See him do his thing for Sloane this Saturday!

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DJ Cobras blog

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A typical street scene outside the Grand Palace in central Bangkok

After the obligatory beach vacation on Koh Samui, we rounded out our visit to Thailand by finally braving the metropolis of Bangkok. We’d heard that it was intense and that the driving was crazy (this from Malaysians), so we’d decided to leave it for last, after we’d acclimatized to the country.

Good decision — but we were still unprepared. Especially since we were coming from the quiet, laid-back beach, Bangkok hit us like a ton of bricks. The heat and humidity, the busy-ness, the traffic (and we thought Chiang Mai was bad!), the distinctive growl of the tuk-tuk engines, shanty homes crammed into odd places next to modern towers.

We took a commuter train into town from the airport, which was busy but not unmanageable. The train let us off some distance from our hotel, so we hopped into a taxi…whose driver promptly started trying very hard to sell us stuff – sightseeing tours, tailor services, even a visit to a crocodile farm. He was nice enough when we declined, but between that and the train, we were exhausted by the time we reached the hotel.

Longtail boat, so named because the engine sticks way out the back into the water.

The hotel itself was air-conditioned, but the humid heat outside kept us tired and crabby the next day as we wandered around looking for a longtail boat cruise. The spirit of exploration is hard to keep up when you’re hot and frustrated and even the tourist information people don’t speak much English.

But…then we found the boat, and everything changed.

We took a one-hour longtail boat cruise through the canals of Thonburi, a town on the opposite side of the river from Bangkok proper. And…wow.

From a writerly (and photographic) perspective, the place is amazing. The labyrinth of narrow canals is lined with houses ranging from elegant old wooden homes (some boarded up) to makeshift shanty homes to the occasional colonial mansion to hippie-ish wooden cabins. There are industrial barges and docks. There’s a swamp full of rampant vegetation, where we saw a stork. There are ruins and abandoned houses. It’s a worldbuilder’s dream – and I’ve already started to mine it for stories.

Here are some of the many photos I took of Thonburi…

Notice the satellite dish and the little house below it? Thai tradition holds that this is a “spirit house”, built for the spirits who lived there before humans occupied the space. Every building has one.

Everything from mansions…

…to shacks

At the same time, there’s a strong tourist flavour to Thonburi. Our boat was met by an old lady paddling out in a canoe who smiled up from under her conical straw hat and tried to sell us souvenirs. (We bought a fan.)

We also visited the famous “floating market”, which was mostly on docks rather than boats, and also filled with tourists…though plenty of locals were shopping as well. There were lots of food stalls. In some, the cooking was done on boats and the selling happened on the docks, I suppose to save space.

Later on, we poked around the Khao San backpacker district – full of hippie clothing stores, backpacker hangouts, and of course backpackers. Yet the overall impression, there and in the rest of Bangkok, was a certain desperation to sell, sell, sell to the continuous stream of tourists that flows through the city. It’s not a comfortable feeling.

On another day, we swung by the embassy district to have lunch at a French/Thai fusion restaurant, Harmonique, recommended by our guidebook (The Rough Guide to Thailand). It was an excellent choice – we got to relax in a cool courtyard and eat baked fish and crab curry (yum!) for a reasonable price. We promptly decided to pay a lot more attention to guidebook restaurant recommendations in our next destination, India.

Later in our travels we caught part of Bangkok Dangerous, a dark action movie in which Nicolas Cage runs around Bangkok with guns. It was funny to see all the touristy locations pop up on cue, as if they were the predominant parts of the city. At one point Cage’s character falls in love with a Thai girl, and together they visit the floating market, the equally famous night market, a temple…Bangkok as a cliche version of itself. Though it was cool to see an Asian city being portrayed as noir.

I’ve got more to share from our adventures in Bangkok – lots of temple photos and our visit to the ruined city of Ayutthaya. Tune in for that in two weeks…

Said parental figure in question. She’s pretty awesome.

Anyway, my flight is tomorrow at 8 in the morning. In case my point wasn’t made, I’ll repeat it. Eight. In. The Morning. Yeesh. So I’m waking up at four tomorrow and then leaving at five. Or at least that’s the plan. In reality, I’ll probably wake up at 4:30, frantically run around, grab some last minute items, and then leave at five. But we’ll see how that goes.

I’m pretty excited for tomorrow. I’ve never been to Costa Rica, and my friend Jade (who went on the 2011 Costa Rica Maymester) raved about the trip being an amazing experience. I’m arriving a bit earlier than everyone else, so hopefully I’ll have a chance to update the blog then with my first impressions of San Jose!

Baby Blue (aka: my Prius) is all ready to go.  I and he are at our best and happiest heading out into the horizon.   Our little family unit of  Baby Blue, Daisy (the sexy GPS), and I head to the airport where we will pick up the fourth component of the family.  Tutu stayed home due to a lack of planning on my part and having forgotten to put him in the car.

We are headed to a soak in the most  mentally and physically healing waters close to Los Angeles.   Desert Hot Springs is a 2 hour drive from Los Angeles Airport (LAX), where I pick up Dean, and a world away.  Our destination is Two Bunch Palms and its hot mineral springs.   I did a program on this resort almost 13 years ago and I am curious as to how it holds up to the amazingly Zen feeling it provided me even in the midst of production and scheduling woes.

Villa #17 Entrance

I have checked in the night before, not willing to hassle through check-in early in the morning.   A full report/review can be found on my blog: Life Lived and Reviewed.

Our backyard:   

The resort is at capacity.  Not exactly what I wanted or expected but it will do.  It still gives me a good feeling to see a baby elephant (albeit in statue form) in the tranquil grounds.   And frankly a late night immersion and float in the hot mineral springs grotto releases all my tense muscles and hesitations.  This was for sure a good way to start our venture to Europe.

Breakfast (in our robes) with a beautiful view of the mountains  makes us feel a bit  more gelatinous than the solid mass of bones and muscles we actually are.   We top it off with another long soak before we head back to Los Angeles and to packing for our London, Paris, Berlin and wherever-else-our-heart-points-us-to jaunt.

I will be going on an international trip for three weeks and I will be packing everything in a backpack and a carry on-sized duffel bag. I like to pack light, because traveling is much more enjoyable when you don’t have heavy luggage to weigh you down.

Check in luggage:
I prefer duffel bags to wheeled luggage because the ground is not always paved where I go; sometimes the ground is gravel, dirt, or mud. Duffel bags are great because you can stuff them, since they are made of canvas material and not a hard case.

My duffel bag is 19 inches long x 9 inches wide x 9 inches tall. I think that the smallest carry on limit is 24″ long x 14″ wide x 9″ wide, but I have brought even larger bags on planes before without any problems.

Cover the lids of all containers with liquid or gel with masking tape and put them in ziploc bags to prevent your stuff getting wet or gooey.
Once, when I arrived at my destination and retrieved my check in baggage, it smelled fishy and gross. I usually line the inside of my duffel bag with garbage bags just in case it happens again.

Carry on:
Passengers are allowed to bring a carry on bag and a personal item. When I can, I try to bring both my backpack and my duffel bag on the plane. I will have to check in my duffel bag this time because I am bringing contact solution.

You are allowed to bring liquids and gels in your carry on as long as they are in 3oz. containers or less, and stored in a clear bag. I think that you are allowed to bring stick deodorant on the plane as well, but not gel or spray deodorant.

Bring:
Passport
Travel information (itinerary, flight number, some airlines let you print out your boarding pass at home)
Pens to fill out forms
Water bottle (drink up any liquid before going through security)
Snacks
Book or game (something to do while you are waiting to board the plane and something to do while you are on the plane; you will not be allowed to use electronic devices during take-off or landing)

Packing:
I like to pack my things as flat as I can. Other people roll up their clothes to save space.

Wear:
Comfortable clothes
Light jacket in case you get cold on the plane
Slippers/flip flops if you are traveling from and going to warm places. You might have to take off your shoes at security checkpoints and slippers are easier to take off  than shoes.

Tips:
People complain about the TSA and airlines; it’s not a big deal. Stay positive. Stay calm and relaxed. You will enjoy your trip much more if you don’t complain.
Pack light

Have a great trip!

English: City seal of Detroit, Michigan. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Tonight I embark on a trip to the Detroit, Michigan for a long weekend of memorial day festivities.  It’s always nice to visit with family and friends back home and my parents will undoubtedly will have their house full of various snacks, Bell’s and Founders beer, hundreds of DVDs (and cable TV), and a nice convertible sofa to lay my head down on at night.  Just the same, they most likely will not have any art supplies aside from the spray fixative and Super 77 that I had to leave behind five years ago when I moved.  Unfortunately, they don’t allow pressurized cans on airplanes or in the mail so they are indefinitely incarcerated in my old room-turned-storage area in the basement.  Getting back to the problem at hand, I have prepared a small package for the plane ride that is in full compliance with FAA standards (see below).  Just a quick note on paint:  Although they are heavy bodied, acrylic paints are still considered liquids.  Good news is, the tubes are only 2 fl. oz. coming in a full ounce less than the maximum allowance on airliners these days.  Just make sure you put them in a plastic baggie with your other toiletries when going through security – this will make things go much smoother.  Pencils, pens, paintbrushes, and the pencil sharpener shouldn’t cause any problems.  Looking forward to the whirlwind weekend of visiting with everyone – see you soon!

The Package

Two Bunch Palms is located in Desert Hot Springs, CA.  It’s a two-hour drive from Los Angeles on the 10 E.  The drive is monotonous but picks up when you see the massive windmills along the road.

I did a spa program on Two Bunch Palms about 14 years ago.  Back then the resort had placed us in the Al Capone suite, aptly themed (with bullet holes and all) to honor the one-time resident.   Today, traveling on our own dime the price of the suite is a bit too steep for two nights so I go for a standard room.  But since I know the resort well I specifically ask for room 13A which is close to the grotto and out of an actual walking path.  It’s located diagonally from the Al Capone suite.

When I make my reservation I request it or the 1 bedroom villa #13  next to it.  I tell them I did a program on their resort and it seems that they could care less.  First sign that maybe I was making a mistake.

When I arrive they tell me they assigned me room #3.  No, it wasn’t a mistake.  Room #13 wasn’t available.  So I go to it and though relatively acceptable the room is on a pathway and gives me more of a motelish feel than I would like.   I head to reception, where a dear older gentleman is returning a key saying that he just walked into the room they assigned him and found a naked person on the phone.   Turns out that the key opened a wrong room.  He was a bit frazzled.  So was the person in that room (who apparently had called reception as he walked back).

I explain to the girl that I would prefer to change rooms.  She says that they are at capacity but will see what they can do.  And she tells me she can upgrade me to Villa#17  (a one-bedroom) that isn’t that far from the grotto. By the way if it has an A attached to the number it’s a standard room.  I checked it out and it was perfect.  It does not have a bathtub but I will use the grotto as my private tub.    It has a lovely little back yard.  On the way to the parking roadrunners cross the road.  The cartoon immediately comes to mind.   Also an advantage is that it is not further up where you have to walk a bit of a way to get to the grotto (like the Casablanca suites).  A plus with the Casablanca suites is that they have a jacuzzi but my main thing is the grotto, with the natural hot mineral springs, so I like to be close to it.

We have dinner at the Casino Restaurant.  I had the grilled salmon, my partner had the chicken.  Service was very good, prices where a bit high and the food was okay.  Breakfast, on the other hand was wonderful.   And just nothing beats eating dinner and breakfast in your robe (many others where in them as well).

The grounds of Two Bunch Palms are beautiful.  Very tranquil.    

The lake has the turtles, ducks, fish and all follow you around in hope of a snack.

It also has a “cold” (meaning not a natural hot spring) pool.

I remember the grotto -where the hot mineral springs water flow- all to ourselves when we filmed.   This time it was a bit on the crowded side (late night there where about 6 people in it, early morning about 10-14).  It is relatively small.  Has one section at 104 degrees F and the other at a lesser temperature.  I would give you more particulars but when I checked in they gave me no information on the waters or the hot springs though they seemed to have given info to other guests.   What info I can give you is that it is absolutely relaxing and purifying.  Your skin feels so soft and your brain floats in a state of bliss from the calmness that the waters infuse in you.  Even when at night you can see the bats flying up above.

 As I relax and float in the healing waters my hesitation about Two Bunch Palms float away as well.

Entering Taroko Gorge. Hualien.

Over the past six years, I’ve gone back to Taiwan regularly with my parents to visit family. In fact, I was there over the 2011 Christmas holiday. However, by the time March came around, I was well overdue for a visit back to this wonderful country. Fortunately, my parents were making a trip back in March, so I planned a weekend trip to overlap with their stint.

In the past, my visits to Taipei typically included checking out a few night markets, eating exorbitant amounts of delicious food, and getting questioned as to why I’m not married yet. But this time around, my dad wanted to take me for some new experiences, by going to see another side of Taiwan: Hualien.

Hualien is located on the eastern shore of Taiwan. It’s a coastal city, made most famous for its proximity to Taroko National Park, a scenic park which spans almost all the way across the island. The park is filled with breathtaking sites, the most famous of which is the namesake gorge, which cuts through the park. We were actually heading there towards the end of the winter season, when the tourist crowds still weren’t crazy.

My parents and I arrived in Taipei late on a Thursday night, meeting up in the airport. My parents arrived after a 20-hour trip from the US through snowstorms, cancelled flights, and long layovers. I, on the other hand, had a one-hour flight from Hong Kong, flying out after work. Pretty rough. We stayed a night at my mom’s youngest brother’s house in Taipei, but early the next morning, my dad and I caught a train bound for Hualien.

Our train…

… and the views, through the countryside.

We arrived in Hualien a little bit after noon, and proceeded to walk around the sleepy town to get a lay of the land. My dad was born nearby here, although they moved away while he was still young. My grandfather had worked at a cement company in the area, so it was fun to see signs for the Company he used to work at, as well as visit some of the same sites my dad had visited when he was younger. We walked to the shore, to get views of the ocean.

Shoreline in Hualien.

The town, itself, is nothing too spectacular. It mainly serves as base camp for the tourist busses heading to the gorge, and since the real tourist season hadn’t begun yet, the town was pretty quiet. Add to that, the night we were there was especially dead, even though it was Friday, since the World Baseball Classic was going on (Taiwan was playing Japan in a close matchup)

City lights deceptively making it appear livelier than it was.

However, the next day, we became real tourists, and ventured out to go visit Taroko Gorge. There are various ways to make the one-hour drive to the gorge from Hualien, from hiring scooters (read: expect severe injury) to joining a local tour (read: expect severe Mainland tourist overload). We opted for the private tour guide, who showed us the highlights of the National Park.

Underneath the bridge, leading in to the park.

The naturally-covered terraced path of Shakadang Trail.

Dad and our guide, chatting along Shakadang Trail.

We were fortunate, because a few days prior, an earthquake had actually struck Hualien. Our guide warned us to never stand in one place too long, for fear of a falling rock. But it’s this dynamic nature of the area that causes its landscape to constantly be changing. Unfortunately, that ever changing quality meant that some of the more popular paths were closed off, as the trails were being rebuilt due to the damage from these earthquakes or prior year’s typhoons.

Still, even without being able to hike some of the paths, the beauty of the gorge was undeniable.

Taroko Gorge.

Dragon, guarding Cimu Bridge.

Dad and I, at Cimu Bridge.

River running through Swallow’s Grotto.

Elevated view of the gorge.

Car driving through the gorge.

Dad, in front of the Eternal Spring Shrine.

Now, Taiwan has a reputation within Asia of having the most welcoming citizens. Not ‘welcoming’ as in the infamous Japanese ‘politeness’, which often feels a little fake or obligatory, but ‘welcoming’ as in a genuine kindness towards strangers… a rare quality in this day and age. In the past, I’d never really had the opportunity to experience this firsthand, since I was always being shown around with my family.

However, on this trip, that reputation was cemented, based on the interactions that we had, from the tour guide we hired, a friendly, local cab driver who enjoyed rambling on about topics spanning Taiwan’s military jets to the random facts about the gorge itself; to the vendors selling souvenirs, who told us not to worry about buying anything, while they proceeded to give us a free lesson on the history of the gorge. This generous spirit really enhanced my appreciation of the gorge.

After our long day of hiking around the park, we headed back to Hualien to catch our train back to Taipei. However, before we started our return journey, we headed to the Tz Chiang Night Market, to take in some local snacks.

Shengjian Bao.

The famous Shanghainese buns, perfect to be eaten on the street.

Freshly fried chicken bites…

…Scented with basil.

Because eating some green basil with deep fried food makes it seem like you’re eating healthy.

Various raw skewers you select…

… to be grilled and eaten.

You select a few raw kebabs from a smorgasbord, and then wait a few minutes as some unfortunate souls grill away in the heat.

And finally…

Coffin Bread.

Named such because a thick slice of toast is cut open and filled with a savory dish (in this case kungpao chicken), like filling a coffin. However, you probably wouldn’t be far off in thinking it got this name for the imminent coronary you would get from eating this too often (the toast is deep fried, slathered on the inside and outside with butter, piled high with cheese, and seasoned generously with MSG). Yum!

After the night market, we headed to the train station. Our original train tickets were for the 10pm train, but we had gotten to the station early. When I realized there was an earlier train, departing at 9pm, I switched out our tickets, and we rushed to catch the train, as it was leaving in less than a few minutes. After running to hop on, we looked at the ticket only to realize that we had given up our express tickets for the slow train! Nevertheless, we still arrived earlier than if we had taken the express train… but only by five minutes. Still!

The trip to Hualien was a great time to hang out with my dad as well as see a side of Taiwan that I had yet to experience. My coworkers are always fawning over in love, when they talk about how great Taiwan is. I never disagreed with them, but I always thought they were being a little overzealous in their praise — thinking they were comparing Taiwan to the Mainland (in which case everything would look a thousand times better). But after this brief visit to Hualien, I began to get a much deeper appreciation for this wonderful island.

It was based at the Hilton which looks across Lake Wakatipu to the town.

Attendees came from all over the country and everyone I talked to was full of praise for the venue and its location.

A lot of other people appreciate the town and its attractions too – it’s been named one of the world’s Top 25 Travellers’ Choice Destinations by TripAdvisor.

As well as rising to 25th place on the international list, the four season lake and alpine resort was also named best destination in New Zealand and second best in the South Pacific.

The Travellers’ Choice Destinations awards honour top travel spots worldwide based on millions of valuable reviews and opinions from TripAdvisor travellers. Award winners were determined based on the popularity of destinations, taking into account travellers’ favourites and most highly rated places.

Destination Queenstown CEO Graham Budd was delighted with award and said it was a fantastic international achievement for the resort.

“We’re aware of the power of Trip Advisor in influencing the travelling community, so the news that Queenstown has been ranked by millions of travellers worldwide alongside cities like Paris, New York and London is a testament to the quality of our operators and the exceptional travel experience they deliver.” . .

We’ve been in Queenstown several times this year, which isn’t unusual, and even a reasonable familiarity with the area doesn’t dull its charms.