back so long

I can't believe it's been two weeks already since my trip ended.

For those who haven't seen it, I had a photobook made that turned out pretty beautifully. I used MyPublisher.com Their software is very easy to use and the end product is really very nice altho a bit pricey. Here's a link to my book

I have already begun thinking about next year. I plan at this point to spend a week in London at the end of August for the IGLFA world cup. It should be a great event. Then I am thinking back to Asia for a few weeks around November once again. Probably some time in Laos along with the usual time in Thailand.

Fat Festival - Supersub

big in Japan

I am at my Japanese way-station at the moment. The immigration line at the airport was unbelievably long. They just instituted procedures here to photograph and fingerprint every foreigner that enters the country. Luckily I happened to be at the right place in line when they opened some new windows.

It is cool and misty here. It was about 50 degrees when I landed. There are Xmas decorations up all over the place. It was the same in Bangkok. All of the malls had giant trees and decorations and they were playing Xmas songs.

The flight was a short 5 hours. I think going this direction takes less time for some reason. It will be nice to get a real night's sleep before we take off tomorrow.

I spent some time editing photos on the plane and intend to do some more of that tomorrow.

The food here is really expensive. I paid about $30 for dinner! But I should be able to eat breakfast at the airport lounge tomorrow. Since I am staying at the ANA Hotel I can check in for my flight down in the lobby before I leave for the airport.

I seem to have done something to my knee as well...the one that has been fixed. Any torque or twisting makes it feel unstable and there's a fair amount of pain. I hope I didn't do something to undo the surgical repair. It could just be that meniscus acting up. But I am concerned.

time to go

I can't believe it's all over. :-( Everything is almost packed and it will be another early morning wake up. They are taking me to the airport at 5:30 AM.

Today was a bit sad. I stopped by the Purple Dragon office this morning and learned that Joe, who had been my tour preparer passed away on Saturday. He was a very nice guy and he did a great job for me putting my trips together.

After that I didn't do a whole lot. I bought some CDs and then I went to see the movie The Love of Siam one more time. It was just as heartbreaking if not moreso the second time around. Then a nice relaxing massage and dinner and then it was time to come back to the hotel and pack. And now it is bed time.

Monkey City

Today was a day trip to LopBuri which is a city that has a couple of temples that are overrun by monkeys.They are adorable of course. We also visited buildings from when the city was the "second capital" during the Ayutthaya period. There are ruins of the royal temple as well as the royal palace that were built in the middle of the 17th Century. Unfortunately the museum at the palace is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays so that was a disappointment.

My guide today, Nicky, was my first guide on my trip last year. He only vaguely remembered me. He's a nice guy but very reserved so it is difficult to build much rapport since we are both fairly similar in that regard. The drive back and forth was about 2 hours each way, so it was another day with lots of driving.

Yesterday was shopping spree day. I spent way more money that I was expecting to. My guide, Mickey, happened to be my guide last year during the ill-fated, coup-interrupted ModernDog concert. He knows how to shop! We went to a couple of jewelry stores including one at which he has his jewelry made. I bought a couple of rings that are quite nice. One is another sapphire and white gold ring with little bitty diamonds and the other is a custom made green tourmaline white gold ring also with little bitty diamonds. Then we went to look at silk and I shopped more there than I was expecting to but picked up some nice gifts. I also had a shirt made that was delivered to me today. It was much cheaper than the ones I had made back home but I don't think it is quite as nice as those were.

I am a little worn out this evening. Tomorrow is my last day here and I am not certain what I will do. I think want to go down to Siam Square to shop a little at DJ Siam. I suppose I can hang out at the malls over there a little bit. I will have to pack a little as well but there's not too much to worry about there. But I will need to get to bed early for my early trip to the airport.

dumb luck? smart luck? make your own luck?

So, I woke up from my nap around 6 and knew that if I didn't get up then I wouldn't get up. I turned on the computer and decided to check the ModernDog message board to see if there was any info on the event they were to play today. Luckily enough the event list was updated yesterday including the location (Siam Discovery) and time (21:00?) of the show that was billed as some sort of battle of the bands. I did a quick Google search and found another time listed for the even as 5 PM! I decided I should hightail it over there as soon as I could. The closest SkyTrain station is about half a mile away so I walked fast to get there and then on the other end I had to walk fast to get the Siam Discovery. There was also some sort of live music event happening at Siam Paragon but I decided that was not the right one. I arrived at the stage just in time to see it full of people and May-t announcing the battle winners. I was worried for a minute that I had missed the entire thing. But then I saw their techs with a set list ready to be taped down. Ultimately I had arrived at the perfect time, right before ModernDog's set. They went on around 7:15 and did 45 minutes or so. I walked to the side of the stage where they would enter from and waved to May-t and he came over to say hello and that he thought I was already gone home. When they emerged to go onstage Pong (the drummer) also recognized me and waved and Pod saw me and said "Glenn!" and stuck out his hand in his Pod-like way to shake hands. It is always fun to be recognized like that. Then I walked around to the front to take in the show. I was kicking myself for not bothering to take the camera because it was a perfect set up for taking pictures. Plenty of light and I could easily have gotten to the front row to shoot. So, that was a bummer. But it was fun to see them play. After it was over I hung around for a bit and had a chance to chat with May-t and Pong long enough to say "see you next year."

Since the Muse show on Wednesday has been canceled I had figured I was not going to have a chance to see them again. But this was a great bonus and could not have worked out any better for me.

The weather here appears to have finally broken as well. It was warm and sunny but not oppressive when I arrived and it's probably in the upper 70s with a little breeze at the moment. And not too humid. The forecast for Tuesday is only 82 for the high! So that will be nice for my day trip to Lopburi. I have been told that I have to be really careful there because the monkeys like to steal things from you.

The beauty of language

Back in Bangkok now after an uneventful drive. The drive between BKK and Pattaya is a strange one. There is a halfway completed highway between the two places that does not seem to be making very much progress towards being finished. So you spend time on the highway for a while and then there's a sharp jog to the left off onto a service road for a short time and the back onto the highway again. Over and over.

The Triple Two Silom hotel is very nice. It is more what I am used to than a suite at the Sukhothai. It looks like I am supposed to have the service of a guide tomorrow but I don't know what we will do. I would like to see the Royal Barge museum but since they barges were just out for a ceremony a couple of weeks ago it may not be open.

It looks like the language course has paid off to an extent. I am not really able to converse with anyone in Thai, but I remember enough little words and phrases that a number of people have complimented me on how well I speak Thai. Of course they are just being polite, but I think they really do appreciate my attempts and it makes them happy which is fun. And it has been nice to be able to direct my drivers which way to turn when necessary. It does make me want to learn more. I am bummed that I never bothered to learn any Khmer for my time in Cambodia. English seems to be a bit more widespread there than it is here, but it would have been nice to be able to say simple things like "hello" and "thank you". Maybe I will do that in time for the next visit.

I actually enjoyed my time in Pattaya much more than I did last year. I almost wish I had planned a little bit more time there, but I suppose there is always next time.

Now I need to take a nap and figure out what to do here for the rest of the day.

A quiet day

Today was a nice quiet day for the most part. I was again awakened by the sounds of hammering at 9 AM. I went to see a new Thai movie today called The Love of Siam. It was very good. A bit of a tear-jerker and overly long at 160 minutes. But at its heart was a story of two boys in love. The writing and acting are very good.

Then I had a massage which was nice and relaxing. And then I had a quick dinner. Today is Loy Krathong and all up and down beach road people were selling krathongs which are these little rafts mostly made out of styrofoam with flowers and incense and a candle. The problem with sending the krathongs out onto the gulf is that the wind is pretty strong so the candles don't stay lit for long and they just sort of bob along the shore. It was a lot of people down there though and there were lots of firecrackers and other fireworks going off.

Tomorrow I am supposed to head back to Bangkok around 11 AM. I am not sure how I am getting there but the travel agent is good about making everything happen when they say that they will.

Some good news

Well, some good news today. Even though I was awakened early by the sounds of hammering... But I walked over to the big tech mall this morning and picked up a memory card reader, so now I can stop complaining about that. I have uploaded some photos below. I may do a photos post here soon when I have the time to do some photo editing.

Then I walked down along the beach road where there is a nice cool breeze and had lunch outside overlooking the water. I think I will head down to the beach in a little while.

And I have my laptop up and running with the hotel network now so I can use my own computer which is a good thing.

So, all in all a good day so far. Last night was sort of odd. I had the same guide as I did while I was here last year. He's a nice enough guy I suppose but he really sort of annoys me. He repeats everything he says several times and he is a bit high strung which is not a great mix when I am here to relax. I spent the evening trying to figure out how to ditch him. We went to a few bars, but nothing really special. He did tell me where to go tomorrow night for the Loy Krathong festivities, although I expect it will be very very crowded.

Happy Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving. I have not seen any turkeys, but I assume that some of these restaurants have a special menu.

Today was a fairly busy travel day. My flight from Siem Reap to Bangkok was slightly delayed but we only arrived 5 minutes late. Had to wait 30 for the luggage to show up on the belt though. My driver from the airport was unfortunately not Khun Chiang. The guy drove very fast and fairly dangerously and for some reason didn't know exactly where he was supposed to be taking me. But I got to the hotel in pretty good time. My room is quite nice compared to the one I stayed in last time but there is a lot of hammering going on somewhere here. I hope they stop by bedtime. My guide is supposed to be here at 8 to show me the nightlife.

I think I need a quick disco nap before that though.

I still need to track down that memory card reader. I should have just bought the one I saw in BKK for $3 when I was there. My room actually has a laptop in it for my use, but of course what photos I do have are on my computer and I don't know what the key is to connect to the network. I guess I will ask at the front desk later.

There are lots of Russian tourists here for some reason.

Saturday is a special Buddhist holiday called Loy Krathong. At nightfall people make these little banana leaf boats with candles on them that they put out on the water to float away. It has something to do with carrying away your problems. There are also fireworks. So I will need to figure out exactly where to go for all of that.

Here's a photo from Angkor Thom. It is one of the iconic places in the area as it is the temple that is full of serene Buddha faces.

Back to Thailand

Well, my time in Cambodia is now pretty much at an end. Today was a fairly quiet day which was good after all the walking and climbing we have been doing since Sunday. I bought a couple of souvenirs, went to the new National Museum here which frankly wasn't ready to open when it did last week. There is too much inside still unfinished and the exhibits are completely devoid of any sort of interpretation or even simple identification. It's a shame because they have some nice objects there.

Yesterday was a long day with a drive to a mountain shrine and beautiful waterfall followed by a visit to the ruined temple at Beng Melea which was fairly astounding. It has not been fixed up at all and it is the way it has been for a long time. I guess they have cut some of the vegetation, but otherwise it is ruined with the temple ceilings collapsed. It was fun if not a little dangerous to crawl on it. For something 800 years old it is pretty impressive as are all the temples.

On Monday we saw a lot of the temples that are close to each other and went out in a hellacious rainstorm which was a big mistake. It took my shoes more than a day to dry out. I have to admit that all of the places and dates blend together a bit.

The people here are really fantastic. Friendly with sweet smiles. The guys are gorgeous. It will be a little sad to leave, but I am looking forward to a relaxed week in Thailand. Hopefully no more health issues.

I discovered the other day that ModernDog are opening for a band called Muse who are big in the UK. So I will get to see them play on Wednesday night before I leave to come back. In a way it is probably better for me that they are opening since that means I don't have to stay up too late, but it is bad because it means they probably only get 30-45 minutes on stage.

My helicopter trip here got canceled because they said they needed one more person to join for it to be cost effective even though it was going to cost me a lot of money. So I guess there is a big refund coming my way.

Hopefully I can get my hands on a memory card reader when I get back to Thailand to post some more photos.

Angkor Arrival

Here is a photo of me with my guide in Phnom Penh, Mr. Pongro, as well as our driver on the far right.

Well, it’s been a busy couple of days. I arrived this morning in Siem Reap, the home of Angkor Wat and the heart of the Khmer Empire for several centuries.

My Phnom Pehn guide and driver picked me up bright and early for my 9:30 flight. I knew I was going to miss those guys. I really enjoyed spending a couple of days with them and I learned a lot about Cambodia. Mr. Pongro, my guide, was a Buddhist monk from age 8 until he graduated from university a couple of years ago. He was an interesting guy and so very sweet. I sort of fell in love with him I think. I hope to see him again some day.

The airport in Phnom Penh for domestic flights is very easy. The airport is tiny with very little traffic. I was checked in and then had to pay the $6 domestic departure tax. I have no idea why they don’t charge that as part of the ticket like they do everywhere else in the world. But I was still in the boarding area with an hour to spare. The plane was a small turboprop with 70 seats. The flying time was a whopping 35 minutes. Can’t beat that. Domestic arrivals in Siem Reap is a very small operation.

I met my guide Khim and we were off the hotel. I have to say that I am not especially impressed with the Victoria Hotel. The facilities are fine, but the room is pretty small. The “high speed” internet is very slow. And a number of other minor quibbles. My room was not ready yet when I arrived so we left for the temples instead.

First stop was Angkor Thom which is full of these enormous stone Buddha faces. The carving on the walls of all these places is astounding. After lunch we went to the main Angkor Wat temple. Unfortunately it was fairly rainy so we got pretty wet despite having unbrellas. Again the place is very impressive. We managed to visit both places without the hordes of other tourists. They were all arriving at Angkor Wat as we were leaving.

Unfortunately it is supposed to be rainy all week here so I guess that is a real shame.

Holiday in Cambodia (as it were)

Well, I am now in Phnom Penh the capital of Cambodia. Turns out I was not feeling well AGAIN last night so I skipped to concert. It was very hot and humid after it rained. I went to dinner and was sweating so much I could barely stand it.

I went to bed early for my 4:15 AM wake up. I slept pretty well but that is too early to get up. Turns out there is no traffic on the highway at 5 AM, so we got to the airport in about 20-25 minutes. Since I was in business class Thai Airways has a separate check in area that leads to fast-track immigration and then the lounge which was quite nice. The flight was nothing special. We left late because they were waiting for connection passengers. But the flight is only 50 minutes or so. Connected with my guide no problem. There was a 1000 year old Australian lady sitting next to me. She says this is her 11th visit to the country. She does some sort of humanitarian work, or as she called it "welfare". I didn't ask too many questions.

Cambodia is VERY different from Thailand. Much poorer, and the traffic is even more chaotic but somehow I haven't seen any crashes yet. There seem to be no real rules of the road. I got the driving tour of town and checked into the Intercontinental which is very nice. Then we visited the national museum which is mainly statuary from the Khmer empire. Then we visited the big stupa on the hill overlooking the city that is the marker for town. I guess it was built in the 1400s some time. Then we had lunch and the guys dropped me off back here for a little rest before a visit to the genocide museum and a film about the Khmer Rouge. I guess after that they will bring me back here to rest some more before we have dinner and they show me the evening/night-life.

There are lots of western tourists here. My guide is very nice but it takes some concentration to understand his accent.

briefly back in Bangkok

Today was another long driving day. The weather was fantastic though. Not too hot and a nice breeze. We headed out early for Phimai to see the 13th century Khmer sanctuary there. It is massive but apparent still only a small fraction of the size of Angkor. Then we saw the Phimai national museum which was quite interesting. My guide was great and he really knows his stuff. We had a good time and it was sad to see him and Khun Chiang go when they dropped me off at the hotel here. I am back at the Sukhothai. I must be living right because this time they upgraded me for free to a deluxe suite which is even nicer that the executive suite. It is a shame I will only be here for less than 12 hours.

For some reason I was not charged for the internet access last time but it looks like I will be this time.

I think I will take a little nap now and then head out for dinner. ModernDog play tonight at 22:00 according to May-t. Probably too late, but I think I will just go and be tired tomorrow. Maybe I can sleep at the airport waiting for my flight. I am not sure exactly what is in the plan for Phnom Penh tomorrow. I suppose I should check and see.

Isan Greetings

I only have a second before my wireless internet card expires...

I am in Korat at the moment. The last couple of days have been lots of driving around. Today we saw a couple of old Khmer temples by the Cambodian border. My guide for this part of the trip is Gai. He is an adorable bubbly guy who is very interesting. His nickname means chicken. Our driver is Mr. Chiang which means elephant.

I had some kind of bad bug while I was in BKK. Saw the hotel doctor on Monday and he gave me some drugs to take so I am feeling much better today. But a little tired from the heat and driving. It was really nice a cool this morning but really heated up.

We see another old temple tomorrow and then head back to BKK after lunch. Then I fly out to Cambodia on Friday early.

Punk Rawk Show

Well, that was quite a whirlwind day. I was feeling a little ill at lunch time and debated whether or not I should go out, but I figured I am not going to just sit here in the hotel my whole trip no matter how nice it is.

So, I took a taxi out to the second day of the festival. Those Thai lessons actually came in handy when I had to tell the driver to turn left (layao sai).

I didn't think anyone ever went on ahead of schedule at these things, but unfortunately Supersub did so I only got to see 3 songs of their set. It's a lucky thing I went out there a little earlier than their advertised time or I would have missed pretty much all but one song.

Then I had time to head over to stage 5 for Armchair. They were surprisingly mediocre. The singer has a great voice but he insisted on talking and talking and talking between all the songs. If he had shut up they could have done another song or two. The kids seemed to enjoy it though. After that I was hot from being packed in there so I went out to get some fresh air.

As I was wandering aimlessly I happened to, by total chance, run into May-t Noijinda the guitar player for ModernDog with his longtime girlfriend. He looked at me in that way like "hey I know you" and I did the same. We chatted for a second and they were on their way to see another band play.

I got some ice cream and a bottle of water to cool down and sit for a minute. Then I went back to stage 5 to plot my course for where to stand for ModernDog's set. The band onstage at the time was really good but I have no idea who they were. The crowd was kind of small so I walked right up to the front row to stake out my spot and I didn't move thereafter. Some other band came on that I didn't know but they seemed fairly popular. And then it was time for Saliva Bastards which is one of the stupider band names, but I suppose no stupider than any other one. You expect some sort of heavy metal group with a name like that, but instead they play fairly mellow pop-rock songs. Their singer is just about the cutest boy I have ever seen in a band but they were all pretty cute.

And then the moment we were all waiting for....and waiting for...and waiting for. I guess ModernDog are pretty perfectionist. They have this tech who I used to call (to myself) "white glasses" because he used to where white sunglasses but now they are orange. He is very persnickety and everything being just right. I could tell that the festival techs were getting a little exasperated by it all. Anyway, the band came out to a roar. The people were totally packed in behind me. And in a sign of how well loved and respected they are, I think every band that wasn't playing at the time was at the side of the stage watching. It was quite a performance and one of the punk-rockest things I have ever seen. They opened with a new song that I suppose will end up on a new album one of these years. After playing a couple of their most popular hits, they did another new song that was pretty good. And then the punk rock moment(s) when they played Dtim and invited a bunch of people from the crowd up onstage to join them. So there were all these kids jumping over the barricade to get onstage and dance around. And then people started taking over and playing the instruments. There was an enormous white guy wearing all white and some sort of military hat who was up there too. After all the Thai kids were ushered off-stage the giant white guy apparently asked if he could sing Gon. And of course they let him. I think he got most of the words and the crowd was singing along to help fill in the rest. The band was smiling and laughing the entire time. After it was over the guy, who was clearly thrilled, gave Pod a big hug and said it was a "f-ing dream come true". It was actually very sweet in a way. I think they could have played for hours and everyone would have kept going nuts the whole time. It was pretty special, I think.

After that I managed to get the shuttle bus to the subway very quickly and it all worked out like clockwork.

Turns out my photo issue has to do with my card reader refusing to read any of my 2GB cards. So I guess I will go shopping for one of those tomorrow. I saw one today for about $3 so I may just do that.

feeling old

I made it through the first day of FAT Festival without any trouble other than sore legs from standing all day. My guide, Best (yes, seriously), met me a little before 2 and we took a taxi (about $8) out to the convention center. I'd say the average age of the attendees was about 17 but I did see a handful of other adult non-Thai people so I wasn't the only one there. I think some of them were performers though. It was basically what I expected. Lots of tables with merchandise, a food section, and with 4 stages indoors and a number of other loudspeakers it was pretty cacophonous in there. Best wasn't exactly thrilled to be there but he was a good sport for the most part. He was out late the night before though and I think all the noise was really wearing him down. He said they have a sheet at the tour office where everyone records the strangest place there have ever taken a guest and now he has something to put there. I felt a bit out of place but it didn't bother me much to be surrounded by all of the Thai youth. :-)

Because there are so many bands they have to try and keep to the schedule which means that if anyone goes over or they have technical issues the acts later have to get cut shorter. Everyone basically gets to play 4 or 5 or 6 songs depending. The headliners' stage gets an hour though so they can play a little more.

I enjoyed SoundLanding the most. They seemed to really have a good time. I don't think they have performed for many crowds that size. It is interesting to see the variety of levels of polish. Some acts just stand in place but others are much more comfortable on the big stage and project and play to the crowd.

Today I will be on my own. We came back last night via the shuttle that runs between the SkyTrain/Subway and the venue so my plan is to use that today and avoid having to deal with a cab on my own.

I would post some photos, but for some reason my SD card reader has gone kaput. I am pretty bummed about that, but hopefully I can manage to get it going again, or maybe I need to take a trip to the Sony store to find a replacement. I just took my little camera yesterday but after seeing all the people there with SLRs and camcorders yesterday I will take my SLR along today to get some better pictures.

I got hit with a bout of stomach trouble Friday evening. It hit me pretty quick and kind of put a damper on my evening plans. After we had dinner I came back here and went to bed which was probably wise. I am feeling quite a bit better now. I took a couple of the cipros I brought with me that my doctor wisely prescribed.

Finally made it.

Well, I made it in late last night. The new airport here is really quite nice. After reading all the stories about all the mismanagement and corruption there along with the myriad problems I wasn't sure what to expect. The passport control line moved really slow, but luckily I was in row 1 on my flight so I got in line sooner than most people and my bag was waiting for me on the carousel when I got there. The only problem I had was trying to find my driver. The map from the tour company wasn't exactly accurate. There were all kinds of people who wanted to give me a ride though. I got some help though and finally found him. His sign had me listed as "Miss Glenn Auve" but of course I didn't see his sign at all because I wasn't looking where he was standing. I got to the hotel around 12:30 AM. The amount of traffic here is fairly stunning even at that hour.

The hotel is gorgeous. They were all sold out of the regular room that I had reserved so I got a complimentary upgrade to the executive suite which is enormous. I think the bathroom is bigger than by bedroom at home. Breakfast this morning was also quite nice. The only issue I have is the one I have with all hotels of this level and that is things like overcharging for internet access. I guess they figure everyone is on an expense account. The location is also not exactly ideal either. It's about 6-10 minutes walk to the subway station. The road is quite busy but luckily I never have to cross this one. One nice thing about Bangkok is that there are lots of pedestrian overpasses that put you up above the traffic.

This morning I took the subway 1 stop (about 50 cents) to the one closest to the area where I stayed last year. I wanted to drop in at the tour company's office to say hello. I chatted with the owner for a few minutes. The guy who helped make my arrangements is out of town now. Then I walked back to the sky train station to head down to the main shopping area. I walked around Central World. It is a huge mall. They have a ton of Japanese restaurants there for some reason. I found the location for next week's ModernDog concert there. It's a pretty small venue. I don't think you need a ticket, you just show up.

The weather is not too bad. It's is in the upper 80s but there is a light breeze. It is quite hazy though.

I noticed when I got off the plane last night that this place really has a distinctive smell. It smells sort of like Indian cooking for some reason, but I instantly remembered it from last year.

I didn't sleep a whole lot last night. I think I am going to get a massage this afternoon and then I am meeting Em who was one of my guides last year for dinner and I suppose we will go out after that somewhere. Then tomorrow will be a quiet morning followed by the concert for the rest of the day. Should be fun, but I understand the venue is in the middle of nowhere.

2/3 of the way there

At the moment I am about 2/3 of the way there. I am at the ANA lounge at Tokyo Narita airport. I have an hour to kill before the flight to Bangkok boards. I am pretty exhausted. Even flying in business class it's still hard to sit in an airplane for 14 hours. The seats go flat but not horizontal so I find it impossible to sleep or rest much. But soon enough I will be at the hotel and I can crash.

The lounge here is really nice. Free wireless internet. A great view of the tarmac. Lots of pretty ANA planes parked all around. The food looks to be all Japanese which I am not too sure about. :-) But the ginger ale is pretty good.

Time for Asia!

OK, I figured it might be easier to keep a blog of my trips, starting with this year's big vacation to Thailand and Cambodia.

Since I will have my cameras, camcorder, and laptop along I hope to be able to publish more or less in real time and let you know what I am doing and seeing. We'll see if it's really that simple. One issue may be how good my internet connection is and how much energy and time I have to edit and post photos and video clips. But I will try.

The itinerary:
7 Nov - depart Washington (Dulles) on All Nippon Airways flight 001
8 Nov - arrive Tokyo (Narita) and sit around for a couple of hours before boarding ANA flight 915 to Bangkok arriving around 11 PM! Then off to the supposedly fabu Sukhothai Hotel for a shower and some sleep.
9 Nov - a free day to get reacquainted with Bangkok. I expect I will head to the major shopping area as there is supposed to be a concert event of some sort at Central World mall
10 Nov - FAT Fest #7 is here! Should be a fun event, 5 stages, tons of bands plus booths and merchandise
11 Nov - more FAT Fest including three of my most favorite bands Supersub at 3:00, Armchair at 3:20 and ModernDog at 6:10.
12 Nov - a free day in Bangkok
13 Nov - an early start as I head to Nakhon Ratchisima (Korat) province for a 3 day trip to see old Khmer Empire temples and sites in that area
14 Nov - Korat
15 Nov - Korat and return to overnight in Bangkok, and hopefully see ModernDog play at Central World
16 Nov - an early morning (7:40!) flight to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
17 Nov - another day in Phnom Penh
18 Nov - a morning flight from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, Cambodia to see the great temples of Angkor Wat and the surrounding area
19-22 Nov - more time visiting temple ruins and other places of interest
22 Nov - back to Thailand and a few days at Pattaya to hang out at the beach and just chill out. Hopefully no food poisoning this year!
23-25 Nov - more time in Pattaya
25 Nov - drive from Pattaya back to Bangkok and a stay at the Triple Two Silom hotel to close out the trip
27 Nov - A day trip to Lopburi
28 Nov - another free day to round out my Thai time. One last trip to DJ Siam? Siam Paragon luxury mall? Central World one last time?
29 Nov - early morning (again!) flight on Thai Airways to Tokyo arriving 4 PM and then overnighting near the airport
30 Nov - a not so early morning flight (11:10 AM) from Tokyo on ANA flight 002 arriving home around 9:30AM...so we land before we took off by the magic of the International Date Line