July 4, 2008


I will skip the tedious details of my extremely long flight to Bangkok. I will just mention that it was a 24 hour ordeal, in which I arrived at my hotel in Bangkok at 10am Los Angeles time. I am still suffering from some degree of jet lag, falling asleep at 8:30pm and waking up around 4am. I'm on the 19th floor of my hotel, with views that look out over all of Bangkok. There is air conditioning, a frig, and a pool. During my first full day here, after a quick introduction to the closest campus of Bangkok University, I made my way to the Tesco which is near my hotel. Tesco is a british import supermarket, sort of like a Walmart. It was very comforting to be able to buy yogurt and peanut butter and bread, I must say. There's even an Au Bon Pain in this Tesco center. However, the problem is, even if I recognize a chain store that is familiar, that doesn't mean that anyone who works there speaks a word of english, which means that I can't easily order the bagel that is within arm's reach. Hand gestures become invaluable in times like these. I sound so terribly American saying this, I know. I'm learning a few new words every day, though.

After my trip to Tesco, I headed out in search of a bookstore. I brought along my list of vegetarian restaurants, hoping to eventually try them all. Fairly close to my hotel is the upper class neighborhood of Sukhumvit, which has several enormous malls, as well as restaurants that cater to english-speaking tourists. Here, I found the Emporium, which could rival any mall in the US. There are two english language bookstores in the Emporium, including Kinokuniya, where I found paperbacks between four and eight dollars. On my way home, I tried a vegetarian indian restaurant, Taj, that serves cat-sized masala dosa for $2.50.