Below are the 3 most recent journal entries recorded in beninem's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, January 16th, 2007
1:33 am	I spent several days on Kho Mak, an island with under 400 people living on it, and stayed in a hut on the beach for $6 a day. Upon arriving, I was pleased to discover that the next evening would be "Kho Mak Relation Day". Around sunset, when the entire island shut down for festivities at the pier. A functional Thai navy battleship was there for all to visit and explore. Little kids were making the gun turrets turn surprisingly fast, and there was beer for sale near the smaller machine guns. The local school provided most of Relation Day's entertainment, on a huge stage with smoke machines and club lighting. Most of the show was elementary and middle school aged kids booty dancing to Asian techno music. There was also a dance routine based on Hindu stories, and the costumes made it clear where George Lucas got the design for Jabba's guards and the speeder bike troopers. At the end, more fireworks were launched at at dangerously close distances. Several huge, flaming debris hit the canvas foodcarts below, but no harm was done. This was vastly cooler than any school recital I participated in. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, January 11th, 2007
6:44 am	Holy Crap Bangkok is overwhelming. Everywhere else in Thailand has been very laid back, but BKK is a sensory overload. Still super fun, but exhausting within minutes and much hotter than the other cities I've been in. Last night, we went to an adult entertainment venue called "super girls" where, among other things, ladies shot bannanas and darts out of their privates, but did so maintaining a hello-kitty like innocence. A nice lady wrote a get well card with her hoo-ha for our friend who was bedridden with food poisoning. I'm usually uncomfortable at those kind of venues, but this somehow retained a superhappyfun aspect, even while ladies did strange naked things with candles while "The Final Countdown" played in the background. It was more Pokemon than Showgirls in my opinion. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, January 6th, 2007
3:58 am	I'm currently in Pai, which is a few hours outside of Chiang Mai. According to my travel companions, it was a very quiet low-key community a few years ago, which existed largely due to its access to various nature activities. Unfortnately, it's become very tourist and bohemian oriented, and it's easier to find pizza and reggae than pad thai and monks. Biking out to the hot springs was fun, but seeing white american hippies on the street selling necklaces was the final convincing I needed to cut my stay here a day short. There is too much excellent stuff elsewhere. I also puked out two days worth of food yesterday. It wasn't acidic though, so it was more like a little adventure than anything upsetting. (2 Comments |Comment on this)