There are various kinds of boats which you can catch in Bangkok. I like the river ferry, which travels up & down the Chao Phraya River. It`s cheap & you can see interesting sights such as temples, old houses, river barges, people fishing, etc. Also, when it passes the Boon Rawd beer brewery (=factory) you c...

同窓会の本部総会に出席のために大分に帰ります。 総会は１８日（土）ですが、前乗りで帰り、御手洗酒店で角打ちをします。 今回は４日間で短いので忙しい毎日になりそうです。（飲み会で） 　　　★ブログの更新は時間設定していますので、自動的に更新しますが、 　　　　ＰＣを持って帰りませんので、コメントのお返...

Bangkok has changed a lot in the last few decades, & some places look very modern, but if you explore the backstreets, you can often find interesting old buildings. A great place to do this is around Chinatown. I took these photos of old colonial-style buildings there. Many are in bad condition & eventually I think th...

I love Thai stamps. They`re colorful, interesting & beautiful. I visited the Bangkok General Post Office, & was happy to see that they had a `Philatelic (stamp collectors`) Section`. There were LOTS of beautiful stamp sets to choose from - fantastic! I bought lots of different kinds, & put them on packages, letter...

Chiang Mai is in the far north of Thailand, near the borders of Laos & Burma. Many foreigners like it because it`s cooler and less busy than Bangkok, and there are activities like hiking, river rafting, mountain-biking etc. Unfortunately, this means there are quite a lot of hippy tourists in Chiang Mai. I don`t like hippies....

過去数回 Asiana で日本往復をしました。数回前から UNITED の Star Alliance ではなく Asiana の Star Alliance をつくったのですが、今日 GOLD CLUB のカードが届きました。本当は JAL や ANA を飛びたいのですが、残念ながらシアトルには入...

Thai train trips are usually pretty interesting, often for unexpected reasons! One time I remember, the train that I was on hit a cow, and it took a while for the staff to remove it from under the train. Pretty disgusting. This time, a tree had fallen across the tracks. I took this photo before helping to pull it off. It was a little dif...

Thailand has a lot of amazing scenery, and travelling by train is a great way to see it. There always seems to be something interesting to look at. Sometimes you can open the windows on Thai long-distance trains, but unfortunately the windows on this train couldn`t be opened (except for the dining car, but it was full of noi...

When I arrived in Bangkok, I went straight from the airport to Hua Lamphong Train Station & bought a ticket for the overnight train to Chiang-Mai, which is in the far north of Thailand. I have caught this train many times & I really enjoy using it, though I prefer a lower berth (this time I had to take an upper bert...

I apologize for not posting anything on my blog recently. I went to Thailand for a week, and I have been busy since returning to Japan. The main reason for my trip to Thailand was to attend a friend`s wedding. I used to work with Paul a long time ago, when I lived & worked in Thailand. Since then, we have kept in t...