little differences...

So there's no Royale with Cheese in the Land of Smiles, but there are little differences (Pulp). For instance, if you ever get the chance to fly on a little airline called Air Asia - you should really go for it - you not only get to exit the plane right onto the runway (talk about rockstar parking baby) but you also get to land on only one wheel and then witness an impromptu communal prayer session amongst all 45 terrified passengers.

Other less life threatening novelties include refreshing prices. Here are some examples:

1. Red Bull (un carbonated and sweeter but it does the job) - 30 cents

2. 1.5 liter bottle of H2O - 39 cents

3. Fresh-caught whole lobster - 6 dollars (you gettin' this Dad?)

4. Hotel with air conditioning, wi-fi in-room, and an ocean view - 25 bucks a night (check out the pic)

5. 1 hour Thai massage on the beach - 6 buck-a-roos

6. Witty T-shirts (THIS ONE IS FOR YOU MARKO) - 3 dollars

7. Starbucks drip coffee - 4 dollars (yep, Starbucks is a rip-off EVERYWHERE - sigh)

The other little differences are cultural - the more we learn about this culture, the more we fall in love with it. Here are some cool cultural nuances that we've enjoyed.

1. Thai people smile all the time; big, warm, toothy smiles.

2. Thai people only put a small spoonful of one kind of food on their plate at a time (this is hard for Ty and I as we are piglets, and the food is scrump-diddly-umptious). Also, it is the custom to serve someone else at the table before serving yourself.

3. Thais don't shake hands, but instead they Wai (they press their hands together in a prayer-like position close to their face and bow slightly. This is a sign of respect.

4. Names are important to Thais and many go through the trouble of learning your name even in brief interactions. Ironically, they have a very difficult time with Ty's name - they usually look really confused and ask Ty to repeat it several times. Most of them kindly give up after a while. In the event we can't pronounce their name (which is frequent because there are tones and sounds in Thai that don't exist in English) they will create a nickname for themselves that is more fa-rang friendly. If the nickname is still too difficult, they shorten or simplify it further until we are able to say it - one person, for instance, simply went by "J" - slam dunk.

We're looking forward to diggin' on other intricacies of the culture - we'll keep ya posted =)~