One day in Kuala Lumpur - Mosques, Malls, Buddhist Temples and Street Brawls

I just spent twenty six hours in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia.

Before I arrived I was a little apprehensive about visiting Malaysia. In case you don't know, Malaysia counts itself among the nations of the world that choose to not recognize that Israel has existed for sixty one years now. This means that a full half of my extended family would be denied entry to the country with their Israeli passport. This means that if I took out the wrong passport, I would be denied entry to the country. Understandably, I wasn't sure I wanted to give this country any money.

In the end, I decided I was curious to see the society, and that it would be a good educational experience. Besides, its not like one night in a hotel will really make a dent in their economy.

I arrived early afternoon, and as in every other place I've been, the first thing I see in the airport is a McDonalds and a KFC. Here however, a big sign informed me that the meat in the restaurants was all Halal. Not quite Kosher, but at least there is no pork in the cheese burgers. There was also a Muslim prayer room, and a big compass pointing towards Mecca.

I took a bus into town, and then a subway ride brought me to the famous Petronas towers. When they were finished in 2004 they were considered by many to be the tallest buildings in the world. I found a place to stay near the towers, and once I was settled in I returned to the towers to explore the area a bit.

The bottom seven floors of the towers form a massive mall. Every luxury brand in the world seemed to be there, though the huge iPhone stand in the middle certainly dominated the scene. In the food court I was greeted with many familiar names; however, everything seemed just a little different. Famous Amos here was basically a souvenir shop that sold cookies as an afterthought. Auntie Anne's selection of specialty pretzels included Seaweed, Green Tea and other equally appealing options. When I made my way to the supermarket to see what I would find, I noticed a bid box of Matzohs lining a shelf. On the box, a notice from the Rabbinate of London explained that while kosher, these were not to be eaten on Passover. Now I know what happens to all the matzos that are accidentally allowed to leaven.

Later, on my way back to the Hotel I witnessed a very weird situation. Everything happened pretty quickly, so I'm not exactly sure what went down. I was slowly walking to my room when I heard someone yell behind me. I look back to see one guy, looked to be a local Malay teenager, attack another group of locals. The group responded in kind, and hit him back. Truth is, they may have started things, I didn't see. Suddenly, twenty people appeared behind the lone guy, and a genuine street brawl ensued. No one in the fight looked older than twenty. I notice to police officers walk right by and not do anything. Realizing that the last thing I needed was to end up hurt and alone in Malaysia, I made the decision that if the cops could ignore the fight, so could I. As I turned around to walk away, a group of Chinese tourists headed in that direction noticed the action as well, and decided it would be best to make a wide detour around the fight. Seeing that I was not Chinese, they somewhat condescendingly pointed to the brawl and said "no good." When I concurred in Chinese, they all giggled with excitement and we had a very nice chat.

I woke up early the next morning and visited the Guan Yin Sagely Monastery. The monastery is in the middle of the city, and with the communal kitchen and shared roles, it felt more like a kibbutz than anything else. The main difference is that in kubbitzim that I've been to, if there is a temple on the premises, it usually doesn't have large golden idols of buddhist gods in the middle of the room.

On the way to the airport, I noticed many large mosques adorning the city. The mosques are all very beautiful and quite larger than any I've seen. At the checkout counter I was informed that I would not be allowed on the plane, as they do not have me registered with a visa. One of my friends currently in Australia told me that I would not need a visa for short the trip. Not true. Luckily, Australia has an instant visa approval system online, and I just opened my laptop and applied for the visa. Twenty minutes later I was able to check in no problem.

I'm now on the plane nearing melbourne. The virtual map on screen shows the direction to two cities, Melbourne and Mecca. All in all, Kuala Lumpur was a fun and interesting city. Everyone was very friendly, and I think most of my apprehension was shown to be unfounded. Granted, they didn't know I am Israeli, but even if they had, I'm pretty sure most wouldn't have cared. Then again, I was only here for one night, and already I witnessed a full on street brawl. It was probably best that I didn't get involved.

Yoni

Some School and Pesach in Israel

Hey everyone,

So I've been out of contact for a while. Didn't have much exciting to report I guess. Eventually I had to settle in for some school, and since I got back from Shanghai through early April when I left for Pesach (Passover for any non-hebrew speakers) I've mostly been focused on passing my classes. All is good on that front. Overall my classes are not quite as interesting as I believe their Brandeis equivalents would be, mostly because students never speak up here, so lectures tend to basically be monotonous extended monologues. I do really like my Chinese philosophy class, as well as learning to write Chinese. I'm getting pretty good, and can write 230 characters, and read even more. I can also speak a fair amount. Surprisingly, another favorite class is American Cinema. I have never taken the time to watch Charlie Chaplin, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and other great classic movies, so the opportunity has been welcome.

I've also spent time playing rugby and Judo, which have both been fun. Since I mostly hang out with fellow exchange students or my roommate, rugby has given me an opportunity to get to know the permanent ex-pat crowd, while Judo has helped me meet local students native to Hong Kong.

As usual, I flew to Israel to celebrate Pesach with the family. It was great to see everyone. Everyone, cousins and grandparents included, went down to Eilat for four days. Joe and Ari took their Advanced Open Water Diver course, which I had done in Thailand, and I tagged along practicing some of the skills I learned in the course. Even though one of the days was the second holiday, we managed to get in seven dives in just three days. The dives included two deep dives (about 100 feet deep), a wreck dive, a cave dive and a dive with dolphins, who all loved Joe. I brought a camera down for most of the dives, and had a lot of fun photographing Joseph and Ari during their course.

Unlike at Brandeis, most of my professors had no idea what Pesach is. Still, they were all really cool about me missing school for two week. Not everyone was so lucky. One person actually had to get a letter signed by a rabbi, and take a temporary leave of absence before the professor agreed not to penalize her for missing two classes and an exam.

When I got back Sunday night, I had to immediately switch into super finals mode. Monday I had an essay due, Tuesday a test, Wednesday two tests, Thursday a make-up test and a presentation, and Friday a make-up session including three quizzes and an exam. That's what I get for disappearing for the two weeks before finals. Somehow, with about fifteen hours sleep total for the week, I managed to survive until Friday. Now, other than a few simple papers, I'm done until May 14th, for my Logic final.

Given the nearly three week break between my first finals and my last one, I decided to head down to Australia to see how my friends are living down under. I'm heading first to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I will explore the city for one day, before continuing to Melbourne. Sam, as well as Judah and Elie (who both visited me in February) agreed to take off school so we could explore the continent for a bit. We'll spend Shabbat in Melbourne, and Sunday we're off to New Zealand, where I will be turning 21. Then Sydney for an extended weekend, and back to Melbourne.

I'll be sure to update with more pictures soon.

Yoni

PS If you remember, when I first arrived in Hong Kong from Beijing, I commented that the air was clean and fresh compared to China's capital. While this is certainly the truth, Beijing is really not much of a measuring stick. Coming back from Israel, I felt almost choked by the air in Hong Kong. Looking back, it is hard to believe I didn't feel it before.

Test, China, Test, Judo, Essay, China, Test

If I went home from China tomorrow. I'd have to say I'd be happy with my time in Asia. I'm still learning new things everyday, but I believe I now have a feel for Chinese culture, and If I come back in the future I will not feel like a total stranger.

I spent all of last week in Guilin with my roommate, Zhao. Zhao, or Ryan, as he chooses to introduce himself to Westerners, is great. He is a finance student from Tingdao (where the only good brand of Chinse beer is brewed) and is extremely friendly and helpful whenever I inevitably miss something in my Chinese homework. Though at first I thought it would suck having a roommate again, having someone around who actually understands Chinese has turned out to be exceedingly useful. We decided two weeks ago, that since I couldn't go to southeast Asia with all the other exchange students and as it has been too long since his last vacation, we would travel together to Guilin, famed as the most beautiful province in China. Guilin is known for those steep thin hills covered in grass, often seen on the cover of Chinese guidebooks.

We both had a Logic exam on Tuesday morning, and headed off as soon as it was over. It was hard, but hopefully I'll do well. What worries me is the forced curve I keep getting warnings about. No more than 20% can get As and 20% will get Ds. Sure, I only need a C- and it is pass-fail, with grades covered, but when the middle line is a C, there isn't much room for error, and I don't know quite know the system. Zhao's father, a senior general in the Chinese Army, toured in the area when he was younger, and he had a few recommendations and contacts for us. We took the MTR to Shenzhen, and from there flew to Guilin.

...

I'm on a plane now, about to take off to Shanghai for Shabbat. We're heading down the runway and the lights and engine just cut out. I'm gonna ignore it, and hope to God I make it to a computer to send this out...

Anyway, we actually only spent one night in Guilin, but this was enough time to get a feel for the city. China has developed greatly in the last few years, and has many many cities packed with people, but except for Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, they all basically look the same.

The next morning we woke at 7:30 and took a bus to Yangshou. Buses here take forever, because operators who don't want to drive a half empty bus will drive around local streets with one passenger screaming out the window for anyone who wants to jump on board. When we finally had a full bus we headed out for an hour, then got off and waited for a local bus. By now we were in a very rural region, and the view was truly amazing. The Guanzi region is considered by many to be the most beautiful region in the country. When the Clintons first came to China, they made a stop here as well. It is also the scene on the back of the 20 RMB bill...

Lights are back on. Smiles of relief all around. Still praying I land safely in Shanghai...

Unbeknownst to me, we weren't heading directly to Yangshou. First, Zhao had a surprise stop his father coordinated for us. We were heading into increasingly rural neighborhoods in a small 10 person bus, if you could call it that. More of a van really, and tickets were 20 cents per person.

One person came on with a live chicken in one hand and her baby in the other. After about twenty five minutes passing rice paddies and free-ranging ox(en?), we arrived at what seemed to be the central market of the region -- ten or so stalls selling various wheres from home-sewed clothing to fruits, vegetables and all sorts of animals I didn't know could be eaten, plus your usual assortment of chicken, beef, seafoods and rice noodles. I didn't notice any refrigeration or flowing water, but I guess that's just not how it's done here. We didn't stop to eat. As we passed, a woman spotted us (I kind of stand out in rural China, so we weren't hard to spot) and jumped on the bus. Approaching us, the smiling older woman told us she was there to take us the rest of the way to Yangshou. Her husband was sick, so she would be our guide. Zhao spoke with her a bit, and once comfortable that she was who she said she was, we got off the bus and walked down to the shore of the nearby Li river.

She pointed to her boat and indicated for us to get on. This boat was actually a 3 person raft made of bamboo, with a bench in the middle for two people, and a bamboo oar on the back. There was also a small engine on the back for going upstream.

Preferring the peace and quiet of the open water, as well as the pristine beauty of our surroundings, we didn't use the engine, and flowed down river for about four hours. We stopped two or three times along the way, once so our guide could run home and drop off the groceries she had picked up when she met us. She let us come up with her, and she show

ed off her small orange and pomelo grove as well as her rice patty and mini ox she recently purchased to plow it. She let us pick a few oranges ourselves, and they were excellent.

We knew they were organic and pesticide free, as there is no way she could have afforded pesticides, though she did seem to be pretty well off as far as the town went. Somehow the tiny village had a population of five hundred. We stopped another time to take pictures from the same angle of the scene on the back of the 20 RMB, and one last time to see if we could

find all nine horses on the Nine Horses mountain.

Apparently only one person has ever seen all nine, but as he was a respected Chairman of China, people understood this to mean that only the most elite of society could spot all nine horses. Any less, and you just weren't meant to be prosperous. I managed to see seven with very flexible creative license, and supposedly this means I should be pretty successful at life. No Chairmanship of the People's Party for me though.

After we said goodbye to our guide we headed off by foot on a mud path to find a path to a small old town where we would be able to find another small bus to get to Yangshou...

Battery is about to die. I'll continue to write next chance I get, again, assuming we make it in one piece...

...We made it, as you probably inferred from the fact that you are reading this. Just spent four days in Shanghai, and now back on the same plane as last time. Hopefully no flickering lights this time, though we are already 40 minutes delayed and just sitting on the runway. You get what you pay four with Chinese airlines I guess, but it is hard to argue with $40 for a two hour flight...

The town was truly beautiful and exactly the kind of traditional China I had yet to experience. Just about the only English in the town was on a small sign on a stone bridge claiming

the bridge was constructed over 800 years ago. Hard to find that kind of history in the US. Of course, we passed one other couple of backpackers, and we hear them arguing about something. If you've been reading my posts to date, you can probably guess what is about to follow. Zhao asked if I recognized the language, and sure enough, as I moved closer, I could hear that it was two Israelis arguing in Hebrew about whether or not they could wash their cloths in the river. They shouldn't, I told them.

By the end of the trip Zhao was convinced there were as many Israelis as Chinese in the world, as we met more Israeli backpackers than anyone else. He also couldn't understand how we always knew each other. We just know, I unsatisfactorily explained to him. It was funny at times -- he'd ask someone for directions, I'd take on look at the person, and repeat the question in Hebrew. It never failed.

Yangshuo is a little town with a prosperous tourist community. One main boulevard, called Xi Jie (West street), is lined with hostels and little shops meant to lure backpackers. We spent one night in Yangshou, and enjoyed the internet cafes and meeting locals and other tourists in the area. Zhao explained that Yangshou is famous throughout China as a spot for students if they want to practice their English and see more of China.

Thursday night we headed back to Guilin (this time by direct bus) to catch the 12 hour train back to Shenzhen, our entry point to the Mainland from Hong Kong.

The train was great. 6 beds per cabin, head hitting one wall, feet flat on the

other, no English is sight. I spent about 5 hours memorizing the 100 or so Chinese words and 90 Characters that I now know. Only 2410 more Characters to go till I will be able to read the paper. In the morning I practiced all the words I knew with my Chinese bunkmates. Besides myself and Zhao were four women who from a small town outside of Guilin heading to Macau for a weekend of gambling.

I got back just in time for my first Judo Competition Sunday. Though I knew next to nothing about judo, practicing only for one month, it seems that my old wrestling skills came in handy.
Between my opponents expecting me to be terrible due to my white belt and the wrestling past, I managed to sneak in a few wins for a 3rd place trophy. Though I can't read a word on the trophy, I'm proud of it, and I know it'll make a nice souvenir.Also, last week I played in the the Hong Kong division 4 Rugby semi-finals, Hong Kong University vs. Hong Kong Police Force. Division 4 is actually pretty tough, and is the best of 3 university teams. Though the game was a really fun and a cool experience, we lost a tough fight, playing a man down, as one of us got red carded pretty early on (not me).

Monday was Taanit Esther and then Purim. For the Megillah I went to Chabad with Danielle and a few friends from HKUST. We continued to a "Young Professionals Purim Party," which was fun as well. Basically all the Israeli finance and manufacturing 25 to 35 year olds in costume, with a few Americans, Australians, Brits and South Africans thrown in the bunch. Good, but no match to the Brandeis Greek/Chabad Purim party. The next day as I while delivering my Shalach Manot (Purim gift baskets) I walked past a man dressed as a Chasid.

Recognizing me from a meal we were both at, he invited me over for the Purim meal. Of course I agreed, and enjoyed a great, huge meal at four in the afternoon. Unfortunately I couldn't be out too late, as I had both an essay and test on Wednesday. Purim isn't as good an excuse here as it is in Brandeis. Lucky I had planned ahead and studied on the train, as the essay took me forever to write. It was fine though; I put skype on in the background at 4 and 5 AM, and joined the family for their Purim party as well.

Both the test and the essay went well, and Wednesday night I collapsed in bed from exhaustion. Thursday I got up, picked up my dry cleaning and repacked my backpack for Shanghai to join Michael Kann who was in on business. Friday, while he worked I toured Shanghai for myself. Shabbat we went to Chabad and sat with a bunch of Jews from Uruguay. Shabbat morning at lunch we met a bunch of Israelis who work at El Al, who invited us to belated Purim Party in the Shanghai Art Museum Saturday night. Without much time to prepare costumes we just showed up, at the door we were given fancy masks. I wore my rugby jersey and with Michael's running outfit, we fit in fine. The party was a lot of fun. Since we were exhausted from walking about 10 miles touring Shangai Shabbat afternoon and as we had to be up at 6:45 AM to meet the tour guide for a trip out of Shanghai, we didn't stay up too late.

The next morning we left at 8 AM with a business associate of Michael's to Zhou Zhuang, famed as the Venice of China, with canals instead of most streets. Though it was fun and interesting, there were plenty of streets, an

d the canals were thinner than I imagine the canals of Venice are. We watched as one restauranteur washed her lettuce in the dirty river as boats full of tourists passed by. As traditional as this may be, we decided not to stay for lunch. We also passed by the Buddhist Temple which was midway through a service. That was really cool to see.

There was a huge leaning Buddha right by the entrance, and people were bowing at praying at its feet. It still hits me very strongly whenever I see someone praying to those huge idols. It reminds me just how far away from home I really am. We continued to Suzhou and explored beautiful rockery (which it turns out is a real word) and an 8 story pagoda that was over 700 years old. That was actually pretty cool, and we got a great view of the city once we climbed to the top. We realized that though the city is basically just a suburb of Shanghai, it is still one of numerous cities of 'just' 6 million people. Michael then took us on a tour of his factory which was interesting. Pat, the manager of the operation, aside from giving us a thorough tour of the plant also gave me some advice on Italian cooking, which I will have to try at some point.

All in all Shanghai was fun and it was great seeing Michael. It was also important that I visit Shanghai at some point, and without this excuse, there is a good chance I would have missed out on this city of an estimate 20 million people.

Next up, class for a while. I may try and sneak off to Tawain for a few days if I can swing it, we'll see. Happy Purim everyone, and please email me about your lives and get back in touch if I've fallen behind in my contact.

Yoni

Macau, Judah and Judo

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since my last post. Turns out school gets serious here once Chinese New Year passes. I've got a ton of work due this week, not to mention two tests tomorrow.

Time for a quick life update:

A few days after my return from Thailand I received a notice in my mailbox that I would have to change rooms in the next few days. The Reslife coordinators realized I must feel lonely without a roommate and wanted to make sure I didn't miss out on the experience. How thoughtful of them. It happened to be a particularly bad time to make me move to a room with a roommate, because Judah and Elie were coming to visit, and I wanted them to host them in the spare bed. I told the office I had a lot of work and asked them if I could have a week before I had to move rooms. They didn't mind.

Judah and Elie arrived on Tuesday, one day after I got back from Thailand. They stayed here for a week and it was great fun. About two hours after they arrived I insisted that we should climb the peak. I've decided that is the first thing every newcomer to Hong Kong should do. It is a good way to stretch after 13 hours on a plane, to make you tired enough to avoid jetlag and you get an incredible view of the city. The next day Judah and Elie explored Hong Kong (by which I mean they went to Kowloon and got fitted for custom suits) while I was in class. Afterwards, we packed some cloths into my backpack and headed to the ferry for a quick trip to Macau, Asia's Las Vegas.

Macau is barely an hour away by speedboat ferry, so the trip was quick and easy. We stayed at the Grand Lisboa, but didn't end up spending much time there. It seems it is hard to get up from a poker table. Quick story: When we arrived at the poker tables, we separated as there weren't enough seats for all three of us at any one table. A few hands in to my game, I was trying to figure out what the guy next to me had, as he just bet aggressively. Then, he told me. He did not mean to. He was discussing his cards with a friend standing next to him in a language he figured no one would understand. Unfortunately for him, he was not the only Israeli at the table. I couldn't help myself, and cut him off, telling him in Hebrew to fold , as I had him beat. He responded quickly, before registering a few seconds later that I spoke to him in Hebrew. After that, we became friendly, and played together for the next 3 hours, making fun of the other guys at the table.

The casino could not complain about the Hebrew, because the rest of the table was speaking Chinese. Just my luck that I sit at a random table in a casino in Macau, and I find myself siting next to an Israeli. Considering that I've seen Israelis in every city that I've been to on my trip, you'd think we are a bigger nation than we really are.

Macau, while in purpose similar to Las Vegas, is strikingly different in a few key ways. In Las Vegas, gambling is only part of the scene. People go to Vegas for the entertainment. You could spend days in Vegas, and never gamble a penny. Not so in Macau. People go there for one reason only: to make money. The casinos are all silent and serious and it is clear no one is there to drink or party. Gambling is a temporary profession for many Macau visitors, and people treat it as such. In fact, the Chinese government has been recently experiencing a real problem with high level executives and politicians trying to double and triple their organizations budgets with a quick trip to Macau.

We stayed until 10 AM, and then headed back to Hong Kong for a trip to Disney Land. I waited for Judah to come to Hong Kong before I went, because I knew how much he loved Disney, and also because I probably would have had no interest in going if Judah wasn't dragging us there. It ended up being a lot of fun, as many of the rides and shows are slightly different from in the US, and the poor English of the tour guides was hilarious. Afterwards, I showed Elie and Judah around Hong Kong a bit more. We stayed by Bruce Einhorn for Shabbat, and his family showed us a very nice time, kindly hosting all three of us in their apartment.

Saturday night, we weren't sure what to do. Judah and Elie had an early flight to Singapore , so whatever we did, they had to be awake early. What better way to ensure that you are awake than to never go to sleep? With this logic, we decided to head back to Macau for ten hours, and just play through the night. Thanks to some logistical trouble (Elie, Judah and I separated in the ferry terminal and could not find each other for about 2 hours) we didn't get to Macau until midnight. Still, we found a table at the Sands, and played until the first morning ferry at 6:30. Some of us did better than others, though it was clear Elie was the winner for the trip.

Once they left for Singapore I started focusing on school. Aside from the Rugby team, I also joined the Judo club, which is great because it is in all Cantonese, and I've been learning a lot from listening. Classes here are pretty different than at Brandeis, as they follow a modified British system here. I'll fill on more once I finish my midterms, and let you know how they go. One thing that sort of scares me. HKU as a policy that for any class over 25 kids, a belle curve is strictly enforced, and some percentage of the class is required to fail, no matter how well they do. I'm not planning on failing, but still, that is kind of intimidating.

Next week is Reading/Field Trip Week, which means another week of no classes. Most of the other exchange students are heading down to Thailand or Malaysia for the week. Not me however. My Elementary Logic professor decided to give us a test Tuesday of Reading Week, so now I can't do a long trip with everyone else. However, its not the end of the world. My new Chinese roommate is in the same class, and we've decide to take the rest of the week off and go to Guilin...oh haven't told you about him yet.

Next time. This is long enough for now, and I promise to not wait three weeks before my next posts.

PS Can anyone figure out what our special 'English' Disney guide was saying? We were with him for 15 minutes, and only recogonized the words "okay", "thank you" and "bye bye."

Chinese New Year Break -- Thailand for a week

I'm in the airport now, awaiting my flight to Bangkok from Phuket. This past week has flown by, but it definitely served its purpose. I feel refreshed, rested and ready for Hong Kong again. My first two days in Phuket I spent exploring. There were numerous local temples and markets, and gorgeous beaches everywhere. On Tuesday I began my scuba diving course. I am now a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver. The course consists of five dives over two days in various conditions, as well as class time. During the course I dove 30 m (~100 ft),

at night, navigating by my own compass. On Thursday we took a boat out to Koh Racha Yai, a small island off the coast of Phuket, and checked out the reefs there. The reefs in Phuket are some of the more beautiful diving sites in the world, and its reputation is certainly well deserved. I saw lion-fish, manta rays, clownfish, starfish and an octopus. I recognized at least four or five different fish from our old aquarium, and that yellow and black eel with the weird nose who kept getting bitten by the leopard sharks. Those of you who have seen it will know what I'm talking about.

 It was an incredible experience I won't soon forget. 

The course lasted until Thursday night, at which point I left my hotel in Karon Beach and moved to nearby Patong, where the Chabad House is located. 

I spent Shabbat with 200 Israeli backpackers, a few South Africans and a pair of Americans from Teane

ck, one of whom also graduated Frisch. Shabbat was a lot of fun, and it was good to speak Hebrew

 again. Also, just by chance, Eran, was in town as well, so we met and caught up. 

After Shabbat I went out with the South Africans and a couple of the Israelis.

The South Africans currently live in Sydney, and I now have a place to visit when I'm ready for Australia. Everyone keeps telling me better to go now than later, as their summer is almost over, but I don't think I can get off anymore school for a while. Ok...Last boarding call to Bangkok from Phuket...don't yet have a plan for when I get there, but I'm sure it'll be fine...

Just arrived in Hong Kong. Had an interesting night. I arrived in Bangkok at 9:30PM, but my flight for Hong Kong didn't leave until 8:30 the following morning. At the airport I hired a driver for four hours, and arranged for a hotel near the airport. All told, a personal driver for three hours and a hotel room cost me $58. Thailand is great.

Once I sent my stuff up to the hotel room, I told the driver, Chai was his name, to show me around Bangkok. At the hotel I checked the address for Chabad, just in case. The driver was nice enough, but as we headed into town, he said "I show you everything in Bangkok. You like lady? You like drink?"
After I explained to him that I was not interested in any lady or drink, given I had to be awake at 5 AM, not to mention all the more obvious reasons, I thought it might be nice to grab dinner at the kosher restaurant, as I hadn't eaten all day. "No problem," he said, 

"But first, I show you International Minigolf and Massage Parlor." I assumed I had misheard the last part, as I couldn't understand how the two would go together. But sure enough, we pulled up to a very nice hotel, and just past the entrance was a huge minigolf course and a selection of women standing around, with numerous 50 year old+ Westerners walking by one by one, pointing to one of the women a

nd heading upstairs with her. At this point I realized that I'm not somewhere I want to be, and told the driver I needed to meet "my friend" at the restaurant in ten minutes. We left, and he spent the next five minutes explaining to me how he comes by once in a while, and his girlfriend has no idea. That's nice, I thought. As we were leaving, I realized that the reason he brought me was that if I did bring someone upstairs, he would get a bonus. Needless to say, he didn't make a penny off me. 

Soon we were in another sketchy part of town, and I was convinced that the driver was taking me again to one of his hangouts. He parked, and we started to walk around, and as we passed one bar after another, I really became suspicious. But then, out of nowhere, was the large sign of "Beit Chabad."

The Chabad House in Bangkok was very nice, and even though it was nearly midnight, there were at least twenty people hanging out. As the guard, Kobi, welcomed me, he asked if I'd eaten dinner. I hadn't, but I knew the restaurant was already closed. Kobi brought me downstairs anyway, and found me some food in the kitchen. When I left the Chabad house twenty five minutes later, I found Chai outside, sipping a mineral water Kobi gave him at no charge when he realized that the man was my driver.  When he saw the treatment I received from "my friend" with such a large restaurant near all the bars, Chai assumed I must be involved in the Mafia, and began to treat me with more respect. I didn't bother to correct him. After that, he only took me to places I asked. We went to some of the larger temples in Bangkok, though they were all closed, so I could only see them from a distance. We went to the Royal Palace, adorned as the rest of Bangkok is with pictures of the king, and then to a night market. 

At the night market I saw baby elephants walking in the street.

We went to a place to a stadium to watch a Thai Boxing match, but it had just ended. That was fine, as looking at the time, I realized

the Super Bowl was about to begin. I watched for as long as I could, until it was time to head back to the hotel, to shower, rest for a bit and head to the airport. All in all, it was an interesting night. 

I'm back in Hong Kong now, and everything is great. I was driven to school today in a Bentley. One of the guys I met at Chabad last week apparently lives pretty close to me, and he passed by as I was waiting for the bus to go to class. For all Hong Kong is a big city, non-locals tend to congregate in a few specific parts of town, and I already find myself running in to people I know on a regular basis. 

-Yoni

PS I heard Shell is having a tough year, but this is ridiculous: