Pattaya Countdown 2015

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and I took this photo on Thanon Pattaya Sai 2 yesterday. There were huge signs above the street and those were all about Pattaya Contdown 2015 at Bali Hai Pier. According to an Italian guy who I met at a bar last night, a massive countdown event will be held at Bali Hai Pier tonight. It includes music, fireworks and so on. If so, Bali Hai Pier will be so so crowded with the locals and tourists from all over the world. Sounds like a plan, doesn't it? New Year's Eve Resolution: Better sleep during the day, don't get drunk before midnight. This is just for today, I must add that.

พริกขี่หนู

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and the photo shows a tray full of Thai chill (Thai: พริกขี่หนู, Pronounciation: Phrik Khi Nu). I bought a wrapped tray of พริกขี่หนู at a supermarket and keep it in a fridge of my hotel room. I think พริกขี่หนู is sort of a core ingredient of Thai cuisine. I can't imagine lots and lots of tasteful Thai cuisine without พริกขี่หนู. You know what? Thai chili can be eaten raw, and I think it goes well with Thai beer. Also, I cut Thai chili into small pieces and put them into instant cup noodles to make its soup spicier.

Pattaya is an entertainment city

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and the photo shows a floating restaurant in the middle of the sea. Since Pattaya is an entertainment city, a lot of places provide unique and creative services. Also, a lot of hotels have own restaurant(s) and the guests who are staying at other hotels in the city are always welcome to eat in their restaurant. Not to mention there are more places to eat in the streets, plus there are more places to drink. Many of them provide "Happy Hour" discount or something, so better do a bit of ground research first.

Lie on a mat and relax

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand on vacation right now and I took this photo at a Thai massage place on Pattaya Sai 2 Road. There, I had a two-hour body massage. I've heard that when recipients want to have a full course of Thai massage (Thai: นวดไทย), they need to make at least two hours, but massage menus are available from an hour course. Also, Foot massage course, Oil massage course, Head and shoulder massage course are available for a wide variety of recipients' need. Body massage course includes stretching recipients' body. I've had a lot of times.

Singha v. Chang: I love you both

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and the photo shows a fridge of my hotel room. I bought a lot of cans of beer at a supermarket nearby and put them in the fridge. A little space on the upper right corner is for a packed fruits that I buy in the evening and eat in the following morning. Chang and Singha are very good beer. Chang has a variety of different good lager: Chang Classic, Chang Draught, Chang Export and so on. These three are easy to find. Also, Singha and Singha Light are very easy to find. I think cans of Chang Classic and Singha Light are somewhere in my fridge. Probably they are in the third row right now.

กุ้งแชน้ำปลา

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand on vacation right now and the photo shows กุ้งแชน้ำปลา (Pronounciation: Kung Chae Nam Pla). I had this Thai food at my favorite Puk Boong Loy Fa restaurant on Pattaya Klang Road in Pattaya, Thailand. กุ้งแชน้ำปลา is translated as prawns in fish sauce served with chilli and garlic or something similar. The point of this dish is prawns are must served in the raw. I mean uncooked. This dish reminds me of something weird. When I was having a lunch at a restaurant on a tiny alley of Khaosan Road in Bangkok, Thailand a Caucasian couple who was sitting next to me ordered กุ้งแชน้ำปลา. When waitstaff served the dish on their table, the woman of the couple complained that prawns were uncooked. The server said it was okay, but the female tourist said no, prawns looked like still raw. The server took their manager to the couple's table and they explained that uncooked prawns were pretty normal for this dish, but the female tourist said that she couldn't eat the dish unless they cooed prawns. The server and the manager took a chef to their table and told the chef what she was saying about กุ้งแชน้ำปลา. The chef picked up all prawns and put them in a bowl and went back to the kitchen. After a while, she came back with a bowl full of boiled prawns and flipped over the bowl onto the couple's plate and then left.

Merry Christmas from Pattaya, Thailand

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now. and it's Christmas today. Temperatures here reaches around 30 degrees in Celsius during the day, so I will never ever see snow during this festive season. By the way, I took this photo in front of Alcazar Cabaret in North Pattaya where the place you can see fascinating shows by such talented he-she dancers. Their show is one of the many must-sees in Pattaya. Don't miss it. Right now there's a cute snowman object and some pseudo snow in front of Alcazar Cabaret, and the snowman wishes Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and it's Christmas Eve. I took this photo at Central Festival Pattaya Beach on Christmas Eve Eve. I mean last night. Central Festival Pattaya Beach is the largest shopping mall here in Pattaya which includes a huge entertainment cinema complex, a lot of places to eat and relax. The hotel rooms of Hilton Pattaya are accessible from Central Festival Pattaya Beach. There's this tall Christmas tree in front of the beachside entrance. Here, even a lot of bar goers stopped walking to take a selfie or something. Merry Christmas Eve everyone.

See the beach through a beer bottle

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now on vacation. It's been a week  since I flew into Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok on the 17th. Time does fly, when I'm having fun. Yesterday, I took a scheduled double-deck ferry from Bali Hai Pier here in Pattaya and visited Ko Lan (a.k.a. Koh Larn or Coral Island) as a half day excursion. My ferry departed at 9:00 on time and arrived in Ko Lan around a quarter to ten. Viewing pristine clear water and white sand beach on a lounge chair was a super cool experience especially during the winter season of my home country.

Prices vary depending on many factors

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and the photo shows a speed boat. A lot of speed boats here in Pattaya take passengers to Ko Lan  (a.k.a. Koh Larn or Coral Island, Thai: เกาะล้าน). Ko means island and Ko Lan is the most popular "easy-to-get" island from the mainland; I mean Pattaya in this case. Taking a speed boat is the fastest way to get to Ko Lan. On the other hand, taking a scheduled ferry from Bali Hai Pier is the cheapest way. There are a lot more different services taking passengers to Ko Lan, and not to mention prices vary depending on many factors. (e.g. the one-way fare of a scheduled double-deck ferry from Bali Hai Pier is 30 THB per person, and it takes 50 minutes or so to Ko Lan)

Plant poinsettia in planters

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand right now and I took this photo on The boardwalk along the seashore. Since Christmas is coming, they've renewed planters on the boardwalk on the day before yesterday, and now the boardwalk seems ready to have up-coming hectic events. Pattaya's boardwalk is in between the beach and beach road. It takes an hour on foot from one end to the other. Thai Airways International Pattaya office is at the northern tip of the boardwalk. The southern tip of the boardwalk is next to the gate of Walking Street; the famous one.

A pot for boiling water

I'm in Pattaya, Thailand on vacation. My hotel is located on Pattaya Soi 8 right in the middle of night life district.  The ground floor of my hotel is a night club with a lot of Thai girls, a pool table for cue sports (a.k.a. Billiard sports), a bar, bar stools, sofas, and then some. There are a lot of comfort furniture and convenient electrical facilities in my room; a fridge, AC, fan, TV, closet and so on. The photo shows a pot for boiling water. Using this pot, I can make coffee in the morning of course, also I can cook a cup of instant noodles when I want it. Hey pot, I'm so happy to have you in my room.

ไส้ตันทอดกระเทียม

I'm on vacation right now and the photo shows my arrival dinner at Puk Boong Loy Fa on Pattaya Klang Road in Pattaya, Thailand. I've been having dinner at the restaurant since my second visit to Pattaya and I'm a big fan. What I chose for the arrival dinner this time was ไส้ตันทอดกระเทียม. I guess only hard-core Thai food lovers had eaten ไส้ตันทอดกระเทียม, but the others are not, so I need to explain this fabulous food. ไส้ตัน means a part of pork offal. ทอด means deep-fried, and กระเทียม means garlic. So ไส้ตันทอดกระเทียม is like Deep-fried pork offal with garlic. A yummy selection.

Sawasdee from Pattaya, Thailand

I'm on vacation right now and am in Pattaya, Thailand since last night. The photo shows a hotel room where I will stay for 30 days. My flight flew into Suvarnabhumi airport at 15:50. After getting through immigration, waiting at baggage claim, I made a beeline for a bus ticket counter of Pattaya on level 1 near gate 8. Seats of busses that depart at 17:00 and 18:00 were sold out and I scored a ticket of 19:00. While I was waiting, someone cancelled a seat of 18:00, and I could get the one instead. Lucky does follow me.

Get outside of Frankfurt Airport

I took this photo in Frankfurt, Germany. I had plenty of time to kill at the airport, so then I went outside and found several flags of Thai Airways International's A380. A380 is a double-deck jet by Airbus which carries more than 500 passengers. I've taken once for a six-hour flight. By the way inside of Frankfurt Airport was enjoyable. I had some good German beer with yummy cuisine, and used their Free Wi-Fi service for a while. The point was that it was easy to get to the airport from the heart of the city by train.

I had second thoughts

I took this photo in Madrid, Spain in October 2010. This year, after the world cup, I often said that I really wanna go to Germany again, and from Germany I will fly to Madrid to buy James Rodriguez's T-shirt. So some people around me might be confusing why I chose Pattaya, Thailand for my next destination. I really wanna go back to Germany and Spain, but I just decided to avoid cold weather this time. Back then I visited Madrid in October 2010, I didn't expect that morning temperatures reached only around 6 degrees C. It was much much colder than my expectation. I had to buy some winter clothes in Madrid. My trip to Pattaya, Thailand is 2 days away.

Meet me at the theatre

A few weeks ago, One of my English acquaintances and I were talking about English grammar. My question was what are the differences between at and in. He said that generally at means outside of a building and in means inside of a building. So if I say 'Meet me at the theatre', it means someone and I will meet in front of the theatre, not inside. Is that correct? But he also said, station is an exception. 'Let's meet at the station' means inside of the station too. Well, I guess I won't fully understand the differences between at and in. Anyways, I took this photo at Slovenian National Opera and Ballet Theatre in Ljubljana, Slovenia. I didn't go inside of this beautiful building.

The Pyramid of Djoser, a.k.a. Step Pyramid

The photo shows the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara, Egypt, a.k.a Step pyramid or Stepped Pyramid of Saqqara. There are so many Pyramids in Saqquara, and obviously the Pyramid of Djoser is the most famous one. I was asked to take a photo of a huge group of people in front of the Pyramid of Djoser. Yep, right there. After they left, there weren't so many people there, so I could take some photos of the Pyramid of Djoser without a crowd of people. The Pyramid of Djoser looked exactly like steps, and was absolutely stunning.

Speaking of Cardiff...

I took this photo in front of a hotel in London, England, the United Kingdom. The hotel's balconies were decorated with so many small Union Jack, the entrance was decorated with cute flowers, and was located this close to Paddington Station. I want to stay at this hotel some day in the future. By the way, Cardiff is the name of the capital city of Wales, the UK. I've been to Cardiff, Wales and spent a night at a hotel in the outskirts of the heart of the city. There was nothing around the hotel and it was hard to get some food and drinks. An American couple who stayed across from my room realized it at the same time. We bought some pack of snacks from a hotel's vending machine and shared some snacks to survive the night. I can laugh about it now, though.

A bicycle loaded with King coconuts

I took this photo in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka. The photo shows a bicycle loaded with King coconuts. King coconut is known as Thembili in Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan locals drink the water of King coconuts as sort of sweet juice everyday. The King coconut water is also used as remedy in Sri Lanka. Come to think of it, when I checked-in to my hotel in Unawatuna, welcome drink was the water of a King coconut. To drink the water of a King coconut, they cut the top of a King coconut, then make a hole, and then drink it. I really love it.

A tie with a checkerboard pattern

I took this photo in Zagreb, Croatia. I really loved the way that a tie shop catches the all passersby's attention. The big tie was colored red and white just like a checkerboard pattern that you can see on the coat of arms of Croatia and the flag of Croatia. Super cool. When I found this street, I didn't look at a map, so I didn't understand where I was walking, but I walked on this street more than once. It happened a lot. Ended up, the big tie sign became my own landmark. I mean when I saw it, I thought 'Okay, I know this street, keep going'. or something like that.If I were a gentleman, I would definitely buy a tie at this tie shop.

Does it show?

I took this photo in Amsterdam, Holland. If I don't mention it, this photo really looks like a photo which was taken in Amsterdam, Holland, doesn't it? I think shape of buildings and a sign of coffee shop plus a tad gloomy sky on the photo explains a lot where I was; "I amsterdam". Come to think of it, I saw a huge sign of "I amsterdam" at Schiphol Airport. It was situated right outside of the terminal building. I thought I took a photo of it,  but I didn't. I don't know why. Probably, I was a little hungry or something, then I forgot to take a photo of "I amsterdam".

A wild deer in Chitwan National Park, Nepal

I took this photo in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. I stayed at a hotel in the park and did a couple of elephant safaris, a jeep safari and jungle walk with a local guide. Elephant safari is like riding on an elephant and get into the jungle to see wild animals. I took this photo on a back of a female elephant during an elephant safari. The elephant was so clever. When she needed to walk under branches, her trunk seized on a branch until I could also pass the branch points without being annoyed by the branches. When she found this wild deer, she stopped to walk to make a photo opportunity for me. Surprising.

Santa Maria Delle Grazie

The photo shows Santa Maria Delle Grazie. It's a church in Milan, Italy which contains the world-famous mural painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. Not to mention it's a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Last Supper is still on a wall of a spacious room in the church which was the room used to be used as the dining hall. Nowadays, to protect the fragile late 15-century mural painting of the Last Supper, only 25 people are allowed to entering the room every 15 minutes. It was a privilege seeing the Last Supper with my own eyes.

LY312 LON - TLV; Nov 2013

The photo shows an in-flight meal of El Al Israel Airlines flight LY312 Luton, London, England to Tel Aviv, Israel (LON - TLV). It was about a five-hour flight. When I made a flight reservation from London to Tel Aviv, I mistakenly thought that my flight would depart from Heathrow Airport, but it wasn't. I realized that when I printed out my e-ticket itinerary receipt. It was better late than never, wasn't it? After finding out my own misunderstanding, I started to google about the location of Luton Airport and ended up decided to take an easyBus from Baker Street. Overall everything went well, and I enjoyed to have this yummy cuisine on the plane. Toda.

At the end of the rainbow

I took this photo in Antwerp, Belgium. I saw trams that was running in the street. I don't often see trams in my normal life, so they were fun to watch. A few days ago, I read an article about a cute old woman from Tennessee, the USA who saw the ocean for the first time at the age of 100 years old. Better late than never. Then I thought about things I've never seen and I'd love to see them before I'm gonna kick the bucket. Let's say, the Northern Lights, a shooting star, and say a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

I will dress for summer in Pattaya

My upcoming vacation to Pattaya, Thailand is eight days away. Not to mention I can't wait getting there, but I will have to work hard before that. I took this photo during my previous vacation in Pattaya. I was sitting on a lounge chair on a beach. Things I did was like doing nothing, I mean I was just seeing waves aimlessly with a bottle of Singha in one hand and my iPad mini in the other. Pattaya is an ideal resort to have my ideal vacation under the sizzling sun. I will leave with a half empty suitcase and will buy some summer clothes in Pattaya and will dress for summer during my vacation.

A decorative fireplace

I took this photo at my hostel in Zagreb, Croatia. Doors of the fireplace had cute images of grapes. It was my first morning in Zagreb. I flew into Zagreb on the day before around 2 p.m. Before I got there I didn't know that, but the sun set around 4 p.m. So things I did on my arrival day was walking around near my hostel, bought a bottle of water and cans of beer at a supermarket, and had delicious dinner at a traditional restaurant. With that, my second day in Zagreb was turned into my first sightseeing day. Right before heading out, I took this photo.

Stand at one side of Antwerpen Centraal

The photo shows one side of the railway station of Antwerp, Belgium: Middenstatie. Antwerpen Centraal Station (Antwerp Central) looked really gorgeous from all sides. Not only that, but the inside of the station was also surprisingly ornate. I went all the way to Antwerp to see the station building, so I took a lot of photos of the station overzealously. A lot means exactly a lot, I mean I can make a collage image of Antwerpen Centraal with photoshop in a way. I guess a lot of people take more than one photos of Antwerpen Centraal.

Celebrity Equinox

I've wrote about a luxurious, humongous cruise ship in harbor in Lisbon, Portugal. This is another photo of the ship named Celebrity Equinox. Again, this is not a hotel or a building, it was a ship, definitely a huge one. Compare to the sizes of cars on the ground, you'll know what I mean or wrote about it. The ship was this humongous, and it was a cut above the rest. To be honest, I thought it was probably a hotel or a condo when I first saw it, but it wasn't. Not to mention I love to have this kind of surprises during my trip, so I was very happy to see Celebrity Equiox.

Ban Jelačić Square

I took this photo in the central city square named Ban Jelačić Square (a.k.a. Trg bana Jelačića)in Zagreb, Croatia. Lots must-sees of Zagreb are just around the corner from Ban Jelačić Square. For example, the best known market named Dolac Market is right next to Ban Jelačić Square and Dolac Market is like right under the Zagreb Cathedral. Also, Zagreb Eye Viewpoint is across from Ban Jelačić Square. If you go up to Zagreb Eye View point, you can see and get directions from above to visit lots of landmarks in Zagreb.

Chocolate Waffles

I took this photo in Antwerp, Belgium. There was a waffle shop in a street and they were selling those mouth-watering Chocolate Waffles.  When I see Chocolate Waffles there, I felt like I was really in Belgium. Desserts-wise, Belgium is famous for Chocolates and waffles, so Chocolate Waffles sounded really Belgium to me. Actually, it was my first time to see Chocolate Waffles, by the way. If a plain waffle costs 2 Euros, and a chocolate waffle costs 2.5 Euros, which one do you prefer? When in Belgium, I prefer a chocolate waffle.

The Clock Tower of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam

The photo shows the beautiful clock tower of the Royal Palace of Amsterdam (Dutch: Koninklijik Paleis Amsterdam). The Royal Palace of Amsterdam is located in famous Dam Square in Amsterdam, Holland. I love the ornate facades and its clock tower. I tried hard to take better photos amongst a load of tourists and pigeons. At that moment, contrails were seen in the blue sky. In the result, the left side statue on the roof of the Royal Palace seemed like having special power to do something. It was a very nice photo opportunity, I guess.

Sit beside a Christmas tree

I took this photo at my favorite Irish pub and restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany. There was a Christmas tree beside my table and it looked lovely. The pub is located right in front of Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof (English: Frankfurt (Main) main station) and just a minute walk from my hotel. So I went to there three nights in a row in December 2013. Their Irish beers were all good, foods were yummy, so the pub was always bustling with beer lovers. I really loved the atmosphere like there. The pub itself is one of my fond memories from Frankfurt, Germany.

A gorilla and a tiger

I took this photo in Antwerp, Belgium. There were a couple of huge advertisements of Antwerp Zoo on a wall of a building; huge face of a gorilla and huge face of a tiger. The building was next to the zoo, and the zoo was next to Antwerpen Centraal Station (Antwerp Central), by the way. After I took this photo, I didn't have enough time to walk around the city, so I just got into Antwerpen Centraal and took photos of ornate ceiling and the others. People often describe Antwerpen Centraal Station as the most beautiful station in the world.

Something caught my eyes

I took this photo in Zagreb, Croatia. When I walked pass a car company, a lot of car were displayed like the photo shows, and a white car caught my eyes among the hundreds cars. I don't have a driving license, so I wasn't a potential client, but the white car got my attention. You know what? How did they put the car on the poles? I guessed the poles could go up and down, but I'm not sure. If this was not the case, they needed a crane to display the car on poles. Anyway, it was very interesting to see. I liked the idea. Well done.

Before dawn

I took this photo from my hotel room's balcony in Unawatuna, Sri Lanka before dawn. The hotel was on Yaddehimulla Road and I could see the Indian Ocean from the balcony. The ocean view was a tad obstructed, but I think it was much better than nothing. Normally, many kinds of crazy parties in Unawatuna start at dusk, and end at dawn. The time that I took this photo was the quietest time in Unawatuna. Shortly after the sun rises, fishermen will start to run around the village by bicycle to sell their fish.

An interesting table decoration

I took this photo in Amsterdam, Holland. I found an interesting table decoration in a street. I was on the way to Heineken Brand Store from the Heineken Experience. While I was having a lot of fun at the Heineken Experience, I became a huge fan of Heineken, then I decided to visit Heineken Brand Store after that. Heineken Brand Store is the official shop of Heineken. That's the place where you can find a lot of lovely products with Heineken logo. There, I bought a pair of green headphones with Heineken logos.