one night in bangkok

bangkok, thailand

there are certain facts, namely: 1) other people watched the college football national title game the other night and 2) some people spent that very evening in the presence of thai prostitutes. but i was probably the worldwide champion when it came to 3) watching the college football national title game in the presence of the greatest number of thai prostitues. through prior research, i was able to find a bar that would screen the game here in bangkok. oddly enough, that very same bar that caters to people who watch televised sporting contests is also patronized by the sort of people who would pay strangers for sex. amazing how a single place could cater to such disparate clientele. to give a little more detail, but not too much, i would classify it more as a baseball bar than a sports bar from the observation that the budding romances were less of the may-december than of the april-october variety.

as for the game, you could say that lsu got burned a couple times in man coverage. a lot like the guy at the table next to mine, who put on a lot of pressure but didn't seem to be able to make the tackle on his tablemate, as evidenced by his solo departure from the bar. presuming the occupation of his companion (and one must presume, because only so much was seen), i can only say that that should have been an easy stop. as for the schematics, there were certainly some favorable matchups out on the field. it seemed like the alabama defensive line's size up front prevented any rushes of more than a few yards. like the guys over at the pool table. judging by the pairings, it seemed as though the gentlemen had a decided advantage in size up front, and around, and behind. though it must be said that i would assume (and one can only assume) that the girls on the other side of the line of scrimmage were probably more nimble. it also seemed as though alabama missed a couple wide open receivers for some big plays. like me. i was sitting there alone the entire time. while i am not in the market for that (don't roll your eyes- i wouldn't blog about the subject if it was my thing), i was a bit surprised that one of the, eh hem, quarterbacks didn't spot me downfield. probably because they saw i was intently watching the game. and probably because i started screaming at the television, especially in the second half when jefferson should have been pulled from the game, especially more so after that awful interception. let's just say i didn't stay for the trophy presentation. any of them.

soundtrack
yesterday was an absolutely lovely day. i woke and ate and then walked around during a sunny and not oppressively hot afternoon. my first stop was wat pho, a compound with several temples, the interior of each contained a variety of enchanting buddha statues. walking around alone and peaceful, i started thinking about music that includes the word 'temple' and could only come up with stone temple pilots and temple of the dog. so i'm sitting there next to a meditating thai couple with a beautiful golden buddha statue in front of me and i have 'wicked garden' in my head. i tried to get 'interstate love song' but i was already stuck. if you know of any others that fit the category (don't use google) and could inform me, it would be greatly appreciated.

should i stay or should i go
i arrived in bangkok at midnight, to my guest house around one, and finally set down with a tall bottle of chang and a tired head. at the very moment i set down the guide book to debate as to whether i should spend an additional (third) night in bangkok or leave for cambodia as planned, i hear a couple canadian guys on the other side of the banquet from me. one of them says, and again, this is at the very moment i am deciding, "this is my favorite cheer" and then proceeds to explain some convoluted toasting sequence that involves several iterations of tapping the beer on the table, clinking with the companion, tapping it on the table....broken every now and then by saying, "no, like this" and then tapping it and clinking it and.....so, yeah, i'm going on to cambodia today as planned.

big gulps, eh guys?
if you've ever been to bangkok, then you know that it must have at least ten thousand 7 elevens. i had never been to bangkok, so i did not know that. now that i'm here, i do. well, catch ya later.