Pruning the trees

Here's a truck taking away the cuttings from trees they were pruning around town.  It struck me for a few reasons:

1. The tropical nature of the trees (still getting used to the [lush, year-round] vegetation around here)

2. It reminded me how I've seen them pruning the trees - take a rickety bamboo ladder [pieces of bamboo tied together with string], lean it against a tree, climb it with no safety equipment and chop away.  Don't put up any signs telling folks what you're doing - if they can't see trees are being pruned - they deserve a branch on their head!  Sam almost had that experience - lesson learned!

Two sights of beauty

Which is more beautiful, my lovely wife, or the hat for sale that says 'Marlboro'.  I mean, my wife is pretty darn beautiful, but a Marlboro hat - just think of how that would look on my head.  And everyone who saw me wearing it would say - man, that guy has taste.

Tough call.  

More things you can see in Bangkok toilets

So aside from strange foreigners taking pictures of who knows what, in Bangkok toilets you can also see things like:

1. Signs warning you that if you leave your bag unattended a thief might steal it.  The sweating guy is the thief, not the victim (is he sweating for fear of being caught?  or is it evil sweat?).  And even though this was the men's room, it still warns you about your purse, which is a very comprehensive warning.

2. Plants drinking Chang beer.  Is there any living thing in Bangkok that doesn't drink Beer Chang?

More good eats

More tasty eats - some Japanese seafood bits, a chicken vendor (with some chickens hanging at ready in case you're not sure what they're selling), coconut juice in an authentic container, some 'Kiss Kiss' flavor slurpee that is both pink and strangely intimidating with the leftover pink bits at the bottom staring back at you, and some excellent, excellent grilled chicken (NE Thai style).

Even after months of this, my stomach still feels like it's died and gone to heaven.

Thomas the Tank BTS Skytrain

They sell a stuffed toy of the BTS Skytrain.  The real thing looks more or less like this, except it's bigger, and not fuzzy, and doesn't have a smiling human face on front.  

Your friendly neighborhood temple

We went to Wat Tat Thong because we had noticed it from a BTS stop.  It was an interesting experience - it wasn't so elaborate as a lot of the more famous temples we've seen in Bangkok, but it had more of a community feel to it - it had an elderly center as part of its complex, for instance, and when we were there we saw a local enter and ask advice of the monk that was there.  It reminded me of community churches I've seen in Midwest America, and it felt more functional for that than some of the other temples we had previously seen.

All-you-can-eat BBQ

We ate at an all-you-can-eat BBQ the other day.  98 baht a head, you grabbed the goods from the buffet line, and grilled it yourself on a hot metal implement poised over coals.

Good eats.