Title that does not employ the word "epic", though perhaps it should.

Posting isn't daily at the moment because I've been oot and aboot, doing the importants. I am here for school after all.

So with that in mind, here's a synopsis of today and yesterday:

Wake at 4am, the absolute terminus to my ability to force sleep upon myself, attempting to overcome the +13hr time change, so as though I were waking up at 3pm at home. Start day with pearl jasmine tea purchased in Beijing.

Flavor Country from another country.

Street food from Sryian market followed after two hours of scouring internet for appropriate public transit method, since all the "backpackers" and "travelers" staying at my guest house seem to be neither at all when we get down to the nitty gritty. It turns out they have no idea how to do anything around here and they just sit on the bench in the courtyard all day. Strange way to enjoy travel methinks, nice as the courtyard is.

Hop on bus to Chulalongkorn University. Only 35 minutes later, when being escorted off the bus at the end of the line, realize it's the wrong bus. However, rejoice in accidentally surrounding self with palaces and temples.

Begin to sweat fluid liters. Like, uncontrollable fountains of sweat, unyielding waterfalls exploding from my skull faster than I can replenish water by ingestion. And it was only around 88, or rather 32 degrees C. I think my desert-tuned body is akin a reverse sponge in this humidity.

Get ripped off by taxi driver after succumbing to the sweatflood and asking for a ride.

   "20 Baht."

   "Okay"

...arrive at destination...

   "200 baht."

   "Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh..."

We met somewhere in the middle.

007 my way into key coded door for which I have no access at the architecture building on campus. Fail to find room of ultimate destination, until a hero-of-the-day appears out from behind a closed door and knows the room I seek. Get some business handled while soaking wet from My Own Private Geyser, which incidentally, is not yet a movie, but surely will be now that I've coined the term and I happen to be from Idaho.

Starring Keanu Reeves, and me instead of that guy who died.

Leave Chulalongkorn. Saddly, through an open door I found down the hall, negating the awesomeness of 007ing my way into key coded door for which I have no access. Walk to Victory Monument, catch bus 14 on the wrong end of its loop, drive around for an extra 45 minutes in the absolutely insane Bangkok traffic, watching as motorbike and scooter drivers navigate the endless river of cars, buses, Toyota Hiluxes and luxury VW vans as if they were tropical, gasoline burning salmon migrating to their redds in their metropolitan headwaters. Arrive "home", awake hours later face down on my bed with the light still on.

Finish sleeping at 7am, read list of important emails, including one indicating I have a fellow student ready to help me around the campus and city. Enjoy cold shower (sort of, it wasn't hot...yet.) Achievement unlocked: ride the correct bus into city center! Meet my guide, Nuknik, a very kind and adept Thai student who was just the type of person with which I hope to surround myself while digging into the semester. She taught me how to order coffee, instant life-saver status. Side note: The coffee craze is bigger here than in the USA. Every third street vendor sells a list of hot and iced coffee and tea drinks, and as a giant coffee fan, I have to say that I love the cha yen here more than the coffee so far. Also, for realz, everything comes in a bag here. Observe:

Redefining tea bag.

She also helped me buy my uniform (yes I have to wear a uniform to school), including haggling on the shirts, helped me buy an international SIM card for my phone, helped me go apartment hunting, she even bought me lunch. It was fairly ridiculous, in a good way. I owe you lunch Nuknik. I will make you a hamburger the real way.

Larb, some chicken thingy and Som Tam, all at once of course,

from a restaurant mere steps away from the campus architecture building.

...and, after some five hours of running around downtown with Nuknik, I headed back to Victory Monument, which is maybe 2km up a really busy street and did some major people watching which, at times, was closer to crowd surfing at a Slayer concert.

Get stopped in log-jam traffic. Consider posting screen shot of "LOGJAMMIN'" from the Big Lebowski as I type, decide to move on. Decide to decide that would be a bad decision, decide to make the right decision in the end. 

...but sir, I don't even have cable TV...

And then it happened. I walked to Tops Super to see about getting a better price on water, because, cheap as it is here (13 baht at the 7 Eleven for a cold liter and a half of bottled water), I have to buy drinking water so I want to save money. I had a food epiphany while walking past the vendors on Nakorn Chaisi rd. But first, my grocery store smile-maker:

A jug of straight kiwi. It even specifies how and why there are no preservatives in it. Quite fantastic, and while it is absolutely delicious, it's got nothing on what I had for dinner:

Fried chicken, watermelon and malt liquor.

I can't top that, so good night.

 - Nick