Monkin' Donuts

By far, hands down, best memory ever/ Standing outside the bus station in Bangkok on a Monday morning, waiting to take a bus to Trat and then on to Ko Chang.
Picture this:
A Dunkin' Donuts sits just off the off to the left of a bus station crowded with various individuals offering a 'good deal' on a bus/minivan/caravan/car ride anywhere you want to go from Bangkok. We find the government run bus, buy our tickets, and sit down in the plastic seats that sit outside of the open air bus station (do they ever have bad weather in Bangkok???), right in front of Dunkin' Donuts. Two monks approach. The calm of their orange monk get ups brings a warming stillness over the waiting bus passengers. And then IT happens. A monk, full fledge, orange warm ups and all: walks up to the counter of DD to order his morning coffee. Waiting for them to prepare his fresh brew, he pulls out a cigarette and lights up. Would have won best photograph of the year if I was allowed to take pictures of them. Oh well, it will live on in my memory forever!


So, here we are in Thailand. Where exactly you ask? Well check it out: http://www.koh-chang.com/

We have been here since Monday, enjoying our time laying on the beach, frollicking in the sea, riding elephants, walking in a rainforest, swimming beneath waterfalls...You know, general every day kind of stuff;)
We are having a lot fun, with mixed moments of 'can you believe we are here?' and 'holy crap are women treated differently' and 'yes, I think we should eat again'.
Most interesting moment on this island, aside from meeting our English friend Eddie on the ferry over (aspiring actor, very nice, works for Harrods in London, so nice in fact he decided to treat us to some beer on the ferry. nice young lad) has GOT to be last night.
We head off to an Italian restaurant for dinner (I know, I know...we are in Thailand....best food ever...but you don't eat the same thing every day! and not being able to eat any form of shellfish greatly reduces the options.) First off, the meal was wondeful. They were full on service oriented in this restaurant, with free water and breadsticks -trust us, this is not a common thing in the cheaper eateries we have been frequenting. Then we heard the siren's song: The Undertones were playing in the bar next door, next The Jam, and then...yes, we couldn't believe it either...The Clash.
So obviously, after not hearing any good music that we love (other than lisa's new favourite song by the scissor sisters) since Amsterdam. So after our delicious meal (best pasta we have had since Chris made us some) we head over to the bar. It was back behind the restaurant, and in case we got confused about which bar it was, their was a British Flag hanging on the wall. The row of Thai girls standing at the front, trying to lure customers in welcomed us with gracious Thai smiles. We sit down. Nigel, the bar owner comes over and welcomes us to his bar. Turns out this English guy Nigel married a Thai girl a year ago and opened up this bar. Great. Friendly people, friendly owner, great music.
All is good.
We order the famous rye and soda. Sure it is a little (ok, a lot) more expensive than everywhere else. but the music!!!
Then, our server, sits down. Apparently, we have our own private server. She's nice enough and spoke a little bit of English and it took a good 3 minutes before we both got extremely uncomfortable. Is she ever going to go away? Nope...alright. Our attempts at including her in the conversation failed quickly as she really cannot speak english other than common pleasantries. Interesting service. We take a sip, glass empties a bit, she fills it up. By now we are both used to having a server fill up our drinks before the bottom of the glass, but to sit with us quietly while we go about our evening...well it was an experience. Then we notice. Lisa is the only girl, other than the Thai girls, in the whole bar. Yup, every man has a personal server. But those men have their hands on the bums of their server. Yes, top notch service. Happy ending? No thank you.
So, we took a tour of the British Isles and made our way up the road to Patty's Irish pub. They just like to drink there, prostitutes not included.

Tomorrow we are off to Ko Samet for the weekend. White sandy beaches, here we come (again).

Love!!!

Lisa and Jason