Merry Christmas from Jakarta, with some photos from Bangkok!

Merry Christmas from Jakarta!  It is officially the night before Christmas here - it's dark, and I can hear the call to prayer echoing through the halls of my kost.  (Usually I can't hear it so loud, but the university is on break and many of the students who live at my kost have gone home until the new year.)  The call to prayer happens five times a day and can be heard in any part of the city, which is an interesting contrast to the Christmas decorations that can be seen all over the malls.  The MUI, the Muslim Ulema Council (basically the Indonesian Muslim clerical body that makes all the rules for Muslims in Indonesia) just declared that Muslims can wish their Christian friends "Merry Christmas," which is a nice reminder that I am living in a society very tolerant to religion.

My Christmas plans aren't very detailed, and that is okay with me.  I am having dinner with a coworker tomorrow for Christmas.  The next day, I will be cat-sitting for a different coworker while she goes on a visa run to Singapore.  On Saturday, the 27th, I will finish my cat-sitting and head straight to a television studio where I will be a diner on a reality television show!  They needed bule for the show, and I fit the part!  I'm not allowed to post anything about the show, so that's why I'm being vague, but after the show airs in January, I'll make sure to write a blog post about being behind-the-scenes on a reality cooking competition. 

I spent the last week with the flu, and I barely had the energy to walk to the corner to buy water and noodles, let alone concentrate to write a blog post, so my Bangkok photos are a little dated, but I wanted to share them with you.  You can see them below.

I started my day by taking a taxi to the Grand Palace.  I had heard about scams where tuk-tuk drivers will tell you the Palace is closed, so I was aware that this happened; however, as I approached the entrance, a man stopped me and explained that my capri pants were too short and I couldn't enter during the special ceremony.  I would have to come back around 1:30.  I didn't even think anything of it.  I let him shoo me into a tuk-tuk that promised to let me see the city and come back when the ceremony was over.  About 2 minutes into my tuk-tuk ride, I realized I had been scammed.  Overall, it wasn't a horrible detour.  I only spent the equivalent of $3 on a 1.5 hour tuk-tuk ride.  That is my driver, Toa, in the yellow polo. 

The scam is that the drivers receive a commission if you buy anything at the stores they end up bringing you to.  I did buy a scarf at one store, but I realized later that I could have gotten the same scarf at a night marked for cheaper.  All-in-all, it's not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, and I wasn't on a schedule, so I wasn't out much.

The Grand Palace was beautiful, and requires at least two hours to walk around and see everything.  The details on the buildings are so amazing; words really can't describe how serene and picturesque the property is.

By this point, I was starving, so I ate some green curry before moving on to Wat Pho.

Wat Pho is the Giant Reclining Buddha.  The property is also very quiet and serene, and the Buddha was magnificent.  The size is amazing.

After Wat Pho, I walked to the river and ate some Pineapple Fried Rice before walking about 30 minutes to Khao San Road, or the backpacker's road, where I looked around some shops.

I took a tuk-tuk back to my hostel.  The ride to the Grand Palace from my hostel was 100 baht, but the tuk-tuk driver told me 500 baht when he stopped.  I laughed in his face, gave him 100 baht, and walked away.  (Make sure if you ever travel to Bangkok, to ask the reception at your hotel what you should spend on transportation.  Thankfully, I had done that.)

The next day, I went to Snake Farm, which was right across the street from my hostel.  The zoo of snakes serves to educate people about snakes and to research anti-venom medicines.  I was actually very glad I went, even though I am disgusted and frightened by snakes.  If you find yourself in Bangkok and have an extra couple of hours, this is something I would highly recommend.

Overall, Bangkok was very amazing and a much-needed respite from noisy, dirty, and congested Jakarta.  Two days was not long enough, and I hope to return in the future!

Merry Christmas, y'all!