36 Hours in Bangkok

To start our journey we needed to travel to Bangkok where we would meet with ISM administration and the rest of the new teachers to learn how to get our The transit to Bangkok was long but not too bad overall. We left Portland at 7:45 pm and arrived in New York around 9:00pm. JFK was a HUGE airport and I was very glad that we had two hours before the next take off to find our gate and get through security. Leaving JFK around 11:00 pm we were so happy to be able to sleep finally (only getting a few hours the night before and having such an emotional day really put a toll on us). One of our best decisions was bringing our pillows in our carry-ons, we were nice and comfortable for the trip. I slept most of the 13 hour flight, waking up to eat the two meals and snack they provided as well as for a couple hours towards the end. Kim was up and down, getting a few hours of sleep in here and there.

Our stopover was in Dubai with a 2.5 hour layover. Just enough time to get through security, and jump online for a bit. It was 7:45 pm local time when we arrived in Dubai, which meant that we had another evening flight. We relaxed, napped a bit, watched some movies on our personal screen, and got another meal. For both of our long flights we flew Emerits. We were very happy with them, comfortable seats (or as comfortable as you can get on an airplane, active service,decent meals/drinks, personal screens with hundreds of movies, TV shows, games, and plane information. 6.5 hours later we stepped off the plane into Bangkok. 

Two days after we left Maine we finally landed in Bangkok!!!

After checking into our spectacular hotel, The Furama, we were very happy to shower and get into a new change of clothes. We didn’t waste any time before we were out the door exploring. Of course we were in search of food! Knowing that  the street food had more of a chance disagreeing with our western stomachs we decided early on to avoid the very tempting array of options from the many street vendors. Instead we were looking for more of a clean restaurant. After only a couple blocks we were stopped by a lady asking what we were looking for, we told her “food” and were pointed in the direction of a small shopping mall. We chose to eat at Mr.Lee’s for our first meal. I got a fried noodle dish with chicken and Kim got a rice dish with pork. Funnily enough, it ended up that both of our broths tasted exactly the same, beef gravy like but more liquidly and smoother. The meal was very tasty and ended up costing us 400B ($13 usd) including a small appetizer and a mango drink. 

After our delicious meal we continued to wander, enjoying the many sights and smells of the city. There was just so much happening and so much to see! After a while we bumped back into the lady who showed us where to eat. She quickly picked up a conversation with us trying to see how else she could help us, asking if there was anywhere we wanted to go or see. Kim had been wanting to see about buying some chefs knives here which she attempted to communicate to the lady. Seeming to understand she quickly hailed us a tuktuk and negotiated with the driver. Not exactly sure where we were headed we hopped in and gave her a thankful nod goodbye. The tuktuk ride was fantastically fun! It was a great way to see the city, although there were some questionable moments when I feared for my life as the driver squeezed his way through traffic. Eventually he pulled up on the sidewalk and a doorman helped us out. We walked into the building only to find out that we were at a high class jewelry store. After a brief glance around we headed back to the tuktuk to explain to the driver that we were looking for knifes. There was a jumbled conversation but an agreement was found and we were off again. Before long we were ushered into another store, this time with tailored suits and dresses. I quickly turned around and demanded the driver return us to where he picked us up, he tried to argue but I was all finished being scammed – you see a lot of businesses will give the drivers money for bringing in perspective clients. He dropped us of just a couple blocks from our hotel and demanded 100B but I would give him no more than 40B since that was our original agreement. He finally conceded and we were glad to be finished with that. It was super fun to ride in the tuktuk but next time I will be sure we have a known destination before we get in. 

Our first night in Asia was unforgettable. After sleeping for a couple hours, Kim woke up very hungry so we went off in search of food. The front desk of the hotel told us to go to the night market where we found hundreds of stands selling all sorts of goods; from clothing (modern and traditional) to knickknacks and souvenirs, there was so much to see. I bought a small hand-made journal for 60B ($2 usd), a pair of wrap around pants that I have yet to figure out how to wear correctly for 200B ($6 usd) and a pair of sunglasses for 300B ($9 usd). We found a restaurant to eat at called the Black and White Chef. I ordered a curry pork dish that tasted exactly like beef stew complete with the potatoes and carrots. Kim ordered some fried chicken with rice and we shared an amazing plate of fried dumplings (one of our all time favorite dishes that we were so looking forward to tasting and it did not disappoint). 

Kim was determined to try a McDonalds burger so we continued on until we found a McD’s. The burger Kim says was not very good, just about the same quality that is in the US. I’m glad that she got her fix. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a fancy bar to have a beer and a glass of Champaign. It was very expensive and not very worth it except for the cheese cake that was pretty tasty. All in all that cost us 570B ($15 usd) – more than we have spent for both of our meals. 

It was about 1:00 AM when  we stumbled upon a funky looking bar with tables outside, we stopped to check it out when I was pulled to a seat by a energetic lady who we quickly found out was a South African named Michelle.  The evening was filled with laughter, new friends, and exciting happenings. Michelle was good friends with the chef/owner of the bar who Kim made quick conversation with speaking of knives and cooking ingredients. I joined in on an impromptu soccer game in the middle of the street where I almost go hit by a car on multiple accessions, Kim convinced one of the restaurant helpers to giver her a ride on their motorbike, and we witnessed my first bar fight. We drank the night away as the kind owners who became fast friends, continued to bring us different bites to eat. As the sky grew lighter and the traffic grew heavier we watched the city wake up. We said goodbye to our new friends and grabbed a bite to eat at the nearest store. 

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Friday morning we met with the other ISM teachers at the hotel restaurant for breakfast. Everyone was very friendly with great energy and excited to be there. After we gathered together we hoped on a bus the school rented for us and were off to the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok which turned out to be only a few blocks away.  The reason they wanted us all to meet in Bangkok was to show us the process of getting our visas because we will have to do it again every 10 weeks (70 days). For our visas we needed:

-Visa application

-Passports

-A copy of our passports

-2 passport photos

-A registration letter from the school

-A letter stating the school as our visa sponsors

-My school contract

-2115 Bhats each (~$70, much cheaper than my school had told us it would be)

The process of getting the visas was mostly uneventful, the line was very long so we had to wait a few hours but it was fun to be with the group and begin getting to know everyone. We finished in enough time for us to go grab lunch before heading back to the hotel to get our things together. We decided to walk back to the hotel and stumbled upon a Hindu temple where this happened:

For lunch we chose a restaurant that didn’t have an English translated name so I don’t know what it was called. We ordered an appetizer of pork balls in a platter where you made your own wanton type things. We had no idea how to make them so we just guest. On the platter was also rice wrappers, cucumbers, pineapple, hot peppers (chilies), garlic, a green bitter thing. On the side we had a large bowl of various greens: lemon grass, green leaf lettuce, mint, Thai basil. To dip they gave us a big dish of sweet chili and peanut sauce which was unfortunately a bit too spicy for us. Kim had a tasty dish of crab noodle soup, the noodles were ramen like and the broth was similar to a clear consume and not overly fishy. I had a noodle dish with chicken, eggs, and peanuts. The noodles looked as if they were made from rolled up from the rice wanton things and they were so very delicious. The dish itself had a pad-thia type flavor but wasn’t saucy, I can not wait to eat it again! For dessert we grabbed some bubble tea, Kim got chocolate without any bubbles and it tasted almost exactly like Yahoo; for mine I had gotten one yesterday that was amazing but I tried a different kind and it tasted exactly like salt water. It was so gross! I went back and traded it in for the one I had before. 

Before we knew it our bags were packed again and we were off to the airport. The only hiccup that came up was when they wanted to charge us an extraordinary amount for our overweight baggage.  Luckily the group leader, Scott, took care of all of it from ISM. After a short 45 minute plane ride, and a quick line through customs, we retrieved our bags and were greeted by ISM. We were finally here, standing in Myanmar, the place where we will call home for (at least) the next two years.