God is moving in Thailand and India!
11/13/05

Today (Sunday) is the second full day in Bangkok. Once we left the airport (where "customs" as I know it didn't exist, we just walked through a hallway, and out the airport, with no questions as to what we were bringing into the country) we walked right out into a sauna. Ug, the heat was like a steaming wet blanket laid over us, making it hard to breathe. Here I was, used to temps. in the 60's, back into warm weather in the high 80's, with 90%+ humidity. We got in taxi vans for the drive to the hotel which was about 25 min. away. It was a wild ride.

The highways here (literally high, raised freeways) are wild. It's a toll way with an 84 MPH speed limit! We arrived at the hotel, got into our rooms and crashed. Well, it took a little time to get to bed, what with going down to the corner 7-Eleven (of which there are 1400 in Bangkok (literally on almost every corner down town)) to buy water. I tried to buy a Slurpee but I was told in no-uncertain terms that "That machine already off today" Oh. It didn't look off to me, but it only squirted liquid. Oh-well.

I got to bed about 4 am local time (which is 15 hours ahead of CA). I awoke, wide awake at 7:30, when I didn't need to be up until 9:15. So I got up anyway, read my bible and got a few things settled with my video equipment, then went down to breakfast.
After a late breakfast, we gathered as a group on the patio and talked about the plan for the day. We walked down the road a little ways until we reached an open-air market area, which was more like booths and stalls setup on the (narrow) sidewalk. We were given free time for a couple hours to browse the stalls and shops.

After our little free time, we met at the lobby of a hotel near the market and met up with two missionary couples, the Fords, and Coles. We talked about their ministries, and backgrounds, and got to know them a little. From there, I went with Rick and several others to a Tailor's shop Tailored clothing here is really reasonable, and about the only choice for many of us larger Americans. The cost for Tailored clothing is less than off-the-rack clothes in the US. A couple people ordered suits and shirts.

After a while, we walked down to a mall. This place was wild. It was 7 stories high, but not laid out like a multi-story American mall would be, which would have an open center area. Each floor was all enclosed, I guess so that they could take full advantage of space. On the 4th floor was the food court. I guess each "restaurant" was owned by the mall, or at least one central company, because to get food, you first had to purchase a card, like a gift card with any amount of money you wanted. I put 100 Bhat ($2.50) on a card.
Once you choose something to eat, you give them the card, then your order is deducted from the amount. You can go to another place, get something else, and like before the amount is deducted from your card. Once done, you take your card back, and are refunded any remaining balance. My total diner cost: 72 Bhat (about $1.80). If you eat from the street vendors (which can be a little risky for foreigners) you can eat for $0.50 a day! To say the least food here is cheap.

Once we ate, we wandered around the mall a little bit, then headed back to the hotel for a team meeting. Once the meeting was over, we were encouraged to stay up to 10 or later to help adjust to the time zone. I was so tired, I thought about going out with some of the others, but I was too tired. I stayed in the room, thinking I would do some reading. I got ready for bed with the idea that I would read for a while. That didn't happen. I read about 2 lines worth of text, and was too tired. I slept hard. I woke up every 3 hours, but got back to sleep immediately, and felt quite good 11 hours later when it was time to get up.

This morning (Sunday), we awoke, had breakfast, and met to go to church. We went to church at a Thai Baptist church here in Bangkok. This church has been around for 25 years, and just moved into their new building. This week was their 6th Sunday. It is a beautiful building with lots of classrooms, and 2 apartments for the senior and associate pastor. It really was a spectacular building. After, church, where Rick preached with Pastor Kiatisak interpreting, we had lunch with the congregation.

We are now back at the hotel, spending a little time relaxing before we head to the Airport. We leave here at 4pm.