Off to the unknown, one more time.

And here we go again. 

March came around and I am off to some new country again. This time I'm going to Thailand, to visit a good friend. As exciting as it sounds, I felt the too-familiar pang of anxiety at the bottom of my stomach before I left. 

Thailand is the promiseland for backpackers and world-the-round travelers. I have been promised cheap cheap meal, and fun fun activities. 

The flight was just a shy of 21 hours, but I flew my favorite airline: United Airlines! Their flight attendants are always willing to help, and the ground staff has always gone beyond the minimal to make sure my trip goes well. 

Not only that, but they have the most important amenity for a long flight. Plugs in their plane! 

Yes, yes, I am charging my Ipad as I am typing this at above 32000ft in the air. Technology nowadays is impressive, and making my travels so much more exciting. I have not had the chance of having a long flight with free Wifi yet, but I am sure I will get to experience it in my lifetime, and then I will be able to post blogs from the sky. 

After four movies watched, and some solitaire played I finally landed in Japan. I had a bit of a layover, which consisted of a sushi-only menu. The airport in Japan is absolutely my favorite. It is heaven for everyone. They accept american dollars without prejudice, continue to speak to you in Japanese (or my rusty version of chinese) and the bathroom are spacious enough for carryons.

There is ALWAYS a staff at EVERY counter, who can help you with anything (including purchasing triple A batteries because this traveler was too stubborn to pack some) and finally they have the best people watching. 

I enjoyed a beer (sapporo, nothing fancy) in the company of a navy man who had just been to Korea on reserve for 18 days. He was heading home now to colorado, and was ready to eat some well made burgers with his family. While I was about to embark in a journey sans burger.

But the best part of this whole airport is the free uninterrupted wifi, which permitted me to contact my mother at 2am to reassure her that I had landed, gotten out of the plane and was sipping on a beer, while she was trying to anxiously go to bed. 

I had to do one thing this time that I had revisited the Japanese airport. Now that I was 23 years old, there was no shame in trying to use those technologically advanced toilets. And so I did. As someone who had spent the last 18 hours crammed in a chair in cotton panties, let me tell you, I feel refresh and ready for another 7 hours on a plane. 

There is something about airplanes that puts me to sleep. I am not sure it is the vibration or the pressure, but as soon as the plane takes off, I pass out. While the babies around me howl, my brain decides to take a nap. Thirty minutes later, I am up and confused as how I got here and why does everyone have a cup of water exepct for me. Yep, it is now my gift to bear along with my curse. 

Well, I arrived in Bangkok at 10:40pm on friday night. After losing a whole day to travel, and having an interesting and confusing sleep schedule, I wasn't sure if I was ready to sleep or energized enough to walk around. I found my bag, found a taxi and headed to my hostel. I have taken taxis before, and I have had drivers who didn't speak english before. This experience was on a whole new level. As nice as my taxi driver was, I think it is time that I learn a bit more thai before I venture into a private car with a stranger. 

As I arrived at my hostel, I met up with Anne-Marie who was waiting for me. After a month apart, we both had so many stories we kept cutting each other off, and before we knew it it was 2am. Yet, driven by the desire to have solid food and our never ending appetite, we left into the empty streets of Silom district of Bangkok. Right around the corner there was a cafe open. Again, the language barrier was a minor obstacle, but the international symbol for hunger (a rub of the tummy with big eyes) got the message across. We sat down and within minutes ordered some food (Pad thai and cashew grilled chicken). Within minutes, I found a stray cat to examine as well. And within minutes of finishing my dish, the little stray cat (named dirty kitten) was given the remaining prawn meat. 

After this well-deserved meal (I had been eating airplane mush for the last 48 hours), we headed to bed, but not without chatting from our bunk bed for another bit.