Lessons from a Foreign Land

Was back in the late afternoon, but because we were throwing a party for Joe who's enlisting at the end of the week (and because I didn't have a massage in BKK and thus slept the rest of the day away...), I've not had the opportunity to log in.

Back. And ready to get back to work.

***

Things learnt/witnessed:

That getting into the elevator in the hotel from 11 pm means sharing it with at least one other guest who's fulfilling his fantasy of a threesome that night.

That there are some cab drivers with the amazing ability to drive a stick-shift with only his left hand for signalling, changing gears and sounding the horn. The right hand was tucked in behind the headrest the whole time.

That the Aedes mosquitoes are day-biters.

That when you're in BKK, you really shouldn't be playing Tekkan 5 on PS2 until you get ugly bruises on the thumbs.

That choosing a go-go bar based on the music they play isn't really a good idea.

That the music they play in a go-go bar is precisely I don't find techno music all that appealing.

And, having said bars close at 1 am isn't really an improvement on the moral standards of the city. People will just leave earlier for more naughtiness.

That because they're hosting the UN Conference on Security, you should expect to be stopped by the police and be subject to the third degree and a frisking.

That being in a hotel with Russians and other Europeans is good for the Nice experience by the poolside.

That South Koreans are assholes in other countries as well.

That when you get an 18-year old pissed drunk so he will have no memory of his last two days as a civilian, you should also expect him to mangle your name and call you 'Wendy Ang'.

That 'consultation' means 'a delay of several months for people to get riled up about an issue and then announcing that the plans, for which the decision had been made right at the start, would go ahead anyway'. And that because of the hue and cry, you get two for the price of one. Good deal. Really.