Today is December 29, 2011. Yesterday was my birthday. Tomorrow me and Sarah will be hopping on an overnight train to Bangkok to be there for the huge New Year's festivities and to enjoy our 4-day weekend. Which reminds me...I have to pack my bathing suit.
Yesterday was a fairly normal day at the office, though me and Sarah were trying to make reservations for the train and the hotel room in Bangkok for two nights. We decided that we have enough extra money to splerg on a $30/night hotel room, and we happened to find a really good one. It is normally $60/night, air conditioning, a rooftop tanning area, and an outdoor Jacuzzi. The train will include beds with a nice curtain to make it private. Sleeping on a train with those fold out beds is one of my favorite things to do in Thailand, and it only costs around $20 each way for an 11 hour journey. We will probably be livin' it up more or less in Bangkok, though our hotel isn't really near anything special (except Khao San Rd.). It's Diamond Hotel for anyone nosy enough to look it up (I'm looking at you Dad). Yesterday was wrapped up with a lot of frustrations because making reservations for anything on the internet for Thai services can be a real hassle, but everything is fine now.
After work we went to celebrate my birthday by going across the river to the so-called best of the "floating restaurants"--restaurants that float on the river, just like they sound like. It was very good. The curry made with coconut milk was very good and sweet while the cashew chicken is probably unbeatable for my experience. It was nice to just look out on the water through the night...
Today we looked at a house for rent. $130/month. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, pretty standard, though the price seems to be a little low. We had looked at a old-Thai-style wooden house near our school, but this one is cement so it deals with weather variations much better. When we were touring it I was kind of intimidated by the size and grandiosity of it. For a Westerner it isn't much to look at, a little dirty and a little messy, but for me it is a dream come true. No installed air conditioning yet, but the rest of the house is basically furnished. If I understand the Thai correctly, it comes with a Queen-size mattress, a twin size bed, several wardrobes, a full refrigerator, a butane stove, and a hot-water heater. The kitchen is separated from the rest of the house (as is customary Thai style) but it is fully enclosed, so we don't have to worry about the bugs (in theory) inside or outside the house. It is a duplex, but it is fenced all around (including barbed wire!) with enough placed to put locks to make me happy. It has a drivewayish thing, a full beautiful front porch area, a beautiful large living room (where the original air conditioner used to be), and a back room for storage. We could conceivably have a living room, two full bathrooms, a classroom for private teaching (if we so chose), a master bedroom, and a guestroom! The living room is certainly big enough to put in a table and chairs to have meals on. It's not too far from the school, and so unless I'm missing something, this is a damn good situation! Too bad we are leaving tomorrow or else we could probably put down the deposit and start buying things and start making plans and packing up to move in.
So, good day.
Sorry no second round of pictures, I'll put some in soon!
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