What A Way To Go

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Korat Visit

Nuch and I took a short trip to Korat to visit some old friends and "wai" Ya Mo - the matriarch of Korat. .

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Wish I Was There

Avatar-inspired Restaurant In Bangna

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Winnie The Pooh

Have you ever woken up and realized that for the past week you've been sleeping with a Winnie the Pooh pillow?

And comforter

Full Body Sweat #5

They say that Thailand has three seasons, Hot, Hotter, and Damn Hot.  As hot as Thailand is, if you plan properly, you can spend the day out and about and stay relatively cool.  On this particular day, I planned poorly.

My Chinese visa had expired, so I needed to go to the Embassy.  It's located in downtown Bangkok, so I planned to take the Airport Link to avoid traffic.  I thought I was being clever, but it turned out to be a big mistake.

I had to park about 300 yards from Ladkrabang Station, and by the time I got to the tracks, I could feel the first beads of sweat trickle down my forehead and back.  Making matters worse, the next train wasn't for another 20 minutes - and it was an open air station.  Let the deluge begin.  This was the day's first full body sweat.

It's a 30 minute ride to central Bangkok, which gave me enough time to dry off, but not after getting continuous stares from the Thai passengers, who, like me, had also waited at the broiling station, but had stayed dry in their tanned, water-tight skin suits.

From Makasan Station, I had to walk about 200 yards in the mid-morning heat, which was already near 90, to the motorcycle taxi stand, and the first beads of perspiration appeared across my brow.  You would think that a wind-swept ride on the back of a motorcycle would cool you off, but holding on to my documents with one hand and the back of the motorcycle with the other and occasionally getting stuck behind the exhaust of a city bus, finished off with a brisk walk up the un-air conditioned stairs to the 3rd floor Visa section of the embassy meant full body sweat #2

One hour in the embassy and I was able to cool off again.  While waiting for my new visa, I noticed that although the sweat had dried, it had left a series of salt rings beneath my man breasts and on the knees of my jeans.

Once I finished at the embassy, I had a quick lunch, and without waiting 30 minutes, I jumped back into the pool for full body sweat #3.  This time the motorcycle ride wasn't so bad, but the walk through the enormously empty Makasan station got my heart racing.  Arriving at the open-air platform, I was, surprisingly, still dry, but once again, I had to wait 20 minutes for the next train.  Nearby, the Thais stood quietly and watched in amazement as I bathed fully-clothed beneath an invisible shower head.

I stepped off the train at Ladkrabang station just as the last molecule of sweat evaporated from my salt-stained shirt.  At the edge of the elevated platform, I stared across the adjacent parking lot and saw the inevitable.  My car was but a spec at the far end of a sea of cars, shimmering beneath a cloudless sky.  My 4th full body sweat was a reversal of the first, but instead of a steamy train platform to get my sweat glands pumping, it was my sauna-like car that had been baking, unprotected beneath the blistering mid-day sun.

By the time I arrived at work, I was dry again, and for once, as I made my way from my air-conditioned car to my air-conditioned office, I was able to brave the merciless Thai sun with only a thin layer of moisture instead of another full body sweat.

I settled myself in at my desk and began reading the day's emails.  Moments later, I received a phone call regarding a quality issue on the factory floor.   I hung up the phone, took a long drink of water, and prepared myself for full body sweat #5.

Moon Light On The Sea

These are pictures from last month when Nuch and I spent the weekend at the Moonlight By The Sea Resort with a group of her high school friends.

It was just up the beach from the Sanctuary of Truth

Here's our place 

For dinner, if it didn't come from the sea, we didn't eat it.

Some pictures of Nuch and her friends

The Sanctuary Of Truth

Some pictures of the temple just down the beach from the resort Nuch and I stayed at this weekend.  Most impressive of all is that it's made completely out of wood. 

12 Year Old Humor Never Gets Old

Blue Skies Over China

The smog and pollution in China are notorious, and if you've ever been there, you'll know that you can not escape the ominous grey shroud that they call the sky. 

On occasion you can see flecks of blue or a small crack where a few rays of unobstructed sunlight can get through, but today is the first truly blue sky I've ever seen China.

I'm glad I got a picture because in the time it took me to write this post, the skies were grey again.

Watch Dog

During a recent night out on Kao San Rd, Nuch and I came across this dog guarding, or perhaps selling, t-shirts

Buddha Room

Behind a screened door, Nuch's Uncle Pot keeps decades of Buddhas

Where's Momma?

We had a little visitor the other day - a baby monitor lizard.  

While I chased it away, Nuch asked it for gold and good luck.   

Thai Laxatives

This came across the Twitter-wire.  

Bangkok Goes Goo Goo For Gaga

Last Friday Lady Gaga stopped by Thailand.  

Here are some pictures of her and her fans.

Ronald And Nuch At Mega Bangna

World's Worst Ham And Cheese Sandwich

Not so bad from this angle.

Not so good once you look at what's inside.

Don't Feed The Animals

Just a photo collection of all the animals that have joined me at my table for recent meals.

The Land Of Smiles

I was at my friend Harold's apartment yesterday and noticed some illicit reading material in his bathroom. He's a self-proclaimed bachelor and allowed to have this kind of thing laying around.

Believe it or not - what caught my attention was not what you probably think caught my attention, but rather this young model's sparkling smile.  

I'll need to do some extensive research, but I'm pretty sure she is the first Penthouse Pet to have braces.