A Lot to Catch Up On

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There's a lot to catch up on over the past two days but as always, I'm too lazy to write everything. I did a little bit of exploring and no real work on my fellowship. I spent the morning and early afternoon yesterday at the large open market to the north of town (at the Chit Lom BTS stop). I expected the French Market but found a market that would easily put ours to shame. Lonely Planet says there are 15,000 stalls, I would push it closer to 18,000-20,000 vendors accounting for the ad hoc establishments scattered throughout. One can easily lose track of day or any relationship to the outside world. I really thought about the nature of my fellowship. What was originally looking at ad hoc urbanism, the market really reflects that through the weaving and infill of the market. Sure, sure, it's part post rationalization but it's true, it is really such an amazing aspect of Bangkok and even KL. I did a lot of souvenir shopping but in hind sight, I think I should have haggled more. I spent about US$30. They're right, one should expect empty pockets.

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I met a lovely couple over lunch that were from the Netherlands by way of Pakistan. I ordered... something. Dry noodles?

I wasted much of the afternoon lounging around. I talked to a man who was teaching math here after leaving NY. It offered much insight toward the development of my presentation as well as my thesis. I expect to go slumming tomorrow.

For dinner, I went to Cabbages and Condoms, a restaurant in partnership with the Thai Population Development Organization. Started by a man who thought that AIDS prevention needed a new way of raising money, the restaurant (and a resort elsewhere) was started. The good was amazing and prices low enough that I doubt Reade would complain about. I had the Curry Salmon ("Norwegian Curry") and mango/sticky rice to end. I have never had such a perfect mango in my life.

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This morning, I lounged and talked to Kim over AIM. It was nice to talk to her and really glad that Lagniappe is going well. If Michael or Jeremy are reading this, get that damn sponge out of the water in the sink. That's how bacteria grows!

I was able to walk around some of the city and saw Wat Pho. It made me really  become more dedicated to my religion again. After seeing what people have done in the name of Buddhism and how far it is woven into Thai culture was inspiring. I can only imagine what the other Wat has to offer as that is the more famous one with the golden dome. After seeing the temple to religion, I saw the temple to commercialism in the form of the Paragon. I kept thinking that finally, some group has out commercialized the Americans. This is definately going into my presentation, particularly how someone told me that it was the 'great architecture' in Bangkok. Maybe architecture and urbanism can really speak volumes of the values of a population.

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in my taxi and Tuk-tuk rides, I saw a different side of Bangkok, a much prettier one... Indeed Bangkok is built at the scale of the car.

I'm in love with the MRT voice... "Mind the gap between train and platform". Battery dying... Must finish post.

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