dec 19, pt 1: float on
12:36 AM
we were [rudely] awoken this morning at 8/8:30 by our driver samran (wo will from this point onward be known as samrang) as we apparently agreed that he would take us around to the floating markets, grand palace, and reclining buddha. he cost more than i would like to admit spending, and we were trying to strategize how we could find another way there. but in the end, i'm cool that we had samrang take us around. saved us a lot of time in te end. and taught us a bit about being wary of hotel information.
during the drive over, it was clear we had no idea how far these markets were. the drive was a good hour or so and we were promised a free coconut and coffee and water, on which he only half delivered :( sadface. i really wanted my own coconut. and soon enough we hit the water for an amazing experience that words and pictures couldn't even begin to descrive. but lemme say this - when we got on the boat, one of the dudes took a picture of keya and me just as my bottle was falling and i freaked out because i thought it would fall in the river. it didn't. it landed safely in the boat so the guy took another picture and we were on our way.
a couple notable moments:
-we haggled some prices for art and believe me, we still probably got ripped off. but whatever, dude had 3 children to support.
-we were starving for some snackage, was a little turned off by liquid food in sandwich bags so we were extremely delighted to see 'vegetable no meat springrolls' which we asked out boat driver to stop for. so the spring rolls were delivered to us by boar, sauced to the extreme, and devoured with delight, not before...
-we ended up seeing another spring roll boat and made eye contact with the lady manning that boat, who saw that i was just finishing up my serving. i smiled. she smiled. and gave me a nod of approval as if to say 'yeah spring rolls'. they just got us.
-we also saw his little child who was naked and couldn't determine whetehr it was a boy or girl until we got closer. as we got close enough to discover the kid was a boy, he bashfully covered his junk with his hand, so we waved at him to let him know we weren't judging, and he sweetly broke out in the biggest smile and waved back and waddled onward
-toward the end of our ride, we noticed an abundant number of these cobra show posters claiming to be 'the most exciting show in the world' which were beginning to pique our interest cuz of effective marketing presence. but to which i could only say, 'have they seen super juan'? cobra show is, at best, second most exciting
-and to top it off, when we arrived back at the dock, we were seated for some water and they placed plates in front of us. they were of the 2 photos taken when we were embarking on the journey. keya didn't want one of the tacky things, but i was able to haggle a decent price which became totally worth every baht when seeing their reaction after i told them i wanted the one of me rescuing my fallen bottle and keya judging me for it. the lady did a double take, asked me if i was sure, tried forcing the other photo plate on me. but after i told her i was sure about my decision, she incredulously shared this with 2 other coworkers who co-judged my purchase and reluctantly packed up the faulty plate while leaving the pretty, presentable one behind. i love being judged nonverbally. body language is so telling, and hers told us 'you bitches have way to much money on your hands to be wasting it on this busted photo.' and you know what - i would have to agree.
during the drive over, it was clear we had no idea how far these markets were. the drive was a good hour or so and we were promised a free coconut and coffee and water, on which he only half delivered :( sadface. i really wanted my own coconut. and soon enough we hit the water for an amazing experience that words and pictures couldn't even begin to descrive. but lemme say this - when we got on the boat, one of the dudes took a picture of keya and me just as my bottle was falling and i freaked out because i thought it would fall in the river. it didn't. it landed safely in the boat so the guy took another picture and we were on our way.
-we haggled some prices for art and believe me, we still probably got ripped off. but whatever, dude had 3 children to support.
-we were starving for some snackage, was a little turned off by liquid food in sandwich bags so we were extremely delighted to see 'vegetable no meat springrolls' which we asked out boat driver to stop for. so the spring rolls were delivered to us by boar, sauced to the extreme, and devoured with delight, not before...
-we ended up seeing another spring roll boat and made eye contact with the lady manning that boat, who saw that i was just finishing up my serving. i smiled. she smiled. and gave me a nod of approval as if to say 'yeah spring rolls'. they just got us.
-we also saw his little child who was naked and couldn't determine whetehr it was a boy or girl until we got closer. as we got close enough to discover the kid was a boy, he bashfully covered his junk with his hand, so we waved at him to let him know we weren't judging, and he sweetly broke out in the biggest smile and waved back and waddled onward
-toward the end of our ride, we noticed an abundant number of these cobra show posters claiming to be 'the most exciting show in the world' which were beginning to pique our interest cuz of effective marketing presence. but to which i could only say, 'have they seen super juan'? cobra show is, at best, second most exciting
