Monday, Nov. 1, 2010
I started the day having a cinnamon-raisin bialy--a bagel with a very small hole in the middle--from Kossar's Bialys. It was good--slightly crunchy on the outside and firm and moist on the inside. UMMMM! I also grabbed a prune pastry from a bakery next door to give myself a dessert, since I intended this to be my lunch.
From there, I headed toward the Museum of Modern Art getting there at noon and avoiding the long lines that form at 10:30 when it opens. However, I did not avoid the crowds inside. With many other museums closed on Mondays, it hauls them in!! I chose to go to it for a couple of reasons. 1) I had not been there for a very long time. 2) They completely rebuilt it a few years ago on the same site with a better layout. I wanted to see both the art and the architecture. I spent almost 3 hours there. The sad thing is that any museum gets tiring after a couple of hours. I enjoyed seeing the exhibits, but I was ready to leave when I did. Their main special exhibit was of acquisitions which had never been displayed there before. They were a little too wild for my taste. There was another special exhibit of works by women photographers which was really very nice. And the permanent exhibits have an embarrassing number of paintings by well-known artists such as Picasso, Pollack, Matisse, etc.
Knowing I would be out in the evening, I returned to my room and packed. I also stopped at the subway station and bought a ticket I could use tomorrow morning for getting to the airport without having to worry about lines or time.
I decided to have more pizza for dinner. The New York plain pizzas are so good and so reasonable in price. I went to a place near where I had the bialy in the morning and got two pieces which were large and just out of the oven.
Before going to the theater, I rushed to the kitchen store where I had stopped two days ago to buy a stovetop heat diffuser and bought a doughnut cutter. The one I have has too small of a diameter in the center which causes the doughnuts to close and not cook well in the middle. I arrived at the store at 7:04. They officially close at 7:00, but the door was still unlocked. And since I asked immediately for what I wanted as I opened the door, they let me buy it. I was out by 7:06!!
I returned to NYU to see another play their graduate students were presenting--Tourble in Mind. It is about Black performers in the late 1950s who are faced with playing stereotypical roles written and directed by whites. Again, the performance involved actors switching roles at the intermission to provide them more experience and to show their versatility. The show itself was quite good.
I rushed back to the apartment and was in bed at 11:05. The night would be short!
Tuesday, November 2. 2010
The alarm went off at 6:00. I was cleaned up, dressed, and dropping the key back through the gate from inside the elevator (The apartment took up the whole floor, so the elevator was the front door.) by 6:25. Things have gone smoothly today. I immediately caught a subway train to Queens where I only had to wait about 12 minutes to catch the bus to La Guardia. My flight took off one time and arrived in Denver about 40 minutes early due to high winds. I'm sitting at the gate right now waiting to take the plane to San Antonio. It leaves in 45 minutes and has just arrived, so everything should go smoothly with it, too.
The trip to New York was a good one. The apartment was nice. I found it easy to get around. (Although it remained confusing trying to get my orientation each time I went upstairs to exit the subway.) I did things I enjoyed. I walked a lot. I pushed myself, but I took occasional breaks. It was relatively inexpensive (except for housing) to be there. My wardrobe was fine (although the weather got rather cold and I was the only man in New York wearing khaki pants which are apparently out of style there. Everyone seems to wear worn, dirty dark blue jeans.) I'm not sure if I want to follow through on my plan to spend a month there every year or not. I need to consider it further. It would have to be at a slower pace. And I don't think it would be enjoyable unless I could find an apartment that would be available every year so I would know the neighborhood well and would be able to make friends over the years.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Halloween in New York
Oct. 31, 2010
Trick or treaters (young ones) were out all day. Apparently it is the custom here for businesses to give out treats, so parents take their kids to all the local shops in their neighborhood.
I started the day by going to the Old Amsterdam Market. It wasn't as big as I thought it might be. It was smaller than the Pearl Market in San Antonio, I think. There was a much larger one at Union Square when I was there the other day. But many of the sales people were dressed for Halloween, and parents were there with their kids in costume. One cute one was a girl wearing a white apron and a chef's hat. I had my brunch there. I got a fantastic pork sandwich from Porchetta Restaurant. It was tender with a nice herbal flavor, and it had small chunks of crispy skin in it. Then I had a dried cherry-pecan scone as dessert.
From the market, I decided to walk to the Century 21 Department Store on Cortlandt Street. It is renowned as a place for getting specials in New York. My impression of it was that it is a lot like Stein Mart. Everything is discounted, and they have lots of name brands of merchandise. The store was full of shoppers buying big baskets full of clothing. I checked out the flannel slacks to see if they had a better buy than Costco. Their price was lower, but the pants needed hemming and they seemed to be of a lesser quality. It was so crowded that I was out of there within 10 minutes. But that gave me enough time to realize the Danes know about the store. Two different couples were shopping in different areas of the store and speaking Danish. Then at the subway stop nearby, another Danish couple was waiting for the train with a shopping bag from there!
Century 21 is right across the street from the World Trade Center Site. Still, nothing is above ground level there. They have cleared all the messages, photos, stuffed animals, etc., from the fences. And signs say that you can see the outline of the reflecting pools which will represent each of the original towers. I didn't investigate it, however. I'm ready for there to be a new building there. Then I will want to go see the building itself.
Unfortunately, the Halloween Doggie Parade never materialized for some reason. I went to the park where it was to be held. Nothing was happening. I sat and read for about 1 1/2 hours and bought a pineapple-carrot muffin from a market stall there for a snack. Then I checked again. Still nothing was happening. It's too bad. Guess the Alamo Heights Doggie Parade during Fiesta at home is still the best place to enjoy people dressing their pets in costumes and parading them.
After a rest back at the apartment, I headed out for the BIG parade--the Village Halloween Parade. The website says it has been selected as the best event happening anywhere in the world on Oct. 31. It was fantastic. It lasted about 2 hours. There were bands, organized groups, and individuals in it. Among the groups was one with its members dressed appropriately and performing Michael Jackson's Thriller, one representing Chilean minors and carrying a module like the one that brought them up, one where everyone carried long poles topped by "critters" with pull-wires to make their mouths open and close, etc. There was a small group of 4 men dressed as bugs and carrying a mattress--Bed Bugs! Because of the cold weather, the number of the more daring and adventurous outfits was limited, but there were some. One woman passed holding a cape closed; the man behind her said, "She's not wearing anything under that." I got some good photos, because a man beside me had a professional camera and kept asking groups to stop for a photo. Unfortunately, however, my battery went dead about halfway through the parade. A replacement I had went dead after 2 more photos! So I just enjoyed the rest of the parade without worrying about photos. Lots are already online from previous parades, and I imagine many from tonight will be posted within a day or two, also. Here's a link to Google Pictures.
Trick or treaters (young ones) were out all day. Apparently it is the custom here for businesses to give out treats, so parents take their kids to all the local shops in their neighborhood.
I started the day by going to the Old Amsterdam Market. It wasn't as big as I thought it might be. It was smaller than the Pearl Market in San Antonio, I think. There was a much larger one at Union Square when I was there the other day. But many of the sales people were dressed for Halloween, and parents were there with their kids in costume. One cute one was a girl wearing a white apron and a chef's hat. I had my brunch there. I got a fantastic pork sandwich from Porchetta Restaurant. It was tender with a nice herbal flavor, and it had small chunks of crispy skin in it. Then I had a dried cherry-pecan scone as dessert.
From the market, I decided to walk to the Century 21 Department Store on Cortlandt Street. It is renowned as a place for getting specials in New York. My impression of it was that it is a lot like Stein Mart. Everything is discounted, and they have lots of name brands of merchandise. The store was full of shoppers buying big baskets full of clothing. I checked out the flannel slacks to see if they had a better buy than Costco. Their price was lower, but the pants needed hemming and they seemed to be of a lesser quality. It was so crowded that I was out of there within 10 minutes. But that gave me enough time to realize the Danes know about the store. Two different couples were shopping in different areas of the store and speaking Danish. Then at the subway stop nearby, another Danish couple was waiting for the train with a shopping bag from there!
Century 21 is right across the street from the World Trade Center Site. Still, nothing is above ground level there. They have cleared all the messages, photos, stuffed animals, etc., from the fences. And signs say that you can see the outline of the reflecting pools which will represent each of the original towers. I didn't investigate it, however. I'm ready for there to be a new building there. Then I will want to go see the building itself.
Unfortunately, the Halloween Doggie Parade never materialized for some reason. I went to the park where it was to be held. Nothing was happening. I sat and read for about 1 1/2 hours and bought a pineapple-carrot muffin from a market stall there for a snack. Then I checked again. Still nothing was happening. It's too bad. Guess the Alamo Heights Doggie Parade during Fiesta at home is still the best place to enjoy people dressing their pets in costumes and parading them.
After a rest back at the apartment, I headed out for the BIG parade--the Village Halloween Parade. The website says it has been selected as the best event happening anywhere in the world on Oct. 31. It was fantastic. It lasted about 2 hours. There were bands, organized groups, and individuals in it. Among the groups was one with its members dressed appropriately and performing Michael Jackson's Thriller, one representing Chilean minors and carrying a module like the one that brought them up, one where everyone carried long poles topped by "critters" with pull-wires to make their mouths open and close, etc. There was a small group of 4 men dressed as bugs and carrying a mattress--Bed Bugs! Because of the cold weather, the number of the more daring and adventurous outfits was limited, but there were some. One woman passed holding a cape closed; the man behind her said, "She's not wearing anything under that." I got some good photos, because a man beside me had a professional camera and kept asking groups to stop for a photo. Unfortunately, however, my battery went dead about halfway through the parade. A replacement I had went dead after 2 more photos! So I just enjoyed the rest of the parade without worrying about photos. Lots are already online from previous parades, and I imagine many from tonight will be posted within a day or two, also. Here's a link to Google Pictures.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Searching for Elusive Halloween Processions
Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010
It was a sunny day, but the air was still rather cold due to the continuation of high winds. If those winds would just disappear!! But I guess that is not likely in a city that is surrounded by water.
I decided it should be a rather lazy day exploring Park Slope in Brooklyn. It is considered one of the great neighborhoods in the whole country. There are two parallel streets that serve as shopping districts for the area--5th Ave. which is more multicultural and a bit poorer, and 7th Ave. which is more upscale. Between and on either side of both streets are small tree-lined streets filled with wonderful old 2- to 4-story townhouses which often are still individual residences. I walked both streets and wandered on the side streets. I stopped at a bagel shop to get a cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese for a light lunch. Then I stopped at a park and read for about an hour.
From there, I walked to downtown Brooklyn, an area I check every time I come to New York. It was once a great government and shopping center. However, it went to seed about the time that downtowns all over America did (in the late 50s/early 60s). The potential for revival has been there, however. And somehow, Macy's, in the old Abraham and Straus Department Store building, has continued to hold on (although it has been in great need of remodeling for 30 years and still has not been touched). Well, today the area is finally going through a revitalization process. The sidewalks have been rebuilt and widened and the main street (Fulton) is being narrowed. There are now shops in almost every building, and some of the name-brand stores are coming into the area. New condominiums and offices have been built inside the district. It's such a pleasure to see this turn-around. It still isn't assured success, however. Too many of the shoppers seem to be poor Blacks and Hispanics with the whites in the neighborhood apparently driving their cars to the regional centers that are nearby. There is absolutely no reason, however, that downtown Brooklyn should not be as successful and trendy as the major retailing and government districts of Manhattan.
I was hungry for more pizza from Patsy's, so I took the train from Brooklyn to 116th Street in Manhattan. First, I walked to Costco and bought a cola. There, I enjoyed having dinner appetizers--Caribbean cheese with mango chutney, Irish cheese with bagel chip, guacamole with tortilla chips, bourbon-flavored boneless chicken wings, Italian bread dipped in spicy Italian sauce, pretzel M&Ms, warm cinnamon roll, etc. From there, I walked the two blocks to Patsy's and had a slice of plain pizza.
It was 5:30 p.m. by then, so I returned to the room and read for about two hours. It being Saturday night and the night before Halloween, I figured people would be out in costumes, so I left at 8:00 in search of them. I went to Greenwich Village where several got off the train and walked down the streets, but there was no critical mass of them to enjoy on the sidewalks. I took a train to Times Square thinking maybe they would be there showing off. A few were, including a man in a sailor uniform and a woman in a petticoat skirt recreating the famous picture from the end of WWII and a group of men in soft body pajamas. But again, there were crowds of people with few of them being in costume. I headed back to Greenwich Village to find things had not improved. Then I walked through SoHo where I saw more than elsewhere. None were parading for the benefit of watchers, however. They all seemed to be going to parties. Surprisingly, I saw more in the neighborhood closest to my apartment than anywhere else, but maybe that was because it was then 10:00 p.m. and time for going to parties. I'm quite sure now that that was the goal of those who were out tonight. Tomorrow will be when they are out for showing off to the public, and I plan to be there.
It was a sunny day, but the air was still rather cold due to the continuation of high winds. If those winds would just disappear!! But I guess that is not likely in a city that is surrounded by water.
I decided it should be a rather lazy day exploring Park Slope in Brooklyn. It is considered one of the great neighborhoods in the whole country. There are two parallel streets that serve as shopping districts for the area--5th Ave. which is more multicultural and a bit poorer, and 7th Ave. which is more upscale. Between and on either side of both streets are small tree-lined streets filled with wonderful old 2- to 4-story townhouses which often are still individual residences. I walked both streets and wandered on the side streets. I stopped at a bagel shop to get a cinnamon-raisin bagel with cream cheese for a light lunch. Then I stopped at a park and read for about an hour.
From there, I walked to downtown Brooklyn, an area I check every time I come to New York. It was once a great government and shopping center. However, it went to seed about the time that downtowns all over America did (in the late 50s/early 60s). The potential for revival has been there, however. And somehow, Macy's, in the old Abraham and Straus Department Store building, has continued to hold on (although it has been in great need of remodeling for 30 years and still has not been touched). Well, today the area is finally going through a revitalization process. The sidewalks have been rebuilt and widened and the main street (Fulton) is being narrowed. There are now shops in almost every building, and some of the name-brand stores are coming into the area. New condominiums and offices have been built inside the district. It's such a pleasure to see this turn-around. It still isn't assured success, however. Too many of the shoppers seem to be poor Blacks and Hispanics with the whites in the neighborhood apparently driving their cars to the regional centers that are nearby. There is absolutely no reason, however, that downtown Brooklyn should not be as successful and trendy as the major retailing and government districts of Manhattan.
I was hungry for more pizza from Patsy's, so I took the train from Brooklyn to 116th Street in Manhattan. First, I walked to Costco and bought a cola. There, I enjoyed having dinner appetizers--Caribbean cheese with mango chutney, Irish cheese with bagel chip, guacamole with tortilla chips, bourbon-flavored boneless chicken wings, Italian bread dipped in spicy Italian sauce, pretzel M&Ms, warm cinnamon roll, etc. From there, I walked the two blocks to Patsy's and had a slice of plain pizza.
It was 5:30 p.m. by then, so I returned to the room and read for about two hours. It being Saturday night and the night before Halloween, I figured people would be out in costumes, so I left at 8:00 in search of them. I went to Greenwich Village where several got off the train and walked down the streets, but there was no critical mass of them to enjoy on the sidewalks. I took a train to Times Square thinking maybe they would be there showing off. A few were, including a man in a sailor uniform and a woman in a petticoat skirt recreating the famous picture from the end of WWII and a group of men in soft body pajamas. But again, there were crowds of people with few of them being in costume. I headed back to Greenwich Village to find things had not improved. Then I walked through SoHo where I saw more than elsewhere. None were parading for the benefit of watchers, however. They all seemed to be going to parties. Surprisingly, I saw more in the neighborhood closest to my apartment than anywhere else, but maybe that was because it was then 10:00 p.m. and time for going to parties. I'm quite sure now that that was the goal of those who were out tonight. Tomorrow will be when they are out for showing off to the public, and I plan to be there.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Cold and Windy
Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
It was a big change in weather between yesterday and today. We started out with cold weather and rain. By the time I left the apartment, however, it was mostly cloudy with some spots of sunshine, and the rain had stopped. The wind, however, was so high that it made the day seem much colder than it really was.
I decided to go to the TKTS booth at South Street Seaport to see what plays they had for half price tonight. None of them interested me, and the off-Broadway plays I had considered seeing were not listed. There is a website where I could get half-price tickets to the ones that interest me, but I don't have a printer with me; I don't know if tickets can be bought at the website and reserved for pickup at the box office or not. Anyway, it isn't critical to me that I see any of them.
From there, I headed to Brooklyn. I decided to explore the Williamsburg district. It is a trendy part of the city right now, especially since it is just across the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan. New development is occuring throughout the area. Yet Bedford Avenue, the main street, is a lot like the downtown of a village, especially on its northern end. It's a mixed neighborhood, but the Hassidic Jews stand out due to their clothing and the curls hanging in front of the men's ears.
At one time, Williamsburg was a Polish neighborhood. There are probably quite a few older Poles who still live there. I ate lunch at the Northside Bakery, a Polish bakery/restaurant. I ordered a cabbage roll and mashed potatoes. The roll was huge--as big around as a fist and about 6 inches long. It was stuffed with meat, rice, etc., and topped with a tomato sauce. Then I ate what they recommended for dessert--a donut-shaped sweet that was actually a circular cookie with a hole in it topped with cream and whole hazelnuts and dipped in a thick dark chocolate. My total bill was $5. I have to admit, however, that the sweet was a bit too sweet even for me!
I returned to town, because it was really too cold with the high winds to be outside exploring. I headed to Union Square to see what a New York branch of Whole Foods looks like. I was amazed at the business it had. I know that New York went decades with only small neighborhood super markets and an occasional small gourmet market. And I also knew that they had gone wild over Whole Foods since it arrived providing them with a real supermarket with a high-end emphasis. Well, now I can't believe that they put up with the crowds to shop there. The line of people buying 10 items or less wound around and through the store with an employee standing and holding a sign to indicate the end of the line for more people to know where to join! There must have been 75-100 people in that one line!! I couldn't even get close enough to see what the basket checkout lines were like. It was like all Whole Food stores--clean with lots of choices with an emphasis on high quality.
From there, I walked further up the street to Madison Square Park so I could explore Eataly, an Italian food specialty store with restaurants that just opened on Aug. 31. It was filled with customers and had just about anything Italian anyone could want. Already, there are many photos of the place on Google.
By then, I was tired and cold and returned to the apartment to read during the early evening hours. I went back out to explore my neighborhood in the evening. Some people were already out in Halloween costumes. I am hoping that it will be warm enough tomorrow night and Sunday night for there to be many more out. I grabbed some pizza from a local place that had a long line, but I was disappointed to find it was no where near the quality of what I bought at Patsy's yesterday. Then I returned to the room for the night. I'm tired from being so active the first few days of my trip.
It was a big change in weather between yesterday and today. We started out with cold weather and rain. By the time I left the apartment, however, it was mostly cloudy with some spots of sunshine, and the rain had stopped. The wind, however, was so high that it made the day seem much colder than it really was.
I decided to go to the TKTS booth at South Street Seaport to see what plays they had for half price tonight. None of them interested me, and the off-Broadway plays I had considered seeing were not listed. There is a website where I could get half-price tickets to the ones that interest me, but I don't have a printer with me; I don't know if tickets can be bought at the website and reserved for pickup at the box office or not. Anyway, it isn't critical to me that I see any of them.
From there, I headed to Brooklyn. I decided to explore the Williamsburg district. It is a trendy part of the city right now, especially since it is just across the Williamsburg Bridge from Manhattan. New development is occuring throughout the area. Yet Bedford Avenue, the main street, is a lot like the downtown of a village, especially on its northern end. It's a mixed neighborhood, but the Hassidic Jews stand out due to their clothing and the curls hanging in front of the men's ears.
At one time, Williamsburg was a Polish neighborhood. There are probably quite a few older Poles who still live there. I ate lunch at the Northside Bakery, a Polish bakery/restaurant. I ordered a cabbage roll and mashed potatoes. The roll was huge--as big around as a fist and about 6 inches long. It was stuffed with meat, rice, etc., and topped with a tomato sauce. Then I ate what they recommended for dessert--a donut-shaped sweet that was actually a circular cookie with a hole in it topped with cream and whole hazelnuts and dipped in a thick dark chocolate. My total bill was $5. I have to admit, however, that the sweet was a bit too sweet even for me!
I returned to town, because it was really too cold with the high winds to be outside exploring. I headed to Union Square to see what a New York branch of Whole Foods looks like. I was amazed at the business it had. I know that New York went decades with only small neighborhood super markets and an occasional small gourmet market. And I also knew that they had gone wild over Whole Foods since it arrived providing them with a real supermarket with a high-end emphasis. Well, now I can't believe that they put up with the crowds to shop there. The line of people buying 10 items or less wound around and through the store with an employee standing and holding a sign to indicate the end of the line for more people to know where to join! There must have been 75-100 people in that one line!! I couldn't even get close enough to see what the basket checkout lines were like. It was like all Whole Food stores--clean with lots of choices with an emphasis on high quality.
From there, I walked further up the street to Madison Square Park so I could explore Eataly, an Italian food specialty store with restaurants that just opened on Aug. 31. It was filled with customers and had just about anything Italian anyone could want. Already, there are many photos of the place on Google.
By then, I was tired and cold and returned to the apartment to read during the early evening hours. I went back out to explore my neighborhood in the evening. Some people were already out in Halloween costumes. I am hoping that it will be warm enough tomorrow night and Sunday night for there to be many more out. I grabbed some pizza from a local place that had a long line, but I was disappointed to find it was no where near the quality of what I bought at Patsy's yesterday. Then I returned to the room for the night. I'm tired from being so active the first few days of my trip.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Warm, Sunny Weather
Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010
Today was supposedly the last summer-like day for New York this year. Tomorrow and for the foreseeable future, the temperatures will be in the high 50s. Since November is arriving, it is doubtful that they will reach the 70s again. Today, it was about 74. So everyone was out enjoying the nice day. People were sunbathing, sitting on the lawns, rowing boats, etc.
I spent the latter part of the morning around New York University (NYU). I like that neighborhood, and it has improved so much over the years. Now lower Broadway near there has been transformed into one of the nicer shopping districts of the city. It has a combination of big stores (including a branch of Bloomingdales) and small shops including some (like the Shakespeare Book Store) that have been around for ages. I wanted to make a couple of reservations. First, I stopped at the Frederick Lowewe Theatre on the campus to try to make reservations for a percussion concert. Eventually, I was just told to show up between an hour and an hour and a half before the performance. Then I needed to wait until noon to reserve a seat for a play I want to see on Monday. During the wait time, I explored Washington Square, a nice park near the university, and then I headed to St. Mark's Place, a street lined with small eateries and shops.
At Washington Square, I sat on a bench and read from the novel I have with me. The square was full of people enjoying the day. Next to me, an Asian lady was feeding the squirrels. Before I knew it, one had hopped up on my shoulder!! They have lost all fear of humans.
On St. Mark's Place, I searched for a particular restaurant called Baoguette which is known for its good Vietnamese sandwiches--banh mi. I ordered mine spicy and to go. Then I continued to walk the streets as I ate it.
Back at NYU after 12:00, I went to the office of the theater department and reserved a ticket for Monday night. Then I headed down 12th street to find the end of the High Line, the raised linear park that has been built along the abandoned rail lines that used to bring meat and produce to the market area between Greenwich Village and Chelsea. I had a bit of trouble finding it, because it actually terminates a couple of small streets away from 12th Street. But when I did find it, it was full of people again enjoying the beautiful weather. I walked the entire distance of the portion of the park that is open. Two more segments will open later, and the next segment looks as if it is almost ready. Right now, however, the park terminates at 20th Street. It has spurred lots of redevelopment along the way with both old buildings being reconditioned for new uses and new buildings going up. Because the park is raised, there were great views toward New Jersey and toward Midtown.
I grabbed a train to head to Central Park. I decided it would be better to make my return visit today to get the photos while the weather was warm and many people were out than it would be to come on a cooler day even if that day would be sunny as is forecast for now. I entered the park at 72nd Street where many tourists were taking photos of the John Lennon monument near the Strawberry Fields. For the most part, I traveled the same route as yesterday except in reverse. I went through The Ramble where I got lots of nice photos of colorful trees. Then I stopped by Belvedere Castle. Eventually, I ended up at the northeast corner of the park at the Conservatory Gardens.
Since it was getting late in the afternoon, I decided to head back into Harlem to enjoy a snack as an early dinner. It amazes me how Harlem has improved over the years. I've always been curious about that section of the city. On one of my first trips to New York, I decided to explore it hoping that I would be safe. I entered from the north side of Central Park. By the time I had gotten to 116th Street, just 6 blocks into Harlem, I was uncomfortable. The buildings had graffiti, the sidewalks were strewn with trash, some lots were grown up, and adult men lingered in groups on the sidewalks. I turned and walked over a couple of blocks and then headed back south. On later trips, I took the subway all the way to 125th Street, the main east/west street in Harlem and explored it. Because of it being daylight and because so many people were on the street, I figured I would be safe. But the area still was depressing. Today, Harlem has changed. It is clean, buildings have been renovated, other buildings have been built from scratch. Remove the signs, and someone dropped off there would have a hard time guessing where they were in New York. It feels perfectly safe to walk down any of the streets. This afternoon, I walked about 8 blocks into Harlem and turned and walked another 8-10 blocks.
My goal was Patsy's Pizza at 118th Street and First Ave. It is a New York institution known for its coal-fired ovens. Their high heat produces a crust that is browned with burned spots. I got in line and ordered two slices--plain pizza (cheese and tomato sauce) which I topped with crushed red pepper, Parmesan cheese, and oregano. Then I stood at the window counter and ate them. UMMMM! They were big slices, too. Total cost--$3.50 plus tax.
Well, I was back within just 3-4 blocks of Costco, so I headed there to get a cheap drink and to score some snacks while biding my time until I needed to head to NYU again for the concert. I almost bought me a pair of the flannel slacks they were selling, but I decided not to. They have to be dry cleaned, and I wasn't sure about the appropriate size. Instead, I wandered and tasted samples. Also, I started noting more differences in products between this store and the ones in Texas. This one has Kosher food--meats, breads, and deli items. And among the specific items I saw that looked interesting and are not available in Texas were Jamaican spicy patties, cannoli, plantain chips, lamb shanks, Kirkland Ancient Grains Granola, kibbie balls, creamed spinach, lobster ravioli, taboule salad, and bread pudding.
The concert at NYU proved to be even better than I had expected. It was their Percussion Ensemble performing. What I didn't know in advance is that this is an annual concert that brings together their percussion group and their student composers. All twelve pieces that were performed were new compositions having their premieres. They were fascinating pieces--modern, sometimes strange sounding, but always fascinating. NYU must have a phenomenal music program. It has an enrollment of 1600 students and has 400 faculty members. The Percussion Ensemble consisted of at least 30 members, and they must have had at least 8 kinds of marimbas that were being played as a part of the concert. Anyone not knowing better would have assumed them to be professionals.
That took me up to 10:00 p.m., so I headed back to the apartment for the night. Thank goodness, the weather was still mild, because I had not taken my coat with me today. I was still in a short sleeve knit shirt. I walked a few blocks and caught the F Train back home, barely making it before I needed to urinate!! It's sometimes difficult to find toilets in New York!
Today was supposedly the last summer-like day for New York this year. Tomorrow and for the foreseeable future, the temperatures will be in the high 50s. Since November is arriving, it is doubtful that they will reach the 70s again. Today, it was about 74. So everyone was out enjoying the nice day. People were sunbathing, sitting on the lawns, rowing boats, etc.
I spent the latter part of the morning around New York University (NYU). I like that neighborhood, and it has improved so much over the years. Now lower Broadway near there has been transformed into one of the nicer shopping districts of the city. It has a combination of big stores (including a branch of Bloomingdales) and small shops including some (like the Shakespeare Book Store) that have been around for ages. I wanted to make a couple of reservations. First, I stopped at the Frederick Lowewe Theatre on the campus to try to make reservations for a percussion concert. Eventually, I was just told to show up between an hour and an hour and a half before the performance. Then I needed to wait until noon to reserve a seat for a play I want to see on Monday. During the wait time, I explored Washington Square, a nice park near the university, and then I headed to St. Mark's Place, a street lined with small eateries and shops.
At Washington Square, I sat on a bench and read from the novel I have with me. The square was full of people enjoying the day. Next to me, an Asian lady was feeding the squirrels. Before I knew it, one had hopped up on my shoulder!! They have lost all fear of humans.
On St. Mark's Place, I searched for a particular restaurant called Baoguette which is known for its good Vietnamese sandwiches--banh mi. I ordered mine spicy and to go. Then I continued to walk the streets as I ate it.
Back at NYU after 12:00, I went to the office of the theater department and reserved a ticket for Monday night. Then I headed down 12th street to find the end of the High Line, the raised linear park that has been built along the abandoned rail lines that used to bring meat and produce to the market area between Greenwich Village and Chelsea. I had a bit of trouble finding it, because it actually terminates a couple of small streets away from 12th Street. But when I did find it, it was full of people again enjoying the beautiful weather. I walked the entire distance of the portion of the park that is open. Two more segments will open later, and the next segment looks as if it is almost ready. Right now, however, the park terminates at 20th Street. It has spurred lots of redevelopment along the way with both old buildings being reconditioned for new uses and new buildings going up. Because the park is raised, there were great views toward New Jersey and toward Midtown.
I grabbed a train to head to Central Park. I decided it would be better to make my return visit today to get the photos while the weather was warm and many people were out than it would be to come on a cooler day even if that day would be sunny as is forecast for now. I entered the park at 72nd Street where many tourists were taking photos of the John Lennon monument near the Strawberry Fields. For the most part, I traveled the same route as yesterday except in reverse. I went through The Ramble where I got lots of nice photos of colorful trees. Then I stopped by Belvedere Castle. Eventually, I ended up at the northeast corner of the park at the Conservatory Gardens.
Since it was getting late in the afternoon, I decided to head back into Harlem to enjoy a snack as an early dinner. It amazes me how Harlem has improved over the years. I've always been curious about that section of the city. On one of my first trips to New York, I decided to explore it hoping that I would be safe. I entered from the north side of Central Park. By the time I had gotten to 116th Street, just 6 blocks into Harlem, I was uncomfortable. The buildings had graffiti, the sidewalks were strewn with trash, some lots were grown up, and adult men lingered in groups on the sidewalks. I turned and walked over a couple of blocks and then headed back south. On later trips, I took the subway all the way to 125th Street, the main east/west street in Harlem and explored it. Because of it being daylight and because so many people were on the street, I figured I would be safe. But the area still was depressing. Today, Harlem has changed. It is clean, buildings have been renovated, other buildings have been built from scratch. Remove the signs, and someone dropped off there would have a hard time guessing where they were in New York. It feels perfectly safe to walk down any of the streets. This afternoon, I walked about 8 blocks into Harlem and turned and walked another 8-10 blocks.
My goal was Patsy's Pizza at 118th Street and First Ave. It is a New York institution known for its coal-fired ovens. Their high heat produces a crust that is browned with burned spots. I got in line and ordered two slices--plain pizza (cheese and tomato sauce) which I topped with crushed red pepper, Parmesan cheese, and oregano. Then I stood at the window counter and ate them. UMMMM! They were big slices, too. Total cost--$3.50 plus tax.
Well, I was back within just 3-4 blocks of Costco, so I headed there to get a cheap drink and to score some snacks while biding my time until I needed to head to NYU again for the concert. I almost bought me a pair of the flannel slacks they were selling, but I decided not to. They have to be dry cleaned, and I wasn't sure about the appropriate size. Instead, I wandered and tasted samples. Also, I started noting more differences in products between this store and the ones in Texas. This one has Kosher food--meats, breads, and deli items. And among the specific items I saw that looked interesting and are not available in Texas were Jamaican spicy patties, cannoli, plantain chips, lamb shanks, Kirkland Ancient Grains Granola, kibbie balls, creamed spinach, lobster ravioli, taboule salad, and bread pudding.
The concert at NYU proved to be even better than I had expected. It was their Percussion Ensemble performing. What I didn't know in advance is that this is an annual concert that brings together their percussion group and their student composers. All twelve pieces that were performed were new compositions having their premieres. They were fascinating pieces--modern, sometimes strange sounding, but always fascinating. NYU must have a phenomenal music program. It has an enrollment of 1600 students and has 400 faculty members. The Percussion Ensemble consisted of at least 30 members, and they must have had at least 8 kinds of marimbas that were being played as a part of the concert. Anyone not knowing better would have assumed them to be professionals.
That took me up to 10:00 p.m., so I headed back to the apartment for the night. Thank goodness, the weather was still mild, because I had not taken my coat with me today. I was still in a short sleeve knit shirt. I walked a few blocks and caught the F Train back home, barely making it before I needed to urinate!! It's sometimes difficult to find toilets in New York!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Autumn in New York
Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
I planned my route to New York to maximize the distance as a part of the plan to renew my elite status for another year in the Star Alliance. Therefore, I flew from San Antonio to Denver and then Denver to La Guardia. The day started fine. I was up early and ready early. I had already checked in, and it only took a moment to check my bag at the United counter. No one was ahead of me at security, so I was at the gate within 30 minutes after leaving home. I was upgraded to First Class, so that was also good. Even the breakfast was good compared to what I have gotten on United lately--scrambled eggs, two sausages, cheese-crusted potatoes, croissant, jam, wheat cereal, milk, and cookies. However, we were put in a holding pattern for 20 minutes outside of Denver. When we finally got approval to land, it was only 15 minutes before my connecting flight was due to depart. We were coming in so low that I could see details on the farms below us. Suddenly, the pilot pulled the nose of the plane up, roared the engines and banked steeply to the right. He announced that we had been too close to the plane in front of us and that he had been given the command to make a loop and approach for a landing again. We arrived at my gate just at the time that my previous flight had been scheduled to depart.
I rushed to try to find a board so I could check to see if it might have been delayed. However, I couldn't find one. Later, I discovered that all the time boards at the Denver airport are facing the walkway at the mid-points of the moving walkways so that they cannot be seen if you take the moving sidewalks!! What a crazy plan. It would be better to have them between the beginning and end of each of the moving walkways. Anyway, my flight was not on the board when I finally checked for it. I picked up a United courtesy phone which put me directly through to reservations in India. I had been rescheduled on the next flight two hours later. I was told to go to the gate to get a new boarding pass.
On my original flight, there was a good chance I would have been upgraded to first class again, since I had been on the waiting list for so long. However, I lost that opportunity on the next flight. Not only that, I had to agree to a center seat, something I really hate. Beyond that was the worry that I would miss my appointment for getting the key to my apartment in New York.
Fortunately, the Denver airport has free wifi. Unfortunately, it didn't work well at my gate which was at the end of the concourse. I had to grab everything and go back toward the center of the concourse to find a plug and a place where I could get online. I was able to do so and immediately wrote an e-mail to let the woman know that I would be two hours later getting to the apartment. Then I had problems with the connection again. I started gathering up my things to move back to the gate when I noticed my book I was reading on the flight was not with me. I had left it at the gate! I rushed back thinking it was likely that someone had picked it up believing it had been abandoned by a reader who was finished with it. When I got back to the gate, however, it was there. It was in a different seat, but I guess someone had seen my bookmark and figured I might return. Or maybe the lady who had given me my boarding pass had told whoever found it that I had been sitting there and would be returning for the flight. Either way, it was a relief to find the book since it is one that I have borrowed and must return.
The flight wasn't too bad from Denver to New York. I was between two thin passengers who ignored me for the most part. I was able to make the trip without needing to go to the toilet more than once, and I did that while my aisle neighbor was up to do the same. We arrived on time, and the rain that had been forecast had not come yet. My bag was on the flight. And I had no problems finding the bus station and buying a weekly pass. There was then an 18-minute wait for the bus I needed. However, when I got to the metro station where I had to change to the train, it came within a minute. I actually made it to the apartment 15 minutes earlier than I had expected. However, no one was there.
Fortunately, Uli, the owner, had given me the door code for getting inside. After ringing the buzzer several times with no response, I entered the code, went into the lobby, and pulled out my book to read. I had to hope that Lydia, who was meeting me since Uli is out of the country, had gotten my e-mail and would show up. It helped that at the Denver airport I had found a reply from her to an e-mail I sent in the morning giving her my flight numbers. That made me think she had probably found the later e-mail, too, and had just gone out somewhere with plans to come back and meet me. What I didn't know was that she had sent a phone number asking her to call me when I arrived. Therefore, it was 45 minutes before she showed up at the building to find me waiting.
The apartment is an old warehouse that has been converted. The floors are old wood that has wide cracks between the planks due to years of drying and shrinking. It has pressed tin ceilings. But everything inside is new. It even has a central air conditioning unit, although it isn't being used this time of the year. Lydia gave me a tour showing me where the light switches were, explaining about putting out the garbage, explaining about the gate key and elevator key, etc. She gave me an information page that Uli had left that gave further guidelines and included the password for the wifi. I was too tired to go back out, so I just relaxed after she left and spent some time on the computer before sleeping.
Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010
The forecast for most of the time I will be here is great. Today is the one day with a bad forecast--100% chance of rain. However, it called for temperatures in the 70s. And sure enough, it was raining when I got up around 9:00. However, by the time I read the newspapers on the computer and cleaned up, the rain had stopped. It was cloudy, so I knew it could return at any time. I decided it was a good day for planning indoor activities.
The bus to Costco in Harlem goes right in front of the apartment, so I went out and caught it. The store is in Spanish Harlem, right on the East River with a view of Queens a cross the way. It is in a new complex that also has Target, Best Buy, Marshall's, and other stores. It was already noon by the time I was there, so I went directly to the food service area and got a hot dog--a Costco New York hot dog!! It was a bit different from the ones at home. There was no choice of a polish; only the hot dog was offered. The bun was bigger (deeper) than the one at home. The deli mustard seemed to be spicier. The price was the same--$1.50 for the hot dog and the drink. However, the drink cup was smaller than the one in Texas. It did include a refill, though.
I wandered through the store to see how it was different from the one at home. Essentially, it is the same, but there are differences. First, the men's department had nice Italian winter slacks (flannel or wool) for sale ($79). I would love to have those at home, since I like wearing winter slacks. They also had blazers in the men's department which they haven't been selling at home. There is no wine & beer department. The Christmas goodies department had 2-3 sweet items for sale that are not available in Texas--chocolate coated jelly rings, creme brulee cookies, etc. The housewares department had a tajine pot for sale which has not been in the stores in Texas. The bakery had some bread items and some sweet rolls that are not available at home. The food court had a carne asada roll, whereas the one in Texas has a chicken roll. After checking the store out and sampling most of what they were giving away--rice chips, caramel corn, cinnamon rolls, pretzel M&Ms, cheeses, etc.--I used the toilets and headed outside to check the weather again.
Since it was still not raining, I walked to the top of Central Park and made my way all the way through the park from north to south. Even with the cloudy, damp air, it was beautiful. The trees are still about half green with the other half changing colors. There are bright ones that are yellow or orange or red. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera. But that meant I could really enjoy just looking rather than thinking about what would make the best photos. I passed through parts of the park where I had never been before. I found a wonderful round garden with many blooming flowers and a fountain in a lake in the center. I found other sculptures and fountains I had not seen before. I went through the Rambles going north to south which I had not done before. (I had only gone east to west.)
As I made my way through the park, it began sprinkling again. I decided to head toward the Paris theater beside the Plaza Hotel in hopes that I would get there before the rain began in earnest and in hopes that it would be time for a feature. Luckily, I made it, and the film would be starting within 30 minutes. The Paris has been showing foreign and independent films as long as I have been going to New York, but I had never been there before today. I saw Maria's Will, a Mexican film that had a good review in TIME a couple of weeks ago. The cinema building was wonderful inside--clean, plush, and attractive. The film was very good. And there was a surprise element to seeing it here. The storyline is about an orthodox Jewish woman who has died. She has been divorced from her husband for 20 years and he is no longer religious. Many scenes were built around Jewish traditions and his trying to upset it all with his lack of reverence. Many in the audience were Jews, so they were laughing at the things that occurred. It was a good film, so I would recommend it.
The rain was coming down when I exited the theater. I walked around the corner and caught the metro to the New York University area. I figured I needed one more indoor activity, and they were having a play this evening. I arrived there about 5:45 p.m. and asked if they had any more tickets available for the play they were doing. I was assured that there would be tickets and told that the box office would open at 6:00 p.m. I waited and got one of only two unreserved tickets. It was a free production, but tickets were required.
The play was The Time of the Cuckoo. It is set in Venice in a pension where Americans stay. It was done by the graduate students in acting. There was an interesting casting aspect--actors changed rolls 2-3 times--not to fill out the need for many actors, but to show versatility playing different rolls. A man would be an American tourist at one point while another man would be an Italian gondola driver. Then later, they would have switched the rolls they were playing. It did help point out who were the better performers. And in a couple of cases, it also showed how important casting is as performers were better in one of their rolls than in another one. Since these are all aspiring actors (and since they have a bulletin board in their theater department showing the playbills of professional plays that include former students in rolls), I will say that the mostly to "make it" from this group would be Benjamin Mehl and Casey Killoran. Rafi Silver might make it, too, although it was not so good in one of his rolls. So anyone with a good memory who is reading this should let me know if you recognize any of these days among successful performers sometime in the future!!
It was 10:00 p.m. by the time the show was over. Shops were closing. I didn't find a place to eat along the route I was following back to the room, so I had a granola bar from my suitcase and called it a night.
I planned my route to New York to maximize the distance as a part of the plan to renew my elite status for another year in the Star Alliance. Therefore, I flew from San Antonio to Denver and then Denver to La Guardia. The day started fine. I was up early and ready early. I had already checked in, and it only took a moment to check my bag at the United counter. No one was ahead of me at security, so I was at the gate within 30 minutes after leaving home. I was upgraded to First Class, so that was also good. Even the breakfast was good compared to what I have gotten on United lately--scrambled eggs, two sausages, cheese-crusted potatoes, croissant, jam, wheat cereal, milk, and cookies. However, we were put in a holding pattern for 20 minutes outside of Denver. When we finally got approval to land, it was only 15 minutes before my connecting flight was due to depart. We were coming in so low that I could see details on the farms below us. Suddenly, the pilot pulled the nose of the plane up, roared the engines and banked steeply to the right. He announced that we had been too close to the plane in front of us and that he had been given the command to make a loop and approach for a landing again. We arrived at my gate just at the time that my previous flight had been scheduled to depart.
I rushed to try to find a board so I could check to see if it might have been delayed. However, I couldn't find one. Later, I discovered that all the time boards at the Denver airport are facing the walkway at the mid-points of the moving walkways so that they cannot be seen if you take the moving sidewalks!! What a crazy plan. It would be better to have them between the beginning and end of each of the moving walkways. Anyway, my flight was not on the board when I finally checked for it. I picked up a United courtesy phone which put me directly through to reservations in India. I had been rescheduled on the next flight two hours later. I was told to go to the gate to get a new boarding pass.
On my original flight, there was a good chance I would have been upgraded to first class again, since I had been on the waiting list for so long. However, I lost that opportunity on the next flight. Not only that, I had to agree to a center seat, something I really hate. Beyond that was the worry that I would miss my appointment for getting the key to my apartment in New York.
Fortunately, the Denver airport has free wifi. Unfortunately, it didn't work well at my gate which was at the end of the concourse. I had to grab everything and go back toward the center of the concourse to find a plug and a place where I could get online. I was able to do so and immediately wrote an e-mail to let the woman know that I would be two hours later getting to the apartment. Then I had problems with the connection again. I started gathering up my things to move back to the gate when I noticed my book I was reading on the flight was not with me. I had left it at the gate! I rushed back thinking it was likely that someone had picked it up believing it had been abandoned by a reader who was finished with it. When I got back to the gate, however, it was there. It was in a different seat, but I guess someone had seen my bookmark and figured I might return. Or maybe the lady who had given me my boarding pass had told whoever found it that I had been sitting there and would be returning for the flight. Either way, it was a relief to find the book since it is one that I have borrowed and must return.
The flight wasn't too bad from Denver to New York. I was between two thin passengers who ignored me for the most part. I was able to make the trip without needing to go to the toilet more than once, and I did that while my aisle neighbor was up to do the same. We arrived on time, and the rain that had been forecast had not come yet. My bag was on the flight. And I had no problems finding the bus station and buying a weekly pass. There was then an 18-minute wait for the bus I needed. However, when I got to the metro station where I had to change to the train, it came within a minute. I actually made it to the apartment 15 minutes earlier than I had expected. However, no one was there.
Fortunately, Uli, the owner, had given me the door code for getting inside. After ringing the buzzer several times with no response, I entered the code, went into the lobby, and pulled out my book to read. I had to hope that Lydia, who was meeting me since Uli is out of the country, had gotten my e-mail and would show up. It helped that at the Denver airport I had found a reply from her to an e-mail I sent in the morning giving her my flight numbers. That made me think she had probably found the later e-mail, too, and had just gone out somewhere with plans to come back and meet me. What I didn't know was that she had sent a phone number asking her to call me when I arrived. Therefore, it was 45 minutes before she showed up at the building to find me waiting.
The apartment is an old warehouse that has been converted. The floors are old wood that has wide cracks between the planks due to years of drying and shrinking. It has pressed tin ceilings. But everything inside is new. It even has a central air conditioning unit, although it isn't being used this time of the year. Lydia gave me a tour showing me where the light switches were, explaining about putting out the garbage, explaining about the gate key and elevator key, etc. She gave me an information page that Uli had left that gave further guidelines and included the password for the wifi. I was too tired to go back out, so I just relaxed after she left and spent some time on the computer before sleeping.
Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010
The forecast for most of the time I will be here is great. Today is the one day with a bad forecast--100% chance of rain. However, it called for temperatures in the 70s. And sure enough, it was raining when I got up around 9:00. However, by the time I read the newspapers on the computer and cleaned up, the rain had stopped. It was cloudy, so I knew it could return at any time. I decided it was a good day for planning indoor activities.
The bus to Costco in Harlem goes right in front of the apartment, so I went out and caught it. The store is in Spanish Harlem, right on the East River with a view of Queens a cross the way. It is in a new complex that also has Target, Best Buy, Marshall's, and other stores. It was already noon by the time I was there, so I went directly to the food service area and got a hot dog--a Costco New York hot dog!! It was a bit different from the ones at home. There was no choice of a polish; only the hot dog was offered. The bun was bigger (deeper) than the one at home. The deli mustard seemed to be spicier. The price was the same--$1.50 for the hot dog and the drink. However, the drink cup was smaller than the one in Texas. It did include a refill, though.
I wandered through the store to see how it was different from the one at home. Essentially, it is the same, but there are differences. First, the men's department had nice Italian winter slacks (flannel or wool) for sale ($79). I would love to have those at home, since I like wearing winter slacks. They also had blazers in the men's department which they haven't been selling at home. There is no wine & beer department. The Christmas goodies department had 2-3 sweet items for sale that are not available in Texas--chocolate coated jelly rings, creme brulee cookies, etc. The housewares department had a tajine pot for sale which has not been in the stores in Texas. The bakery had some bread items and some sweet rolls that are not available at home. The food court had a carne asada roll, whereas the one in Texas has a chicken roll. After checking the store out and sampling most of what they were giving away--rice chips, caramel corn, cinnamon rolls, pretzel M&Ms, cheeses, etc.--I used the toilets and headed outside to check the weather again.
Since it was still not raining, I walked to the top of Central Park and made my way all the way through the park from north to south. Even with the cloudy, damp air, it was beautiful. The trees are still about half green with the other half changing colors. There are bright ones that are yellow or orange or red. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera. But that meant I could really enjoy just looking rather than thinking about what would make the best photos. I passed through parts of the park where I had never been before. I found a wonderful round garden with many blooming flowers and a fountain in a lake in the center. I found other sculptures and fountains I had not seen before. I went through the Rambles going north to south which I had not done before. (I had only gone east to west.)
As I made my way through the park, it began sprinkling again. I decided to head toward the Paris theater beside the Plaza Hotel in hopes that I would get there before the rain began in earnest and in hopes that it would be time for a feature. Luckily, I made it, and the film would be starting within 30 minutes. The Paris has been showing foreign and independent films as long as I have been going to New York, but I had never been there before today. I saw Maria's Will, a Mexican film that had a good review in TIME a couple of weeks ago. The cinema building was wonderful inside--clean, plush, and attractive. The film was very good. And there was a surprise element to seeing it here. The storyline is about an orthodox Jewish woman who has died. She has been divorced from her husband for 20 years and he is no longer religious. Many scenes were built around Jewish traditions and his trying to upset it all with his lack of reverence. Many in the audience were Jews, so they were laughing at the things that occurred. It was a good film, so I would recommend it.
The rain was coming down when I exited the theater. I walked around the corner and caught the metro to the New York University area. I figured I needed one more indoor activity, and they were having a play this evening. I arrived there about 5:45 p.m. and asked if they had any more tickets available for the play they were doing. I was assured that there would be tickets and told that the box office would open at 6:00 p.m. I waited and got one of only two unreserved tickets. It was a free production, but tickets were required.
The play was The Time of the Cuckoo. It is set in Venice in a pension where Americans stay. It was done by the graduate students in acting. There was an interesting casting aspect--actors changed rolls 2-3 times--not to fill out the need for many actors, but to show versatility playing different rolls. A man would be an American tourist at one point while another man would be an Italian gondola driver. Then later, they would have switched the rolls they were playing. It did help point out who were the better performers. And in a couple of cases, it also showed how important casting is as performers were better in one of their rolls than in another one. Since these are all aspiring actors (and since they have a bulletin board in their theater department showing the playbills of professional plays that include former students in rolls), I will say that the mostly to "make it" from this group would be Benjamin Mehl and Casey Killoran. Rafi Silver might make it, too, although it was not so good in one of his rolls. So anyone with a good memory who is reading this should let me know if you recognize any of these days among successful performers sometime in the future!!
It was 10:00 p.m. by the time the show was over. Shops were closing. I didn't find a place to eat along the route I was following back to the room, so I had a granola bar from my suitcase and called it a night.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Plans Ready for New York
Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010--San Antonio
I will be leaving for New York on Tuesday for a week. Everyone keeps asking me about what I plan to do. Actually, until today I had no specific plans. I had some general ideas, but I just hadn't gotten around to looking at specifics. After spending much of today on the computer investigating things of interest to me, I can report the following:
Transportation: I plan to buy a weekly pass that is good for both the subways and the buses. I haven't decided yet whether to pay the full price of $27 for the 7-Day Unlimited Ride Card or to go to the metro office and get an ID as a senior which will allow me to pay $13.50 for the same card. The office is near where I will be staying. The unknown factor is how long the lines will be there. Once I have the ID, however, I would be able to use it each time I return to New York without having to go back to the office more than once every 5 years for a new card.
Cinemas: I had been looking forward to maybe seeing a foreign film or two that might not ever make it to San Antonio or be released on a DVD here in the US. However, I was surprised when doing my research. Like San Antonio, New York has fewer foreign films showing now; most "art" films are independent productions from the US. The foreign films that are showing are ones that will likely also make it to San Antonio. The one I have decided to possibly see is Nora's Will, a Mexican film that has won lots of awards. Another interesting fact is that the senior rate for admission to theaters offering foreign and independent films varies from being cheaper to being just a bit more expensive (from $6 to 9) than the senior rates here in San Antonio!
Museums: There is really only one museum that I have an interest in seeing. It is the Museum of Modern Art. It has been rebuilt since I saw it, so I am interested in seeing the architecture, the layout, and the art. If an exhibit at another museum catches my attention, I may go see it, but I have no plans for other museums at the moment.
Explorations: Among the places I want to explore are:
Fall Foliage in Central Park--Supposedly the black tupelo trees will be dropping red leaves in the open meadow below Belvedere Castle and the ginkgo trees in the Ramble will be dropping their leaves. There are other places to see leaves--Prospect Park in Brooklyn and the Green-Wood Cemetery which is also there--but I think that going to Central Park will be enough to satisfy me.
The High Line Park--A new elevated park that has built built on an abandoned raised rail track. I have read about it and want to see it and experience it.
New Amsterdam Market--Held each Sunday, this will be near where I am staying and should make an interesting outing on Sunday morning when nothing else much will be happening.
Eataly--A new Italian food and drink complex. I doubt if I will like it, but it has just opened and should be worth exploring to see what it is like.
Costco Harlem--Manhattan has its own Costco now. I'll check it out, eat a cheap hotdog while there, and maybe buy something to take back to the apartment for my dinner.
Special Events--It will be Halloween while I am there. There are two events related to it that I hope to attend:
Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade--The dogies are dressed in costumes by their owners and compete for prizes.
Village Halloween Parade--Anyone in a costume can join in the procession while 60,000 others watch from the sides of the street.
Dance:
Modern Dance at the BAM
Movement Research at Old Judson Church
Off Broadway Shows I Will Consider:
The Accidental Pervert
Gatz
Off Off Broadway Shows I Will Consider:
Balm in Gilead
Skin Deep
Reefer Madness, the Musical
Letter from Algeria
Dining: I have created a dining guide to small, inexpensive restaurants throughout New York including interesting neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. I always like to go to local neighborhoods and try the small restaurants which are often operated by immigrants. Some of the neighborhoods I may explore beyond Manhattan are Park Slope, Astoria, Long Island City, and Williamsburg.
I will be leaving for New York on Tuesday for a week. Everyone keeps asking me about what I plan to do. Actually, until today I had no specific plans. I had some general ideas, but I just hadn't gotten around to looking at specifics. After spending much of today on the computer investigating things of interest to me, I can report the following:
Transportation: I plan to buy a weekly pass that is good for both the subways and the buses. I haven't decided yet whether to pay the full price of $27 for the 7-Day Unlimited Ride Card or to go to the metro office and get an ID as a senior which will allow me to pay $13.50 for the same card. The office is near where I will be staying. The unknown factor is how long the lines will be there. Once I have the ID, however, I would be able to use it each time I return to New York without having to go back to the office more than once every 5 years for a new card.
Cinemas: I had been looking forward to maybe seeing a foreign film or two that might not ever make it to San Antonio or be released on a DVD here in the US. However, I was surprised when doing my research. Like San Antonio, New York has fewer foreign films showing now; most "art" films are independent productions from the US. The foreign films that are showing are ones that will likely also make it to San Antonio. The one I have decided to possibly see is Nora's Will, a Mexican film that has won lots of awards. Another interesting fact is that the senior rate for admission to theaters offering foreign and independent films varies from being cheaper to being just a bit more expensive (from $6 to 9) than the senior rates here in San Antonio!
Museums: There is really only one museum that I have an interest in seeing. It is the Museum of Modern Art. It has been rebuilt since I saw it, so I am interested in seeing the architecture, the layout, and the art. If an exhibit at another museum catches my attention, I may go see it, but I have no plans for other museums at the moment.
Explorations: Among the places I want to explore are:
Fall Foliage in Central Park--Supposedly the black tupelo trees will be dropping red leaves in the open meadow below Belvedere Castle and the ginkgo trees in the Ramble will be dropping their leaves. There are other places to see leaves--Prospect Park in Brooklyn and the Green-Wood Cemetery which is also there--but I think that going to Central Park will be enough to satisfy me.
The High Line Park--A new elevated park that has built built on an abandoned raised rail track. I have read about it and want to see it and experience it.
New Amsterdam Market--Held each Sunday, this will be near where I am staying and should make an interesting outing on Sunday morning when nothing else much will be happening.
Eataly--A new Italian food and drink complex. I doubt if I will like it, but it has just opened and should be worth exploring to see what it is like.
Costco Harlem--Manhattan has its own Costco now. I'll check it out, eat a cheap hotdog while there, and maybe buy something to take back to the apartment for my dinner.
Special Events--It will be Halloween while I am there. There are two events related to it that I hope to attend:
Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade--The dogies are dressed in costumes by their owners and compete for prizes.
Village Halloween Parade--Anyone in a costume can join in the procession while 60,000 others watch from the sides of the street.
Dance:
Modern Dance at the BAM
Movement Research at Old Judson Church
Off Broadway Shows I Will Consider:
The Accidental Pervert
Gatz
Off Off Broadway Shows I Will Consider:
Balm in Gilead
Skin Deep
Reefer Madness, the Musical
Letter from Algeria
Dining: I have created a dining guide to small, inexpensive restaurants throughout New York including interesting neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. I always like to go to local neighborhoods and try the small restaurants which are often operated by immigrants. Some of the neighborhoods I may explore beyond Manhattan are Park Slope, Astoria, Long Island City, and Williamsburg.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Back in San Antonio
Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010--Bangkok to Tokyo to Los Angeles to San Antonio
I was up at 3:30. I slept well, because I took ibuprofen just before going to bed at 20:30 last night. I was awakened briefly by a small dog barking around midnight. Otherwise, it was a good night of sleep.
After checking out of the hotel at 3:50, I walked to the main street hoping to find a cruising taxi at that hour. Immediately, one came down the street and pulled over as I waved him down. However, he refused to use the meter. I guess he thought I would give into his demands and pay a higher price than necessary, because he pulled ahead and stopped for a while. I just walked a little further up the street and waved down another taxi. This driver had no problems with using the meter. I put my luggage inside and we were off at 4:00.
The trip to the airport was fast at that time of the morning. There was some drizzle, so I was glad I had gotten out of the hotel and caught the taxi while it was still dry. He let me off at the airport at 4:30, and the taxi cost was less than I expected--only 218 baht. Although tipping for taxis is usually just the extra loose change in Thailand, I hated to give him only 2 more baht at that hour, so I gave him 240 ($7.43).
No one was in line for my flight, so I was checked in immediately. One of the nice things about the Bangkok airport is that they have normal Thai banks providing exchange services (versus most airports which have commercial companies like Travelex which charge a $5-7 fee for any size of transaction). I was able to exchange the remainder of my baht (only about 400) at a good rate without a fee.
I was through security and waiting for my flight by 4:50--two hours before departure. That gave me time to do my spending update for the trip.
It was a six-hour flight from Bangkok to Tokyo. United served a really bad breakfast of scrambled eggs with sausage, meat balls, and potatoes. I watched the film Letters to Juliet which had horrible acting by the three young stars. I gave the film 1 1/2 stars out of 4. I also watched Ridley Scott's Robin Hood which I thought was quite good in contrast to what the critics have said. I liked the fact that it concentrated on what brought Robin Hood to the point of living in the forest and how he had the connection with Lady Marion. I gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
From Tokyo to Los Angeles was a LONG 10-hour flight. Among other things, I saw the film Shrek Forever After which was rather bad and The Bounty Hunter which wasn't any better.
I was upgraded to first class from Los Angeles to San Antonio. That helped, because I was very tired of traveling by then. Also, it meant that I got a nice snack pack to eat (olives, cheese, chips, crackers, cookies, etc.), whereas there is no food served in economy plus class.
Sue was at the airport to meet me. We got my luggage and headed to the condo. Everything was fine, but there will be major cleaning ahead of me. It is nice to be at home again!!
Spending Update: I spent $331.10 over 14 days during this last period in Thailand for an average of $23.65 per day. Since leaving Texas, I've spent $3303.46 over 120 days for an average of $27.53 per day for the whole trip. That's less than I have been spending in the past, but it is because I was in Asia the entire time rather than going through Europe where the higher prices cause my average expense to increase.
Recommended Blog: Last year I met Paul and Eleanor while traveling through the Balkans. In fact, we met again a few days later when we were on the same bus traveling from Bulgaria to Romania. They are both teachers from England--Paul in mathematics and Eleanor in English. We talked about around-the-world travel a lot, and they had many questions for me. They were interested in making such a trip. During the past year, we have written many e-mails back and forth as they have planned an around-the-world trip of their own. They departed last month, and they are keeping random entries (rather than a daily log) of their trip. If anyone reading this blog would be interested, here is the link to their blog so that you can follow their travels: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulandeleanor/1/1281638415/tpod.html
Future Travels: Although I have ended my around-the-world trips, I will still be traveling to various places around the world. I have a trip to New York coming up in late October. I am considering the idea of going there for a month each year to enjoy the experiences I cannot have here in San Antonio. Also, I plan to make the first of several trips to South America and Central America soon to visit places that I have missed previously. I plan to go for 6-8 weeks at a time and visit 2-3 countries on each visit. That way, I can still travel at the same pace that I have followed previously while not being gone from home so much at one time. Regular readers should just check back occasionally to see if I am taking another trip and blogging about it.
I was up at 3:30. I slept well, because I took ibuprofen just before going to bed at 20:30 last night. I was awakened briefly by a small dog barking around midnight. Otherwise, it was a good night of sleep.
After checking out of the hotel at 3:50, I walked to the main street hoping to find a cruising taxi at that hour. Immediately, one came down the street and pulled over as I waved him down. However, he refused to use the meter. I guess he thought I would give into his demands and pay a higher price than necessary, because he pulled ahead and stopped for a while. I just walked a little further up the street and waved down another taxi. This driver had no problems with using the meter. I put my luggage inside and we were off at 4:00.
The trip to the airport was fast at that time of the morning. There was some drizzle, so I was glad I had gotten out of the hotel and caught the taxi while it was still dry. He let me off at the airport at 4:30, and the taxi cost was less than I expected--only 218 baht. Although tipping for taxis is usually just the extra loose change in Thailand, I hated to give him only 2 more baht at that hour, so I gave him 240 ($7.43).
No one was in line for my flight, so I was checked in immediately. One of the nice things about the Bangkok airport is that they have normal Thai banks providing exchange services (versus most airports which have commercial companies like Travelex which charge a $5-7 fee for any size of transaction). I was able to exchange the remainder of my baht (only about 400) at a good rate without a fee.
I was through security and waiting for my flight by 4:50--two hours before departure. That gave me time to do my spending update for the trip.
It was a six-hour flight from Bangkok to Tokyo. United served a really bad breakfast of scrambled eggs with sausage, meat balls, and potatoes. I watched the film Letters to Juliet which had horrible acting by the three young stars. I gave the film 1 1/2 stars out of 4. I also watched Ridley Scott's Robin Hood which I thought was quite good in contrast to what the critics have said. I liked the fact that it concentrated on what brought Robin Hood to the point of living in the forest and how he had the connection with Lady Marion. I gave it 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
From Tokyo to Los Angeles was a LONG 10-hour flight. Among other things, I saw the film Shrek Forever After which was rather bad and The Bounty Hunter which wasn't any better.
I was upgraded to first class from Los Angeles to San Antonio. That helped, because I was very tired of traveling by then. Also, it meant that I got a nice snack pack to eat (olives, cheese, chips, crackers, cookies, etc.), whereas there is no food served in economy plus class.
Sue was at the airport to meet me. We got my luggage and headed to the condo. Everything was fine, but there will be major cleaning ahead of me. It is nice to be at home again!!
Spending Update: I spent $331.10 over 14 days during this last period in Thailand for an average of $23.65 per day. Since leaving Texas, I've spent $3303.46 over 120 days for an average of $27.53 per day for the whole trip. That's less than I have been spending in the past, but it is because I was in Asia the entire time rather than going through Europe where the higher prices cause my average expense to increase.
Recommended Blog: Last year I met Paul and Eleanor while traveling through the Balkans. In fact, we met again a few days later when we were on the same bus traveling from Bulgaria to Romania. They are both teachers from England--Paul in mathematics and Eleanor in English. We talked about around-the-world travel a lot, and they had many questions for me. They were interested in making such a trip. During the past year, we have written many e-mails back and forth as they have planned an around-the-world trip of their own. They departed last month, and they are keeping random entries (rather than a daily log) of their trip. If anyone reading this blog would be interested, here is the link to their blog so that you can follow their travels: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/paulandeleanor/1/1281638415/tpod.html
Future Travels: Although I have ended my around-the-world trips, I will still be traveling to various places around the world. I have a trip to New York coming up in late October. I am considering the idea of going there for a month each year to enjoy the experiences I cannot have here in San Antonio. Also, I plan to make the first of several trips to South America and Central America soon to visit places that I have missed previously. I plan to go for 6-8 weeks at a time and visit 2-3 countries on each visit. That way, I can still travel at the same pace that I have followed previously while not being gone from home so much at one time. Regular readers should just check back occasionally to see if I am taking another trip and blogging about it.
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Ready to Head Home
Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010--Bangkok
I got a call from Ty, a friend who works at a travel agency and had communicated with me over the Internet. He works near my hotel and asked if I would like to meet him for lunch. I went to the nearby park and read for about an hour, then I met him at the SkyTrain station nearby at noon. He took me to a small place near there where he said he often eats lunch. I had green curry with chicken and two small fish cakes with a spicy dip.
When he headed back to work, I went to Chulalongkorn University to see their current art exhibition. Unfortunately, it was not anything that I could appreciate. From there, I went to the Lido to see the only foreign film they had showing--Baaria, an Italian epic which was nominated for a Golden Globe last year as the best foreign-language film. The story was too sweeping and moved too fast. It would have made a great 8-hour mini-series for TV. As a film, however, the sets, costumes, and cinematography were fantastic. I gave the film 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
When I came out of the theater, there was heavy rain with full sunshine. The sun was low in the sky and shining under the clouds. But the sidewalks and streets were flooding from such heavy rain. It was impossible to come back to the hotel without my shoes and socks getting completely soaked.
Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010--Bangkok
This is my last day in town, and there is nothing in particular that I wanted to do. I stayed in the room most of the morning. Just before noon, I walked to the main shopping area where I visited the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. It's a bit like Blue Star in San Antonio in that there is an exhibit space as well as spaces rented out to galleries and artists. Unfortunately, a big exhibit had closed last week, and they only had a small exhibit in place today consisting of some very nice photography of Thai people and the Thai landscape.
After eating, I returned to the room. I panicked when I couldn't find my receipt for my key deposit, because I have spent almost all of my Thai currency and had planned to use the key deposit to pay for my taxi ride to the airport tomorrow. Here in Asia it is quite common for hotels to charge a cash deposit for the key and give a receipt. They imply that you must return BOTH the key and the receipt to get the deposit back. Fortunately, it had gotten between two older receipts, and I found it when I checked a second time around.
Everything is packed and ready for me to leave tomorrow morning. I hope to be able to go to sleep at 20:30, since I have set the alarm to get me up at 3:30 tomorrow morning. I HATE early flights, but there was no way to get all the way to San Antonio in one day without leaving that early.
I'll make one final post when I get home to tell about the trip, to give a spending update, and to recommend a travel blog you might want to follow if you enjoy reading this one.
I got a call from Ty, a friend who works at a travel agency and had communicated with me over the Internet. He works near my hotel and asked if I would like to meet him for lunch. I went to the nearby park and read for about an hour, then I met him at the SkyTrain station nearby at noon. He took me to a small place near there where he said he often eats lunch. I had green curry with chicken and two small fish cakes with a spicy dip.
When he headed back to work, I went to Chulalongkorn University to see their current art exhibition. Unfortunately, it was not anything that I could appreciate. From there, I went to the Lido to see the only foreign film they had showing--Baaria, an Italian epic which was nominated for a Golden Globe last year as the best foreign-language film. The story was too sweeping and moved too fast. It would have made a great 8-hour mini-series for TV. As a film, however, the sets, costumes, and cinematography were fantastic. I gave the film 2 1/2 stars out of 4.
When I came out of the theater, there was heavy rain with full sunshine. The sun was low in the sky and shining under the clouds. But the sidewalks and streets were flooding from such heavy rain. It was impossible to come back to the hotel without my shoes and socks getting completely soaked.
Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010--Bangkok
This is my last day in town, and there is nothing in particular that I wanted to do. I stayed in the room most of the morning. Just before noon, I walked to the main shopping area where I visited the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. It's a bit like Blue Star in San Antonio in that there is an exhibit space as well as spaces rented out to galleries and artists. Unfortunately, a big exhibit had closed last week, and they only had a small exhibit in place today consisting of some very nice photography of Thai people and the Thai landscape.
After eating, I returned to the room. I panicked when I couldn't find my receipt for my key deposit, because I have spent almost all of my Thai currency and had planned to use the key deposit to pay for my taxi ride to the airport tomorrow. Here in Asia it is quite common for hotels to charge a cash deposit for the key and give a receipt. They imply that you must return BOTH the key and the receipt to get the deposit back. Fortunately, it had gotten between two older receipts, and I found it when I checked a second time around.
Everything is packed and ready for me to leave tomorrow morning. I hope to be able to go to sleep at 20:30, since I have set the alarm to get me up at 3:30 tomorrow morning. I HATE early flights, but there was no way to get all the way to San Antonio in one day without leaving that early.
I'll make one final post when I get home to tell about the trip, to give a spending update, and to recommend a travel blog you might want to follow if you enjoy reading this one.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Last Days in Bangkok Probably for Many Years
Sunday, Aug. 29, 2010--Bangkok
Lumphini Park is near my hotel. I took my book and went there early this morning. Some young men were playing basketball. Many people were jogging, especially since it was cloudy making the weather rather comfortable. Parents had brought their children to the playground. I sat on a bench away from the crowds and read for about two hours.
After returning to the hotel for a short nap, I decided to make a final trip to the Silom Sauna, a local sauna I normally visit each time I am in Bangkok. It is only about a 40-minute walk from my hotel--closer than it was from the hotel where I previously stayed. It was a bit quieter than normally on a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, no one spoke to me. I ate the food that is served (hot green lentil soup, fresh watermelon and pineapple with a sugar-pepper mixture for dipping it, and a bowl of dark gelatin). I spent time in both the dry and the steam saunas. I watched Thai boxing on the TV. It was a nice way to pass three hours.
On the way back to the hotel, I passed a western man who paused to look at the map at a metro station. I asked if he was trying to find some place in particular. He explained that he was spending the afternoon trying to find an apartment to rent and that they were asking ridiculous prices. Part of his problem is that he was looking in an area that is near many embassies, so they are used to westerners wanting fancy, expensive places to stay and not worrying about the price since their government will pay. He complained that he found one place for 7000 baht (about $220) that he could afford, but it was just a bed, a coffee table, two chairs, a bath, and a sink. There wasn't even a refrigerator. We didn't talk long, but his plan is to rent an apartment here and find a job. I don't know what kind of job he hopes to get. And I wonder how he will be able to live here considering the visa requirements. But I just moved on and left him to it.
Monday, Aug. 30, 2010--Bangkok
After eating my breakfast of muesli in the room, I returned to Lumphini Park to read this morning. There were two bands in the park today--one consisting of elementary school students and another consisting of middle school students. They were both brass bands. I'm not sure why they were rehearsing in the park unless it was to avoid bothering neighbors or classes if they had done so at their campus.
There's sad news today about foreign cinema. First, in the Houston Chronicle, there is an article saying that the Angelika Cinema has closed. That leaves Houston with only one 3-screen cinema that specializes completely in foreign and independent cinema. Then when I walked to the Siam Square area to see what films are showing here right now, I faced two more sad circumstances. First, the Siam Cinema which was a old, large cinema with over 800 seats and was one of 5 screens operated by Apex in three cinemas specializing in foreign and independent films was gone. It was burned in the protests/riots this summer. And second, of the remaining 4 screens, only one is showing a foreign film. All the other screens are showing popular American films. How sad.
The film I would like to see was not scheduled until 14:45, so I decided to wait and see it tomorrow. I went to the food halls at the Siam Paragon Mall. I sampled a few specialty products at the Gourmet Market. Then I went to Burger King and ate a barbecue beef sandwich.
I'm really craving certain foods. During the last 4 months, all my meals except for maybe 6 or 7 have been Asian foods. When I get home, I am looking forward to things such as these: cheeses, salami, sandwiches of all kinds, pizza, Mexican food, potatoes, beef, etc.
I finished reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky today. It's an interesting story and well written. My only complaint is that it, like many novels from the 1800s, delves too much into philosophy. It distracts from the story. I gave the book 3 stars out of 4.
Lumphini Park is near my hotel. I took my book and went there early this morning. Some young men were playing basketball. Many people were jogging, especially since it was cloudy making the weather rather comfortable. Parents had brought their children to the playground. I sat on a bench away from the crowds and read for about two hours.
After returning to the hotel for a short nap, I decided to make a final trip to the Silom Sauna, a local sauna I normally visit each time I am in Bangkok. It is only about a 40-minute walk from my hotel--closer than it was from the hotel where I previously stayed. It was a bit quieter than normally on a Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, no one spoke to me. I ate the food that is served (hot green lentil soup, fresh watermelon and pineapple with a sugar-pepper mixture for dipping it, and a bowl of dark gelatin). I spent time in both the dry and the steam saunas. I watched Thai boxing on the TV. It was a nice way to pass three hours.
On the way back to the hotel, I passed a western man who paused to look at the map at a metro station. I asked if he was trying to find some place in particular. He explained that he was spending the afternoon trying to find an apartment to rent and that they were asking ridiculous prices. Part of his problem is that he was looking in an area that is near many embassies, so they are used to westerners wanting fancy, expensive places to stay and not worrying about the price since their government will pay. He complained that he found one place for 7000 baht (about $220) that he could afford, but it was just a bed, a coffee table, two chairs, a bath, and a sink. There wasn't even a refrigerator. We didn't talk long, but his plan is to rent an apartment here and find a job. I don't know what kind of job he hopes to get. And I wonder how he will be able to live here considering the visa requirements. But I just moved on and left him to it.
Monday, Aug. 30, 2010--Bangkok
After eating my breakfast of muesli in the room, I returned to Lumphini Park to read this morning. There were two bands in the park today--one consisting of elementary school students and another consisting of middle school students. They were both brass bands. I'm not sure why they were rehearsing in the park unless it was to avoid bothering neighbors or classes if they had done so at their campus.
There's sad news today about foreign cinema. First, in the Houston Chronicle, there is an article saying that the Angelika Cinema has closed. That leaves Houston with only one 3-screen cinema that specializes completely in foreign and independent cinema. Then when I walked to the Siam Square area to see what films are showing here right now, I faced two more sad circumstances. First, the Siam Cinema which was a old, large cinema with over 800 seats and was one of 5 screens operated by Apex in three cinemas specializing in foreign and independent films was gone. It was burned in the protests/riots this summer. And second, of the remaining 4 screens, only one is showing a foreign film. All the other screens are showing popular American films. How sad.
The film I would like to see was not scheduled until 14:45, so I decided to wait and see it tomorrow. I went to the food halls at the Siam Paragon Mall. I sampled a few specialty products at the Gourmet Market. Then I went to Burger King and ate a barbecue beef sandwich.
I'm really craving certain foods. During the last 4 months, all my meals except for maybe 6 or 7 have been Asian foods. When I get home, I am looking forward to things such as these: cheeses, salami, sandwiches of all kinds, pizza, Mexican food, potatoes, beef, etc.
I finished reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky today. It's an interesting story and well written. My only complaint is that it, like many novels from the 1800s, delves too much into philosophy. It distracts from the story. I gave the book 3 stars out of 4.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Returning to Bangkok
Friday, Aug. 27, 2010--Korat
The Internet service at the hotel went off about 16:30 yesterday and didn't return until 16:00 today. It was frustrating not being able to get online. I spent the morning sitting in the open-air lobby of the hotel reading. I walked to the nearby morning market and bought some pastries for my breakfast.
Since I couldn't use the computer and needed to check information about traveling tomorrow, I decided to take the computer to the hotel where I stayed before. Their wifi passward was inside the computer already. That's when I discovered that the problem with the service was city-wide and not just in the neighborhood of my apartment complex. The cyber cafes along the way were closed, and the computer could not connect when I turned it on next door to the former hotel. Due to that, I decided to walk to the train station to check on their schedules. Although the trains are slow, the station in Bangkok is a better location to arrive than the bus station. Unfortunately, there were only two trains scheduled. The one around 8:30 is a third-class only train with no seat reservations making it uncertain whether I could sit or not. The one at 10:30 is the "express" train" which still takes over 4 hours to get to Bangkok while costing almost twice the price of bus service. I decided that a bus would be the best way to go due to the fact that the time involved would be shorter than any of the trains (about half the time of the third-class train) and its cost would be cheaper in relation to the express train.
While eating Phad Thai at a street stall, I accidentally got a dried red pepper flake in my right eye. Wow, did it burn!! I couldn't get the flake out of my eye, so I just had to continue eating with the eye watering until the flake lost its power. I was sharing a small table with a local man who seemed pleased to see me add the pepper to the dish, since most Thai people believe that westerners do not appreciate the fact that their food should normally be spicy.
Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010--Korat to Bangkok
I've been going to bed early and getting up early lately. This morning, I was up by 6:15. That further supported my decision I had made to take the bus rather than the train. I bathed, packed, and walked to the bus station where I got a VIP bus (hot chocolate, water, and breakfast buns) that departed at 7:40.
The main reason that the train station is more convenient than the bus station is Bangkok is that an underground metro station is located at the train station. With the bus station, both the underground metro and the sky train have services, but they are one major road away. It was necessary to climb an overhead crosswalk with the luggage and go over and down again. Then I had to walk on the edge of the street until I could cross under an expressway that blocked the route. Finally, I had to go through two parts of a park. Once there, however, the Sky Train took me to the street where my hotel is located. I just had to walk the equivalent of about six blocks to get to it.
The Sawasdee Lang Suan is a new hotel for me. It is in a good location. The shops and restaurants near it are quite elegant. There are many embassies in the area; the US Embassy is nearby on the next major street going eastward. The room is fine, although I've always disliked dark brownish-red carpeting which it has; it just seems to be an effort to cover up dirtiness. The bed is good, and the location is quiet. There is a built-in glass desk for me to use the computer with the free wifi. I miss the Mandarin where I have stayed before and the personnel, but this hotel has more TV channels and the wifi for about half the price of the Mandarin. I'll miss the good breakfast at the Mandarin, since I have none here, but getting breakfast and doing without wifi is not worth the extra $20 per night.
I am closer to the shopping district of Bangkok at this hotel than I was at the Mandarin, but I am just as far from the PART of the shopping district that I prefer. I walked to there to search for something to eat and to buy some things to keep in the room. Unfortunately, it was about 16:00 and the street stalls that had been up for the daytime were closing and the ones for the evening were not yet opening. I ended up having a McSpicy chicken sandwich and fries at McDonald's.
I was surprised to see Central Plaza Mall on this end of the shopping district completely destroyed. When I was here before, I saw that the Siam Discovery Center had been damaged and was being rebuilt. But seeing Central Plaza Mall indicates that the problems with the demonstrations and riots this spring was worse than the publicity indicated. It's possible to see the caved-in roof, bullet holes in the glass, etc. This was the second largest shopping mall in Asia and was bigger than Mall of the Americas. News coverage that I saw did not make the damages to the city seem as bad as it was. Maybe that is because the government here is military-backed and was censoring what could go out.
I stopped at a supermarket after going to McDonald's and bought some supplies for the room--muesli and milk for my breakfasts and cookies and chips for a snack on rainy days. Then I stayed inside in the evening.
The Internet service at the hotel went off about 16:30 yesterday and didn't return until 16:00 today. It was frustrating not being able to get online. I spent the morning sitting in the open-air lobby of the hotel reading. I walked to the nearby morning market and bought some pastries for my breakfast.
Since I couldn't use the computer and needed to check information about traveling tomorrow, I decided to take the computer to the hotel where I stayed before. Their wifi passward was inside the computer already. That's when I discovered that the problem with the service was city-wide and not just in the neighborhood of my apartment complex. The cyber cafes along the way were closed, and the computer could not connect when I turned it on next door to the former hotel. Due to that, I decided to walk to the train station to check on their schedules. Although the trains are slow, the station in Bangkok is a better location to arrive than the bus station. Unfortunately, there were only two trains scheduled. The one around 8:30 is a third-class only train with no seat reservations making it uncertain whether I could sit or not. The one at 10:30 is the "express" train" which still takes over 4 hours to get to Bangkok while costing almost twice the price of bus service. I decided that a bus would be the best way to go due to the fact that the time involved would be shorter than any of the trains (about half the time of the third-class train) and its cost would be cheaper in relation to the express train.
While eating Phad Thai at a street stall, I accidentally got a dried red pepper flake in my right eye. Wow, did it burn!! I couldn't get the flake out of my eye, so I just had to continue eating with the eye watering until the flake lost its power. I was sharing a small table with a local man who seemed pleased to see me add the pepper to the dish, since most Thai people believe that westerners do not appreciate the fact that their food should normally be spicy.
Saturday, Aug. 28, 2010--Korat to Bangkok
I've been going to bed early and getting up early lately. This morning, I was up by 6:15. That further supported my decision I had made to take the bus rather than the train. I bathed, packed, and walked to the bus station where I got a VIP bus (hot chocolate, water, and breakfast buns) that departed at 7:40.
The main reason that the train station is more convenient than the bus station is Bangkok is that an underground metro station is located at the train station. With the bus station, both the underground metro and the sky train have services, but they are one major road away. It was necessary to climb an overhead crosswalk with the luggage and go over and down again. Then I had to walk on the edge of the street until I could cross under an expressway that blocked the route. Finally, I had to go through two parts of a park. Once there, however, the Sky Train took me to the street where my hotel is located. I just had to walk the equivalent of about six blocks to get to it.
The Sawasdee Lang Suan is a new hotel for me. It is in a good location. The shops and restaurants near it are quite elegant. There are many embassies in the area; the US Embassy is nearby on the next major street going eastward. The room is fine, although I've always disliked dark brownish-red carpeting which it has; it just seems to be an effort to cover up dirtiness. The bed is good, and the location is quiet. There is a built-in glass desk for me to use the computer with the free wifi. I miss the Mandarin where I have stayed before and the personnel, but this hotel has more TV channels and the wifi for about half the price of the Mandarin. I'll miss the good breakfast at the Mandarin, since I have none here, but getting breakfast and doing without wifi is not worth the extra $20 per night.
I am closer to the shopping district of Bangkok at this hotel than I was at the Mandarin, but I am just as far from the PART of the shopping district that I prefer. I walked to there to search for something to eat and to buy some things to keep in the room. Unfortunately, it was about 16:00 and the street stalls that had been up for the daytime were closing and the ones for the evening were not yet opening. I ended up having a McSpicy chicken sandwich and fries at McDonald's.
I was surprised to see Central Plaza Mall on this end of the shopping district completely destroyed. When I was here before, I saw that the Siam Discovery Center had been damaged and was being rebuilt. But seeing Central Plaza Mall indicates that the problems with the demonstrations and riots this spring was worse than the publicity indicated. It's possible to see the caved-in roof, bullet holes in the glass, etc. This was the second largest shopping mall in Asia and was bigger than Mall of the Americas. News coverage that I saw did not make the damages to the city seem as bad as it was. Maybe that is because the government here is military-backed and was censoring what could go out.
I stopped at a supermarket after going to McDonald's and bought some supplies for the room--muesli and milk for my breakfasts and cookies and chips for a snack on rainy days. Then I stayed inside in the evening.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Working My Way Back toward Bangkok
Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010—Khon Kaen
After rains last night, this morning is cool and cloudy. The hotel serves a free simple breakfast—corn flakes, toast, butter, jam, coffee and tea. I ate that in the open-air lobby downstairs. I also read the Bangkok Post, one of the two local English language newspapers, which they have available there. Then I went to explore the town some more.
There is a very nice shrine complex in town. It was crowded with people bringing food offerings. Today must be a religious holiday. The foods were numerous and fancy. Also, everyone all over town is burning paper in pots. This comes from an old tradition of burning money to show appreciation for their prosperity, but today they use scrap paper as a stand-in for real money. Is that because they are not as prosperous or because they are less thankful?
The city has a very nice market. It’s large and in a clean, organized building. People were shopping for everything there. I considered buying flowers to take back to my hotel room, but I didn’t plan to return soon, and I didn’t want to carry them.
I passed a specialty food store with Thai gourmet items for sale and went inside. I finally got an answer to one of the questions I’ve had. The sandwiches I have been buying all have a fluffy, dry, stringy product placed along the outer edge. It looks a bit like beige fiberglass. Now I know it is shredded pork. While there, I bought a package of the peanut-sesame seed brittle which is one of my favorite snack foods in this area. It’s like peanut brittle at home except for two differences: They use peanut halves so that the brittle can be very thin and more easy to bite, and they add toasted sesame seeds which makes the flavor nicer. Here is a link to a recipe for it.
On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at the mall again. I didn’t feel like having Thai food, so I went to McDonald’s for a late lunch. It’s my least favorite burger place, but it’s the only choice here. I ordered a chicken sandwich. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about having the same food item in China on this trip until I bit into it. It’s a compressed chicken item, so it is almost impossible to bite. One has to bite into it and pull hard. Eventually, long strands of chicken shred away from the patty so that they can be chewed and swallowed. The fries were much better than the chicken sandwich.
The rest of the day was spent in the room reading, on the computer, and watching TV.
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010—Khon Kaen
The owner of the hotel is Irish and is married to a beautiful, elegant Thai woman who looks as if she could have been a beauty pageant contestant. Both of them have talked to me off and on. When he learned about my job background, he told me there was an American professor from San Diego staying at the hotel, too, who is here for some work. Well, he was downstairs for breakfast at the same time that I was this morning, so we got to meet and visit.
Instead of a professor, he is a doctoral student from the University of San Diego, California, in the field of anthropology. He was here earlier for 30 months to do field research on his dissertation related to community action groups that are working to improve life for small villages. He is back now for some follow-up work as he writes the last three chapters of his dissertation. We chatted for about an hour.
Today I just stayed in the neighborhood. I walked up the street to find a place for lunch. It was a local, open-air restaurant beside a large auto repair shop. Most of the diners worked at the repair shop. Neither the owner nor her customers was used to foreigners eating there. They were all smiling and commenting. I just ordered what I saw her cooking—a stir fry with chicken and green vegetables served over rice.
Most of the afternoon was spent doing planning on the computer. I will leave tomorrow.
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010—Khon Kaen to Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat)
This was a travel day and the next-to-last leg of the gradual trip back to Bangkok. I returned to Nakhon Ratchasima (also called Korat—a city with a nickname!). It was my first stop when I left Bangkok almost two months ago. I remember thinking and writing at the time about how poor the city is. Well, the same thought came back today. This has to be the poorest city I have visited. It just shows in the dress and general appearance of the people. I think they must be poorer than the people anywhere I went in Laos, too.
It was already hot when I left the hotel for the bus station at 7:45. Fortunately, it was only about a mile away. The next bus wasn’t leaving for about 45 minutes, so I pulled out my book and began reading.
The bus was a “VIP” bus. In this part of the world, VIP is used often. Apparently everyone wants to think or pretend he is a VIP. What it means in terms of bus riding is that the bus is fairly new and has air conditioning, the rider is given a bottle of water and a small package of cookies, no stops are made between stations to pick up or let off passengers, and the ticket price is about 50-100% higher.
It took about 4 hours for the trip. I read part of the way, but the bus was bouncing quite a bit which made it difficult to do so. I napped for part of the time. Since it was 13:45 when we arrived, it was HOT walking to the apartment building where I am staying.
I am disappointed in the apartment building. I thought it would be nicer than it is. It is okay, but a bit warn. The place I stayed here before was nicer and just a bit more in price. Also, I am having trouble with the wifi here; I was online for about 2 1/2 hours, but I have not been able to get online since. I chose the apartment for two reasons: to have a different experience and to be closer to the train station for going to Bangkok. I may go see if a room is available at the Sansabai where I stayed before if I cannot get back online here tomorrow morning.
As I went out to find a place for dinner, I met an Australian man and his new Thai bridge downstairs. They have been here for two months. He is probably about my age. She looks to be around 35. He told me there are several western men who meet at a bar across the street on Fridays to drink and visit. He and his wife plan to spend six months here and six months in Australia each year. Her family has a farm just outside of town.
I had a dish that is made from broad, homemade noodles in gravy for dinner. It included pork and the same green vegetable that is in most Thai dishes. The green vegetable is interesting. It is a bit like spinach with leaves and stems. It isn’t easy to chew. The stems are crunchy, and the leaves are a bit rubbery. The only processing that takes place is what is done with the teeth while chewing it. Whatever form one leaves it in when swallowing it is the form that it has when it comes out later. It appears to be a very good roughage material for eating. I’m not sure if any nutrients come from it since the stomach doesn’t seem to have an effect on it at all.
I’ve had bug fears recently on this trip. All the newspapers are running stories about bed bugs. There were TWO stories in one major newspaper on the same day this week! Of course, one of the warnings is that bed bugs are increasingly a problem due to increased international travel. Sleeping in maybe 35-40 hotels on each of my trips, my chances of encountering them are increased. I did have bed bugs in a hotel in Cochin, India, a few years ago In fact, I had them there twice, since I forgot about them and returned to the same hotel a couple of years later. It was horrible trying to sleep. On this trip, my bugs have been imaginary due to reading the articles. Once, earlier in the trip, I imagined that I had gotten head lice. My scalp gets itchy if I use certain shampoos. Normally it is fine, but I must have gotten a hotel shampoo that gave me the reaction. I switched to my own shampoo, but it takes about 3 days for the itch to go away. So for three days I kept thinking I felt lice moving around up there. I just knew I had gotten them from either sitting next to someone on the bus or from having a photo taken with a local person who had leaned his head toward mine. However, the itch went away. And lice NEVER go away without treatment; therefore, it was all my imagination. A couple of times since reading the recent stories, I have felt as if I was being bitten in bed and have gotten up to inspect. Each time it has been a false alarm—just the usual occasional itchy spot due to dry skin. Hope I make it home safely without any bed bugs hitching a ride in my luggage which is one way the articles all say they travel.
After rains last night, this morning is cool and cloudy. The hotel serves a free simple breakfast—corn flakes, toast, butter, jam, coffee and tea. I ate that in the open-air lobby downstairs. I also read the Bangkok Post, one of the two local English language newspapers, which they have available there. Then I went to explore the town some more.
There is a very nice shrine complex in town. It was crowded with people bringing food offerings. Today must be a religious holiday. The foods were numerous and fancy. Also, everyone all over town is burning paper in pots. This comes from an old tradition of burning money to show appreciation for their prosperity, but today they use scrap paper as a stand-in for real money. Is that because they are not as prosperous or because they are less thankful?
The city has a very nice market. It’s large and in a clean, organized building. People were shopping for everything there. I considered buying flowers to take back to my hotel room, but I didn’t plan to return soon, and I didn’t want to carry them.
I passed a specialty food store with Thai gourmet items for sale and went inside. I finally got an answer to one of the questions I’ve had. The sandwiches I have been buying all have a fluffy, dry, stringy product placed along the outer edge. It looks a bit like beige fiberglass. Now I know it is shredded pork. While there, I bought a package of the peanut-sesame seed brittle which is one of my favorite snack foods in this area. It’s like peanut brittle at home except for two differences: They use peanut halves so that the brittle can be very thin and more easy to bite, and they add toasted sesame seeds which makes the flavor nicer. Here is a link to a recipe for it.
On my way back to the hotel, I stopped at the mall again. I didn’t feel like having Thai food, so I went to McDonald’s for a late lunch. It’s my least favorite burger place, but it’s the only choice here. I ordered a chicken sandwich. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about having the same food item in China on this trip until I bit into it. It’s a compressed chicken item, so it is almost impossible to bite. One has to bite into it and pull hard. Eventually, long strands of chicken shred away from the patty so that they can be chewed and swallowed. The fries were much better than the chicken sandwich.
The rest of the day was spent in the room reading, on the computer, and watching TV.
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010—Khon Kaen
The owner of the hotel is Irish and is married to a beautiful, elegant Thai woman who looks as if she could have been a beauty pageant contestant. Both of them have talked to me off and on. When he learned about my job background, he told me there was an American professor from San Diego staying at the hotel, too, who is here for some work. Well, he was downstairs for breakfast at the same time that I was this morning, so we got to meet and visit.
Instead of a professor, he is a doctoral student from the University of San Diego, California, in the field of anthropology. He was here earlier for 30 months to do field research on his dissertation related to community action groups that are working to improve life for small villages. He is back now for some follow-up work as he writes the last three chapters of his dissertation. We chatted for about an hour.
Today I just stayed in the neighborhood. I walked up the street to find a place for lunch. It was a local, open-air restaurant beside a large auto repair shop. Most of the diners worked at the repair shop. Neither the owner nor her customers was used to foreigners eating there. They were all smiling and commenting. I just ordered what I saw her cooking—a stir fry with chicken and green vegetables served over rice.
Most of the afternoon was spent doing planning on the computer. I will leave tomorrow.
Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010—Khon Kaen to Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat)
This was a travel day and the next-to-last leg of the gradual trip back to Bangkok. I returned to Nakhon Ratchasima (also called Korat—a city with a nickname!). It was my first stop when I left Bangkok almost two months ago. I remember thinking and writing at the time about how poor the city is. Well, the same thought came back today. This has to be the poorest city I have visited. It just shows in the dress and general appearance of the people. I think they must be poorer than the people anywhere I went in Laos, too.
It was already hot when I left the hotel for the bus station at 7:45. Fortunately, it was only about a mile away. The next bus wasn’t leaving for about 45 minutes, so I pulled out my book and began reading.
The bus was a “VIP” bus. In this part of the world, VIP is used often. Apparently everyone wants to think or pretend he is a VIP. What it means in terms of bus riding is that the bus is fairly new and has air conditioning, the rider is given a bottle of water and a small package of cookies, no stops are made between stations to pick up or let off passengers, and the ticket price is about 50-100% higher.
It took about 4 hours for the trip. I read part of the way, but the bus was bouncing quite a bit which made it difficult to do so. I napped for part of the time. Since it was 13:45 when we arrived, it was HOT walking to the apartment building where I am staying.
I am disappointed in the apartment building. I thought it would be nicer than it is. It is okay, but a bit warn. The place I stayed here before was nicer and just a bit more in price. Also, I am having trouble with the wifi here; I was online for about 2 1/2 hours, but I have not been able to get online since. I chose the apartment for two reasons: to have a different experience and to be closer to the train station for going to Bangkok. I may go see if a room is available at the Sansabai where I stayed before if I cannot get back online here tomorrow morning.
As I went out to find a place for dinner, I met an Australian man and his new Thai bridge downstairs. They have been here for two months. He is probably about my age. She looks to be around 35. He told me there are several western men who meet at a bar across the street on Fridays to drink and visit. He and his wife plan to spend six months here and six months in Australia each year. Her family has a farm just outside of town.
I had a dish that is made from broad, homemade noodles in gravy for dinner. It included pork and the same green vegetable that is in most Thai dishes. The green vegetable is interesting. It is a bit like spinach with leaves and stems. It isn’t easy to chew. The stems are crunchy, and the leaves are a bit rubbery. The only processing that takes place is what is done with the teeth while chewing it. Whatever form one leaves it in when swallowing it is the form that it has when it comes out later. It appears to be a very good roughage material for eating. I’m not sure if any nutrients come from it since the stomach doesn’t seem to have an effect on it at all.
I’ve had bug fears recently on this trip. All the newspapers are running stories about bed bugs. There were TWO stories in one major newspaper on the same day this week! Of course, one of the warnings is that bed bugs are increasingly a problem due to increased international travel. Sleeping in maybe 35-40 hotels on each of my trips, my chances of encountering them are increased. I did have bed bugs in a hotel in Cochin, India, a few years ago In fact, I had them there twice, since I forgot about them and returned to the same hotel a couple of years later. It was horrible trying to sleep. On this trip, my bugs have been imaginary due to reading the articles. Once, earlier in the trip, I imagined that I had gotten head lice. My scalp gets itchy if I use certain shampoos. Normally it is fine, but I must have gotten a hotel shampoo that gave me the reaction. I switched to my own shampoo, but it takes about 3 days for the itch to go away. So for three days I kept thinking I felt lice moving around up there. I just knew I had gotten them from either sitting next to someone on the bus or from having a photo taken with a local person who had leaned his head toward mine. However, the itch went away. And lice NEVER go away without treatment; therefore, it was all my imagination. A couple of times since reading the recent stories, I have felt as if I was being bitten in bed and have gotten up to inspect. Each time it has been a false alarm—just the usual occasional itchy spot due to dry skin. Hope I make it home safely without any bed bugs hitching a ride in my luggage which is one way the articles all say they travel.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Udon Thani
Saturday, Aug. 21, 2010--Nong Khai to Udon Thani
There was heavy rain during the night. It was dry when I left the guest house, but rain began again about half the way to the bus station. Normally, I wouldn't travel on a day like this, but there was no reason to remain longer in Nong Khai.
We got out of the rain and it was dry when I arrived in Udon Thani. I ran into trouble finding a room, however. My first choice was a serviced apartment complex, but I couldn't find it. The building at the address on their website was locked. Usually these places are big buildings with offices that are open 24 hours per day. My second choice, also a serviced apartment, was a disappointment because they have wifi only in their lobby area and not in the rooms without paying extra. As I walked to my third choice place which was across town, the rain began again. Fortunately, Jan Condotel had a room and had free wifi. I checked in and stayed inside most of the day because the rain continued until 17:00.
Although across town from the bus station, Jan Condotel proved to be a good location. There isn't much worth seeing or doing in Udon Thani, but there is a wonderful park and lake that is near where I was staying. I walked entirely around the lake seeing many activities in the park and on the streets beside it: joggers and bicyclists each with separate pavements around the park, restaurants serving fish and other foods, places for painting ceramics, places for getting massage, exercise groups, etc.
I ate a very nice dish for dinner near my room. It was rice topped with slices of park with a dark sauce and was served with slices of cucumber and with green onions.
Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010--Udon Thani
The weather was nice, so I walked back to the bus station to check schedules for leaving tomorrow. I had read that Udon has nice breads and sandwiches, so I stopped at a local place where a woman made me two small sandwiches. They were good, but not as good as the sandwiches in Laos.
A large mall was nearby, so I went there. I checked to see if any English language films were showing that I would like to see. Only Toy Story 3 and Salt were showing, and I didn't feel like seeing either of them. There was a Dairy Queen in the mall, so I decided to have a Blizzard for dessert. They were out of the chocolate flavoring, so I ordered an Oreo Coffee one. It was delicious, but the coffee flavoring was very strong.
As I returned to my neighborhood, I went by the lake. It was deserted at 14:00. The temperatures are just too hot to be out at that time. Therefore, I returned to the room to relax. When I returned to the lake around 18:00, it was buzzing with activity.
I returned to the same restaurant and had noodle soup with pork. My diarrhea I had three days ago is still bothering me some. I don't have to stay near the toilet, but it hasn't firmed up. Therefore, I took Imodium tonight.
Monday, Aug. 23, 2010--Udon Thani to Khon Kaen
I didn't sleep well last night. Could the coffee in the DQ Blizzard have still be affecting me? Anyway, I had trouble going to sleep. Then I found myself waking up and tossing. I got up at 3:30 and got on the computer for a while, then I went back to sleep. But I was up again about 5:45.
Fortunately, the weather was fine for traveling. I caught a bus at 8:45 and was in Khon Kaen at 10:15. It was a rather long walk from the bus station to where I had decided to stay. Then when I got to the area, I couldn't find the place. It was just off the map in my guidebook, and I had marked where it seemed to be. However, it was obvious that it and the nearby hospital were no where around where I was. I went into a shop to ask, and the man indicated that it was south of where I was. Apparently, I had marked it in relation to the street north of the one where I should have marked it. Then the man did a remarkable thing. He told his employee to take their pickup truck and drive me there!
Khon Kaen is another town that is not much of a tourist destination. It is filled with western men with Thai wives or girlfriends, however. I've seen them all over the place. In fact, my hotel, the Orchid Hotel and Serviced Apartments is owned by an American man who is married to a Thai woman. It's a nice place. My room has a balcony overlooking the green trees of a local temple grounds. The room is furnished with nice locally-made furniture of heavy wood and has nice decorative touches. However, the location suffers from being just across a major highway from the rest of town.
I went exploring. A huge shopping mall, Central Plaza, is just across the highway from here. Getting there is a bit of a hassle, though, because it is necessary to go up the street to an overhead crosswalk or down the street to a lighted intersection. It's NOT the kind of highway one can just cross; it would be a bit like trying to cross an expressway in the US! Because it was too hot to explore the town, I went there. They had a Dairy Queen, so I treated myself to another Blizzard. Today, I ordered the "take home" size which was a pint (1/2 liter) and got the chocolate extreme--chocolate flavored ice cream with chunks of brownie inside. It wasn't as good as the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup version I usually get in the US, but it was fine. And the price was good at $1.83 US.
I was so tired from not sleeping well last night, that I went to bed about 14:30 and didn't awaken until 18:30! Guess I will have problems sleeping again tonight. I was still sluggish and didn't feel like going out. I just stayed in the room and watched TV. I'll read now until I decide I am tired enough to sleep again.
There was heavy rain during the night. It was dry when I left the guest house, but rain began again about half the way to the bus station. Normally, I wouldn't travel on a day like this, but there was no reason to remain longer in Nong Khai.
We got out of the rain and it was dry when I arrived in Udon Thani. I ran into trouble finding a room, however. My first choice was a serviced apartment complex, but I couldn't find it. The building at the address on their website was locked. Usually these places are big buildings with offices that are open 24 hours per day. My second choice, also a serviced apartment, was a disappointment because they have wifi only in their lobby area and not in the rooms without paying extra. As I walked to my third choice place which was across town, the rain began again. Fortunately, Jan Condotel had a room and had free wifi. I checked in and stayed inside most of the day because the rain continued until 17:00.
Although across town from the bus station, Jan Condotel proved to be a good location. There isn't much worth seeing or doing in Udon Thani, but there is a wonderful park and lake that is near where I was staying. I walked entirely around the lake seeing many activities in the park and on the streets beside it: joggers and bicyclists each with separate pavements around the park, restaurants serving fish and other foods, places for painting ceramics, places for getting massage, exercise groups, etc.
I ate a very nice dish for dinner near my room. It was rice topped with slices of park with a dark sauce and was served with slices of cucumber and with green onions.
Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010--Udon Thani
The weather was nice, so I walked back to the bus station to check schedules for leaving tomorrow. I had read that Udon has nice breads and sandwiches, so I stopped at a local place where a woman made me two small sandwiches. They were good, but not as good as the sandwiches in Laos.
A large mall was nearby, so I went there. I checked to see if any English language films were showing that I would like to see. Only Toy Story 3 and Salt were showing, and I didn't feel like seeing either of them. There was a Dairy Queen in the mall, so I decided to have a Blizzard for dessert. They were out of the chocolate flavoring, so I ordered an Oreo Coffee one. It was delicious, but the coffee flavoring was very strong.
As I returned to my neighborhood, I went by the lake. It was deserted at 14:00. The temperatures are just too hot to be out at that time. Therefore, I returned to the room to relax. When I returned to the lake around 18:00, it was buzzing with activity.
I returned to the same restaurant and had noodle soup with pork. My diarrhea I had three days ago is still bothering me some. I don't have to stay near the toilet, but it hasn't firmed up. Therefore, I took Imodium tonight.
Monday, Aug. 23, 2010--Udon Thani to Khon Kaen
I didn't sleep well last night. Could the coffee in the DQ Blizzard have still be affecting me? Anyway, I had trouble going to sleep. Then I found myself waking up and tossing. I got up at 3:30 and got on the computer for a while, then I went back to sleep. But I was up again about 5:45.
Fortunately, the weather was fine for traveling. I caught a bus at 8:45 and was in Khon Kaen at 10:15. It was a rather long walk from the bus station to where I had decided to stay. Then when I got to the area, I couldn't find the place. It was just off the map in my guidebook, and I had marked where it seemed to be. However, it was obvious that it and the nearby hospital were no where around where I was. I went into a shop to ask, and the man indicated that it was south of where I was. Apparently, I had marked it in relation to the street north of the one where I should have marked it. Then the man did a remarkable thing. He told his employee to take their pickup truck and drive me there!
Khon Kaen is another town that is not much of a tourist destination. It is filled with western men with Thai wives or girlfriends, however. I've seen them all over the place. In fact, my hotel, the Orchid Hotel and Serviced Apartments is owned by an American man who is married to a Thai woman. It's a nice place. My room has a balcony overlooking the green trees of a local temple grounds. The room is furnished with nice locally-made furniture of heavy wood and has nice decorative touches. However, the location suffers from being just across a major highway from the rest of town.
I went exploring. A huge shopping mall, Central Plaza, is just across the highway from here. Getting there is a bit of a hassle, though, because it is necessary to go up the street to an overhead crosswalk or down the street to a lighted intersection. It's NOT the kind of highway one can just cross; it would be a bit like trying to cross an expressway in the US! Because it was too hot to explore the town, I went there. They had a Dairy Queen, so I treated myself to another Blizzard. Today, I ordered the "take home" size which was a pint (1/2 liter) and got the chocolate extreme--chocolate flavored ice cream with chunks of brownie inside. It wasn't as good as the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup version I usually get in the US, but it was fine. And the price was good at $1.83 US.
I was so tired from not sleeping well last night, that I went to bed about 14:30 and didn't awaken until 18:30! Guess I will have problems sleeping again tonight. I was still sluggish and didn't feel like going out. I just stayed in the room and watched TV. I'll read now until I decide I am tired enough to sleep again.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Sunsets and Rainbows
Spending Update: I spent $482.44 over 23 days in Laos for an average of $20.97 per day. Since leaving Texas, I have spent $2972.36 over 106 days for an average of $28.04 per day.
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010--Nong Khai (Part II)
Nong Khai is a very nice small city that is clean and attractive. It has a good selection of guest houses for tourists including many facing the Mekong River. It has a wonderful market called the Sadet Market (and also the Indochinese Market and sometimes just the Chinese Market). It is very clean, well organized, and is popular with both locals and tourists. At the suggestion of my guest house owner, I wandered through it during part of the afternoon. Many stalls sell locally woven fabrics. And many other specialize in dried fruits that look good. I bought what looked like wine crackers hoping that would be what they would taste like, too. However,they were very sweet and have more of a taste of crunchy meringues.
Back in the room to avoid the heat, I searched the TV channels. The only English language news I could find was Fox News and China News. Yuck! I can't stomach Fox, so I guess I will watch the Communists' version of what is happening in the world while I am here. I miss BBC!
In the late afternoon, I walked along the promenade with views of the Mekong River and Laos across the way. It is a very nice promenade and is very long. People along it were playing games such as badminton, fishing, exercising, setting up sidewalk restaurants for the evening, and visiting with friends. There was a fantastic sunset which I captured on my camera.
Back in my neighborhood, I found a sidewalk restaurant and had Phad Thai with shrimp, pork (including crispy skin), tofu, etc. It was one of the better versions of this dish that I have had.
In the room, I watched a French film on TV with English subtitles. Just as it ended, about 2 3/4 hours after I had eaten dinner, I had stomach cramps and diarrhea. Then the diarrhea returned two hours later. My guess is that it was caused by the shrimp in the Phad Thai. Anyway, the rest of the evening, everything was fine.
Friday, Aug. 20, 2010--Nong Khai
I have finally arranged a hotel in Bangkok for my last 5 nights here in Thailand. I have had trouble finding one with a decent price and free wifi. I decided not to stay at the Mandarin where I have been staying for years because their price has gone up to 1400 baht per day and they do not have wifi. The first two hotels I picked out for Bangkok said they had wifi, but they didn't use the word "free." I wrote to ask. The first one which was 900 baht per night said that the first hour of wifi per day is free and that they charge 250 baht per hour after that. (A cyber cafe in Bangkok only charges 20 baht per hour to be on the Internet!) The second hotel wrote back that there was free wifi in the room but that I had to pay 450 baht per day for a password. The rate for the room was only 1000 baht, so wifi was going to increase the daily cost by 45%!! Today, I finally found a decent place in a good location with a special promotion of only 770 baht per night including free wifi.
While on the computer, I also decided to order a new TV cabinet for my bedroom. I found one I like and delivery takes 4-6 weeks. So I ordered it in hopes of getting it before the end of September.
When I finally left the room at 10:00, it was already hot outside. That's because this was the second day with no clouds. Still, I went to the bus station to confirm the possible times for taking the bus tomorrow to Udon Thani, went to a local crafts store, and returned to the market to have a sandwich and buy some fabric. I told the lady at the market what I planned to do with the fabric, and she started taking notes. I think I may have introduced a new product that will be for sale here soon.
In the late afternoon, I was back out on the promenade. Some clouds had moved in, so it was rather comfortable walking along it tonight. I also had my book with me and sat and read for a while. When it started looking like it might rain, I headed for a street restaurant I had seen last night. It is operated by two ladies. The one who cooks looks rather elegant and elderly. She made a nice dish of stir-fried chicken and vegetables which was served over rice. While sitting there waiting for her to cook the dish, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. And at one time there was the faint hint of a double rainbow. I was so glad I didn't miss it.
Back in the room, I finally found BBC News. I don't know how I missed it yesterday. Anyway, it was such a relief to have a nice news program to watch. I also saw a very interesting documentary on French TV5 about a female judge in Afghanistan who is working with tribal groups in an effort to get them to follow democratic ways of dealing with their problems.
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010--Nong Khai (Part II)
Nong Khai is a very nice small city that is clean and attractive. It has a good selection of guest houses for tourists including many facing the Mekong River. It has a wonderful market called the Sadet Market (and also the Indochinese Market and sometimes just the Chinese Market). It is very clean, well organized, and is popular with both locals and tourists. At the suggestion of my guest house owner, I wandered through it during part of the afternoon. Many stalls sell locally woven fabrics. And many other specialize in dried fruits that look good. I bought what looked like wine crackers hoping that would be what they would taste like, too. However,they were very sweet and have more of a taste of crunchy meringues.
Back in the room to avoid the heat, I searched the TV channels. The only English language news I could find was Fox News and China News. Yuck! I can't stomach Fox, so I guess I will watch the Communists' version of what is happening in the world while I am here. I miss BBC!
In the late afternoon, I walked along the promenade with views of the Mekong River and Laos across the way. It is a very nice promenade and is very long. People along it were playing games such as badminton, fishing, exercising, setting up sidewalk restaurants for the evening, and visiting with friends. There was a fantastic sunset which I captured on my camera.
Back in my neighborhood, I found a sidewalk restaurant and had Phad Thai with shrimp, pork (including crispy skin), tofu, etc. It was one of the better versions of this dish that I have had.
In the room, I watched a French film on TV with English subtitles. Just as it ended, about 2 3/4 hours after I had eaten dinner, I had stomach cramps and diarrhea. Then the diarrhea returned two hours later. My guess is that it was caused by the shrimp in the Phad Thai. Anyway, the rest of the evening, everything was fine.
Friday, Aug. 20, 2010--Nong Khai
I have finally arranged a hotel in Bangkok for my last 5 nights here in Thailand. I have had trouble finding one with a decent price and free wifi. I decided not to stay at the Mandarin where I have been staying for years because their price has gone up to 1400 baht per day and they do not have wifi. The first two hotels I picked out for Bangkok said they had wifi, but they didn't use the word "free." I wrote to ask. The first one which was 900 baht per night said that the first hour of wifi per day is free and that they charge 250 baht per hour after that. (A cyber cafe in Bangkok only charges 20 baht per hour to be on the Internet!) The second hotel wrote back that there was free wifi in the room but that I had to pay 450 baht per day for a password. The rate for the room was only 1000 baht, so wifi was going to increase the daily cost by 45%!! Today, I finally found a decent place in a good location with a special promotion of only 770 baht per night including free wifi.
While on the computer, I also decided to order a new TV cabinet for my bedroom. I found one I like and delivery takes 4-6 weeks. So I ordered it in hopes of getting it before the end of September.
When I finally left the room at 10:00, it was already hot outside. That's because this was the second day with no clouds. Still, I went to the bus station to confirm the possible times for taking the bus tomorrow to Udon Thani, went to a local crafts store, and returned to the market to have a sandwich and buy some fabric. I told the lady at the market what I planned to do with the fabric, and she started taking notes. I think I may have introduced a new product that will be for sale here soon.
In the late afternoon, I was back out on the promenade. Some clouds had moved in, so it was rather comfortable walking along it tonight. I also had my book with me and sat and read for a while. When it started looking like it might rain, I headed for a street restaurant I had seen last night. It is operated by two ladies. The one who cooks looks rather elegant and elderly. She made a nice dish of stir-fried chicken and vegetables which was served over rice. While sitting there waiting for her to cook the dish, a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky. And at one time there was the faint hint of a double rainbow. I was so glad I didn't miss it.
Back in the room, I finally found BBC News. I don't know how I missed it yesterday. Anyway, it was such a relief to have a nice news program to watch. I also saw a very interesting documentary on French TV5 about a female judge in Afghanistan who is working with tribal groups in an effort to get them to follow democratic ways of dealing with their problems.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Back in Thailand
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010--Vientiane
Today is my last day in Thailand. I have nothing special planned. I am still here because I need to finish spending my Lao money and because the time limit I will have in Thailand before I must leave demands that I stay here one more day.
After having another wonderful sandwich, I went to the a nearby temple and finished reading War Trash by Ha Jin. He is a former Chinese citizen who now is an American. He writes his books in English; they are not translations. And he is one of the better American authors, I think. This book about Chinese prisoners of war during the Korean Conflict had more details than seemed necessary; he apparently wanted to include all the evidence that he had about the negative aspects of both the Communists and the Nationalists as they manipulated and maneuvered to try to convince the POWs to choose to go to their side when they were repatriated. His book Waiting is a better novel, I think. I gave War Trash 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
After an afternoon researching my travel plans inside the room away from the heat, I went out around 17:00 looking for someone who would appreciate receiving my finished novel. I first asked an older American couple. I think they may have feared that I had an ulterior motive. He quickly responded, "We already have a couple of books that we brought." A few moments later I came across two guys sharing a beer and speaking in English. I asked if either of them read books in English and would like a free one I have finished and wanted to give away to avoid the weight in my bag. One of them, a man from Holland, responded that he reads English books. They asked me to join them. I sat and visited for about 45 minutes. The other man was from Italy. The two of them had met and spent some time together in Colombia two years ago, and they just accidentally ran into each other this afternoon here in Vientiane. What a nice coincidence.
For my last meal, I had some spicy pork and basil in a sauce over rice. Then I bought two small pastries to have for dessert. That took me down to 21,000 kip, the local currency which is not convertible and cannot be exchanged outside of Lao. (By the way, everyone here calls the country Lao rather than Laos, so I have learned to do the same. They call themselves Lao people rather than Laotians, too.) That amount is just perfect, because the bus tomorrow should be 15,000 kip leaving me 6000 for buying a final sandwich.
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010--Vientiane to Nong Khai (Part 1)
I made some good decisions this morning. I awoke earlier than necessary, since I was planning to take the 9:30 bus across the border. My plan was to go get a sandwich at the usual place for 6000 kip, return to the hotel to check out, and walk to the bus station. In the back of my mind, however, I kept thinking that the 9:30 bus would probably be the most popular. That made me worry that all the seats might be pre-sold by the time I made it to the station. Since I was up at 6:15, I decided to skip the sandwich and rush to try to catch the 7:30 bus.
When I arrived at the bus station at 7:05, I had no problems getting a ticket for the bus. But there was one surprise. Last weekend was the birthday of the Queen of Thailand. When I went to the bus station to check the ticket price, the schedule sign showed 15,000 kip, but a paper sign on the window said "Holiday Today, 17,000 kip." Well, that same paper sign was still up today and everyone was paying 17,000 for their tickets. Apparently, it is the "normal" price in spite of the wording of the sign. If I had bought the sandwich before coming to the station as I had planned, I would have been 2000 kip short in terms of buying my ticket. The ticket itself only said 15,000 kip, however. My guess is that the woman who works the ticket window gets paid the extra 2000 kip per ticket as her salary. Anyway, deciding to skip the sandwich and deciding to take the 7:30 bus instead of the one at 9:30 proved to be great decisions.
While waiting for the bus, a woman came up selling sandwiches and a type of pastry. I asked the price of the pastry, and she said it was 5000 kip. I told her I was sorry because I only had 4000 kip. She pointed to the sandwiches and said they were 2000 kip. I bought one, since the money would be no good to me once I left the country. It was not the quality of the sandwiches I have bought before. It was mostly cucumber and a thin layer of something creamy inside. And the baguette was of poor quality (like what they sell at HEB) rather than the wonderful crusty ones for the better sandwiches I have been having. (Isn't it a pity that HEB has never made the effort to produce decent quality bread even at their Central Market stores?)
The bus was full of Lao people traveling across the river to shop in Thailand. They have special border passes which they can use within a certain distance--much like Mexicans can cross to shop in Texas as long as they stay inside the Border Patrol checkpoints. There was only one other tourist besides me. One woman had a small boy in her arms, so I offered the child the final 2000 kips (24 cents US) that I still had.
Crossing was not problem, although the men on the Lao side were rather slow at checking everything. Normally LEAVING a country is the fast process. But Lao is a Communist country, so I guess trying to control people is still a priority for them. In Thailand, it went much faster.
There was a pleasant surprise after we crossed the bridge and completed Thai immigration and customs. The bus came all the way into the town of Nong Khai. In all my research, every reference to the bus said that it would stop at the International Bus Station which was about 4 km (2.5 miles) west of town near the bridge. I was prepared to walk a long way to get into town, and I even asked a man if I would be closer to town by walking from the bridge than by staying on the bus to the station. Well, the bus turned and went all the way into town to the local bus station. None of my websites had indicated that would happen. I only had to walk about 5 blocks to get to where I had planned to stay.
I had three choices picked out for consideration as my new lodging. One was the Huan Lai Apartments, another was the Thai Nong Khai Guest House, and the other was the Friendship Guest House which doesn't have a website but has received good reviews. Because of the prices and locations, that was my order of preference. I passed by the Friendship Guest House on the way, but I didn't stop, since it was a bit outside the center of town and only my third choice; I figured I could go back if necessary. I stopped at the Huan Lai and looked. It was an apartment complex like where I have stayed in other cities. The room was fine, but a bit plain and on the fifth floor without an elevator. Also, wifi was available only in the lobby. The Thai Nong Khai Guest House is near there, so I went to it as my second choice. It consists of bungalows scattered in a garden area back behind the buildings that are facing the street in the block. It was $4.50 more per day, but it had wifi in the room. Also, the price was for an individual bungalow (not a duplex) that is large and bright and has a small garden sitting area outside. I decided to pay the extra price for the privacy and the convenience of staying there for $17 per night. I never went back to check on the Friendship Guest House.
Today is my last day in Thailand. I have nothing special planned. I am still here because I need to finish spending my Lao money and because the time limit I will have in Thailand before I must leave demands that I stay here one more day.
After having another wonderful sandwich, I went to the a nearby temple and finished reading War Trash by Ha Jin. He is a former Chinese citizen who now is an American. He writes his books in English; they are not translations. And he is one of the better American authors, I think. This book about Chinese prisoners of war during the Korean Conflict had more details than seemed necessary; he apparently wanted to include all the evidence that he had about the negative aspects of both the Communists and the Nationalists as they manipulated and maneuvered to try to convince the POWs to choose to go to their side when they were repatriated. His book Waiting is a better novel, I think. I gave War Trash 3 1/2 stars out of 4.
After an afternoon researching my travel plans inside the room away from the heat, I went out around 17:00 looking for someone who would appreciate receiving my finished novel. I first asked an older American couple. I think they may have feared that I had an ulterior motive. He quickly responded, "We already have a couple of books that we brought." A few moments later I came across two guys sharing a beer and speaking in English. I asked if either of them read books in English and would like a free one I have finished and wanted to give away to avoid the weight in my bag. One of them, a man from Holland, responded that he reads English books. They asked me to join them. I sat and visited for about 45 minutes. The other man was from Italy. The two of them had met and spent some time together in Colombia two years ago, and they just accidentally ran into each other this afternoon here in Vientiane. What a nice coincidence.
For my last meal, I had some spicy pork and basil in a sauce over rice. Then I bought two small pastries to have for dessert. That took me down to 21,000 kip, the local currency which is not convertible and cannot be exchanged outside of Lao. (By the way, everyone here calls the country Lao rather than Laos, so I have learned to do the same. They call themselves Lao people rather than Laotians, too.) That amount is just perfect, because the bus tomorrow should be 15,000 kip leaving me 6000 for buying a final sandwich.
Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010--Vientiane to Nong Khai (Part 1)
I made some good decisions this morning. I awoke earlier than necessary, since I was planning to take the 9:30 bus across the border. My plan was to go get a sandwich at the usual place for 6000 kip, return to the hotel to check out, and walk to the bus station. In the back of my mind, however, I kept thinking that the 9:30 bus would probably be the most popular. That made me worry that all the seats might be pre-sold by the time I made it to the station. Since I was up at 6:15, I decided to skip the sandwich and rush to try to catch the 7:30 bus.
When I arrived at the bus station at 7:05, I had no problems getting a ticket for the bus. But there was one surprise. Last weekend was the birthday of the Queen of Thailand. When I went to the bus station to check the ticket price, the schedule sign showed 15,000 kip, but a paper sign on the window said "Holiday Today, 17,000 kip." Well, that same paper sign was still up today and everyone was paying 17,000 for their tickets. Apparently, it is the "normal" price in spite of the wording of the sign. If I had bought the sandwich before coming to the station as I had planned, I would have been 2000 kip short in terms of buying my ticket. The ticket itself only said 15,000 kip, however. My guess is that the woman who works the ticket window gets paid the extra 2000 kip per ticket as her salary. Anyway, deciding to skip the sandwich and deciding to take the 7:30 bus instead of the one at 9:30 proved to be great decisions.
While waiting for the bus, a woman came up selling sandwiches and a type of pastry. I asked the price of the pastry, and she said it was 5000 kip. I told her I was sorry because I only had 4000 kip. She pointed to the sandwiches and said they were 2000 kip. I bought one, since the money would be no good to me once I left the country. It was not the quality of the sandwiches I have bought before. It was mostly cucumber and a thin layer of something creamy inside. And the baguette was of poor quality (like what they sell at HEB) rather than the wonderful crusty ones for the better sandwiches I have been having. (Isn't it a pity that HEB has never made the effort to produce decent quality bread even at their Central Market stores?)
The bus was full of Lao people traveling across the river to shop in Thailand. They have special border passes which they can use within a certain distance--much like Mexicans can cross to shop in Texas as long as they stay inside the Border Patrol checkpoints. There was only one other tourist besides me. One woman had a small boy in her arms, so I offered the child the final 2000 kips (24 cents US) that I still had.
Crossing was not problem, although the men on the Lao side were rather slow at checking everything. Normally LEAVING a country is the fast process. But Lao is a Communist country, so I guess trying to control people is still a priority for them. In Thailand, it went much faster.
There was a pleasant surprise after we crossed the bridge and completed Thai immigration and customs. The bus came all the way into the town of Nong Khai. In all my research, every reference to the bus said that it would stop at the International Bus Station which was about 4 km (2.5 miles) west of town near the bridge. I was prepared to walk a long way to get into town, and I even asked a man if I would be closer to town by walking from the bridge than by staying on the bus to the station. Well, the bus turned and went all the way into town to the local bus station. None of my websites had indicated that would happen. I only had to walk about 5 blocks to get to where I had planned to stay.
I had three choices picked out for consideration as my new lodging. One was the Huan Lai Apartments, another was the Thai Nong Khai Guest House, and the other was the Friendship Guest House which doesn't have a website but has received good reviews. Because of the prices and locations, that was my order of preference. I passed by the Friendship Guest House on the way, but I didn't stop, since it was a bit outside the center of town and only my third choice; I figured I could go back if necessary. I stopped at the Huan Lai and looked. It was an apartment complex like where I have stayed in other cities. The room was fine, but a bit plain and on the fifth floor without an elevator. Also, wifi was available only in the lobby. The Thai Nong Khai Guest House is near there, so I went to it as my second choice. It consists of bungalows scattered in a garden area back behind the buildings that are facing the street in the block. It was $4.50 more per day, but it had wifi in the room. Also, the price was for an individual bungalow (not a duplex) that is large and bright and has a small garden sitting area outside. I decided to pay the extra price for the privacy and the convenience of staying there for $17 per night. I never went back to check on the Friendship Guest House.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Quiet Days in Vientiane
Monday, Aug. 16, 2010--Vientiane
This was a slow day for me. After going for a morning sandwich, I stopped at two temples to read and ended up visiting with monks at both. One was Khip whom I had met yesterday--a delightful young man with such a positive attitude toward life and such an interest in improving his English.
I also met a young Lao man who is in marketing for a travel agency and conducts tours to Cambodia, Malaysia, and other neighboring countries. He was quite stylish for a Laotian with frosted tips to his hair which was styled with heavy use of gel.
Had Phad Thai for dinner and ate pastries afterwards.
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010--Vientiane
I picked up my laundry this morning and was pleasantly surprised with how clean it was. So often in the past I have gotten it back with shirts still having collar rings and socks still looking dirty. That's one reason I've been doing my own laundry. But everything looked fine this time around.
I returned to the place where I have been having morning sandwiches lately and tried a tuna one this time. I sat with Fabio, a young Italian, to eat it. We visited a long time. He is one of a group of 4 people who have been living in Thailand at its border with Myanmar and providing arts programs for the children of the Burmese refugees. Fabio himself has a degree in theater and likes to do sculpture. The job they are doing is a paid position that is dependent upon funding through external agencies. He is here because they have just gotten funding for a project in Pakse with a women's shelter to provide a similar program. Unfortunately, they have about a 3 month gap between when the Thai project ends and the Lao project begins, so we talked about his need to find a way to make money during this time and what his possibilities might be. It was fun hear about the projects and to observe how dedicated he is to trying to do good in this world.
I visited with the monk Thip again this afternoon at his temple. He asked me if I would go home with him this weekend to visit his family. It would be a wonderful opportunity to be in a local home, eat local food, see how the family members interact, etc. But his home is too far from here. It is east of Savannakhet which would involve an overnight bus trip to Savannakhet followed by a 2 hour tuk-tuk trip to his town. I told him I needed to check to see how long I am allowed to stay in Lao in my passport. But tomorrow I will tell him I cannot go. I will stick with my plans for returning to Thailand on Thursday. It's all worked out in terms of spending the last of my Lao currency tomorrow and on the bus trip across the river, too. Changing my plans would just complicate things. It's too bad it couldn't have been last weekend which would have given me a nice way to leave Vientiane for a few days and still have let me depart for Thailand on time.
Before going to dinner, I was sitting in the yard of Wat Inpeng reading a book. Just as it started to get too dark to read anymore, the monks entered the temple building and started chanting. I walked over and looked into the doors. It was such a magical moment. The lighting was low--a combination of giant candles and two multi-globe light fixtures. There was a giant golden Buddha. The monks sat on the floor facing the Buddha chanting. It was truly something special to see and hear.
This was a slow day for me. After going for a morning sandwich, I stopped at two temples to read and ended up visiting with monks at both. One was Khip whom I had met yesterday--a delightful young man with such a positive attitude toward life and such an interest in improving his English.
I also met a young Lao man who is in marketing for a travel agency and conducts tours to Cambodia, Malaysia, and other neighboring countries. He was quite stylish for a Laotian with frosted tips to his hair which was styled with heavy use of gel.
Had Phad Thai for dinner and ate pastries afterwards.
Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010--Vientiane
I picked up my laundry this morning and was pleasantly surprised with how clean it was. So often in the past I have gotten it back with shirts still having collar rings and socks still looking dirty. That's one reason I've been doing my own laundry. But everything looked fine this time around.
I returned to the place where I have been having morning sandwiches lately and tried a tuna one this time. I sat with Fabio, a young Italian, to eat it. We visited a long time. He is one of a group of 4 people who have been living in Thailand at its border with Myanmar and providing arts programs for the children of the Burmese refugees. Fabio himself has a degree in theater and likes to do sculpture. The job they are doing is a paid position that is dependent upon funding through external agencies. He is here because they have just gotten funding for a project in Pakse with a women's shelter to provide a similar program. Unfortunately, they have about a 3 month gap between when the Thai project ends and the Lao project begins, so we talked about his need to find a way to make money during this time and what his possibilities might be. It was fun hear about the projects and to observe how dedicated he is to trying to do good in this world.
I visited with the monk Thip again this afternoon at his temple. He asked me if I would go home with him this weekend to visit his family. It would be a wonderful opportunity to be in a local home, eat local food, see how the family members interact, etc. But his home is too far from here. It is east of Savannakhet which would involve an overnight bus trip to Savannakhet followed by a 2 hour tuk-tuk trip to his town. I told him I needed to check to see how long I am allowed to stay in Lao in my passport. But tomorrow I will tell him I cannot go. I will stick with my plans for returning to Thailand on Thursday. It's all worked out in terms of spending the last of my Lao currency tomorrow and on the bus trip across the river, too. Changing my plans would just complicate things. It's too bad it couldn't have been last weekend which would have given me a nice way to leave Vientiane for a few days and still have let me depart for Thailand on time.
Before going to dinner, I was sitting in the yard of Wat Inpeng reading a book. Just as it started to get too dark to read anymore, the monks entered the temple building and started chanting. I walked over and looked into the doors. It was such a magical moment. The lighting was low--a combination of giant candles and two multi-globe light fixtures. There was a giant golden Buddha. The monks sat on the floor facing the Buddha chanting. It was truly something special to see and hear.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Lazy Day
Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010--Vientiane
Being Sunday, the morning was quiet. When I went out at 10:00, not many people were stirring. I had already decided to try something different for my first meal of the day. I've had sandwiches every day until now. Today, I searched for a place I saw yesterday and found it. They serve something that is like a cross between spring rolls and dumplings. The look like spring rolls, because they are rolled. But they are made with a rice noodle that is thicker and more tender than a spring roll wrapper. The filling is a mixture of ground meat and vegetables. On top of these were placed slices of pork loaf and crispy fried slices of onions and garlic. All of this was served with a spicy peanut sauce that was wonderful.
I needed to get information about the bus to Nong Khai in Thailand where I will go when I leave here on Wednesday or Thursday, so I walked to the bus station. I got the times and the price for the bus. I have to plan. The currency here cannot be exchanged back to dollars or baht. Therefore, I must try to adjust my spending so that I am using my last kip (local money) to pay for the bus and for the fee I have to pay to exit the country at their customs/immigration control point.
While there, I looked inside a mall nearby. It was similar to the one I had seen before--lots of small, individually-owned stalls. Many of them were gold shops, since people in Lao save their money by buying gold jewelry and then selling it again by the weight when they need money for something else. While in the mall, I explored their food court, since it had been recommended to me by Charles at dinner last night.
Laos lacks chain stores and has less than a handful of chain restaurants. For some reason, name-brands just do not exist here in terms of retailing. There are 3 chain restaurants, but two of them are just regional ones--The Pizza Company, a Thai company with pizzas that look horrible, and Swenson's, the ice cream store chain that now exits only here in Asia, I think. There is a small KFC which is the most popular fast food chain company in all of Asia. But this one only seats 24 people and seldom has more than 6-8 people in it due to the high costs for their products.
I walked back to the area around my hotel and went to a wat to sit and read. In time, I was approached by 3 monks. They were doing their English homework for tomorrow and asked if I could help them. They were putting it into a Word document, so I showed them how they could do it in columns and could print it front-and-back to save paper. Then I helped them practice using the vocabulary in conversational questions. They were nice young men who smiled with their eyes as well as their mouths. So it was fun to help them.
At dinner, I sat with two other men who sell Kuboto farm equipment. One is the local salesman, and the other is the regional manager who spends a week here each month and has a territory that covers Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Their business is doing well. I had read in a newspaper in Thailand that the number of water buffalo is decreasing in the country because farmers are buying mechanical equipment to help them rather than using buffaloes any longer. I had fried rice for my meal.
The movie selection on HBO, Cinemax, and Star Movies is horrible. I check each day to see if there is a film I might want to watch in the evening. Many nights there is nothing worth seeing. Therefore, I read, update my blog, watch the news on TV, etc., to pass the time.
Being Sunday, the morning was quiet. When I went out at 10:00, not many people were stirring. I had already decided to try something different for my first meal of the day. I've had sandwiches every day until now. Today, I searched for a place I saw yesterday and found it. They serve something that is like a cross between spring rolls and dumplings. The look like spring rolls, because they are rolled. But they are made with a rice noodle that is thicker and more tender than a spring roll wrapper. The filling is a mixture of ground meat and vegetables. On top of these were placed slices of pork loaf and crispy fried slices of onions and garlic. All of this was served with a spicy peanut sauce that was wonderful.
I needed to get information about the bus to Nong Khai in Thailand where I will go when I leave here on Wednesday or Thursday, so I walked to the bus station. I got the times and the price for the bus. I have to plan. The currency here cannot be exchanged back to dollars or baht. Therefore, I must try to adjust my spending so that I am using my last kip (local money) to pay for the bus and for the fee I have to pay to exit the country at their customs/immigration control point.
While there, I looked inside a mall nearby. It was similar to the one I had seen before--lots of small, individually-owned stalls. Many of them were gold shops, since people in Lao save their money by buying gold jewelry and then selling it again by the weight when they need money for something else. While in the mall, I explored their food court, since it had been recommended to me by Charles at dinner last night.
Laos lacks chain stores and has less than a handful of chain restaurants. For some reason, name-brands just do not exist here in terms of retailing. There are 3 chain restaurants, but two of them are just regional ones--The Pizza Company, a Thai company with pizzas that look horrible, and Swenson's, the ice cream store chain that now exits only here in Asia, I think. There is a small KFC which is the most popular fast food chain company in all of Asia. But this one only seats 24 people and seldom has more than 6-8 people in it due to the high costs for their products.
I walked back to the area around my hotel and went to a wat to sit and read. In time, I was approached by 3 monks. They were doing their English homework for tomorrow and asked if I could help them. They were putting it into a Word document, so I showed them how they could do it in columns and could print it front-and-back to save paper. Then I helped them practice using the vocabulary in conversational questions. They were nice young men who smiled with their eyes as well as their mouths. So it was fun to help them.
At dinner, I sat with two other men who sell Kuboto farm equipment. One is the local salesman, and the other is the regional manager who spends a week here each month and has a territory that covers Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Their business is doing well. I had read in a newspaper in Thailand that the number of water buffalo is decreasing in the country because farmers are buying mechanical equipment to help them rather than using buffaloes any longer. I had fried rice for my meal.
The movie selection on HBO, Cinemax, and Star Movies is horrible. I check each day to see if there is a film I might want to watch in the evening. Many nights there is nothing worth seeing. Therefore, I read, update my blog, watch the news on TV, etc., to pass the time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
