The Old Quarter On The Elbow Trick

Once again, I managed to make myself look like a total goofball in front of the boss. I was teaching my writing class tonight and realized that I had about 15 minutes left at the end of class. I had already covered everything that I had planned on...had to kill a few minutes before I could set the kids free. I found myself falling back on one of the few mildly entertaining things I know how to do. I stood up in front of the class and did the place a few coins on your elbow and grab them with the hand on the same arm trick. The kids dig it because it's fast and they never seem to be able to do it, makes me look cool in the eyes of 13 year olds...lol. Anyhow, much to my dismay, my boss happened to be looking in the window at the very moment I was performing this trick. I had no idea until the class began to break up and one of my students approached and informed me that Carol was gazing through the window....YIKES! I started to freak a little and decided to deal with the issue head on. I walked out into the hallway and asked Carol point-blank if I was in trouble. She giggled and said no! Phew, disaster averted! The kids got a kick out of me freaking out when I heard she had been watching...

Being a clown can be hard work...lol.

Love The Comments!

I thoroughly enjoy reading all of your comments. If I haven't replied to your comments, it's not because I don't care...it's plain and simple laziness! Please continue to contribute, it's a hoot!

1000 Hits!

As you may have noticed, there is a little world map on this page. It's located just below the links portion on the right side of the page. It tracks the visitors to the site. I didn't install the tracker until this past June. This means in just 2 months, I passed the 1000 visitor mark! Thank you all for caring enough to check in here. It's encouraging to know that folks out there care enough to see what I'm up to. 2000 hits is just a stones throw away...

Sawat-dii Bangkok Part 2

When I last checked in with everyone, I had gone to bed on Saturday night. Well Sunday would prove to be one of the most interesting days I've had in recent memory.

I got up and did the morning paper thing with a nice breakfast. After finishing my breakfast, I decided to jump into a tuk-tuk and cruise the city. After checking out the Grand Palace, which I couldn't get in because there was some official ceremony going on, I told the tuk-tuk to take me to some of his favorite temples and interesting sites in the city. He then took me to the Temple of the Lucky Buddha. What an awesome sight. The artwork was mind-boggling. It was very peaceful and felt like I had stepped back several hundred years. Next he took me to this great little area of food stalls. Although I told him that I just ate breakfast, he insisted I try some of the food. It wasn't bad. Not sure what most of it was, but I survived. He then took me to the Temple of the Standing Buddha. This place was cool! At the entrance, you get a little cage with 3 or 4 little birds in it. You walk to the base of the statue and release the birds. What a remarkably life-affirming experience that was. The statue itself was frighteningly huge. There was a woman at the feet of the Buddha praying. I did my best not to disturb her. She looked like an ant at the feet of an elephant...the effigy of Buddha dwarfed everything around it. On our way out of the temple I told the tuk-tuk driver that I wanted to see some of the crazier parts of Bangkok...he obliged. Before I knew it, he was pulling up to a massage parlor! I spent the next two hours getting one of the most intense massages one can imagine. She twisted me into a pretzel and moved me in directions I didn't think I could go! When it was all over I felt freaking great! I told the tuk-tuk driver that I had had enough for the afternoon...he took me back to the hotel. Believe it or not, the entire trip in the tuk-tuk cost me about $3 American!!!

After chilling out at the hotel for awhile, I met a Dutch guy named Herman who wanted to go hang out on Khao San Rd.. We decided to hike on over, have a few drinks and take in the crazy atmosphere. The clothes vendors are hard to resist. I ended up buying a bunch of stuff that evening. My take included a few DVD's, some shirts, and a handful of trinkets. I had yet another helping of PadThai.

I had the stereotypical dog-fight with a vendor. I stopped at his stand and was checking out the wallets. I picked one up and asked him the price, he said 600 Baht...as they always do, he followed that by saying "but I can give you a good discount price"...lol. I responded with an "ok, how much?". He said "550". I looked at him in disbelief. 550 Baht is a handsome sum in Thailand. I put the wallet down and said "no thank you". Of course he came back with a "wait, what do you want to pay?". I said I might be willing to pay 400...that was a mistake! He then came back with "500". I put the wallet down and began to walk away, felt his hand on my shoulder and "ok, ok, let's deal". Problem was, I really didn't want to pay 400...lol. After deflecting a few minutes of fast-talking by him and his buddies, I got away unscathed.

The street was especially lively that night, lots of interesting street performers and the like. At about 2a.m., I decided to call it a night.

I woke up early on Monday. I figured I better make use of the time I had. My flight was leaving at 1:30 that afternoon. Had the requisite great breakfast, jumped in a tuk-tuk, and flew around the city. Caught as many interesting sites as time would allow. Found a few folks that were looking to share a taxi ride to the airport, and I was off.

What a freaking great time! I am going to go back to Thailand as soon as I can. I had a picture-perfect weekend. One of my few regrets was not taking more pictures. Oh well, next time I will be quicker with the camera.

Bangkok Photos!

The Temple of the Lucky Buddha. Buddhists know how to build shrines. The amount of gold is crazy but it works. It's really a beautiful place. Awe-inspiring.This is a close-up of one of the walls in the Temple of the Lucky Buddha. You could spend hours just looking at all of these little scenes. The monks spent years decorating the Temple.
The big board at the Airport in Taipei. Anxious to get started on my trip.
One of my Monday morning destinations. I made it to the top and got a glimpse of Bangkok from up high. The weather was perfect and it was very peaceful up there.

Bangkok Photos!

One of many little shrines to the King. Thai's love their King. He has been leading the country for about 60 years. I think he is the longest serving leader in the world. I spoke with many locals and they all think he is an amazing man. The accompanying picture is quite old...he is over 80 years old now.My tuk-tuk driver on Monday morning. Great guy. We burned around the city for a few hours. He took me to a bunch of places and only charged me a total of about $3 American.
This is the standing Buddha. A freaking giant statue. I zoomed in for this shot. At the base of the statue, you are given a small cage with some birds in it. It is customary to release the birds in the direction of the Buddha, it was a very spiritual.
A look at a little shrine in the temple of the lucky Buddha. It's difficult to make out, but the design is insanely ornate. The attention to detail is mind-boggling.

Bangkok Photos!

I can't resist snapping shots of English language goofs. This one is great. This is a sign for one of the guest houses on Khao San Rd.Khao San Rd. It's about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. You can imagine how packed it gets as ya get closer to the evening. This placed is incredible, so much fun. Bargains like I've never seen before.
The Chao Phraya Express on one of the many canals running through the city. An excellent way to get around the city.
Making my way up the mountain. The bells are all engraved with Buddhist proverbs. This is smack in the middle of the city, but somehow very quiet. It's about a 10 minute walk to the top and great views of the city.

Bangkok Photos!

On Saturday, we took this boat to the market. It's a quick way to get from one end of the city to the other. I tried to take some pics while on the boat but none of them turned out because the water was really choppy. I was feeling a bit woozy by the time we reached shore.
Just behind the ladies in this pic is a Tuk-Tuk. It's a super-cheap alternative to a taxi. Insanely dangerous, but fun. It's like a motorcycle with an old bench seat attached to the back. They fly around the city in crazy traffic.
This is a shot from a temple high on a hill. The city is looks similar to Taipei from a distance.
An old temple. These building are about 400 years old. This temple was built for women. It was once a place for women to come and meditate.

Sawat-dii (Hello) Bangkok Part 1

I had soooo much fun! What an incredibly cool city. I don't know where to begin.

Got into BKK at about 11p.m. Friday night. The flights on KLM were excellent. Met a couple of really cool guys at the airport, Brits teaching English in Taiwan. We split the cab fare to the hotel and decided to hang out together on Saturday. After the one-hour taxi ride, we arrived at the hotel. Lewis and "Gas", my two new friends, didn't have reservations, so they had to hunt for a hotel with a room. The place I was staying at was packed, they were out of luck. They took off down Khao San Rd. to find a spot. Unfortunately, I never saw them again. I didn't sweat it, they probably got side-tracked along the way. I was pretty tired at this point so I decided to just grab a bite to eat and hit the sack. I walked about 2 blocks down the road from the hotel and stopped at a street vendor selling PadThai. I gulped it down in record time and headed back to the hotel. Off to bed because I wanted to be ready to kick some butt on Saturday.

The hotel was very comfortable. The bed was king size, excellent air-con, and very quiet. The only complaint I have is the lack of water pressure in the shower...not much more than a trickle.

Woke up Saturday morning ready to conquer Bangkok. I went downstairs and had a great breakfast and read the newspaper in the hotel restaurant. Very happy with the little diner, excellent eggs and bacon breakfast. It was nice to relax and eat a nice breakfast before the heat of the day set in. I was seriously out-numbered in Bangkok, as far as tourists are concerned. This place is crawling with Europeans. After breakfast, I met a couple of nice young ladies from Austria. We decided to jump in a cab and head over to the Chatuchak Market. This is the place I spoke of before, the largest market in the world. While perusing the market I asked a police officer how many vendors are currently in the market, he said about 14,000! The girls and I shopped for about 3 hours and bought lots of interesting Thai goods. My favorite has to be the rubbery thingy's that look like an egg and some poop. You throw them against the wall and they splat into smooshed version of eggs and poop!!! Totally cool...lol. Also, this started my clothing binge. Insane prices for very nice clothes! When we were convinced we saw everything, we decided to get the heck out of there. The girls wanted to head to a temple on the other side of town. I was more keen to heading to Khao San Rd. We split up and I went my own way.

Khao San Rd. is a part of Bangkok famous for it's street scene. It's been the mecca for backpackers for decades. You can see and buy anything under the sun there. My hotel was about a 5 minute walk from there, so it was where I spent a good bit of my time. When I got there on Saturday afternoon, the place was already hopping. It was pretty hot so I decided to grab a beer or three and take in the scene at a one of the bars. I sat down in a patio that was at the center of all the craziness and enjoyed people watching for awhile. There was a big soccer game on, so there was no shortage of Euro's screaming at the TV. After the refreshments I headed down the road to find some DVD's. Before long, I was gulping down another order of PadThai. The stuff is incredible. It's a noodle dish made with different spices. I soon came upon a vender with an ocean of DVD's. I pulled up a chair and went to work. About a half hour later, I walked away with about a dozen movies. Not too bad for my first go at the pirate DVD market.

I made a quick trip back to my room and dropped off my afternoon purchases. While I was meandering through the lobby I struck up a conversation with a Dutch guy named Herman. A nice guy who was in the process of traveling around the world. We decided to jump into a tuk-tuk (see picture above) and head downtown. There is a giant mall/market there that the Lonely Planet Guide said was a must-see...not impressed. I felt like I was back in Taipei. Just another non-descript mall with no flavor. The only thing I managed to find was a nice new wallet and some American candy I can't get in Taiwan. We jumped back into a tuk-tuk and went cruising around the city. The tuk-tuk driver was really cool and showed us many interesting sites. Unfortunately, I left my camera at the hotel...ugh.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was dinner time. Herman & I staked out a couple of seats at a groovy little restaurant on Khao San Rd. and noshed while watching some soccer. Soccer is on 24/7 in Bangkok. It was about midnight and I was starting to wind down. A long day of craziness and the heat was pretty intense. I got back to the hotel and hit the sack.

Sunday/Monday in the next installment.

Confirmation

I went to see Margos, the owner of the hostel, the other day and she confirmed my suspicions. Yes, the killer stayed at Taiwanmex. She hadn't heard about the events so she was pretty freaked out when I showed her his picture on the 'net.

She told me she thought he was a little odd, too. She said he tried to bum money off of her for a plane ticket to Bangkok...

Let's hope this animal spends the rest of his days in prison.