There were two things I enjoyed in Bangkok.

One thing was the Khao San Road area. This is where backpackers gather, and the street was lined on both sides with souvenir shops, cafés, and travel agencies with guest houses on the upper floors. There was also a guesthouse only for Japanese travelers, and it cost 150 baht, about 400 yen, to stay in a room with an air conditioner for one night. I happened to come across an Internet café, and decided to send e-mail to my children. But I was astonished when I went in. There were fifteen computers, and I saw some people, both Japanese and Western, hitting the keyboards frantically. The Thai characters on the keyboards confused me and I couldn't type well. So I sent simple letters, and finished my first experience of in an Internet café. It was only ten baht for ten minutes. I was surprised again at such low prices. There are lots of cafés like this everywhere in this area, and they all seem to have plenty of customers. Also, there is a secondhand bookstore section in a corner of the café where travelers sell their guide books after they have finished with them, and then buy new books to go on another trip. I was quite excited to see this aspect of backpacking, which is becoming popular worldwide. I was the only one there wearing neatly pressed pants and shirt, with leather shoes, and carrying a leather bag. Everybody else was in shorts and sandals.

The other thing was one of the major department stores in Thailand, the Central Department Store.

They were doing a campaign for a new brand at a cosmetics counter on the first floor (it appears that there has to be a cosmetics counter by the department store entrance whether in the United States, Japan, or Thailand). There were three sales assistants, and, surprisingly, they were all male. To make it even more unusual, they were all that type of male, with long hair below their ears and beautiful makeup. They were wearing shirts and slim trousers. Their mannerisms were boyish. I was impressed that boys of this type were working cheerfully as salesclerks at such a famous department store like this. There were quite a few homosexual salesmen at department stores and boutiques in Boston, but they didn't wear make-up. All the customers—young girls and women my age—were listening pleasantly to the productnexplanations. None of the people passing through the store was stopping to stare at them or anything like that. Except me.

Postscript regarding Lamyai and children:
Since there are still plenty of fruit still on our tree, children come to our house almost every day. So my husband decided to pick some fruit for them with a ladder. The children steadied the ladder while he was going up. Unfortunately, he was just short of reaching the fruit. The children gestured to him that it's better to climb up the tree. But he had no intention of climbing up, and came down the ladder saying "Too bad." The expression of the children's faces at that moment was just so sad that I thought theyÕd start crying. Since that day, the children are keeping away from my house. I guess they gave up hope thinking "That man is no good." I feel a bit sorry for them.

Translated by Maiko Noda