Bangkok & Books

I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand at 1am local time and checked into a very grimy hotel in the heart of the tourist district, but it has air conditioning. It's been a long day.

My flight from Nagoya departed about 12:30pm and went to Tokyo Narita where I spent a majority of my day sitting around reading. Finally boarded my connecting flight about 7pm and slept and read most of the way to Thailand, but I'm still exhausted.

Books I'm traveling with:

Da Vinci Code: I bought this book a week ago for my trip, but I made the mistake of starting it a few days ago. It's fast, easy read, and I polished it off while waiting around the Narita airport. It's fluff, but very entertaining.

The Clock of the Long Now: Time and Responsibility: The Ideas Behind the World's Slowest Computer: I have to credit my friend Daniel Bowman Simon, currently living in the Philippines as a Peace Corps volunteer, for tipping me off about this one. It's a manuel to promote long term thinking and responsibility in the extremely fast paced world we are living in now. I knocked out a few pages of this on the plane, and it's really interesting, but a little scientific in areas.

MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country: How to Find Your Political Voice and Become a Catalyst for Change: I got this book because I think it's aimed at people just like me. For years I've not cared about politics in the slightest, but due to recent events like 9/11, the Iraq War, Michael Moore, and the success of John Kerry's MoveOn related campaign, I feel it's time for me to start getting involved on some kind of level. This book looks like an interesting place to start.

Lonely Planet South East Asia on a Shoestring: This is an essential part of my trip. It's recommendations for hotels and restaurants can be misleading at times, but the maps of cities as well as various transportation schedules and prices are extremely valuable. Never leave home without it.

That's all for now. I'm gonna go drink a beer, try to figure out where to go from here, and go to bed. It's late.