I have a week off.  I’m quite excited about that.  Tomo and I are going to Thailand for the week, first a few days at an island resort in Koh Samui and then a few days in Bangkok.  I already feel like it is too short of a trip and I haven’t even left yet.  The key is to relax, right?  I hope we can relax and explore Bangkok at the same time.  This trip is taking advantage of frequent flier miles before they expire and using free nights at a hotel.  Probably not what is necessary to stimulate the economy, but I can’t do it all myself.  Hey, we are flying an American carrier and staying some nights at an American hotel.

One nice thing about leaving on a Sunday instead of a Saturday is that there’s plenty of time to get stuff done before you leave.  I’m happy to report that I am departing a very clean apartment – it will be nice to come home to it.  I’ll have a day to recover at home as well (and do homework) when I return.  

This is my first week long Asian travel experience since this time last year when I came to Japan on vacation.  I definitely want to take advantage of living in Asia by visiting places in Asia.  There’s still a lot I have not seen in Japan as well.  We have plans for a ryokan sometime later this month.  I’d also like to go to Taipei.  I anticipate that I will only get a slight taste of Bangkok that will leave me wanting more.  I’ve never been to Bali and I think I would enjoy it.

This morning I was going to mein lokale (the neighborhood Starbucks) and bumped in to some colleagues.  They were co-conspirators to the naked man festival.  Usually I think, “Uh oh, white people” but I always enjoy these colleagues.  However, it must have been foreigner day at the Starbucks because it was FULL of gaijin.  It seems there was even a family reunion.  I didn’t think my area was that full of foreigners but I guess I was wrong.  It seems we are everywhere in Nagoya.

I hope I am able to post some pics from the vacation.  We’ll see.