At four thirty am, my cellphone alarm exploded me awake in my ridiculous supply attic room (pictured left– no joke).Was a torrential lightning storm going to foil my plans like yesterday morning? There are no windows in my supply attic room, so I padlocked the door and barefooted down to the second floor to peer out the grated balcony. Clear! Dark! This meant ten minutes to throw [...Read More!]
In Phuket, Thailand, I spent some creepy time chatting with womanizing older German men. They all had twenty-something year old Thai girlfriends already, but they had big other plans.
“Every day vee play Poker together,” said Hans with a leer, “And vee put money in a pot. Vhen we have a full pot, you know vhat we do?” I didn’t know. “Vacation! Cambodia!” he gave a wink. [...Read More!]
Because so many of the spectacular temples in Bangkok are along the river, a night boat along the Chao Phraya is a feast for the eyes… and a feast for the belly, too, if you opt for the dinner cruise. Check it out!
As you peruse these pics, let us ponder a major question for a Round the World Traveler: WHERE ARE THE AMERICANS?? A profound cultural difference is laid bare [...Read More!]
Two commonly heard sassy comments to me of late:
1) “Weren’t you supposed to leave for Cambodia a week ago?”
2) “You’ve been in Bangkok for nine days? NOBODY can tolerate Bangkok for nine days. What’s wrong with you?”
The answer to both of these questions is one Thai word: “Lub-d”. This word means “sleep well.” It also means “The best hostel I have ever stayed in, and may ever [...Read More!]
Oh yum yum YUM and sigh of happiness! Want to spend an absolutely lovely day in Bangkok? Do a cooking class! But COME HUNGRY… or you will pop.Conrad, Adie, and I had checked out a few cooking schools in Bangkok, but the cheerful colors and soothing Thai music of Somphong Cooking School beckoned us in. Koy and her family served us iced Panda Leaf tea and breaded, [...Read More!]
There’s a certain point when the thick heat and pollution of Bangkok make your head swim so hard and your clothes stick to you so wetly, that all you want is to collapse onto a shady doorstep and yield.This is what I was doing as Adie fruitlessly pulled my arm to stand back up.
“I don’t wanna go in!” I whined, leaning back onto the pavement. “We’ve been walking around the [...Read More!]
The woman’s unconscious body dangled between the tiny Thai receptionists’ arms as they dragged her into the hostel lobby. What had happened??? We all rushed from the couches towards her sprawled form. Her dyed blond hair and white dress fluttered around the table where she lay. “Go back inside,” said the hostel receptionist with a polite but firm wave. Outside we could hear another rumble brewing.
Do you or someone you know work for an electronic or print publication?
Consider hiring me to write for it!
Here are three options:
1. Swim around in the fifty or so articles already posted on this blog, and select one to fifty to buy and re-print in your publication. I am fully open to editing, should there be ways to make what I’ve already written more fitting for your readership. There’s [...Read More!]
“People try to insult me by saying my success is from a falang (foreigner),” said Nate, smiling as she steered us through the mo-ped-filled traffic, “but it’s just me.”The story that emerged as Nate (in her taxi-service capacity) drove me from her restaurant to the Phuket bus stop was inspirational. But was also a desperately welcome antidote to the uncomfortable Older-Western-Man-funding-Younger-Thai-Woman situation thick on the island.
Nate grew up in a rural [...Read More!]
Ok, let’s be honest: I would love to have as many people as possible reading this here stuff. Help out by spreading the word! If you have a friend who procrastinates at their computer for hours a day, suggest this site as a means of further procrastination! If you have a chum with journalism links, throw me their way so I may one day perhaps become increasing published [...Read More!]