My Ring!

A one carat ruby set in a silver band, with cubic zirconium on the sides. I was told you NEVER EVER set diamonds in silver.... interesting. Whatever. No one but an expert would be able to tell that they arent diamonds set in white gold, so Im happy! By the way, this is NOT an engagement ring. Its just a birthday present from Adam. Although I do wear it on my ring finger since its the only finger it will fit on, and people at work already think we're engaged so its convenient in that sense...

The reason this all came about is because on our last day in Thailand (Bangkok), we decided to go to the Grand Palace to check it out, take pics etc. But as we were nearing an older gentleman walked up and asked me if thats where we were going. I replied that it was and he said that unfortunately the palace was closed in the morning because it was a national buddhist holiday. However it was to be open at 1pm for tourists and foreigners. In the meantime, we should take advantage of the holiday cuz all the other temples were free to visit (where they would cost on other days). We should take a government sponsored "tuk tuk" (ie. glorified motorcycle that carries 3 people in the back) for 40 Baht (about 1 dollar) that would take us to all the temples we wanted for as long as we wanted. He then told us about how this one week was the week that the export jewelry shops had a special deal going on. This one week they were selling not to companies, but opened their doors for personal buyers.... ie, normal people for promotion. What they would do is sell it to you at cost, before the 200% - 500% tax was put on them to sell to companies. This means you could get jewelry for about a 5th of the price sometimes!!! So what people do is come and buy a nice set for about $3,000 and when they get back home, sell it to a jewelry store for up to $7,000! Not only did they just get a free trip, but they made money on top of it!! Some Thai students who study abroad pay for their education this way as well. Its incredible! We're definitely thinking about saving up some cash for the next time this happens. We could make a lot of money, or just get a free vacation. Anyway, we hadnt really planned on buying any jewelry, but the tuk tuk driver would get gasoline coupons for bringing us there, so since he was really nice and helpful and he needed the gas, we said ok.

Ok, Im getting ahead of myself. That happened to be our last stop, so Ill back up and fill you in on the inbetween events. The nice guy who stopped me at the beginning happened to be a law professor at the Bangkok University, spoke excellent English and not only mapped out the whole day for us, gave us information, but also made sure we got into a governmnent sponsored tuk tuk (they were only out that day specifically for taking tourists around and showing off the temples!). It was awesome! When we got to another temple a Belgium guy started talking to us and giving us loads of information about the temples, different areas of the city, and ALSO told us about the export stores.... then at the next temple ANOTHER middle aged thai started spouting off all this info and told us about the export stores.... we were a bit creeped out in the end by all this, especially since it was all completely unprovoked! We were starting to wonder if we had giant signs on our foreheads that said "Stupid Tourist. Please Educate." It was really weird...

Anyway, like I said, we ended up at the jewelry shop only planning to look at stuff and make sure our tuk tuk driver got his gas coupons. However, when we started looking at the stuff, a lot of it was absolutely gorgeous and when they mentioned they had stuff in silver too and that it was much cheaper, my ears perked up! Thailand specializes in rubies and sapphires since theyre mined there and so that was their largest selection. I loved both but when I saw this one ring, I fell in love. we looked at the price and it was about 6,000 Baht which is about $150. The guy then told us that it would sell for about $500 in America! Adam then turned to me and said, Happy Birthday, and paid for it right there! I was so surprised!! And very very happy! Aaron also bought a ring for his boyfriend, Tsukasa, which was also really nice.

The tuk tuk driver then wanted to take us to a silk export shop since he got coupons there too, and we agreed. I didnt get anything there, but Adam got about 3 silk ties for about $12!

Anyway we had a great time, ended up with awesome pictures and some cool gifts! All in all it was an incredible day.

The flight back was all in all uneventful, mostly due to the fact that Adam shared a couple of his sleeping pills with Aaron and I so we all slept like the dead on the way back. For sure the fastest flight Ive ever been on!!! Although, I was still recovering from my terrible sunburn (basically an outline of my bikini top... ie the cleavage area, and my shoulders too) so I was flaking off all over my clothes and was extremely itchy. The boys kept making fun of me for looking dangerously diseased and even more so when I would scratch at it and flakes of skin went fluttering all over (seriously disgusting!). Aaron said that if I was a super hero, my flaking ability would be an excellent super power.... a couple scratches and POOF! Id disappear in a cloud of dead skin and could make my getaway! We giggled about this for awhile in our exhausted delirium and when I asked then what my super hero name would be Adam blurted out "super crinkly ass......" ewwww.... I personally thought "super flake" would be better... or maybe "super crinkle".... whatever. It was funny at the time and kept us amused for the rest of the waiting period before our flight.

And now here I am at work, with a mound of homework to correct, the warm sping breeze blowing lightly in from the window behind me, and things are back to normal. Ill fill you all in on some of the middle of the trip (ie. parts Aaron didnt mention) and put pictures up as soon as I get the rest from him.

So stay tuned!