wtf

So we've decided to do the SE Asia portion of the trip rather than India first as was originally planned.  We're already here, and SE Asia is more geared towards backpackers, whereas India is supposedly a much more difficult place to travel, so it only makes sense to do this portion of the trip first.  I'm thinking we'll stay in Bangkok for another week before heading down south to the Samui island group.  No clue how long we'll be there, but we've been invited to celebrate Songkran in Udon Thani, so I'm thinking we'll spend a month on the islands, come back north for Songkran in mid-April, cross over into Laos and head to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

Thus far, we've toured Wat Pho and Wat Traimit, learned the subway/skytrain/river boat system, visited the chic Siam Square (where I got three cavities filled and a cleaning for $93), walked through the beautiful campus of Chulalongkorn University, visited the Standing Buddha festival (where we were the only farangs in a crowd of thousands) and generally traipsed around a good portion of Bangkok.

We also managed to see Alice in Wonderland in the most amazing theater I have ever been in - 15 regular screens, 3 'Nokia Ultra Screens' (whatever that means), and an IMAX theater.  Unfortunately, we were too late for the IMAX showing, but we did watch it in 3D, and it was a fantastic experience.

A few days ago, we went to a jazz pub near that was recommended to us, and Ryan made friends with the musicians playing there while simultaneously picking up his first Thai fan, a 30 something woman, who was apparently smitten with his drunken rendition of a Kenny G song or something.

Earlier that day, I looked up my friend Sureechai, and for the last two days, Ryan and I have split paths, with Ryan doing his thing with the jazz scene and myself hanging out with Sureechai.

We were going to go see a big Muay Thai match last night at Lumbini Stadium, but Ryan got invited to something jazz-related and I was pretty tired from drinking the night before, so we skipped it.  I spent the night resting and recuperating, and Ryan spent the night... elsewhere.

Rest assured that we are having a good time, and that we are both alive and well.  I'll probably write another post in a week or so, hopefully from the islands.