One Night in Bangkok...

Well, more like a day really. We sail out of Singapore tonight and what a hectic couple of days it has been over here in SE Asia! We arrived in Pataya Beach, Thailand and it was one of my favorite stops so far! It was a gorgeous day (finally some hot sunny weather!) and what's not to love about fun asian "chotchkies", bargain shopping, a nice beach, an insanely awesome Mariott hotel and some pad thai for lunch! Pataya Beach is just 2 hours outside of Bangkok...some passengers headed to Bangkok for the day, but we had to be back on the ship at 6pm, so most people headed out on the shuttle bus to Pataya. The shuttle dropped us off at one of the most gorgeous hotels I have ever been to with the most beautiful pool area, the Pataya Beach Marriott. We spent the day buying loads and loads of presents...they had the coolest stuff to buy there!!! All the asian-inspired home goods you could ever want, and I figured it would be fun to have some conversation pieces to have when I get home saying, "Oh yeah, I picked this up in Thailand."

We had lunch at the Marriott, which was super cheap actually (everything in Thailand is super cheap)...and I had this awesome coconut and chicken thai soup that I have been craving everyday now! After hanging out for a bit at the pool, Mike and I hit up another Thai massage place for another full body 7 dollar massage. It rocked. Unfortunately, this city was very much divided. The main tourist street with shops and dvd's along the side of the street was perfectly safe, but just two blocks down any street, and you are in prostitute nudie gay bar number 28. Prostitution is a HUGE thing here in Thailand, and it was actually pretty gross seeing all these old men walking around with their Thai girls. Bleehhhh. There was a huge gay section of town but it wasn't like fun gay with rainbow flags and cute coffee shops like Chelsea...it was like dirty sketchy internet porn gay.

So we continued to trek along, buying tons of DVD's (I am ready to open a Blockbuster), clothes, and household chotchkies. It turned out to be a great day! I was a little bummed that we didn't get to go into Bangkok, but I definitely want to go back to Thailand again (and we are actually in Phucket this week!) so hopefully I will make it to Bangkok one of these days. The next day we were in Ko Samui, Thailand, and again, I didn't have as much time there as I would have liked. From what I saw, it was a very heavy tourist area with gorgeous beaches and really pretty scenery. The cast took a shuttle to the resort area and we headed over to this beautiful bungalow resort hotel called Poppies. It was amazing. And only like 300/night for a private beach bungalow there. I finally got my pad thai for lunch and it was the bomb. MMMMMMM how I love thai food! After doing some internet stuff, we returned to the ship to get ready for our show that night.

Now there is something to be said about getting off the ship, in an amazing new city everyday....but 50% of the day is also about the company I keep. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy the company of my castmates just like any other co-workers I have had in the past. They are a pretty diverse group of outgoing folks...but there does some to be a bit of a Goldilocks complex in regards to me hanging out in groups of people. I'm in a brand new city and we each have our own agendas. Some people like to go out and spend a careless amount of money, some people don't like to pay a dime for anything, and sometimes I manage to find a person or a group that gets it jussssstttt riiiight! Some people want to do the typical touristy stuff, some like to rough it and see the city as a local, and some do a little of both. A group can make or break any specific place, and that does get taxing. I always have said that you don't really know a person until you have TRAVELED with them. Well, picture TRAVELING every single day with all of your colleagues. Now if every colleague was like my mom or my sister, I would be guaranteed a massage, shopping spree, divine lunch, and at least one touristy spot in every city--the best of all worlds. But unfortunately, I find myself having to make sacrifices in many of these ports simply because of my company. So...there's THAT...


Today was Singapore and I really did not get to see the city at all unfortunately. As you may have guessed, it was pouring rain. We had to stay onboard this morning as a lot of people were embarking and disembarking from the ship. By the time I was finally allowed off, I only had a couple of hours before I had to be back!! How much does that suck?!? Additionally, the process of getting off the ship was so annoying. The security is really tight here, so it took a good half hour. We looked around a bit outside and had lunch. Oh well, Singapore, I'll be back someday. :( Anyway, I can't complain too much as I had a ton of time off the last couple of weeks to explore China, Japan, and Vietnam. This week we head over to Malaysia and .....(eeeh!) Myanmar. Why we are going to Myanmar, I have no idea. But I have a tour scheduled to have dinner and see some show, so don't worry mom and dad, I will not be walking around Myanmar searching for a MAC cosmetics. Then we are in Phucket, Thailand where I hope to perform my revue show, "The PHUCK ET ALL REVUE". Featuring such songs as: "PHUCK ET I'VE GOT YOU BABE," "PHUCK ET LET'S STAY TOGETHER," and "PHUCK ET IT'S MY LIFE". Good times.

Dubai is approaching soon and I cannot wait ! ! !

So to recap my favorite places I have visited so far on this trip are:
Shaghai, China....Bora Bora.....Wellington, New Zealand, Sydney, Australia, Papette, Tahiti, and Thailand!

My least favorite ports have been:
Pueto Chiapas, Mexico (eeeh!), Maui (I was a bit disappointed), anddd...I think that's it....?

Okay, time to do my hair for our Vegas show tonight which has been extended due to popular demand!

Nighty Night...hope everyone is well! All my love! xxxooo

ash

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