On our last full day in Bangkok, we got up early and did what all farang must do in Bangkok - shop 'til you drop. We hit Chatuchak, the weekend market that is the best, craziest market in town. Jen and Naresh had a field day and bought some fun stuff. We introduced them to the serious art of bargaining here. There are basically three major tips to get and keep the transaction going:

1) As soon as the price is offered, ask if they can do better. 99% of the time they'll knock off at least 20% right there.

2) Keep the atmosphere light and joking, with thai smiles for everyone, and the process goes even smoother.

3) When you get to a price you really like or want, just say, "Good for you, good for me." Elsewhere in Thailand, I had a 100% success rate with this line. Boom, once I said it, the deal was sealed. In Bangkok, it worked about 70% of the time. Note, I used this line in Vietnam a bunch, but it only worked in Saigon once, and the woman burst out laughing before deciding to give it to me at that price. Bev got a chuckle out of that one.

Unfortunately, between the heat and something off at breakfast, Bev wasn't feeling too well after our market visit. She needed a little nap time to work it out, so I took Naresh and Jen to a great chicken place called Soi Polo near Lumpini park.

The cab ride was hysterical. Our cabbie was totally gregarious, and he had great fun at my expense as I attempted some words in Thai. Basically, I was mispronouncing a village name to sound like a female body part. Oh man, did he get a kick out of that! He popped some music into the CD player, and I recognized it instantly as Esan music - music we listened to with Andy at his house. I started nodding my head to the tune and told the cabby I recognized the music. He mentioned that his wife is from Esan, and he cranked up the tune. We were going crazy in the cab, and Naresh got a great video of it. The cabby even pulled out a whistle and started blowing it full blast. He was great! And being an enterprising Thai, he offered me the opportunity to buy the very CD we had been listening to. I tried to negotiate, but he wouldn't budge, so I bought it anyway.

We landed at Soi Polo and ate fried chicken with fried garlic bits, sticky rice in wicker baskets, and a couple of different sauces (one spicy one sweet). I showed Naresh and Jen the traditional Esan way of eating the food (grab a half dollar size piece of rice out of the basket, flatten it, and then use it to scoop the food), and it was interesting to see Naresh shift from American style (silverware) to Thai style (flattened sticky rice) to Indian style (scoop-shaped hand eating food off the plate) over the course of the meal. It was a subtle shift, and I primarily recognized it based on observations during our India trip about 18 months ago. Anyway, the food was really tasty--this place is the best chicken place in Bangkok. After lunch, we popped over to MBK shopping center to buy a new cell phone charger, since we lost ours somewhere in the Mekong Delta. Nar and Jen managed to fit in a little more shopping before we left.

After shopping, we hit one last happy hour and then headed to the brilliantly-named restaurant, Eat Me. I completely amused myself with this restaurant title, much to the chagrin of Jen, Naresh, and Bev. Here are a few of the highlights:

1) Bev, Naresh, and Jen ask me where we're going for dinner. Sean says, "Eat Me Restaurant." Jen asks, "What did you say?" Sean says, "Eat Me…it is a restaurant…seriously. Eat Me Restaurant."

2) To the concierge: Sean asks, "What is the best way to get to Eat Me Restaurant?" Concierge asks, "Where?" Sean replies, "Eat Me."

3) To the cab driver: Cabby asks, "Where to?" Sean replies, "Eat Me". Cabby asks, "Eat Me?" Sean replies, "Yes, Eat Me."

You get the point. I know this is juvenile, and I have maintained excellent decorum for the bulk of this trip, but dang it, how do you turn down such easy material? You just can't. And if you don't like it, Eat Me. Badabing!

Unfortunately, the cab driver really didn't know where Eat Me was, so he dropped us off at a restaurant he thought we would be happy with. Once we figured out what happened and took a peek at the place, we didn't feel like going to the guy's restaurant, so we walked to a place with a real name, The Naj. It was really nice, with great atmosphere, service, and food.

Naresh asked for the hottest dish on the menu, and the waiter confirmed with him several times that the dish was really spicy. Confidently, Naresh maintained his cool and stuck with his order. Let me say I have seen Naresh eat very hot things. I have tried his food after he has seasoned it, and parts of my tongue to this day no longer have feeling. Naresh's face got very serious after he ate his first few bites. He didn't talk. He didn't look up. Sweat beaded on his brow. And after we pressed him for a bit, he simply said, "this is really hot." This means the dish was thermonuclear. Naresh then looked at me seriously and said, "do you want to try some?" Do I want to try some? Are you kidding me? I then replied, "Eat me." Okay, enough already, I know! No, there was no way I was going to put that death food in my mouth. He put some on my plate, but I cordoned it off with biohazard tape and enjoyed the rest of my meal.

Coincidentally, our restaurant was pretty close to the main nightlife district in Bangkok, Patpong, so we walked over to check it out. We somehow landed at a bar strip that was a scene straight out of Key West and probably would have been fun later in the night, but we were way too sober at this point. Plus, I looked too freaking good and Bev wanted to protect her property. So, we hit an Irish pub nearby and watched a little cricket instead. And I'm not talking about a little jumping insect. I'm talking about World Cup Cricket.

The girls hung out until midnight, but da boyz were just getting started. It was our last night in Bangkok, and we needed to do some damage. The moment we hit the bar scene without Bev and Jen, the vibe was totally different.

All these Thai touts descended upon us, trying to take us to their nudie bar. Nar and I just wanted to grab a drink and catch up, so we walked down the street with anywhere from 1-3 guys trying to sell us on their girlie bars. Listening to these guys try to sell us in English to go to a nudie bar for *bleep* was hysterical.

We landed at a bar with girls in bikinis (boys will be boys) and drank rum and cokes into the night, catching up about anything and everything. It was a good night hanging out with a good friend. We closed out the first wave of bars (2AM) and decided if we were going to be anything more than the living dead tomorrow, we should pass on the bars that close at 6AM. We decided to walk back to the hotel, and we saw a different Bangkok. It was quiet with darkened side streets, large cockroaches, and plenty of scurrying rats. It was a very different view of the city compared to our day time tourist sites. We got home at around 3:30AM and keeled over.

The next day we got up early (ooof) and finished packing. We headed out to the airport to catch our flight to Koh Samui, an island on the east side in the south, in the Gulf of Thailand.