Differences in Thailand. Of the cultural sort.

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Unlike my previous posts, this one isn't going to have, how do you say, a central theme. No, this is just a semi-coherent list of things in Bangkok that interest me.

1) Sun-tan lotion. There is no such thing. In its place is something called whitening lotion. It's like sun-tan lotion, only it makes you lighter, not darker. I couldn't believe it existed, but apparently its opposite day lotion wise all the time in Thailand (or perhaps its opposite day in the U.S. - Hmm).

2) I go to the same place to eat for lunch usually. P'nings place, It's called, after, perhaps not surprisingly, the owner/chef/only employee - P'ning. I'm convinced that P'ning is the second coming of Einstein in cook form. The first day I was here I commented how I like mushrooms. I get tons of mushrooms to this day. This made me feel special, until I learned that she does this with everyone. Apparently my co-worker told P'ning she liked baby corn several years ago, and to this day she gets far more baby corn than me.

3) There is no such thing as hot water for my shower. There is cold. Only cold.

4) Dogs and cats are everywhere. Bangkok is arranged into 'soi's', which are like neighborhoods (except they are neighborhoods that have stores, restaurants, and roosters right outside my window that ca-caw at 5 a.m.). In my particular soi, there must be around 15 dogs, 10 cats, and the aforementioned evil and nefarious rooster that ca-caws at 5 a.m. Every day. These aren't your average animals though - they look both ways before crossing the road, seem to eat better and more than most people, and at least one of them WAKES ME UP AT 5 A.M. EVERY DAY.

5) I've started teaching english to these 3 Thai's. One of them speaks better English than I do. To combat this, I've decided to start speaking like a 1990's version of Will Smith. If some day in the far future you visit Thailand, and are asked if you are getting jiggy with it, just know I started it.

6) I visited Chatuchak (that is woefully mispelled, but I am far too lazy to look up the correct spelling) last weekend. It is the biggest market in the world, but honestly, there were a lot of things that should just not be on the market. Like the grilled cricket. No one wants that. Or the pet squirrel. Who wants a pet squirrel?

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Photos

Soi
This is a picture of my soi. Not pictured, unfortunately, is P'ning. I just don't know if the world is ready for Einstein-chef.

Statue
This is a statute of someone, I just don't know who.

A view from my work
As most of you know, I like shots of nothing in particular. This picture is an excellent example.