Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Cliches

Me, my couchsurfer, and a friend went off to see Harrison Ford reprise his role as Indiana Jones. I just couldn't resist Cate Blanchett, that's why. However, we were gravely (pun alert!) disappointed with the movie - it was an exercise of cliche counting for me and my friends. Spoilers beware, but here's the list, in random order:

1. Falling off waterfalls
2. Plastic wigs
3. Long lost son
4. Mayans
5. Aliens
6. Roswell
7. Love angles
8. Raving lunatic of an oracle
9. Groundhogs
10. A spiffy outfit (that's never wrinkled)
11. Weddings
12. Distracting accents

We're still figuring out if everything was done tongue-in-cheek but don't think so. If you've got more cliches to add, please do!

A Floating Market

One of Bangkok's touristy spots that I've never experienced yet is a visit to the floating markets. We made good on that this trip, thanks to our new super best best friend Mary. That leaves a trip to Ko Kret and Lopburi for the next Bangkok expedition.



So anyway, it was another overpriced market (save all your shopping for Chatuchak, always has been my guideline). It was a good thing that we came to the floating markets quite early, when the sun provided gentle lighting, and there weren't too many tourists running around and getting on/off the boats. It was nice to join a group tour, where you don't have to worry about connections etc. However, it gets a bit annoying if you keep going to places you don't want to go. I remember going to The Greatest Show On Earth - a cobra show. Yaiks. No, I didn't go in, I hate snakes and I loved the last remaining 200 baht in my wallet.

Back In Bangkok

While I was happily hopping around Australia last January, my best buddies bought me a ticket to Bangkok. So, for our traditional summer outing (so far we've had Baguio, EK, Anilao, Galera, Nasugbu/Iloilo-Guimaras), our 7th Annual Summer Let's-Play-Cards-Somewhere-Else Bonding event, we went international.

The Land of Smiles was, well, less smiling when we got there, but hey, with a more humid, more dank, weather, who can blame them. Oh, the traffic (as viewed from their BTS) looked more pitiful than ours.

Since it was my 3rd visit already in 4 years, I made the itinerary, and became tour guide (I was handsomely rewarded with elephant allusions and unflattering photos), we just did the touristy bit. Grand Palace! Reclining Buddha! Wat Arun!



7 out of 10 people who had cameras were using DSLR camera. Wow, they made DSLR cameras look "normal". Oh well. Everybody wants to have good photos, and with a backdrop as stunning as Bangkok, who can blame them? *raises guilty hand*



All these photos were taken from The Grand Palace++ Complex, and I was careful not to repeat a photo I took a couple of years ago. Anyway, I love the Angkor Wat replica, and having seen the real deal myself, I couldn't help but smile, and stand in awe. Here's a nice tunnel shot from that replica.



All right, that was Day One of the trip - by the end of our day, our pants were sweaty as hell that flies won't even come near.

Happy Summer!

It took a month coupled with a week-long bout with a bacterial infection for me to conjure this blog entry. Oh well. Thanks to Benj, his diagnosis was close. I'm feeling a bit better, and should be in full recovery by the weekend.

I have news -blockbuster movie season, my published book, my latest trip, a book blowout, and this summer's music mix. Lots, I know, and I promise to blog more often. But hold your horses, not just now.

Playing on my W910i: Wow by Kylie Minogue. Nice to see Kylie back in the dancefloor. This song has summer written all over it, less of the sultry stuff, more of the bobbing-your-head, and tapping-your-feet sunshine feel.

Happy Summer everyone!