Filed under: Expat life, News, Outside Thailand, People, Sport, Travel, work | Tags: amateur boxing, Bangkok, Bangkok Post, boxing, Cambodia, Cantonese food, Casino Lisboa, charity, China, chronic restrictive pulmonary disorder, Coloane, Cotai, Cotai Arena, deep vein thrombosis, England, ETBC, expats, Fight Lab Bangkok, fusion food, gambling, Gaza, George Foreman, Germany, Hong Kong, Islamic State, jungle, Kazakhstan, Koh Kong, Koh Samui, Lion's Head Boxing, Macanese food, Macau, Manny Pacquiao, muay Thai, Operation Smile, Portuguese food, restaurants, Scotland, Scottish independence, Sport, Tatai, Thailand, The Lab, Trat, Travel, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Wales, western boxing, white collar boxing, Zou Shiming
The past 12 months have been some of the most fulfilling of my life. I made great strides both personally and professionally, and while death did intervene on a couple of occasions, and threaten on another, 2014 was by far a positive year overall.
The most interesting point, as far as I’m concerned, was my long-awaited return to competitive boxing. Also long-awaited was a promotion I secured in work. My relationship with Fai continued to progress and deepen, and I travelled overseas three times. On a sadder note, I lost two friends, and nearly lost a dear family member.
BOXING
(Mis-spelled) poster for my second 2014 fight
In June, I finally returned to competitive boxing – a mere 17 years after my last match! To put that into perspective, it was a hiatus seven years longer than that which preceded George Foreman‘s famous comeback.
I had been training consistently for a couple of years but for various reasons had not secured a match. But last year, western amateur boxing really took off in Bangkok. Previously, foreign boxers in Thailand had two options – fight in muay Thai, or turn pro and get fed to the lions. Neither option appealed to me, and there has been no obvious amateur programme open to foreigners, so when The Lab organised its inaugural boxing show in June and offered me a spot on the card, I jumped at the chance.
Filed under: Culture, Food, Nightlife, restaurants, Six of the best | Tags: Airport Rail Link, Baiyoke Sky, Bangkok, BTS, Burma, Chao Phraya river, Chinese food, crocodile, exotic food, Facebook, food, fusion food, Future Park Rangsit, Gold Bay Leaf, hotels, Indian food, Indian restaurants, international food, Isan, Isan food, Japanese food, Jareung Restaurant, jungle food, Lumpini, MRT, Namuskaar, Nana, northeastern Thailand, ostrich, Phathum Thani, Punnawhitti, Rangsit, Ratchaprarop, Ratchathewi, Rattanakosin, restaurants, Sala Rattanakosin, Sathorn, southern Thailand, steak, Sukhumvit, Thai food, Thailand, Trajai, Udom Suk, vindaloo, Wat Arun, Western food, Wordpress
Continuing my “Six of the best” series marking my six years in Thailand, I present my pick of restaurants in the Bangkok region (in no particular order).
1. GOLD BAY LEAF (upper Sukhumvit)
Hidden gem
The power of word of mouth is evidenced in this excellent eatery which, if you didn’t know it’s reputation, you’d probably walk straight past, thinking it just another of the thousands of shophouse diners found all over the country.
Folding tables, check. Plastic chairs, check. Barely decorated walls, check. So far, so unremarkable. But tiny, open kitchen capable of whipping up miracles from a menu of more than 100 items, both Thai and international? Check, absolutely.
Chef Chai Boonlert is classically trained and has worked at several top-notch hotels, but the pride he takes in his work dictates that he no longer wishes to cook someone else’s recipes, or follow someone else’s menu. Consequently, he set up the Gold Bay Leaf – a modest affair, for sure, but one that he has absolute quality control over.
With no advertising budget and no big-name print reviews, Gold Bay Leaf succeeds on personal recommendations and social media buzz. In other words, the kind of reputation you can only earn with results. Try it for yourself.
Gold Bay Leaf, Sukhumvit Soi 101/1, Bang Na, Bangkok
Nearest public transport: Punnawhitthi or Udom Suk BTS Map: click here
Open: 5pm-3am daily, except public holidays
Tel: 02 747 6381 Web: https://goldbayleaf.wordpress.com/ Continue reading
Filed under: Culture, Expat life, Food, media, Nightlife, restaurants, Travel, work | Tags: Amazon, Bangkok, Barnes & Noble, books, bookshops, Burma, Cambodia, crocodiles, Dasa Book Cafe, food, guidebooks, India, Japan, Jareung Restaurant, jungle food, Khlong Teoy, Khlong Toey Market, magazines, Marc Schultz, markets, Middle East, Myanmar, Nabanita Dutt, Nana, Nepal, newspapers, Phatum Thani, photography, restaurants, San Francisco, sheep, shopping, snakes, spirituality, Sukhumvit Road, testicles, Thailand, Things Asian Press, To Thailand With Love, tourism, Travel, travel writing, United States, USA, Vietnam, volunteering, writing
To Thailand With Love
Having been published in newspapers and magazines, I have now, with the release of To Thailand With Love, completed the trinity of print media.
I have been referring to it as “my book debut”, rather than “my book”, as I am just one of several contributors to TTWL. It is the latest in the “With Love” series, edited by Nabanita Dutt and published by Things Asian Press of San Francisco, which combines travel writing with guidebook-style pointers and listings. Typically, the writers provide features on travel experiences in the country and append info for the reader to visit the destination for themselves, should they wish to. Previous “With Love” books have focused on Burma, Cambodia, Japan, Vietnam and North India, while a Nepal edition was published concurrently with the Thailand release.
Quite apart from my involvement, I would recommend any of these books if you plan to travel to one of the countries covered, or if you generally have an interest in them. The “With Love” entries offer a slew of out-of-the-ordinary stories and ideas which you might not find in more traditional guidebooks, nor hear from “ordinary” tourists.
I have three stories in the Thailand book, covering a wander around Khlong Toey Market (a totally authentic fresh market with lots of weird sights and smells), a trip to Bangkok’s Middle Eastern quarter (you can be transported to Arabia for three Sukhumvit sois and eat some things you won’t find elsewhere in Thailand, including sheep’s testicles), and dinner at a “jungle food” restaurant in Phatum Thani (crocodile, cobra and much more is on the menu).
There’s plenty more to digest from the other writers too, divided into chapters covering food, must-see attractions, spirituality, hidden treasures, shopping, remote destinations and tips on local life, volunteering and more. Complementing all this is some quite charming photography by Marc Schultz.
To Thailand With Love is available at Dasa Book Cafe in Bangkok, from Barnes & Noble in the United States, and can be shipped worldwide from Amazon. If you would prefer to order a copy from a bookstore of your choice, the ISBN numbers are ISBN-13: 978-1-934159-11-8 and ISBN-10: 1-934159-11-5.
Filed under: Culture, Expat life, Nightlife, Outside Thailand, People, restaurants, Travel | Tags: animals, art, Australian people, backpackers, backpacking, Bahasa Indonesia, Bali, Bali Hai, Bali Hai beer, Bali Museum, Balinese dance, Balinese food, Balinese girls, Balinese people, Bangkok, barbecue, bars, beaches, Beer, Brazilian Aussie BBQ, breakfast, buffet. Sky Garden, cafes, chilli, coffee, costume, dance, Denpasar, Deva Sari, drink, English language, Flora Hotel, food, Food and Drink, forest, gueshouse, Hindu temples, Hinduism, hotels, Indonesia, Indonesian food, Indonesian girls, Indonesian people, Islam, Islamic clothes, islands, jungle, kebabs, Kuningan Day, Kuta, Kuta Beach, Laughing Buddha bar, macaques, markets, masks, massage, monkeys, motorbikes, mountains, Muang Phuket, museums, Muslims, Napa Orti, Nightlife, painting, palace, Pasar Badung, Pasar Seni, Patong, people, Phuket, Pura Jagatnatha, Pura Taman Suraswati, rainforest, religion, Renon, resorts, restaurants, rice, Sacred Monkey Forest, Sanghyang Widi, Sanur, shopping, souvenirs, steak, temples, Thai food, Thai language, Thai people. Thai girls, Thailand, tourism, Travel, Ubud, Ubud Palace, Warung Ijo, white people
Balinese Hindu architecture
Last month I travelled to Bali, Indonesia, in what was primarily a social visit, as I have a friend who lives and works there. It hadn’t really occurred to me to visit Bali before, being that is an uber-touristy destination, but I figured that I would see more than beaches and bars with the combination of a local friend and my own inquisitive style of travelling. And so it was. As expected, the main tourist area of Kuta didn’t hold my attention, but some other parts of the island – unfortunately time constraints limited me to the south – were charming.
My thoughts on what I saw of Bali are as follows. It is not a chronological travelogue; more like a scrapbook of impressions and recommendations. Continue reading
Filed under: Culture, Expat life, Health, News, Nightlife, People, politics, Relationships, restaurants, Thai news, Travel | Tags: 7-Eleven, anti-government protests, antibiotics, Bangkok, beach, Beer, Benz Bungalows, Buddhism, children, Chinese, condominiums, crab, diarrhoea, dogs, English language, fast food, food, goats, Gulf of Thailand, Hat Thampang, Hat Thampang Bungalows, hospital, hotels, Hua Hin, Isaan, islands, Ko Sichang, Malee Blue, May 19, monastery, motorbikes, nighclubs, palaces, Pan & David Restaurant, Paree Hut, Pattaya, politics, rabies, Rama V, Red Shirts, restaurants, salad, seafood, shops, Sri Racha, swimming, temples, Thai culture, Thai language, Thai people, Thai politics, Thailand, Travel, tuk-tuks, whale
Ko Sichang offers Thai countryside atmosphere and attitudes by the sea
Thailand’s image needs all the help it can get right now. Last month’s dramatic footage of bomb sites and gun fights across Bangkok played out internationally and many countries have yet to lift their travel warnings to the erstwhile Land of Smiles.
For sure, confidence has been rocked, and even beyond the photos of war on the streets, the reputation of Thai people as gentle, benevolent Buddhists has been tarnished by displays of downright ugly behaviour during such fractious times.
Whether the protesters promising – and almost succeeding – to turn Bangkok into a “sea of fire”, or their opponents cheering and swearing as the death toll neared a hundred, there was precious little positive humanity on display.
Filed under: News, People, politics, Thai news | Tags: airports, anti-government protests, army, arson, arsonists, Bali, Bangkok, Bangkok Post, banks, bars, Black May, civil war, class war, curfew, Daily Post, dominoes, Don Mueang, education, First World, food, hotels, Hua Hin, Isaan, looters, looting, Malaysia, malls, military, Mother Nature, newspapers, Nightlife, PAD, People's Alliance for Democracy, Philippines, protests, Ratchaprasong, Red Shirts, resorts, restaurants, salons, Scandinavia, self-harm, September 11, shopping, shops, soldiers, Songkhran, spas, Suvarnabhumi, Suvarnabhumi airport, Thai history, Thai New Year, Thai people, Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra, Third World, tourism, UDD, United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, Vietnam, Wales, war, yellow shirts
- Downtown Bangkok goes up in flames, May 19. (Photo by http://www.benowenbrowne.com)
As Bangkok burned, I made good my escape. Evacuated from my workplace as Red Shirts descended on the road to my office, with their brothers bombing and torching dozens of important and iconic buildings around the city, I met my girlfriend Waew and together we headed for Hua Hin, a seaside retreat a couple of hours’ drive south.
Filed under: Culture, Health, People, Travel | Tags: accidents, babies, Bangkok, beaches, brain, bullets, cannibalism, carnival, Chao Phraya, Chao Phraya Express Boat, China, Chinese, cirrhosis, conjoined twins, cremation, crime, cruises, deformities, disaster, disease, elephantiasis, First World, forensics, Fred West, holidays, horror, human rights, immigration, Krabi, law, markets, medicine, medicine balls, mermaids, movies, murder, museums, mutants, Myra Hindley, organs, parasites, Phuket, rape, restaurants, river cruise, science, scrotum, serial killers, shopping, shopping malls, Si Quey, Siamese twins, Siriraj, Siriraj Hospital, Siriraj Hospital Forensic Museum, skulls, smoking, temples, Thailand, tigers, tourism, tourist attractions, vibrator, Wang Lang, Watch With Mother
Together forever – even in death
Where should one take a visiting mother in Bangkok? Temple-hopping, perhaps? Bargain-hunting in markets and malls? Rooftop or riverside dining? Or maybe to see mutated babies, preserved serial killers, elephantiasis-afflicted scrotums the size of medicine balls, and all manner of diseased, ruptured, punctured, crushed and deformed organs, skulls and limbs?
If that, rather than a Chao Phraya cruise, is what floats your – or your mother’s – boat, then jump on board a ferry to Siriraj Hospital’s Forensic Museum, which mixes genuine scientific endeavour with the kind of shock appeal previously reserved for Victorian carnival freakshows or 1980s body-horror movies.
Filed under: Expat life, Travel | Tags: 1970s, 1980s, Bang Saray, Bangkok, bars, beaches, Chon Buri, commuting, condominiums, condos, drink, entertainment, expats, fast food, fishing, food, Food and Drink, foreign investment, guesthouses, hotels, Jomtien, Ko Samui, McDonalds, motorbikes, nightclubs, package tours, Pattaya, Phuket, pollution, property, prostitution, real estate, restaurants, seaside, shopping malls, Sin City, swimming, Thailand, tourism, work
Pattaya’s skyscrapers loom in the background, but it’s easy to forget the city while lounging in Bang Saray’s clear waters
Talk to any old-timer expat here in Thailand and chances are that, before long, they’ll regale you with tales of when places such as Pattaya and Phuket were quiet fishing villages, and then lament that if only they’d bought land or property back then, they’d be stinking rich now.
Which raises the question of where tomorrow’s Pattaya or Phuket might be, or whether there even remains such potential in a country which is vastly more ensconsced on the tourist map than it was in the 1970s or 80s. Surely anywhere of commercial opportunity will already be long-discovered?
Maybe not. Continue reading
Filed under: Culture, Outside Thailand, Travel | Tags: Asia, Asian travel, backpackers, Bangkok, Batu Ferringhi, beach, bhangra, Blue Diamond Hotel, Broadway Budget Hotel, Brunei, Buddhism, Buddhist temples, Burmese architecture, Butterworth, car hire, carpetbag steak, China, Chinese, Chinese architecture, Chinese food, chocolate, coffee, colonial architecture, crabs, European food, expats, fabrics, Georgetown, Georgetown bars, Hindu temples, Hinduism, holidays, Indian, Indian food, Indian music, Islam, Jalan Chulia, Jalan Penang, Kek Lok Si, Langkawi, lizards, Malay, Malay food, Malaysia, Miri, monitor lizards, mosques, multiculturalism, Muslims, nightclubs, Nightlife, Penang, Penang Bridge, Penang Butterfly Farm, Penang Hill, Penang Snake Temple, Penang Tropical Fruits Farm, prayers, restaurants, Rough Guide, sari shops, Shalini's Guesthouse, South East Asia, South East Asian travel, steak, stray dogs, temples, Thai architecture, Thai food, Thailand, tourism, Travel, tuk-tuk
Batu Ferringhi
I spent last week in Malaysia with my girlfriend, Waew. It was our first proper holiday together and my first proper trip to Malaysia (I did a brief border hop from Brunei in 2005 but that was essentially just to tick another country off the list). It was also my first proper holiday in South East Asia since moving to Thailand last year, having so far failed to live up to my promise to myself to see as much of the region as possible while living here.
