Alive and Bangkickin!

Hey everybody! I just got into Bangkok this morning after a not-at-all-horrible 14 hour flight. Thanks to discounting my dad's suggestion to get a good nights sleep my last night in the US, I was completely exhausted by the time my butt hit plane seat at 11:40pm July 19th. flight passed in no time at all. Thai AirwaI put a sign saying "Please wake me for food" on my chest and promptly passed out moments later. Theys serves three fabulous meals, passes out drinks more often than necessary, and has an amazing in-flight entertainment selection with about 30 movies to choose from. Between sleeping, eating, going to the bathroom and sporadically watching Benjamin Button the flight flew by and I arrived rested and ready to take on Thailand an hour and a half early at 5:20am Tuesday (Thai time). Moments after departing the plane I was greeted by a man with a sign bearing my name. Through the magic of connections that is my dad's friend Steve I was through customs within 5 minutes, passport stamped and everything, a process that usually takes at least 40 minutes. Steve is my dad's friend and business partner, and he and his wife have been splitting their time living in Thailand and in their house in San Clemente for the past 12 years. Their apartment is gorgeous right on the Choapraya River. Choapraya runs right through Bangkok and is really happenin. There are lots of boats going back and forth on it and it was fun to watch the action happening. Anyways, I got showered up at Steve's and then we went to his office about 10 minutes away. Steve had some work to do so his assistant Narudee took me around for the day. We got to use one of Steve's drivers and we went to the Grand Palace where we were taken on an awesome tour with a private guide, a woman named Kanya who really knew her stuff. Thailand's past 8 kings lived in the palace. The 9th king who is in power now moved out and now the palace serves as a major tourist destination. It was beautiful and so ornate-pictures to come. Narudee and I then went to pick up a SIM card for my phone so I could call Poi, my sister's roommate who also lives in Bangkok and is Thai. Narudee dropped me off at Poi's house, where I am now, about to sit down to a 5 course Thai dinner. I think we are going out to a night market with a beer garden tonight, which sounds awesome. I'm pretty tired though so I hope we don't stay out too late. I'm getting early tomorrow and Steve's driver is taking me to the American Embassy so I can (hopefully) add some pages to my passport. I realized last week that I might not have enough left for the whole trip, but it was too late to do anything about it at home. I have to go now because we are going to eat. Hope everyone is doing well at home!