Random...

Patong is way more westernized then the other islands. It was hard to find Thai restaraunts... you had to go down tiny alleyways with dirty places to eat. Other than that it was western food.

7-11 had no meat pies as we were out of Oz and Kiwi land. Their snacks were crazy processed meat on sticks that soaked in oil and some in water... I didn't try them. I did try the steamed buns that they had and the dumplings... I much preffered the street meat out there!

You can buy fresh fruit on a stick- think Washington Heights- on street corners... it was awesome!

While massages are wonderful in Thailand, mani's and pedi's are terrible. They just file and paint, nothing more. They do the worst job. Even though they are cheap, you are better off doing your own nails.

Toilets... gross. Some are just holes in the grond. I don't understand why they would have them and not regular toilets. Now I agree that there are wonderful customs and cultural differences that we all have... but lets face it the toilet is far superior to the hole in the ground. This is an occation where I really think they should conform to the western invention. Also, do to plumbing you can't throw anything in the toilets. This includes your poopy toilet paper! The plumbing is pretty bad... you often don't have hot water in hotel rooms and ours smelled like rotten eggs. Can you imagine showering in that?! PS I think it caused some other issues for me which I will bring up in a future entry.