Arriving in Asia

Greetings from Asia! It has officially happened my friends.. I am on the other side of the planet!

Our 21 hour flight yesterday seemed to go by pretty fast and easy. We flew over Alaska and brushed by the Arctic and through some of northern Russia... was clear out the plane window and I was wide eyed with excitement to see some more of Mother Earth's unchartered territory from the view point of the birds.  We Crossed the international date/time and were really confused to find we had lost a day upon our arrival.  We had an hour layover in Beijing which was just enough time to scurry to the next terminal for our flight, but not enough time to acquire a few yen and buy an egg roll...

We arrived in Bangkok at midnight and found ourselves a very friendly cabbie who spoke a few words of english (thought not much).  Had about a half hour cab ride to a place north of Downtown where some friends of mine are living for the month.  The first thing we noticed when we stepped foot outside of the cab onto bangkok pavement, was the number of hearty and unruly rats scurrying around in the night.  They paid no attention to the people walking by but went about their business collecting rations from the day.  The rats have little influence on my adrenal glands.... but the obscene multitude of 3 inch long cockroaches weaving around my feet made me a wee bit jumpy.  I have never seen so many, not even in Africa.  I danced around them and into the building, noting the small adjustment phase of learning to live in harmony with these little creatures.  The Thai people are able to set up food stands on any street corner, so there is an abundance of scraps left over for the critters of the night.

My friends kindly opened up their little apartment to us and we caught some nice winks and are feeling rested.  First thing on my agenda for the day is a $6 hour long thai massage and a coconut!  Fresh juices around the corner, for pennies...  We are not in Cali anymore Toto!