Bangkok Wow!

When I arrived in Bangkok last Sunday night, I was shocked by how modern the city is. After living in Bien Hoa, Vietnam for three months, it seemed like I had stepped back on US soil when I got off the plane. It actually took me a couple of days to adjust to the Western lifestyle.

There were soaring skyscrapers everywhere.

The SkyTrain was fast, easy & clean. It was like riding the BART in San Francisco.

There were modern shopping malls with stores like Paul Frank & Gucci, & a health club that you might see in LA or Chicago.

There were even beautiful fountains that actually worked.

In the middle of all this, right in the heart of the bustling city, there were amazing Buddhist temples, hundreds of years old.

Bangkok has everything anyone could want. It has restaurants serving any cuisine you desire: Indian, Mexican, Italian - from elegant restaurants to street food. The night life lasts till dawn. It has Starbucks, McDonalds & 7-Eleven. There are yoga studios & modern movie theaters. But there are still plenty of tuk-tuks, street vendors, & traditional Thai crafts - the elements that a vacation traveler might be looking for.

Everyone speaks English there, it seems. Almost all of the signs & billboards are in Thai & English. At the shopping mall, there is a bookstore on par with Borders or Barnes & Noble with tons of books in English. Real books. Not just photo copied versions. It was so refreshing to be able to communicate with people without engaging in an elaborate game of charades.

I settled into the hustle & bustle of city life quite easily, enjoying the conveniences of Bangkok that I don't have where I'm living in Vietnam. I think it would be very easy to live there.