first day–culture shock

For pictures see the Albums on the left:

The bad:
woke up early with my room mates, didn't say a word to them. the bathrooms there were really nice and i had a nice shower and got ready for the day. I decided i was going to just go wander the streets and kind of figure out my location and what not. because i arrived so late the night before i didn't really get to take in any of my surroundings the night before so it was pretty much like going to sleep one night and waking up in a different place the next. i didn't really have anywhere to go so i though i could just wander and see the people. walking around i got lost so many times and i kept back tracking to the hotel so i knew i would be able to find it again. it wasn't too enjoyable. the streets were crazy and there was cooking everywhere. no one really seemed to want to sell me anything, they kind of just hung out. the main thing that i can say is that it is really different, its just such a different lifestyle and its hard to me to understand so I'm confused. i think of myself as a pretty resourceful guy so when i cant figure something out it frustrates me.
The good:
i found a little park that had a big paved walk around and i decided to do that and just take in the scenery. there was a basketball court with two groups of middle aged guys playing hacky sack.
i thought it was funny cause i didn't see any kids with them. walking a little further i saw an outdoor gym with a bunch of old guys pumping iron. just on the other side there was 3 ladies doing some sort of martial art/ dance with fans. they let me take a video and then they tried to teach me. i didn't get a video of them teaching me now thinking back it would have been a good idea but maybe next time. it was actually really hard to make the loud noise that they do when they open the fan and every movement is so specific. they kept correcting me and laughing but it was still really fun and interesting.
I wandered around a but more and found a big mall that only seemed to sell women's clothes and KFC. then i found a little street market that sold all sorts of electronics, then i got lost and couldn't find it again.
after going back to my room, getting a couple pep talks from people back home i decided to venture back out into the unknown.
i decided to try the plan a whole bunch before i depart route. i decided to go to the “grand palace” and see what's up there. as soon as i got in the area i felt so much better. so many more tourists it just made me feel at ease.
the grand palace is a HUGE walled off part of the city where you can just see the roofs of the temples. walking all the way around to the entrance they make sure that you were wearing acceptable clothing and i bought my ticket. I met a girl named Julie who was from Denmark. she had left her friend for the day and i asked if she wanted to stick together. we spend the afternoon at the temples taking pictures and going around trying to figure it all out being two cheap tourists who didn't want to pay for a guide. it was amazing. cant even explain with words the detail that went into all of the buildings. along the walls all the way around was a painted story which was so long we wouldn't have been able to get through it. after we went to the kings palace where we saw his car, a really nice white Benz and took pictures with his guards. my camera died but Julie had a really nice SLR and she said she will send me some pictures so ill be able to post those when i get them.
after we decided we were going to see the big “Reclining Buddha” we had to walk all the way around the walls cause there is only one entrance. while walking there was a flash thunderstorm that lasted about 20 min. the rain went sideways so he hid behind telephone booths and walls of buildings till it passed. luckily the Buddha was inside. this thing was huge!

there was a ringing sound the whole time we were in there and i thought it might be the rain landing in metal buckets or something. around the back side of the Buddha there were about 50 metal bowls all in a line and you could pay to get very small change and drop one in each of them. again being cheap we didn't partake.
after we left i said goodbye to Julie who was leaving for Vietnam that night and was able to navigate back to my room.
The bad:
Once i got back to my room i felt like crap. The air in Bangkok isn't the best, and i think the rain brought down all the pollution and it went into my lungs. also a combination of my jet lag catching up to me and not eating much since i got there. i was going to have a little nap and then go get some dinner from the cafe downstairs. then i woke up at like 1 on the morning and realized i missed my opportunity.