Back to Blogging

It has been a very long time since I’ve blogged.  By the evidence of my last blog post about sweet potatoes I buy on the street you may have figured out that no matter where you are in the world, you pretty much have to settle into some routine.   I have gotten over my initial phase of wanting to try everything just to try it and going out of the way to do things I normally wouldn’t do because I want to establish a normal routine and by normal routine I mean by physical activity, rest, and social activities.

Things I’ve Done since Last Blog Entry

I found a very cool bike path to Lumpini Park which has almost no pedestrian or motosai  (scooters, motorcycles)  traffic.  It is actually an actual bike lane and it travels in between the express way and another busy road.  It goes for about 1.5 miles then there is this cool skywalk bikepath, which is made of that hard tenniscourt material and again is devoid of motorized traffic although there are sometimes soccer games with kids.  The skywalk travels in between and over a residential neighborhood and ends up 1/8 of a mile from Lumpini park.   I found a full outdoor basketball court in Lumpini Park which motivated me to buy a basketball so I can ride bike to the park and shoot hoops which I am woefully awful at, but nobody in Thailand will care.  It is something I can do for hours because it gets addicting.

Buying a Bike at Big C

I blogged a while back about the Thai answer to K-Mart or Target called Big C.  I kind of ranted about how cheap Big C was but I went there of all places and bought a bicycle.  The bikes ranged from 1250 baht (~$35) to 5000 ($150) and for some reason I bought one of the double spring mountain bikes instead of the basket street bikes.   I bought a 4,000 baht bike which has to weigh 60 pounds.  It is cheaply made and on the ride back home, I actually wrenched the handlebars off and almost fell off the bike.  When I got back I put the little wire lock that wouldn’t last 5 minutes in San Francisco in between the bikes’ back tire and frame so nobody can ride off with it.   It’s sitting in the parking garage right in front of the security guards so hopefully it will not get stolen.  I have been used to a very nice and light Specialized Sirrus Comp which I can already tell will be sorely missed although I don’t see myself going very far, at least yet…

Got on Channel  7 Thai News Broadcast!

I ran to Lumpini Park which I planned to workout at the gym which is there but as always I got caught up in the park’s main attractions, the monitor lizards.  The park is so laid back, peaceful and relaxing it’s hard to not stop and rest.   I started talking to a Brit who was videoing the monitors and we got to chatting.   He was vacationing in Bangkok and he caught a story on BBC world news about the monitors in the park so he made a trip to visit them.  Next thing we know, we see a Thai news team given away by the pretty reporter with the microphone and the camera man with the giant pro camera.  We chat with them and they want to interview the British guy, Jeremy and they do.  As we were walking away they videos walking down the street which is what was on the news.   I turned on channel 7 and started watching and continued for 2 hours and didn’t see myself on the news.  I found out there were 2 channel 7′s and I didn’t know which one was the correct one.  A couple hours later I received an email from Jeremy telling me we were on the news.  Hopefully he’ll email the video to me so I can post it.

Taking Time Off: Also a Trip to Vietnam

My good friend Jae who owns the fitness studio I trained at for the past 4 years is visiting from San Francisco.   This reminds me, we have to get a Vietnam visa before we can go.  We got very cheap tickets on AirAsia.com which amount to only $75 round trip from Bangkok to Saigon and back to Bangkok from Hanoi.  How we’re getting from Saigon to Hanoi is probably another cheap flight.   I’m supposed to be gone from September 15th through the 23rd although I may want to visit Hong Kong which is one of my favorite cities and is close to Hanoi.  This trip will give me much needed time off from the keyboard but also some great pictures and videos for future blog posts.   You can read about the primary reason why I haven’t been blogging as much about living in Bangkok and traveling in Southeast Asia here: AskTheTrainer Blog

The Petronas Towers are Kuala Lumpur

Even more than the Golden Gate Bridge and the pyramid building  of San Francisco or the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty of New York City, if you asked someone from anywhere in the world if they knew anything about Kuala Lumpur the vast majority would probably say something like, “isn’t that where those two connected twin towers are?” I wouldn’t have went to Kuala Lumpur to get my Thai Education visa if not for the Petronas Towers although I am a big fan of tall buildings.

Business & Pleasure

The Petronas Towers are first and foremost a business center.  One whole side is for the Malaysian oil & gas company for which its named while the other side is leased out to other major companies.  You will see thousands of suits going in and out of the Petronas Towers at any given moment during the work week. If you’re into shopping don’t worry, there is also a huge shopping mall in between and below the towers with high end shops such as Louis Vouitton and Ferigamo as well as normal stores.  To be honest I didn’t spend more than 5 minutes in the shopping mall but I could tell it was pretty big and had a wide variety of high end stores.

Warning/Tip

Listen up, if you want to be able to go up onto the skywalk you need to go and get a ticket EARLY.  I went once in the early afternoon and once in the late morning and the tickets had been sold out for a while.  This was also a Tuesday and Wednesday so if you want to be able to view the main attraction go early in the morning and wait as they limit the visitors to the skywalk to a couple thousand every day.

Photo Opportunities Galore

I love taking pictures.  My father used to be a pretty good photographer and I like to take pictures of ordinary things and try to make them extraordinary.  By no means are the Petronas Towers ordinary but you can get some extraordinary pictures day and night from all angles of the Petronas Towers. I could stay there a whole day and take pictures and if I was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for an extra day I would have probably traveled around the city and found cool shots of the Petronas Towers.  There were numerous tourists with the same idea as taking tons of pictures of the towers at all hours of the day. The people who worked there and the security guards also had no problem of tourists taking pictures but you could get the idea that they thought you were silly for taking pictures.  It was one of those things where the main attraction in a town means nothing to the residents who see it every single day.

Overall Impression

The Petronas Towers are one of a kind and on the kind of grand scale which defines the country of Malaysia in the minds of many people across the world.  I would say that statement pretty much sums up how impressive these twin towers were during day and night.  Any visitor to Kuala Lumpur will immediately notice and be drawn towards the Petronas Towers regardless if that is in the plans and for a day or 2 nobody will be disappointed.

Home Away from Home

I finalized my search and payed my deposit for my new apartment today.  I signed the 1 year contract with the American owner of the condo and did the fingerprint and palm print for security.  The condo is located right next to (red X on Map) the world renown international hospital, Bumrungrad. Bumrungrad has some of the best medical staff in all of Asia as well as a nice food court and gym.  I timed a 10 minute walk from my apartment to the BTS.

There is also a canal which has boat taxis is right next door.  I haven’t explored my area which is called Ploen Chit yet but I will blog about it soon. I’ve been living at a serviced apartment for the first couple months that I’ve been here called Patumwan House.  The location is great right in the middle of the one of the biggest shopping areas in the world and a 5 minute stroll to BTS which is the skytrain which is probably the cleanest and coolest (air conditioned)  subway I’ve ever been on. Without the BTS which has only been around since 1999 getting around in Bangkok would be hell as some say Bangkok is in the top 10 for world’s worst traffic.

The first time I came to Bangkok I remember the BTS skytrain was significantly slower and didn’t travel as far but now it is lightening fast and includes an extensive subway system as well. For a Farang (foreigner) in Bangkok it is essential to be within walking distance to a BTS station and Patumwan House couldn’t be more convenient.  Walking 5 minutes in high heat and humidity is just about enough time to not start sweating too profusely.

I read reviews about Patumwan house on Lonely Planet and they said exactly what I felt. The reviews said that Patumwan House was a great place to stay for a short duration while you get used to Bangkok and find an apartment to your liking.  It just didn’t feel like a home to me but I would recommend it for anybody wants to have a nice place to stay while exploring the city.  It has nice hardwood floors, is extremely clean (I never saw a single roach, gecko or even ant for 2 months) and that’s with a messy guy who eats all the time. I was paying 15,000 baht ($440) a month plus electricity for a 40sq meter (409 sq. feet) studio (compared to my 1 bedroom of 350sq. feet in San Francisco for $1200).  Unfortunately for me, my first month’s electricity (air conditioning) bill was 6,000 baht ($176) which is probably what most Thai people pay for the rent itself.

I am now paying 11,000 baht ($323) a month for a smaller 30 sq. meter (322 sq. feet) studio.  More space for me equals more clutter,  bigger mess and more spending money on crap I don’t need which were all issues at my San Francisco apartment.  The place is small but has western style hardwood/marble floors, a nice modern granite bathroom and some cool bells and whistles. Many places I looked at were pretty Thai to me, meaning they had things that I wouldn’t expect being an American.

Things included non-glass open windows, curtain instead of front door, and stone slab floor.  When it came down to it though the location was most important which is a 15 minute walk to my Thai language school which is the only time I need to be a place while I’m here for the 4 hours a week or so I thought…

Settling In, or so I thought

Just when I thought I was settling in and getting into a normal routine my language school called me and let me know that I could not get an Education visa without leaving Thailand.  This is bad because 1.  I’m lazy, and 2.  I’m freaked by the  lightening which is around all the time here) after the recent horrible Air France disaster, 3.  A 12-24 hour train or bus ride is completely out of the question. It is also good because it gives me a chance to book at least a 3 day excursion.  I have tons of options but have narrowed it down to 5 flights under 3 hours for the time being.

1. Fly to Penang, Milaysia which is famous for incredible street food and decent beaches.
2. Fly to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam where my crazy friend Zeus has been living for a year+
3. Fly to Penom Penh because it’s only a 90 minute cheap flight and cheap hotel.
4. Fly to Calcutta, India because I’ve never been to India.
5. Fly to Hong Kong because Hong Kong is badass.

I will definitely blog when I decide.  I need to research visa agents because standing in a crowded embassy is not my idea of a vacation.  To my knowledge the visa agent takes your passport and does the dirty work going to the embassy and getting the paperwork done.  The major thing I need is the stamp on the visa when I arrive back at BKK.

View out Apartment Window during Day