bangkok...

is a huge city. Like 66 million people huge. It can be very overwhelming. There are very many things to buy here. Mostly tourist junk. To be quite honest, the business card for the shanti claims that it is the hidden oasis of Bangkok and it is totally true. Being in the city is quite aimless, especially downtown. But the area of town that the shanti is in is quite rad. Lots and lots of chill people. Last night Brent, Kins, Barbara (sweden), Stella (Malaysia), Yono, Dang, Shanoon, and myself went to an impromptu art exhibtion on a street called Sukuhmvit just outside downtown. It was totally fucking rad. There was art and artists everywhere. I performed some songs, we were dancing barefoot in the street, Brent played some guitar, and there was a pretty amazing drum circle going on. Oh, and Jack Sparrows was there too. Super funny. The culture in Thailand is one that definitely appreciates artists way more than the culture I am much more used to. It is so refreshing to feel the love and respect that goes around. People smiling, laughing, and cheering about everything from a picture drawn with a pencil to a ditty played on a harmonica. After things got wrapped up on Sukuhmvit we went to a bar that one of the artists owned. There was a drumset there and yes I played on that thing for quite a while. Accompanied by keyboards, dijereedoo, hand drums, vocals, and guitars to name a few. We partied until about three in the morning. There were about thirty of us.





It is very apparent that there are many interesting people in this world. Many of which are met while out and about. We met a feller last night named Bart from Australia. He is in Bangkok getting material written. He is a stand up comedian and artist. We have been invited to come and live with him in Australia in February. He was a trip and a super nice guy. He gave us all the info that we needed about happy ending massage places. It was hilarious how much he knew. I suppose that it makes for good stand up material.





Yesterday during the day we went to the snake farm. It serves the purpose of learning about anti-venom for each species of venomous snakes in Thailand. And since there are more species of venomous snakes here than anywhere else in the world it is a much needed establishment. We were about eight feet away from a 12 foot King Cobra that was out of it's cage. He stood five feet high and his hood was about the size of my face. It was so incredible. Once I am at a computer that I can connect usb to I will put pictures up, but sweet jesus...that shit was righteous.



But as rad as this has all been so far. $4 a night for the hotel, eating for about 75 cents per go, and being surrounded by people who smile a whole hell of a lot, I am excited to move on. Tomorrow morning we are getting on a train to an organic farm near the city of Kanchanbiri in Thailand. There are waterfalls. That's about all that needs to be said. I am learning Thai...slowly. I just spent about an hour with Shanoon learning Thai and teaching english. Shit, I have met a ton of people. All of which I would call friends and not be very bummed about spending days with them.

หำ ฃันี ฟะพ

the first time...

I ate spicy food in Thailand was from a street vendor. She actually had a menu for me to look at which was very helpfull. Being a vegetarian and all, I find that looking at what the vendors are selling for food usually consists of fish heads of various species, a menu only in Thai, and other hanging forms of various meat products. Some know what vegetarian means, others pretend they do, and the kind ones politely say no at which point you respond kop-dee-ka. So I was stoked for this precious find. And holy ape's balls it was spicy.

The markets in Bangkok are really wild. They connect off of the streets and appear to be sidewalks that dissapear into darkness. Once inside, it is a labrynth of vendors underneath gigantic overhangs that are put together to protect the products and workers from the rain. It is possible to find just about anything in these places. And they go on for days in twists and turns while cyclists are buzzing past you (remember, we're talking about sidewalks) on scooters, motorcycles, and mopeds. People are everywhere buying fresh vegetables, underwear, butcher knives, and live eels in this pandemonium of a street fair. And this shit happens every single day. They are not out there only on certain days or at certain times. It's all the time from sun up until about 2:00am. There is enough going on to spend a few days just aimlessly wandering through, having your mind blown with how crazy the difference in cultures can be.

I have been in Bangkok for a couple days. I am flying solo since Brent and Kinsey missed thier flight from Tokyo, but they are scheduled to get here tonight. I am staying at a rad place called The Shanti Lodge and no, they do not use toilet paper. It was a bit awkward at first but now I think I like it. I came about an inch away from an accident in the cab from the airport to where I am now. I met some of the locals and other drifters last night (Friday Oct. 17th) named Dang, Yono, Adrienne, Shanoon, and a crazy man named Willy who is obviously Thai but tried to convince everyone that he was from Chicago with a sister in D.C. and another sister who is Swedish. We drank a lot of beer on the sidewalk in front of The Shanti Art Gallery (where Dang and Shanoon have displays up) while playing hand drums, laughing a whole lot, acting a bunch of damned fools, and enjoying the night. Everyone really enjoyed my sans microphone karaoke with Djembe performance of "You Give Love A Bad Name". It was the time and a half.

Today, before and after the spicy food I spent time in Thailands National Library. There is a display of various different kinds of Rama masks from the years which was gorgeous...by the way, all the wats and architecture around here is fucking amazing. It's like being in your very favorite decorated Asian food restaraunt only it's for realzzie yo...and the National Music Library as well is in the same fortress of buildings. It is pretty amazing. Well, I guess that's it for now.
peace and puppies