Justin Gilmore

Here’s a good collection of photos from the trip.

This one’s a test… I ate what is being produced here… I’ll post more later, as well as many more photos, once i figure out the best way to do that.

–I can’t upload any new photos cause the computer at my hostel is fried from viruses. Sorry about that.

–On Thursday morning, I went to the Jim Thompson House. Jim Thompson was an American architect who took several traditional Thai houses and assembled one big house in Bangkok. It was really cool…I’ll have photos later.

–KLM is a great airline. They’re not disgruntled like many others and the booze is free. They’re also very relaxed…for example, the seat belt sign is turned off like at 10,000 feet and pretty much not used unless the plane goes upside down.

–Taiwan Beer is top-notch. I’m gonna miss it when I get home. Apparently it doesnt get exported to anywhere b/c there’s too many impurities in it. MMM…impurities. It’s gold-medal winning though.

–I got 2-gig (or “giga”, as they say here) USB cards for about 20 bucks a pop. Now that’s a deal.

–Seriously…mopeds are freakin insane here. I almost saw a guy get nailed cause he tried to sneak his way around a car today.

–Does someone want to scrape the snow off my car for me before I get back?

–Red Bull in the US…$2.99.

–Red Bull in Thailand…10 baht (29 cents). And it’s way better.

–Diet pop in Asia (particularly Thailand’s Pepsi Max) is way better than its US counterparts.

That’s all I got for now. And probably til I get back for that matter. I’ll post all my photos, and hopefully videos, too, on Sunday.

Let me say this…I’ve learned that Bangkok is just a craphole of a city. For most of the people I talked to at my hostel even, it’s just dirty and gets on your nerves. It’s a great place for getting to other places, like northern thailand, laos, cambodia, myannmar, and others, which obviously i didnt have time to do. But today i did manage to take a day trip out of town which was just awesome. After today, I’d love to be able to come back and hit some of those places.

First I got to ride the train. That was a treat in itself. Third class seat cost me like 70 cents. And let me say, it wasn’t worth much more than that.

Went about 2 hours north to Ayuttaya, the old capital of Siam. Had lunch at a nice outdoor place…Thai basil and chile with chicken and rice. Good stuff. By the way, in Thailand, they don’t use they fork to eat…they use it to scoop food on your spoon. Putting the fork in your mouth would be like putting the knife in your mouth in the US. I did it anyway.

Then went to the wats. These were built before Christopher Columbus was even a thought in his parents’ minds. Just insane to imagine that. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

And then I took a “tuk tuk” back to the ferry, which takes you to the train station. Tuk tuks are an annoyance–in Bangkok, every driver wants to take you somewhere. However, i had to do it once. They’re on 3 wheels, and the way they sound makes a lawnmower sound like a purring kitten.

I’ve got loads more photos, which I can share when I get back…also got tons of video. I head back to Taipei on Thursday. I’ll be buying flash memory cards and the like on Friday, so put in your orders now. I expect to be paying 25-30 bucks for 2 gig USB drives.

Tuesday was mostly about business. Went to this huge mall…like 7 stories. They had all sorts of stupid stuff, as well as a whole floor of cell phones, pirated movies and video games. Got some goodies there. Dinner was Thai spaghetti, which was delicious but I could not finish it because it was so loaded with chile. Ouch. Then chilled at the hostel watching the Australian open and one of my pirated movies. Quite relaxing.

Here I am about to take a taxi-like boat up the Chao Phraya river.

Here is the longest reclining Buddha at Wat Pho.

Here’s Wat Phra Kaew, which i have many more pictures of and will post when I get back.

I have mixed feelings about Bangkok. Parts are dirty and smelly and extremely touristy…kind of like caribbean islands. There’s a lot of cool history and buddhist stuff though. I’ll post some cool photos later. I got a foot massage today–about 7 bucks US for 1 hour. They have this chart of all these pressure points on your feet, and they take this little stick and jab them. Really helps what ails ya. I can’t wait to go to a thai kickboxing match tomorrow. Also will go shopping tomorrow and play the haggling game. Wed, i think i’ll go up north to see the ancient capital.

Also, for those keeping track of how cheap things are, bottled water (20 oz) is about 17 cents. Even cheaper than in Taiwan, and a buck less than in the US. Peace

At my hostel now in Bangkok. Way different here. Sweltering…Can’t stop sweating. They harass the whities bad too…everyone’s like, hey where you going, i give you ride. Nothing like Taipei at all. And the taxi ride from the airport was definitely efficient…speed limit was 80 kph, and he went 140. My hostel is very different from the one in Taipei. Inside it’s like a fort or a treehouse, with wood planks all over…really cool. Here’s some photos. I’m exhausted and going to bed now. I have a real bed here too.

So by saturday i was absolutely exhausted. Still, Paul and I went to this place a little ways north, called Danshui, where the river meets the sea. It’s got a nice boardwalk with lots of food stalls and vendors of everything imaginable.

Including lots of grilled squid.

And here’s proof i ate–and actually enjoyed–it.

I don’t, however, know if I’ll try what’s really a market delicasy…stinky tofu. Basically fermented tofu that smells putried, like rotting garbage, but apparently only tastes half as bad. The Taiwanese love it.

Then we had lunch, which sucked, so we gave in and went to mcdonalds for mcnuggets. Here, Ronald is consoling me in my quest for familiar food.

Later, we went out with some folks to a jazz club, and then back to the hostel to drink. Below are Michelle, from Australia, and Paul, and behind them are Jurjan and Troy , from The Netherlands.

Later we met up with a couple Canadians, a Singaporean and a Japanese man. Lots of fun. And in a few hours, I’ll be bound for Bangkok!

So tonight, I had dinner with paul’s roommates and some coworkers at the Jurassic bar. It was cool, though being hungover, i really wanted some greasy ass american food.

After that, we went to a KTV place, which is a Taiwanese institution…Basically a building full of private rooms with karaoke. In the US, we think karaoke is a joke, and we get really drunk and yell into a microphone…Here, they take it quite seriously.

Then, paul pussed out and went home to bed, but his roomates were nice enough to take me to an after hours bar.

Good times were had, and its now after 5 am, so I am going to sleep!