Tag: #thailand

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Bocce in Paradise

Playing in the sand

When I was growing up I would often go to the city (San Francisco). Sometimes I will go to fisherman’s wharf area and there was a place where the old Italian men were playing bocce. I didn’t know anything about the game but I was intrigued. Now I’m in Thailand and because of a good friend I am able to play the game several times a week and learn some Italian as well. At the end of this blog you can see a video, explaining how the games played and showing some very good and some very poor players. It’s all in good fun.

Pedro’s overhand throw
Giuseppe’s (professore) precision throw.
Elizabeth’s (the destroyer) stance.
Inspecting the results. the one who is farthest throws next.

Adding to the video below, each person gets 3 bocce balls so the maximum score on each toss is 3 (the closest to the red target ball).

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Bush and bin Laden on a rocket ship Chiang Rai

in Chiang Rai there is a temple called the white temple. It was designed not only for religious purposes but also as a collection of Buddhist ideas and symbolism to enchant people visiting the complex. It was designed by a very famous artist in Thailand who even created a painting of George Bush Junior with Osama bin Laden on a rocket going somewhere into outer space so you know this guy has quite a sense of……… Something. I won’t go into detail on that temple itself since that can be better done by a couple links I have here. I want to show you the photos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Rong_Khun

These are tortured souls
Thousands of small medallions
Medallions up close
This is just to prove I was actually there. No, I was not photoshopped in
you can see clearly why they call it the white temple
always adding new sculptures
even the bathrooms are very ornate. I’m sure you don’t believe these are the bathrooms but they are
See!
some symbolism I recognized
my wish was, “I wish I had this wishing well”. It’s a real moneymaker
even the caution markers contain symbolisms
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Loy Krathong – the festival of lanterns in Chiang Mai

I will let Wikipedia explain the festival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loy_Krathong

Roy and Cody
Held on the full moon
3 kings memorial
At Tulou Restaurant
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Another, another day in paradise

When you get a flat…
You bring out your spare tires
It’s good to have your embroidered name on your cap just so you don’t forget it
My Advanced team
An afternoon treat
Self service gas. Insert coins and get what you need
7 PM is too early for customers
The entertainment bus
Bananas out my window
Coffee from the Local plantation
This hotel is a little rundown due to Covid
Coffee in the jungle
The front of the coffee shop
Starry starry night
Looks like a comedy but it actually happened, big nail
The bungalow owner brought me some fresh shrimp
This pillow seems to make the ride so much softer
A good thing for the buildings below this water tower there are no earthquakes in Thailand
I it’s really a good idea to take your face mask out of your swimming suit before going in the ocean. I should have remembered that
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Another day in paradise

A few days ago I was talking to a good friend about our situation in this pandemic whatever it is. They said to me, “do you realize how many people would love to be in your situation, on an island in Southeast Asia where you’re able to travel around and do a lot of interesting things?“ My response was, “how many people are there in the world?“ They responded, “about 7 billion“. I said, “ then I guess there would be about 7 billion people who would love to be in my situation“. Here are some recent photos and situation’s.

Would you drink this?
All of these Duk duk waiting for business to come back to normal.
A small shrine in a cubby hole on the street
The hotel is obviously owned by Chinese Thai
Hey small hotel shrine
And meanwhile, back at the ranch
A good lesson
I doubt the manufactures understand the implications of this brand name
John is waiting around on the beach for some cheese
Very nice menu
Walking in the narrow and dark alleys of Chinatown in Bangkok I was a little concerned about confronting some rats along the way. I did not expect this

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Downtown! Everything waits for you

Gold ornaments leading to the gold clock tower
Now these two are really into motorcycle riding
The green green Grass of home. Actually, it’s rice
Seems to be a popular place
You have to eat these buffalo wings with your hands so…..
Trying out someone else’s motorcycle
You can pick your own strawberries and buy your very own bottle of wine as well
I took a break off the side off the road and while I was stretching this fellow rode by on a bike and asked me a few questions. I said I was a little tired so I wanted to rest and he was offering me his home to take a rest in
Planted palms. Makes me feel as though I am in a tropical place (and I am)
Nice view up ahead
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Oh my Buddha!

Driving on the road to Chiang Rai, out of my left eye I spied a giant Buddha sitting just off the road so of course I had to investigate.

It’s actually a monk who might have become a Buddha.
Good naming
Of course I had to walk inside
It pays to look up
It’s nice to have a greeters as you climb up the steps
The snake up Close
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A day in the life of an idle traveler

The sticker now resides In front of a coffee shop
A sticker mysteriously appears on a friends motorcycle. Look at the way he stores his zoris and helmet and also his squid fishing hook near the starter
A caution for a tourist area in Thailand For those who go to bars
This very sweet and ripe pineapple was harvested a few days before I bought it. Fruit in paradise
Gelato afternoon at Mauro’s restaurant
This pig is just wandering around the neighborhood getting free food and fattening up
A beer with my Dutch uncle from Rotterdam
Danger on the beach
I needed my childhood friend to keep me company on my travels
Wonderful Turkish food
More good Turkish food
A good use of small horsepower
John’s domain is the beach. By the way, his nickname is “Scarface”
Paul finally got his Lamborghini but we had to wait a half hour for a cup of coffee to be made
An old workhorse is still going strong
OK, working on this website is exhausting so I need to take a break with my Toscanello
On this photo blog I am also posting the video. 100% cute
You see! 100% cute
Always something exciting to see on the local news page
My buddy John puts up with the noise but he really doesn’t enjoy it
In the countryside so many people have coconut trees in their yard so they just use this long stick with a knife on the end to cut them down. There have been many comments about monkeys harvesting coconuts. That may happen in some places but it is just so much cheaper and easier to use this method. After they harvest them they pile them up on the road and a truck comes by to them pick up. I don’t know if they get paid by the kilo or by number of Coconuts but they get something from the people who pick up the coconuts
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Moving for the 32nd time

I tried to count how many times I moved in my life and I think I got to 32 but I really have to go back and do a more careful Accounting. Anyway I’m in my new digs and I find it very pleasant, away from the tourist areas of the island and very quiet. Many of these photos are related to my new place but some are not.

Mine is the last one on the right up the path
Nice balcony outside with a built-in counter for drinking coffee in the morning and spending evening time in the cool air
Morning coffee
The brown one I name stinky because he hasn’t been washed for a long time probably due to his wounds which seem to be healing all right The white one I name Cicco, A recommendation from an Italian friend of mine. They keep me company and patrol the area
Just beside my bungalow the other dogs patrol
Not really minimalism
These were waiting for me in the bungalow but as careful as I am not they would all be broken in three months so I passed them back to the owner
Breakfast: muesli, yogurt and pineapple fresh from the garden

Breakfast: muesli, yogurt and pineapple fresh from the garden

My friends cat. Looking for an opportunity to jump on me and tear my shirt
A friend hand designed this mask. Very detailed. Please don’t call Interpol
My bike is looking better with these stickers and one may keep me safe
One reason I moved. Some young girls were making egg food which nobody bought but they made us move our motorcycles from the hotel parking area to the street and then back up to the parking area at 10 PM so they could sell their egg food. I did not consider this very customer friendly.
Paul, Willhelm and myself at The Office
At A friends place for a morning moca and a toscanello cigar
Three nice Dutch fellows. The fellow in the white shirt is the big businessman, as you can see.
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Bangkok a la China

Recently, I stayed in the Chinatown area, around the back streets, and found it to be a very interesting place. There are many tourist shops and restaurants open that cater to people they may never see again but you really want to go to the local shops and restaurants where you get local Bangkok and surrounding area residence to frequent. The back streets are also filled with automobile repair and motorcycle repair shops. One shop I found particularly interesting was the Vespa repair shop.

a sick Vespa. This is the special shop with very old Vespa‘s to Cannibalize for parts
Outside MBK. You can worship anywhere, even outside a department store
A top executive from Don Quixote in Japan came to the opening of their store in MBK which replaced Takashimaya
It’s really nice to have this sticker on the taxi window but it would really be nicer if the driver spoke English. If I didn’t speak any Thai getting where I wanted to go would’ve been a little bit difficult
In the very early morning the evening temporary shops on the sidewalk by the canal need to close up and make way for the daytime Shops
These are the nighttime shops. Squid game seems to be a very popular kids T-shirt theme
Food from a very popular and usually crowded restaurant in Chinatown
This is the name of the restaurant
The product under this cat must be the most popular. That’s just how cats like to place themselves. Right in the way!
That’s a funny company name for a people network
This GYOZA was pretty good
This GYOZA with WAKAME was especially delicious
Roads in Bangkok have to accommodate a lot of different vehicles at a lot of different speeds
Moving inventory off the street and back to the shop
Stickers for my motorcycle but I gave some away