Day 2: Taxi to KWAT, please?

I assume we all knocked out after last night’s dinner at Nature’s Way. ( I know I did!)

I knocked out so early that I woke up at exactly 6:30. Apparently, the sun rises into our hotel windows exactly at this time; in my sleepy daze, the sudden orange light reminded me more of an explosion than sunlight. Hoon was still asleep, though I would later find out that Lisa had been awake since 4:00. Lisa and Ritika came to get us (read: force us out of bed) at 8:45. We had about an hour to eat breakfast before our taxi was suppose to come along, so we hustled a breakfast/inn a few steps across the street. We ordered Breakfast Sets, which came with pineapple, watermelon, AND tea.

We waited in front of the hotel after polishing off the fried-rice breakfast… and waited… and quickly realized finding a specific taxi car would be tricky. Did Mai say red taxi? Was it suppose to come at 10, or 9? At 10:30 we started frantically e-mailing and calling Mai, but only managed to figure things out at around 11:00. The taxi driver came at 9, saw that no one was there, and left! Oops!

Getting to meet Mai in person at KWAT’s offices after our commuting issues was great! We sat down in our soon-to-be-office and greeted staff members, interns, and one of the founders of KWAT. After introductions, logistics, and friendly conversation over fava beans, we had a wonderful lunch.

But the Rambutan were the star of the meal! Juicy and sweet, they became our new favorite fruit! But just as we were starting to dig in, we were reminded that our taxi was coming soon.

We thanked everyone and headed back to our hotel for a quick (4 hour) nap. After groggily walking to Cafe Bamboo for a phad thai dinner, we checked back into the hotel and got ready to sleep. Maybe this time we won’t ruin our sleep schedules!

-Chicaiza