ex-pat central in the backpacker district.

the backpacker district was pretty much exactly what I expected to find in Bangkok. streets lined with booths selling every tee shirt, beaded necklace, and souvenir you can image, food carts offering endless types of meat on a stick,  and bars full of travelers from all over the world. 

the main drag was interesting to walk once, but in general, the kind of place catered to tourists that I'm not terribly fond of. as we veered off onto some of the other streets, the restaurants and bars were more quaint, and eventually we settled in to get dinner... and more beverages. 

our chosen restaurant had a big fat buddah, and i took that as a sign the the food would be delicious and plentiful. ;)

the food was delicious and spicy (dan cried a little from his chili lime sauce), beers were plentiful... and we topped it off with a pitcher of frozen mango daiquiri to give us the energy to motivate from that spot. 

it was a super fun day in Bangkok, and we could have easily crossed the line of getting out party on... but made the wise decision to make our way back to the hotel to pack. we had to leave for tb airport at 6am to catch our flight to Bhutan, and everyone was wiped out and jetlagged. we walked back to the water taxi lamenting if only we had one more day in Bangkok. just one (don't think I could do more). 

ditch the old ladies.

our cab driver was super amusing (aided by beers in dehydrated empty stomach and everyone being jetlagged). dan, scott, rachel and I were piled in the backseat, while rich had a bit more comfortable of a shotgun experience this time. the driver decide that we were all couples in the backseat, and rich was the lone single man in the party. this lead to not so subtle suggestions of trying to hook him up with nice looking Thai women. he decided that rachel and I were too old, and in need of replacement... and he could help them out with that. there were even brochures and pictures involved. he was eagerly waiting for any of the guys to indicate they were interested.... and he was ready to redirect the ride in a better direction. 

as "tempting" as the offers sounded... we held strong between giggles, and eventually arrived in the backpacker district. 

off to the next mystery destination

with some necessary snack and beverages in our bellies, it was time to move on... but where to? with only 1 day in Bangkok, none of us really did any research to plan any sightseeing. I literally googled "10 things to do in Bangkok in 1 day" the previous morning in Hong Kong. we opened up that page, and chose on a whim. we decided to goto the "soi rambuttri" neighborhood. it was back towards the river, and described as the backpacker-style neighborhood with a plethora of places to eat and drink. just our style. 

the 5 of us piled into a pink cab, and were off. this time we had an idea of a destination, but the ride was no less amusing. 

tuk tuk ride to who knows where

even though we were in two tuk tues and far less squished, it was no less exciting of a ride weaving around streets and highways, having NO IDEA where we were being taken. 

the drivers finally pulled off into a non-descript parking lot near the highway in front of what appeared to be a fancy seafood restaurant. we paid the drivers, and were ushered by a welcoming man into an empty restaurant and seated at a big round table. definitely not what we expected (we had a patio bar along the river in mind), but they had food and drink we were badly in need of! I am guessing my charade of river to the drivers equated to "seafood". lol. at least they got the food and drink part right. 

embracing where we found ourselves, we ordered a round of beers, water, and some veggies rolls to munch on. I won't lie, it was weird and unexpected, but totally hit the spot. ha. 

up to the golden mount

once we were able to untangle ourselves, extricate from the tuk tuk, and recovered from the giggles as the driver proclaimed "one night in Bangkok..." then drove away, we start up to the golden mount. 

the stairs wound around and ascended up, amongst statues, fountains, bells and a giant gong. the higher we rose, the more the breeze picked up and we had 360° views of the city. Bangkok is a lot more expansive that I imagined, and the lavish Wats and official buildings are mingled with lush greenery, housing and shops. a really vibrant city. 

the inside of the golden mount was simple and subdued compared to the golden buddah grounds, but the buddah figures were still shiny and full of lush colors. I love the bright mix of colors and bling! 

wandering around, looking for refreshments

after coming down from the mount, we were definitely ready for a refreshing beverage... so we set off to wander the streets a little in search of a place to take a little rest. 

it was fascinating to walk the non-tourist neighborhoods, and see people going  about their Tuesday. 

the neighborhoods seemed to be sorted by specialty. we walked several blocks (ducking under low hanging clumps of power lines) Lined by woodworking mills, then came the furniture stores, zigzagged over a few canals, and all the stores had ladies underwear, tarps or men's clothing (mostly camo prints). the farther we walked, we were all surprised that we didn't come upon any kind of little cafe or eating establishment to grab a beer. 

we got to the Boabe market, which looked like a lot of clothing, and further down fruits/veggies, but it was all being packed up for the day. by this time, we were starting to get loopy thirsty... so we decided to try our luck again in the tuk tuks. 

no one seemed excited to take 5 of us, so we negotiated to have two follow each other. after a lot of pointing at maps, and sign language (animated charades) indicating eat, drink and by the river... the drivers settled on "something" (what it was was a mystery to us), but we jumped In and went along for the adventure..... 

how many big white people fit in a tuk tuk?

when we were ready to leave the reclining buddah, we decided to venture to the golden mount. due to the heat, and only having limited time... we decided to take a tuk tuk to get there. after dan did some quick negotiating, we found one willing to take all 5 of us at the same time. dan, rachel and I squished on the 2-person seat, scott was sideways across the back, and rich rode shot-gun, basically hugging the driver on one side, with a leg hanging out the other. ur was a sight to be seen. 

our driver wasn't phased a bit by the crazy tourists, and took off weaving I. and out of traffic through Bangkok. we were definitely weighted airtime heavy on the right side, so we all did a lite bit of a high-side maneuver around corners. it was one of the most hilarious rides through a big city I have ever taken.   

I took a fun hyperlapse video en route (check it out on facebook)

and we're off to explore Bangkok...

after finally making it out of the hotel with our posse of 5 intact, we jumped into the water taxis, and headed off to see some sights. the river runs right behind the hotel, and is a vibrant channel for travel. dan had spent the previous day getting to know the lay of the land, so he got to be our guide (poor guy! ha). 

first stop was the golden reclining buddah. we got a taste for lavish ornamentation of the Wats, as well as taking our shoes off and covering up to enter the holy spaces. the day was pretty hot, but there was just enough of a breeze to keep us from melting. 

getting the posse together...

rich arrived late last night, and after breakfast, we got 4 of the 5 posse member together for a quick swim in the pool while waiting for scott to arrive... 

gotta say, 10am in Bangkok is treating me well so far!! 

(although it could have been a time trap for the whole day... we did manage to leave the pool, and are heading out to explore)

good morning Thailand

even though I've been on this side of the world for a week, I'm still not quite sleeping regularly. got a decent nights sleep last night, but was up with the sun at 6am. bonus was the beautiful sunrise from our room! 

arrived in steamy Bangkok

rachel and I arrived in Bangkok Monday night, had a super easy time clearing customs, getting our bags, and making our way to the hotel. compared to the cool 70's in Hong Kong, Bangkok is definitely a bit steamier, even after dark. 

we connected with dan, who arrived yesterday (woke him up actually), and went out for a small venture near the hotel to find cash and a beer. it was really quiet for a Monday night... but we managed to find beer and mango sticky rice right along the water. 

even at 10pm on a Monday, the river was busy with party boats. 

Hong Kong - Bangkok

...met up with rachel in Hong Kong, and we are on our way to Bangkok!!! let the r&r trouble (I mean adventures) begin. :)

the work week FLEW by!

landed in Hong Kong last Tuesday morning... and from the moment I hit the ground, the week was packed full of factories, printing, looking at QC documents, socializing with vendors and coworkers... and eating. so many different animals and parts. ha. 

our vendor ordered "fish" with fewer bones.... which turned out to be soft shelled turtle. good flavor, interesting consistency. 

it was a really successful week of work, followed by some "relaxation" in Hong Kong with coworkers... which consisted of going out for dinner and coming home after the sun came up. ha. 

after a fairly unproductive Saturday (recovering from our night out) I sprinted to the finish line of getting as many work things wrapped up as possible by last night (Sunday), and sent my "work" suitcase with my laptop back to CA with a coworker. 

and now I'm officially on vacation! :) 

Monday Nov 10, you are dead to me.

...or rather, you simply don't exist. flying out of SFO on the 9th, and arrive in Hong Kong the morning of the 11th. take that Monday. :P Thursday December 4th and I are going to spend A LOT of time together tho. 

one more adventure for the year...

When I started to dream about my epic 40th year trip, I kept being drawn to explore the Himalayas. When you think big, that is about as big as it gets. I have talked to many folks about exploring this region, and was thinking bout an Annapurna trek, or rafting the river that come down from the mountains. Once I set my mind on the birthday party, I decided to let planning for a trip like this roll for another year or so... but it seems I planted the seed in Rachel's mind along the way. 

After sharing some of the expedition ideas with her, we thought about "potential" dates. dates lead to itineraries, itineraries lead to finding some other people to go with us... and other people lead to booking the trip. Slippery slope, and here I am. About to board a plan to China (1 week of work), and then we are meeting up in Thailand to fly to Bhutan to explore the rivers, mountains, valleys, and sacred Dzongs of the region for two weeks. 

I gotta go get on the plane... but I wanted to share the plans for this last adventure of the year before I left SF. 

More to come, so check back and stay tuned.... :) 

where oh where did the year go?

as always, it's been far too long since I have posted anything. it was not because it was a boring year. not by a long shot. I've logged more travel miles in the past year than I have ever before, as well as crossed the milestone of turning 40 years young. I say it that way because I truly feel I am just finally settling into who I am, and I'm still having a blast. 

in the last year, I have been to southern china for work 8 times (counting the plane I'm about to get on). it's been a whirlwind of a learning experience, and. I feel like it has set a path for my career that I have many years yet to grow into it. the factory towns of southern china aren't terribly sexy and we don't have a tin of time to explore, however, i've spent several weekends in Hong King, and I really love it there. it is a world class city that reminds me a lot of San Francisco, while still having the history and flair of old world Asia. 

2014 started big with an amazing Shel's pals ski trip for a week to Chamonix, France. Dragged Szmytty with me for his first trip outside the US / CA, and it was AMAZE-BALLS! 1 village surrounded by 7 world-class mountains, and 40+ people on the trip to play with. so much fun! 

As winter faded quickly (because there was very little snow in CA this year), I dove into planning myself a weekend-long 40th birthday celebration. My original thought for my 40th was to plan an epic vacation somewhere, but the more i thought about it, the more I realized that the true gift of my life is the amazing people I know and love, and I wanted to be surrounded by them as I rang in this big milestone. plans came together, and I had one of the most memorable birthday weekends ever... it was a 3-day BBQ pool party with friends and family. so much love. After the birthday bash, I spent another week with Christina for our annual Auntie Robin's summer camp. We were pretty pooped from the birthday celebration, so we didn't venture too far this year... but it gave us plenty of time to dream big for next year! (Arizona /Utah national parks loop anyone?) :) 

Looking back, I am not sure how or when, but i did manage to get out to Yosemite and on the Tuolumne and American rivers for some boating fun. In my 13th season as a guide, I love river time more and more every year... especially now that the lil orange crush is part of my tool-box of toys! 

In between the China trips and birthday parties, I picked away at another "little tattoo". this one was really conceived with the idea of continuing on my nature theme, and trying to clean up and tie all the pieces I have together. As always it is a work in progress... taking just enough time off to forget the pain. It seems that I managed to schedule tattoo appointments right before many of my trips, so I spent endless hours on planes and in hot sweaty China with itchy peely skin. ha. 

And rounding out the summer, the SF Giants went big this year, and won the world series! I happen to fall between trips, and I had a blast joining my "home-town" in cheering on and celebrating. The icing on the cake was very unexpected ticket to watch Game 5 in person! Opportunity of a lifetime. :) 

It was indeed a big year, and this little summary doesn't do it any justice... but all I really needed to do was set up for this next trip... have just enough time to fit one more in this year. ;)