Farangs, like myself, rarely hire a motorbike taxi to take us anyplace in Bangkok as it is considered very dangerous – these daredevils on wheels are known to be somewhat reckless as they weave in and out of traffic. Furthermore most of the drivers do not provide their passengers with a crash helmet. It is not unusual to see these guys driving their vehicle on the sidewalk (sometime with passengers), as they hurry to stay ahead of the traffic on clogged Bangkok thoroughfares. On more than one occasion, I have been walking on the sidewalk along the Sukhumvit, a main road in uptown Bangkok, only to have to dodge a motorcycle taxi coming directly at me. WTF? I know of many bargirls who wear permanent souvenir(s) on their bodies - usually on an arm or leg – as a result of being involved in a motorbike accident.

Regular taxis are a safer option, albeit slower option. The meter rate for a taxi starts at 35 baht (about 1.00USD) – very cheap - and increases by 1 baht per for every 3-5 minutes, while motorbike taxis are even cheaper yet, costing a mere 20 baht for a short trip but oh so dangerous. 97% of the time, I will take a taxi all things being equal. However every now and then, when I’m in an extreme hurry and traffic is really choked up, I will take gamble and roll the dice by hiring a motorbike taxi.

On my last night in Bangkok, I took such a chance - I had a farewell dinner date at 7:30PM with Khun Moongmink at a small vegetarian restaurant on Soi 26 near the Sukhumvit and it was very important that I not be late. Standing outside the President Park Hotel (Sukhumvit Soi 22/24) at 7:10PM, I surveyed the traffic conditions - even though I was only 1.5 miles away from my destination, I realized I would never make it on time by taxi. The choice was to incur the wrath of Moongmink for being late or risk life and limb by taking a motorbike taxi. Choosing the lesser of two evils, I had the bellman at President Park hook me up with the best motorbike taxi that he could find and I told him to inform the driver that I would give him a big tip if he got me to my destination, safe and sound.

Looking at my watch as I hopped on to the motorbike seat, it was exactly 7:17PM when we departed. Sure enough, the driver took some short cuts, weaved in and out traffic and got me to my destination at 7:25PM in one piece. As I hopped off the bike, I waiied the driver and thanked him in Thai, handing him 40 baht and motioning with my hands for him to keep the change. As I ambled into the restaurant, I made a prayer to the Great Buddha in the Sky for my safe deliverance.

During my travels through Thailand and Malaysia, I have eaten at numerous inexpensive Indian Restaurants – primarily in Bangkok, Cameron Highlands, Melaka and Langkawi Island. I am referring to those casual cafeteria type or budget affairs which cater to a mix of locals and frugally minded tourists. At most of these restaurants/cafés, when the waiter serves your meal he usually does not provide you with any napkins. With Indian food in particular, when picking up my curries, vegetables and rice with the Naan bread, I find my hands getting very dirty.

I’m sure you’ve heard of the famous rhetorical question, Why does the chicken cross the road? Like the reason for why the chicken crosses the road, have you ever wondered why inexpensive Indian restaurants typically don’t provide napkins to their customers?

Well, on my last night in Tanah Ratah (Cameron Highlands) while eating at The Kumar Indian Restaurant located two doors down from STARBUCKS, I decided to ask the manager what is the rationale behind this practice. I knew what the answer was going to be, but I just wanted to hear it from the source. Without mincing any words, the affable manager told me it is really all about improving the bottom line (money) – as the meals are so cheap, the restaurant can cut down on their expenses by not providing napkins to their customers; after all napkins cost money! Upon hearing this, it confirmed what I already knew. But taking the stance as the devil’s advocate, I told him that while his local customers from the surrounding area may not squawk at this practice, many westerners will perceive this no napkin policy as poor service and may become irritated having to ask for napkins all the time. While this practice may reduce the bottom line, it will most likely have an adverse affect on the waiter’s tips as well.

Before finishing our conversation, I was tempted to ask him, “Can I wipe my dirty hands on your shirt”. Of course, common sense got the better of me as I timidly asked him, “Can you bring me some more napkins?”

Still wondering what is the correct answer to “Why does the chicken cross the road?” The answer is - To get to the other side.

Visiting a foreign country for the first time, there is definitely an adjustment period – it takes a while to get a feel for the culture, the lifestyle, the cuisine and the idiosyncrasies of the people. Overall I have visited 26 countries in my lifetime, and each country has been quite unique in its own way. I am sure you’ve heard the expressions no two people are alike, well no two countries are alike!

MALAYSIA , a predominantly Muslim country, is quite different than other countries that I have visited in the Southeast Asia – Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos – in terms of its history, culture and people. I guess you could say that my reference point is THAILAND in Southeast Asia, as I have traveled extensively in the Kingdom of Siam during my eight excursions to this geographical region.

My learning curve for Malaysia started with my flight on Air Asia from Chiang Mai to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s bustling capital city. Observing some of the Malaysian children on the plane, I came to the conclusion that they are a somewhat more animated/wilder than their Thai counterparts. Now I’m not saying that this is good or bad thing – it could be that Thai and Malaysian children have a different temperament. The children sitting across from me were part of a Malaysian school group, and they all were wearing a rather spiffy t-shirt with a very stylistic elephant design that they purchased in Chiang Mai; the children sitting in back of me were fidgeting all over the place as I felt my them constantly kicking the back of my seat.

Compared to Suvarnabhumi, Thailand’s gleaming new age international airport just outside of Bangkok, the international airport serving Kuala Lumpur is a rather drab affair, but it is considerably larger than the airport in Vientiane, Laos or Chiang Mai, Thailand. Curiously enough after deplaning from Air Asia, all passengers have to walk across the street, clearing two lanes of traffic before entering the airport terminal for immigration. That struck me as being a little unusual.

After clearing immigration, the next step is to pick up your luggage from the baggage carousel. As in most airports, there are small baggage carts available to all passengers. Watching the other passengers (mostly Malaysian Nationals) take a baggage cart, one thing struck me as being most peculiar - in the most forward cart, there were a number of empty plastic water bottles in the upper compartment. As each passenger selected a cart, they carefully transferred the empty bottles to the next cart in line, and so on and so forth. You’d think that at some point, one of the passengers or somebody who worked inside the airport terminal would throw the empty plastic bottles in the trashcan. After watching the empty bottles transferred at least 5 times, I almost couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I guess this must be a uniquely Malaysian custom as I have never (ever) seen anything like this at any airport during my many years of traveling. Talk about passing the buck…

If you’re passing through Chiang Dao, a small town about 75 minutes north of Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, I highly recommend that you visit Malee’s Nature lodge, one of the best and friendliest family owned hostels in Thailand, and the owner, Ms. Malee, is ‘a real sweetheart’. She’s very ‘Jai Dee’, a Thai expression for somebody who has a big heart and is very generous.

Just yesterday, I stopped by to pay my respects to Khun Malee and her family (and her two dogs Son and Jennie). As I was getting ready to head back to Chiang Mai, I happened to notice that Malee was growing a small money tree in her dining room. As Malee explained, the money tree is a way of raising funds for much needed improvements in the community kindergarten located near Chiang Dao Cave – plans call for the construction of a permanent roof over the playground and a special sleeping room for the young children.

The small tree is growing and prospering thanks to Malee’s attentive love and care, as well as to the contributions from many of her guests. Hanging from the branches of the small money tree are many 20 baht and 100 baht notes as well as a rather prominent 1000 baht note at the crown of the tree.

Construction of the roof and the sleeping room will begin in March 2009. If you’d like to help the money tree grow larger, you must make your contribution between now and this date. I believe it is a very worthy cause!

Malee was one of the founders and is one of the most avid supporters of this small kindergarten facility, which opened its doors some 10 years ago in response to the growing community in the village known as Ban Tham. Her precocious son Peter, who I have affectionately nicknamed Ling Lek (small monkey), is a recent graduate of the Ban Tham kindergarten.

Thailand is known around the world as ‘The Land of Smiles’ because Thai people are naturally friendly and usually greet strangers with a warm smile. Funny thing - when passing through immigration, the female officer did not make any eye contact with me, nor utter one word let alone flash a smile as she processed my passport. Looking around at her colleagues, I noticed the same type of behavior. Oh well…

When buying a can of been of beer at a local 7-11 in downtown Nan (Northern Thailand), I found it highly peculiar that the female clerk inserted a plastic straw in the bag. After all, who drinks beer with a straw? Asking my tour guide later on, he informed me that Thai people often drink beer with a straw. Who woulda thunk?

From what I have seen, Thai people in Bangkok are considerably more relaxed and less stressed than their counterparts from the San Francisco Bay Area (and the USA in general). You can see it on their faces and by observing their body language.

Sunday evening in Bangkok is a relatively lively affair compared to San Francisco. Passing through Bangkok after 7:00PM, I observed many young people congregating at such popular fast food restaurants like McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and the like. Small streetside cafeterias and food stalls were also quite busy, as many Thai people prefer to eat out because it’s so cheap rather than do their own cooking. Shopping centers and malls also seemed to be doing a fairly brisk business despite the global recession. Shopping after all is one of Thai people’s favorite activities. Compared to Bangkok on a Sunday evening, San Francisco is like a ghost town.

To all my readers, blog subscribers and fellow travelers, I would like to apologize for my absence in the last 12 days. Since arriving in Thailand from San Francisco on November 12, my schedule has been so hectic that I really haven’t had either the energy or the opportunity to sit down and blog about my experiences until now.

So here I am at Phu Lang Ka, a quiet and spartan mountain retreat in the Northern province of Phayao where I am doing nothing but resting, nurturing my spirits and blogging. Nobody here speaks much English and the nearest town of Chiang Kam is about 40 minutes away. My Thai cell phone does not pick up a signal and there is no internet, and I love it!!!. This morning when I go to town, I will stop at the nearest internet café and publish my first in a series of blogs about my ongoing adventure to Thailand and Malaysia. Once again, to all my readers, blog subscribers and fellow travelers, I would like to apologize for my absence.

Oh the weariness of the long distance traveler-blogger.

Just a little footnote: Nov 24 - I discovered much to my chagrin that my website was temporarily suspended because my hosting service failed to renew my domain with GoDaddy - I was billed by the hosting service for my domain up through Nov 2009! Thanx G_D, I ‘m back up again!!!

My associate in Thailand, Moongmink, is a real hardcore flower and garden enthusiast. Just recently she attended Bangkok’s premier Home & Garden Fair, an annual event organized by Baan Lae Suan, the famous Thai Home and Garden Magazine. Here’s her detailed report:

I feel that the Home and Garden Fair comes at the right time as a lot of Bangkokians are suffering from stress due to political instability and economic slow down. To avoid the crowds, we went there on a weekday. Large areas were provided for the various flower and plant contests - orchids, fern, cactus, etc. – and there were many garden exhibits based on the concept of the English Cottage Garden.

While the focal point of this Garden Fair was on English Cottage Gardens, I am surprised that I didn’t see any farang expats or visitors from England. I am curious as to how many tourists actually attended the Fair; maybe they were out exploring some of the beautiful botanical gardens located in Northern Thailand - Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens in Chiang Mai and Mah Fah Luang Garden at Doi Tung in Chiang Rai Province come to mind.

Overall I enjoyed myself at Garden Fair, however I feel that the organizers should have allocated more space for the English Cottage Garden exhibit and contest. I must admit that this is my favorite garden style - whenever I see an English cottage garden in garden magazines, I often fantasize of a page from a fairly tale where a little girl comes out of nowhere walking through the garden. Typically this type of garden has many walkways, trellises/arbors as well as vine covered fences and an assortment of small shrubs and small trees surrounding a small cottage. Needless to say, standing in front of the exhibited garden corner, my imagination could not work! The exhibit was just too cramped.

Believe it or not, I have dreams of creating a little English cottage garden on my own plot of land in Chiang Dao, a small town located not far from Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand. Maybe the fairy tale will come true!

As a traveler, I admit to having a bias towards tropical destinations - there’s something about the lush vegetation, diverse wildlife, exotic butterflies and colorful landscapes of the tropics that captivates me. Some of my favorite tropical destinations include Costa Rica, Ghana, Thailand, Mexico and Ecuador to name a few. Here’s a chance to vote for your favorite tropical vacation destination.[poll id=7]

Funny thing - while promoting my Top Travel Memories Contest, I accidentally discovered that my long lost cousin (and his wife) from San Diego are traveling to Thailand tomorrow for vacation. Harry is his name by the way.

Now if you have been following Calypso Island Chronicles, you may be aware that I will be returning to Thailand one week from now. Now I haven’t seen my cousin Harry in over 30 years. What are the odds that I will bump into him somewhere in Thailand? Kind of remote! I probably wouldn’t recognize him anyhow even if he were standing right in front of me, but wouldn’t it be something if I ran into him and his wife while strolling through the night bazaar in Chiang Mai (tourist hub of Northern Thailand) or while having dinner at the popular Whole Earth Restaurant? Stranger things have happened. LOL! In any case, I’ll have to send good ole Harry an e-mail right about now!

Today’s technologically savvy traveler carries a lot of electronic gear and gadgets when taking a trip. I guess you can definitely include ‘yours truly’ in that category, but when I compare myself to some real hardcore ‘technogeeky’ travelers, I see myself as somewhat of a lightweight. To give you an idea - on my next trip to Thailand and Malaysia this coming November, I’ve made a list of all the various gizmos and electronic gear that I will be lugging around with me.

+USA Cell phone + charger
+Thai Cell phone + charger
+Laptop + Security cable lock
+Portable mouse
+USB Flashdrives (2)
+iPod 20GB
+Portable Sound system
+iPod shuffle
+Cameras (2)
-Olympus C8080 8MP 5X Zoom with extra wide-angle lens
-Olympus 570UZ 10MP 20X Zoom
+Camera Media cards
+Battery chargers (2)
+Portable lightweight Tripod
+Mini tripod

As you can see from this list it does not include the latest technotoys or devices such as a Blackberry, a Twitterberry (or any kind of berries), an iPhone or a palm pilot. I feel a little bit deprived!

I always carry my music with me when I travel - that is very important. The 20GB iPOD will never leave my hotel room as it is integral part of my portable stereo system, while iPod shuffle is as small as a matchbook; when I work out in the gym or exercise, I clip it on my T-shirt. Gotta have my music! You may wonder as to why I lug around two cameras with me. Well, you know the old expression – two cameras are better than one. Actually two medium point and shoot digital cameras are a lot less to carry around than a SLR camera kit with all the various lens and accessories.

How many gadgets and electronic devices do you take on your travels?
(more…)