Arrived in Thailand yesterday around 3pm via Thai airways. I would not say it was a "smooth as silk," but they do a pretty good job trying to make it nice. Unfortunately for me I sat next to an annoying little kid and ended up getting the pork meal since Chris is an ass and took the last chicken. It probably was a non issue though, since both dishes looked like crap and I would not have eaten much of either. Nevertheless I spent the rest of the flight starving and getting elbowed by a small child.
Transport from the airport was expensive (30 bucks), but was pretty nice and got us to the hotel without issue. The hotel was a last minute change since Big John's hostel ended up sounding like a total shit hole with no AC and rooms that may or may not have solid walls. The new place is Hotel De' Moc and of course is a little more expensive 22 USD a night vs 7USD, but ultimately will make the stay a lot nicer. If I learned anything on this trip so far it is that the accommodations you choose and the services they provide (reservations, trips, internet, etc) make all the difference and have a huge impact on your overall impression of the city. Seriously, Shanghai may not be that bad of a place, but both hostels were awful and I likely will never go back to the city because sleeping during the two hottest days in the last 123 years with no AC was not miserable. (BTW if you want a fianl summary of China check out Chris's blog. It sums it up pretty nice and I just dont have the energy now to write anything.)
As for Thailand I have spent the majority of my time battling with Fedex over our package that got caged by customs. I have no idea what the rules are, but they caged the package for two t-shirts saying they needed the knit, manufacturer, and EIN of our importer. They claim to have tried to contact both my cell and Chris's dads, but I never got any voicemails and I assume he did not either. Honestly we never would have known there was an issue if I had not emailed them after checking the tracking number 2 days ago to see where it was. Anyway I replied to them letting them know that they are just souvenirs and they cost 5 bucks from a street vendor. That information got forwarded around, but did not resolve the issue. They notified me the package would be sent back if they did not get the information by the 10th of July. Of course that would mean we would be out 400 bucks since we have no way of getting the box back since it would be headed back to China. So I had my mom call them. She seems to have gotten it resolved, but I got another email today saying if I don't get them the information needed by 6pm on July 11th they will send it back. No clue what I will do at this point. I don't have an importer EIN and I sure as hell don't have the manufacturer of a shirt that probably is made in bulk at some government factory and then distributed to the street vendors to sell. As of right now I am done with FedEx and will never use them again if I can help it. I felt guilty using them as it is since my dad works for UPS, but this has just sealed it... FedEx is dead to me.
Other than that we have not done much here in Thailand. We went out for a little while last night and met up with the couple we met in Beijing. It was kind of weird seeing them after two weeks, but it was pretty fun and it is always nice to talk to someone other than myself or Chris. We are headed out to see some sites today and then to a kick boxing match... lets hope i don't get blood on me.
