Living on the edge

When I was in Pattaya, Thailand, I tried sort of an extreme sport. It's called Parasailing. I took a boat from Pattaya beach where the place like the photo shows and headed to off shore, then transfered to a big ship. I wore a life jacket and took a belt and a huge "umbrella". Then, went into the sky. I was towed by a thin rope and circled above looked down lower world for a while. I got in a way a natural high and got a rush from flying in the sky. It looked dangerous, but I learned why people choose to take part in Parasailing. It was an absolutely exiting experience.

Do you prefer the wall or the window?

The photo shows my hotel room in Wangdue Phodrang, Bhutan. I was there as a solo-traveller, but the room had a couple of beds. The view from the windows and the balcony was so nice, so I chose the bed on the window side. I could see a river from there. Bhutanese called the city as Wangdue, and I loved the atmosphere. My Bhutanese guide and driver and me went to a bar at night. I enjoyed some beer and conversation with a bar staff and I learned some Bhutanese cultures. It was so much fun to rub elbows with the locals.

Please note that the Museo del Prado is closed on Mondays

The photo shows the Museo del Prado (a.k.a. Prado Museum or something like that) in Madrid, Spain. I couldn't go inside because it was Monday. On Tuesday, I was planning to back to Thailand, so I went to Barajas airport in the morning. Until the plane went to the runway everything was fine, but an accident happened out of the blue. All passengers on the plane needed to take airport buses and needed to return to the airport building. All of us needed to wait at the airport for about eleven hours or so. I was not in a hurry and I really love Spain, so it was alright, but if I had another eleven hours in Madrid, I could visit the Museo del Prado. Anyway, I was able to eat really yummy Jamón Ibérico sandwich at the airport and it was on the airline company. Having the sandwich had made me feel better and better. I mean it was absolutely yummy. Try Jamón Ibérico sandwich at Barajas airport. Can't miss.

Give directions

I took this picture near the New Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. I didn't expect to see palm trees in Israel, so it was time to take a picture of this street. Come to think of it, I was asked a direction at night right around this place. A young Caucasian lady asked me how to get to the next gate. I said that the next gate was five-minute walk and it was called the New Gate. She said thank you, but after a minute, I realized that the New Gate was about a couple of minute-walk from the place where she asked. Do you think she missed the gate? I was really sorry about that.

A view from a balcony at dusk

This is a view from my hotel's balcony in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka at dusk. Unawatuna is in southern district in Sri Lanka, so I can't see the sun set over the Indian ocean. After the sun set, the village was getting dark very quickly. I mean dusk is not so long like Europe or the UK or somewhere else. Also, there weren't so much lights or illuminations like another huge metropolitan cities in Asia, so during the nights in Unawatuna I could see a lot of stars in the sky and it was breathtaking. I spent a lot of time in the balcony from early morning to late at night.

You only live once

Malmö, Sweden was a really lovely place. I liked even manhole covers, so I took a picture of it. I saw a Griffin statue in Malmö, and after that I found this manhole cover. It was so cute. Come to think of it, before I went to Scandinavian countries for the first time, I was thinking that I should go there in winter. However, recently I'm thinking that if I have a second chance to go there, I wanna in summer. I don't know it would be more exiting or not, but I just want to do something different. You only live once.

W-W-Wait a second!

When I was in Pokhara, Nepal, I was this close to take a nice photo of Lamjung Himal. It took a long time to reach to the top of Sarangkot Hill, but I've heard that the top of Sarangkot was one of the most beautiful fine spots to see the Himalayas. So, I went there on foot. Some Nepali locals kindly helped me directions and I managed to reach to the top of the hill, but it was a little too late. The Himalayas palled with sudden cloud just like the photo shows. I barely saw Lamjung Himal on the right, but it was too late to take a nice picture.

Egyptian Sandwich

The photo shows my lunch in Cairo, Egypt. I took this Egyptian sandwich near Thrir Square. A kind of spicy and it was yummy. I had a bottle of water together. I wanna explain where the place was, but I don't know much about streets names. Well, when you walk toward Thrir Square from the Egyptian Museum, the sandwich place is somewhere on the left. Also, I remember that there was a cosy Internet cafe close to the sandwich shop and the owner guy was helpful and nice. I spent some time at the Internet cafe and surfing the Internet aimlessly.

A tall smokestack and a huge rainbow

I took this photo from my hotel room in Berlin, Germany. The hotel was in the area of formerly known as East Berlin. I stayed in the same hotel for a couple of nights and had gorgeous breakfasts twice at the hotel's restaurant; a wide variety of tasty ham, sausages, bread and all. When I was in Berlin, the weather was kinda rainy or cloudy. In the evening, when I looked out the window, I found this huge rainbow. I don't know how I can take a nice picture of rainbows, but anyway this is my result.

Deja vu

When I was taking a stroll around Las Vegas, Nevada, the States, I saw a view like the photo shows. Las Vegas was filled with gorgeous familiar landscapes from all over the world and I truly enjoyed a lot of them. This area had one of the most interesting views for me. Well-made the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe were just so nice. Yep, seeing this place reminded me of Paris, France. It was my first time to visit Las Vegas, but I was there with a sweet sense of deja vu or something like that. It was so much fun.

Cool Scottish culture

The photo shows Holyrood Palace (a.k.a. the Palace of Holyroodhouse) in Edinburgh, Scotland, the UK. I visited the place after Edinburgh Castle by a coach. I enjoyed half-day coach tour with a Scottish guide. My guide was a guy and he was wearing traditional Scottish clothing. I don't know how I can describe well, but it's called Kilt, and it looked like a skirt and the length of the Kilt was above the knees. After the half-day tour, I looked around the souvenir shops and found a lot of souvenirs of Kilt.

It's considerate of you to do that

I took this picture in Athens, Greece. That time, I was really excited to see the beautiful Acropolis, but this view was already so nice, then I held my camera. As everyone knows, the Acropolis is one of the world-famous UNESCO world heritage sites, so of course there were so many people. When I held my camera to take this picture, an European guy was going to cross my path, but he kindly waited for a second and said something in language that I couldn't catch, then after that he joined his friend. Thank you for the consideration.

Say hello to the chef

I took this picture in Copenhagen, Denmark. The city was so nice. There were a lot of eateries and bars and their window decorations or ornaments were quite enjoyable. It was my first time to visit Scandinavian country, so everything was interesting and impressing, so I took a lot of pictures just like this. The chef looked really welcoming. I didn't have a chance to have lunch or dinner at this place, but I liked the sense of entrance coordination. I liked the blued scarf. It looked great with the beautiful blue eyes.

Nights become more exiting than days

The photo shows a part of Chinatown in Bangkok, Thailand. I took this photo near my hotel. Formally, I really loved to stay in Pratunam (Thai: ประตูนำ้) district, but after I knew about the convenience of Chinatown (a.k.a. Yaowaraj, Thai: เยาวราช), I often stay in this energetic area. There are a lot of cars, a lot of peoples and a lot of eateries and stores include a supermarket and convenience stores. Also, there are Thai massage shops and I often go to have relaxing Thai massages. If you don't have enough time to explore in Chinatown, you'd better go at night. I'd say it'll be totally satisfying experience.

Easter Sunday

I took this picture in Venice, Italy on April 5th 2007. I've heard that these eggs were preparing for up-coming Easter Sunday. Actually, the eggs were chocolates. I don't know why they put the chocolate in a glass of red wine, though. Come to think of it, on April 4th 2007, I had dinner twice in Venice. After the first dinner, I really wanted to eat spaghetti "Aglio e Olio", then I went down to my hotel's restaurant. The pasta was truly nice. Every food were fantastic in Italy; risotto, pasta, meat dish, seafood dish and all. Normally, I don't have wine so much, but in Italy it was not the case. I drank a lot, ate a lot, and rubbed elbows with the locals.

I often need a restroom break

The photo shows a part of Salzburg, Austria. It was a cozy stunning city. I had only one day in Salzburg, but I saw a lot of beautiful places, enjoyed lunch and dinner and beer, and looked around interesting souvenir shops. I went there from Munich, Germany as a one-day trip and I didn't have a map of Salzburg, but it was okay. It was a so much fun experience. By the way, I remember that I was able to find public restrooms easily in Austria. It was nice, because sometimes I had a problem of that in some other European countries.

Secret talent

This is my first photo in Prague, the Czech Republic. I don't know why my first photo in Prague was a photo of graffiti. Anyway, Prague is such a beautiful historical city, and the photo shows a part of Prague; the place is not in old town. I don't have a talent for painting or something else, so I can't say anything about arts or graffito or something like that, but I always hoping I wish I could have a talent for painting. If I could draw, my life would be much more fun. I wanna draw caricature of myself.

I'm not a trekker, but...

This is my another photo of the Himalayas. I took this picture in Pokhara, Nepal. Pokhara is known for the picturesque place of the Himalayas. The mountain on the center of this picture is called Machapuchare: 6,993m, and the mountain on the right side of Machapuchare is called Annapurna III: 7,555m. Machapuchare is also called Fish Tail in English because of its shape. From Pokhara, Machapuchare doesn't look like a fish tale, but Nepali locals said that during the trekking Machapuchare looked like a fish tale. I didn't go trekking, though.

The cows had been living in Dochula: 3,150 m

The photo shows a couple of cows that I saw at Dochula, Bhutan. The place is altitude 3,150 meters high. I think this place is the highest place that I've been to. From Capital Thimphu, I headed to Punakha via Dochula. I'm no linguist, but I've heard that "La" means mountain path, and I thought the naming explained a lot. I was in the cloud exactly where the photo shows. There was a cafe which also had a souvenir shop. I was taking a stroll around for a while, then found these cows and took some pictures.

Yummy Thambili juice

This is my favorite Thambili (or Tambili, a.k.a. King Coconut). I really love Thambili juice, so I bought a lot in Negombo, Sri Lanka and I kept the branch in my hotel room for my convenience. Thambilis come off of the branch easily by a knife or something like that. Then, make a hole on the Thambili and drink the juice often through a straw. It tastes like fresh, not so sweet, and definitely not heavy. Color is like clear white. I enjoyed the juice in Negombo, Colombo, Gampaha, Unawatuna, and such. You can find Thambili anywhere in Sri Lanka.

Tick-tack, tick, tack

This is a push button to cross a street in Malmö, Sweden. I went to Malmö form Copenhagen, Denmark by train and it took about only 30 minutes or so. So, considering of their positional relation, the weather and the temperature was almost the same. I thought like both of the countries were having a normal Scandinavian winter day. First difference I found out in Malmö was the sound from pedestrian-control signals. Malmö's signals made sort of busy sounds like tick-tack, tick-tack, tick-tack, tick-tack...

The very very popular Trevi fountain

I took this picture in Rome, Italy at the world-famous Trevi fountain. It was very hard to take pictures. I mean the place was too popular and a lot of people were loitering around the fountain. The photo shows my result. I think it's not so nice, but it's not that bad. I was asked to take pictures of tourists a few times in 10 minutes. Around there, I saw some people were having Italian Gelato, and I was also planning to eat the first Gelato in Italy, but I didn't, because the place was so crowded. I had my first Gelato in Venice.

It's all Greek to me

I took this picture somewhere in between 1896 Olympic Stadium and my hotel in Athens, Greece. An expression says "It's all Greek to me", and which means "Beats me". However, people who I met in Greece spoke nice English, so I didn't feel any language barriers or something like that. On the first day in Athens, just after I got out of the airport, I didn't take a cab and took a metro to Monastiraki. Then, I heard Greek for the first time from the train announcements. It was all Greek to me, but I was not worried about it, I was more like excited.

Eurozone countries

When I was in Frankfurt, Germany, I saw this huge Euro mark on the street. I didn't know what this was, but some people took pictures of it, so I did the same. After my trip, I learned that The European Central Bank Headquarters is located in Frankfurt. Yep, that happens sometimes. Anyway, I think Euro bills have very beautiful design. The bills don't look just money, and look like arts. Also, I think Euro coins are awesome. Each Eurozone country has its original design of Euro coin, but we can use them anywhere in Eurozone countries. I've received Austrian one Euro coin in Athens, Greece. Something like that.

Nile river cruise dinner with Bésame Mucho

I took this picture right before I got inside of this ship to take a Nile river cruise dinner in Cairo, Egypt. The cruise was so much fun. It was like a show styled dinner on the ship. Amazing Egyptian cultural shows with a buffet-styled dinner. It took about a couple of hours or so and the cost included hotel pick-up and drop off. During the dinner cruise, I didn't see the scenery so often. I was just attracted to singers, dancers and musicians. An attractive Egyptian singer sang Bésame Mucho very nicely. After the dinner cruise, Bésame Mucho became one of my favorite songs. Does Bésame Mucho means "Kiss me a lot"?

That Luang

This is an outside view of That Luang in Vientiane, Laos. I went there by tuk-tuk. I caught the tuk-tuk near the Nam Phou (English: fountain) and negotiated the price for ride. I speak Thai and I speak a bit Lao, so according to him he gave me a special rate. I'm not sure. Anyway, I asked him take me to That Luang, Buddha Park (a.k.a. Wat Xieng Khuan) and then some where the places I thought that I couldn't go on foot. That Luang was very shiny exactly like the photo shows and I've heard that this temple is the most important place in Laos. Unfortunately, the weather was like this because of the rainy season. On the way from Buddha Park to the Nam Phou, we got a heavy squall, then the driver covered the tuk-tuk with blue plastic sheets. I took a photo of it.

A view of Budapest with the river Danube

I took this picture from the Chain Bridge (Hungarian: Lánchíd) in Budapest, Hungary. The beautiful river Danube (Hungarian: Duna, German: Donau) and a long-distance view of the Hungarian Parliament building. I said in a former post that the Hungarian Parliament building was by far the most beautiful parliament, and I still believe like that. Unfortunately, the Chain Bridge was covered in graffiti in many different languages, but the views from the Chain bridge were so nice and I'd say it was breathtaking.

Just take a picture of a theater without going inside

The photo shows a part of Victoria Theater (Swedish: Teater) in Molmö, Sweden. A beautiful design of the entrance and it still looked like in a Christmas decoration. I didn't go inside, though. I went to movie theaters in Thailand several times, and also I've enjoyed a couple of fabulous show at a theater in Las Vegas, but I think I've never been to inside of theaters in Europe. In Austria, I was close to have an experience of listen to music at a theater or somewhere else, but I just gave up. I just couldn't monetarily.

Have a spicy Khao Tom Moo in Pattaya, Thailand

The photo shows Khao Tom Moo (Thai: ข้าวต้มหมู). It's kind of like a  rice soup with pork. I took this dish as breakfast at my favorite hotel in Pattaya, Thailand. It looks so red because I added a lot of Thai chili to have spicy one. Chili powder was on the table and also I bought fresh chilies from a supermarket and kept them in the fridge in my room, then added some of them in the Khao Tom Moo. Spicy food is too addictive. I can't stop myself, especially in Thailand. Thai chili and Thai rice are so nice. I always want to have.

Belém Tower

The photo shows Belém Tower in Lisbon, Portugal. Belém Tower is huge, so this is a part of it. It's located in Belém district in Lisbon, and it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I went there by train from Cais do Sodré station. There was another option to get to Belém from Cais do Sodré and it was tram No.15, but I didn't know how to take the tram, so I chose a train. From Belém station to Belém Tower is not so close, but I'd say it's definitely within walking distance. After Belém Tower, I had lunch in front of Padrão dos Descobrimentos.

Off the beaten path

This is my third picture of Gampaha for this blog. Gampaha is one of my favorite places in Sri Lanka. I think it's off the beaten track and it's a little too hard to find the place by one's self, so you'd better ask a tuk-tuk driver in Negombo to take you to so-called "Rock Temple" in Gampaha. A tuk-tuk goes in a tropical jungle-like place for about 30 to 40 minutes or so, and then you'll reach to this beautiful place. There was a huge rock and I was able to climb the rock to the top. On the top of the rock, I felt cool Monsoon breeze and it was so nice. I took this picture from the rock. I was able to enjoy the view of the beautiful white Stupa and great scenery of Sri Lanka. From my point of view, Gampaha is located right in the middle of tropical jungle and I've never find any informations on my guidebooks, but I just want to say, it's worth going. Oh, before I forget, I drank Thambili (a.k.a. King coconut juice) on the road and it was so yummy.

A cute souvenir from Scandinavia

The photo shows an appearance picture of a cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark. A cute entrance sign with a small Danish flag. I liked the design of Danish flag and I bought a souvenir using a design of the flag. On the cup, there are a lot of hearts which colored in red and had a white lines, just like the Danish flag. The hearts are vary in size from small to large and they are drawn without any space between them. There's alphabetical letters on the handle of the cup, and it says Denmark. The cup is one of my favorite souvenirs from Northern Europe.

A night view from 44th floor

I've stayed a couple of hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, the US. The photo shows a night view from my second hotel's room and my first hotel is on the right end of this picture. When I took this picture, I was on 44th floor of my hotel and I was sitting on the sofa with a bottle of beer in one hand or kind of like that. I don't know how many people had the same experience as me, probably quite a lot, but I was just happy, because I was able to splurge on a breathtaking night view of Vegas, with just a small bottle of beer.

Elevation: about 2,300 m

This is a view from my hotel room in Thimphu, Bhutan.Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan and the city is at an altitude of around 2,300 meters, So at the moment, I was this close to the clouds. I mean I felt like I could almost touch the clouds. Before I arrived in Bhutan, someone told me about mountain sickness or kind of like that, and someone asked me to be careful drink alcohol at a high altitude, but for me it was all much ado about nothing. I truly enjoyed staying in Bhutan, and of course drank a lot of beer.

A gate to the Mediterranean sea

I found this tiny tunnel in Tel Aviv, Israel. I think it was not a "tunnel" to the Mediterranean sea, and probably it was just a pipe or something like that, but it was so cool, actually. The waves of the blue Mediterranean sea was visible from the edge of the "tunnel", and it looked like a ship window. A round one. When I walked toward Old Jaffa along the seashore, this place caught my eyes, so I went to opposite side of this amazing "tunnel" and took some pictures from a road side. I was happy I had enough time to do that.

I'm gonna treasure every second in overseas

I took this picture somewhere in Prague, the Czech Republic. Why? It was interesting, because there was a dark narrow street in between a beautiful yellow-ish building and a pink-ish building, and the street had some lamps for passengers. Also, the most interesting part for me was the traffic light. I've never seen a traffic light which is situated a place like this. I know it's sort of a low-key photo, but for me this is one of the most interesting parts in foreign countries. I love travel abroad to see a lot of interesting things, and have a lot of great local cuisines. Every second is very important, and I don't want to waste any time. Enjoy walking, enjoy food, enjoy beer and enjoy having conversations with locals or other tourists. I'm gonna treasure every moment in a lot of countries that I've traveled to.

Pokhara to Kathmandu by Sita Air

Like I said, I've been to Pokhara, Nepal from Kathmandu by car and it took three nights four days. During that, I stayed in Chitwan national park for a couple of nights and stayed in Lumbini for a night. When I returned to Kathmandu from Pokhara, I decided to take an airplane. It was about a 30-minute short-haul flight. I took pictures from the plane windows and this is one of them. The airline company was named Sita Air. Nepali locals said quite a new one. I was there in August 2003, and according to them, the airline company started the operation about six months ago. Cool.

Go sightseeing, but first, breakfast

This is my breakfast at a café near the Puerta Del Sol in Madrid, Spain. A nice Panini and a cup of coffee with milk (Spanish: Café con leche). The Panini served in a unique style like the photo shows, but it was very tasty in the crisp morning. The cup of coffee with milk was so nice to warm my body up from inside. I was in Madrid in mid-October, and the temperature was a little too colder than I expected especially in the mornings, so I bought some winter clothes at Rastro on Sunday. Rastro (a.k.a. El Rastro) is a huge open-air flea market which is held on Sundays.

A replica of David in Piazzale Michelangelo

Someone told me that there are four David in Florence, Italy, but I'm not sure. The photo shows one of them and this is a bronze replica. I took this picture in Piazzale Michelangelo where the place you can see the whole beautiful Florence from above. I went to Florence from Nice, France via Pisa by a coach. In Florence, Piazzale Michelangelo was my first world-famous landscape. I was impressed by the fantastic view from the hill and the cool replica of Michelangelo's David. Everything was so nice.

A view of Unawatuna with a white stupa

The photo shows a part of Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. Galle side of the beach. Looking this picture reminds me of Unawatuna quite a lot. There was a temple on the hill and the beautiful white Stupa was visible from the beach and my hotel's balcony where was located on the strand (a.k.a. Yaddehimmulla road). When I returned there November 2010, the beach was being eaten away and the waves were a bit stronger than my last visits, but some people loved to swim, loved to take a boat, and loved to go surfing like used to.

Just in cace

I took this picture in Vienna, Austria. There were so many beautiful buildings look like this. I don't know what the name of this building, but I released the shutter button anyway. My hotel in Vienna was kinda gorgeous one, but it was a little far away from the heart of the city. The design of the hotel was very unique and some part of there looked like a gigantic Pyramid, I couldn't see the whole thing, though. The hotel was far away, but there was a huge shopping mall next to the hotel and it included a lot of places to eat and drink, so it wasn't inconvenient than I expected. I bought Turkish kebab two nights in a row at a stall like place in the shopping mall and the Kebab was so yummy. A staff member didn't speak English, so I used a language translator to talk to. I bought the translator in Thailand for just in case. It had 24 languages and all combinations between them.

Nice hotel along the Chao Phraya River

This is my first photo in abroad using a digital camera. Before "Digital era", I've been to Hawaii, but I don't have any pictures for this blog. The photo shows my hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. The hotel was located along the Chao Phraya River (Thai: แม่นำ้เจ้าพระยา). Some people described that the area is a little inconvenient, but I'd say the most beautiful location to stay. I've stayed in this hotel at least three times. The hotel was offering shuttle bus services between the nearest sky train station or their affiliated hotel which is located near famous Patpong street (or Phatphong street, Thai: ถนนพัฒน์พงศ์). I didn't take the shuttle bus so often, and I took a motorbike taxi or a tuk-tuk from the nearest station or somewhere else. It was more fun than convenient shuttle buses.

So many things to do, so little time I have

The photo shows a part of Lisbon, Portugal. I took this picture 40 minutes before my first beer in Portugal. When I was looking for a place to eat and drink for dinner, I saw this beautiful flower pots above. It looked like a flower full of balcony and I thought it was so cool. There were so many places to eat and drink in Lisbon, and also there were so many places to see in Portugal, but unfortunately I had so little time in there. I walked through the town, took a lot of pictures, then needed to leave Portugal. I wanna return to Lisbon some time.

Frankfurt to Zurich by train

I've been to Zurich, Switzerland as a one-day excursion from Frankfurt, Germany by train. I really loved Lucerne, and just wanted to see another city of Switzerland. So, I caught a train early in the morning and headed to Zurich then returned to Frankfurt late at night. Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. Compare to Lucerne, Zurich had much more business-like atmosphere. I mean there were lots of square-ish buildings and fancy boutiques and everything. I took this picture somewhere on the streets. Beautiful decoration on the walls.

Drop me off at the Nam Phou

The photo shows Nam Phou (sometimes it's spelled Namphou) in Vientiane, Laos. Nam Phou means fountain in Lao. It's situated right in the middle of Vientiane, and around Nam Phou there are a lot of accommodations and eateries. My second visit to Vientiane, I didn't book a hotel in advance. I just asked a tuk-tuk diriver to drop me off at Nam Phou, then I asked hotels if they had a room available. The first hotel was fully booked, but the next hotel had a cosy room and it cost 10 bucks per night.

A nice hotel in Unawatuna

Sri Lankan bed making performance were always surprising. Usually, I just said wow in front of my bed. Sometimes it looked like a flower, sometimes it looked like a wave or something like that. I took this picture at my hotel in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. I stayed for 24 nights in this hotel. The hotel had a queen-sized bed and the bad was covered by a thin white mosquito net. There was a fan on the ceilings, and the bathroom had a shower booth as well. The ocean view balcony was so cool. There were a couple of cane chairs and a couple of lounge chair and a table with a candle. I saw a lot of stars from there at night and it was so nice.

I love Isaan food

This dish is called Laab Moo (Thai: ลาบหมู). It's kind of like a spicy minced pork salad or like that. Moo (Thai: หมู) means pork in Thai, and Laab (Thai: ลาบ) is a popular Isaan (or Isan, Thai: อีสาน) food and my favorite. Isaan means northeast part of Thailand and their cuisine are a bit spicier than Bangkok's. I think you can try Isaan food almost anywhere in Thailand, because it's very popular. I took this picture at my hotel's poolside restaurant in Pattaya, Thailand. Pattaya is not in Isaan, one and a half hours from the International airport.

Hollywood-sized rice and yummy Laab Gai

This dish is called Laab Gai (Thai: ลาบไก่). It's kind of like spicy minced chicken salad or like that. Laab Gai is one of the popular Thai dishes, but I took this one in Hollywood, Los Angeles. I found a Thai restaurant near my hotel, and I chose the place for dinner. Their taste was so nice and it was not so different from authentic Thai cuisine. One thing I was totally surprised was the volume of rice. I'd say it was just quite a lot. Like I said, I love rice and rice is absolutely my staple food, so I was happy about that, though.

Glass bottom boat

This is another photo from Siam Ocean World (Thai: สยามโอเชี่ยนเวิร์ล) in Bangkok, Thailand. When I took a glass bottom boat on the humongous sharks' pool, one of the most dangerous sharks in the world across under my feet, then I released the shutter button. On the boat, there was an English speaking guide, and several adventurers. All of us needed to wear life jackets before took a boat. It was an amazing experience. Siam Ocean World is located on the first basement of Siam Paragon (Thai: สยามพารากอน). Check it out.

Can't see the forest for the tree

This is my only one picture from my time at the Louvre (a.k.a. the Louvre Museum, French: Musée du Louvre) and its surrounding area in Paris, France. I don't know why I took a picture like this, though. The Louvre is considered the most visited museum in the world and around the Louvre was very beautiful, but I don't have any other pictures of the Louvre and its surrounding area. Probably at the moment I was worrying about memory thing or a rechargeable battery or something like that. It sounds like I couldn't see the forest for the tree. What a pity.