Day 6

Good morning everyone.
Yesterday was a full day of adventure. I woke up in the morning and packed my things and Julia and I set off for Bangkok. We rode a tuk tuk to the train station the took a train for fifteen baht (50 cents!) and rode for two hours to BKK. It was hot on the train because there is no air conditioning but I read the whole way and it went by quickly. Then when I got to the train station I messaged Toon and told her I was there. There were a few complications...her friend who was driving her to Bangkok got into a car accident on the way. That meant that she wouldnt be there to pick me up. So I had to take a subway alone to the market and her mom would pick me up when I got off there. That was quite interesting...lol. But it all worked out and her mother greeted me when I exitted the station.

The market was huge! It was like nothing I had ever seen before. There were so many people. Her mom told me to make sure to hold onto my bag because people might cut it off of me and steal it! We arrived...

im gonna pause for now...im in bangkok for heaven's sake...im going out to enjoy the day!

just kidding. Toon just went to get into the shower. We are going to go and see a movie and get lunch before I head back to Ayuttaya.

Okay so where was I...oh yeah, we arrived at her mother's shop and I set down my bags. Her mother ordered me lunch...noodles and chicken and I got to eat it with chopsticks. Oh so asian. It was delicious. Then I got to kind of talk with Toon's mom and the woman who was like her nanny growing up. I think her name is Wed. Then her mom told me I could pick out bags to bring to my sisters lol so I was doing that and Toon and her boyfriend, Nong showed up. After that we went to walk around the ginormous market...this is the exciting part.

We first stopped at this little stand because Toon wanted me to try milk tea. There is like this little man with two pitchers and he dances around and splashes the tea from one to the other. Its hard to explain but I took pics and there will also be a video eventually. The tea was interesting tasting but I was more interested in the stand next door where they were making homemade coconut milk ice cream so that was our next stop. I got to eat it right out of the coconut shell and boy was it delicious.

For the next few hours we weaved in and out of rows and rows of clothes and jewelry and food and just about anything you can imagine being at a market. I bought some of my first souvenirs for my friends and some of my cousins...stuff I just could not resist. I bought more baggy Aladdin pants because I am pretty sure they are the best thing ever invented :) I will not be allowed to where them in public once I am home Im sure...lol. It is really cool to shop here but kind of annoying too because when I ask how much something is they tell me one price but as soon as Toon asks for me they give her a much cheaper price...apparently I am just a stupid farong (falong, or foreigner.)

After shopping for quite some time we emerged back on the main road of the market. I was told they sell pets at this market so we set off to find the animals. It took us a while to find the animals but there was no mistaking the smell once we did. There was everything from turtles to puppies...snakes to hedgehogs. Im not kidding...you could buy hedgehogs. You could buy chipmunks and squirrels...I ALMOST BOUGHT ONE FOR OUR ROOM CAP AND SAN. There were trays and trays of worms and maggots and other insects. There were cats and kittens and puppies of all breeds and birds and bunnies and ducks and chickens. Pretty much any animal you could possibly own as a pet was there. Check out my pictures if you dont believe me. It was insane.


Oh, I almost forgot to mention...before we went and saw all the pets we passed this man who was selling fried bugs and...baby birds. Dead. Fried. Baby. Freaking. Birds. I couldnt believe it. I was thoroughly appalled. He wanted me to eat them. I was so freaked out that I just walked away. I still wonder where he gets said baby birds. Disgusting...

So anyyyway. Back to my adventure. We were done shopping/walking around at like 7 oclock. We got back to Toon's mom's shop and we all set off to get a cab to Toon's aunt's restaurant to have a birthday dinner for Kitiya...Toon's mom. Once we got there I got to meet all sorts of Toon's family including her aunts, uncles and cousins. Some of her mom's friends came to join the celebration, too. At first I just ordered what I wanted to eat but then Toon told me that you basically order something that you really want to eat but then when it comes everyone just shares. Its like family style. I actually loved this because I never would have known what thai food to order and this way I got to try everyone else's. Plus, everyone else's food always looks better than mine does lol. I ordered italian food and so did Nong and I also ordered a salad...the first salad I have seen here that didnt come with mayonaise on top of it lol. But I also got to try a bunch of other food like pork and chicken and rice and soup and even...cow tongue. Yes, I ate cow tongue. Had they not told me what it was I would have eaten more of it because it just tasted like meat. However, the eat idea of putting tongue in my mouth appalled me. There was sooo much food on the table and I got to try portions of all of it. A little bit later on Toon's brother and his girlfriend came. It was really great to meet her brother. Toon told me he wanted to talk to me, but he didnt say much. I had a great time at the birthday party. There were a couple of live bands at the restaurant playing american songs lol and it was kind of funny to listen to them. We took lots of pictures and stayed until about 11:30 then we took a cab back to Toon's school. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the way there and passed out in her bed as soon as I got inside.