Switched blogs!

I switched over to my Wordpress blog! It's a lot cleaner and much easier to read. The link is:

Alexarome.wordpress.com

Hope you're enjoying my travels through Thailand!

xx, aj

Day 1: Exploring Bangkok

Dry glass noodles with beef

We arrived at our hostel, Lub d Siam Square, late on May 15. It's located in the heart of the Siam district, or the entertainment and shopping area. We checked into the hostel around 1am and stayed up until 3am planning our day.

We woke up Thursday ready to explore Bangkok. We hadn't eaten a full meal since we left LAX the day before, so the first thing we set out to do was to get food. This turned out to be a little more difficult than we expected. It took us a little bit, but we finally learned how to navigate the BTS SKYTRAIN, which the entrance is conveniently right next to our hostel. We had researched the night before and had an idea of the area of where we wanted to grab lunch. After wandering around for about 30 minutes, Bridget and I were absolutely starving so we bought some fruit from a fruit stand to help sustain us. We continued to wander for another 10 minutes and I had just about given up. Luckily Bridget is a lot more optimistic and much better at directions than me, because sure enough we managed to find BOAT NOODLE ALLEY. Lining the banks of a small canal, was a cluster of noodle shops. At the time Bridget and I weren't even sure if this was the place we were looking for, but it didn't really matter. As we approached the noodle shop the waiter shuffled us in to sit down and eat. Overwhelmed and extremely hot (quite the understatement) we went for it. We looked at the all Thai menu and tried to guess what we would want to eat. As we waited for out food we began to look around and realized we were the only two non-asians in the restaurant. We figured this was better than eating in a restaurant full of Americans. All in all, lunch was a success. Together we each had two noodle bowls, two beef ball skewers, and Thai coconut pudding costing us a total of 90 baht ($3.00). We left extremely satisfied. After we left, we walked up the banks of the canal and realized the rest of the noodle shops all served the same thing, the only difference is the place we ate had air conditioning (a must in this heat!).

Erawan Shrine - Brahma is in the middle

We left that area and headed to the ERAWAN SHRINE, a popular pilgrimage destination since 1956.  This temple, important to foreigners and Thais alike, is considered to be one of the most sacred places in Bangkok. Some people believe that it gives them inner strength to overcome problems in their lives, others believe that the four faced Hindu god, BRAHMA, wards off evil spirits. Bridget and I payed our respects to the temple by lighting candles and placing flowers in the shrine as offerings. Again, we were the only non-Asians present, but this didn't deter us away from the experience.

After the shrine we were extremely hot and thirsty. We decided to wander into the SIAM PARAGON (imagine South Coast plaza...but bigger!) to cool down in the air conditioning. We regrouped at a coffee bean for about 30 minutes and then "mall-hopped" for the next hour. The siam area that our hostel is in is surrounded by major shopping malls. So instead of walking outside in the scorching heat back to our hostel, we walked through the Siam Paragon, then the Siam Center, then the Siam Discovery (all of which are air conditioned) and then eventually made our way back to our hostel to rest for an hour.


We headed back out around 5:30 for dinner, but before dinner we had one more shrine left to visit. The shrine we were planning to visit, the CHAO MAE TUPTIM SHRINE, is a little unconventional than most. We had both read a list of 10 out-of-the-ordinary things to see while in Bangkok and this had struck us both. This shrine, also known as a PENIS SHRINE, is dedicated to Chao Mae Tuptim, a female spirit who locals believe has been residing in the trees next to the shrine asking for help from Chao Mae Tuptim because she couldn't get pregnant. Nine months after visiting the temple, she gave birth to a healthy child. She was so grateful that she came back and left a giant wooden carving of a penis as a way to thank the universe. Over the years, others have followed in her footsteps. Today there are hundreds of phallus-shaped objects, made mostly from wood and stone. It was hilarious, but also made me extremely uncomfortable. It was a funny experience though and I'm glad Bridget and I can saw we at least say we saw this while we were in Bangkok.


** Side note: To clarify, Bridget and I did NOT go here asking for any fertility help! We simple wanted to see the statues of the 10 foot penises because we thought it would be funny.**


After this strange experience. we headed to dinner down the road at a restaurant we found called TUMMY YUMMY. We ordered a mixed vegetable appetizer (which came at the end of dinner) and then split the sweet and sour chicken stir fry and a non-coconut curry with chicken for dinner. It was all so good and we left happy and full. siWe made it back to the hostel with plans to plan out our day tomorrow, but instead we both showered and passed out. The jet lag mixed with the extreme heat definitely did us in, but we're both ready for another day. Tomorrow is going to be a big day for us. We're planning to visit a few temples today. 

xx, aj

Rome-ing Around the World...Again!

After a year of being back from my semester abroad, I'm headed out of the country again! But this time I'm headed to a different part of the world...Thailand to be exact. My best friend, Bridget, and I traveled to Thailand the summer before our senior year in high school and we both fell in love with the country. We promised each other that after we graduated from college we would eventually make our way back to the Land of Smiles.

Bridget and I at LAX 

Fast forward four years and here we are...both graduated from college and  currently waiting to board our connecting flight to Bangkok. I can't believe we're actually headed back to Thailand! We've talked about this trip for the past few years, but I don't think anyone thought we were serious about making our way back here. We will be in Thailand for two weeks. We're flying into BANGKOK and spending four days here. Then making our way up north to live in a tree house in CHIANG MAI for four days. For our last leg of the trip we're making our way to the island of KOH PHANGAN to attend the the infamous FULL MOON PARTY.

I'll do my best to blog and keep friends and family posted on Bridget's and my adventures through Thailand!

sawatdeeka (it means hello & goodbye in thai)

AJ