Another Tokyo post. Instead of going to bed early resting up for my 6AM flight, on my last night in Bangkok I finally went out and experienced the night life and it was great! I (finally!) was able to connect up with the Bangkok person I befriended earlier in the trip and she took me out on the town with here friends. It was a blast. At first we went to the part of the city that is all decorated for the Kings 80th birthday (which was the day before...) and it was amazing. Lights and posters of the King everywhere, Thai people everywhere taking pictures of everything. The more I learned about the King, the more I understand the passion Thai's have for him. He really does seem to be a "King of the People" (I believe his name even means "touching the ground" or "down to Earth" or some such thing). Anyway, it was truly a spectacle. Here is another picture of Thais taking pictures...
Then we went to a bar/club/concert. It was also incredible. Probably a 200-ish person club and I only saw 2 other white people. Cool! That's what I was counting on my local contact to do for me. The band was a Thai (of course...) modern rock band. They rocked hard and were pretty funny even though I have no idea what they were saying. There were actually very good and I really enjoyed the whole show. There were kind of like a Thai version of the Pixies. People in the club certainly know them well and sang along on many of there "bigger hits." I think I just found their myspace page...
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=130100730
The bar was fun too. I just knew my one friend (Jang) but met 4-5 more of her friends who while generally drunk and/or had limited English skills, were very friendly and welcoming. Any several other people came up to me and asked me where I was from and generally wanted to know what I was doing there in an very friendly and welcoming way. People were there to have fun, not "look cool". I'd probably go out more if the scene was more like that in the US. Ok, you're right, I'd probably still stay home...
Speaking of having fun, the way they do drinks in clubs (or that club anyway?) seemed WAY better. I didn't figure out exactly was happening (and stopped trying after 3 whiskey/cokes) but every little clique of friends seemed to have there own table with there only bartender. You then buy a whole bottle of whiskey, coke, whatever, and then you can mix your own drinks or the bartender takes care of it for you. I don't exactly know how much it all cost, but I'm pretty sure its a hell of alot cheaper. (I paid about $30, which I believe was for of my and Jang's drinks and maybe some of her friends. There was either no cover for the band part of my $30 also went to that.) And, at least for me, you drink alot more because you don't have to think "hmmm, another $6?" everytime you want a drink. At least twice the bartender just took my 3/4 empty glass and restocked it for me. All this adds to the fun, at least up to a point. Happily somehow I managed to not cross that line and stayed in the "fun zone" for the whole evening. Stayed till closing time (2am) then I took a cab back to my hotel to finish packing, take a shower and write a quick blog to let my Mom know I was not dying of Malaria on the other side of the planet. Took a 1-2 hr nap, then on a 4:30am taxi to the airport. This all helped me sleep through most of my flight from Bangkok to Tokyo and as I can hardly keep my eyes open now (so please excuse any typos, etc... ) I'm counting on it helping me sleep on my longer Toyko - SFO leg too.
Anyway, I think that's all I got for now. Still more to tell so check back later...
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