Hua Hin
Thailand
July 16, 2002
After Angkor Wat I flew back to Bangkok. I strolled through a large park in the center of the city and practiced my Tai Chi with a Chinese master. I went to the zoo.
I attended Friday evening prayers at the ornate Wat Suthat. A huge gold Buddha and mysterious chanting.
Miami, Florida
August 19, 2002
Wherever I travel, an unexpected emotional moment may arise - an encounter with someone or something that can move me to tears of happiness.
West of Bangkok, in Nakhon Pathom, I was wandering around a very large market place. Everyone stares since I am the only farang (foreigner) around.
June 19, 2003
Bangkok
Thailand
Dear Family and Friends,
I have a buddy in Miami who has a very short attention span. He doesn't like my long-winded travel letters. He says he "skims" them but actually I don't think he reads them at all. He doesn't even share them with his wife.
Bangkok, Thailand
September 5, 2005
My Dear Family and Friends,
For dinner, a bowl mushroom-barley soup with onion challah rolls. Hot Romanian pastrami on seeded light rye, creamy cole slaw and spicy mustard. Couple a half-sour dill pickles. Poppy seed hummantaschen. Chocolate malted. Am I dreaming?
Tomorrow morning at 06:00 I leave Thailand. My route of flight on Northwest Airlines is Don Muang Airport, Bangkok to Narita Airport, Tokyo to Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, to Memphis International Airport, to Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, USA.
I am flying half-way around the world through twelve time zones, so if my itinerary is not exactly ideal, so be it. My only concern is on which flight I should try to sleep.
Bangkok, Thailand
5 September, 2005
My Dear Family and Friends,
For dinner, a bowl mushroom-barley soup with onion challah rolls. Hot Romanian pastrami on seeded light rye, creamy cole slaw and spicy mustard. Couple a half-sour dill pickles. Poppy seed hummantaschen. Chocolate malted. Am I dreaming?
Tomorrow morning at 06:00 I leave Thailand. My route of flight on Northwest Airlines is Don Muang Airport, Bangkok to Narita Airport, Tokyo to Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, to Memphis International Airport, to Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida, USA.
I am flying half-way around the world through twelve time zones, so if my itinerary is not exactly ideal, so be it. My only concern is on which flight I should try to sleep.
May 24, 2006
Sunday Morning
Hot
Dear Family and Friends,
Just a quick note to say I have arrived safely in Bangkok.
The flights were uneventful and long: Miami-Detroit...3 hours Detroit-Tokyo...13 hours. Tokyo-Bangkok - 7 hours, with 1-2 hour layovers on each stop.
From door to door it is about 30 hours.
I am still recovering from jet-lag.
I am spending my time getting reacquainted with my old neighborhood, meeting friends, taking a haircut and apartment hunting.
I found a small studio with nice furnishings and a great view from the 17th floor and a large swimming pool...all on a quiet street.
But just this morning I decided not to take it. I will be traveling most of the next three months so spending money on a apartment now seems unnecessary. I will be a vagabond for a while.
Bangkok, Thailand
June 1, 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Perhaps you are familiar with the aria by Giuseppe Verdi from Rigoletto, "La Donna e Mobile"? Loosely translated it means that a woman may change her mind.
Say hello to il Signore Mobile.
A couple of days ago I looked into the mirror and I failed to see a "vagabond." I did see a traveler who really needs a "home base."
Today is the first day in my new studio apartment in Bangkok.
I'm shocked!
Bangkok, Thailand
Thursday
August 10, 2006
9:00 pm
Dear Family and Friends,
Along with my dinner partners, I am standing on the Sky Walk Revolving Roof Deck of the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the Tallest Tower in the Kingdom of Thailand. It's my first visit here.
Below us, as we turn through 360 degrees, are the street lights, darkened towers, and criss-crossing bright ribbons of Bangkok expressways. A police car, blue lights flashing and siren wailing, speeds along a multi-lane roadway.
Bumrungrad International Hospital
33 Sukhumvit Soi 3
Bangkok, Thailand
September 16, 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Here are the quotations from my latest adventure:
1. "We fixed it."
2. "Wash Body?"
3. "I...want...to...go...to...sleep."
4. "Mister Jan Robert."
5. "All my patients can walk."
Read more »
Soi 1
Bangkok
Thailand
October 18, 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
Almost every day I lean against the low wall of the large sixth floor terrace of my apartment building. I look west towards the Bangkok skyline. The sweet, salivating unmistakable aroma of barbeque chicken wafts up from the vendors on Soi 1, my little street below.
Behind me sits the small, yet adequate swimming pool my orthopedic doc has encouraged me to use.
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