In a nutshell

Not bad for a little Lomo LC-A, which was all I brought for my trip there. Colors were reproduced vividly and everything has a natural spontaneous look which was what I was going for.

Bangkok in 3 days

By the time I arrived at the new Suvarnabhumi airport it was about 9pm. The starck concrete beams, glass panelling and blue mood lighting created a somewhat modern, albeit overused touch.

The hotel booking was haphazardly done online, just picking whatever seems reasonable, at a place that was near the train station, something I learned from my last trip, and I ended up staying at the somewhat seedy Sukhumvit Soi31. The party was at the other Sois(roads) where all the 'themed' clubs and bars would be, but Soi31 was just a quiet spot 10 minutes away from the main road.

Unfortunately it was also home to a pretty large Japanese population so everywhere I went, there were Japanese restaurants, Italian and steakhouses are common as well. The first night was just a little orientation exercise to get a feel of the place. It was dark, polluted, unforgiving. Intent on getting authentic Thai food and walking a little off course I ended up at an especially secluded spot to what I can best describe as an area that was 'for locals only'.

Opposite an old dirty Shell station and many stares from diners masked in steam from the boiling pots of soup, I was at a place where their stares weren't an 'ooh, tourists' but more of 'what do you think you are doing here?' Then, straight ahead was a rather busy restaurant, from what I can tell it's either very good, or very cheap. I stood there for a good 10 minutes before promptly being ushered out of the establishment. Good old Thai hosptality; but perhaps they just get a little catty during nightfall.

Tired and slightly hungry, I was now beside a Carrefour which really means I'm way off track from the nearest bar. My GPS didn't help either with the nearest listed restaurants in a 500m range Japanese, or Italian. I ended up approaching an idling tuk-tuk for recommendations, and that is something you learn never to do again.

For 40baht I ended up at a Seafood Market, but funnily, the 'et's neons were busted so it was just Seafood Mark. Amidst a couple of lazy and almost ill looking crustaceans I thought it was best to just go for Tom yum goong, which I thought was the staple(it isn't really), and some fried clams. The tom yum was good, spicy and tasty but that was about it. So much for authentic Thai food, so don't go here N13 43.206 E100 34.127.

Taking the BTS Skytrain to Mo Chit the next day I found out my camera jammed on me so all the photos I took before well, will never be documented. I got that fixed leaning against the fence of Chatuchak park amidst hordes of people passing by, most of them wondering why I'm still using a film camera. But today will be better, the sun just got out, the lighting was perfect, and I was headed to the Chatuchak weekend market where you can get anything. And I mean, anything. N13 48.000 E100 33.008

One thing I noticed is that people seemed friendlier during the day, irregardless of whether it was a tourist/non-tourist spot. I easily snapped 2 rolls of 36s in the market alone. The second day I was still unsure, it was market orientation day so I had to browse, remember prices, and see if there's a cheaper alternative elsewhere, and there usually is. Still the tourist, I resorted to 'How much?' even though I had a Thai reference in my wallet I tried real hard to remember. But they are generally accomodating, especially the ones that aren't crowded with people.

What I liked most were the army surplus stalls. Camo is real big with the Thai people, everyone seemed to be in camo pants, skirts, while the more adventurous had their all-out desert storm getup. I should've left my reservations at home and just lugged my camo daypack there. But you can get all that and more, for a lot less. For me, thats just an incredible sight, and I'll return again next time for more goods. This time, I need to keep to my 5000baht budget for the entire trip.

The streets leading back to the hotel are a mixture of old and new, of local and foreign. The fact that they are able to coexist makes it a very harmonious and somewhat peaceful setting. This is the real community at work. Teenagers give their seats to the elderly, people don't push and shove into the trains, cars actually stop so you can cross the road, and you're greeted with 'Sawadeeka?' when you walk into any store. I don't understand what sort of customer service we have in our country where shopkeepers greet you with 'Yes?'. That's just annoying.

I decided to have an authentic Thai experience, you eat what they eat, so I had noodles at the sidewalk. For 25baht, it was fantastic. I now understand how Thai people stay slim, minimal carbs, a lot more protein and soup to fill you up. It was roughly half a regular serving of noodles, and the rest of the bowl just barbequed meats and vegetables. At that price, there is little to complain.

On the third day, I'd already made up my mind on what I wanted to get and the ideal price, so I headed back to Chatuchak intent on getting my money's worth. By now I'd gotten the accent right, and a point of the finger and a simple 'ann nee tao roi', usually gets replied in especially quick 'hah roi sam sip baht', which I still needed time to decipher in the morning, 'neung...sorng...sam....sip....' and then they reply 'five-hundred thirty baht..'.

The deciphering got quicker over the afternoon and eventually I had a field day bargaining my way around the market.

I decided to check out a place called The Robin Hood on the way back, a quaint English pub where they serve Guinness. I had 2 hours to kill, so I figured why not. The bangers and mash was huge. Portions are about 3 times the size of what locals are accustomed to, perhaps to justify the somewhat KL-ish prices. But it was all good because you really do get your money's worth compared to back home. N13 43'55.15" E100 34'03.51" (approximate). Also perhaps this was the reason why you see a lot of fat gaijins with skinny Thai girls.

Overall it was a good trip, and I still have 500baht to spare. That's good for another 20 meals.

Has it been a month?

I know its been a while, but a month just zipped by like scurrying squirrels. I had been travelling quite a bit, travelling to Lumut, then to Raub, and flew to Miri, drove to Sarikei, took a boat to Tanjung Manis (nice fish), drove to Bintulu, and I just got back from Tawau, where I was stuck in the airport from a much delayed flight. Luckily the absolutely dreary airport restaurant had a fridge stocked with beers.

And now I'm home again, and with a new project, I'm building the biggest ever structure yet, a 4 metre high gardening superstructure I call Hydrocomplex. I've not built anything on this scale but I think if this goes through I can actually build a real house! Imagine that.

Which leads me to the next topic, tools. I just recently got myself a proper toolbox. The old plastic one I had had trouble closing because I was trying to jam in all the stuff I needed so I got a newer, bigger one. So one fine day I had the absolute pleasure of not having anything to do so I stopped by Ace Hardware to actually shop. I hardly ever have that luxury of just taking my time looking at stuff. So I got a nice large-ish 22" box.

Then I looked at their multi-tools. They had the regular Swiss Army knives. Now these things are great if you're a Boy Scout or if you're one of em wannabe DIYers. But they can't really do much. The construction of these tools are, I'd say pretty flimsy, and I've got a couple of blades breaking on me before, so its not something I'd recommend...and corkscrews! What's up with corkscrews on all these tools? I don't see myself trying to fix my machinery and at the same time thinking, ah yes, a 98 Shiraz would be nice right about now.

So with very little effort I ended up with where I first started looking, at Leatherman. Leatherman tools are built tough, they're heavy, they can withstand abuse, and are generally full sized tools that can do real work. I wanted one back in 2003, but at that time, and even now, they don't ship here, so I just left that on my Amazon.com list. Now, I know how to import these things back here, and so it was time to do some shopping.

Once you head over to the Leatherman site you're swamped with options. There are a lot of models to choose from, and each differs slightly in configuration and construction. I had a hard time picking one out, since they are each catered to a semi-specific application. In the end I chose a Charge TTI. This is their flagship model with almost everything, enclosed in Titanium.

And then I got the Crunch, Hybrid, Surge, and thought the smaller ones might be more convenient too, so I got the Juice CS4, an S4, and 2 Micras since they make such good gifts.

It seems that I make, and spend money sitting in the same chair. How's that for retail therapy?