Update

Well another week finished of teaching and all went pretty well.  I didn't get any pictures again.  I either forgot my camera or there wasn't many people in the class.  I guess I will just have to take pictures on multiple day, as I don't think I'm ever going to have all the people in the class.  On Monday, a guy named Per from Denmark came for a meditation retreat until Friday.  So during the week it was basically teaching, chanting, and mediation.  Pretty routine.  Friday, Per and I left the Wat and headed for Bangkok.  We went our own ways once we got off the bus as we were staying in completely different areas of Bangkok.  So, basically I take a bus from the Wat that you just sit at the side of the road and it picks you up, then it takes you to the Southern Bus Station.  From the station, you take a taxi to where you want to go.  There are two types of taxies here, Metered or just flat rate ones.  The flat rate ones usually rip you off.  Well, I hopped into a metered taxi and I was off to the hotel.  Well about 3 or four blocks from the Bus station, the taxi stopped at the side of the road, as I believe he didn't know where he was going and tried to get me to take another taxi.  We were stopped for about 10 minutes before I got it explained that I only wanted a metered taxi so he was flagging down taxi after taxi to see if they would take me.  Well, about 20 minutes after he finally found a taxi that knew where my hotel was and I was off.  In the end, the metered taxi cost me 205 Baht (the flat rate taxies want 300 Baht).  But I did get here.

Friday, I explored an area of Bangkok called Siam (well a little bit).  It much better than China Town where we came last time.  I rented a room at a hotel called "Grande Centre Point" and I tell you the room is amazing.  It has a great view, the room is huge, and it even has a washer/dryer combo in it so I can get some laundry done before i go back.

There are tons of shops and malls around.  When I first got here I was walking around and found a place called "Central World Plaza".  This place is huge, 8 stories of shops and restaurants with everything from clothes, to furniture, to electronics, and every type of food you can imagine.  After that I decided I really wanted a steak so I asked the front desk where to find one.  They directed me to a place called "New York Steakhouse".  I phoned and made a reservation to find out that I had to have pants and shoes to enter.  I quickly changed and headed there, I ended up heading that wrong way and had to backtrack a lot but after about 45 minutes of walking I found the place.  It was a super fancy restaurant and most people were dressed up in suits and dresses so I felt a bit underdressed in my T-shirt and jeans but oh well.  The prices were sorta outrageous also but I was there so I decided to eat anyway as the food looked delicious.  I ended up ordering a Caesar Salad (which the actually made right in front of me and made the dressing from scratch, a baked potato, some sautéed mushrooms, and of course a 18 oz T-bone.  Mmmm it was so good.  The whole meal ended up costing me about 4000 Baht ($120) which was pretty crazy but oh well, its not like I'm going to get a steak that good very often.  From there, I sat outside the hotel trying to decide whether to take a tuk tuk home or walk, as I was stuffed.  But I decided to walk off all the food I had just eaten.  When I got back to the hotel, I had a nice HOT shower (oh how I love hot water, I'll definitely appreciate hot water more when I get back), and hit the nice bed and surrounded myself with the nice and soft pillows.  Well that brings me up to now, which I;m sitting here having a cup of coffee (which I've only had once since I got here).   I'm off to hit the pool for a bit, then head to a place called Siam Center which is a huge shopping centre (I believe, I'll have to let you know), as the main reason of coming here was to pick up some books for teaching.

The Entrance to my room

The kitchen and dining area.  They provide a toaster, hot plate, water boiler, washer/dryer combo, silverware, pots/pans/glasses.

Dining room

Bedroom

Bedrrom

Hallway

Closet.  Finally a hotel that supplies a in room safe so I don't have to carry my laptop around with me.

Make up counter, don't really need this LOL

Bathroom

Bathroom

Entertainment center.  They even supply a fax machine and a stereo.

The view during the day

The view during the day.

The Pool from above

They supply everything tooth brush, tooth paste, comb, emery board, sowing kit, cotton swabs, shaving kit, and of course a shower cap and shampoo/conditioner/lotion.

The view at night.

The view at night.

The Meal.  Started off with 4 types of fresh made bread with butter and garlic butter

Then they came to make my Caesar Salad.

The waitress hard at work on my Caesar.  I think they were wondering why I was taking pictures.

My Caesar Salad.  Oh it was so good.

When they sat this down in front of me I knew it was going to be good.

My steak.  Oh sooooo good.

Baked Potato and Mushrooms.  The steak was so big they had to be on the side LOL