Well to my absolute surprise, a friend I thought i wasn't going to be able to see again, was waiting in the terminal in the airport for me. I checked my bags, checked in, had to go pay and extra $60 USD for overweight luggage, then sat down and hung out for a while till my flight started boarding. Then I went through customs. They stopped me at the security check cause I had two lighters. Now what exactly can I do with two lighters on a plane that I can't do with one? I left the lighter behind and walked over to the gate as the boarding line was forming. Every one in an airport is in such a hurry to get onto the plane, they all stand up and rush to stand in line. Air Asia is free seating, so I guess if you push and shove, you might get a slightly better seat, but there all pretty much the same. Through the gate and crammed into the shuttle bus that takes us to the plane, everyone pushes and shoves there way out of the bus and to the walkway outside to get on the plane. I have to fight to keep my hat and my Khaen's from getting smashed. I also don't care what seat I get.

Flights are boring, so when I got to BKK, the airport was busy as I've ever seen it, and it took a while to get through customs and stand in line for a taxi. The taxi driver immediately tried to charge me 400 Baht, almost twice the normal price. Even though there was no traffic the asshole took the toll-ways just to get more money from me. When we arrived, he still tried to charge me more than the meter read, and I ended up paying a ridiculous 300 Baht, and after I argued about the price, and complained about him, to him, he had the audacity to hold out his hand and expect a tip from me. I gave him a tip, if your honest, you will get a lot more, then I turned around and walked away(Now I'm complaining about spending $7.5 instead of $5, but that's not important). I walk to my friends internet shop where she was waiting for me, and set my stuff down.

I arranged my train tickets the next day for Chiang Mai, and by 7:00 I was on my way. On arrival to Chiang Mai, I went right to my friends house, dropped off my stuff, and went for some coffee and food. A little rest and we're off on our pre planned evening. We meet up with my aunt in Chiang Mai, who closed her bar that day to come hang out with us, and head out to who the hell knows where, and sit down for a cook it yourself bbq hot pot dinner. Fantastic. Huge tables full of whatever you want, all kinds of meat, fish, vegetables, etc... We spent a couple hours there cooking our food, and then off to the Hug Restaurant. We arrive, and my friend is being interviewed by a BKK TV show about what he has been doing for the last six years since his disappearance from the BKK music scene. We chat for a while, jam for a while, hang out, and decide to take off as the music winds down by about midnight.

On the way back to the hotel, we stop by the Spotlight so ma can introduce me to someone, and we meet a guy who's sitting in there by himself. Entertaining I guess, the guy was a real egotist. He supposedly has a company freeze drying and shipping thai herbs all over the world, but soon enough we find out that he hasn't got a single order, and I'm not sure how much involvement he really has in this company, that doing business, without selling their product. Right. Enough is enough and we call it a night and head home.

When I wake up, ma's at the pool sun bathing, and we head out for some coffee. Soon after, a massage, then shopping for a couple gifts for me to bring back to people. My friend owns a booth in the night market in Chiang Mai selling cd's and watches, so I go to talk to her first. I end up choosing and buying three watches, two Rolexes and a Raddo, and she says she will give me another watch for free if I would just shave. I don't believe her, but she seems serious, so I turn around and head back to the room in seconds. I shave my face, but leave my goatie(as always) and return. She won't take it. She offers a cd for the effort, but no, I'm going for the gold. If you play the game show, you want the prize, so lets get the watch. I went back to the room a second time and shaved the goatie and side burns completely off. I walk back sulking cause I hate the way I look with no facial hair, but it's hard to really sulk when all I had to do was shave off some hair that will grow back in a week to get a free watch. We make it to another bar to jam for a little while, a lady bar with promise of watching a shower show(although we found out later it only happens at 11:00) and again, decide not to head to the clubs.

The next evening I'm sitting back at the Hug Bar and my friend invites me out to see his new farm in the country side. This is an opportunity that I've been wanting to do for the whole 7 months I've been out here, and so at 11:00 at night, I am trying to figure out a way to stay and extra day in Chiang Mai, which means changing my train ticket, and my plane ticket back home. Well in the morning, my friend calls me and lets me know all the immediate flights are full and I might be able to get one in a week or so, but nothing was for sure, and it was too much time. I never made to his farm, but I did get to see a video of it, and it looks absolutely stunning.

I make it back to BKK and meet up with my friends again, I arrive at about 7 am and I have 24 hours to waste till my flight. I spent the whole time hanging out with friends, got in the taxi, and off I went. The flights were smooth, I slept through the entire first flight to Taipei, slept through the layover in the airport, and slept through the first half of the long flight from Taipei to Seattle. Now I'm back home, and everythings open for what's next. We'll see what happens.

Peace