What a beautiful dream/ That could flash on the screen

In a blink of an eye and be gone from me
Soft and sweet
Let me hold it close and keep it here with me

Two weeks left. I've been instructed to stop being "cold and indifferent" about leaving. Time to start reminiscing then, in list form: 

Top Five Cheap Things I'll Miss About Living in Thailand

1. Dinner

I'm not sure when we'll again be able to order appetizers, a fresh-caught grilled fish, a giant bowl of green curry, and two or three beers for the price of a Starbucks mocha.  

2. Haircuts

I usually end up looking like Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting for a few days (cutting thick, curly, caucasian hair is like doing heart surgery here) and I'm invariably told that I'd be handsome if only I'd let them shave my beard. But $6 for a cut, two shampoos and a head massage ain't bad. The transvestites at Gay Cuts in Bangkok soothe my soul. 

3. Taxis

Clean, cool, comfortable, and $5 for an hour-long crawl across Bangkok in rush hour traffic. Ideal for naps. No buffaloes, sex, AK-47s, or durian allowed. 

4. Costco runs to Burma

Knock-off carnival. On our occasional visa runs to Tachilek, a wild west border town in Myanmar's infamous Golden Triangle region, we always return loaded down with fake Ray-Bans, boardshorts, pocket knives, exotic beers, animist idols, pirated DVDs, samurai swords, and bottles of South African wine. No yaabaa or viagra, please. 

5. Massages

Two hours for $6. Massages are my idea of tickle hell, but apparently this is a good deal. I guess.

6. Face Surgeries