it's currently past 5:00am in bangkok and i'm at my friend's apartment.

i'm here doing my laundry because he lives in a nicer building with an excellent washing machine in his apartment, and has access to good dryers as well. thailand's tropical weather---along with the fact that i walk more than the average person---makes me sweat buckets and leaves me usually drenched in sweat, so it's important that i give my clothes a good wash. unfortunately, my building has really shitty washing machines, which sometimes feels like it doesn't really do any washing at all. not only are the machines at my building old and dissatisfying, but there's only 5 for all its residents and no dryers either. i'm forced to do cycles of laundry quite often so i make-do with the washers at my place, but every now and then, i'll lug my dirty laundry to my friend's in order to give it a good, thorough cleaning.

it's interesting because before i arrived in thailand, i never thought about how crucial it is for the country's residents to have adequate clothes-washing-access. the hot and humid weather pretty much guarantees that doing laundry on a frequent basis will be a normal part of life, and that's also the reason why fabric softener is such a HUGE industry here. walk through any supermarket in bangkok and you'll be able to find a whole aisle stockpiled with shelves upon shelves of fabric-softener-merchandising. since i come upon individuals everyday who reek of sweat and b.o., i can't even imagine how much worse it would be if people weren't able to buy fabric-softener here. while thai brands are the most popular and easiest to find, i'm fortunately also able to purchase some good ole' downy. now, if only they sold dryer-sheets in thailand, that would be awesome. but dryer-sheets will most likely not become readily available anytime soon since dryers are not used here by everyday people. instead, they are most often found in fancier and nicer apartment buildings and that's why i've got to come to my friend's house to use one. another reason why i like doing my laundry at my friend's is because his washing machine has a standard wash cycle that is over two and a half hours. yes, you read that correctly---TWO AND A HALF HOURS. at first i thought my friend's machine was just special and super nice but after seeing machines that other friends have, i realized that it's just the norm. it makes complete sense though due to the hot weather.

the last time i lived in a house with a washer and dryer was in the seventh grade. living in new york, you get accustomed to laundromat-culture and going to laundromats and putting up with all of the bullshit that comes along with the experience of cleaning your clothes: throwing all your clothes into a laundry bag (i used black garbage bags until i graduated college), putting it into a granny-cart, pushing the granny-cart to the laundromat no matter rain or shine, fighting other laundromat patrons for laundry-carts, keeping a watch on your granny-cart and clothes to make sure no one tries to jack your shit, having to wait through the whole wash and dry cycles for your clothes to finish, and then lugging all that back home---it can sometimes be an irksome ritual.

man, i can't wait until the day i'm living in a place with my own washer and dryer---that's when i'll know that i've made it. i know, dream big, right? it doesn't take much to make me happy...

life in bangkok.

dear bangkok,

i know people dress a bit more casual here, but is wearing white crocs to a club really acceptable?

sincerely,
thwany

is it irrational to think i have a burglar who has been coming into my studio to steal random possessions? or perhaps i'm just going senile and that's why i keep losing all of my shit...?

within the past few months, a book, a pair of boxers, two shirts (including my ANNA SUI JUDY TEE) and some other items of mine have mysteriously disappeared. i'm pretty certain that i didn't lose these items, but have no other explanation for their sudden disappearance.

damn, i wonder what really happened to all of my stuff. it's starting to really piss me off.

j.crew + new balance seems to be the perfect combination for my life right now.

i don't own a lot of clothes because i hate owning shit, and for most of the stuff i do have, they're things i love and will wear until there's only enough thread to cover one testicle.

one of my favorite shirts i own is this black anna sui t-shirt. my best friend judy is a designer there. this shirt from 4 years ago is one of my most prized possessions. i especially love it because the girl in the illustration looks like my friend judy, so i call it "my judy-t." however, i'm sad to say that after years of wear, the t-shirt is slowly succumbing to the hands of time. i try not to wear it out too much anymore in order to elongate its life, but then i have days that call for it.

since i was so far away from all my friends back home in nyc for my bday, i decided to wear it out the other day. here i am at a buddhist temple, praying for good luck and fortune to start off 28 on the right path.

it's also NY fashion week this week, and i'm sad that i'll be missing this season's show. good luck judy, love you.

i love books.

i especially appreciate large, beautiful coffee-table books that have amazing photographs. i love the weight of these books, the stories they tell, and the smell of the paper stock that reaches my nose with each page i turn.

i received this awesome care package from my friends back home in nyc, and amongst the many great gifts inside, was this book that was personally autographed by my best friend's boss. it's simply called Anna Sui, and is her career retrospective book on the past 20 years of her life.

my friend told anna what i was doing in bangkok, and so she signed it, "LIVE YOUR DREAM!" how inspiring is that??

thanks to my friends for sending me some much needed love from home.

here are some more pictures from anna sui's fashion show last month at bryant park.

i usually go every season to support my best friend judy and after each show, the whole anna sui design team goes to dinner and judy is allowed to invite one person as her guest. while i've previously attended the dinner as her guest before, lucky me got to again for the f/w 2010 show. dinner was at the breslin and the weather was shitty and we couldn't find a cab so we somehow ended up catching the bus from the back of bryant park in front of the beautiful new york public library and we rode it down fifth avenue. haha sometimes life is funny like that.

to support one of my best friends, judy---me and all of my close friends usually go to anna sui's show at fashion week every season.

all the spring 2010 shows marks the end of an era because this is the last time nyc fashion week will be at bryant park, so sad---it's moving to lincoln center starting with the fall 2010 shows.

anyhoo, here's some pictures from last night. fun fun funn.