Yesterday (still today for a few short hours in Illinois) was my birthday. I was going to let this event slip by quietly until Jamie somehow found out earlier on the trip. Once it was known, I decided I would at least celebrate a bit after the conference.

Members of both GSE teams (names shall be withheld to protect the innocent) went out to the Hot Spot to dance and celebrate. It was one of the most fantastic birthdays of my life! The Thai club was not what I was expecting. The farang were looking around for the dance floor as we entered but instead found a stage and rows of perpendicular tables. We were the first people there. I was skeptical.

Then a band took the stage, a few people (mainly older farang and young Thai women) started to filter in, and my skepticism grew. The music was “broken heart” songs as the locals called it. I was wondering how soon we could leave. The band, however, was very interesting. Each song featured a new lead singer and most sported very special “costumes.” My favorite was the guy whose look I can only describe as a mullet, mixed with a Mohawk done Flock of Seagulls style with clothes that were ’80s meets Japan.

When the music and the crowd started to pick up, the costumes became even more outrageous (and smaller for the women whose look switched from streetwalker to stripper), and they added boy-band style back up dancers. It was fantastic! I have never seen such unintentional spectacle. The music was also fun to dance to, so I had a club plus a floorshow. I was giddy. Our whole group was breaking it down, and I think it might go down as one of the most special nights of the trip.

Thanks Thailand GSE for such a spectacular birthday.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 22nd, 2008 at 9:58 pm and is filed under Thai culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.