Ice Monster and Mister Donut

Well, I have officially been to see a movie in Thailand.  Ever since I saw the trailer for 1-18-08, I knew I wanted to see the movie.  So finally, last Friday Cloverfield came out.  Yesterday, I finally got to see the movie...  and I was really impressed.  It had to viral marketing of Blair Witch Project.  And unlike BW, Cloverfield lived up to the hype - and beyond.  Because the movie was still good, I'm still looking through the viral marketing to try and dive deeper into the characters and their lives before the monster.  I won't reveal anything to you (because it truly will make the movie better) but there IS a monster.  and it is something you don't want to mess with.  that's all i'm going to say.

but about the movies here in bangkok...  First of all, it's only 100 baht (3 bucks!!!!).  And the movie theatres are really nice.  really nice.  definitely on par with LA.  But if you want to pay more, I believe 500 baht, you can get what they call an "opera seat," which is basically just a love seat for one person.  Not worth fifteen dollars, but whatever.  And, of course - to ruin one of my favorite activities - even the movies start on thai time.  When a movie says 5:30 on the listing, you have to buy your ticket for 5:00.  Then sit through 45 minutes of trailers/commercials.  yes, commercials.  Including a five minute commercial about pepsi max featuring thai celebrities.  I now know that Pepsi Max is zero calories - couldn't have guessed that before...  Then, after all the trailers, they show a montage of the king scored by the thai national anthem.  Everyone in the theatre stands during this.  it's pretty cool to see.  something unlike America.

After the movie, we went out for sushi and then I got Ice Monster - the Pinkberry of Thailand.  It's basically shaved ice with condensed milk and sugar.  then they put fresh fruit and a scoop of ice cream on top.  It's almost as good as a street ice cream sandwich.  I'm pretty sure I'm gonna bring it back to LA and make my fortune.  Then after I had Ice Monster, my never ending stomach signaled me into Mister Donut, which is a famous donut chain in thailand.  They make donuts that look something like a circle of balls - and they're chewy.  An interesting way to eat donuts - but they're sweet so they're good.

So this week I got my first massage since being in Thailand.  Even though the spa in our condo opens in a week, I couldn't wait.  So I walked about a block down the street to this place called "Health Land" - which is a really nice spa chain throughout Thailand.  Not shady at all.  We decided to get a one hour foot massage for 250 baht (about 7 dollars).  It was so nice that I fell asleep.  It wasn't just a foot massage - they massage up to just above your knee, then do a mini thai massage on your hands, arms, shoulders and head.  Overall, one of the best ways to spend 7 dollars in thailand.

Now, for some more Bangkok observations:

- Stray dogs are everywhere.  Due to the largely buddhist population, they will not kill a living thing (or something like that).  Which leads to huge amounts of stray dogs in the streets.  And every night about 2 am, the dogs start to get wild - barking and howling for hours and hours in the night.  It wakes me up about every night - unless I've had enough chang beer.

- I've learned that the best way to combat food poisoning is spice and beer. worked so far.

- They love their king here.  Everywhere I look I see a picture of him.  

- They have lights that line all their streets for miles around the Grand Palace.  The lights hang from everything lining the street.  Every Sunday, they turn all these lights on.  It's always so cool to see these lights for miles and miles.  

- Nowhere has napkins.  So I usually carry some in my pocket - cuz it drive me nuts to eat without a napkin.

- Bugs can make it to the 23rd floor somehow.

Well that's all for now.  I believe we are leaving Bangkok this weekend.  I don't know where yet, but I'm sure there will be a post about it in the future.

(world) peace