mooches off of you and won't move out of the damn house. Ay, whatever. I'm over it.