Motorcycle Taxi

If I bring the Sky Train back from downtown, I usually take a taxi the rest of the way home, which can be a 10 - 15 minute ride.  On this particular day, not only were there no taxis, but one of Bangkok's famous traffic jams was in full effect.  

Instead of waiting, I walked to the next block and turned down a quieter street.  The traffic was better, but there were still no taxis.  No way I was walking the rest of the way, and I hate waiting, so I jumped on the back of a motorcycle taxi.  Here's the video.  It's not very exciting, but you can have a look at Soi Bearing and South Srinakarin Rd

Unfortunately, my battery died before I got home.

Sheraton Pattaya Weekend

I had some points I needed to use up by January, so Nuch and I had another short beach vacation this past weekend.  This time we drove an hour and a half to Pattaya for two nights at the Sheraton.

Here are some pics

The view of Pattaya Bay from the peak next to Big Buddha Mountain

 The Sheraton lobby.

It's built on the side of a small mountain, so it's layout is terraced.  We checked out the beach on Saturday morning before breakfast.  It's about 100 steps down - needless to say, we never went back.

It's an old hotel, but the rooms are nice and big.

With a nice veranda

No travel blog post is complete without a few pictures of what we ate.  This was are Sunday breakfast at La Baguette.

and no trip is complete without a visit to a famous temple.  Fortunately, after the temple, whatever else we do is up to me.  This is the Big Buddha Mountain temple.

This guys belly is banged up because people try to toss coins through the hole in his belly button for good luck.

The Mount Rushmore Of Thailand

Anantara Hua Hin

Some pics from our hotel.  The hotel has been around for a while, but the rooms are nice and the grounds are still perfect for selfies and Facebook/ blog fodder.

Seefood

A holiday never happened if you don't document where and what you ate.

Our first stop was Saeng Thai pier for seafood.

a snack before lunch

Tasty, but not what I expected when I ordered Macaroni and Cheese

A former work colleague invited us over for dinner one night.

The last breakfast

New Year's BBQ 2015

This year Carl's sister was in from the US and our buddy, Tim, from the Peace Corps was also able to join.

Bangkok Fitness

Some argue it was cost-cutting.  Others say it was corruption.  I question if it was an attempt to get Bangkok into shape.

For whatever reason - each BTS station has only 1 escalator per side of the road.  So, if you're coming from the wrong direction, you have a choice - you can walk 300 meters to the escalator on the far side of the BTS, or you can walk 50 meters up at a 45 degree angle.  

On a sweaty 95 degree day, you may be better off taking a taxi.

New Year's Temple Day

After an evening of gluttony, Nuch and I got up early January 1st and did the opposite.  We went to the local temple to donate food.

along with a thousand other people.