Bangkok and Dhaka

On our first night in Bangkok, we decided to go out to clubs since they don't exist in Dhaka.  I was able to wear a short dress with spaghetti straps, and I have to admit that after only 1 1/2 months in Dhaka I felt naked - which is crazy considering I lived in Miami for over 7 years.  I guess it doesn't take long to get accustomed to your surroundings.  I'm not sure if I've said, but in Dhaka I wear either capris or pants, a shirt with sleeves, and a scarf that covers my shoulders and chest.  Definitely a change from the US.

Below are pictures of us at Bed Supperclub in Bangkok

Every night at our hotel we had 'happy hour' from 6-7:30pm.  This happy hour consisted of free alcohol and food - after only a couple sips of wine, the waitress would come with the bottle and fill our glass.  There were multiple times where Jason said, 'oh wow, thank you, but I'm ok', but they paid no attention to him.  The food consisted of samosas, spring rolls, kebabs, and various other things.

On our last night in Bangkok we stumbled upon the restaurant Cabbages and Condoms.  It's a restaurant where the proceeds go to HIV research and prevention.  The food was good, and the decor was fantastic.  There were many things made out of condoms - like the statues below.

Condom Santa!

Beautiful condom bride...

There were a couple other highlights of Bangkok that I must share.  First are the amazing movie theaters.  They had many theaters with different seatings to choose from.  We chose the theater with the lazy boy chairs.  The row consisted of our two chairs, and we had a down blanket, pillows, and a coffee table to put our popcorn and drinks on.  They had different types of popcorn to choose from, and they sold alcoholic drinks as well.  It was fabulous.  So after we settled down under our down comforter, all of a sudden everyone in the theater stood up when a film about the King of Thailand begun.  It was as if 'God Bless America' came on during the 7th inning of a baseball game.  But the video was all about the King.  Very interesting!!

Before we went to Bangkok, he raved about the street food in Bangkok, so of course I couldn't wait to eat from the first stand we came across.  On our first afternoon, we stumbled upon a stand where she was grilling kebabs.  We asked for a few chicken kebabs and something else that I can't remember.  As I put the kebab in my mouth and chewed, I immediately spat it out and almost vomited multiple times.  After getting a sprite and settling down for a minute, he told me that it was chicken liver, not chicken. BIG difference! Apparently neither of us heard the liver part.  I have to admit that I was a little nervous eating from the stands after that.  

After we left Bangkok and came back to Dhaka, I couldn't help but compare the two.  Bangkok definitely had some positives like sidewalks, clean public transportation, cleaner air, and taxis, but there were also some things about Dhaka that I missed.  For instance, the Bangladeshis are incredibly friendly and would bend over backwards to help you out.  In Bangkok (at least in the tourist-y areas) the 'friendly' locals were not genuinely friendly, and had a personal agenda.  I'm sure that comes with having tourists in your country, and Bangladesh definitely doesn't know what tourists are.  Don't get me wrong, when the rickshaw drivers or business men see that you are white, they definitely raise the prices.  But it's not deceitful - at least I haven't seen it so far. I hope it stays that way :)