Greetings all!

I'm back. Was a good trip. Went to Thailand and took a lot of pics. Brought some Joes and Cobra's with me, and my version of Cobra Commander on vacation. The Joes got some looks at customs when returning back to the US. And the mini tri-pod showed up in the x-ray machine. All in all it was interesting.

Wish I could share all the photos with everyone, but I did take a lot. Bought an external HD (500 gigs) there to offload the photos from the cameras. Finally got to ride in Bangkok in a "tuk tuk" in the rain. That was like riding a roller coaster without a safety belt. but I had a great time.

Up in the mountains it was nice in the shade, extremely hot/humid in the sun--I was drenched, and I'm from New Orleans where I am used to hot and humid! But anyway, lots of bugs, big ones--hornets, millipedes, lots of big red ants--snakes, wild boar, wooden bridges--some made nothing but logs. The scenery at times was very impressive, very Asian.

In Bangkok itself I did get a chance to visit other places I normally don't get to see. Now that Central World, Asia's second largest shopping mall was burned and is currently closed, other malls have an increase in customers now. There was one I rather liked, mostly because it had a nice bookstore. For those who don't know, a lot of the malls in Asia tend to go up, into multi-storied buildings. It's rather fun. But anyway, awesome bookstore with a computer section very up-to-date with even books on how to program my new Droid X. Lots of common American comics, books, etc, but a very nice section on Chinese and Japanese and other languages. I love books, so.. mmmm.. I wanna go back!

HSBC can be a pain. The main branch is located in Hong Kong and they like to say they are the world's local bank. Yet even to get a suppliment credit card a US passport is not good enough, nor is local Thai government docs. You need so much documents to prove you are you that I'm amazed they didn't demand my dental records and a pint of my blood. grrr

Food, excellent! Shopping, excellent! Except TRU in Esplanade. So bought some more gashappon (sp?) figures. You pay like $5 for a set of 3 tokens, put them into the machine and turn the knob. It's a gamble that you'll get anything you'll like.

Installed a hot water heater thing into the shower at the condo. In the US it's standard for a house or apartment to have a hot water heater, but not in Thailand. The place is hot most of the year that a cold shower is actually a cool shower. Only in winter do I feel the water too cold to really enjoy. So we got an electric one installed.

Not sure what else I can say about the trip. If anyone has questions about the country from an American perspective, please ask and I'll try to give some input. So now I'm back and I'm now planning my next trip there already. Probably it'll be around December again.

Anyway, I hope to organize some of these photos and post some more by the weekend.

--Death

__________________
*~~~{==========- Death at Midnight -==========}~~~*

Welcome back.

Hope you had a great flight there and back wth alot of fun in between.

__________________
My Collections

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22356329@N03/sets/

Welcome back! Looking forward to your pics!

__________________


Read Hammerfel's Dio Story, "Disciple" here

• My Want List - Help me complete my Dios!

Sounds like a great trip. Looking forward to seeing photos.

Thats awesome Andre, sounds like you had a great time. Can't wait to see some pics. See any real cobras?
SE Asia is definitley a place I would like to go someday. How are American's accepted there?

__________________

I had a blast over there. Outside in the country it was very different... okay... let's see if I can organize some thoughts....

I really enjoy this question, because I am eager to share with anyone a description of what I experienced, from an American perspective. I would like to post a second response, though, with more info. But for now, a brief summary.....

Had a great time there. Both in the city of Bangkok and outside. As a whole, Thailand is friendly towards Americans. I have never had a problem, however the first time using the subway I was advised that the route would pass through a particular section with a higher middle east population and it may not be a good idea to go there, epsecially if you look American. Now, with me, I look American, probably because how I dress. But I'm Native American and can blend more easily if I give it effort.

In BKK, always be street smart. Watch your wallet. Thai's are friendly.. Thailand is known as the country of smiles. This is true. They do like foriegners too, sometimes too much that the locals complain of preferential treatment. Taxi's might first stop at a group of Thai's but then see some Western foriegner and then skip the Thai group just to get the Westerner. Everyone notice things like this. And it's not uncommon for some merchants to raise a price of something when dealing with a foreigner. That has not happened to me.

I can go on and on, and would like to. I don't have a problem communicating b/c my wife does the talking. She speaks the language fluently while I am still learning it.

If you want to go to Thailand, the tourist spots in the south.. the beach resorts.. are probably good choices because they cater more towards foreigners who do not speak the language. Where as Bangkok, it's more for business. You'll be amazed how many people can speak english.. it's the world's defacto international language.

I want to write a bigger post!

--Death

__________________
*~~~{==========- Death at Midnight -==========}~~~*