Dragon and Mr. X

I was too scared to take more pictures... this doesn't do the scene justice.

Before we forget, this story has got to be written down. We had some
of the funniest events happen today on our journey to Thailand. First
off, we flew Ethiopian Air to Bangkok from Hong Kong. The name should
have tipped us off but Jason got a really great round-trip deal so we
figured what the heck. We luckily arrived at the airport in plenty of
time because Jason needed to pick up something he left on the United
flight over. As we rounded the corner to the United counter we noticed
hordes of African men with mountains of boxes taped and bound up. Each guy had at least 5 or 6 boxes. It was quite a sight and the picture
doesn't do the scene justice. I looked at Jason like a deer in
headlights and he reassured me that those couldn't possibly be going
on a passenger flight.

I asked a counter rep what they were transporting and he said it was
all counterfeit stuff (mostly electronics, cell phones, clothes) –
they fly into Hong Kong, drive to Gangzhou and load up on stuff, then
drive back to Hong Kong and fly back to Ethiopia from there. China
doesn't allow fake goods to fly out of the country but HK doesn't
check too closely I guess. All those goods were indeed on our flight
and we just crossed our fingers that they scan everything.

The flight was much better than we anticipated and we would have
traded our seats for the seats and flight we had on United any day. We
even got our own Ethiopian eye mask, socks, and toothbrush. When we
arrived in Bangkok we passed the customs inspection (if the old man
could pick up your bag you passed and didn't get pulled aside;
otherwise, your bag had to be scanned) and headed to the taxis. On
average a taxi ride into Bangkok from the airport is supposed to run
about 500 baht. Ours was less than 300 baht, which should tip you off
to the great – and death-defying – service we got. The speed limit for
most of the trip was 80kph and we were consistently being taxi'd at
over 120kph. This almost tops the taxi ride we got from Manhattan to
Newark one time but not quite. Not enough cars on the road this trip.
And it doesn't come close to the one we had in Chicago where we told
him to stop and we got out several blocks from our destination (ask
Jason about this one, he likes telling the story).

The hotel so far is FANTASTIC. It's the Millennium Hilton and we have
access to the executive lounge during our stay, which includes free
breakfast, drinks and snacks throughout the day, free internet, free
laundry, etc. Too bad Nicole will miss it ;)

The person that filled out the government paperwork at the hotel had a
nametag that said X. Jason asked how to pronounce his name and he said "X." And the porter that brought our baggage up is named Dragon.
Seriously Thai people, is this for real?

We're looking forward to seeing what Bangkok has to offer tomorrow.
After, of course, checking out the pool and the lounge and enjoying
the hotel a bit.