For the first time in my life, I am finally going to travel outside of my own country. Thailand is one of those very exotic and very popular tourist destinations. I’ve read so much about it and I am really so happy and thankful I get this wonderful opportunity.

My parents took me to the airport at around 11 am and the plane left at 12 am. When I arrived in Manila, I went to meet with my friend Rhea and her "charges" Christine and Romeo. We had lunch and some light shopping at Divisoria. Then at 7 pm I went to NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) to catch my 10:30 pm flight. While I was waiting in line to have my baggage checked-in, I chatted with the girl in front of me. Her name was Anna. She turned out to be Thai and she had some difficulty with the language barrier since everyone spoke to her in Filipino (everyone thought she was Filipino and she thought I was Thai). So we struck a deal, I would help her while at the airport and she would help me when we got to Bangkok.

As it turned out she did a lot more helping than I did. When we got to Suvarnabhumi Airport, she led the way and helped me with currency exchange and things like that. The airport is huge and I’m glad I met her in Manila. She went out of her way to make sure I got to the hotel safely by taking me there. Isn’t that nice? So there goes my first personal encounter of Thai hospitality. Impressive!

P.S. I forgot to mention they drive on the wrong side of the road so I was a little disoriented on the taxi. :-)