i found a free internet cafe in an israeli travel agency. yesssss. i will be coming here frequently.

it’s 3:40 pm right now, and to be honest, i haven’t done anything productive yet. moved into a guest house on rambuttri st (i was crashing with a couchsurfer – look up couchsurfing if you don’t know what it is, i’ll explain it at some other point- for the past couple of nights.) then, walked around a bit around khao san and around the block, and ate lunch at a street stall – green curry, delicious! 30 baht. that’s less than a dollar.

have i mentioned how cheap bangkok is yet? ’cause yeah. as i said before, it’s easy to get ripped off, and no matter how much you bargain down, it’s never going to be as low as the prices the locals pay. but a little preview of expenses here: 180 baht for a dorm-style room in a guest house/hostel for a night (that less than $6). subways are more comparable to the states and korea, 40 baht one way (a little over a dollar). food is usually around $1 to 3 depending on the quality. i see why so many travelers stay here for so long. (there are a lot of western ‘bums’ here.) the only thing is that the guest houses and hostels can be somewhat dirty sometimes. bathrooms can be uncomfortable. but you get what you pay for.

other than getting ripped off, another discomfort is the water situation. to be safe, i brush my teeth and rinse my mouth with bottled water. washing hands almost seems pointless since the water’s most likely bacterial. i regret not having brought hand sanitizers, though i guess if i looked hard enough, i could probably find them here. related to this is my stomach situation. i feel a little queasy right now. in fact, i have been for a few hours. i don’t know why. i mean, i think i do – food or water related? i hear some people feel this way constantly throughout their entire trip. this could hamper the fun a bit…

oh, 2 other minor complaints. i really shouldn’t complain so much because i’ve already been having a lot of fun so far, but i need to vent somehow. everyone assumes i’m from asia – obviously. but they really find it hard to believe i’m from the states. “no, i’m not from [china, japan, korea, insert east asian country here]. really, i’m from the us. THE US. US. yes. america. AMERICA.” is how some of the conversations have gone. one (indian-looking) woman was like, ‘oh you must be chinese american then,’ thinking she caught onto me. close, but no really, i’m not. and second final issue is the coffee situation. yes, as many of you know, i’ve been addicted for some time now. and although coffee can be found here, i’m getting the feeling they serve a lot of decaf, which could be a huge problem for me. i’ve had a headache for most of the day today. it sucks.

one surprise. thailand is very diverse – at least compared to korea. there are a lot of different types of people here – thai, chinese, indian, middle eastern. there are also a lot of westerners/travelers, though this ISN’T a surprise.

i’m not lonely yet, although i’ve been mostly on my own except for yesterday. this is my first REAL travel experience alone (in a totally unfamiliar foreign place by myself), so i’m still trying to find my bearings. i haven’t taken advantage of the small number of opportunities to meet new people. i don’t know why this is, but i need to start making friends fast or this could be a very boring trip.