What I'll Miss About Thailand

The Grand Palace

My time in Thailand has come to an end. It has been a drastic cultural, life, and even career change for me. From getting the swine flu and being hospitalized for food poisoning to riding an elephant and snorkeling in the Phi Phi Islands, it has been an unforgettable experience. There are a few things I won't miss about Thailand, but they pale in comparison to all the things I will miss. Here are a few of the uniquely Thai things that I will dearly miss.


THAI FOOD

Thai Dinner at The Blue Elephant

There is no other cuisine like it. Thai dishes always carry a masterful balance of flavors that usually includes 2 or more of the following: spicy, sweet, salty, and sour. From curries and salads to noodles and soups, the variety of Thai food seems endless. The abundance of food is in part to the infinite number of street food vendors. Feeling hungry at midnight? No problem, just walk down the street and buy a freshly cooked dish for about $1 US that will taste better than any Thai dish you've had in the US. Accessible, delicious, and cheap food...what more could you want?! "Cheap beer", you say? Well, Thailand's got that too!

A colorful array of tropical fruit at a local market

The other aspect of Thai food that I will miss is all the tropical fruit. Thai people love to eat and share fruit. I've had the pleasure of reliving my childhood by eating fruits such as custard apples, jackfruit, longan, and coconuts. I've also had the displeasure of smelling and eating durian, but hey, at least I can say I tried it.

Thai cooking class in Bangkok

Fortunately, I took the time to learn how to cook Thai food (read about my experience here). It's really quite easy because for 90% of the dishes a wok is all you need! My concern will be finding fresh Thai ingredients in another country. Before coming to Thailand I didn't know much about the cuisine, but I can say with confidence that it is the best cuisine in the world.

THAI CULTURE

Enjoying the Songkran Festival

Thailand is known as "The Land of Smiles". The Thai people are known for their friendly and respectful nature. Based on my experience, I found this to be overwhelmingly true. In general most Thais live a very simple life compared to western standards, yet they live an optimistic, happy, and appreciative life (I think a lot of it has to do with Buddhism). I had the wonderful experience of teaching English to Thai teenagers and adults. The level of respect they gave to all the teachers and to each other was amazing. The younger students would always formally greet the adult students. All students paid attention and participated in the classroom. Disciplinary problems were a very rare occurrence. I noticed that student discussions and ideas would selflessly focus on their families and friends.

My wonderful and always smiling Thai language instructors

Outside of the language center my Thai friends were always overly nice and randomly offering food. Thia people, in general, like to have a good time and not stress about things. Their laid-back, worry free, happy lifestyle is summed up in the popular phrase, "mai pen rai", which roughly means, "don't worry about it" or "it's ok, no problem". This eastern concept of respect to the family/community was quite refreshing to experience and one that the western cultures could take a lesson from.

THAI SCENERY

One of our private islands near Phi Phi

One of the main reasons people vacation in Thailand is the beautiful beaches. Phuket is perhaps the most well known beach destinations but there are many other just as idyllic places around Thailand. One of the highlights of our stay in Thailand was hiring a private speed boat with crew for a day and island hopping near the Phi Phi Islands. Several times we had an entire island to ourselves, complete with white sand, turquoise water, some tropical fruit, and cheap beer - what more could you want?

Haew Suwat waterfall in Kaho Yai National Park

A highlight was elephant trekking through the jungle, and visiting a silkworm farm to see how Thai silk was made. Another memorable experience was spending the day at local Thai wineries. Then, going to Khao Yai National Park to hike up to some magnificent waterfall, and in the evening seeing monkeys and a spotted Leopard.

Bangkok skyline complete with traffic jam

However, for the more urban types of people, there is the East-meets-West bustling metropolis of Bangkok. This city seems to have everything: traffic, parks, public transportation, ultra-modern shopping complexes, markets, a busy river, temples, the Grand Palace, international cuisine, delicious street food, red light districts, a continually expanding skyline, a large international business district, 7.7 million people, festivals, sports, the monarchy, and politics. There is something for everyone in Bangkok, and similarly there is a Thai landscape that will suite one's need.

THAI LADYBOYS

The ladyboys of the Tiffany Cabaret Show in Pattaya

No experience to Thailand is complete without an encounter with a "ladyboy" ('katoey' in Thai language ), which can vary from a male cross-dresser to a male-to-female transgender person. Thailand is widely known as the transgender capital of the world and performs the most sex reassignment surgery than any other country. It is very common to see ladyboys in Bangkok. Many of them dress ordinarily and live ordinary lives, but others choose to flaunt themselves to the public. For the flamboyant type their hair, skin, and make-up is impeccable. They walk as if constantly on a catwalk with a super-model's gait. They are naturally tall and wear very high-heels to gain even more height. Their clothing and accessories are uber-fashionable and generally accentuate their curves and ample bosoms. Their overall appearance and presence is not that of a typical Thai woman, thus, they really stand out.

Amber posing with a ladyboy

For the unsuspecting foreign tourists, this is their first sight of a ladyboy. Needless to say it can be quite a culture shock! Some people, however, simply think that she is just a very stylish and beautiful Thai woman, after all aren't Thai woman known for their beauty? The realization hits when the ladyboy speaks and a man's voice softly booms out from a very feminine body!

Over time the shock value wears off and it eventually becomes commonplace to see and interact with ladyboys. While in Thailand, I was dragged to see the famous Tiffany ladyboy cabaret show. We took pictures with the ladyboys, and afterward my wife admitted that she felt less of a woman because the ladyboys were much more diva than she could ever be. Even more defeating was that for a few of the ladyboys she honestly couldn't tell that they used to be men! Only in Thailand.

Serenity at Ayutthaya

Thailand is truly a fascinating country. I highly recommend that everybody make a visit to experience the above and more. I am sad to close this chapter of my life. Over the past year and a half while living in Thailand I've met some wonderful people and had some awesome experiences. I sincerely hope to visit Thailand again in the future.

According to Bob Marley, "When one door is closed, don't you know, another is open." The door for Thailand has closed, but I am looking forward to the newly opened door that is Australia. Stay tuned for posts about living in Australia!

Comfort at the Thai Market

It's my observation that we generally live our lives with familiarity and routine. We tend to eat out at the same places, do the same things for enjoyment, hang out with the same friends, etc. This brings us a level of comfort and minimizes the stress of dealing with surprises. However, I think it's good to go out of your comfort zone once in while. The consequences of going off the beaten track may vary from a rewarding experience to an "I'll never do that again!" experience, but in the end you'll likely learn something new about yourself and gain a new life experience in the process.

Kitesurfing in Pranburi, Thailand
A fun getting-out-of-my-comfort zone experience!

I like to continually learn and experience new things in life. I like the sensation of being in a new environment, whether it's mentally or physically, and feeling my way through it, almost as if on an epic journey, until it becomes comfortable. One example of this is learning a new language. If you visit a foreign country for vacation and can't speak the language, it can be very frustrating and unpleasant at times. The journey of unlocking a new language, even just to learn basic conversation, is one that I find amazing. The journey may be more easy or difficult for some than others, but in the end the ability to communicate in another country is pretty cool and rewarding. I went through this journey while learning the basics of the Thai language. It was fun (and frustrating at times) taking Thai classes, doing homework, and trying to speak to the local people. Eventually it became comfortable.

Over time living in Bangkok somehow became routine and comfortable. So I decided to step out of my comfort zone yet again by going to a local Thai food market.

The Food Market on Silom Road

My first introduction to a Thai market was when I took a week long cooking class in Bangkok. Every morning the class began by going to the market as a group. As you can imagine, walking into a foreign food market was quite intimidating. It felt like being in another country within another country. The market was chaotic, hot, and smelly. There were raw meats everywhere, mounds of spices and herbs, tons of fruits and vegetables that I'd never seen before, and shirtless children running around the stalls. All this in the open air in what seemed to be in not-very-sanitary conditions. The cooking instructor would give us a tour and talk about the various foods, then proceed to buy all the ingredients (by speaking Thai) for the day's recipes. By the end of the week I had cooked 25 delicious dishes but I still wasn't fully comfortable at the market. I was ready to start cooking at home but I knew it meant that I'd have to be a big boy and go to the market on my own.

Our instructor showing us the market

First, I had to find the nearest market from home. Luckily, I found one next to the barber shop where I got my hair cut (I would pay $5 U.S. including tip for an awesome haircut and shave! The guy didn't speak any English...we had some interesting broken Thai conversations). Using my trusty bicycle, I made the 5 minute bike ride to the market.

The bicycle ride to the market

Next, I chose which dish I was going to cook for the night - stir fried minced chicken with holy basil. The ingredients I needed from the market were bird's eye chilies, garlic, basil leaves, red chili, fish sauce, and oyster sauce.

Upon entering the market, I immediately noticed that this market was larger than the one from the cooking class but not as busy and it was covered, thus, not too hot inside. The market was laid out with tables or counters where the vendor could lay their wares. There were counters for vegetables, fruit, spices, raw meat, raw seafood, coconut grinding and processing, curries, herbs, canned goods, and packaged goods. To get all my ingredients I stopped at several counters. First was the vegetable counter. Even though I stood out among the all-Thai patrons of the market I wasn't stared at or treated any differently than anybody else. I approached the counter and the elderly Thai woman smiled and we exchanged our hellos in Thai. Unable to determine which basil was holy basil (there are 3 types of basil in Thailand) I asked her which one was holy basil. She happily pointed out the holy basil and even grabbed a plant, tore some leaves and invited me to smell the basil. Yup, it was basil (although I doubt I could tell the difference between the three types by smell). I paid her 5 baht ($0.15) and moved on the the herbs counter. There, a middle-aged Thai man was already helping a customer. I looked at his items and grabbed both kinds of chilies and a clove of garlic. He told me 13 baht, and I paid and moved on. The last stop was at the packaged goods counter where I paid the young Thai woman for a bottle of fish sauce and a bottle of oyster sauce.

Buying veggies and walking around the Suan Phluu market

Before leaving, I decided to go ahead and pick up some green curry paste so that I could make green curry for the next evening. I walked around the market but couldn't find any. An elderly Thai woman noticed my unfruitful searching and asked me what I was looking for. I told her I wanted green curry paste. She directed me to a counter and told the woman there that I was looking for green curry paste, but the woman said she had ran out already. They then directed me to another counter where there were some packaged curry pastes. I didn't know one to choose, so I asked which one was better. They told me both were good, but that one was spicier than the other. I purchased the hotter one, thanked the ladies, and made my way back home with a bag full of Thai groceries.

The entire experience of going to the market by myself was daunting at first. Even though I felt and looked like an outsider, I wasn't treated that way. True to Thai culture, the people there were nice, smiling and very helpful. Absolutely nobody spoke any English, thus, I was forced to practice my basic Thai, but it turned out to be a great way to remember my food vocabulary. The dishes I cooked ended up delicious so I made return trips to the market. Each trip became easier and I felt more comfortable until it became a routine thing to do.

I never imagined that food shopping at a market in a foreign country would become a common fixture of my life, but it has and I'm glad that I ventured to try it out. The feeling of adventure and achievement is quite satisfying and I look forward to more such endeavors. Have you ventured beyond your comfort zone lately? Try it out, you might be surprised at what happens!

Bangkok on a Bicycle

One of the first things I bought in Bangkok was this folding bicycle

One fascinating aspect about large cities is the seemingly continuous flow of people and activity. Unfortunately, most people are too busy trying to get from point A to point B or too zoned-in on their world of daily routine that they miss what's going on around them. It's a shame that we can sometimes be too caught up in our own lives to enjoy life and not be mindful to take the time to experience, or at least observe, what's around us. People watching, especially in a large foreign city, can be quite interesting and revealing. The culture, lifestyle, and social tendencies appear everywhere through observation of people's daily activities. The city of Bangkok is no exception.

Bangkok at night (Lumpini Park in green)

Whether I'm in a taxi, subway, walking, or riding my bicycle there is always something to see in Bangkok - an elephant being led among the traffic, school kids waiting outside for their parents to take them home on the back of a motorbike, a ladyboy (cross-dresser) propositioning tourists, a family setting up a street-side food stall, monks with cameras visiting the city as tourists, a beggar asking for money in front of one of the many posters of the Monarchy, a protester and an armed soldier having a casual conversation, etc. These activities may be everyday occurrences for them, but for me it is a fascinating look into another world.

An elephant attracting the bar drinkers

Ladyboys after a show (yes, these are all men!)

Behind the scenes of a souvenir street shop

Even though I had settled in nicely within the city and had my own daily routine, I restrained from tuning out my environment and continued to observe the city around me. My daily 10 minute bicycle ride to the house of one of my students was a fairly easy and mundane task. One day I decided to take it slower and observe the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. I was amazed to realize how accustomed I was to the once culture-shocking aspects of this place. The shirtless man pushing his cart in the middle of the street didn't raise an eyebrow. The huge rats picking at the trash didn't startle me. The obvious unsanitary conditions of most of the food stalls didn't make me cringe. The traffic and smog filled air didn't make me complain (OK, maybe a little, but not as much as before).

The point is that I was actually part of the city, within the city, and not just a foreigner in an alien land. It was at this moment that I knew I had to record it. First, as evidence that anything in life can happen. Second, to capture the moment so that in the future I can look back and say, "Wow, that's how I used to live. That actually happened!"

Below are videos I took while riding my bicycle from my home to the home of a private student for English lessons and back home again. The videos were taken from my iPhone and I included written annotations to serve as a running commentary throughout the videos.

My 1 mile daily route by bike to teach private English lessons

My bicycle ride from home to work

Riding back home - Part 1

Riding back home - Part 2

Bangkok Dangerous?

A blog about Thailand wouldn't be complete without some discussion about the political instability. My arrival to Thailand was drastically altered because Suvarnabhumi Airport (Bangkok airport) was closed due to protesters storming it and occupying it for over a week! Soon after, the ruling government party was found guilty of electoral fraud and a new government was established.

I won't go into details about the different political parties and their stances (they all claim to be fighting for democracy), but it is apparent that they aren't happy with the way things are. Coups and changes of government aren't a new thing in the land of smiles. Since the last military coup in 2006 the Thai government has changed hands four times. There have been 18 coups since the constitutional monarchy was established in 1932.

At first, I was a bit concerned about my safety and the state of the country, especially with the events that unfolded during Songkran (Thai New Year) of 2009. However, since then anti-government protesting has been common place - typically occurring every month. The continuous civil unrest eventually became a normal part of living in Thailand. Yeah, we got the notices from the US embassy about imminent danger and the response would be, "meh, there they go again with the protesting". In reality, there wouldn't be very many protesters and they would conduct peaceful demonstrations.

The latest round of protests in March created a new benchmark regarding tactics. The 'red-shirt' anti-government protesters announced their rally about a month in advance. They claimed that a million people from all over the country would unite in Bangkok to show their displeasure at the current government and cause havoc in the capital city. This allowed both the government and the citizens of Bangkok to be prepared for their arrival. The government had tens of thousands of troops and riot police stationed throughout the city during the rally weekend. Businesses chose to close down during the weekend and some people left the city for those few days to avoid the situation.

The red-shirt protesters did make their way to Bangkok but rather than a million people it was more like 100,000 people - still an impressive figure. The government allowed the peaceful protests continue through the weekend as long as things wouldn't turn violent. They even closed roads in the city to allow the protesters to parade through.

The protesters causing a lot of traffic at Asok Rd and Sukhumvit Rd.

One of the parade routes passed in front of my place of work (in the elephant building). There was a long expanse of cars as far as I could see in both directions with people hanging out the windows or riding in the back of trucks sporting their red clothing and flags. The atmosphere was very festive and cheerful. The street was dotted with supporters wearing red and cheering their fellow party members in the parade. It felt more like a homecoming parade than a political rally.

Near the end of the protester's motor parade on Paholyotin Road

The next day I encountered the protesters again. This time I was riding my bicycle. I rode my bike alongside the protesters and captured video and pictures of the festive atmosphere with my iPhone.

Riding with the red-shirts on Silom Road

Red-shirt protesters on Silom Road

Silom Road

Lots of traffic on Silom Road

Waiting at the light

After a peaceful weekend of protesting, the leaders of the red-shirts wanted change. They demanded the current government to step down and conduct new elections. If the government didn't dissolve within 24 hours, then a "blood bath" would occur. The 24 hour deadline passed without any change - the government was staying pat.

This is when things got really interesting...and really, really grotesque. True to their word, the protesters created a blood bath - of their own volunteered blood. The protesters donated a little bit of their own blood so that it could be splashed on the gates of the government complex and on the property of the Thai Prime Minister. As the blood was splashed, a blood curse was performed against the current government. Below are graphic videos and pics of their work.

Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images

Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters

Photograph: Athit Perawongmetha/Getty Images

It appears the government will not step down. The protesters are still in town, but their numbers are dwindling. Life has returned to normal in Bangkok, but I'm sure that in the not-so-distant future another rally will be held. Could they possibly do another stunt to outdo the 'blood bath'? Regardless of party affiliation, all this instability greatly damages the image of Thailand to outsiders. Who would want to come to Thailand based on the images above? Sadly, the tourism sector takes a hit after each incident. Thailand has a lot to offer to tourists - wonderful beaches, excellent cuisine, charming people, but unfortunately political unrest is part of their culture as well.

Cooking Thai Food

“Where has this cuisine been all my life? Why am I in my mid-twenties and just now discovering this amazing food?” These were my thoughts after eating several dishes from the “Thai Cottage” restaurant in Houston. After I sampled the chicken yellow curry I was hooked. It seemed to carry the perfect balance of sweetness from the coconut milk with the wonderfully spicy, aromatic, and exotic flavor from the curry. It was topped with potatoes and carrots and served with steamed rice. What more could I want? I could have literally eaten that dish every day of the year.

The only other Thai dishes I had before coming to Thailand were Pad Thai and chicken satay. My experience in the U.S. was that the Pad Thai was hit or miss, either really good or just OK. The chicken satay with peanut sauce was generally good anywhere and the curry dishes were always flavorful, tasty, and spicy (depending on how you much you dared to try, I typically asked for medium spiciness).

Naturally, when I arrived in Thailand a little over a year ago, I was very excited to get a taste of actual authentic Thai cuisine. One of my first meals included a chicken satay with peanut sauce that blew away anything I had ever had in the U.S. I also tried out Tom Yum Goong for the first time and immediately fell in love with it. This brown soup had all kinds of unidentifiable cut-up herbs and spices in it plus pieces of shrimp, fish, squid, and muscles. It had a perfect balance of flavors - sweetness, sourness, spiciness, and saltiness. Even though it was spicy, the spiciness surprisingly complimented the flavor rather than overpower it. I was left with a tingling hot mouth that felt pleasant which curiously didn't need to be urgently extinguished as is the case with most spicy food. I felt a warm glowing happiness and my taste buds were in bliss. This is when I knew that Thai food was going to be my new favorite cuisine.

Over the weeks and months during my stay here, I have tried many more Thai dishes, most of which I had never heard of before. I've also tried the different tropical fruits including pomelo, jackfruit, custard apple, mangosteen, longan, and durian. I learned how to eat Thai-style with a spoon rather than a fork (spoon in the right hand for eating, fork in the left hand for cutting and scooping food into the spoon) and to eat noodle soup with a spoon in the left hand with a pair of chopsticks in the right hand. The toddlers and kids have it right, eating with a spoon is so much easier!

After a year of eating all this excellent food and telling myself that I should learn how to cook it, I finally took the leap and signed up for a 5 day course at The Somphong Thai cooking school. It is located at the end of an alley off a busy street (Silom road). The school is actually the home of an old Thai lady, Somphong, in a traditional outdoor (and covered) kitchen. Along the main wall are a series of gas burners with woks at the ready. The other wall serves as an open air pantry and display of various fruits, vegetables, herbs, and sauces. In the middle of the kitchen is a large table for food preparation. During the course of the week, I learned that this area is not only where the cooking classes are held but it serves as the hangout spot and dining room for the family itself. I couldn't have picked a more authentic place to learn how to cook Thai food.

The Silom Market

This is how my first day went.

The school is managed and run by Somphong's niece, Koy. The class begins with a trip to the local market. The open-air market is nothing more than a side street crammed with food vendors all along both sides. Koy tells us to be careful of the passing motorcyles and tuk-tuks and leads us to a small walkway that surprisingly opens up to a huge covered market. Half the market is dedicated to freshly cut meat where both live and freshly cut fish are on display for sale. With wicker baskets in hand, we follow Koy to a coconut grinding stall. We see how shaved coconut is made from fresh coconuts (grinding machine), and how coconut cream and coconut milk is made from the shaved coconuts (mechanical press). She explains how to make an order and how much it should cost.

Curry Pastes and bottled sauces

Koy explaining the various peppers

A look around Silom Market

We continue through the market stopping at various points where Koy talks about the various foodstuff there. I learn many things such as: all the curry pastes can be bought (easier to buy than to make by hand, but we will learn how to do it the hard way), shrimp paste is made by marinating a salt mixture with baby shrimp for a year (no wonder it stinks so much!), there are at least a half dozen types of eggplant, at least a dozen different types of pepper (the smallest ones are the hottest), and 3 types of basil in Thailand. Throughout our tour Koy buys and fills our baskets with our ingredients for the day. We make our way back to the school to let the cooking commence.

Our classroom - A traditional Thai style open-air kitchen

We are equipped with a bright purple apron, a matching purple napkin, a wooden cutting block, and a rather large knife. Koy hands us our recipe books and begins the class explaining how to make curry paste. Using a mortal and pestle, we hand grind a mixture of ingredients (mostly chilies, herbs, and spices) until it becomes a smooth paste. The work is difficult but we are rewarded with an excellent green curry paste. She shows us how to cut various vegetables and gives us pre-measured containers of seasonings (sugar, salt, fish sauce, coconut milk, etc). With all our ingredients ready, we go to the wok and cook away as she tells us what to add and how to long to cook. Within minutes, we have completed our first dish, a great looking bowl of chicken green curry. We all go to the back room (thankfully air-conditioned) and try out our first dish. It's the best green curry I've ever had! I may be biased but, really, it was the best green curry I ever had. And I can say that I cooked it – from scratch!

Koy is demonstrating how to cut various vegetables

Woks in action!

The rest of the day, and indeed, the rest of the week followed the same pattern. We prepared, cut, and mixed all of the ingredients first, then we went to the woks and slowly added everything until another culinary creation was completed. Cooking Thai food was, dare I say, actually pretty easy. Looking over the entire process, the most difficult part is collecting all the not-so-common ingredients from the market (I'm sure this is especially more difficult in the US – you'd probably have to go to a special Asian store for some of the ingredients). Once you have everything, the prep time is fast (cutting, chopping, mixing) and the cooking time is even faster.

Ingredients to make Green Curry Paste

Thai cuisine is famous for being spicy. Most people who like spicy food will come to love Thai food. I was never a fanatic about spicy food, but after tasting the local food I've become a lover of spicy Thai food. The secret is not the type, amount, or strength of chilies, but rather the balance of spiciness with flavor. I had great joy learning about this aspect of Thai food during the course. Before preparing a new dish, Koy would explain the specific flavors we were trying to achieve then tell us about each ingredient and how it contributed to the overall balance. For example, Koy would explain that sweet sticky rice with mangoes should taste sweet and a salty (it's not a Thai style dessert if it's not a little salty). Thus, we add coconut milk, sugar, and salt. What pleased me was that all dishes usually had 2, 3, or 4 simple flavors delicately mixed to create an overall masterpiece. Such is the case with Tom Yum Goong. The end result should taste sweet, sour, spicy and salty. For this combination we add (among other ingredients) appropriate amounts palm sugar (sweet), lemon juice (sour), chilies (spicy), and fish sauce (salty). By the end of the course I had a pretty good idea of what to add to achieve a desired flavor.

We also learned some simple presentation techniques. This included making a rose from the skin of a tomato, learning how to wrap chicken in Pandanus leaves (imagine doing origami with banana leaves), garnishing plates with various flowers, and topping dishes with hand-made sauces.

My lovely rose made from a tomato

I've finished the course and learned how to make 25 Thai dishes. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to cook such wonderfully delicious, yet simple dishes. After successfully cooking several dishes at home after the course, I can confidently say that I cook Thai food! :)

All in a day's work

Even though it may be 100 degrees outside, I can understand why people in Thailand will still eat sweatingly spicy food. Thai food makes you happy. It tastes so good, and it's been shown that the capsaicin in chili peppers causes the release of endorphins – the happy chemical. Despite the problems and poverty in Thailand, the people, for the most part, continue to be happy. I think their food has a lot to do with why Thailand is known as “the land of smiles.”

My Culinary Creations!
(Click to see a slideshow of my dishes)

I survived the H1N1 swine flu

If you don't know anybody that became infected with the H1N1 swine flu you do now. Me. Yes, I managed to contract the virus here in Bangkok, Thailand. I never thought I'd get the swine flu but here I am talking about it.

The H1N1 "swine" Flu virus has been a major story for 2009. The virus rapidly spread itself around the world and quickly developed into a flu pandemic. In Thailand, there were no reported cases at first. However, over time a few confirmed cases popped up from travelers. Then, non-traveling local Thais became infected. Finally, large populations of students in Thai schools became infected. At this point the Thai government stepped in and began their H1N1 initiative. Millions of masks were handed out, schools were closed, public areas were regularly sanitized, and there was more information made available to the public about the flu along with methods of protection and prevention.

Given the worldwide scare and the number of people infected, the H1N1 flu still seemed, to me, like something that "happened to other people" that weren't conscience of good personal hygiene. I like to think that I did a fairly good job being mindful of good hygiene. For example, I always make it a point to never touch my eyes, mouth, or nose when in public places until I've washed/sanitized my hands. This swine flu business is a bit serious but it has also been blown way out of proportion. Plus, I didn't personally know of anybody who had contracted the virus. I thought to myself, "I'll be fine!"

Wrong! I'm not sure how or when I contracted the H1N1 virus, but I did. Here is a recap of the day by day sequence of events.

Wednesday - I felt great. The week before, I had wrapped up my intensive but satisfying 4 week TESOL course. That Monday, I had an interview and received a job offer at a top choice location. With a full week and a half left before the term began, I was excited about the opportunity but looking forward to enjoying some down time. I woke up early so that I could meet up with my fellow classmates, Aey and Kim at the National Thai Museum. We met up, and had a nice English speaking tour of about 15 people on the history of Buddhism in Thailand. Next, we went to a fairly busy market near the river pier and had a long lunch. There weren't that many people in the cafe. Later, we walked around a bit and saw a few sights. Later that night I met up Princeton, his brother, and Princeton's roommate from his mission trip. It had been years since we saw each other. We hung out and ended up watching Harry Potter. As a joke, Princeton wore a face mask because of all the Thai people he saw wearing the masks. We parted ways and I took a taxi back home.

Thursday - I slept in and woke up feeling great. Amber was working and we ended up meeting for lunch. I took the above ground subway (a.k.a. "SkyTrain") and met her at a restaurant in her building. I ordered some chicken curry with a large glass of delicious Thai tea. After the meal, I noticed that my throat was dry and itchy but I didn't think much of it because I rarely drink tea and when I do my throat tends to dry out a bit. I ran some errands and relaxed for the rest of the day, but my throat was still scratchy.

Friday - Again, I woke up feeling great but with some discomfort as my throat was still dry and itchy. That night we met up with lots of friends at Charley Brown's and drank margaritas until the place closed. The alcohol pretty much numbed the feeling in my throat. Maybe it served as a disinfectant too!

Saturday - I woke up groggy. Didn't get enough sleep and my throat was still the same. Met up with most of the friends from the night before at Lumphini Park. It looked like it was going to rain, but it never did. We all had a nice time at the park eating, listening to music, playing cards, badminton, and Frisbee, fortune telling, etc. By the end of the day, I was spent. I came home, showered, and immediately felt really bad - weak, dizzy, and really hot. I assumed that it was exhaustion from being outside all day, plus lack of sleep and water. I had a quick dinner and went to bed early.

Sunday - I woke up feeling like a truck had hit me. My body ached all over. I had a bad headache. My throat felt like crap and I had developed a cough. I felt weak and very tired. My skin was hot to the touch but I felt very cold and wanted to curl up in blankets. I decided that something was wrong and went to see a doctor at the hospital. They took my temperature, I had a high fever of around 101F. They used a long q-tip to swab a sample way down in my throat (not a good feeling, it made me gag, but better than taking blood I suppose) to test for the flu. About 30 minutes later, I was told that I was positive for Influenza type A and I had an upper respiratory infection. The doctor told me I could have the H1N1 virus because it is among the many type A flu strains. For an additional fee, they took another throat sample and sent it to the H1N1 testing center to verify if I indeed had H1N1. The results wouldn't be back for another 3-5 days. The doctor prescribed lots of medicine for me including Tamiflu which is very expensive. About $10 USD per pill!! He gave me 10 pills - 2 per day for 5 days. I came back home and my fever seemed to have broken. I didn't feel hot and cold anymore. I rested for the rest of the day taking many naps.

My Regimen of drugs

Monday - It was a rough night. I woke up every few hours soaked in my own sweat - a pretty nasty feeling. I woke up in the morning feeling awful, weak, and with a constant headache. Unfortunately, we had to go to immigration to renew our visas. I didn't want to go but Amber's company is very finicky about these things and today was the day to go. We spent an hour or so at immigration. I was wearing my mask and trying to minimize my closeness to other people. What would they think if they knew I had the flu? The trip took all the energy out of me. I came home and napped for the rest of the day. My diet consisted of soup, water, Gatorade, and medicine. It was getting very annoying to wake up from sleep or naps in a pool of sweat. I weighed myself and saw that I had already lost (sweated off) 5 pounds.

Tuesday - A slight improvement. The coughing and chest congestion were almost gone - the antibacterial medicine did it's job. A lot of napping during the day. Every time I woke up my body felt like it went through a battle - weary but somehow productive. I felt a tiny bit better after each nap. My body still ached and the headache was still there.

Wednesday - Felt better. I had more energy, less body aches, still had headaches, but the sweating finally stopped. The frequency and length of naps were declining as well.

Thursday - Felt a lot better. I had much more energy and went out for the first time. I walked outside a bit and got some books. It felt good to be outside and walk around. The headache finally went away. I came back and took a nap. I noticed that I lost 10 pounds.

Friday - Felt very good. I had good energy and no more body aches. We decided to celebrate and went out for steak and beer. It felt good to eat such a hearty meal!

Saturday - Felt back to normal. I went to see the doctor for the follow-up visit. He confirmed that I indeed tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu, but that everything was fine now. Good thing, because I started my new job as a teacher in 2 days!

So it took about 10 days from the start of my symptoms to reach full recovery, and I amazingly lost about 12 pounds. Thank you Amber for bravely taking care of me, buying and preparing my food, and making sure I was clean and comfortable. This flu sucked just as bad as any other flu I've had. I have no idea how I got it and I doubt if wearing a mask would have prevented it. I saw so many people wearing protective masks but using them incorrectly! For example, I saw people in the subway holding on to the handrails held by million of other people, then reaching inside their mask to scratch their nose. This is exactly what you're NOT supposed to do people! (on another note, the custom here is to wash your hands BEFORE going to the bathroom, and not after)

I suppose my only "official swine flu survivor" advice is don't be afraid to see a doctor if you don't feel well. I went at the first sign of not feeling well. I'm sure that if I had waited a day or two, the respiratory infection could have gotten real bad, real fast. Lots of people want to tough it out when they don't feel well. Why? Your job or your pride isn't as important as your health. Go see a doctor, get the medication, and rest properly.

The Evolution of Watching Movies

Watching movies seems to be a timeless form of entertainment. While I don’t consider myself a movie buff, critic, or expert, I won’t pass on an opportunity to watch a good move at home or at the theatre. Naturally, my taste in movies has evolved somewhat over the years. As a child, going to the movie theatre was a family treat. It was a great excuse to indulge in popcorn and candy while watching a rated PG comedy or action film. As a pre-teen, going to the movies was a social event that involved hanging out with friends and a place to meet other people. As an adult, the staple dinner-and-a-movie date was a regular activity.

Interestingly, my movie going experience seems to have evolved in parallel to the development of my tastes. Not far into the “adult phase,” I started to dislike going to movie theatres because the overall experience was no longer pleasant. The price of tickets and food was high. The theatre seemed to be filled mostly with obnoxious, loud, and inconsiderate kids. No movie experience was complete without at least 3 cell phones ringing during the movie, one of which would be answered with an annoyingly loud, full-blown conversation (you know, they have to speak up because there is a movie going on in the background - sheesh). The crying baby is another given. I have nothing against babies crying. It is a natural act. But will the parents wanting to see an R-rated movie please drop off the kids to family, a friend, or a babysitter before coming to the theatre?

Thus, for a while I would rarely go out to watch a movie. However, when Amber and I bought our first house, we decided to bring the movie-going experience home. A big screen high definition plasma TV and surround sound system purchase later and it was done. We had our own movie theatre in the comfort of our home. Although we couldn’t watch the movies titles showing at theatres, we would gladly wait the few months and pay for a DVD or watch them on a premium cable channel. The movie going experience had reached an all-time high.

Now that we are living in Thailand, we do not have a home theatre system. Our cable package, or lack thereof, does not show any movies. As far as DVDs go, there are a million stands littered along the streets with the latest films. But quality DVD’s are hard to come by because they are mostly bootleg copies where someone films inside a movie theatre. Going to a movie theatre wasn’t appealing either because only the biggest, most popular movies from the US even make it to the big screen in Bangkok. Thus, we resigned ourselves to occasionally buy and watch DVD’s at home.

Then, a magical thing happened. We decided to go watch a movie at the Siam Paragon Cineplex. This Cineplex has about 16 screens including an IMAX screen. As soon as I walked into the lobby of the Cineplex, I was completely blown away. First of all, the lobby was huge! It was at least 4 times larger than the largest lobby I’ve seen in the US. The other thing that struck me was how modern and stylish it was. There were several lounge areas scattered about all of which were equipped with hip, plush furniture. There was nice lounge music playing overhead and off to the side was a full scale Starbucks.

The box office

When purchasing tickets at the box office, they show you a video diagram of the theatre and allow you to choose your seats. The ticket price was 140 baht, which is about $4 USD – not bad at all! The concession stand had a wide array of snacks, popcorn, and drinks – including beer for only 60 baht (about $2)! Typical popcorn flavors include regular salted, sweet caramel, and seaweed varieties. At the time, the concession stand was also offering special pink colored strawberry flavored popcorn. I know it sounds kinda gross. But I got a bucket of half strawberry and half regular and it was actually very good! The theatre itself was very similar to any other theatre I’ve been to. The previews and commercials lasted almost 30 minutes. Oh, and just before the movie starts, there was a video tribute to the King of Thailand that we all had to stand for…sort of like standing for the US national anthem. Overall, the experience wasn’t bad at all. One that I’d be willing to repeat should the right movie be offered.

Not too long ago, we decided to watch another film on the big screen. We showed up at the theatre and told them we wanted to see the next showing. The next show was in 30 minutes, but was located in the premium theatre named The Nokia Ultra Screen Cineplex. Sure, we’d try it out. As we were selecting our seats, we noticed there were only about 30 seats in the entire theatre. To our surprise, the cost was 600 baht per person, or about $17 USD. Hmmm…what did we get ourselves into? The answer: complete luxury.

The Ultra Screen Cineplex is a set of 4 premium theatres in their own private wing within the entire complex. It has its own chic bathrooms and a lounge, or galleria as it’s called, for patrons to hang out and wait until the movie starts. The galleria has a full bar with waitresses where ticket holders get complimentary soft drinks, tea, coffee, cookies, and cakes. For ridiculously decent prices, you elect for a beer or cocktail. Among the lounge seating and private tables are massage chairs (full body or leg and foot) to relax you before the movie.

The Galleria Bar

The Galleria main seating area

More seating in the Galleria

Enjoying pre-movie snacks and a drink

After filling up on the yummy cookies and banana muffins, we made our way down the private hallway into our designated theatre.

Look at the theatre seating!

There was an usher there to show us to our seats. The theatre comprised of what I would call Pods. Each pod contained 2 seats, and there were 4 pods per row (4-5 rows altogether). The thing is these weren’t ordinary seats within a pod; they were very akin to first class airline seats. The huge supple leather seats reclined completely horizontal, complete with retractable leg rest at a push of a button. A pillow and blanket was provided, and each pod had ample space for food and drinks as well as its own small coffee table. The usher also doubled as a waitress and took our order of popcorn and beer (Singha for Amber and a Corona for me). The movie screen was a wide-screen with great picture and excellent sound quality (the movies are in English with Thai subtitles). The pods were spaced out so that movie watchers couldn’t bother one another. We could have a conversation with each other knowing we wouldn’t be disturbing other people. The pods on the back row even had private curtains for ultimate exclusivity.

This was easily the most luxurious and comfortable movie experience I’ve ever witnessed. The cost of $17 USD seemed excessive at first, but considering the free food and drinks (and massage chairs) at the lounge, the private and extremely comfortable seating (lying with pillow and blanket is more accurate), the convenient ordering of food and drinks at your seat, the quality of the picture and sound, and the lack of excess people and disturbances, I think it was well worth the price. We look forward to watching all the summer blockbusters in style.

Oh yeah…in addition to these Ultra Screen Theatres, the Siam Paragon Cinema Complex also offers an even more luxurious theatre dubbed the Enigma theatre. According to a review online, instead of seats you get a bed for 2, with plenty of pillows and blankets. Also included are 1 free drink (whiskey, beer included, wine not included), 1 free appetizer, a more private lounge, and far fewer people in the theatre.