I'm a ticking bomb

Going to the airport is always a stressful situation. Bags, fees, time limits, weight limits, security and over priced water bottles are never fun. I have had many adventures at airports. I have a handful of good airport stories up my sleeve, and the adventure I had today is definitely worth sharing.

I took the Van Nuys Flyaway over to LAX today to the wrong terminal. This whole airlines owning like 7 other airlines located in other terminals is really confusing. So I had the Asian lady with a very thick, very difficult to understand accent, from Delta airlines tell me to take th.e "A" bus over from terminal 6 to terminal 3. Okay great! What is the "A" bus and where do I wait for it? Apparently, in case you are at LAX, there is a blue sign that says LAX SHUTTLE SERVICE. Take bus "A" and it will go to every terminal. You're welcome.

Moving on. I check into Alaska Airlines which took nine million years. I start going through security and see that they are making everyone go through the x-ray machine. Ok, I really do not see how this machine can be safe for my body. I was just observing and soaking in this situation, and it reminded me of the chemical DDT. DDT was the coolest thing back in the day. People used it all the time and it was considered safe. Just like how the TSA is using this x-ray machine. DDT ended up killing people and causing birth defects. I don't want to be a victim of stupid airport security, and have my kids born with 3 heads.

I get to the front and ask one of the TSA dudes if that machine is safe for my ovaries. He asked if I was pregnant and I said no, but I am afraid the x-ray is going to ruin my unborn babies. I told him I want kids later, but I don't want them to be born retarded because I went through this machine. He then replied in his ghetto accent: "well if it does cause birth defects, my kids will be more retarded than yours cause I'm.here everyday." Good point! Poor guy.

He said I could opt out and do a pat down instead. I agreed to do this. Big mistake...

The girl who felt me up was really cool. I explained to her as her hands were investigating my croch, that the x-ray machine makes me nervous for my ovaries. She agreed with me. I then asked if its safe. She said it is supposedly safe for pregnant women, but then added "but who knows for sure". Well that's great!

She then got this small paper and rubbed it all over her gloves and put it in this machine to check for bomb residue. The alarm went off... Great... What the hell am I covered with? Idk what could have set it off. So now the supervisor had to.come.and super frisk me. She did the paper and the alarm set off again. So now she had to search and paper thingy all my belongings. I am freaking out now. I'm thinking I am not going to make it to D.C.

She is going through my things when she then finds my bag of cash. I was doing a favor for work by bringing some money to pay the car dealer guys. So now I got this woman looking at me like why the hell do I have all this cash. She is looking at me like I'm a prostetute or drug dealer. She then asked how much was in there and what I do for a living and why I have this money. Oye. It was a mess. She is suspicious of this cash, the machine says I smell like bomb, my flight is boarding and I have to pee.

The supervisor's supervisor is then called. Two white guys come up to us, she explains the situation and asks if I am clear to go. Then one of the dudes is flirting with her and making her giggle and crap. Meanwhile, I'm screaming in my head : ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW??? CLEAR ME DAMMIT! Stop wasting time!!!" After watching 3 min of pointless interactions between these two, I am cleared. Yes!

I use the bathroom and then spot a Starbucks. Yes! I buy a sandwich which ends up costing 9 dollars. Really??

So, now the question remains: are those x-ray machines safe for reproductive.systems?? Should I just go through it and not get violated in public again?

I don't think I will risk it. I want normal healthy babies.
I guess the public violations will.continue.

Fashion Shows

So a few weeks ago, I had a casting for an underwear fashion show. We arrived at the casting room and it was full of models. Now, being in one room for a casting is the worst. Models are mean and judgmental and we all compare ourselves to each other. Which basically means, everyone is talkin shit. We all have different bodies. Some are thicker than others while some look so thin, it looks like their legs are going to break off.
The agency told us to wear a bathing suit, which I did. Oh but no, at the casting they gave us underwear to change into. This is gross. I had to wear lingerie that a model 2 min before was wearing... with out my own underwear underneath because I was wearing a bathing suit. Sweet. STD check when I get home...

As we waited our turn, the American girl and I got to "comparing". We watched some girls in envy as we looked at others like, Girl! What are you doing here? And they were Elite models! And they were the most unfit. I couldn't believe it. I was then informed that Elite has now been franchised so any average Joe can join. Silly. We then giggled at the girls who had silly catwalks and sat in silence as we watched the really good ones. (Which were about 2 models... maybe 3) Then it was my turn to have my picture taken by the Ladyboy and do the catwalk. So I strutted my white girl booty (Aka. Jiggly Butt) down the runway and I got the job. Yay? So did a bunch or girls who I thought would never get chosen, including the one who looks like she's got a hunch back. So, should I be happy I was in the show? The show of rejects?

Fashion shows in Thailand are NOTHING like in the States. They are held in malls. Yes, I repeat, malls. For an American model, this is humiliating. But in Thailand, some of the biggest celebrities participate in these fashion shows at the mall. They are a big deal apparently.

Fashion shows are fun, but annoying for these reasons: When most of the other models are Russian, you want to die because they are loud and all you hear are rolling RrrrrRRrrRrrRrRrRrrrrrrrrrRRRR!!! Then you have a really early call time: 8am. Then you have rehearsal. Having a gay guy with a thick Thai accent telling how to walk is really hard to understand. Trust me. Then, you have to wait to get your hair and make-up done. There is food, but cheap Thai food that gives you gas. Not good for a lingerie fashion show. Then you have down time for about 3 hours, and you can't leave.

So this particular show was a week long. This is good cause you get paid for each day and it adds up. Granted it's in Baht and not like pay in the States... but it's better than 0.

So the first day, we had this celebrity singer who decided to sing "I'm bringing Sexy Back" By Justin Timberlake. The best part was, he didn't speak English. So he made up some jibberish words and it was just hysterical. I give him credit for being so passionate, but it was just so funny.


So, Then the girls had to walk down the runway, like in a Victoria's Secret show and try and seduce the singer and stuff. Cool idea.... It would be better if the singer sang the proper words. Whatever.

I have to say, the production designer of this show had some great ideas. Each day had a theme and they were trying to make this a very different fashion show. They pulled in famous Thai Djs, Actresses, models, Ladyboys (Yes, I saw a Ladyboy in a bikini.) and even dogs. One day was Lingerie, while I did another for swimwear and other clothes that show off my ASSets.

But in the end, even due to early morning calls and back home late, I had a good time and met some interesting people who spoke English! I even met an American guy from the East Coast. He had lots of muscles.

Can you spot the super white girl? Aka, me?

Some important Thai People

The massive lingerie sale that was going on around the runway

My next job was super interesting. It was a body painting job. I was given no detail whatsoever and I found out when I got there, it was for a TV show. I met the artist at a hotel near the model house. She was a tall woman from Bulgaria who spoke fluent English. So we chatted like crazy. I found that she is one of the most famous body painters in the world. She has won award after award and is participating in the world competition in Thailand. (I won't mention her name as I do not have her consent, at this moment) But basically, she is a pro and it was honor and a privilege to be painted by her.

Body painting is not easy, let me tell you. My knees were killing me after standing for 6 hours straight... of standing completely still... I had to ask her if I could walk around the room so my knees would stop aching. But it was so worth it.

She was getting irritated because they kept trying to film her working and vistors kept coming in. She was interviewed by the newspaper and the executive came in for a chat. When he found I was from America, he was very interested and talked more. I found he studied in NYU and then moved to Missouri University. His English was good, but his accent was hard to overcome. None the less, I showed how interested I was in Thailand and the fruits and culture. We talked about LA and compared notes. He was really cool. Then he told me more about this TV show we were going to be on. It was going to be in front of a live audience and it's the most famous show is Thailand. It has been on air for 23 years. That's my entire lifespan! I was like oooo get me a job here. I like working in entertainment. After hearing him tell me about this show and how famous it is, I felt pretty good that I was going to be a guest. I can't wait to see the episode.

So, the Bulgarian artist then finally finished painting and we made our way to the stage. Everyone looked at me in awe. People petted me and were just stunned. I have to admit, I looked pretty cool.

Here is one thing every model needs: A space blanket. Even though it's 90 degrees here, the AC makes it feel like it's winter. Being practically naked, this sucked and luckily, the Bulgarian had a space blanket and I was SO much warmer. I was put back stage waiting to be called. I looked around, checking out the catwalks and all the equipment for the show. I noticed all the equipment was from America. Interesting...

I was called onstage and was greeted by two Thai models and the audience went wild. It was crazy! I walked across and showed off my painted bod and made my way to the MCs. I was also greeted by Thailands famous comedy group. They then made jokes about me but I have no idea what they said. I just stood there like dum dee dum. I didn't know what to do and I caught myself looking off in the distance or looking down at myself. Way to go Jess... lol

Then the Bulgarian came on with the translator. I was not expecting anyone to talk to me, but the comedy group wanted to know where I was from. I said my name and I'm from Los Angeles. They had no idea what I said. Then I heard "blah blah blah something Thai blah blah !!! O!!! LA! LA!" They figured it out.

Then the comedians touched my body and looked at me in wonder and amazement. Then one comedian came up to me, shook my hand and said "I love you". After everyone broke up into laughter, the show was over and I went straight to the shower. The artist had to put clay in my hair to be able to paint it the colors she wanted. So my hair was as hard as a rock. But there was one problem- No hot water. Finally, after 30 min of trying every shower in the studio, I was put in the mens room, whose shower had luke warm water... I guess it was better than nothing.

Thai Breakfast. I have no idea what the stuff in the middle is. I asked, no one knew how to tell me in English. They were like coconut muffins or something.

The supplies

It took forever to get the paint off me and out of my ears. I'm still finding paint on my scalp. But, it was so worth it. I had a really awesome experience.

Bangkok Taxis

Riding in a Bangkok Taxi will be one of the craziest rides of your life. From switching lanes every 5 seconds, taking up 2 lanes, driving not in a lane, sudden stops, crazy maneuvers  and not having seat belts makes one want to hold onto dear life.
Ok it's not THAT bad, but it's still crazy. Let me tell you how it works.

The taxis out here are usually Yellow/Green, Yellow, Blue or Pink. If they have a little red light on inside the car (that says something in Thai), that means it is available. Here is the cool part. Most of the taxi's are tricked out Toyota Corollas. Some of them have body kits, crazy lights, chrome door handles or a spoiler. The best is when you get inside and they have a sick sound system. Then you put on 107fm and blast western music.
The taxis are usually clean and don't smell like a dead body.

So you get in and say Sawadee Ka and tell them where you need to go. Sometimes they understand some English which is awesome and comes in really handy. Although, when you just want to chill and they keep talking, it's a bit annoying. You have to make sure they start the meter otherwise they will tell you some crazy rate at the end of your journey. Some charge more if there is lots of traffic, which is bull because there is ALWAYS traffic. Bangkok has the worst traffic ever. No matter what time of day, it is always crowded.

Here is another thing. I noticed their gas meter is always at empty. But then they manage to drive me for 30 min to a casting. So I was thinking, dang! these Corollas have good gas mileage.

One day, the Taxi driver needed to get gas. So he pulled up to the gas station and they opened up the hood to the car. I thought this was odd. And the worker put the hose in the engine. I thought maybe they were topping up the coolant or something. I had noticed before that there are these HUGE tanks in the trunks of the taxis. I then put two and two together. The gas pumps through the engine, to the massive tank in the trunk and the driver restarts the meter in the car and calculates how many miles until he needs to top up again. That is why the gas meter is always empty, cause it doesn't go in the regular gas tank. But then this made me think, What if we get rear ended?????? The trunk is FULL of gasoline!!  I do not think this is safe at all. No way.

Taxi driver can be fun. When a car full of models get in, things get crazy. I usually sit in the front because there is more room. I have had very interesting conversations. I have been asked if I am married. I've been asked where I live and how long am I staying. I've been stared at. I had one taxi driver teach me how to count to 5 in Thai. But I forgot already. Some know already which radio station to put on. But they are usually pretty nice. You just have to act like you know where they are going so they don't try and take you the long way.

I have to say, I am pretty pleased with the taxi service here.

Epiphany

Epiphanies. They happen to us a few times in our lives. Sometimes you have one and your world lights up. Sometimes you have one and it makes you feel a little down.

Today I am a little frustrated. I have been working a lot this week (which is good), but my body is worn out. I haven't had time to head to the store, so I'm pretty low on foods. And I haven't been getting as much sleep as I need to. So today I have just been tired and in deep thought. The same questions and feelings keep popping into my brain. Why am I not happy? I think about every detail in my life and find what makes me feel good and what makes me feel whatever. Then I find what upsets me and try and find ways to accept it, or change it.

Then I thought today, maybe modeling is not what I am supposed to be doing. Waiting in castings, waiting in fashion shows and getting little money (compared to the US). Modeling should maybe be my side job, while I focus on a career.

The owner had his driver take a few of us to a casting this afternoon for a catalog shoot. His car is a really nice Mercedes that is incredibly comfortable. So as I sunk into the plush leather seats, my mind was racing.

We arrived at a large house which is where the photographer lives and where his studio is located. It's a pretty nice place, that had exotic birds I have never seen before in the living room.

We sat in the sitting area of the studio and the photographer put on some music. The first song that came on, had lyrics that said I'm 500 miles from home, and something just about being away and wanting to come back. Then the next song was about how the singer is trying to get to California. Most of the songs that played were about California. And the creepy part was, it was like the playlist just new what I was thinking and played song after song about how I felt.

Then the songs switched to all the classic rock songs that Dad used to listen to and love. Sitting there, my mind racing, missing dad. I almost cried. But I held it in with all the strength I had. But it was so hard, know that I will never be able to listen to those songs with him again.

When the photographer found out I was from LA, he got super excited. He used to live in San Fran and loved telling me about how much he loved it there. He was also excited because he has never shot an American model before. So that was kind of cool.

This guy is a little older and has scars and all sorts of stories to tell. He is a world traveler and is very in touch with his creative side. His English is pretty good, minus his heavy accent. Boring, is a word that could never be used to describe him.

Before he left, he read all of our palms. He looked at mine a little longer and he said I will be successful, but not as a model. He asked me what I studied and he said I would be a wonderful actor (Radio Jessica). It was shocking that he said those things to me without even knowing me. He was right. I'm trying to slowly switch careers and some how he got that just by looking at my hands. This makes me want to come home and get started on the rest of my life. I'm ready to move on. This was my epiphany.I need to do what I am passionate about. And right now, I am not sure if it's modeling.

God Bless America

So in my third week here I have decided that America just effin rocks. Ok it's not perfect... like how they are putting taxes on these ridiculous items. But there is a reason why so many people want to go and why they make movies about coming to Los Angeles and other places in the US (Eg. Due Date and El Norte). And now I know why so many people don't have passports. It's cause America rocks and why leave?

Okay okay. I'm totally biased. I grew up in the valley and will always be a valley girl. I grew up in a comfortable lifestyle and got everything I ever needed or wanted. I grew up in a place where if your parents don't get you a new Mercedes for your 16th birthday, you're a total loser and you should just jump off a bridge because you will always be a loser. So I grew up in a comfortable place in the US.

It's not until you leave home when you realize that you take things for granted like balsamic vinegar. Why is it expensive in Asia?? And Oatmeal?? Also, small things like being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet and not have to throw it in the bin (Gross I know). But then there are cool things about Asia like cheap taxis and fresh fruit stands.


Okay okay I know you want to hear some gossip. And to answer your questions- No I have not met any hot Thai men. Yes, I have seen plenty of Lady Boys (Usually at castings not just walking on the streets). I haven't been to the beach nor to a temple. Hopefully I will experience those last two things very soon.

I know I said I am not going to frequent Thai clubs anymore but I did go out last weekend. I got invited to a night out where you wear white if you are single. When I was told it was more like a lounge than a club, I became more interested. So I went with one of the American girls and with another girl from HK who talks like she is from Beverly Hills. I felt right at home. We get to this place called Whiskey Mix which looks like an upscale bar and had 2 floors of lots of space. It had that Hotel Roosevelt kind of feel to it. We sat and chatted about how we love Latin men and all told our stories about our recent Latins. Then we talked about LA and how we all plan about getting our own places there. It was awesome.

Then Ms. HK wanted to show me this bar that was not too far from this place called Iron Fairies or something similar. It's owned by a muscly Aussie who is probably 35 but looks older either due to smoking or too much sun (probably both) We get inside and there is a live jazz band playing. It was awesome. This place is incredibly narrow, so there is no such thing as personal space in this place. But from what Ms. HK told me, his parents are collectors of iron objects or were antique hunters, I can't remember. But this muscle Aussie guy believed in fairies and has these iron fairies scattered throughout the bar and wrote a famous book about fairies. Then Ms. HK takes us upstairs which were deadly to walk up and down in heels. She then took us into this secret room which is hidden behind a bookshelf. It was crazy cool and we entered a room with 2 gay guys and another girl, possibly a model. Gay guy number one was awesome. His dad I guess is someone important and has a few houses back in Cali. He is going to attend FIDM in LA. When I mentioned that tuition there is expensive the response I got was "Is it? Oh I didn't know that" (In super flamboyant gay voice) Either he hasn't applied yet, or money is not an issue for his family. I feel it's the latter.

So we headed back to Whiskey Mix and ordered double deep fried french fries. Ya know, a healthy meal. Then I was given tickets for drinks and we head for the bar. My favorite drink is the Mojito, and I ended up having 3. We moved to the dance floor and I discovered I am a shitty dancer. I decided that maybe if I had more drinks I would magically get better. Unfortunately that did not happen at all because instead of dancing, I had to pee every 3 minutes.

I was tired from all the crap dancing and the trips to the bathroom so I sat in this interesting, red leather couch. These two asian guys who look like skater dudes from Venice Beach were dancing hip hop next to me by the bar. Idk what it is, but I really admire people who dance hip hop because I wish I could. But I discovered I am way too white and skinny to be busting out a hip hop move. So I watched these guys in awe.



Casper from Poland is very white like me. I like meeting people who could possibly be more white than me, but once we compare skin... I am always the whitest. :(  So I asked him if he was a model and he said no. He works in the movie business. I then was interested in how he is involved. He works behind the scenes or something (I was buzzed, I don't remember everything he said, geez) When he told me he works a lot in LA, I asked him what he has worked on. As soon as he had this face like "I'm the shit" and said "You wouldn't believe me if I told you". I instantly got irritated. Ugh... another Hollywood guy... and in Thailand! There is just no escaping.

Then Mr. Hollywood asked me out to dinner. I responded and asked how much will he pay me. He didn't like this and walked of.

Then Mexican Thai skater boy came back and we talked about partying and his cheating ex girlfriend. It got me thinking about a certain someone at home whom I miss, so I left.

So I guess Thai night life isn't THAT bad after all ;)

Sign ups for the pool table competition.

 

 

 

The DJ who rocked it

So check this out. I grew up with a pretty feminist mother. And women stereotypes have just never really worked out in our family. Although, my mother is an excellent cook and loves to cook for us. (Yes!) Well, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree so I have been cooking meals myself here in the model house.

When I was cooking quesadillas, the Brazilian smelt my cooking and said "Oooooo! You can cook? OOOoo you can get married!" I kid you not. I thought this was hilarious and sad at the same time. Why is it thought that you must cook to be a wife? So tonight, I was cooking chicken and this girl from Latvia says "Oooo cooking? You will make good wife!" Really? I'm not sure to take this as a sign that I should get married or a sign that women in our world have a messed up vision of what a wife is. Wives order take out too ya know.

I am addicted to coconuts

As I had hoped for, this week had improved since getting lost for the crappy car magazine casting. We had more castings where we didn't get lost, I got my pocket money and was able to buy food. Food= Happy Jessica.

More models came in this week. Two males from Russia and one female from Romania who is the same age as me. The Russian guys are pretty cool as they speak English pretty well and understand my American humor. Not only do they understand, they absolutely love it.

On the day of their arrival we had an Agency Dinner. An Agency Dinner is when the owner of the agency  takes out everyone in the agency to a very fancy restaurant. We arrived at a Thai restaurant that felt like we entered a new world. All the walls were wood panels along with the floors. There were antique artifacts throughout the restaurant and we were greeted by lovely ladies in traditional silk attire, with Sawadee Ka and a bow. It was like we were royalty.
We had to take off our shoes and walk upstairs to a special large room. I entered the room to find a very long, low table and these Thai cousins that look like This. After everyone had a smoke (Minus me of course), we got settled in our seats and the food started to arrive. It was soooo yummy!!

Rice in Pineapple, curry and coconut smoothies 

The Hungarian and her pineapple smoothie

Pretty, huh?

 Earlier in the day we had a casting for a magazine. Afterwards we all decided to get some lunch and I spotted a fruit stand that I wanted to visit. I spotted a coconut.

It was so delicious and this is how my coconut addiction started. It was only 20 Baht!
I went with the Brazilian later that day to visit a friend of hers. He is a male model that lives in an apartment complex that used to be a hospital. The place is apparently haunted.

The view from his place

 

 

The next day after our Agency Dinner, the owner's driver took his girlfriend, the Romanian and I to his apartment complex where we can use the gym and pool area. It was so nice. I immediately got on a lounge chair and passed out for a while. The warm air and the sound of calm water can make one fall asleep pretty quickly. I felt like I was in Palm Springs or Vegas.

So last night I decided that I would go to the club with a few other models. It was one of the Russian boy's birthday last night so I figured I would go and celebrate with them. I went with the Romanian who had organized everything with the boys. I realized last night that she is not the brightest crayon in the box. Everything she had told me was totally wrong and I was incredibly frustrating. She didn't know where to go, her phone had no money. She was just completely under prepared which is not how I roll. 3 taxis later, we finally got to the boys place.
The Romanian informed me we were going to have dinner and then go out. Oh but wait, the boys already ate... So now I was irritated and hungry. Luckily, the boys were very entertaining at their place trying to put peanut M&Ms in their mouth. Example below:

So the boys came with me to get some food which was nice of them. The Romanian didn't eat anything but coconut ice cream and coke. Hmmm healthy. I of course, because of my addiction, also had coconut cream ice cream (along with my fried rice and chicken. yum). I then decided to teach the Russians an American joke. "That's what she said". This was very entertaining for me to hear them say "That's what she said!!" In thick Russian accents. Although, for the rest of the night, all I would hear was "That's what she said". Whoops.

So we get to the Circle club. You get to the top floor to find it full of models and smoke. There were a few Asian men around, but this room was mostly filled up by models. Very drunk models. It was hip hop night which was nice. If it was house music I would have left in 5 minutes. Instead I managed to stay an hour in a smokey room and sipping on a really disgusting pineapple vodka. (It's because it didn't have coconut, that's why it sucked)
I was checking out the place and watching models standing on tables and shelves dancing like strippers. A room full of sexy boys and girls can only mean one thing; STDs. I kept my drink close by.
Watching people look stupid while I'm sober is only fun for a short amount of time. But the birthday boy was dancing like a maniac and didn't want to leave. So I stayed longer.
I was thinking, Damn, Hollywood has way better clubs. Then of course, every hip hop song was about California, Long Beach, the West Side and such. Which just made me super homesick. :(

crazies

 

 

 

I need to explain how clubs in Asia work. If you are a model, you get in for free. Sometimes, if you come early, they also provide you a delicious dinner. Sometimes, they pay models to come to the club. Then, they give you tickets that you can use at the bar and order free drinks. This is why models love going to the club and why they are all drunk.
I don't think I will be frequenting Thai clubs often on my trip out here.
Fin.

Castings Today

Today we had two castings. One for a fashion show and another for a car magazine. At the fashion show casting, there were over 100 models present. Which meant we were all waiting at least 2 hours before it was our turn for the casting.

Our bookers give us "maps" (Which are computer drawn maps that are not drawn to scale, and very basic), for us to present to the Taxi driver. Then we just have to hope that he knows where he's going. So we arrived at the casting place and pay the driver, and we all split the fare. We sign in and I try and find a place to sit, but all the seats have been taken. I try and sit on a chair that is being occupied by a few gallon water tank. I start to read until my butt turns numb and I look for another place to sit. I find a bench upstairs which would make me really anti social if I sat there, but it was either have a numb ass or be antisocial. Antisocial won.

More and more models were coming in and I got to see my competition. There are lots of pretty girls here. And there are the odd few where you're like, you're a model? But hey, models are people too and no one is perfect.

An hour goes by and a shipment of Brazilian men come in. I just love Brazilians. They just seem so happy and always greet each other with a kiss on each cheek. They are so kind to each other and always laughing. And of course they are all gorgeous. I'm talking about boys and girls here. They just rock and I get along with them the best.

So another hour goes by and solitaire on my iPod is getting a bit boring. I even tried reading for an hour, but I was getting pretty restless and my butt fell asleep again.

My number was finally called and I went inside the studio and was greeted by 5 different people so I have no idea who the client was, so I could kindly greet him or her in Thai. My clothes were quickly whipped off and I had new ones put on and next thing I knew I was wearing something like spanky pants. Then I had to do the catwalk, change again, walk again and then "Thank you for coming". So then me and 2 other girls had to take a cab to the next casting.

It was me, a Brazilian girl and another girl from Hungary who is drop dead gorgeous. The Brazilian and I started chatting because the girl from Hungary doesn't speak English very well. Apparently the Brazilian has been away from home modeling for 4 years. I was stunned. I was thinking I have been in Thailand for a week and I'm already ready to come home. My mind was stirring.

We find a cab and give him our "map". The map sucked and he of course didn't know where to take us.
The convo went like this:
Driver: "Blah blah blah BLAH blah blah something Thai blah blah"
Me "Uhh....Here"
*Pointing at a building on map which I think is where we are going
Driver" "Blah. Blah blah blah."
Me" We go here"
Driver looks confused
Driver "Blah blah"
Me" Jesus... Who's got a phone?"
Brazil "My phone has no credit"
*I look at Hungary. Her head in the clouds as I ask if we can use her phone to call the agency for help. Meanwhile, she is playing with her phone
*Finally she understands. I call the agency
*The phone rings
Phone" Blah blah blah Something Thai, Blah blah blah. Blah blah Something Chinese, blah blah. The number you have dialed is not in service"
I'm getting pissed now.

Finally I make a break through and manage to get in touch with the agency. They are confused as to what
I want. I just want them to tell the driver where to go... Finally, 5 min and 10 baht later, we are on our way.

After 30 min, the driver drops us off on a road that is half closed due to construction. They are putting down a new road and wet cement is everywhere. I see, according to our "map" that we need to go down a short road. So we did and we got totally lost.

We tried asking these men who were fixing the telephone polls to point us in the right direction. But they would either laugh or ignore us as if we were homeless scum. Having no phone and no money left, I felt pretty helpless. We walked some more and passed a women at her stand cooking some pastry thing.

The Edison of Bangkok. I'm glad they don't work in my neighborhood.

Lady cooking her pastry thingie. The lady on the right helped us (yay)

We decide to call the agency again. They think we want to go home and don't understand "lost". I was getting so frustrated. I then asked for our booker who speaks English and even she was confused on what we needed. We then had to hand over the phone to the lady cooking her pastry. Then the phone went to another woman, then another woman on her bike with her son. Finally, she said for us to follow and that we did. But first we needed some food.

The Brazilian very kindly bought me some because I have no more pocket money left. This also had put me in a bad mood because I don't have money to even eat. I have money in my bank, but I am trying to just use the pocket money the agency gives me, which has proven to not be enough.

So we follow this lady who very kindly leads us to the casting. But the stupidest part was that the road to get there was all wet cement. So, 3 models in heels are trying to walk through this construction zone and not get wet cement on ourselves.

Then all the sudden- AHHHHHHHHH!
The Brazilian has fallen in the cement. Luckily she stopped her whole body from falling in with her hand, but her arm was elbow deep in wet cement. Luckily for her, there was a hose nearby and she rinsed off. I was just thinking how  ridiculous this all was.

Moving on, we made it to the casting. We then find out that this car magazine totally sucks and is in search of super sexy girls to model with these cars. I may be sexy to some men (;-D) but I know my look and I am not the sexy type to be in a car magazine. So after going through all this crap, and realizing I would not get this job, made me pretty frustrated. Oh and of course, for the casting we had to be in our bra and shorts. Whatever, I hope the photographer enjoyed it.

So then we headed back home and the Brazilian and I got to know each other a bit better. Looks like me and her will be hanging out a bit more. She is 18 and has been modeling abroad for 4 years...

Today's experiences had me thinking a lot. Do I really want to be away from home for such a long time like the Brazilian? Is this what I really want to be doing in my life right now? Getting lost, paying for taxis, not knowing where castings are? Not having enough money to eat? Maybe today was just a bad day. But if it's like this all this week, I'm going to do something drastic.