Fried Noodles & Baked Tourist

The second attempt to meet up with Frank, my old boss in Laos and Thailand, was successful. We met near his house for a plate of mi krob (fried noodles) and a delicious coconut milk dessert. Frank has a million stories and enjoys telling them all. I'm still working on him to write a book together. But as much as he loves telling his stories, he thinks nobody would be interested in a book. I'll keep on him when we meet up in Vientiane in a couple weeks.

I finally got a reasonable night's sleep, so after breakfast this morning I wandered down to the old stomping grounds in Bangkok, where I set up another office and lived for about 9 months before leaving for Hawaii. The walk from the Skytrain station was not so far but it was like running an obstacle course, with many food vendors set up on the narrow sidewalk. It really reminded me why I don't really like big cities, no matter what country they're in.



The Skytrain. That's not graffitti on the side, but a single ad covering the entire train. It keeps the fares low.



The narrow sidewalk on Convent Road near the old office.



Convent Road

Back in '73 I found a new building in which to open our Bangkok office. That building is now gone and replaced by the Evergreen Laurel luxury hotel, owned by Eva Airlines, whose pilots I train in California. It's a small world.



Old office on N. Sathorn Rd. I think the guy in the picture was my replacement for my "one-year sabbatical" to finish my college degree. I bought the Pontiac Tempest in the garage as a sort of company limousine. It was way too big for Bangkok traffic, but very comfy. The office was on the second floor and we lived on the third floor, with a great view of the canal just on the other side of the road.





The huge hotel that replaced the old office. I went inside to see if any of my old students were here on crew rest. No luck. But in the lobby was this girl with a beautiful smile playing the Chinese Dulcimer for those having the lunch buffet. I had to take her picture.



The temperature today is 95. I've grown very accustomed to the 50s and 60s weather we've been having at home, so I'm sweltering here. I'm eager to get up North and into the mountains where it's about 75 every day now. It may be time to find a movie to watch in a cool theater.

I'm "borrowing" wifi from the Nissan service station across the street, and picture uploads are next to impossible. I've also lost a couple of editing sessions. I'll add more pictures and text when I have a good connection, which may not happen until I get up to Chiang Mai.


This morning the wifi is working pretty good, so I'll add a bit before moving hotels. Yesterday afternoon I went to the movie theater to cool off, but was about 20 minutes late for the movie I wanted to see, so they wouldn't let me in. Just as well, as I came back and went for a swim, a much better activity after so much walking. After a late dinner I got out the camera and took a couple of night pictures.



The hotel pool at night.

And finally, after many attempts and having to hold the camera on the bridge rail, I got a photo we've all seen many times. I just wanted to do it myself.

One Night in Bangkok - not by Murray Head.