Yes. I am in Bangkok now.

Back to the city.

Back to the noise.

Back to the familiar aroma's of population.

Back to variety.

Back to reckless bargaining.

I had this thought the other night...

People from the country escape to the city. People from the city escape to the country.
We must all desire variety... and in variety we find a freedom? I certainly found a freedom at Koh Phangan. A lifestyle where relaxation is paramount. Where only the present moment matters... and tomorrow lost in a haze of serenity and peace.

I will miss the Sea Sunset resort. I will miss Koh Phangan. I will miss the beachfront lifestyle that I had lived for 10 days. I will miss the sunsets. I will miss being lackadaisical. But... I have a promise. I promise to return to Koh Phangan. And until then my memories will serve me.

You can always judge a product by the satisfaction of its customers. At the Sea Sunset resort.. travellers plan to stay for a few days... and end up staying for months. Every afternoon the sunset is admired. As the sun moves to illuminate other countries we feed ourselves and then lead ourselves to the Chocolate bar.

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How can you not fall in love with that bar? :)

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Koh Phangan has two extremes. You can either go there to party. Or to relax. You can party hard. Or you can release yourself into the peace of the island. Or you can select a mixture of both. Yes yes.. I went to the Full Moon Party. Manic! 4th of March brought travellers from all around the world to party under the moonlit beach at Had Rin. A lot of alcohol. A lot of drugs. A lot of farang (Thai for 'foreigner'). A lot of money flying about. A lot of hard dance music.

Don't worry folks. You know I don't do drugs..and that didn't change. But the alcohol... well the alcohol was consumed. At the Full Moon Party people drink BUCKETS of alcohol. Traditionally it is a mixture of Sangsom (Thai Whiskey), Red Bull and Coke.. The Red Bull in Thailand is lethal. 10B (40 CENTS) for a bottle of Red Bull.. it is not effervescent.. but it has power. So Red Bull mixed in with a bucket full of Whiskey... lethal. We travelled to the party with the locals at the Sea Sunset Resort and were given the following advice:

"Let's not get to the party until 12:30 to 1:00am.. that way all the wan-kers would have all got drunk and gone home. Much more fun after 1."

Too true! I had a great time at the party.. as we got there we found many drunken party-goers stumbling out. As a group we shared buckets of Sangsom & Redbull.. happily passing it around while bopping our heads to the music. This is the group at 2 buckets:

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2 casualties at this point in the night. Although one of the casualties has the remarkable ability of vomiting and continuing his party-going ways.

The group at 3 buckets (1 casualty.. as one of the previous casualty had recovered):

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The group at 4 buckets (1 casualty):

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The group at 5 buckets (4 casualties):

http://www.statravelblogs.com/photos/klopez/photos/FMP%208.jpg

Not many photos of the party past the 5th bucket... thankfully... because I was one of those casualties! :P The Sangsom/Red Bull just hits you. I remember feeling fine and believing that I would make it till sunrise.. then remember making my way to the beach. Then feeling dizzy. Then feeling the need to lie down for a second. Then that all too familiar feeling.

Luckily Karina had found me after I had wandered off. Being the wonderful person that she is.. she grabbed me by the arm and was my chaperone until we got home. The taxi ride back to the Sea Sunset resort.. was.. well.. 'eventful'. Koh Phangan has many hills.. and the roads aren't the smoothest in the world. So with a stomach full of evil... It was asked way too many questions. I was fortunate to be sitting next to the window. And out the evil came! Another first:

Vomiting out the side of a moving vehicle.

That's not all.

The first time I had vomited unintentionally on someone's face! Hahahhaahhahaha. Apparently as I lunged for the window of the taxi.. some of the 'mess' caught in the wind and flew into the face of one of the guys who was helping me home. Now he and I are connected. Forever.

Still a great night.

Time for my farewell to the sunsets and to the resort.
Goodbye..

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It'll be a while till we'll see comparable sunsets to the one's we've seen. So I must thank Karina for taking all of the pictures of the sun. They have been quite .. awesome. And thankyou for taking this picture of me..

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Yes that is me.. sitting in a chair. Sitting there.. thinking. Writing. Relaxing.

Koh Phangan is now behind me.

And.. hellooooooooooooooooooo nurse.. I mean.. helloooooooo Bangkok!

Backpackers tend to head to Khao San in Bangkok... and that just happens to be where we are.. although probably not for the same reason. Khao San is a major point for transport and will serve Karina and I greatly as we intend to explore while in Bangkok.

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Last night we took a Tuk Tuk (always wanted to say that) to Lumpini stadium in hopes of seeing MUAY THAI boxing.. only to be disappointed by the ridiculous pricing structure. 2000B for tickets to see the matches... $80AUD. I want to see Muay Thai.. but just not that badly. I will wait till Chiang Mai for the Muay Thai experience.

Luckily Lumpini isn't just home to a stadium. Close by was Lumpini park.. which is much like Hyde Park, Sydney. But. Bigger. And it has a lake. And it doesn't house a community of bums. Next to Lumpini was a local Bazaar with the usual shops, restaurants and food stalls. There were local Thai bands performing Black Eyed Peas songs. The accents made the perfomances quite funny.. "my lovely lady lums.. hick it owwwww!" Hahahahahaha. And there was a ferris wheel.. which had Kenny G songs playing on rotation (pun intended).

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Asian cities are never devoid of quirky signage or strange interpretations of English sayings/grammar/spelling.

Observe:

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Gaylord Indian restaurant... hahaha. As I saw this I broke out into a Russell Peters fit.

"Russell!? Do you know them?"
Russell: Why would I know them pa?
Pa: Because they are of the gay... and you are of the entertainment industry!

(If anyone doesn't get this.. goto youtube and search for 'Russell Peters'. You will be entertained. !xobile)

Other curiosities... a T-Shirt with the following print:

"Happiness is a dream"
"Apedidas"
"Adidogs"

Hahahaha... I think I may have to buy some of these shirts.
A local Thai brand... ARM. An acronym for:

A for Athentic Style
R for Raw of Denim
M for Meterial Quality

(Yes they are intentional spelling mistakes and grammatical errors)

Oh! Restaurant menu's do not escape the tyranny of spelling mistakes.

"Scranble toast"
"Pan of cake"
"Sauge on toast" (Sausage.. :P)

Hahaha.. I should keep track. I've even fantasised about returning to Thailand in a mission to correct the grammatical and spelling errors. Just give me a few permanent markers in black, red and blue.. Even departure/arrival cards at the countries' border have spelling mistakes:

"Lenght of stay"

;)

Many things to do in Bangkok.
Tonight... we go to Patpong.. to see ping pongs fly about ;)
Should be entertaining.

Until next time.
Batman.

(Have I done this before?
I think I have.. but I think its funny.. and yes I secretly want to dress up as batman at a fancy dress party. So if you are having a fancy dress party and I am in the area.. give me some notice.. and batman will be there).

Peace and love to all.

Kristopher Lopez.