Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
…chado (tea ceremony) lessons continue with the introduction of my new fall tea bowl, which features two orange and one green Japanese maple leaves floating on an autumn breeze. It could also be a river, which is perfect for here and now, for enjoying tea as the seasons change in our little Japanese house along…
First stop in Bangkok: Wat Traimit. Wat means temple. This temple in the Samphanthawong District near Chinatown houses the largest solid gold Buddha in the world. It weighs in at 11,000 pounds!! Apparently Laos, Burma and Thailand used to invade each other a lot and steal each other’s Buddhas, so someone along the way got…
To be quite truthful, I had high expectations for this trip to Thailand—high expectations in the way of seeing people in unusual hats going about their daily business. As such, the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market a couple hours west of Bangkok was a complete success, even if ‘going about their daily business’ includes selling other…
I’m not sure what to say about Pattaya’s Walking Street. I’d heard the city was a little rough, and I’ve reported on my share of stories about sex trafficking and rape. But to see the realities of what seemed like an entire nation prostituting out it’s own girls was sickening. Usually in port I see…
One of my favorite things we did in Thailand was ride an elephant across a river and through some jungle. When I was in high school at the ridiculous Texas Renaissance Festival there was a small circuit where you could pay $5 and ride an elephant or camel. I really wanted to…but it seemed so…
Now I’ll start at the beginning. I left my house around 5:30am and took a train to Yokohama, where I caught the express train for Narita Airport, then took off for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I stocked up on my favorite Origin’s face scrub and wandered through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Jungle Boardwalk, then realized…
Chris and I found each other in Thailand for too few days—just one night in Bangkok. We wandered through the markets near our hotel, sifting through teak, carved wooden elephants and yards of silk. Ultimately we ended up at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar. About $12 USD bought us a gyro (Chris), green chicken Thai…
