How I Know I'm Really Sick

I know I'm really sick because my sweet friend brought me a cup of Swensen's chewy chocolate ice-cream, and after one small bite, I put the rest in the freezer.

Those who know me will realize how shocking this is.

Food Poisoning Update

I'm over my food poisoning, for the most part.

Did I mention how nice the hospitals here are? I always dread doctors visits, mainly because of the long waits involved between filling out paperwork, the quick physical by a nurse, seeing the doctor, waiting for a prescription, and filling the prescription. But it took about 5 minutes on Friday for me to get through the preliminaries and speak to the doctor. Then after a chat and a bit of poking and prodding, I got a cute little shopping bag full of drugs and was sent on my way

I took my last pill Monday morning, but I still don't feel quite like my old self. But I don't feel bad enough to go back to the hospital just yet, so I'm going to wait and see how I feel in a few days.

I still have no appetite, so haven't eaten much in nearly 2 weeks now (except rice and soup), and I'm starting to look a bit thin. This is the only positive aspect of food poisoning!

Don't Eat Anything in Cambodia!

I have food poisoning!

Despite the exclamation mark, I'm not really excited about this. I assume it happened in Cambodia, since I started feeling sick on Sunday on the flight back. My stomach hurts, I have no appetite, and when I do eat, my stomach hurts more.

So yesterday I finally caved in and went to the hospital. I'm on a 3-day antibiotic course now, and will have to go back to the hospital on Monday for something stronger if I still feel ill.

It's very sad to be in a place like Bangkok and not want to/be able to eat much of anything. I'm hoping for a quick cure so I can return to the adventures of Thai cuisine.

Cambodia, The Breeze, Patpong

(Monday-Wednesday, June 11-13)

June 11: At work today, I discovered that our IP partner is going to Cambodia for a film project and wants an intern to accompany him! As the other interns already have plans for the weekend, and I’ve been trying to decide whether I wanted to go to Cambodia or Laos this weekend, I quickly jumped at the opportunity, and asked if I could go. And he said yes!!! So I’m going to Cambodia this weekend!!! To celebrate, I went to see “Oceans 13” after work. It started a bit slowly, then got exciting. George Clooney still has it!

June 12: Very tired after work, so stayed home after work today.

June 13: I went to the US embassy this morning to get extra pages put in my passport (I don’t quite need them yet, but I will soon). Instead of putting the pages at the end, they stuck them in the very center, so one set of stamps for Israel is at the beginning of my passport, and the other is at the end. Oh well, so much for chronological order.

After work, our IP partner took us out for a fancy dinner at “The Breeze,” a restaurant on top of a hotel down by the river. The restaurant was beautiful, the view was beautiful, there were fireworks over the river, the food was tasty, and the wine flowed freely. We all told our life stories, so I feel I know the other interns a little better now. After dessert, we grabbed a couple taxis and went to the famous Patpong red-light district. First stop: the market. Nothing special here, I didn’t buy anything. Second stop: my first strip club! Hard to know where to look in a place like this, especially since we were seated about 3 feet from the pole-dancers... A little known fact about this club: all or nearly all of the dancers were once men. Hmm, it’s amazing what surgery can do these days.

Third and final stop: the bar our IP partner owns shares in. No pole-dancing here, just a TV, booze, and chatting. As we were all falling over by this point, we abandoned the nightlife scene early (it was about 1 am) and took taxis home for the evening.

Doi Suthep and Shopping

(Written Sunday, June 10)

I woke up around 5 this morning in an attempt to get to Doi Suthep Temple (in the hills above Chiang Mai) by 6, when the monks gather with their alm bowls to collect offerings. Unfortunately, I hadn’t realized a side effect of traveling during the low season is that there are very few other tourists to travel with. This makes transportation much more expensive. I waited for almost an hour at the truck taxi for at least one other person to join us before I gave up, and paid an exorbitant price to travel up to the temple by myself. While I was waiting at the taxi, I did see some monks with their alms bowls. But by the time I reached the temple, they had already gone. Oh well.

Doi Suthep is very grand. There are 300+ steps leading up to it that I was determined to climb, although there is a kind of lift that people can take if they can’t stomach the ascent. Two curvy green dragon-snake creatures line the top of the staircase, and there were girls dressed in traditional village garb sitting on the stairs looking mournful in the hopes of receiving some handouts.

I made it to the top, then explored the temple. Very pretty, but my favorite part was seeing Chiang Mai from above. It was just a little foggy, but I could still see the city, and the view was beautiful. After admiring the view and temple, I headed back down the stairs, had some pad thai for an early lunch, then got a ride back home (it’s always cheaper to go downhill!).

I briefly went to my hotel, then headed out to visit more temples. A tuk-tuk driver suggested that I let him drive me around to a few temples, then take me to a few good souvenir stores he knew. I would have refused this offer since it sounded sketchy, but I had run into two of the other interns last night who had paid for this exact trip, and said it was well worth it, so I agreed. After the temples, my driver first took me to a silk store. I got to see the silk being turned into thread and cloth in the back (very cool) before being led to the store. Beautiful, but expensive! Next up was a lacquerware store. It was interesting to see the lacquerware being painted, but I don’t find lacquerware particularly attractive, so I didn’t buy anything. Lastly was a jewelry store specializing in jade. The store itself was more impressive than the jewelry—there were fish tanks through the main room filled with sharks! Very swanky.

The last thing on my list for the day was to take a look at the Sunday market, which I found a little more interesting than the night market, especially in terms of the foods offered. I ate coconut rice with mango (YUM) and a chicken kabob, and admired the tiny soup-filling leaf boats and other delicious delicacies. I didn’t buy any souvenirs there, but did find a few gifts in antique shops nearby.

This weekend was fun, but I’m ready to do some relaxing back at work now!

Haagen-Dazs...

Look what's down the street from me. I'm in trouble!

Thailand Elephants and Fishing

(Written Friday, June 1)

I slept pretty well in our room last night except for one thing: a mosquito got in (not surprising since the door is warped and doesn’t quite shut at the top and we have no mosquito netting) and bit me all up and down my right arm about 9 or 10 times. So I have big red itchy welts all the way from my wrist to my shoulder—ouch. I thought of posting a photo, but decided against inflicting such trauma on you. To stop itching, I’m pretending that I have some kind of cool tropical disease instead of plain mosquito bites. It doesn’t really help.

After discovering the state of my arm, I covered myself with bug spray before going out for breakfast (which is included in the price of our room). Breakfast here is buffet-style with both American breakfast foods (eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes) and Thai breakfast foods (rice, meat, vegetables, soup). I tried a tiny bit of everything Thai—pretty tasty.

Following breakfast, the five of us went our separate ways. One other intern and I decided to go for an elephant ride! We booked the ride, and a person came and picked us up and drove us to the elephant camp. There were a total of 5 or 6 elephants standing around under little wooden roofs. The elephants looked healthy and were enjoying their breakfast, but I felt a little sad that they couldn’t be running around free in the jungle, even if they are well taken care of here.

To get onto the elephant, we had to climb a staircase to a one-story high platform, then slide onto a 2-person seat on the elephant’s back. A Thai boy was sitting on the elephant’s neck in front of us, and directed her by pushing on the back of her ears, sort of like pulling on a horse’s reins. I found the motion of the elephant a little bit like that of the camel I rode in Israel—a circular rocking motion, that is a little hypnotic. I felt quite relaxed, especially when I took my sandals off and rested my bare feet on the elephant’s leathery, slightly bristly back. However, toward the end of the trip, I realized I had been unconsciously tensing my shoulders and back in an attempt to stay straight upright instead of swaying with the elephant, so I may be a bit sore tomorrow.

Our ride lasted one hour, and took us through the jungle, into a small lake where the elephant could get a drink, then through a pomelo orchard. In the orchard, another Thai man, who accompanied us on foot, used a machete to peel a pomelo and passed it up to us. Very yummy. On the road back, the man picked some small red fruits, made a bowl out of a large leaf, and passed them up to the boy on the elephant’s neck to feed to the elephant. I loved watching the nimble trunk snake back over the elephant’s head in search of more fruit!

Back at the camp, we stuck around for a while so I could say hi to the second elephant there (the others must have gone out on rides since we left). He was huge—much bigger than the lady elephant who gave us a ride. I patted his trunk, fed him some palm fronds, and rubbed his tusks, which were huge and smooth as marble. I’m not sure if elephants are at all temperamental, so I didn’t get too close or bother him for too long in case he got fed up, and whacked me with his trunk or stepped on me (two actions that would probably have set me soaring through the air or shoved me two feet into the ground, respectively).

When we got back to our resort, the day was still young, so we decided to set back out for more adventures. We grabbed a third intern, and flagged down a truck taxi to take us to the fishing village on the southern-most point of the island. The ride was similar to the one we experienced on our way here, only a little more curvy, with even more switchbacks. We were the only three people aboard this time, so we felt free to shriek on the really scary parts of the road.

The fishing village consists of shops, restaurants, and a few houses and hotels, all built on stilts over the water. Most of the restaurants have big tanks and barrels full of seawater containing all kinds of live fish that are chosen and cooked on the spot. We weren’t hungry, but we had fun browsing in the shops down the main path. At the end of the “village,” there are boats on either side of a long pier offering scuba and snorkeling excursions. I considered signing up for snorkeling tomorrow, but the only trip offered was an all-day event from 8 to 5, and this sounded too busy and involved for the kind of relaxed paddling about I was looking for.

At the end of the pier past the shops and boats is a small picturesque lighthouse. The lighthouse doesn’t appear to be in use and was open to visitors, so we climbed up and admired the view of the coast. We then walked back through the village, buying a few souvenirs along the way, and hailed another taxi back to our place, where we went swimming again in the ocean.

MBK Mall

(Written Wednesday, May 30)

I went to the famous MBK mall after work today for the first time. There is a pedestrian overpass connecting the second floor of the mall directly to the BTS station, so it’s an easy place to get to. Unlike the other two malls I’ve been to in Bangkok, MBK has a mix of set prices and bargaining opportunities. The big department store there is just like a department store in the US (including the high prices). Then there are about 6 floors of everything under the sun: jewelry, shoes, hats, purses, electronics, food, clothing, souvenirs, etc. The third floor seems like the best place for cheap bargains. The entire back section of the floor contains booths, much like the stalls seen on the street, selling souvenirs, fake brand name clothing, and novelty t-shirts, most with offensive parodies of famous slogans, brands, or symbols. Not surprisingly, I bought nothing, but I had fun looking.

After wandering around the mall for a bit longer window-shopping and killing time, I met some of the other interns at their apartment. From their place, we walked to a restaurant nearby that offered a “Ladies’ Night” with alleged free margaritas. Sadly, it turned out the offer was only for 6-8 pm, and we arrived around 8:30 or 9. We stuck around for a pitcher anyway, and tried some kind of berry margarita. It was delicious—more like a smoothie than a margarita, but with a little kick. We plan to go back next Wednesday!

Embassies and Coconuts

(Written Tuesday, May 29)

After a morning at work, I went for a visit to the Australian Embassy in the afternoon with our IP partner. Security at the Embassy is tight—bag check, metal detectors (both doorways and wands), no cell phones, and an exchange of IDs for passcards. The building obviously dates from the 70s: the architecture is efficient, bulky, and composed of different shades of tan and brown concrete. There is also a moat surrounding the building, which seems very out of place, but supposedly acts to cool down the building. I suspect that this moat is really a cover for some kind of crazy underwater high tech weapons system, but I decided not to ask about this. You know those Australians.

Anyway, the meeting was interesting. I learned a bit about the healthcare situation in Thailand as a side problem to the big IP issue of protection for pharmaceutical patents in this country. The healthcare problem: healthcare is very cheap for individuals in Thailand, but the hospitals receive little money from the government, so hospitals can’t afford to treat patients. The IP problem: Thailand says its people are too poor to afford brand-name pharmaceuticals, so Thailand should be allowed to break patents and make their own generic versions of drugs. Both are interesting conundrums.

The meeting lasted a few hours, so work had already ended when we left the Embassy. Back at home, I explored a few streets I hadn’t seen before. Hot and sweaty, I bought my first coconut drink. First, the guy takes a whole coconut from its bed of shaved ice, then he uses a machete to chop off the top, and finally he sticks a straw in. I thought that that much pure coconut milk might be too thick and sweet to drink by itself, but it was perfect for the weather and my state of exhaustion. Unfortunately, these coconuts seem to be bred just for their milk—I tried the coconut itself and it was tasteless and soggy. The coconut only cost me 15 or 20 Baht, or around 50 cents. I’ll take this over a soda any day in Bangkok!

IP Conference

(Written Monday May 28)

No work for me today—at least no work at the office. Instead, our partner sent me to a conference at a nearby university on how bettering IP education in developing countries like Thailand can result in improved IP protection and enforcement. It was quite interesting to hear about improving IP by acting proactively, instead of reacting after violations, which is frequently the point when an IP lawyer will step in.

There were people at the conference from all over the world. I met two professors from Australia, a girl from Germany, a few people from France, and several lawyers from Indonesia, as well as quite a few Thais. I was the only participant from the US, so everyone was very interested in chatting with me during our coffee breaks about the US, California, law school, my internship, IP, and why I decided to come to Bangkok.

After the conference ended for the day, there was a welcoming dinner a short walk from the campus at the faculty center, which is a pretty, traditional wood building. Unfortunately, the building is also open to the elements, which meant it was hot and sticky, despite the 5 or 6 fans going full speed. Our timing was perfect: as soon as we were safely under the roof, it began to pour! Luckily, there was no wind, so the rain stayed outside, except for a small leak in the ceiling that resulted in many wet socks (we all left our shoes outside). Dinner was a tasty assortment of finger foods, including tiny hamburgers, which were adorable and delicious. After eating and listening to a group play some traditional Thai music, I braved the last of the rain and headed back to my apartment.

Back at home, I found that my receptionist Poi actually bought clothes hangers for me because she knew I needed them! She is very sweet.

Lumpini Park and More Fruit

(Written Friday, May 25)

Oooh, I love Lumpini Park! It’s my new favorite place in Bangkok. I woke up at 6 am this morning (I’m so brave), put on my stretchy pants, hooked up my iPod, and went briskly striding off to exercise. The park is surrounded by a tall fence, but there are little gates set here and there, and one of them is just around the corner from my apartment. On the street outside, vendors were already beginning to sell breakfast (which is the same food sold for lunch and dinner… no cereal or toast in Thailand).

The park has a couple of lakes and ponds, some sculptures, a few shrines, and lots of paths and grassy areas. There were hundreds of people in the park, the majority of them exercising. The paths were covered with joggers and walkers, all heading in the same direction. Under a large gazebo-like structure, an old crackly radio was playing and several couples were waltzing. On the edge of the water, small groups of older Thais were practicing Tai Chi (or Tai Kik, as it seems to be called here). Several small exercise classes were going on here and there, with 10-30 students each, performing various stretches and calisthenics. Tucked away in a corner, there is also a small weight-lifting area, where the machines are painted grass-green and blend in perfectly with the park surroundings. I didn’t notice the camouflaged machines until I saw a woman who looked like she was floating in mid-air (she was on some kind of stationary skiing contraption). In all, there were just a few weight machines, a couple stationary bikes, and one or two other aerobic machines. There was a sleepy looking kid sitting at a booth nearby who looked like he might charge someone to use the equipment, so I decided to stick to the free activity of walking and people-watching.

By far the most fun looking activity to me in the park was an enormous aerobics class, with people lined up on the grass and paths following the lead of the instructor, who was doing some sort of kick-boxing on top of a huge wall so the crowds could all see him. The music was hip-hop with a crazy amount of bass (BOOMthudBOOMthudBOOMthud), which drowned out the mellow CD of Chinese music playing nearby as the group practiced a fan dance (complete with snapping wrist gestures with big red fans). If this group is here Monday, I may join in. I’ll also be sure to bring my camera along with me one of these mornings.

After the park and a shower, I went out early to grab breakfast. I usually eat something small in my room (yogurt, fruit, etc.), but wanted a Thai breakfast this morning. So I had rice with a fried egg and some cabbage and tofu vegetable mix. Yummy. I also picked up one of those unknown fruits I’ve been wanting to try. This one was purple and spiky. It will be my mid-morning snack—I’m very excited.

(Later)

So after a morning of paperwork, I had my mystery fruit. It is SO beautiful and purple inside! One of the Thai employees said its name in Thai translates to dragon fruit, but I’m not sure if this is the same as dragon fruit in the US. If it is US dragon fruit, I will definitely be buying it back home because it’s purple and delicious! The only downside—my fingers are stained bright purple. Good thing it’s my favorite color.

Baiyoke Tower and Fruit Musings

(Written Wednesday, May 23)

This evening after work, I went to Baiyoke Tower, the tallest building in Bangkok, to admire the city from above. Instead of riding the Skytrain, I decided to get some exercise and check out the street markets by walking. In some ways this was a good idea: I got some good photos and saw some interesting things for sale. But by the time I got to the Tower, I was incredibly hot, and felt a bit faint from the heat radiating around my body. Since I still have blisters, I wore sandals instead of tennis shoes, but even my feet felt like they were burning. My hair was spiky from the damp heat, and little points of hair kept poking the back of my neck as if someone behind me was trying to get my attention. The people behind me must have wondered why I kept whirling around with an annoyed look on my face.

It costs 200 Baht to ride a small glass elevator up to the 77^th floor of the Tower. On this floor, there is a view of the city through a wall of windows, a restaurant, and a few souvenirs for sale. But I was determined to make it to the very top, so got on a second small elevator that took an alarmingly long time to climb just a few floors. During that time, I contemplated what it would be like to be stuck in an elevator that high up. I also contemplated what it would be like to plummet that far down. This helped pass the time until the elevator decided to let me go and opened its doors at the 83^rd floor—the last floor before the outside deck above.

The 200 Baht entry fee includes a free drink at the top floor, so I ordered something called a “Rooftop Cocktail.” The drink was neon green, a tad sour, and way too sweet. I gulped some in hopes of cooling off a bit, then walked up the final set of stairs to the rotating observation deck. Here, only a metal grate separates observers from Bangkok below. I stuck my camera through the squares of the fence and took a bunch of pictures. It would have been very cool to get a 360-degree panorama photograph, but I didn’t have the patience to take pictures at regular intervals for the entire time it takes the slow-moving deck to make a full rotation.

As I arrived at the top, the sun was just beginning to set, so I took a few shots of the sunset, then decided to wait and take a few pictures of the view at nighttime as well. So I leaned against the grate and watched the city circle by a couple of times as I enjoyed the cool breeze. Although my sunset photos turned out well, after it was officially dark, camera couldn’t quite capture the city lights. I’ll have to return someday with a fancier camera.

Despite the late hour and the unfamiliar part of town, I was able to retrace my steps and arrive back home safely. On the way, I bought meat-on-a-stick—probably the most common street food sold in Bangkok. It (whatever it was) was tasty, although a bit greasy.

After meat-on-a-stick, the second most common street food is probably fruit. Carts with sliced watermelon, mango, apple, and other fruits displayed on beds of crushed ice are everywhere at all hours of the day. And piles of whole fruits are being sold on nearly every block and in every store. My goal is to try at least one of every fruit I can’t recognize. So far I have had two unknown fruits that were both very tasty. The first was a little larger than an apple, with a consistency kind of like an unripe pear, and a flavor like a mix of pear and apple. It came pre-peeled (so I’m not sure what the skin or rind looks like) with notches in the top, so pieces could be broken off, and sprinkled with sugar and hot red pepper. Yummy. The second fruit is difficult to describe. It’s a smaller fruit than the first, around the size of a plum, but oblong. Each piece of fruit is made up of three flat pieces that grow together, but are easy to pull apart to eat separately. Each of the smaller pieces has a pit in the center. The fruit is incredibly sweet and delicious—my favorite edible discovery in Thailand so far.

Thai Cuisine

Although the morning was a bit slow at work today, the afternoon brought a big assignment for all three of us, so the day sped by.

The most interesting part of my day was lunchtime. We met the fifth intern for the first time (she’s nice!), and went together to a place nearby that serves rice with different toppings. I chose two that looked interesting without having any idea what they were. When the woman gave me my plate, she pointed to her nose and said “Spicy!” I laughed, thinking she was exaggerating since Thai people typically think non-Thais can’t handle spicy foods. My first bites were quite tasty. One dish was fish in a coconut curry sauce and the other was roughly ground pork or beef. However, in a minute or two I realized the woman hadn’t been kidding about the spice—I don’t think I’ve ever had food that was spicier! My face turned red, I cried, I drank all the water in sight, and my tongue still burned. Even though I hadn’t had much breakfast and was hungry, I couldn’t finish my food. Instead, I got a scoop of mango sorbet next door to cool off my poor tongue.

After work, the other interns showed me the second firm building up the street, where the other two interns who aren’t in the IP department work. Then we parted ways for the evening. Hungry after my lack of lunch, I found dinner just a block away from my apartment. Although I had thought I was eating at a food stall, I was taken to a table behind the cooking area and given an extensive menu. I decided to go with the flow, even though sit-down restaurants are typically several times more expensive than food stalls. However, the menu was quite reasonable, with many items priced at only 30-50 Baht, about the same cost as a meal from a food stand. “Fancier” items did cost up to several hundred Baht, but I decided to stick with the dishes around 100 Baht or less. I ended up ordering a traditional favorite—tom yum soup. I was served a huge bowl of soup with a small bowl of steamed rice and a bottle of water. A guy there had another of those great Thai jobs: pouring water from my water bottle into my glass. If Thailand was a tipping country, I would have been tempted to give him a huge tip, just to see his reaction.

Dinner was 98 Baht, or around 2 or 3 dollars. My pocketbook loves Thailand!