day two in samut prakan began with some afternoon adventures to the big c supermarket. we had to purchase a few items to bring to the ugly sweater christmas dinner. first on the checklist was the ugly sweater. i ended up buying a very small dark blue sweater with two teddy bears kissing. we then grabbed a cake, a bottle of wine, and some last-minute secret santa gifts.

the dinner was at sara and john’s house, which was in a secluded community in bang pli. it was near the airport, so we could hear and seen planes landing throughout the night. sara and john cooked a fantastic meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. i mean… it was absolutely delicious. with around twenty people in attendance, i’m surprised there were leftovers. it was also priya’s birthday, so with two cakes and two pies, we definitely had dessert covered.

our gift exchange followed dinner, and it turned out pretty awesome for me. i bought a clock with a picture of the king in it, which kelsey received, and i somehow won a hat that zach had purchased earlier in the day (and a bottle of ketchup).

after some cleaning up and silly conversations about into the wild, we then headed back to pak nam for some karaoke across the street from home sweet home. the karaoke was basically in the neighbor’s backyard. it was a little patio area with a few tables and a live band. a young thai girl was singing some classic rock, and we eventually sang some jingle bells before the band left.

as we all sat around the living room in home sweet home, the clock struck midnight, and it was officially christmas in thailand! five of us went out for drinks at a local bar, which turned out to be a gay/lady boy bar. let’s just say it was a very interesting situation, especially being the only farang in the building.

the next morning… or… later that morning, i decided to head back home. i said goodbye to everyone and headed back towards sukhumvit road. i noticed more small fishing communities on the ride home. fragile wooden bridges connected little homes to the main road. at several points along the way home, the roads were flooded. water from the still-flooded areas were slowly being drained across sukhumvit towards the gulf. i had ride through the six inches of water, as sukhumvit was my only way home. my motorcycle made it through fine each time, and i would just have to dump out the water that collected in my shoes. luckily i also had a small towel in my bag.

christmas turned out to be one of the best weekends i have had here in thailand. i shouldn’t really be surprised, since i was surrounded by some awesome friends, food, and a fun journey their and back. oh, and i also am highly considering making home sweet home my actual home next semester.

ever since i bought my motorcycle, i have been dreaming about taking it for a trip somewhere. i have had visions of myself cruising up or down sukhumvit road (route 3), which connects bangkok to the southern city of trat. luckily for me, zach and meghan invited me over to their house, in the samut prakan province, for christmas weekend.

samut prakan is just south of bangkok and, after checking google maps, i found that i basically could simply follow sukhumvit road for an hour and a half to reach their little district known as pak nam. after a day full of christmas presentations at school, i quickly packed a backpack and filled my gas tank before leaving chon buri.

the ride over to pak nam was relatively easy. i only made a few mistakes, as i learned motorcycles are not allowed on the elevated highway and sometimes road signs are nonexistent in places you would like them. i found myself dodging traffic and potholes in the outskirts of chon buri, but then the roads opened up and i could finally enjoy the scenery. i could not necessarily see the gulf as i drove, but both sides of the road were littered with towns, factories, farms, and little streams of irrigated water.

i finally hit major traffic just a few kilometers from my destination. i weaved from lane to lane, left to right. squeezing through tiny openings created by cars and vans, while also hugging the sidewalk to pass buses and tuktuks that were stuck in a standstill.

after accidentally passing pak nam by about a kilometer, zach directed me back towards his street, where he and meghan were waiting for me on the corner. i finally could let my motorcycle rest, as it sounded like it was coughing from the pollution of samut prakan traffic.

their home is called home sweet home, and that is exactly how i felt the moment i walked in. it was an actual home. five floors that included a real kitchen, a patio, three bathrooms, six bedrooms, a dining table, roof access, and a small living area with a television and sofas. what more could you want? nothing.

as zach was giving me the tour of home sweet home, i could hear something very familiar coming from outside. it was the azaan (islamic call to prayer) and it instantly brought back memories of morocco, when we used to hear it outside our window throughout the day. zach explained it as dreamy, since he would hear it while half-asleep every morning.

the three of us went to eat in town, and we had the staple meal of chicken and rice from a sidewalk vendor as we caught up on all the happenings since we had last hung out at koh samet. zach and i then jumped on the sky train to bangkok, which was conveniently only a ten minute bus ride away. we met some of zach’s friends and then i fell asleep for the entire taxi ride home.