Blogs from Bangkok, Central Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 12

I arrived early in the morning and my host, Joice, was at work. She told me to go to a shopping mall called Rama XI. I went to the Starbucks, because I know there's free WiFi, so I could let her know I made it. She told me she could be there around 14:00. It was nice actually to have some time. I could write my diary and I called my sister and Pien. It's always nice to see them. I told them I was so happy when I arrived here. Delhi was such a dirty city in compare to Bangkok. Also the traffic is ok. To be honest, I didn't know they drove on the left side here as well. When Joice picked me up, we went to her condo first. It's a really nice ... read more

I have only been studying the Thai language for a few weeks, but already the rewards are huge. For example, during our short stay in Bangkok, we had great fun engaging with the two non-English speaking taxi drivers we met. They were both delightful, but the last experience was exceptionally good! En route to the airport earlier today, our hip young driver uses Siri to translate his Thai questions to English, which I then try answer in Thai, with much assistance from him. This actually is very effective. Then he hands me his phone and asks me to find a Canadian artist on YouTube. Of course I could not resist bringing up my own music, so the next thing we know we are cruising down a freeway in Bangkok listening to Bev Zizzy Woman in Black ... read more

We awake around 10am - really good for me as a jet lag sufferer! I am assuming it had something to do with being up at 5am on the day of travel but not actually flying till gone 9pm! We had a lot to do - this must be the most disorganised trip ever, leaving making sure we had passports, air tickets, driving licences and clean underwear - everything else is anyone’s guess! We pack a small bag for tonight’s overnight train and swimming cossies for the pool - everything else goes into our wheeled holdalls. It is 12 noon and we check out, leaving our luggage in storage. We go out in search of breakfast. In the daylight we realise that we walked the long way round last night but at least we know for ... read more

A Festive Season in Thailand December 2018 Spending a major western holiday in a country which doesn’t recognize it in their culture, is always an interesting experience. Picture a fully-decorated Christmas tree, complete with angel perched on the top, and surrounded by gaily-wrapped presents, slap in the middle of the hot and humid chaos of Bangkok – evokes a weird mental image doesn’t it? My latest adventure to Southeast Asia begins with an early morning Delta breakfast flight to Seattle, connecting with Korean Air enroute to Seoul, South Korea - finally landing in Bangkok some 23 hours later, just after midnight. This trip I’m trying out another Hilton – the Sukhumvit Bangkok – one of their limo drivers was waiting just outside baggage claim for my transfer across town. At this time of night and after ... read more

There sheer number of different culinary dishes in Thailand is hard to describe – and most cost close to nothing. The range of tastes and textures and the mixing of hot / sweet / sour makes for every meal being an adventure. I’m fortunate enough to have coworkers that were born and raised in Bangkok to show me around and insist that I try all of the different regional specialties. Regardless of how busy the office is, the staff try to do lunch together out every day (i.e. I’ve learned that few in the office cook regularly as dining out is cheap here). This has allowed me to try lots of different restaurants with my average lunch bill running around $5 USD. My one coworker, also brought in lots of delicious “treats” for everyone to munch ... read more