Pattaya

Two weekends ago I took a bus to Pattaya by myself. I should say that first I took a taxi and then the BTS (skytrain) to get to the Eastern Bus Terminal. Getting off at the correct stop I was unsure where the bus station was because it was dwarfed by the other buildings. I followed the only other Westerners, who were speaking German, figuring at least I would be less likely to get lost. It turned out we were all headed to Pattaya. One of the Germans sat next to me but could not speak English. He slept most of the way and I took pictures of the jungle-covered mountains. It was between 2 and a half and 3 hours to Pattaya. I ended up finding a hotel because I just missed the afternoon tour of the Sri Racha tiger zoo by 30 minutes. The hotel cost me an arm and a leg. I would've found a cheaper one had I not gone through a travel agency. The room was huge, at least 2 times the size of my apartment. This was only a 3 star hotel. I spent the afternoon on the beach and then went to the Hard Rock café for dinner. Their Pad Thai was wonderful and they had a special for Singha. The meal was expensive because it was the Hard Rock Café. I went back to the hotel room and watched Australian zoo rescue shows until I could not stay awake any longer. I am not very good at being alone. I have never really lived alone for very long and I find that I do not know what to do with myself. This trip is becoming a test of how well I can be alone. It is good for me. If I want other people to feel comfortable around me I first need to be comfortable around myself.
The next day bright an early I was up for my tiger zoo tour. I went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast buffet. It had Thai breakfast items, fresh fruit, and western options. The only thing they were missing was scrambled eggs. I like them better than eggs sunnyside up so I built myself a breakfast sandwich instead. The tour van driver was very late and I'm not sure why. There were only 2 people in the van when it got there. I suspect he was on Thai time. We picked up another group. I was the only one who spoke English. We arrived at the zoo and the English map and signs were very confusing. After getting my picture taken with a baby tiger and some crocodiles I wandered around aimlessly trying to find the tiger enclosure. It was raining pretty hard. I found the place to get my photo taken with a big tiger so I did that. Then I saw the place to see the Scorpion Queen but it had an entrance fee so I didn't go. Then it was time for the shows. They were amazing, especially the tiger and elephant shows. I did not care for their treatment of the crocodiles because it was clear they kept them very cold so they would be sluggish. Afterwards I had only 20 minutes before I had to go back. I realized the tiger enclosure was along a dirt road that was so muddy from the rain I would not want to go there that day. I could see it looked extremely jungle-like in that direction so I decided it would be a comfortable enclosure for the tigers. Because it was raining I decided to head directly back to Bangkok.