7. Bangkok food kaleidoscope.

Deep inside I know that somewhere on a dusty, unpaved road in the Golden Triangle (Thai: สามเหลี่ยมทอง) between Burma, Thailand and Laos  I will be riding the motorcycle contemplating what delicious food I could have, if I only had stayed in Bangkok. 

I am sure. 

Charcoal grilled prawns, and big ones, too! 10 a.m. Delicious!

Aah, yes, the HARIBO gummy bears!

The nightly peanut seller.

Or fried, crispy scorpions, anyone?
(This is actually a photo taken by Andrew from the UK, who I met a few days ago with his lovely wife. We are sometimes sitting together for a few beers.)

But the truth is am I getting antsy to leave the city.

With some additional images in regards to beauty, looks and the clinics and tools which provide the respective services, I say good bye! to Bangkok!

"Find Ways: All ways be beauty!"
The new phone has a "self-shooting" feature which only takes beautiful pictures of oneself.

The full program.

Good bye!

6. Street scenes, old BMW's, and working people.

An Asian metropolis such as Bangkok is jam packed with intense street life which we, as Westerners, are not well equipped to comprehend. The more I walk the city, the more unusual scenes I encounter, and the less I understand. In ten minutes on the street of this city you are exposed to more entertaining, disturbing, beautiful, and/or questionable visual experiences than in two years in the little Midwestern town I call home.

Without using too many words in this post I suggest to just browse the photographs, enjoy and wonder.

All kinds of deep-fried little delicacies, some vegetarian, some filled with mystery meat.
Thais love to snack.

I have to admit that I personally like Foie Gras, maybe even on a Hamburger. But to put this ad in a restaurant window into perspective: The equivalent cost of this burger (about $21) in one of Bangkok's hi-so malls can easily feed ten people in a regular restaurant or street stall, without beer.

Hmmm?

My motorcycle's grand-daddies in a copy-shop. Two BMW R 50/2, maybe 1962. 4-stroke flat two-cylinder, 494 cc, 26 hp. The lady who was present at the shop couldn't tell me anything to the story behind the bikes since her boss was away on this weekend.
Bangkok has two BMW motorcycle dealerships, another two in the cities of Phuket (my next destination, if I ever get my motorcycle out of the NYK warehouse) and one in Chiang Mai in the north, also a destination on my trip.

Soi Vanit 2, Talad Noi neighborhood.
This is a tiny street lined with diverse shops, repairing, selling all kinds of engine parts. The piles stack up more than 3 meters along the busy alley, cages with parrots and other birds are attached to the awnings..  

School girls.

Check out also my video on Youtube:

"Street Dancing in Live Traffic":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bizCLKNwIvk

5. The ship came in

The container vessel "OOCL Luxembourg", sailing under the flag of Hong Kong, China, and named after the cozy European capital just 60 miles north of where I was born, has arrived in Laemg Chabang, the big container harbor south of Bangkok, Gulf of Thailand. 

This morning I visited the downtown offices of Vanguard International, the shipping company, to pay the D/O fees ($150) and to get the proper paperwork.

Here are some specs of the ship:

Gross Tonnage: 8,9097 tons
DeadWeight: 99,654
Length x Breadth: 322.97m x 43.00m
Year Built: 2010

Container ship OOCL Luxembourg (China)

There is an interesting website which allows the live tracking of ships currently sailing the oceans. The site shows Laemg Chabang as a port for "OOCL Luxembourg", and was updated 5 minutes ago.

http://new.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/477738600

4. Enjoying the city

Just a few days before the UN's ruling on the Preah Vihear Hindu temple in the border region between Thailand and Cambodia the tensions are rising here in the Thai capital.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22149576

This morning I read in the newspaper that, along the border, Thai military has installed loudspeakers to communicate to the other side its intentions and to avoid an all-out war after the international court announces the decision. It is somewhat of a concern to me since this region lies on my intended motorcycle route. We will see.

For now I am enjoying the city.

Everyone has a Smartphone!

Morning rush hour on the Chao Praya Express boat.

Minor flooding.

Feeding the hungry. Express boat landing.

"I No Signal!". In fact that really never happens in the city. The coverage and 3G+ and sometimes 4G is excellent.

No litter box.

Shop selling amazing bonsai. The plants in the picture are some 100-150 com in height! Stunning!

Today was the "Miss Teen Thailand 2013" workshop at Terminal 21, one of the major shopping centers.

The Thai society puts a great deal of importance on the way one looks. This of course needs sometimes the corrective measures of a surgeon, like at this clinic. The beauty industry here is a 20 billion Baht+ annually revenue industry with growth rates of 15% annually (Bangkok Post.) There are the super-rich, however ~60% of the population lives in slums outside of the city.

The food train. Grab your plate!

Some minor flooding along the Chao Praya river is visible where the water masses from the North and northeast regions of Isaan try to make it to the Gulf of Siam. But nothing out of the ordinary here at the City of Angels.