I have a little bit of extra time in Manila, so I’m doing some catch up blogging. Here’s something I started writing on 2005.01.21 back in Bangkok.
To my café dreamer friends (Lisa, Andrea, et al.), open your idea books, for Banrie Coffee of Bangkok is sure to inspire any future café owner.
Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Manila. Writing them out feels like I’m checking off boxes on a list. Now 19 days into my trip, I’ve already spent 30 hours on a plane. That’s already half of my scheduled flying time (61 hours).
It’s facinating to observe the style and character of major cities in different countries. Between geography, culture, and socio-economic conditions, each city is vastly different from the other.
Bangkok: From the 84th floor of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the tallest tower in Thailand
Looking down at Bangkok, I wonder if the term “zoning” ever crossed the mind of city planners. Buildings seem to have been erected where ever land was available, without regard to clumping into a central downtown or business district. In a lot of ways, this is analagous to how Thai people live. Walking down the sidewalks of Bangkok is an excercise in sliding between street vendors, food carts, and the crowd. Things are just everywhere. It’s an agglomeration of random elements that just somehow seems to fit. After all–it’s Bangkok.
Tokyo: From the top of the Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku
There’s no denying it. Space is the #1 premium in Tokyo. Buildings and high rises rule the land. But through all the towering hulks of rock, steel, and glass comes the glitz. The Japanese are very concerned about their outward appearance. They insist on immaculate perfection. Tokyo, with it’s bright billboards, astonishing architecture, and the best of…everything, is the epitome of modern Japanese culture.
Hong Kong: Out a window from the shopping center under the International Finance Center (IFC)
My time in Hong Kong thus far was limited to just six hours, but it was more than enough to get into the city and have a look. Hong Kong is quite possibly more constrainted for space than even Tokyo. Residential buildings of apartments/condos are built next to each other without any gap between them at all…but they don’t connect. It’s not uncommon to see a group of six to tweleve identical buildings building right against each other. Such is the nature of Hong Kong. And it works.
Manila: From the top balcony of the Citibank building in Makati
Manila is pretty much a two-class society. The rich and the poor. As a result, neighborhoods and principalities have organized themselves along these socio-economical boundaries. Buildlings and residential areas are clumped together, often connected by highly congested streets. High rise buildings have a direct correlation to the proximity of lavish homes in the surrounding area.
And just for a comparison…
Seattle: From the top of the Columbia Tower
I’ve certainly posted a lot of pictures of Thailand. These are my favorites. There’s a lot of images, so I’ve separated them onto a separate page. Click on the link below.
John and I are about to head to the airport to head off for the significantly cooler destination of Tokyo, Japan. Since we figure that Internet is cheaper here, we decided to stop off and take care of a few things.
Most of my Thailand pictures are now up–you can find them at:
http://gallery.nanoflux.com/thailand
Sometime in the next two weeks I’ll a list of my favorites here on the Blog—there’s a lot of shots. 
I’m in an Apple Store in Bangkok, stealing their Internet, and fixing bugs on my website.
Pathetic eh? I miss having my laptop.
Comments should show up nicer now though. =)
Good stories and pictures coming, both of which will have to wait.
Pattaya beach is absolutely crazy. We made it in after dusk last night and stayed out the Green Park Resort–a nice place that would have easily cost in the hundreds anywhere else. We paid about 40 bucks without advance reservation. Pattaya is the Las Vegas of Thailand and is the embodiment of a tourist destination. It originally made its name in the “military tourism” industry and I’ll leave it to you to interpret that. Without breaking the PG line, I’ll add that Pattaya has remained close to its roots. John and I went last night to the Lucifer Discotique, which is entirely nuts. Lucifer has a cavern theme, which means that all the walls and ceilings are done up (very well) to look like the inside of a gave. It is, by far, the coolest looking club I’ve ever been in. The club is separated into the front and back. The front has a bunch of small tables and a stage where local Thai cover bands do their renditions of American songs. The much larger back is filled with all sorts of party lighting (moving spot lights, strobes, etc.) and is sunken into a pit. It was huge, filled with people, and pretty crazy. Lot of dancing.
Today/Tonight, John and I are currently at Ko Larn, an island about 40 minutes (by ferry) from Pattaya. It’s normally touted as a day trip, but we decided to spend the night here to get away from Pattaya’s resort prices. Our Let’s Go travel guide recommended a place called the Sunrise Cafe and Bar, with clean and spacious rooms. Let’s Go was accurate–it’s nothing especially nice, but we’ve got an immaculate room with two double beds for 450 baht–about 11 bucks. Sunrise is owned by a guy named Steve, who’s originally British but has lived here for the last 11. I showed him the Let’s Go entry for his place and he got really excited about it and started showing it to everyone here. Guess it’s a new addition to the 2005 edition.
Did some jet skiing this afternoon at a local beach on Ko Larn for about half the standard US/Canadian rates. The Thailand way of doing business is pretty intriguing–they’ve a very trusting people and never make you pay until the service has already been performed. What’s best about this place (and most places outside North America) is a lack of paperwork and liability concerns. In other words, doing stuff here is really fun. =)
We had quite a bit of time to kill this afternoon, so John and I started walking around the small town here. The houses here are distinctive for big open areas with no walls and a roof. Seems to be a cultural thing. With the exception of one place we walked by (that was blaring American Hip-Hop and modern), most of the places around here look like they’re falling apart. Looks can be deceiving though–are structurally sound, even if they’re not much to look at. There’s also a lot of what many of you would refer to as “redneck trash”–old boats, jet skis, equipment, etc., just lying around. A lot of the stuff doesn’t look usable beyond being providing the occasional part. It may be an eyesore in some sense, but looking at the bigger picture, it would appear that there’s no place dispose of stuff. So it just ends up piling up. It’s part of the atmosphere and culture here though and I don’t mind.
We found one place that sold clothing in bulk. We finally came across something that I’ve expected to see for some time–an abundance of Made in Thailand clothing. We found branded apparel for Nike, Timberland, Mercedes-Benz, and Porche, along with a lot of stuff that was likely to be sold on the streets of Thailand or perhaps products for lesser known 1st world brands.
Other cool things on our walk. We had two groups of kids that just spontaneously posed for us as soon as I pointed the camera at them. It was funny and sad–one of the poses involved a boy hitting hit on the head by three other boys with empty water bottles. He wasn’t hurt at all, but I didn’t have the camera ready to shoot yet either. We also found a local soccer field, where all the boys our age were hanging out and playing soccer. Good pictures from both, but the Internet connection at Sunrise, while free, is only dialup. My pictures will have to wait until another day.
John (my traveling buddy) has posted some of his Thailand photos thus far on his gallery.
http://www.johnpang.org/gallery/
Some of you already got this in an email. Sorry for the double read.
The rumors you’ve heard about Thailand are true–this place is radically inexpensive. The people are very friendly and hardworking, but living here is crazy. I’ve never seen driving as I’ve seen it here.
Tuk-tuks, which are essentially a motorcycle engine bolted onto little more than a golf cart, are primary modes of transportation. While in Bangkok they are supplimented by taxis, outside Bangkok they’re just
about the only way to get anywhere. Pricing is negotiated in advance with some haggling and despite fares that are equivelent to 1 US dollar, we’ve been unable to shake the feeling that we’re being ripped off.
Today, we’re in Ayutthaya (pronounced Ay-you-thai-ya), an island city to the north of Bangkok. It’s the former capital of Siam and known for it’s ‘wats’ or temples. The temples all have a giant Buhdda as a certerpiece and tons more scattered about their compounds. You’re allowed to take pictures inside, so I’ll be posting pictures at some point. John and I spent about half the day looking at them and I’m just about watted out (haha) for a good portion of my natural life.
More another day!
Eighteen hours of flying. Over 36 hours of Internet withdrawl. Catch up time!
I’m a vagabond. I moved out of my apartment five or six days ago (I’m confused with the time changes) and even when I return from my trip there will be no such thing as home in Seattle for me. 
I’m here in Bangkok. It’s crazy to think that after months of planning, 9 months of beta testing equipment, packing techniques, and various pieces geek gadgetry, I’ve finally found myself on this side of the world.
I met up with John, my traveling partner, in Seattle and we headed Asiastic. The flight was excrutiatingly long, but was quickly made more relaxing when John informed me that cocktails were free on international flights. Whee! “Chivas Regal on the rocks please.”
We landed in Tokyo around 4:30p local time. Looking out the tiny windows of our 777, I immediately noticed that the sun shines differently in Japan than it does anywhere I’ve been. Perhaps it’s from smog or more likely the infamous trademark of the “land of the rising sun”, Japan’s sun glows a brilliant orange at sunset. It’s very beautiful–these photos do it no justice–you have see it illuminating the countryside.
Sunset at Tokyo Narita
Sunset over the jetway
John and I have already met some friends. The flight from Tokyo Narita to Bangkok contained a significant percentage of backpackers. I was seated on the window, John the asile, and a North Dakota backpacker sat down inbetween us. Matt works for United Airlines out in Aspen, Colorado and flies practically for free. Matt decided to use his vacation time and took off on a whim to Thailand without much in the way of pre-planning, other than borrowing the latest Lonely Planet’s Thailand from the Aspen Library. Our flight arrived at near-midnight in Bangkok and Matt was at an ends on a pad to crash on, so John and I invited him with us to our hotel. The people at the hotel were able to add an extra person to our room for a reasonable fee, so that our per-person rate is no more or no less. Matt’s a cool guy, but I’m short on time and will talk about him another day.
Mind prevailed over body last night and I didn’t sleep too well last night, despite travel tiredness. It was about 8 in the morning Seattle time when we finally went to bed and my brain was ready to be working. Ugh! Got up early instead to take some pictures and ended up with these shots. Bangkok is litterally a sprawling city. With the clouds over the city today, I can’t see an end to the buildings over the horizon.
Bangkok alley in the morning
Bangkok from above
With the death toll for Asia Tsunami at or above 80,000, I can only be glad that the Tsunami didn’t hit a month later. My first destination is Thailand.
On the other hand, I wish that I was there. Google has a page describing the ways you can help with tsunami relief and one of the organizations listed is my old mainstay, Habitat for Humanity. Habitat is going to be playing an important role as efforts in Asia begin the shift from recovery to reconstruction.
The allure of helping peoples affected by this tsunami by rebuilding their homes is greater than my desire to see the world. If I wasn’t already committed to my trip, I would be giving serious thought about rearranging my activities in the next four months. Personally, I think that it’d be fun to sling hammers with the locals for a few months.
Alas, perhaps the best I can hope for is a trip to affected coastal regions. I’m considering a flight to Phuket Island from Bangkok to see recovery first hand and even maybe even help out during the time I’m there.
|
:: noteworthy
