Entering the Land of Smiles

Bangkok is 11 hours ahead of Washington, DC. Messed up sleep schedules are what I do best. So instead of coping with jetlag on arrival, I opted to pull an all nighter before leaving to Thailand. I arrived at Reagan Airport only to realize that my airline, Cathay Pacific, was not listed as one of the airlines servicing this airport. Shoot! I overrode my natural instinct to figure it out on my own(only after looking around for 5 minutes first) and asked a desk clerk for some help. Apparently the first leg of my trip was with American Airlines to JFK airport. I got checked in and through security with no problems. Then I hear a voice on the intercom, "We are looking for 4 passengers with flexible travel plans to change flights in exchange for a $250 flight voucher". I didn't have to be at JFK airport for another 6 hours, so I figure what the heck. I get my voucher and I'm on my way to check in for my new flight. Once again I get through security with no problems and I'm not waiting for flight number 2. This time I hear on the loud speaker, "Anyone waiting for the flight to New York City, La Guardia, the flight has been canceled. You should go to the front desk to reschedule." Thanks to my sleepy state of mind, I mistook La Guardia for JFK, and went out to the front desk where the clerk kindly help me realize I was missing a few brain cells. So I hiked my way back through security for a third time today.

Luckily that was my last confusion for the day. The rest of my trip went off without a hitch. I fell asleep for the first 5 hours of my flight from NYC to Hong Kong. This was pretty much like sleeping from 2am to 7am Bangkok time. PERFECT! I stayed awake the rest of the flight and got to see Hong Kong during sunset, a really amazing sight, especially for someone that has never seen an island from the air before. Hopping off the plane was a lil disconcerting because everyone in the airport staff had nice latex gloves and surgical masks over their mouths. I made my way through to my connecting flight and managed to get to Bangkok without any additional problems.

After making it through customs, I started looking for my rendevous point where I was supposed to meet Jakae, the gym manager. I reach the place, but there are so many people and I realized that I don't have any idea who I am looking for. I started walking around asking people their names, and was mostly answered by blank stares. I noticed this one bunch of guys sitting off in the corner, but they looked like they were traveling together, and so I didn't approach them. After finding a pay phone, I call Jakae and it turns out that group of guys were the ones looking for me. We leave the airport and he starts driving to the gym. Apparently in Thailand they drive on the left side of the road. We stop by this Pad Thai stand in front of a 7-eleven a couple blocks from the gym. I didn't realize 7-eleven's were all over the place here. For about $1.50 I had a small but delicious bowl of pad thai, and then we headed back to the gym.

I got setup in a my room. They put me in a shared room with no one else in it. It has its own shower and balcony with drying racks for putting my clothes after each training session to dry. The combination bathtub-toilet-sink room is interesting. Also after setting up, I realized I forgot my towel. I also noticed a lack of toilet paper, so I will have to go run out for a few things after the first training session tomorrow morning. Speaking of which, it is now 130am, so I'm going to try to catch some Z's before I start up tomorrow. Stay tuned for more updates.