And In The Streets We’re Runnin’ Free
I can’t believe it’s almost 2 weeks since I arrived BKK for Winter Break. Time flies when you’re so busy, and having fun at the same time. I arrived on Wed afternoon and spent the whole day just adjusting to the oh-so-freaking-hot weather, and crashing later because I was so tired and jet lagged. I woke up so early the next morning and headed to Huahin to a temple and later to the official opening of a flat that my parents designed for their friend, then drove back to BKK and went to have dinner with several friends from LA. The buffet was good, as always, so was the conversation. We haven’t met each other for a few days but it’s like forever. We somehow found something to talk about and that carried on for 3 hours. I’m also glad they got along with my mom and dad : )
There was a mini reunion on Fri. I had lunch with some friends from the swim team. Some have changed so much. It has been so long, like 6 months since I’ve seen them. It felt so weird since we’ve never been apart for more than 1 month. I also met the ex manager of the swim team. We haven’t properly met for almost 3 years. I met the sen10rs later that day. A lot of people came. We have kinda matured. College has changed most of us, mostly, for the better. It was interesting hearing how college was like, since half the people that came went to college in Bangkok, some in England, Australia, and the US. I haven’t met my best friend for 6 months. It was awesome getting to see her again. Soo much to update.
I stayed in on Christmas. I’ve haven’t stayed home since I came back so I figured it’s time I organize my packed stuff (not unpack, since I’m leaving in less than a month lol). I just spent the day doing that, writing emails, and whatnot, then went to a house party in the evening, till late. Sunday was a chill day. Woke up late. Life is good. I went driving for a few hours since I haven’t drove in 5 months. Then a Room 39 concert. They are soo good live. Their thai covers are good, but their cover of Jason Mraz’s Lucky was amazing.
I went to a friend’s house on Mon just to hang out and have lunch. My friend whom I haven’t met for 1.5 years also came. It was great talking to him about college and life in NYC. I drove a bit after that and went to meet my friends from LA since we were going to a new year party. What happened on the way made me a bit frustrated, but it was funny at the same time. We went to the wrong place. The place we were supposed to go to was so f-ing far. The traffic was ridic. It took us almost an hour just to drive 1 mile. We didn’t even know how to get to the place. When we finally knew how, we turned at the wrong intersection and missed the exit. Somehow we drove into this small alley, followed the signs to another street and bamm! the place was right there. It was like it just dropped down. I love it when we find new shortcuts haha, despite how frustrated we were. The bar we went to was so crowded but the people there were really nice, but the food was kinda spicy. We had a gift exchange, which was fun. Everyone wanted that 1,000 baht gift voucher to prg and a luggage with 5,000 baht. Idk who got it in the end since I left a bit before it ended.
Tues was somewhat busy day. I finally had a chance to wake up late. I skyped with some friends from LA for a while before preparing to go out to lunch with some friends. I totally lost track of time ‘cos of skype. I was already 1 hour late to lunch so I decided that I wasn’t going, since I was going to see half of my friends later that night. In the evening my friend came since she was sleeping over at my place. My kinda close friend from another intl school, that I met in LA also came since he told me to buy some stuff back. We left home at 10 pm and went to Whisky Mist, a club, as there was an Xmas Bash, a closed event organized by some alumni. It was an intl school reunion. And everyone knows what that means………OPEN BAR. The open bar was craaaaaazy. It was bomb. The music was good. We met other friends in front of the place. We all haven’t met each other since August. Funny how fast time flies. After a few drinks, the music was perfect (you know what I mean? haha). One More Time + Miami To Ibiza. Nuff said. I met some really old friends that moved to other schools. It was like a lot of ppl I knew just went there that night. We finally left at 2 am. It was 4-ish am by the time I slept zzzzz
I was a tad hungover in the morning, but after a while everything was back to normal. Most of Wed was spent driving since I was going to take my driving exam on Thurs. I was just going to practice as usual, but my mom’s friend just said I should take the exam, in case I fail I’ll still have time to take it again before I leave for the states. I woke up at 6 am on Thurs to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles or something. I had to take a few tests and listen to a 2-hour lecture on driving in BKK. Fun fun fun -.- Then I took my written exam, just remembering the stuff I just learned 2 hours ago, and passed! woo! Next was the driving test, which had 3 parts. First I had to drive straight in the middle of a few poles without stopping, then reversing without stopping and hitting the poles. Then I had to turn and drive to park at the sidewalk. Both the front and back of the left wheels had to be less than 25 cm apart (on the white line) from the sidewalk. I was brake once. I thought the wheels already stepped on the white line so I stopped. When I got out of the car they were 5 cm away from the white line = I failed part 2 of 3. SHIT. I was definitely not getting my license today. For the third part of the test I had to drive forward and reverse to park in a parking spot, sideways, not a vertical parking spot. I could not change my gears 7 times and I could not hit any of the poles at the sides and back. I did not hit any of the poles, but my car just did not park behind the white line, and by then I already used 6 gears. It was impossible to use less than 7 = another fail. I was somewhat pissed since I really wanted that license. Fuck. Now I had to wait until Jan 6 (the department was closed for new years) to go back to take parts 2 and 3 of my driving test. I guess now I have more time to practice.
New Years Eve was pretty chill. I went to the temple for half the day. There was a lot of good food around that area (Yaowarat, an old area in BKK). After going to the temple we just hung around for a while before driving back home to rest before going out to CDC to countdown. I left home at 8 pm and went to HOBS (House of Beers) at CDC to meet my friends. We just ordered some appetizers, beer, and talked until a few mins before the new year. I had only a glass or two of beer, since I don’t really like beer much, but this beer tasted kinda good (Hoegaarden). Beer reminds me of Homer Simpson = beer belly. ughh. I’m trying to avoid drinking beer, if possible.
I missed 1:11 AM 1/1/11, 11:11 AM 1/1/11, 1:11 PM 1/1/11, and 11:11 PM 1/1/11. Epic fail. Anyhu, I slept in again. It was great. Period. I left home late afternoon-ish and met with my mom’s friends for dinner at a Japanese grill place. Soo good. Then, new years shopping woo! Everything was on sale. All in all, a good start to 2011 : )