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🛬

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at Bangkok, Thailand

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I'll never get tired of this place ❣️ (at Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles)

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Just the queen sitting on her throne 👑 (at Hollywood Walk of Fame)

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Say hi to my new ride 👋🏻 (at Ta'chin)

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at Ta'chin

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I forgot!

I also went to the MBK mall in bangkok and HOLY COW is that mall big! Literally 8 stories tall with 1000′s of shops seling anything and everything your heart desires. Mine specifically ended up being two pairs of fake gucci sneakers and lipsticks haha. I even got to visit the charlie brown cafe and saw some serious madness at their arcade. I���ve never seen so many fully grown men dominate so many games at once. 

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August 1st-August 6th

GODDDD WHERE DO I BEGIN?

This week has been crazy and it’s all about to end in two days! So let’s break it down in events because I can’t even recall everything we did each day lol.

When we arrived to Bangkok we had to stay in the airport like 12 hours because we came in at 3AM and our check in at our air bnb was at 3PM lol. Sabye Bangkok was a great place to stay but because it was a chain it was kept at the bare minimum. Air conditioner hardly worked and I was constantly sweating which is my natural state of being here in SE Asia.... It’s constantly 90F and 100% humidity EVERYWHERE I GO AND I CANT ESCAPE IT. 

We started off our adventures exploring Khao San road, or what we thought was Khao San anyways... (I’ll elaborate later.) But the food was amazing and the night life is NOTHING like what I’ve ever seen. Las Vegas, and LA or Paris have anything on how what I call the sensory overload of what is Bangkok. Nobody closes until the wee hours of the morning and even then I’ve never been able to stay awake long enough to know if that’s even true. Literally Andrew and I will sleep all afternoon to escape the heat and come out at 11pm and everything is barely getting started. People screaming, people sitting on their porches cooking food, kids running around, music playing, and the constant drone of “Helloooooa Welcomeeeeee” from the nearby massage house and spas. Nothing ever sleeps here in Thailand...

Aside from the nightlife, we went on a long boat ride down the canals getting to see the houses of stilts and buy from boat merchants. For the price of 1000 baht which is relatively $30 we got to rent out an entire boat to ourselves and see the sights. and got a good view of the Grand Palace! I definitely recommend anyone who’s to go to Thailand to haggle as much as possible when doing activities or commuting because later on what we thought was a good deal was a gross rip off. Our host currently told us people can usually rent a boat ride for 100-200 baht... DUDE WHUT. So, i’ve been trying to learn the art of haggling even though it only works in a select few places. Like, don’t try at the local mall unless you want to get scolded for even trying lol. Not speaking from experience or anything... ANYWAYS.

After that I’d like to thank Andrew for finding the hidden treasure at the end of the rainbow. Authentic $1 pad thai. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. I also thought my butt hole was going to explode at the thought of an old man using his old rusty utensils and bare hands to create this master piece but MAN. Seriously, nothing tastes better than local merchant food. We’ve been exploring the markets eating at a different place EVERY night and honestly the best food is the cheapest ones on the rolling trolleys. Also, drinks are very cheap as well. Everyone I’ve seen my age has been getting frat boy wasted every night. Can you blame them though? 

We also tried to visit the Grand Palace (Wrat Arun) but one thing I’ve realized here that I took for granted was card readers. Thailand is very much a cash economy. I think in the whole week I’ve been here there’s only been 1-3 places that takes cards but with a catch.... It’s usually a 10% charge which is annoying but I’d honestly pay that than the $10 CHARGE ATMS CHARGE YOU FOR WITHDRAWING MONEY. But I’m on vacation, and we need money so I guess they like to take advantage of that. Anyways, sadly we didn’t get to visit the palace inside... It was too much cash Andrew and I didn’t have and most of the outside was under construction so we had to maneuver our way back to the streets to find other things to do. 

Now it’s the 6th and I’m probably missing parts of my week here but there honestly was so much going on it’s all a blur. But now we’re staying at a new air bnb here in bangkok only two streets away from our original one and its WAY better. Owned by a couple who owns an Italian restaurant downstairs we’re sleeping in an old massage parlor on the 2nd floor. By far the best experience I’ve had!! The lady who’s been hosting us brings us snacks and water and even spent the day with us at a river market! We got to do activities and RIDE A FRIGGIN ELEPHANT. I even got to do a little muay thai and sword fighting :) I think people get really thrown off by a girl wanting to fight because the man who was teaching the fighting activity looked at Andrew expecting him to come up and gave me a slight nod of confusion when I put on the gloves like, “really? you sure?” But it was great! We made tiny clay elephants and banana pudding and drank fresh coco by the river. Our host even said there was a famous Thai superstar at the par we were at and she frantically chased after him with her ipad taking photos hahaha. She even bought us treats and pad thai! Honestly she was so awesome, and she’s made my experience in Thailand exponentially better. Now tomorrow Andrew and I are going on a bike tour at 7am so wish us luck hahah.

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Long boat rides down the canal 💕 (at Rama VIII Bridge)

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No filter needed. (at Grand Palace)

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Tastes like chicken! 🍗 (at @ซอยรามบุตรตรี- ถนนข้าวสาร)

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Is this what love is? 😍 (at Khao San Road)

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$1 pad thai is gonna be the death of me 😷 (at Bangkok Metropolis, Thailand)

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The remainder of July...

SOOOOOO, let’s start off with the obvious. YES I DIDNT BLOG FOR TWO WEEKS AND IM SORRY I KEPT GETTING MORE SICK AND FINALS WERE COMING UP SO I HAD NO TIME OKAY?

Besides the obvious weekdays Monday through Thursday when I had class Friday-Sunday I had a pretty packed schedule... All in all, I went back to the old palace to see some museums with Sam, I went to the DMZ to see the North Korean Border and bought some souvenirs! I got to go to Design Plaza with the gang, and went to Boryeong for a mud festival where I got severely tanned. Like, so tanned everyone cringed at the sight of me for a week because of how much darker I got. I was pretty content with my skin BUT MAN. The mud festival was fun, everyone literally coated themselves with this mud sludge and the premise of it was that this special mud was good for your skin and acted as a natural sun block, both of which I did not get to partake in because I was more preoccupied with the beach and swimming.. I only have myself to blame honestly. 

The DMZ was also pretty life changing, I can’t put into words what its like to be so close to the North Korean border. If I had the chance, I’d totally take a supervised tour to  Pyeongyang and see what life is like inside. It’s almost other worldly seeing what people see so close to the borders but are completely shut off from one another. There was never talk of IF N and S were to join but rather WHEN. Sounded kind of propaganda-ey but also, its nothing like what they show in the media back home. Korea wants to be united again, but it’s like two stubborn siblings who want their way. I dont blame them either after the brief history lessons I’ve had on Korea’s upbringing. Literally they’ve been having their ass handed to them since they started. :( 

I’m sure I did more stuff but alas, my memory fails me... I’m sure I’ll add to this later when I remember but for now its finally August 1st!! IM IN THAILAND!!! Andrew and I landed here around 3am and slept in the airport and had lunch here too. Our airbnb doesnt allow us to check in until like 3pm so we’ve got the whole afternoon to rest and charge our batteries (literally, and figuratively.) 

Lowkey running low on funds but being broke and traveling the world makes for an exciting adventure! Definitely getting homesick now but I’m enjoying my time away from home and experiencing the culture of a place I’ve never remotely been to before. 

Until next time!!

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Rose ice cream is my aesthetic (at Myeong-dong)

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Time to get dirty... (at Boryeong Mud Festival)

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at Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station