Well it's Day 5 of my Bangkok apartment hunting fun experience. It's going alright. I've got two apartments lined up to see today. They're both on the BTS (the Bangkok Transit System) but a bit farther from the central area than I wanted to be.

I'm lucky enough that my friends have really been helping me out. The girl who I would have lived with had I taken the first apartment, Chanicha, has sent me three links to apartments for rent that I would never have found on my own (due to the fact that my Thai is a little rusty...HA). The guy I stayed with over the weekend, AJ, called me this morning and said that his friend might know of an amazing apartment available in central Bangkok which has maid service every day and all kinds of other fabulous things for 10,000 baht a month. And then my friend Nichole (who I haven't actually met yet, but Amy has, and she's my friend on Facebook and we're going to meet soon, so we're kind of friends) has sent me her realtor's information and she says there are some condos available in her area. So yeah, I've been pretty well hooked up.

Right now I'm in cafe with free wifi, fervently sending countless e-mails to all kinds of people - journalists, editors, CEOs, presidents, whatever. I don't get many responses but the ones I do get are pretty helpful. I've got two major goals right now: housing and job. Secondary to that is a visa (I have to do a visa run pretty soon because my visa expires on the 3rd of Feb.).

I went to my friend Martha's last night and she treated me to dinner and we caught up on each other's lives. She's here until end of April, so I will definitely be seeing a lot more of her. She's a happy, smiley girl and great fun to hang out with. She very kindly offered for me to stay at her place but it's pretty far from downtown, which is where I really need to be, so I've got a room in a guest house for a few days.

Bangkok is so very exciting. I do hope I feel this way about it in a few months!! 

Here are my top five apartment hunting in Bangkok tips that I've figured out so far:

1. Work every contact you have until every single one of them is completely maxed out for resources 
2. Check Craigslist Bangkok every 10 minutes (you never know when something is going to come up)
3. Find an area you like and knock on random doors to see if any apartments are available (I haven't done this but my friend Nichole used the strategy to find her awesome condo in Bangkok)
4. Check your e-mail every 10 minutes - you never know when someone is going to e-mail you back with a response that must also be responded to immediately
5. Don't rush - at least, this is what everyone else is telling me - there's plenty of accommodation in Bangkok, they say, so chill out and let it come to you (obviously they don't know me very well lol)

Well, folks, I am officially in Bangkok. I arrived on Friday, and have been staying with a very cool guy named AJ at his fly pad in trendy Sukhumvit. Saturday, AJ and I went shopping at the insane MBK centre, and we both bought pretty cool T-shirts. Thereafter, I went to see an apartment in a great location, which I totally loved, but could not commit to right away (since it was the first apartment I'd seen), so I didn't get it, because the girl who came to see it after me snatched it up. Oh well, guess it wasn't meant to be.

Saturday night, we went to a goodbye party for a girl named Sooki, where I met a bunch of AJ's friends, who he calls the only people you need to know in Bangkok. While I do plan on meeting other people, it was really cool to meet them. We then headed to an extremely funky club called Nars, where we danced until 4am. Now, I have made a resolution to myself that work comes first this year, and there will be much less partying in this Bangkok life, but I reasoned that I was sort of networking. (lol)

Yesterday, I went to the weekend market (also insane), and then AJ and I went to see Avatar (incredible!!). Today I have sent out approximately 1,000 e-mails trying to find writing jobs and apartments. I'm going to my friend Martha's (who I met in Pai and traveled most of Laos with) tonight for dinner. I'll crash at hers tonight, and then tomorrow I'll probably move to a guest house for a few days. I am really - REALLY tired of moving my shit around. I can NOT wait to get a place just so I can unpack my stuff for GOOD.

I hadn't planned on taking on any adrenaline-inducing activities during my time in Chiang Mai. I'd planned a nice, relaxing week as a prelude to my exciting new life in Bangkok.

But when I met a group of Aussie boys who were staying at the same hotel as my parents and I, and they showed me pictures of their "Flight of the Gibbon" adventure (zip lining through 2km of forest), I felt the need for speed bubble up inside of me. When they next said that they were doing an adventure tour that involved a half-day of ATVing, and a half-day of white-water rafting, and would I like to come? I thought, hells yes!

The day of the adventure, we crammed into the little van and rode an hour and a half to our destination. When we finally arrived, we were told that we were going to be whitewater rafting first.

Luckily, one of the Aussie guys was a former rafting guide, so we had a few people who knew what they were doing on our raft. The guide had us sit in the raft and explained to us the basics of rafting: hold your paddle at the top so it doesn't smack your fellow rafter in the nose when you hit a rock, and follow his commands.

We had a few kilometers of calm water to get used to the rafting. The boys kept splashing the guide, and we could see the devious look in his eyes as we approached the rapids. Ryan, the former rafting guide, was in the front. As we barreled down the first rapid, the guide was calling out orders to us from the back: paddle! get down! to the right! to the left! we obeyed and most of us survived...except for Ryan who would up tumbling backwards over the raft and straight into the water. We laughed our asses off at him. The only one to fall into the water was the former rafting guide.

Eventually, we managed to get past all the white water bits, only almost capsizing a few times. When we reached the calm water, our guide had us all sit on one edge of the boat and the two outside people paddle in the same direction. We went faster and faster in a circle, called the helicopter, and of course, all flipped over the back and ended up in the water.

Once back on dry land, we ate a quick lunch, and then hopped on our ATVs for a rather brief lesson. Our guide told us to practice on a little circular path, half of which overlooked a cliff that led into the water we'd just rafted. Not ever having ATV'd before, I couldn't get the hang of turning. Since I'm so used to motorbiking now, I'm used to leaning into my turns instead of physically turning the vehicle. That is why as I attempted to round the corner off the cliff, I was thisclose to flying off the cliff and into the water. Had I not stalled, I hesitate to think what might have happened.  

After a while, though, I did get the hang of it, and I started being able to turn. Once I got that bit, it was easy as pie, and I had a great time!!

A few days later, Mom and I decided to go for a different kind of adrenaline rush. This kind involved lying on top of live tigers.

 
Me and Meatball 

The tigers were really tame - the guide told us that they sleep 18 hours a day and since they have grown up with people, they're totally used to us, which is why the above picture was able to be taken. That said, there was one tiger in a cage while we were there, who, the guide told us, had just bit a tourist a few weeks back (nothing too major - three stitches). He would never again get to be with tourists for fear that he's no longer trustworthy. The tiger camp is also worried the Thai government will shut them down if they get any more tourists injured.

 
Mom rubs Sticky Rice's belly

All in all, it has been a fab week in Chiang Mai. Today, I'm hopping on the train to Bangkok, where I will start my new life!! Wish me luck.....
 

 
Monks fly too...apparently

I left Manila on Monday evening, and arrived at the KL airport at 12am. I was totally engrossed in this new book I'd picked up, "Four Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferriss. I hadn't put it down all day. It was interesting being back at the KL airport, having been there five months before with Amy (we'd just left our Favourite Place Ever, Kuta Lombok, Indonesia). I'd forgotten about the body temperature scanner, and how all the women were in headscarves, and I was amazed that I still remembered how to say thank you - terima kasih. 

I was amused by the look on the immigration officers face as he flipped through my passport, trying to find a free page to stamp the big, purple Indonesia stamp (it almost feels like cheating getting a stamp when you just spend a few hours in an airport, but there's no way around it). I grabbed my bag from the belt and headed for Starbucks. I wasn't tired at all so I thought I might kill some time on my computer. Of course, it hadn't occurred to me that I didn't even have any Ringgits (the Malay currency), so I was relieved when they let me use my visa card. After a few hours online, I decided to curl up into a little ball on the chair and try to get some sleep. But having made the not-so-brilliant decision to down a frappuccino at 1am, I wasn't tired. 

Finally, it was time to go check in. When I got to the counter, the woman asked me where I was going. I stared at her blankly. I couldn't even remember where I was. "Kuala Lumpur," I said hesitantly. She looked at me strangely. "Chiang Mai! I mean Chiang Mai!". It was nearly 6am and I hadn't slept yet.

Once through like five layers of security (damn they've beefed up security again!!), I found a seat and continued to read my book. Flights were taking off for all over Asia, and as they lined up and filtered out the door, I thought about where they were headed and the experience that I'd had there. As one left for Siem Reap, I remembered seeing Angkor Wat at sunrise and how grumpy I had been until I saw just how truly gorgeous it was. As one left for Hong Kong, I thought of the spectacular skyline light show I saw, and how I couldn't make any friends. As one left for Singapore, I thought about how I should probably go there sometime soon...

Three monks stood in front of where I was sitting, their passports and tickets in hand. It seemed totally normal, yet totally strange. Do monks fly? I wondered? I mean, obviously they do - I've seen them with iPhone, for Christs' sake, but are they supposed to? Whatever - there they were, and they were on my flight. 

Then it was my flight's time to leave. As we lined up to climb the ladder to the plane, a couple in front of me playfully took a picture of themselves. A security guard ran up to them and scolded them, since clearly, they might be terrorists planning their next attack. I was lucky enough to have an entire row to myself, so once the plane took off, I lay down and finally got some sleep. 

Now I'm in Chiang Mai, the city of.......oh I don't know what it's the city of but it's not quite as hot as it used to be, so I am relieved of that. It's actually kind of cool here (I mean, not North America cool, obviously, but like 25 degrees) and the locals are wearing winter jackets. Mom and I are going to do the Thai cooking class that Amy and I signed up for so many months ago, but deemed ourselves FAR too hung over the morning after a big night out to even think about eating, let alone cooking. 

OK so I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seat, dying to know just what exactly happens next in the life of the Blonde Traveler. Well, having spent an overly hedonistic, self-indulgent 13 days in Boracay, I will be returning to Thailand, where I will join my parents for a week in Chiang Mai (they are scoping it out as a retirement destination). Thereafter, I'll be hopping on a train (NO MORE BUSES!) to Bangkok, where I am going to find a place to live, and actually stay put for a while. How long, exactly? Wouldn't you like to know! I certainly would...it all depends on how successful I am at integrating myself into Bangkok life.

So, in 2010, this blog will take on a slightly different tone. Instead of updates from me on the road, you will hear about what it's like as a foreign girl trying to make her way in the busiest Southeast Asian city. I will continue to travel, but obviously to a lesser degree than the past eight months. Indeed, I have big plans for myself and for Blonde Traveler this year, and I will keep this blog as fresh, exciting, and fun as it can be.

Thank you so much to everyone who has been faithfully reading my blog and supporting my site over the past eight months. To date, BlondeTraveler.com has received 6,312 visits from 3,524 unique visitors, with an average of 250 visits a week. That's not too shabby for a start-up site. I'm hoping to get the commerce portion of my site off the ground this year, as well as getting a web designer on board who can help me make it even more dynamic. I'm also hoping to start a Blonde Traveler volunteer organization aimed at cleaning up Southeast Asia's beaches and streets, and alleviating other ills that travelers have brought upon the region. Most importantly, though, there are plans for heaps of new content this year - and you can bet it will be, as always, incredibly useful and entertaining.