One Night in Bangkok

Today I went to the doctor to get some vaccinations for Thailand. I got a tetanus booster and a hepatitis A and B shot. Oh, man! My arms are SO sore! I thought they'd at least spread them out across a couple appointments but they were down to do them all today. Surprisingly, the tetanus wasn't nearly as bad at the hepatitis. Those two really took the wind out of my sails. Besides having two practically dead arms I feel really yucky and tired. Bleah! I guess it beats getting super sick on my trip, though. Luckily, I did my research on what shots I would need because I need two round of hep B and you need a month in between shots. Once I get my final shot next month I'll be able to just concentrate on planning the trip itself.

One positive thing about today's doctor visit was that it didn't cost me one red cent. Thanks to our president, my immunizations were 100% covered by my insurance. I didn't have health insurance for the past 6 years so I am so grateful to finally be covered again. Being a starving artist is already stressful enough without having to worry what the heck you're going to do if you get sick. If I hadn't had health insurance my visit today would have cost me about $400 which I really couldn't afford. So say what you will about Barack Obama but I'm think he did a great thing by helping all of us without health benefits. I'm hoping that this country will someday go one step further and mandate universal healthcare to all its citizens. But, hey, I'm a dreamer!

Anywho, I leave for Bangkok on February 1st and will return on February 9th. The journey there is going to be INTENSE to say the least. We leave at 7:15am and won't arrive until 11:15pm THE NEXT DAY! I think it's 26 hours total. We'll have a layover in LA for an hour then another in Tokyo for an hour and a half. This time I used my noggin' and got us both aisle seats the whole way. I learned my lesson when I was trapped next to a sleeping 80  year old Russian lady for 13 hours back in April. NEVER AGAIN. NEVER EVER AGAIN. If the journey there doesn't kill us, I think we're in for a really amazing adventure. Bangkok looks like such an amazing city and Thailand is a beautiful country.

I haven't had too much time to plan out an itinerary yet but the things I know I'd like to do are:

*meet my friend Shong (who I've been online pals with since 2007)
*spend a day at the beach (it'll be summertime there)
*go on a river tour
*visit lots of Buddhist temples
*ride bikes to the markets at night
*rent a scooter
*visit some art galleries
*go dancing
*and eat lots of yummy things

I'm SO EXCITED! OHMYGOSH! And it's sooooo soon too! Only 86 days to go! ACK! It's amazing that a year ago I'd never been out of the USA and now I'm about to scratch another continent off my list.