asia trip, 2011 - bangkok

asia trip - winter 2013 part 13

The last of my blog posts on my recent trip to Asia.

asia trip - winter 2013 part 12

More photos from Bangkok that was a part of my recent Asia trip.

thai cookware shopping - part 2

I am a cookware junkie. I cannot resist in buying cookware especially those that has cultural or ethnic significance. I either buy them for functional or entertainment reasons. I should fashion a bumper sticker "I Brake for Cookware".

One of my favorite travel activity when in Thailand is go shopping for Thai cookware. In my recent trip I brought back some more.

asia trip - winter 2013 part 11

I have been anxious about hitting the storage limit with the thousands of photos I posted in my blog. I have checked my Google account many time to no avail. Are the photos that I uploaded stored in my Picasa account or in my Goggle storage. I had a hard time telling if Picasa and Google storage (now called Google Drive) one and the same.

asia trip - winter 2013 part 10

more photos from bangkok

asia trip - winter 2013 part 9

The flight from Macau to Bangkok took about 2 hours. Air Asia has the best rate as long as you don't care for the free drinks other airline give you. Their young crew run a very tight ship in each flight. Meals are pre-order so there is no waste.

The down side of flying Air Asia is it uses the older Don Mueang International Airport. Getting from Don Mueang to where your hotel in Bangkok requires going though the worst of Bangkok traffic jam that flows with the brisk pace of molasses.

patong - thailand

Patong is one of the beach town that most tourist goes when visiting Phuket which is a peninsula in the South of Thailand. Phuket is quite hot and humid year round, even in the mid of winter when I visited.
promoting Thai boxing that night

one great thai meal

This is one of the many best meals I had in Thailand. I was walking towards the Chinatown area in Bangkok one day looking for a restaurant cookware supply. I happen upon this restaurant full of people. Needless to say it is a sign they must have very good food. There is no English signs or menu. Fortunately they have photos of all the dishes.

thailand open markets

I never miss a chance to see fresh produce market when I travel. It is so much joy to see all the unfamiliar ingredients as well as the familiar ones.

 Here is a collection of photos I took in markets in Thailand.

doi suthep - chiang mai

One of the best things I did in Thailand is renting a scooter. I did that in Chiang Mei and in Khao Lak. A scooter allowed me to get to places that would normally be difficult to get to. With a prepaid SIM card I could use my iPhone to figure out where I am.

 One day in Chiang Mei I went up the nearby mountain Doi Suthep that overlooks the city.

My DSLR lens failed very early in my trip but I managed to workaround the crippled lens in complete manual mode, stuck in a fixed aperture.

phuket town - thailand

Three nights in Patong was more than enough for someone who does not care too much for the beach and tourist scenes. I wanted to go and see something more cultural and historic. Phuket Town it was.

home made thai meals - 2013 jan

One of the best meals I had in Thailand was in a mid price restaurant in Bangkok near the Democracy Monument near the infamous Kao San Road. Had it not for the manager of the hotel I was staying I would never know about it. That day I set out to take a long trek to another restaurant which I read about when in the US. It would involve taking the river boat and then the sky train that requires switching a train line. I was delighted when the manager told me there is a restaurant of similar quality withing walking distance.
democracy monument - some fraction of the red shirts were staging a rally that day