...The Laughter...

Memories are really the only valuable things we have aren't they? And even they fade away over time...I'm sitting here in my office and the sun hits me on the face as it descends. Like some sort of teleportation beam it sends me back in time and I start to think about my former life in Asia, the feelings and smells of being there and of being young...more specifically I think of Bangkok...

...the smell of brand new pencils, erasers and paper, always reminds me of my first day at school in ISB. That in turn leads to other mnemonic triggers of the times and places. Of Bangkok, I remember the humidity, the contrasting temperatures inside classrooms and in our open air hallways. The smell of earth after a long day of raining as you walk from one class to another. The smell of pot and cigarettes lightly caressing your face in the wake of your friends' parade to class. The scene accented with the skewed look on the faces of teachers they pass. The smell of CK One, Tommy, Hugo Boss, Davidoff, Versace, all sure signs of that inner child trying its best to grow up, coming off of your friends you sit next to, mixing in with the smells from the kitchen in our open air cafeteria. All of these sensations leading to the feelings and the emotions harbored deep within myself. Those little gems, byproducts of youth that we can no longer wear but simply look at and admire like visitors to a museum starring at a beautiful relic of the past....

Positive perspectives, love affairs with life and the people in it, drama between friends, drugs, alcohol, sex, music...all mixed into one big ball of emotion which created one hell of a ride. The raw energy we all had just emanated from within and being in Bangkok simply facilitated our hunger to go out and also catered to that desire.

I was fortunate enough to live downtown and everything was accessible to me at anytime. Being downtown was great...the loud noises, heat, humidity and smog rolled into each other...the smell of chicken and pork sate being cooked on the street, fresh fruits, people's faces, tall buildings, beer gardens...ah yes...I have a special place in my heart for beer gardens.

...when I was in Bangkok and couldn't be on a beach drinking cheap beer then I had two options (at least, downtown), one; you go to Larry's Dive which is just a beach themed indoor bar with sand poured all over the floor (Note: I left in 2000 so some places may no longer be there). I lived on Thanon Witthayu (Wireless Rd.) which is right next to the beginning of Sukhumvit Rd. This is important to know because there are a lot of bars off of Sukhumvit Rd. and if you continued on Witthayu Rd. you would soon find yourself very close to the Silom area which of course is famous for Pat Pong and the nightlife there...anyway, Two; my favorite Beer garden is on Sukhumvit Soi 5, right next to a hotel across from Foodland (yes, Foodland does exist there). Open air, Thai pop/rock (sometimes a Clapton, Marley or Bowie rendition thrown in the mix), pitchers of beer for nothing and cheap eats. Laughs, so many laughs we had at this beer garden. I keep referencing the heat and humidity and this is because these two are your constant friends in Bangkok. They are with you everywhere and therefore become a key memory.

What I would give to be there today, to laugh like that once again. I walked away with a memory. Every time I look back and plunge myself into this world there are less and less details. It is like someone is pouring paint thinner on my painting. In the center of it is me and my friends at the table laughing, and all around us the pieces of the painting are fading…the colors around the center melt into one. The details being blurred, and eventually all that will be left is the laughter…

"I still believe in paradise, now at least I know it is not somewhere you look for, because it is not where you go...it's how you feel for a moment in your life. If you find that moment, it could last forever." - The Beach