Intro and Funny Stuff in Bangkok

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I wasn't in Bangkok for long this time. I went there for the Search Associates job fair Jan. 9-13, so really a long weekend. I arrived at about midnight on the Friday and made my way to the hotel I'd been recommended by the Rough Guide. I was all excited because it's run by South Indians and even has a restaurant!!! But... I think they must really like it rough, because Woodlands Inn was nasty. First the guy tried to rip me off. Even though I'd reserved a room, he said there was one at that price but in the other building on the 6th floor and there was no elevator. He finally gave in and sent me to a room in the main building. The place wasn't amazing, so I decided I would spend the night and move to a new place the next day. I knew I wouldn't have much time with the job fair and all, so I used the hotel's internet to find a place a former colleague's friend had recommended. Well, when I went back up to the room, I saw 3 cockroaches in the time it took me to change for bed. When I saw the third one crawling on the bed's backboard, I knew I couldn't stay. Anyway, I left - the guy actually tried to make me pay! - and headed to the other place. It was such a huge difference!!! In fact, the serviced apartment/hotel was one of the nicer one's I've stayed in. And only 50 USD/night thanks to agoda.com.

Well, once my basic needs were met, I was able to concentrate on the job fair and on seeing a bit of Bangkok. On Saturday morning, I went to Chatuchak Market - Bangkok's awesome weekend market - where I got some clothes and a little briefcase for the fair. I also got my hair and nails done so I could get that professional look. Thankfully, the prices in Bangkok are so good! I checked in at the job fair and then later that night I met Kevin, who works in Abu Dhabi with my friend Betty, a former ISD colleague. Kevin's awesome and it made it much easier knowing I had an ally at the fair.

The job fair went well. I had some great interviews and did a lot of networking, and was also able to meet some really cool people. Since Asia wasn't my main area of interest, I also had lots of time to wander the city and meet up with my friend, Tucker, who also worked at ISD when Betty and I were there. He's now doing Peace Corps in northern Thailand.

Together we visited Wat Pho, the one wat I hadn't been able to see last time I was in the city. I'm really happy I went. The Buddha was beautiful, and the wat complex was also really nice. Some kids even came by to interview us for their English class. It was great catching up with Tucker and hearing him speak Thai all over the place. How impressive! After the wat, we walked around, saw a flower market, and went to a place for Indian. (I finally did get my Indian!)

All in all, a great long weekend!

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Photos

Gorgeous!!!
Not far from the wat in front of a flower market

It's already a T-shirt!
Found at Bangkok's weekend market, Chatuchak

Marriage for Alien
Would you really want them doing your translations?