Secret Society

Since my last post I've been spending my time between Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok on the weekends. Work has been really tough lately and I've just got so much to do. Having 3 different bosses can be difficult when each of them gives me work and does not know exactly how much work the others have also handed to me. In 2 weeks I hope things will settle down after I get through a few deadlines. I've also been kept from rugby for a while now because I'm usually out of the country on Thursdays. Ahh I do miss college for a lot of things, the biggest being freedom and access to sports anytime you feel like it.

I'll rewind to the beginning of the month...

A friend from California, Adriane, had been doing some non-profit work in the Philippines for the last few months before doing some traveling and going to get her MBA at Stanford (ugh) GSB in the Fall (one of the top 3 schools in the country). She crashed here in Bangkok for a few days as I showed her around a bit. We started with one of the biggest annual events Diageo puts on in this city - the Johnnie Walker Black Label Secret Society party. Celebs, big businessmen, models, etc were all there for the free drinks and to be seen. It was pretty posh and we met up with some of my other friends and ended up having a great time.


Nop, Adriane, Ally, and I just outside the party.


Ally and Katie at the Secret Society party. I met Katie coming off the BTS of all places. Ally is a friend of hers.


100K+ sports cars and a temple in the background overlooking the Chao Praya river. This is Bangkok.


Put your hand in the mouth, get a black label and soda water.




Moving on, the next day I took Adriane for a foot massage for like 5 bucks that lasted almost an hour and felt sooo good. No flash photography in there though. At night I took her to one of my favorite clubs in Bangkok; Santika. We met up with some friends and got hyphy. By midnight we were all wasted off of Black Label and singing to the live band (which played US hip hop, US rock, and Thai rock/pop). I don't think I got home until 6 AM.


Troy (Australian working in BK for over a year now), Adriane, and I at Santika.


Yeah they sell popcorn in the middle of the club. Genius.


Totally sober.

I think Adriane had an excellent short stay in Bangkok. It certainly was a fun weekend.

The following work week I was in Singapore where I got to meet up with my older brother Dar. He had just moved to Hong Kong a week earlier for a new job but he was in Singapore for a few days of work for his old job. This is his first permanent move to Asia and I was glad to welcome him. My poor Mother though - both her sons moved continents this year!

Dar and I partied until dawn at various places in Singapore. Can't wait for him to visit again in a month or two.


Bros.


One venue at St. James Powerstation (megaclub) in Singapore.

The next weekend I met up with Ally and some of her cool friends at Santika and a few other places. The shenanigans that ensued I can't even talk about, but I had a lot of fun. Oh I almost met up with my godfather Gilbert who was in town for a night. I hadn't seen him in years and it was good to catch up. Hopefully not the last time.


Samir, Ally, Nat, and I in ???


Nat, Fab, and Ally gettin' down.


We went to an Egyptian Hookah place after the partying (known as Shishah here) and I ended up seeing my buddy Mark there by chance! He introduced me to this joint and he's pretty much a regular.

Random thought - I think one day when I have the money to blow in my 30s I'd like to buy an Aston Martin or a Jaguar. First I'll have to buy a house though...

The next weekend I basically just partied and shopped. I also saw 28 Weeks Later which was quite disturbing. There was one part of the movie that was so gross I just had to look away, and that has only to me perhaps a handful of times in my life.

Here's a bunch of snapshots to paint you a picture:


Back to Santika again with Chen-Yu, Justine, Marcel, and Jenny. Justine's older friend from Germany, Stephan, couldn't get in unfortunately because he didn't have his ID (strange for Thailand to be so strict). The guy is at least 40! He made the classic tourist mistake of getting angry and raising his voice though, which gets you nowhere with locals. The bouncer was NEVER going to let him in after that. So he went back to his hotel.


The guitarist at Santika is a bad ass. You know I recently got into some Thai bands like Silly Fools, Bodyslam, and Big Ass. When in Rome...!


Chen-Yu (a Taiwanese friend working in the family business here in BK) and a local gal (Janey?)


We got a small table in the front row of the dance floor! Justine and one of the singers, Chang. There's also an Eminem wannabe that does most of the US songs.

Basically I'm still having the time of my life. I'm not partying every other night like these pictures suggest though. Work really stresses me out during the week sometimes but I like being challenged. I'm off to HCMC on the 9 AM flight tomorrow, and then going to Singapore/Kuala Lumpur the following week. My sister and Mom are going to stop by in the next couple weeks as they travel to a couple other stops in Asia. I need some supplies, like protein bars and Burt's Bees...


I'm not drinking in this picture! @ a huge mall in front of some floral display dedicated to the King.

Here are a couple pictures from Songkran (the Thai New Year festival) from last month that I didn't put up a few posts ago:


All out waterfight on Khao San Road. No one is safe!


The white stuff is a powder-water mix that the Thais put on everyones face as you walk by during Songkran.

And on that note I'll leave you for a couple more weeks. Take care... Keep in touch you lazy sods. My cell number is +66 81 848 4309. Still just a phone call away...

At least I found out that 3 of my best friends will be visiting me for at least a week in August. At least one of them won't be going back to California!