Snippets From My Travel Diary
November 3rd 2009 08:46
2pm last Friday
Western music that I would normally dismiss as shallow or problematic has become something here in Lopburi, as the exposure to English is minimal. I find myself actually enjoying Love and Sex Magic by Justin Timberlake and Ciara, or whatever it's called, and (I'm a bit ashamed to admit this) I found myself dancing to Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl, the lyrics of which I find very problematic.
Apparently the Thai, previously uniformly slim, are gaining mor weight every year, as a group.
Looking up and around for signage, I was blessed to ecounter some first-rate Engrish: Below a picture of an escalator, the text read 'travellator', while a knife and fork appeared above a 'food park' label.
6:45pm
I just had a vegetarian pad Thai and KFC shrimp and cheese balls.
[...]
Twitter is becoming my favourite site to visit. It brings me a lot of joy. I'm not trying to be ingenious in analysing it just yet, though I will say that while I admire the skill that goes into succinct writing, I am yet to appreciate thinking repetitively in 140 character blocks/installments. This is why I do not Tweet very often myself, though I check the site daily. I read on CNN that Twitter users tend to be higher earners than users of Facebook, who are higher earners than users of MySpace.
[...]
If I had my own money, what would I do differently?
[...]
The KFC menu is much more visually creative than the Western ones I can recall. The Snack menu looks fragmented, while the two straight lines dividing the large block into three have been transformed into smooth, wavy lines on a 'specials' menu. A third menu uses overlapping squares -- all this shows Thai creativity is running high in whatever advertising agency KFC picked, with a fresh, innovative design making KFC even more appealing.
[Ed: Well, you know that Western fast food franchises are very expensive for the locals in Asia, and are seen 'special occasion' restaurants, right? The same with McDonalds and Pizza Hut imitations]
1pm Saturday
Lopburi rhymes with El Bulli (one of the world's best restraunts, in Spain) or strawberry - the r is so soft that it is more accurately an L sound. Farang (foeigner) is pronounced 'falang'.
I just handed my ticket to the collector - the Thais have a flexible approach to boarding/paying a vehicle, which I first noticed on the bus in Bangkok - you can either buy your ticket in advance, or pay once you're in the vehicle and it has taken off. I guess if you don't have the right amount of money you would get kicked off somewhere along the way and would have to retrace your steps as best as you know how! [This is what happened to me in Tay Ninh, Vietnam, and led to me spending a night in a Cao Dai temple, which was interesting.]
We had a discussion of my accent yesterday. The Irish guy thought I was Canadian or American, maybe with a hint of English; The Londoner thought I was either British or American, but not Australian. The Yorshire Brit thought I sounded British, and not even the slightest bit Australian. At least I didn't get South African this time.
Perhaps my accent is close to the standard Trans-Atlantic, and everyone recognises a bit of their own cultural nuances within it...
I've left everything behind to follow my dreams, wherever they may lead... Somewhat pseudo-independent, I am making my way to a new source of self-esteem.
Marriage is, ideally, a celebration of love. Love knowns no gender-on-gender confines.
When I buy a drink at a 7 Eleven, it gets placed, along with a straw, into a small plastic bag, convenient for carrying. It's bad for the environment, but such a comfort not to have to chill my fingers with the icy bottles.
In regards to leaving the fan on to blow over my body while I sleep, I had a dream that a ghost was stepping in and out of my personal space, which I associate with the fan automatically swivelling around the room.
I saw an ad for 'face massage'! Need to check it out...
I am an international traveller, and I have links to everyone, everwhere.
You learn from your setbacks.
I stayed in Lopburi for exactly one week, and the time went by so fast! I sympathise with Gary Arndt (the man who is traveling to every city/town/region of the world), who feels a need to move on from one place to another after a week.
[On Saraburi]
The Buddha statue is situated in the middle of a busy main road. It inspires thoughts of spirituality even during the time many people see as wasted, in between places, or irritating (I'm sure rush hour gets hectic here, even if it's nothing like Bangkok)... another example of how spirituality is practically interwoven into everyday life here in Thailand.
The Thai seem to have a healthy advertising industry: It relies on bright colours and curvy lines. And I don't just mean the Thai alphabet.
[...]
It looks like we have entered the big city already, judging by the lollipop cabs. I feel more rewarded for being alert here in Bangkok than I did in Lopburi.
Western music that I would normally dismiss as shallow or problematic has become something here in Lopburi, as the exposure to English is minimal. I find myself actually enjoying Love and Sex Magic by Justin Timberlake and Ciara, or whatever it's called, and (I'm a bit ashamed to admit this) I found myself dancing to Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl, the lyrics of which I find very problematic.
Apparently the Thai, previously uniformly slim, are gaining mor weight every year, as a group.
Looking up and around for signage, I was blessed to ecounter some first-rate Engrish: Below a picture of an escalator, the text read 'travellator', while a knife and fork appeared above a 'food park' label.
6:45pm
I just had a vegetarian pad Thai and KFC shrimp and cheese balls.
[...]
Twitter is becoming my favourite site to visit. It brings me a lot of joy. I'm not trying to be ingenious in analysing it just yet, though I will say that while I admire the skill that goes into succinct writing, I am yet to appreciate thinking repetitively in 140 character blocks/installments. This is why I do not Tweet very often myself, though I check the site daily. I read on CNN that Twitter users tend to be higher earners than users of Facebook, who are higher earners than users of MySpace.
[...]
If I had my own money, what would I do differently?
[...]
The KFC menu is much more visually creative than the Western ones I can recall. The Snack menu looks fragmented, while the two straight lines dividing the large block into three have been transformed into smooth, wavy lines on a 'specials' menu. A third menu uses overlapping squares -- all this shows Thai creativity is running high in whatever advertising agency KFC picked, with a fresh, innovative design making KFC even more appealing.
[Ed: Well, you know that Western fast food franchises are very expensive for the locals in Asia, and are seen 'special occasion' restaurants, right? The same with McDonalds and Pizza Hut imitations]
1pm Saturday
Lopburi rhymes with El Bulli (one of the world's best restraunts, in Spain) or strawberry - the r is so soft that it is more accurately an L sound. Farang (foeigner) is pronounced 'falang'.
I just handed my ticket to the collector - the Thais have a flexible approach to boarding/paying a vehicle, which I first noticed on the bus in Bangkok - you can either buy your ticket in advance, or pay once you're in the vehicle and it has taken off. I guess if you don't have the right amount of money you would get kicked off somewhere along the way and would have to retrace your steps as best as you know how! [This is what happened to me in Tay Ninh, Vietnam, and led to me spending a night in a Cao Dai temple, which was interesting.]
We had a discussion of my accent yesterday. The Irish guy thought I was Canadian or American, maybe with a hint of English; The Londoner thought I was either British or American, but not Australian. The Yorshire Brit thought I sounded British, and not even the slightest bit Australian. At least I didn't get South African this time.
Perhaps my accent is close to the standard Trans-Atlantic, and everyone recognises a bit of their own cultural nuances within it...
I've left everything behind to follow my dreams, wherever they may lead... Somewhat pseudo-independent, I am making my way to a new source of self-esteem.
Marriage is, ideally, a celebration of love. Love knowns no gender-on-gender confines.
When I buy a drink at a 7 Eleven, it gets placed, along with a straw, into a small plastic bag, convenient for carrying. It's bad for the environment, but such a comfort not to have to chill my fingers with the icy bottles.
In regards to leaving the fan on to blow over my body while I sleep, I had a dream that a ghost was stepping in and out of my personal space, which I associate with the fan automatically swivelling around the room.
I saw an ad for 'face massage'! Need to check it out...
I am an international traveller, and I have links to everyone, everwhere.
You learn from your setbacks.
I stayed in Lopburi for exactly one week, and the time went by so fast! I sympathise with Gary Arndt (the man who is traveling to every city/town/region of the world), who feels a need to move on from one place to another after a week.
[On Saraburi]
The Buddha statue is situated in the middle of a busy main road. It inspires thoughts of spirituality even during the time many people see as wasted, in between places, or irritating (I'm sure rush hour gets hectic here, even if it's nothing like Bangkok)... another example of how spirituality is practically interwoven into everyday life here in Thailand.
The Thai seem to have a healthy advertising industry: It relies on bright colours and curvy lines. And I don't just mean the Thai alphabet.
[...]
It looks like we have entered the big city already, judging by the lollipop cabs. I feel more rewarded for being alert here in Bangkok than I did in Lopburi.
| 33 |
| Vote |
Add Comments
I am forever looking for a peaceful place to work, being that my Sydney home isn't what I would call such. 
Read More
[ Click here to read more ]
Comments (4)
Comment by Postmodern Critic
on Are the most interesting people in your country to be found abroad?
Postmodern Critic
Daily Inspirations
Relativity Watch
Padsoc
Suu Kyi means 'the winner' in Burmese.
Anotehr things I learnt from Brian is that Myanmar is a fusion of cultures - many different ethnicities co-exist peacefully. He described it as a 'melting pot', with some people lookign visibly different.
I'm at the Praram hospital as I write this, on the 1st of November.