Rejuvenating Tonic

 

Timour's Father

This is a photo I took of Timour and his father in Moscow.  I had met his father many years earlier, in Tashkent, where I lived for almost a year.  Timour and I had become friends at my university in Alabama.

Timour's father's grave in Vladimir, Russia

Year of the Durian

Year of the Durian

I envy her!  Impressive.

Casa 17

If you're looking for a cool hotel in a more local part of Bangkok, Casa 17 is very nice.  I would only recommend it to people who have experience in the city.

Plans Change

In 2013, I had planned on traveling to Japan.  After arriving in Bangkok and maybe spending a week, I was thinking of flying to Tokyo.  Kade would stay behind with her family in Thailand, and then I'd return there after Japan.  Unfortunately, I got the H1N1 virus and it put an end to the Japan possibility.  I stayed in Bangkok.

This was the itinerary I was considering:

Tokyo, 7 days

Kyoto, 3 days

Fukuoka, 2 days

Nagasaki, 2 days

AI Doll Trend

These Thailand ones are humorous.

Gonna Be Me

 
Something big is on the horizon.

Shinkansen

I look forward to returning to Japan one day.

Nightingale-Olympic

source

source

Frozen in Time: Inside Bangkok's First Ever Department Store

It's my understanding that the department store is officially closed, but the building may still be intact.  I might go see it in September.

Bangkok's Old Town

This is advice I was giving to a 70+ yr old woman who was thinking of traveling on her own to Bangkok:

I would stay in this area (Bangkok's Old Town) about 7-10 days so you can knock out all this in a relaxed fashion.  For me, at my age, I would need a full week to do it.  And I walk a lot!  I think if you could stay in the Old Town for two weeks, you'd enjoy it more.  The new part (Sukhumvit & Silom) of the city also needs at least two weeks.  We can discuss this later.

21 Best Things to do in Bangkok’s Old Town

Make It Work

If you can make it work, we're returning to Asia a year from now.  June 1st or sometime the first part of June, I'm going first to Singapore (5 full days), then heading north.  Next will be Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (4 full days), Cameron Highlands (3 full days), and Penang (3 full days).  After Malaysia, I will cross into Thailand, where I will make my way to the islands of Koh Samui and Koh Phangan (7 full days).  After that I will take a train up to Bangkok to meet up with Kade.  Will then have another 26 days or so.  49 days total. 7 weeks.

- e-mail I sent to a cousin in June '22

Openness

Enjoying what I'm hearing so far.  Love social psychologists.  What's interesting is that he said a liberal trait is being open to experience or traveling.  For me, ironically, although deeply embedded in a conservative culture and latching on to the core parts of that culture, I always had that openness to experience and curiosity and desire to travel.  I think part of this was nourished by the fact that my family had the resources to take us out of that "closed" culture from time-to-time.  New Orleans, Disney, Washington, DC, Western Europe, Smokey Mountains, Atlanta (many times).  Others rarely ever left.  Liberals 2 - ones raised to be liberal - can be close-minded, and may not be able to travel to places or meet others where their preconceived notions may be challenged. 

- email to friend in 2012, in a response to this

Durian Forecast

I will continue adding to this one.