Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
S
This is S, for those who are curious. She's half Bahraini- from her dad, and 1/4 Thai, 1/8 Burmese, and 1/8 Chinese- from her mom.
She's 22, was born in Dubai, and grew up in Bahrain. She did her university in Bangkok where she studied Engineering. She's now a full time model and artist. She is signed with Elite to start modeling in NYC beginning October. She speaks Arabic, English and Thai. Apparently people really like to take pictures of her baring her shoulders.
Monday, June 29, 2009
June 29, 2009
June 29, Monday
I went with G to lunch today. She told me about how her friend's last boyfriend was cheating on her for 5 months of their 7 month relationship. One day she came home and saw her boyfriend (which whom she was living) in her apartment with another girl. Her boyfriend ran up to her and started to beat her.
When her parents found out, they contracted a killer to kill her now ex-boyfriend. At first she hated him and didn't care what her family did to him, but then she started to think, ok, just beat him up. But they said, they couldn't control if he died when he was beaten up. So she begged her parents to forget it. So this guy's life was saved and he never knew.
She told me that people with money can make anyone disappear. Basically this girl's family is made of money. Sometimes criminals even hire other people to confess to crimes.
We were walking on the street and there was a beggar with a baby, and she told me that many of the babies are "rented". Beggars actually rent babies to enhance their appearance of need.
Ok, the word Asok in Thai is crazy. It's the name of a major sky train station. (The sky train is like a subway, only it was built on a raised platform over the top of the city. It's really cool. Basically It is spelled AOSK (with Thai letters), but you pronounce the first vowel, then the first consonant, then the second vowel then the second consonant. Learning this language is going to be a chore! Also, they don't put any space between their words. A paragraph looks like this!
เมื่อบิดามารดาของเธอพบว่าเขาเป็นนักฆ่าสัญญาเพื่อฆ่าเธอเดี๋ยวนี้อดีตแฟน. ตอนแรกที่เธอ hated เขาและสิ่งที่ไม่ดูแลครอบครัวของเธอได้ให้แก่เขาแต่แล้วเธอเริ่มคิด, ตกลงเพียงชนะเขาขึ้น. แต่พวกเขาได้กล่าวว่าพวกเขาไม่สามารถควบคุมถ้าเขาตายเมื่อเขาตีขึ้น. ดังนั้นเธอพ่อแม่ของเธอลืมมัน. ดังนั้นคนที่แต่งตัวประหลาดนี้คือบันทึกของชีวิตและเขาไม่เคยรู้.
This is G by the way, I met her through modeling, so that's why my pics of her are modeling style. That's all she has for me to steal from her facebook.
I went with G to lunch today. She told me about how her friend's last boyfriend was cheating on her for 5 months of their 7 month relationship. One day she came home and saw her boyfriend (which whom she was living) in her apartment with another girl. Her boyfriend ran up to her and started to beat her.
When her parents found out, they contracted a killer to kill her now ex-boyfriend. At first she hated him and didn't care what her family did to him, but then she started to think, ok, just beat him up. But they said, they couldn't control if he died when he was beaten up. So she begged her parents to forget it. So this guy's life was saved and he never knew.
She told me that people with money can make anyone disappear. Basically this girl's family is made of money. Sometimes criminals even hire other people to confess to crimes.
We were walking on the street and there was a beggar with a baby, and she told me that many of the babies are "rented". Beggars actually rent babies to enhance their appearance of need.
Ok, the word Asok in Thai is crazy. It's the name of a major sky train station. (The sky train is like a subway, only it was built on a raised platform over the top of the city. It's really cool. Basically It is spelled AOSK (with Thai letters), but you pronounce the first vowel, then the first consonant, then the second vowel then the second consonant. Learning this language is going to be a chore! Also, they don't put any space between their words. A paragraph looks like this!
เมื่อบิดามารดาของเธอพบว่าเขาเป็นนักฆ่าสัญญาเพื่อฆ่าเธอเดี๋ยวนี้อดีตแฟน. ตอนแรกที่เธอ hated เขาและสิ่งที่ไม่ดูแลครอบครัวของเธอได้ให้แก่เขาแต่แล้วเธอเริ่มคิด, ตกลงเพียงชนะเขาขึ้น. แต่พวกเขาได้กล่าวว่าพวกเขาไม่สามารถควบคุมถ้าเขาตายเมื่อเขาตีขึ้น. ดังนั้นเธอพ่อแม่ของเธอลืมมัน. ดังนั้นคนที่แต่งตัวประหลาดนี้คือบันทึกของชีวิตและเขาไม่เคยรู้.
This is G by the way, I met her through modeling, so that's why my pics of her are modeling style. That's all she has for me to steal from her facebook.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
June 28, 2009
June 28, Sunday
Today I tried to get to church. I went to 2 internet cafes to write down the address to the church. It took 3 motorbike taxis to finally find the church building. I was 30 minutes late! Ouch. So after Sacrament I walked up to a lady and asked her who the bishop was, so I could introduce myself to him. She said he is out of town, but asked if I would like to come to her house for dinner after church. I was like... um... sure I guess! Then she asked my name. ha ha. I saw a guy in Priesthood quorum who was one of my TA's in a political science class at BYU. He left after church too quickly for me to talk to him. I got my picture taken and filled out a records request form. So I'm going to be officially in a Bangkok Thailand Ward.
After church was a hoot. They lady's name was M and her husband is T. Turns out they invited a lot of people over for dinner. I think they do it every, or most Sundays. Actually it was funny because in Sunday school the teacher wanted to begin the class with introductions, so I thought it would just be me and maybe someone else. Half the room ended up standing up and introducing themselves. Someone in town from Hanoi, or Singapore or Korea. So at dinner there were...10 people. All seem to have never eaten at this house. Oh, I forgot to mention, it so happens that T works for the state department. Me and this girl B both got in the car with M and T at church and they drove us to their house. We had some more in depth introductions and then stopped in front of this big armored gate. This guy got on a radio and then the gate opened. We drove through, then some guards came and opened the hood and trunk of the car and then ran a mirror on a pole under the car. Then we had to get authorized to enter the compound. It was the US embassy worker's compound. So we drive through this beautiful field area until we get to their house. This thing was immaculate. A big green lawn with white picket fence and pet peacocks. Did you just hear a record screech? That's right I said pet peacocks, ever so plain amid a backdrop of ponds and fountains and gorgeous giant weeping trees. The house wasn't a castle, but if it was mine, I'd brag about it.
Only B and I were with them preparing dinner waiting for others to arrive. B is from USA and is now working as a science teacher in the Marshal Islands. She had some fun stories to tell about the bikini islands and how small her island is. It is 30 miles long and 1/10 of a mile wide. She said there are 7 church branches there, and of a populations of about 25,000, 7,000 are church members. She invited me to come visit, but a round trip ticket from Manila to the Marshal islands is about $1600.
There was a couple who consisted of a former sister missionary and a Thai guy who met and married in the states and now live in Thailand. The guy is now a famous writer in Thailand. He wrote a book about creating your own luck and success. I talked to him about serendipity. Seems like a really energetic and congenial guy. He started off as a director of classical music and has become so oddly successful in a now obscure profession that he decided to write books about it. He gets invited by a lot of famous and wealthy people to conduct orchestras for them.
One of the guys whose name escapes me told a story about being at the US citizen services at the US Embassy and he overheard a guy at the counter yelling to the service officer about how this lady he was going to marry conned him and took off with tons of his money and belongings and he helped her get a visa and all this stuff and he wants them to stop her and arrest her as soon as she lands in USA. Apparently the embassy said there wasn't much they could do. So this guy says, well, anyway, I have a new girlfriend now, what do I do to get her a visa? ha ha. How ridiculous is that?!
T had some pretty hilarious stories as well being an employee of the state department in Columbia, Taiwan and China. They told me just for fun I should go to the citizen services office and just sit in for about an hour and listen in on people, I should hear some good stories.
One of the girls is a Thai girl, born and raised in Patthaya but married to a Canadian guy. She organized this big event for all the heads of state who were coming to Patthaya in February. She worked at the hotel that was hosting the event, so she was in charge of every aspect of organizing the event. Well the day the event was supposed to happen, everything was in place, a few heads of state were in the hotel and then red shirt protestors rushed the hotel. The police did nothing as these activists stormed the building and made a mess of everything. Mostly she said they made a mad dash for the buffet and then for the bathroom. Her event was ruined and the hotel did not get remunerated. They lost half a million dollars and she ended up losing her job because they could no longer afford her, and they hotel lost its appeal and good name because it is the location where this important incident went down.
After most left and it was just B and I and the family we ended up talking about Myanmar. B is going there on July 26th. I'm thinking of joining her. She is on a 10 week vacation before going back to the Marshal Islands. After Cambodia, on the 15th of July, I'm either coming back to Thailand, going to Bali, or going to Vietnam. ha ha, so we shall see what I end up doing. When we went to leave the family's house it was raining so hard. They let me borrow an umbrella to get to the metro, but the wind her is no friend either. I was soaked by the time I got to the train. So I got to ride the sky train home... soaking wet. And it's not so bad to be soaking wet, when you're in a t-shirt and shorts. I was in full church gear. ha ha.
Today I tried to get to church. I went to 2 internet cafes to write down the address to the church. It took 3 motorbike taxis to finally find the church building. I was 30 minutes late! Ouch. So after Sacrament I walked up to a lady and asked her who the bishop was, so I could introduce myself to him. She said he is out of town, but asked if I would like to come to her house for dinner after church. I was like... um... sure I guess! Then she asked my name. ha ha. I saw a guy in Priesthood quorum who was one of my TA's in a political science class at BYU. He left after church too quickly for me to talk to him. I got my picture taken and filled out a records request form. So I'm going to be officially in a Bangkok Thailand Ward.
After church was a hoot. They lady's name was M and her husband is T. Turns out they invited a lot of people over for dinner. I think they do it every, or most Sundays. Actually it was funny because in Sunday school the teacher wanted to begin the class with introductions, so I thought it would just be me and maybe someone else. Half the room ended up standing up and introducing themselves. Someone in town from Hanoi, or Singapore or Korea. So at dinner there were...10 people. All seem to have never eaten at this house. Oh, I forgot to mention, it so happens that T works for the state department. Me and this girl B both got in the car with M and T at church and they drove us to their house. We had some more in depth introductions and then stopped in front of this big armored gate. This guy got on a radio and then the gate opened. We drove through, then some guards came and opened the hood and trunk of the car and then ran a mirror on a pole under the car. Then we had to get authorized to enter the compound. It was the US embassy worker's compound. So we drive through this beautiful field area until we get to their house. This thing was immaculate. A big green lawn with white picket fence and pet peacocks. Did you just hear a record screech? That's right I said pet peacocks, ever so plain amid a backdrop of ponds and fountains and gorgeous giant weeping trees. The house wasn't a castle, but if it was mine, I'd brag about it.
Only B and I were with them preparing dinner waiting for others to arrive. B is from USA and is now working as a science teacher in the Marshal Islands. She had some fun stories to tell about the bikini islands and how small her island is. It is 30 miles long and 1/10 of a mile wide. She said there are 7 church branches there, and of a populations of about 25,000, 7,000 are church members. She invited me to come visit, but a round trip ticket from Manila to the Marshal islands is about $1600.
There was a couple who consisted of a former sister missionary and a Thai guy who met and married in the states and now live in Thailand. The guy is now a famous writer in Thailand. He wrote a book about creating your own luck and success. I talked to him about serendipity. Seems like a really energetic and congenial guy. He started off as a director of classical music and has become so oddly successful in a now obscure profession that he decided to write books about it. He gets invited by a lot of famous and wealthy people to conduct orchestras for them.
One of the guys whose name escapes me told a story about being at the US citizen services at the US Embassy and he overheard a guy at the counter yelling to the service officer about how this lady he was going to marry conned him and took off with tons of his money and belongings and he helped her get a visa and all this stuff and he wants them to stop her and arrest her as soon as she lands in USA. Apparently the embassy said there wasn't much they could do. So this guy says, well, anyway, I have a new girlfriend now, what do I do to get her a visa? ha ha. How ridiculous is that?!
T had some pretty hilarious stories as well being an employee of the state department in Columbia, Taiwan and China. They told me just for fun I should go to the citizen services office and just sit in for about an hour and listen in on people, I should hear some good stories.
One of the girls is a Thai girl, born and raised in Patthaya but married to a Canadian guy. She organized this big event for all the heads of state who were coming to Patthaya in February. She worked at the hotel that was hosting the event, so she was in charge of every aspect of organizing the event. Well the day the event was supposed to happen, everything was in place, a few heads of state were in the hotel and then red shirt protestors rushed the hotel. The police did nothing as these activists stormed the building and made a mess of everything. Mostly she said they made a mad dash for the buffet and then for the bathroom. Her event was ruined and the hotel did not get remunerated. They lost half a million dollars and she ended up losing her job because they could no longer afford her, and they hotel lost its appeal and good name because it is the location where this important incident went down.
After most left and it was just B and I and the family we ended up talking about Myanmar. B is going there on July 26th. I'm thinking of joining her. She is on a 10 week vacation before going back to the Marshal Islands. After Cambodia, on the 15th of July, I'm either coming back to Thailand, going to Bali, or going to Vietnam. ha ha, so we shall see what I end up doing. When we went to leave the family's house it was raining so hard. They let me borrow an umbrella to get to the metro, but the wind her is no friend either. I was soaked by the time I got to the train. So I got to ride the sky train home... soaking wet. And it's not so bad to be soaking wet, when you're in a t-shirt and shorts. I was in full church gear. ha ha.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
June 27, 2009
June 27, Saturday
This morning I met up with S early and we went to a little Japanese sashimi shop. We talked about her family and what her next move is going to be, if she's going to model in Beijing or just wait until her contract in NYC starts. We walked around Sukhumvit looking for apartments. I really need to change my apartment. It smells bad, there is no hot water, and there is almost no water pressure. It's hot, there are cockroaches. I'm going to cut the list short there. I'm definitely ready to move.
I ended up going to the emporium shops and exploring Sukhumvit 24 looking at apartments. It is a super nice area. I'll decide if I can afford it or not after Cambodia. I had plans to see a movie with G tonight but I had time to kill so I went to an internet cafe. When I was just about to leave it started to rain like CRAZY!!! So I turned around and bought another hour. But the rain didn't stop by then. I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the movie on time, but it started to drizzle and I was able to meet G.
We went to see Transformers 2. Before the movie started we were asked to stand up and shown a clip of the King of Thailand living his life all over the place while the national anthem was played. Kind of an interesting venue to display such a thing. Oh well, we play the national anthem at basketball games and rodeos. But this was a new experience.
After the movie we had to take an Elevator to the parking garage because the mall was closed. So there was a long line to use the elevator. A first for me.
While we were driving to a restaurant to get a late night bite, at a stop sign a guy ran up and cleaned like 1/4 of G's windshield. She paid him and he walked on. 1/4 of her windshield? What an over achiever.
This morning I met up with S early and we went to a little Japanese sashimi shop. We talked about her family and what her next move is going to be, if she's going to model in Beijing or just wait until her contract in NYC starts. We walked around Sukhumvit looking for apartments. I really need to change my apartment. It smells bad, there is no hot water, and there is almost no water pressure. It's hot, there are cockroaches. I'm going to cut the list short there. I'm definitely ready to move.
I ended up going to the emporium shops and exploring Sukhumvit 24 looking at apartments. It is a super nice area. I'll decide if I can afford it or not after Cambodia. I had plans to see a movie with G tonight but I had time to kill so I went to an internet cafe. When I was just about to leave it started to rain like CRAZY!!! So I turned around and bought another hour. But the rain didn't stop by then. I was afraid I wouldn't make it to the movie on time, but it started to drizzle and I was able to meet G.
We went to see Transformers 2. Before the movie started we were asked to stand up and shown a clip of the King of Thailand living his life all over the place while the national anthem was played. Kind of an interesting venue to display such a thing. Oh well, we play the national anthem at basketball games and rodeos. But this was a new experience.
After the movie we had to take an Elevator to the parking garage because the mall was closed. So there was a long line to use the elevator. A first for me.
While we were driving to a restaurant to get a late night bite, at a stop sign a guy ran up and cleaned like 1/4 of G's windshield. She paid him and he walked on. 1/4 of her windshield? What an over achiever.
Friday, June 26, 2009
June 26, 2009
June 26, Friday
This morning I woke up at 830 am, all on my own. The earliest I've woken up in a while. S came over around 10 am and we walked and walked and took a psycho taxi who wouldn't turn on his meter again, then we walked some more until we finally went to the coffee shop right next to her house where we used to always chat on the internet together. Kind of nostalgic and sentimental. We've been talking about 7 months now, and first met in real life back in February. After we had breakfast we walked around her area. There is a great big soccer stadium with a track inside. It's pretty awesome. I also ventured into my first velodrome where they race those sprint bicycles. S showed me where "Big C" super market is and then we sat out front and talked for about half an hour. She told me about how at home in Bahrain she has to have body guards follow her around everywhere because of the position her father is in. He has some important role in the government, and her name is famous there. Oh, we also talked about how Michael Jackson died.
I went home and waited for the washing machine guys and internet guys. When the internet guy never came I did stair well sprints to the top of the building. It's 23 stories high. It took me 2:20 each time. Pretty sad! I'll try to get that time down as I get more fit. Then I walked around the roof and had a really nice view of the city. It's almost unbelievable how many super tall buildings there are in this city. Although now that I think of it, Moscow is probably just as big and crazy.
I met up with G again and we went map shopping. I've wanted to find a really big map of Bangkok, and I found it! :) We ate dinner and she gave me a really good lesson on Thai language. We wondered around and I got some amazing Japanese frozen yogurt style ice cream. The chocolate was so so rich! I was in heaven. She showed me the design library at the top of the mall, and we found a really cool store with designer products. I just got home.
-the next day. I ended up going out with S to Khao San road. That place is crazy! It's totally dirty nasty Thailand but completely overrun with foreign tourists. Not sure I ever want to go there again. These white people were kept looking at me and I think they thought that S was a prostitute because she looked amazing and that I was just some random sex tourist that was going to hook up with her. I forgive them though, I've thought those same thoughts of so many nasty old ugly white men who are making out with 20 year old Thai girls. But do I really look like I can't get a girl like S? I mean, she's a super model, but come on, am I that bad looking that it's like that?
You know, I have to wonder what makes some of the men come here. So many of them are just dirty old men after sex, but I wonder why. S told me a story of a guy in her home Bahrain who was accused of raping this girl he kindly gave a ride home to. He denied the allegations and had a DNA test and such. Well the doctors figured out that this man couldn't have raped the girl because he was found to be sterile and she was pregnant. The problem though is the man has 5 kids. He was devastated because he figured out that his children weren't really his, but his brother's. His brother had 5 children with his wife. So I got to thinking... you know, probably most of these guys are screw ups and just found out how easy it is to get a beautiful girlfriend here, but then there are probably just a few guys who were greatly wronged by people they loved and are heart broken and don't know how else to find love. Anyway you put it, the sex trade here is disgusting and I can't even walk down some streets without getting hassled by several prostitutes.
I'm watching women's' doubles badminton right now on tv. It's making me laugh. Really tall lanky white girls smacking a shuttlecock back and forth at lightning speeds.
This morning I woke up at 830 am, all on my own. The earliest I've woken up in a while. S came over around 10 am and we walked and walked and took a psycho taxi who wouldn't turn on his meter again, then we walked some more until we finally went to the coffee shop right next to her house where we used to always chat on the internet together. Kind of nostalgic and sentimental. We've been talking about 7 months now, and first met in real life back in February. After we had breakfast we walked around her area. There is a great big soccer stadium with a track inside. It's pretty awesome. I also ventured into my first velodrome where they race those sprint bicycles. S showed me where "Big C" super market is and then we sat out front and talked for about half an hour. She told me about how at home in Bahrain she has to have body guards follow her around everywhere because of the position her father is in. He has some important role in the government, and her name is famous there. Oh, we also talked about how Michael Jackson died.
I went home and waited for the washing machine guys and internet guys. When the internet guy never came I did stair well sprints to the top of the building. It's 23 stories high. It took me 2:20 each time. Pretty sad! I'll try to get that time down as I get more fit. Then I walked around the roof and had a really nice view of the city. It's almost unbelievable how many super tall buildings there are in this city. Although now that I think of it, Moscow is probably just as big and crazy.
I met up with G again and we went map shopping. I've wanted to find a really big map of Bangkok, and I found it! :) We ate dinner and she gave me a really good lesson on Thai language. We wondered around and I got some amazing Japanese frozen yogurt style ice cream. The chocolate was so so rich! I was in heaven. She showed me the design library at the top of the mall, and we found a really cool store with designer products. I just got home.
-the next day. I ended up going out with S to Khao San road. That place is crazy! It's totally dirty nasty Thailand but completely overrun with foreign tourists. Not sure I ever want to go there again. These white people were kept looking at me and I think they thought that S was a prostitute because she looked amazing and that I was just some random sex tourist that was going to hook up with her. I forgive them though, I've thought those same thoughts of so many nasty old ugly white men who are making out with 20 year old Thai girls. But do I really look like I can't get a girl like S? I mean, she's a super model, but come on, am I that bad looking that it's like that?
You know, I have to wonder what makes some of the men come here. So many of them are just dirty old men after sex, but I wonder why. S told me a story of a guy in her home Bahrain who was accused of raping this girl he kindly gave a ride home to. He denied the allegations and had a DNA test and such. Well the doctors figured out that this man couldn't have raped the girl because he was found to be sterile and she was pregnant. The problem though is the man has 5 kids. He was devastated because he figured out that his children weren't really his, but his brother's. His brother had 5 children with his wife. So I got to thinking... you know, probably most of these guys are screw ups and just found out how easy it is to get a beautiful girlfriend here, but then there are probably just a few guys who were greatly wronged by people they loved and are heart broken and don't know how else to find love. Anyway you put it, the sex trade here is disgusting and I can't even walk down some streets without getting hassled by several prostitutes.
I'm watching women's' doubles badminton right now on tv. It's making me laugh. Really tall lanky white girls smacking a shuttlecock back and forth at lightning speeds.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
June 25, 2009
June 25, Thursday
Today I was supposed to meet up with S but she ended up being busy all day. G came and picked me up and we went to Siam Paragon and ate lunch. We met her "2nd" mom from America and then we drove to her school where she teaches architecture. I looked at some of her drawings and they are really quite amazing. Last night was an early night.
Today I was supposed to meet up with S but she ended up being busy all day. G came and picked me up and we went to Siam Paragon and ate lunch. We met her "2nd" mom from America and then we drove to her school where she teaches architecture. I looked at some of her drawings and they are really quite amazing. Last night was an early night.
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