September 2026 • Folksy Travel (in my Borsalino) by Bill Smale

September 26, 2026September 26, 2026

Japan and food

Frankly, I got a little board of the Bangkok even though the food selection is good. The issue is I’ve seen pretty much everything over the past 30 years so I was thinking about moving onto Koh Chang but it was raining and I didn’t like the idea of going there and renting a motorcycle, riding in the rain. So I decided to move up my trip to Japan a couple weeks and I arrived at Narita. I then just zipped right over to my hotel, I dropped my bag and went for sushi at my neighborhood sushi restaurant

Former neighbors Japan and food — Having some good food and drink with good friends who used to be my neighbors

Korean barbecue Japan and food — The next day I went for some YAKINIKU, which is the Japanese version of Korean food, grilled meat and some other things. You could see the marbling in the beef, which makes it very tender and rich in flavor. Since it is so rich, you don’t really want to eat too much.

Coffee sign Bill Smale — This sign is almost very true

At a Izakaya Bill Smale — I went out drinking with an old grad school friend and we had a great time. You can see I was so busy yak, yak, yak I forgot to take the photo at the beginning of the meal at the Izakaya (drinkery)

Korean barbecue Bill Smale — The local inexpensive Korean barbecue place, US$13 for as much as you can eat between 1 and 10 PM

Free rice — a lot of people still think Japan is expensive which is an image they got from reality back in the 1980s. Actually now it’s very inexpensive. The Korean barbecue cheapest lunch is less than six US dollars and you can re-order rice at no extra cost

Cheap Izakaya — at this Izakaya you can drink as much as you want for two hours for less than six US dollars

With old friends, one is visiting from New Zealand

Cornell alumni — With Cornell graduates and one member of our alumni group

Monja — I took a friend to try MONJA, an old Edo (Shitamachi) food which you never had before at a very expensive tourist restaurant. The food was fine, but the description indicated a certain price and it wound up being triple. But we didn’t have time to go look for one of the old shops that don’t cater to tourists

in Shinjuku this is one of my favorite Izakaya called SANPEI (三平). this one is downstairs and it’s closer to the train station than the other one. Almost everybody working there is from Myanmar and I know the people who used to work there pretty well.

K bar — Guess who likes to show off their gangster look at their own bar , K Bar , in Shinjuku Goldengai. I don’t want to mention her age since that would not be polite, but I have known her for 26 years

Toilet instructions — You see the signs from time to time. The one up above is educating mostly people from China and Southeast Asia but it used to be, back in the 1970s, Japanese would also sit on the western style toilet this way because that’s how they knew how to use a public `toilet`. Number two is for people from countries that have sewage pipes that are too narrow to carry toilet paper down the line. Japan doesn’t have those narrow pipes so you can throw the toilet paper directly into the toilet.

Taco hamburger with avocado — When you think you have seen almost every kind of fast food imitation and idea you can come across something like this. A taco hamburger with avocado. I have had quite a few hamburgers in Japan over the last 50 years and it is definitely one of the last things I ever want to eat again. I don’t know what the hamburger patty is made from but it is definitely a level below McDonald’s, which many people think is the absolute lowest level.

Oily noodles — a seven US dollar noodle lunch at the local oily and spicy noodle shop. It’s actually very tasty

Liver and vegetable — a very popular Japanese style Chinese food restaurant has extremely reasonable prices as you can see below.

A little over five US dollars is very reasonable for that lunch, very filling

Here is the second version and the newest one of Hummer

Silver weak festival — There is a new series of holidays strung together, I kind of takeoff on Golden week and it is called Silver week. During this week, my local town had a festival so it was very crowded

Traditional clothes — You can see still some people dress in more traditional clothing, but the tennis shoes kind of don’t fit the style

Crowded main street — You can see how crowded this main street is

Neighborhood sushi bar — After that I again forgot to take the photo before eating. It was very tasty at my local neighborhood sushi bar.

Near my former home is a very good quality deep fried pork restaurant (TONKATSU)

Local Tonkatsu restaurant — This is their lunch menu. My lunch was eight US dollars

Chain restaurant — Here is the TO KATSU at the chain restaurant, which is less expensive than my neighborhood restaurant. The price is below

Batman's tricycle — The local tricycle shop has Batman’s tricycle

Traditional sake serving — This is a traditional way to serve sake with the overflow box under the glass. This is kind of nice and modern with a plexiglass box

Cheap chicken Katsu — You can also get deep fried chicken in lunch set for US $6.60

Shochu — This is one of my favorite SHOCHU, alcohol made from barley. Traditionally, this kind of alcohol is distilled from potatoes, but it could be from rice or something else

September 23, 2026September 23, 2026

Bangkok food trip

For me Bangkok is kind of like a backyard. I have probably spent about a year and a half in the number of days staying here and wandering around not only as a tourist but also for business so it’s a very familiar place. The reason I decided to spend about a week here was for food. There are different varieties of food. I like to try out, especially the IISAN (NORTHEASTERN) and Chinese food in the old Chinatown area. This time I found a couple new interesting places. Near the Chulalongkon university area. There are quite a few restaurants that serve the student population so are very inexpensive and the food is so far very good. That’s where some former student students took me for IISAN food. in the Chinatown area. There was a restaurant I went to several times which was pretty good, but the restaurant has become fairly dirty and a number of rats running around. But then again that’s the very old area with old buildings and there is a lot of grease and maybe not well managed leftovers which provide good nourishment for the rats. But being an old part of the city it’s an animal you just kind of hope isn’t caught. He could very well wind up on somebody’s dinner plate somewhere.

Kimchi lunch Bangkok food trip — Actually, once I landed, I wanted to have something really simple so I went to a nearby shopping center and found a Korean restaurant which surprisingly had really excellent kimchi, Real Korean style. anyway I ordered just that and some rice. The waitress was very kind for some unknown reason, maybe because I was using very polite Thai language, and she brought me extra kimchi for free. But I couldn’t eat it all so she put it in a little box for me to take back to the hotel.

Cute marketing phrase Bangkok food trip Hasul — This was the Korean restaurant. As you can see, it has a very catchy marketing phrase.

Moo grop Bangkok food trip — Walking through the university restaurant area I took a photo for a friend of the MOO GROP ( deep fried pork), his favorite, and the lady posed for me.

Spanish dog certificate Bangkok food trip — OK it’s very early in this post, but I’m taking a little break by showing you a dog certificate which is required in one area of Spain, Valencia, to take the pet dogs on the local transport. Evidently it is not easy to take pets around Spain on public transport. They are not as welcome as they are in France.

Iisan food Bill Smale — This was our meal there at the IISAN restaurant comprising a lot of pork but done in a way which is very delicious along with the sticky rice which is really a Lao food. But this area called IISAN is made up of Lao people, not Thai. And many of the people there still speak a variation of Lao which is slightly different than Thai.

University area Bill Smale — This is what the area looks like

Bangkok artwork Bill Smale — Some local artwork

Shopping mall — The name of a local shopping building

New Orleans style building — I just like the architectural and lighting style on this building. It kind of reminds me of the French Quarter in New Orleans

Nice coffee shop — When you visit Thailand, you will find the very interesting and often cute uses of the English language in shops and businesses. This was a very nice coffee shop where I stopped a couple times. I really like the sign. It’s cute.

Good roast duck — This roast duck was tasty but not the best I’ve had. I would rank it seven out of 10, definitely not Michelin star quality. But they promote they are a Michelin star restaurant but if you check it out, it’s for their restaurant in Hong Kong not this one. Anyway I love Hong Kong style food so this place is acceptable.

Godzilla — And guess who showed up near the hotel

Japanese stain remover — This I guess is another break. This stain remover I found in Japan is in a very tiny bottle, which is good for traveling. You just dab it on the spot, they give you a number of dabbing pads to soak up the stain which you can use or not use and then you put it in the wash. It works extremely well. And, it’s small and good for packing.

Pickled mustard leaf — I think this is the mustard leaf they’re using here and this pickling is just a little bit sweet for me, but I like the mustard leaf, especially if it’s the sour pickling sauce

Good eggrolls — At the Chinese restaurant, the eggrolls were pretty good.

A variety of sauces — This is a huge contrast to traveling in the UK and the isles Next to The UK. look at the varieties of sauces. This is the kind of place I like to eat. Brown sauce is not sufficient for much of anything. And in fact, I had forgotten what it tasted like so I used it once over four months and never used it again, bringing my own sauces with me which I bought in the store.

Restaurants sign — OK, well in the MBK complex they had this restaurant sign which is cute.

Interesting phrase in a restaurant — And this is a very imaginative twist of a phrase which I hope you can get

Thai tea — I think this all started out about 60 years ago, but it has a vault into a kind of popular drink. It seems. I don’t drink it because it has way too much sugar

Tangmoo — I went to visit friends in Prachuap kirikan and this is their dog TANGMOO (watermelon) who slept outside my door every night and greeted me in the morning. She was my good buddy

Lax safety — They can Bangkok you can see this fellow doing some welding without proper protection. Where there are no inspectors around, in Small projects and local fixes you will see this kind of safety.

Carnivore dog food — Walking around the supermarket. This pet food is doing what? Is it suggesting this dog is a carnivore?

Deep fried chicken — Nowadays spicy chicken seems to be a big popular Korean offering outside of Korea. 50 years ago I never saw anything like this and probably was not even available in Korea or Japan in Korean restaurants. But it’s now a big thing so I stopped in and for a very reasonable price I ordered some chicken, hoping it would be a small but reasonable portion. It turned out to be a huge portion and the sauce was a little bit too sweet for me. I should’ve ordered something more spicy. You see the kimchi on the side, which is something I used to eat every day in Japan to keep my stomach in good shape

Ice cream — After the chicken I tried Swensens ain’t got this, which was very delicious

Honda PCX — This was the bike model I had in Koh Chang during the Covid lockdown. But I had Red instead of this color

New bank notes — at the ATM I got some brand new ฿100 Notes with the image of the current King when he was very young

September 20, 2026September 20, 2026

Buying Tax Free (Duty Free) in Japan

There are shops in Japan that sell goods duty free which now means the 10% sales tax is credited by the store when you buy something duty free for tourists. But i have found a dishonest trick going on. I am now officially a tourist in Japan so i can use the duty free system.

Let me give you my experiences. At Bic Camera where i am a member and get 10% credit on my next purchase every time I buy there. So when i bought a watch I asked for the duty free option and when i went to pay they said i could not get any points if i opted for duty free which means i paid full price including tax and then took the points. So they put in one hand just to take from the other hand.

Last week i went to buy a used backup phone in Akihabara. The shop offered a good price so i bought one. But i paid the tax since it was not a duty free licensed shop. Then i went to a few duty free used phone shops and found the same phone was 10% more expensive but they would credit the 10% tax. So they put in one hand just to take from the other hand.

Today i went to Apple to check out the new phones. Apple Japan is no longer a duty free shop. I wanted to get the tax credited so i went to duty free Yodobashi Camera and found the same phones. their prices are almost exactly 10% higher. So make sure you are really getting the benefit when shopping duty free.

I have been told this system is being taken over by the government on November 1 so duty free shops will probably issue a certificate and the tax reimbursement will be done at the airport on departure. But that does not mean duty free shops will provide any benefit. They might be more expensive than other shops as they are today. So check it out before you buy.

September 9, 2026September 9, 2026

Georgia Uplistsiche Caves

The Georgia Uplistsiche Caves are kind of an unusual set of caves and that they were not created for people to live in a community permanently. They were used for very temporary purposes and very much for ritual and religion. As opposed to the caves in Cappadocia, Turkey, you will find probably no opportunity to go very deep inside since they were not made for permanent dwelling. But it is very much worth the trip to go see these caves a couple hours away from Tbilisi. The stories and the history of the area is very interesting.

Restaurant menu Georgia Uplistsiche Caves — This was our menu at the restaurant.

Area map Georgia Uplistsiche Caves — Map of the whole area and the caves layout

Sewer line Bill Smale — The path leading up to the cave is actually the open sewer line used many hundreds of years ago

Climbing up Bill Smale — It’s a little bit of a climb up, not too bad

Not too crowded Bill Smale — It wasn’t too crowded but there were a number of people visiting

Ritual bowls Bill Smale — Were they used to do some rituals

Church on a temple — The church was built on top of another religious site. The Georgians will tell you Christianity came here in the late 300s which seems pretty early but it is well documented

Nice view — it it’s a beautiful view all around

Decorations — There is some fairly intricate decoration in the sides and the ceiling

Fires in the caves — You could see in various places the rock is darkened where they used to have some fires for keeping warm or for cooking

The queen’s hall — The history of the queen is a very popular story and this is where she came to perform rituals

Again, the darkened areas where they had fires going

Fallen down structures — You can see where there were some structures that have fallen down over the centuries

Throne hall — This is the throne hall where, of course, royalty performed ceremonies

the Chronicles of Georgia

overlooking the major lake near the capital and the capital in the distance a recent structure was built to graphically describe the history of Georgia which goes back many thousands of years. The figures are very interesting and while this is a new complex structure it’s worth a visit partly because of the beautiful view of the area. The lake is actually a reservoir. What you will notice is many of the figures are of religious significance. As you probably know this is a Greek orthodox influenced religion.

Small chapel — This is a small chapel on the complex

A typical Georgian style church in the distance

September 8, 2026September 8, 2026

Tbilisi Part 2

I recommend staying in Tbilisi and taking tours from there since they are so well organized and a very affordable way to see the sites and experience some traditions. If you are accustomed to driving in Thailand or Napoli you might think of renting a car. If not I would think twice. White knuckles are waiting for you. But the tours require up to 6 hours of van/mini bus rides during the day trip so be prepared for those long rides.

The other issue is going close to the Russian occupied areas. Foreign Ministries warn people about those areas so I recommend heeding those warnings. On the other hand the countryside is very beautiful so you might want to consider venturing into other towns to stay and experience the great hospitality Georgians are famous for. While I was there 4 young people from several nationalities were missing or found dead for various reasons. Two were related to fights which I am sure you won’t be involved in. One was a disappearance and the other was a young Thai YouTube traveler, well known in Thailand, who might have just died of natural causes. But I found no concern for danger while there. Most everyone is very friendly and welcoming. Russians may need extra caution since they are not well liked.

A hill walk Tbilisi Part 2 — One beautiful walk up one of the hills

seagulls Tbilisi Part 2 — Seagulls are showing up more inland as their fish food in the ocean is being taken in larger quantities by fishing conglomerates.

Metekhi church of the Nativity

church Tbilisi Part 2 — The prominent Church on the river

easy accessible church Tbilisi Part 2 — This is one of the main attractions in the city and an easy walk from the tourist center.

orthodox churches Tbilisi Part 2 — It seems in Orthodox churches people need to stand and do their rituals.

2 dimentional art Bill Smale — Beautiful 2 dimensional artwork that orthodox churches seem to be famous for.

coffin Bill Smale — Someone famous is encased here

tourist center view Bill Smale — View of the main tourist rendezvous area

mail villa Bill Smale — Walkway to a main villa

river cruise — A cruise down the main river splitting the town

Good view of church — the image inside the small chapel

A good view of the church and small chapel as well as the dock

Statue of King Vakhtang Gorgasali ვახტანგ გორგასლის ძეგლი

his and her bags — If this is a “his and her” set can you guess which is hers?

My Hilton stay, very inexpensive, getting up the new sign on their grand opening.

Hilton hotel — I think this hotel was Chinese by a different name and changed to a Hilton franchise. Everything inside is from China including the noisy elevator. Don’t get a room adjacent to the elevator. Each floor pass creates an irritating noise. I didn’t bother changing rooms.

Chacha — The famous Georgian liquor. Try it out. You might like it.

Vegitarian pork — ThisThai restaurant I didn’t visit but it had an interesting deep fried veggie pork dish on the menu.

georgian food — Some typical Georgian food. I found it delicious. I think you will find things you like.

Nan with egg — I had the one on the left, the NAN style bread with an egg and some cheese. It was tasty.

Roman figure — It reminds me of the famous Rome figure in “A Roman Holiday”, Hepburn and Grant.

These on the left and right are hot spring spas with a hefty price tag for a menu of services. The river is a hot spring.

No mention what this was but obviously was some building, maybe an outlook.

hill hotels — Aging hotels. The one on the right was a little more expensive than what I wanted to spend for a stay.

delicious pickles — I love these types of pickles. I went through a few bottles during my stay.

fruit cups — I thought these cups with fruit were to make smoothies as in Thailand and Lao but they are just cups of fruit to take away.

cheap ice cream — This cheaper version of gelato was ok, a little too sweet for me.

City center and St. George — St. George slaying the dragon

EU style car license plates — The auto license plates are designed ready for EU membership.

chinese ev — A Chinese assembled VW? There are many Chinese electric vehicles here.

preserved grapes — Preserved Grapes on a string created for long storage, good for traveling soldiers as the story went.

September 3, 2026September 3, 2026

Walking traditional Oia

on Santorini Island in Greece you have a very stereotypical town with white walls and blue painted church and Chapel domes with beautiful ocean views. This town is pronounced like “IYA”. It’s a 30 minute bus ride from Fira and certain times of the year you can expect to be accompanied by a huge number of visitors so be prepared. You will have to move around a little bit to get photos without the other visitors but you can also use your post processing capabilities on your photo software to get just the effect you want. It’s a beautiful place to walk around but you can expect that because it is a tourist area everything can be just a little bit expensive but that’s OK if you’re just there once in a lifetime. It’s definitely worth it and if you visit here you may not feel the need to go to other islands to see the same architecture and Oceanside views so you can do it all on Santorini.

Private property Walking traditional Oia — There are also a lot of private homes here so you need to be careful of the signs and the gates, not to enter someone’s private property.

Plaza Walking traditional Oia — There are a couple plazas here where you can pick up a snack or coffee or just sit and enjoy the view. The buses come right to the center of town and are very frequent so you have no need to rent a car since the roads are pretty crowded with tourist traffic.

Chapel Walking traditional Oia — The blue domes here indicate a church or Chapel it seems.

Islands Bill Smale — You can see the distant islands from many places in this little village

Many visitors Bill Smale — it can get pretty crowded in the peak tourist season which was when I visited

Traditional corn Bill Smale — Honestly, I was not too excited about the prospect of trying “traditional Greek fresh corn”. But if you’re hungry and just want a snack go ahead and try it

Old buildings Bill Smale — some of the buildings of course are very old

Good luck Bill Smale — Something for a good luck or companionship

Vegetable hamburger Bill Smale — as some of you know this is a burger made from vegetables, imitating meat. This company has not been very successful recently but is still producing some product.

Main church — This seems to be the main church in the village

Was I trying to say something while taking the picture? That’s a good question.

Lookout spot — Not quite sure what this is but it looks like a place to look out over the ocean

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