Shampoo 1, Ginger 0

I don't know about you guys but, when I get stressed about things in my life, I tend to get upset over the little things like the grocery store not having my favorite kind popcorn or Wolfie playing his music too loudly or the jerk taking over my seat on the plane. Today was one of those kinds of days. After another 15 hour train ride, I got to the hotel only to realize that my shampoo had spilled all over my bag. THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW. I flipped a shit. Not really. I scrubbed my bag, clothes, and backpack silently while trying not to cry and mumbling about how fed up I was/wanted to go home. When I got out of the shower, I realized that I'm really just stressed out about life, about graduate rejections, and about jobs, because really, if anything, my backpack now just smells like jasmine and Asian silk. 

Khoar, fully understanding the issue at hand, suggested that we got to one of the biggest shopping malls in Bangkok to take advantage of the food court. A girl after my heart.

While eating my fries, I started thinking about how the mall was kind of a symbol for globalization. I mean just from my chair I could see a Krispy Kreme, Dunkin Donuts, DQ, and a number of other American companies. But in the US, how often do we see Asian or African chains in our shopping centers? I know that we import cars and there are some big companies that are obviously foreign, but other than that, the exchange seems pretty one way. As Americans we can travel around the world and, if at anytime, we are feeling homesick for some disgusting processed food, it can usually be found within a 10 mile radius. It's just a bit sad, too, that this is what people think about when they think about the United States--McDonalds, coke, Hollywood, and Obama. Obama, I'm fine with, but the rest??? 

Don't worry (especially parental units), we didn't spend the whole day in an air-conditioned American-look-alike mall. We left after lunch and spent the rest of the day exploring temples! 

Inside the Golden Mount, one of the tallest temples in Bangkok. 

After the Golden Mount, we got in a tuk tuk and drove around the old city to see another smaller wat (word for temple), the Marble Wat, and a 105 foot tall Buddha. 

A few photos from the Marble Temple, seriously the most gorgeous wat I've been to thus far. This British guy, who has been living in Bangkok for 7 years, said I had to see it. 

This is the 105 foot tall Buddha. Apparently, this time of year the monks and neighborhood hold something equivalent to a state fair just around the wat. So Hoar and I stumbled across cotton candy, popcorn, balloon games, bingo, a small Farris Wheel, and a goat petting station. It was great. We observed some unusual food like fried squid eggs, lots of different kinds of assorted meat balls, and neon-colored sketchy drinks that I, of course, had to try. 

Back at the hostel now. Getting ready to bunker in and do some reading. And tomorrow, it's right back to another day trying to figure out who the fuck drew the maps in our guidebooks.