NO THAI GIRLS ALLOWED.

Bangkok. ah, what to say about bangkok. being here is reminiscent of backpacking in australia - especially since we are staying on khao san road, backpacker central. the road is full of clothes, souvenirs, handicrafts, bars, restaurants, guesthouses galore. but, move further away from the road and there are actually some culturally relevant things to do. yesterday we just wandered around the area, bartering for clothes and munching on lots of pineapple. we decided to take the feared tuk-tuk. everywhere you go, you're warned to not take these little vehicles, cause they take you to a million little shops that aren't on your way so that they can get gas tickets from the owners of these stores. well, we were bored, so we decided to indulge one of these drivers and were madly whisked around town, visiting random buddhas, a clothes store, and what was supposed to be our last stop, the boats....however, our tuk tuk driver decided to ditch us while we were visiting the lucky buddha (stop number 3), which was fine by us cause we hadn't paid yet, and we were just along for the ride.
last night we had a beer with a few fellow travellers, and ended up at the bar...each of the people in our group walk in, no problems, and then as i walk up i get stopped. confused, i look towards the sign that the bouncer is pointing at..."no thai girls allowed". hmmm...well, thinking that this isn't a problem (i'm canadian! and chinese!), i continue on my way, but no, i can't seem to convince this bouncer that i'm not thai. so, i have to get my i.d. (i.d.!! in southeast asia! unheard of), after which we all get a good laugh, and a few apologies. so i walk in and realize that i'm getting dagger eyes from tons of the thai girls...turns out, this is their hunting ground (think lonely rich white males with deep pockets), and they think i'm infringing on their territory...anyways, came out unscathed, but scarred for life (the first time i've ever experienced racial discrimination...!!) :)
today we visited a couple temples, wat phra kew (emerald buddha) and wat pho (reclining buddha). was cool to go and take pictures, but due to my lack of knowledge about the siginificance of such things, it was more aesthetic than religious...

pics are (in no particular order, since i have no idea what's going on)...some cool things at temples, me fashioning some fabulous fisherman pants (going to come home with every colour imaginable), khao san road at night, and a picture of our between-bus activities.