Saturday, June 11, 2011

(not so) Alone in Narita

Arrived at Narita Airport around 8:30am (with slight time change) and headed out. I have an 7 hour layover. My goal - to go to Tokyo. I calculated it carefully yesterday. A train into the city takes an hour and a half, so lets call that 2 hours to be on the safe side. So that leaves 4 hours. Minus 2 hours to be at the airport 2 hours in advance for an international flight. That leaves 1 hours. I can do this, and I'm feeling less tired that I thought I might after the red eye from Bangkok.

However, when I get to the train, a very nice woman who works there and who speaks really good English (incidentailly from living in Daly City for a while) explains that although my calculations were correct, I did not take into account the train's schedule, which I guess I just assumed ran more frequently. When that was factored in I would have closer to 45 minutes without buffer time AND be well past my 2 hour before hand deadline. It was impossible.

She could sense my disappointment, but suggested I go check out Narita (where she was from) guaranteeing that it was "very Japanese." I didn't want Japanese, I wanted The Future - but anything beats 7 hours at an airport, and as I said I wasn't even feeling that dead yet.

So off to Narita. I found to my dismay in the real airport beyond the duty free, that my credit card was not acceptable. Luckly my little coffee drink could be paid for by US cash, of which i had $5, and got the exact right amount of Yen for the train back as change.

Stepping out, Narita was so quiet. I realized for the first time how relatively loud Thailand is, probably because of all the motorcycles everywhere. Perhaps also because I was traveling with my Mom and bro, so I haven't been alone for long for a while. There is a Temple here, my Daly City friend had told me, so I would get something to eat (there were bakeries everywhere), and head over to see it and sit in the adjoining park and rest in the fresh air before going back to airport land. I thought...

The same problem of having a US card persisted. I had hoped not to have to change money, for my 3 hour stay in Japan, but it seemed now that I had no choice. I needed water and food and more caffeine, but even without these, I needed a train back. Where was the nearest ATM I could use? Unclear, but as I understood it it involved a bus, or better yet - there was always the airport.


I was beginning to feel very alone and how futile this excursion was proving to be. When I was turned down at yet another store, a young woman took pity on me and told me that an ATM in town that could take my card was at the post office. She explained the directions, which were very complicated. Then looked at my now, much more tired face, and, as if reading my mind, pulled out a piece of paper and wrote my destination on it so I could ask others for help when I fell off track.

Which I did several times, my most notable of helpful townspeople being a little aging lady dog walker who walked with me for a few blocks back the blocks I overshot, telling me about her daughter who lived in New York.

Make it to the post office to find it closed. Why? Oh yeah, its Sunday. I ask again, and the 711 is my new destination. To make a long story short, I did get some cash and headed to see if I could find an internet cafe. I ask some "young people" who pointed me toward McDonalds. Okay. Went to McDonalds, and on their porch I tried again. There were some more "young people" hanging out there, and I felt like I was starting to get delirious because I could understand what they were saying - but it wasn't English. Either way this internet wasn't going to happen so maybe they could help.

No - they couldn't, because no one spoke English. Then I asked - Espanol? Yes, that's what it was. They were a group of students, two Japanese and two from Peru. They took an interest in me right away, and rather than indulge my interest in getting online, the offered me a tour, they would take me to the Temple.



So somehow I had stumbled into my own personal tour guide (the leader who stayed with me after the rest pealed away), who (entirely in Spanish) answered all my questions about the Narita, the Temple, Tokyo, Japanese Culture, and filled me in on where the chillest cities in South America were and what it was like to be Latino in Japan. When I made my way back to the train and tried to buy a ticket, languages were completely mixed up in my head. I think I am wearing out.

Oh! and he bought me a shaved ice. For those of you who know me, you know my latent passion for snow cones, so the was the icing on the cake. (That metaphor feels mixed, but I don't thing it is)


My new friend (we have already connected on "the face") will show me around Tokyo next time I come - for longer and definitely must be in August, which he and his friend must have told me about 2 dozen times, is the best time to come.

Meanwhile - don't ever get stuck in Narita International. Somehow I just end up having a $40 Sushi lunch. It was good - but not that good. I am tired not (Kirin). I believe this concludes my posts on this travel blog. Thanks for reading.

Chiang Mai Will Change Your Life

I won't argue that Chiang Mai is somehow more authentic than other parts of Thailand or miraculously unspoilt by tourism, globalization and the other credibility impairing hazards of the present century. But I found myself drawn in by its wily charm. It has a certain liveliness, a spirit of astonishment unlike anywhere else I have been in the world (which admittedly until this trip only included Western Europe and North America). The amount of time we stayed was far too brief and I feel I barely scratched the surface. I am determined to return as an intrepid traveler unbound by the path dependency of the virginal tourist.

We may have been destined to love Chiang Mai by choosing to begin experiencing it with a Thai Full Body Massage. The price of said massage wouldn't buy you a slap in the face or a kick in the pants in the U.S. much less the extensive snapping, cracking and deep tissue therapy we received while wearing light fabrics that prevented me from feeling so much as a twinge of bodily violation. Following this, we watched dance Khum Khantoke as part of an "authentic" Lanna Dining experience. This included an impressive sword dance and a fascinating Sueng Ka-pho coconut shell dance. More about these shenanigans, and their authenticity or lack thereof, in a later post. 

Next I experienced a series of highly visceral hallucinations. I felt as if I flew high above the jungle upside down. The trees, the banana palms, the noisy yet euphonic hum of insects, the replicative green - everywhere green - whirled around me with dizzying splendor. Jiminy Cricket served as our guide. He taught us the ways and protected us from the gravest dangers we may have encountered. Undoubtedly my view of the jungle has been permanently altered by meeting it under such tumultuous circumstances.
I had already seen the muddy river below my dangling feet. But now we got deep in the muck. Our captain fancied that he was a Jack Sparrow, he heard voices, he talked to himself and he led us down the current feet first. I was prepared to dunk my head in the drink, I was ready to drown.


The day had not yet ended and my venturesome delusions now took shape as avatars - tigers first, and then ultimately elephants. I feel no shame admitting that I am terrified of anyone who is capable of tearing my face off and eating my flesh like so much lettuce. The tiger, he is capable, but the tiger can be approached in highly controlled circumstances as we discovered.
The next morning, the visage of the elephant became my delusion's North Star. We were all entranced by their gentle comic majesty. Sympathy for these enormous beasts anguished me - normally my soul harbors few warm feelings for animals. I deal with them as a technocrat deals with reams of collected data. I analyze rather than pet. They took us on slow, stuttering roller coaster ride through the jungle.

My sister and I rode on a houda atop the elephant. Her name was Wan Pen and she was a hard working 31 year old. She climbed and she ate using her highly articulate trunk. My feet were on her back, occasionally I placed my foot behind her ear. The jungle around us made way for these hulking wanderers. Again the resounding buzz of insects surrounded us, but this time Wan Pen's ears flapped back and forth to ward them away.
The long chain of visions that Chiang Mai induced in me ended while visiting a working silk factory. These little slugs - born to transform - provide, in their yearning to become another, a fine fiber that Thais (among many other peoples) weave into threads. We wear these threads for fashion and comfort. After examining the worms in their various stages of development as well as the fibers, the threads and the wooden machines that women work to weave the silk, I entered the adjacent retail shop that sells the finished goods. My dream ended with the stark juxtaposition of a hot silk factory and an air conditioned retail shop. Nearly every shop I have entered in my life has had a sweat shop behind its wares, but the connection had never been so clearly dramatized. I felt a vague sickness; a hangover of unearned luxury infested me like opportunistic mold.

Last Day Phuket

(apologies in advance for the hasty post and photos - not sure how my internet will be for a while)

Last day in Phuket - have an evening flight out so lazed a bit in the morning and then decided to drive the cost up and check out the other beaches as we went.

Patong is a shit hole. There. I said it. Don't get me wrong, the beach is gorgous, so I can see why so many young foreigners came and over the years made the place on big pile of tourist crap. I bought some sunglasses and a Frappuccino TM.

The northern beaches might have been nice, but access is limited to those paying the rent (or paying those who pay the rent.) We accidentally made our way into a huge spead of condo developments around assuming man-made lagoons, with a big fat golf course in the middle. Again, I understand why, but it does still seem a shame.

The last little beach before the airport to the north of Surin is a little beach called Nai Yang. What can I say but THIS IS THE SPOT.



A rad beach town with little restaurant spots with tables on the beach catering to surfers. Actually, kite surfing was the thing here, and the is-it-going-to-rain-is-it-not-going-to-rain weather of this part of the year gives amazing gusts of wind for these guys.


If you travel to Phuket I highly recommend you look into staying in Nai Yang. I head you can camp on the beach as well. Sounds pretty good to me.

My last Thailand-Thai meal on the beach was perfect. Mom and Rob are heading back for a few more days in Thailand and I am headed home by way of two subsequent red eyes: one to Narita International (Japan) and one from there to SFO. So from 15 min from now for the next 24+ hours or so (8 hour layover at Narita) I will be in transit. Pretty rough.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Beach Bumming and Thai Market

A mellow day yesterday. We hit the beach in the morning, and stayed for a good chunk of the day. Kata Beach is gorgeous - the pic I caught doesn't even do it justice.

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For those who know me well, you know how happy I am near (and in) water, and the water of the Andaman is so warm! After years of stepping tentitivly into the Pacific ocean off of Nor Cal, I was genuinely surprised, and after a moment to adjust my thinking threw myself in for a swim. What a treat.

In the late afternoon we hit the road from Phuket Town, which actually gained it's city status in 2004. We had hoped to get "off the beaten path" a bit, as the beach areas of Phuket are pretty geared toward tourist, to the extent of hosts of restaurants, cabs and souvenir vendors trying to grab you off the street and make the sale. (This aggressiveness could also be because we are sliding ever more into "low season." We had read about an open air market and driving into town we did spot one. It was unlikely that this was the one we had read about, but we stopped anyway.

What we ended up finding was a real treat. A Thai farmers market, get this, for Thai people. Since it was the outskirts of Phuket town and around 5pm, we gathered this was a spot many would stop to get dinner ingredients or take out.

We wandered around the market, and I began to take lots of pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruensk/sets/72157626797869487/

Everyone was so friendly and we were informed at one point that it was odd to see us there (being non-Thais). I began to approach people for portraits, mainly kids who were running around playing together as their parents worked or shopped. At first they kindly assented, but after walking the loop around the small market several times, many had already seen what I was up to and they began to offer and chat with me as best they could given I know no Thai. This was the kind of "immersion" that had been a bit elusive throughout our trip, and I spent the entire hour or two (no one was keeping track) with a huge smile on my face and the knowledge that the photos I was getting were better than any souvenir I could buy.

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Back to Kata beach, the three of us headed to a bar restaurant which I was loured into by: its pool table, Regan-Era-classic-rock-super-hits-of-the-80s/Van-Halen-Pandora-playlist, and a Connect Four! set on every table. A deadly combination for staying late and drinking too much. Good times.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

"We Have Some Catching Up To Do..."

So much has happened over the last five days that contemplating how to write about it leaves me breathless with anxiety. The weekend's events seem retrospectively less glamourous after the momentous adventures of the top of the week, but some highlights lend themselves to description (I'm sorry I couldn't render all of this in cxl480 because I don't have a 560iMachineBox-Pro 8* but I'm dealing with 4.67 pendisc from the mid 2000s and it's like "Back to the Stone Age!"  If you can't follow my jargon you're probably not my friend on facebook/gmail/blogger/twitter/twatter/blotter/blitter/blatter anyway so whatever.)

On Saturday, my sister and I explored the Khao San Road district of Bangkok in the late afternoon and early evening. Khao San Road is known as a haven for young hipsters from around the world and if the T-shirts on offer in some of the stalls were any indication, such a reputation appears entirely accurate. I saw an Imperial Stormtrooper holding an umbrella on a t-shirt in once such stall. Mere minutes later I saw some paleface wearing the shirt and deduced that he had just bought ironic Star Wars memorabilia in the heart of the Jade Empire of Southeast Asia.

Perhaps my years living "Check Your Privilege" atmosphere of UC Berkeley has fatally buttressed my carefully nursed white self-hatred. But Bill Hicks' line about the "whiny white pieces of shit" inhabiting the cast of "Thirtysomething" came into my head over and over again despite the fact that most of the travelers moving about Khao San Road are probably just perfectly agreeable Norwegians, Germans, Canadians, Americans just like me.

Tangential to my own insecurities are some observations about race in Thailand. Based on media representations I have caught on billboards, street advertisements, and the haunting telescreens that dominate Bangkok's Sky Train transit system, it appears that the more Chinese a Thai looks, the better. That is, light is right in Thailand just as in the U.S. or Brazil or seemingly anywhere in the world. I have begun to understand Southeast Asia interpolates the paler East Asia with the darker South Asia.

An exhilarating nighttime Tuk Tuk ride through Bangkok's metropolitan archipelago carried my sister and I to the Ratchethewi neighborhood we had read was the chosen destination of "young Thais in the know." Experiencing a district teeming with the budding cognoscenti that attend Bangkok's universities imbued me with a frightening vision of a future increasingly overtaken by neon regalia and the features of an endless, infinite shopping mall.

Travel Day: Chiang Mai to Phuket

Left beautiful and peaceful Chiang Mai to head down to Phuket. We were a bit worried about what the weather would be here (the south being wetter than the north) like but this morning is sunny and warm.

Flew into Phuket at around 5pm and decided to rent a car to make the most of the couple days we will be here. Phuket is a big island, about 50Km long (30ish miles) and it took us quite a while to drive from the airport. Driving on the left at night was a bit nuts. The Thai don't have lanes. Although they are painted on the road, its common to just move in and out of each one as need be. Very aggressive with lots of motor cycles.

We made it down to Kata Beach where we had chosen to stay, given its description of being a little more laid back than Patong - which is a little north up the west coast of the Island from us.

We have a little list going of what we want to do hear, including check out the beach and the Andaman Sea!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Elephants are Rad.

Yesterday the highlight was the elephant park. Not as hokey as it might seem, the park get a lot of traffic from tourists for the "elephant show" and rides, (we skipped the show) but is also a preserve of sorts. At any rate, it is confirmed once and for all that elephants are indeed lovable and have a sweet and thoughtful disposition, at least when trained.

I took a ton of photos (shot up my card), some of which can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruensk/sets/72157626911849834/

The ride was kind of nuts. Robbie and I kept reminding ourselves that it was probably the least dangerous thing we have done so far, since we didn't have to trained. Elephants are big, perhaps you already knew that, and so you're pretty far off the ground, and their gate and stride is slow but their weight shift quite a lot. We were lead up along something like a hiking trail in the foothills and going uphill, and especially downhill was a trip. I would add more detail, but mostly I just want to stress how rad elephants are. Very rad. Their trunks, rad, and super articulate. Their feet, super rad. Their mouths, really odd and rad also. They are vertical, which I didn't know.

This park was very relaxed, and after the ride we bought some banana's and sugar cane and met some elephants up close and personal. The park has all ages, from babies in the nursery (more on that in a moment) who are a few months old, to the oldest elephant who is 78. (Elephants are rad.) Elephants love bananas and sugar cane. Elephants pick things up with their trunk - out of your hand.


We finally headed over to the nursery and met a baby and mama:IMG_5535
This baby was so so rad. (see pictures) So playful and funny. Unlike the other elephants that were admittedly more interested in us when we had bananas than when we didn't, the baby just wanted to play. Also, just like a human baby, he was still getting used to his body, and especially the trunk. While the older elephants had this amazingly articulate way of pincing with the top and bottom tips of their trunks, (see elephant painting) the baby really didn't have it down. He would have something for a moment, and then drop it and try again and again. While the older ones sort of pop thing into their mouth (think popcorn) the baby was less accurate when it did get up there and would sort of smash it in there off to the side and try to use the feet a bit. Anyway, I love this elephant most of all.

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Lastly we saw them training elephants to paint. Amazing, but a little less interesting than elephants just being elephants.

Anyway, I know this is a lot about elephants, but they are seriously seriously rad animals. Way more interesting than the report I did about them in third grade.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Chiang Mai - Cool Town and Mother Fucking Zipline (and Tiger)

Pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruensk/sets/72157626906000418/

Went out into the woods (jungle) yesterday for some "adventure" activities. First on the list? Zip line. Yeah, so I did that. We hit this really neat place where they have platforms on trees all through the trees connected by zip lines ranging from 100 to 400 meters (a quarter mile), the longer ones which take you over the infamous Mekong River, (see Vietnam War or any of the Vietnam War films of note).

Then we went white water rafting. One of the guides (who ended up on our boat) was excited to know we were English speakers as we rode in the back of the pick up truck with him on the way to the "embarkation" (patch of mud). He clearly had saved up some words he needed translated and began to see if we could help build his vocabulary. Oddly however, one after another, they all ended up being mythical creatures. First, he asked about what is half fish and half lady. Easy, Mermaid. I also pointed out that there were Mermen, which he through was a pretty funny idea. Then half horse half man. Okay, Centaur. This went on to some stranger beasts that he was either making up or were from some Aztec culture not in the Anglo educational canon. (bird faces, man legs, wings and arms...) Good times.

Rafting was a blast, and I for one would like to do more in the near future. (Although I think I hurt my ankle. It was starting to swell a bit later in the night, but luckily mom has a ton of medical stuff with her - including an ace bandage. Which is why you always bring a doctor on the Oregon Trail. We are taking Typhoid pills too.)

I then forced everyone to go to Tiger Kingdom, by far the most touristy of all these "adventure activities." (They were all clearly geared toward tourists if you didn't guess that. We asked about who was coming an it's mainly Northern Europeans and Americans but also quite a few Chinese as well as many Israelis - of whom I've noticed a lot myself).

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So, yes, I met a couple of tigers in a very locked down environment, but it was still pretty nuts to be that close and to touch them. Their fur was a lot thinner than I had thought, but I guess that makes sense being that they are Indo-Chinese Tigers after all, (did I mention it's hot here?)

The weather is cooling down as Monsoon season approaches. We are having some rain, but it is sporadic, and short lived when it comes. Mostly it's keeping it an almost perfect temperature for bare skin and no sweating.

Took a rest after all that "adventure" and then headed out to the Chiang Mai Night Market - which is incredibly every night. It's the biggest/coolest/latest at night market I have ever seen. Tons of cool stuff, a laid back environment and did I mention its huge and everynight? All this embedded in bars and restaurants that are equally laid back. Too much for one night, will return this evening. I'm jealous of a climate that keeps everyone outdoors like this all night.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Incident on a Bangkok Bus

On Saturday, we rode a bus from near the Ratchathewi Sky Train stop in Bangkok to the Khao San Road district. At one stop, two Thai men carrying large ruck sacks filled with the lurid and unknown got on the bus and proceeded to begin a campaign of leering and harassment against us. It was clear that my sister was the target and I was simply an obstacle. But what's remarkable is that after a time, a number of Thai women on the bus came to my sister's defense. They shouted at the men and helped us get off in peace at a stop near the Democracy Monument.

Bangkok Nightlife and off to Chiang Mai

Let's see, where to begin?

Day 2 in Thailand, Robbie and I set off into Bangkok to check out some of the neighborhoods we had heard/read about, most of which were notable for their nightlife. We were setting off fairly late in the day (slept in and waited out the rain a bit), so that was no problem. (Also please note the lack of images, on account of the lack of light on a 5.6)

We took the light rail into the city toward Khao San Road, which was easily noted by everyone as the "backpackers' district." Not being entirely sure what that meant, we were all the more intrigued. The light rail in Bangkok is new and modern and a pleasure to use. It's even ahead of SF public transport if only in only in light of the flat screen TVs with round the clock commercial advertising that adorn each train car. I had a moment watching it where I got confused because the program wasn't coming back on, only to remember that there would be no program. Won't be long until we have the pleasure. From the light rail stop closest to Khao San we jumped on a bus to get further west and jumped off at the Democracy Monument, a notable landmark to orient ourselves with our map.

Walking the few blocks over to Khao San was more difficult than we thought. The Thai people are notably friendly and very helpful and today was no exception. We got stopped by locals 5 times along the way (before we started keeping our head down and map out of sight) who wanted to inform us of what we should really be doing with the next hour. Apparently that day was the day to go to the Temple of the Smiling Buddha to get luck, so much so they weren't charging entry. On top of that a Tuk Tuk ride was 10 bhat a person to the Temple of the Smiling Buddha (subsidized by the government), so it would only be 20 bhat for us to go and get some major luck for the year. We tried to explain that we wanted to walk around which was easily lost in translation, one because of the language itself and two because, what "were we crazy not to go do this right now, it's only open for one more hour!"

Backpacking district delivered as promised. Hostels, bars and restaurants catering to and filled with travelers from all over the world. Robbie and I stopped for a bite and some beer, and still thinking like travelers in a exotic country, we ordered the exotic sounding "Tower" of beer, only to find, its the same tower that party people all over the world order to posture their commitment to drink, and keep said drink cool. Oops. As night fell the street really became alive but we wanted to see what was going on with Thai kids at this hour.

Off to Ratchathewi a neighborhood containing the university, might be just that. We grabbed a Tuk Tuk for a wild ride back east toward this district (also a major light rail stop), and made it there in no time. Immediately noticed the markings of college life. The malls were just closing (although fascinating in their own right) and we headed into a block that housed half a dozen open air "restaurants" (which by the way can range from what we know as a restaurant to a cart or permanent kitchen stand and tables). Accidentally ordered the spiciest beef salad known to man, accompanied by more Sing Ha. Wandered a bit more toward neighboring Phaya Thai distinct and jumped a light rail home.

Next day headed to airport to catch a flight to Chiang Mai. Arrived to meet a very helpful taxi driver and tons of day trip options for getting out into the jungle and culture. Caught a traditional dance dinner show at the cultural center (will post video of Robbie getting dragged up on stage asap) which was very interesting. Made it an early night to head out this morning to a full day white water rafting and meeting a tiger.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Day One Notes on Food

-I got to taste a rose apple, which I imagine is what a celery becomes if it decides that it wants to be a sweet fruit.

-Genuine Pad Thai is a flavorful mess rather than the standard issue assembly line meal with too much soy sauce that features at Thai Basil and so many other Bay Area Thai joints.

-Dragonfruit tastes delicious, like what a poppyseed muffin would be if it decided that it wanted to be a sweet fruit (sorry, I only have like two metaphors).

-Food is so cheap here that I eat until I explode. I must learn to be limited by something other than price.

The Chao Phraya River

The central organizing principle for my first proper day in Bangkok was the Chao Phraya River. The river bisects the city and feeds the many canals that cut through neighborhoods like so many veins and arteries. Before yesterday, I had no idea that Bangkok shared canals in common with Amsterdam and Venice. I learned about the canals after getting on a long tail boat with my sister, my mom, my uncle and his wife. We sped down the river taking in views of the city. It's a truly splendorous way to travel.

Our first stop was Wat Arun. An ornate Buddhist temple with considerable Hindu influence (lots of statues of cows and Gods from their pantheon), Wat Arun dares you to take a tumble on its pyramidal step formations. Near the end of our explorations of the vertiginous structure, I glimpsed a Buddhist monk working as a clerk behind the counter of the Wat Arun gift shop. This image inhabited me with a bemused sense of sweaty irony. I find it fatuously unsettling how easily Buddhism has taken to the highly commercial culture of modernity.

The long tail boat than took us into a labyrinthine latticework of canals enervating Thai neighborhoods that alternate seemingly at random between wooden shantytowns and opulent villas. Both types of domicile had Spirit Houses outside - small shrines that house the spirits that haunt our lives - because no one wants bad spirits to sleep in bed with them. We stopped at a large Orchid Farm populated by gorgeous airborne flowers. I looked up at the opal sky, overcome by delicate blossoms with the mouths of insects. This far off land of astonishment holds too many gifts to unwrap on a single two-week trip.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Bangkok: Boats, Temples and Pad Thai

We took a cab into the city to the central pier and hired a boat to take us down the Chao Phraya to a couple of spots: The Temple of Dawn and the an Orchid farm.

Both were fascinating, as would be expected, but the trip itself was an awesome way to see Bangkok. The river is a transportation thoroughfare, which has its own public transportation up and down the river. It even has an express boat for commuters. Bangkok also has a series of canals and we took one deeper west into the neighborhoods there. The peoples houses range from expensive newer houses in classic or updated classic Thai style made of beautiful wood or sometimes stone, to shacks created from whatever materials could be found, especially corrugated tin. Income differences are expected to be found everywhere, however what was interesting was the way they could be such a mix from house to house.

The more ramshackle places seemed to be habitated by people more or less living much like they did before the 20th century, still living a water culture of living off the land (or water i should say) and selling what they could find (fruit and fish) out of boats.

Saw the "sleeping Buddha" and ate some real deal pad thai. mmmmmm....

I took a lot of photos, a few are here but the rest are on here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bruensk/sets/72157626755399887/
- check them out! Didn't have much time to sort/crop so it is what it is - keep in mind - i was on a boat when i took most of these.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Bangkok Delicious

About nine or ten hours ago, I ate deep fried mu intestines shortly after getting somewhat lost at the Bangkok International Airport. Mu is Thai for pork, so the deep fried intestines I ate used to be inside of a pig. I devoured all the late night hot and spicy food that I could - pork, seafood, lots of vegetables - as it was a welcome respite from 24 hours of airline crap and a great way to start my Thai adventure. They kept refilling my beer like it was a glass of water. That helped with the spicy food and got me ready for bed after sleeping too much on the plane.

My uncle lives on the outskirts of Bangkok. I slept the hot, humid night away without a blanket. When I woke up, I went outside into the morning drizzle. While I observed the orchids, the drizzle turned into a downpour. I sat on the covered porch to watch the hard rain drench the tropical plants. A few peals of thunder anointed the day.

A shirtless Thai man ran down the street in the rain. He got into a van and revved the engine for several minutes. The sound of gunshot echoed through the neighborhood. The van had backfired. Just then, the rain stopped, as suddenly as it started.

Arrival

We got in at a little before 11pm last night. They tell me it had become Thur. I'm okay with that because on the way back I'll be flying with time - which is rad.

Our Uncle Dick and his wife Kesorn picked us up and took us to a restaurant by their house which stays open til 3am apparently. I asked about this, since we are in a smaller suburb? a bit east of Bangkok. It's the spot to go out here after midnight.

We ate delicious food, which i did not retain the name of any of it. Will check back in when i get some names.

Rained last night. Cleared up this morning and we ate breakfast - kangi? will check back in on that one too, but its like a rice porridge. AND this totally delicious fruit mango steam in English.

Just started pouring rain again, but when it lets up we are headed into Bangkok! (this rain is crazy - you could take a shower in it...)

oh also -

i forgot to mention, that I forgot my passport at home this morning, so even through i was perfectly on time, i had to jump out at Colma and cab back to the house, and then back to SFO - only to discover I had beat Robbie and our mom there. It was a stressful morning.

If its all one sentence...

Layover at Narita International Airport


After a 10+ hour flight from SFO, Katie and I are sitting in a bar in Tokyo drinking Sapporo. Unlike Katie, I plan to use first person pronouns in ALL of my sentences. We have a couple of hours until we get on another 7 hour flight and then finally, blessedly, we will arrive in Bangkok.


We are looking out at a view of what should be called the Pacific Northeast. Maybe it is called that, but I've never heard the term. Anyway, with a gray sky and lush green temperate forest, one could easily mistake it for the Pacific Northwest (at least if one had only 4 hours to spend in the country and couldn't justify going through international customs for  a few gulps of fresh Japanese air).


The bar is playing exclusively monotonous club remixes of American pop hits, mostly recent Top 40 (think Black Eyed Peas), although currently they're blasting a relatively enjoyable club remix of the "Axel F Theme" from the Beverly Hills Cop movies. I am excited to get out of here and into Thailand for curry and Buddhist temples (I forgot to bring the guidebook to Thailand so I know nothing of the country). As former President George W. Bush would say, "Let's Roll!"

SFO to Tokyo

Writing this first post from a "bar" inside the Narita airport. Flight was 11 hours - listened to some podcasts and read Tina Fey's Bossypants ($13.97 or 1089.66) from cover to cover. I recommend it for any flight. They gave me many Bloody Mary's and Kirin's - and so was a pretty happy camper there for a while.

Layover in Tokyo a shame. Long enough not to be short. Too short to leave the airport. Someday I'll have to get back. Can feel the humidity from inside. Could be at the Minneapolis airport except for lack of very very white people everywhere, and interesting looking juices in these soda machines.


Looks like we'll have to wait til we get to Bangkok in 9 hours (7hour flight + 2 hours we will sit here drinking Sapporo).

Sure is a long way. We'll do the math when we get there.