The FARANG Speaks 2 Much

As talked about in my Tokyo post I traveled to the US to catch up with my mom and dad and my family. I got a couple of rides in on my old flame - my BMW GS1150 motorcycle. God I miss that thing. See - in the US I normally had a girlfriend and when I didn’t I would spend my time riding my motorbike since chasing puss in San Francisco usually got me nothing. While still living in the US I tended to travel to Asia almost once a month so that meant usually I had a few nights a month in some place like HK, Singapore or Bangkok to party. That meant getting some. So while back home in the US I would concentrate on making money, riding my motorcycle and saving myself. So this trip back seemed like a prime time to try and get some in the US. I shouldn’t have bothered…

I had 2 nights out in San Fran but one of the nights I was so worn out from the trip, jet lag and moving some of my stuff out of storage that I ended up just watching some prime time TV and crashing. That gave me an early start on the day and a chance to go shopping in the city. I needed some computer equipment and wanted to do some thrift store shopping. After maxing out the credit card and digging through old clothes, I needed that external drive and I did find some cool shirts, I went back to my hotel near the tenderloin to take a nap and rest up. I used to live in the loin when I first started working in San Francisco and had NO money. The loin is really one of the last places left in San Fran that is still - well sketchy. I think Hunter’s Point is bad too but actually getting some attention. On the fringe of the loin, where I stayed, u can tell the city is improving but deep in the loin, turk and jones, the world has not changed much. Crack whores, dealers, pimps, and just the general street riff-raff. Nice. Brings back memories.

So I met some friends for dinner and early drinks. Later I was hooking up with another friend to really party. So over some cocktails I was chatting with some random people about traveling and Asia. Seemed like a friendly bunch and we got to talking about life in Asia, dating and so on. This is always a strange conversation since dating is somewhat different in Thailand. I did not get into it much and then talke suddenly turned to the Jon Benet stuff, teaching in Thailand and the sex industry. I did my best to tell it like it really was but I am not sure I got anywhere. Next subject was the whole idea of age and dating. Time bomb. They asked me if I had “dated” younger girls. I said of course. Then they asked what is young. I said well I was not a freak nor into anything illegal so 18 was my cutoff. They thought I was sick. I was like why? Then they asked how old was I. I said 34. Then one of the girls said she was 27 and she thought I being 34 meant that even I was too old for her. I quickly retorted - don’t worry because 27 is too old for me anyway. Back to the cocktails.

Now let’s compare this to a taxi ride I had the other night coming back from Silom to Sukhumvit Soi 4. I was chatting in the taxi to the driver. One of my favorite ways of practicing my Thai since everyone has a different accent and tends to use different words. We got to talking and he mentioned he had a daughter. He took out a picture of her. Cute but not amazing. In America she would be considered hot but we all know that over time our scale changes since the average Thai women is not bad looking at all. Then he said I could have her number. I said how old is she? 16 he replied. I said - your daughter is beautiful, keep her in school and that she is to young for me. He said y? I said I am 34 and she is 16. I am twice her age. He said no problem. I said problem for me. He looked bummed out. I love this country. So then he dug deeper in his wallet to get another picture. Wow. This girl was cute. Dark skin. Body shot in a uni outfit. I was sure he was going to say this was his daughter as well but he said this was his daighter’s friend. She was 19. That’s more like it. I said she was very beautiful and was happy to see she was going to uni. He said would I like her number. How can I refuse. Yes. That 27 year old was a little old for me.

Was great to be back in Bangkok. The traffic, the chaos, the food, the f’up government, and yes - the women. Have some more stories about the US. Yes - I did try my new condoms and sometimes - even in Bangkok I can’t get laid. later…