Mother's Day (Sweden)
2005-05-29 @ 11:37 p.m.

Turbulent flight, but the sight of Mark Chen trying to balance his cup of 7-Up was mildly amusing. Speaking of Mark, he now has bleached hair that makes him look like a monkey. There's plenty of mileage to be gained from this joke, like the threats to declare him at customs, or to turn him over to the local zoo. Didn't do much today, but I did get some nice photographs of Bangkok landmarks, like a monument commemorating the advent of democracy in Thailand. (Have you noticed the conspicuous absence of an equivalent commemoration back home?) Not much studying done for SAT II, and consequently feel royally screwed. Read a great deal of Russell Hoban's Kleinzeit though, a somewhat surreal but engaging read. Dinner was so typically Chinese, or what's supposed to be Chinese anyway. Thank goodness most of our dinners won't be at the hotel! The guide took us to MBK, which is right smack in the middle of a slice of Orchard Road, in Bangkok. It's kind of disconcerting to look out of a Thai Starbucks outlet and be greeted by a scene that looks suspiciously like the area outside Shaw House. They're planning this new shopping complex in Bangkok, and it looks way cooler than anything we have in Singapore! Orchard Road needs a facelift indeed.