#Bart didn't get to say anything beyond 'we got a car'

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

He's Bart's emotional support dad.

Look at him. He's so protective of Don.

Bart: If you even so much as look at my dad I will Marry McFly you out of existence.

[ashleynicoleabroad]

Day 1 (Part 2) | Bangkok, Hua Hin | 1/26

Day 1 continued after waking up around 8:30am. Not much sleep, but I was awake and ready to go.

Pu made us coffee, we chatted, made some plans for the day and met their housekeeper. Miriam, who lives across the street from my Aunt Jeanette, had gifted the family some shirts from UCSC. The housekeeper has gotten one too, so when Pu mentioned we went to school there the spry 76 year old woman went downstairs to show us her banana slug shirt. It was super cute.

While having our coffee Pu brought out a mango Fay had cut up for us. It was my first Thai mango and it was everything I'd had hoped for and then some.

Ready to get moving we packed up the car to go sight seeing before we picked up at Fay at her dance studio at 1:30. We left the car at the dance studio parking garage and walked to the train station. The parking garage we went to was insane. So tiny, they have to double dark cars. All they ask is you leave it in neutral so the attendants can push the cars around when they need to. Can you believe? They aren't small cars either, most are four door hatchbacks.

From there we walked to the sky train station. It runs in a straight line through town up above the buildings. It reminded me a lot of BART. Clean, packed, and you use reusable cards.

We got off about 4 stops later to go see the four headed Buddha. Pu says it's a really popular spot for thais and tourists because the this god grants wishes. People were placing offerings all around and it fills up so fast they have some going around to pick it all up almost right away. It was really interesting to watch. I was also interested to see that the flowers were all marigolds, just like Day of the Dead in Mexico.

Side note, Pu is a movie star. He started acting at 50 and has been in over 50 movies in 10 years. He was in Executioner (which is on Netflix) and Only God Forgives with Ryan Gosling. But one of his movies blew up in China, with over 30 million people watching it in theaters. He was getting a lot of looks here and one guy even asked him for a selfie! So famous. It's hilarious, Pu is usually cast at the evil dictator, police offer, bad guy from some Asian country but in real life he is such a kind, genuine person. He is a painter, chef, black belt, manages Fay's dance studio with her, and an international movie star. Pretty bad ass.

After the shrine we wandered around the area, popping in a suuuuper nice hotel just to look around. Then took the train back to get some lunch. For lunch we went to a noodle spot that Pu says has the best fried rice in the WORLD. Unsurprisingly the fried rice blew us away. And I was so happy to see there were no peas in it! Peas would have disqualified it as the best in the world for me, so there. Peas should never be in fried rice. It's official.

With lunch we had roasted duck with noodles and it all came with a complimentary soup. Now the soup really skeeved me out because it literally just looked like water with the spine of a pig. But, I said I would try anything that Pu recommended so I was pleasantly surprised when it was super flavorful and the pork just fell off the bone. Even though it didn't look appetizing (like at all) I would totally have it again.

After lunch we picked up some mango sticky rice and went to get Fay. Their dance studio has kicked started a lot of prima ballerinas from all over the world. It's amazing hearing their stories.

With Fay in tow now we hit the road for Hua Hin. There was construction going on so the drive that should have been three hours ended up being more like five. But we stopped at The Largest Rest Stop in Thailand for coffee and made it down in one piece. Pu was cooking dinner but needed a few ingredients so we stopped by what looked like a farmers market beneath a temple. Stray dogs running around. People on mopeds driving down the aisles with bags of food and children stacked up behind them. It was crazy. Pu bought me some flowers, says they are or good fortune, then we went to their condo.

Holy hell this condo is beyond amazing. Spacious living room, huge windows, and comfy beds. This is starting off our trip so high I worry we will never want to leave. Fay and Pu had incited some of their neighbors over so he was making a ton of food. He apparently hates when people try to help but can't cook worth shit so Jerm and I stayed clear of the kitchen. Instead we walked down to the beach then came back to enjoy a gin and rock by their pool.

The dinner table was overflowing with food and spot lord was it spicy. Pu says at lunch that day we were at a preschool level but at this meal we had moved up to maybe high school. I was sweating. Crying. And going back for seconds.

It was so much food after dinner I could barely hold my head up. It was the longest day in history and I needed sleep. Going to bed around 11pm when we had arrived that same morning at 3am was crazy. Safe to say as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light.

Safe to say the second half of day one was pretty grand.

-Ashley