Whats the Capital of Thailand - BANGKOK!

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What is the capital of Thailand ? - BANGKOK !

Thailand has been keeps me very busy over the past few weeks , but here are the highlights of the land of smiles .

Suvarnabhumi Airport : We arrived at the airport at 12:30 at night ( which is a fun time to go because there are no more public transport ), but I have already been initiated in Asia shady and sneaky scams taxi from the airport , so I cunningly avoid all the airport limousine / taxi / soldiers and made ​​my way to the local bus station . Once there, I found three other like-minded individuals and we shared a taxi to Khao San Road - > ie central backpacker , Bangkok.

With no reservations, I 'm going on an adventure to find quality accommodation to budget price , and mission led me to NJ guesthouse, check-in , and I started my adventure Khao San.

Khao San Road : This is probably the image you have of Bangkok. Street signs and flashing lights and bright signs blind you from every angle imaginable , karts street along the streets in no particular order creating an obstacle course of fortune fruit and souvenir stands costs pad -thai . However, to really Khao San justice you need to take into account the availability of alcoholic beverages , beer , large and small, unique cocktails and a concoction Thailand , buckets Redbull vodka / whiskey :)

Shopping in Bangkok Of all the places to shop in the world , Bangkok has to be one of the best. All designer brands you could want are readily available in many air-conditioned malls (7 of which are directly connected by sky bridges to the BTS sky train station so you never have to leave air-conditioned glory ( in 40 degrees of humidity , smog and pollution of Bangkok) . My favorite has to be the MBK shopping center. I've been here at least 4 times since I came here and I intend to return in when needed. mall has 7 floors and is organized as a single market . 5 floors of shopping, dining incredible on 2 floors , movies and games.

Other notable shopping locations are street markets in Chinatown , Khao San and of course the mother of all markets , the market that all others are compared to , weekend market Chatuchak . No air conditioning here, but it is more than enough restaurants and cafes to make stops along the way , during and after you bleed your wallet dry with some shopping therapy . Massage chairs are also aligned along the way for those who need a little pick -up - trust me , you need a whole day (or 2) to do justice to this market.

Cinemas in Bangkok MBK shopping center is also where I took the 3D version of Alice in Wonderland . I also watched the screening of a Thai film , Nak - Prok surprisingly good English subtitles . All successful films are shown in English English in large theaters , and Thai movies with English subtitles ( just watch out for dubbing English Thai least popular. Seats Thai cinema halls are much more comfortable than we have at home , more spacious and much cheaper too! There is a unique practice, the Thai people to play the national anthem for the king before playing movies , remember not raise compliance by all the locals .

Street Food in Thailand: the cost of living in Thailand is lower than you can imagine and much of that can be attributed to the high quality food at almost every street corner. Street food is also known for its healthy in Thailand (but still pay attention because all street foods are created equal, and some suppliers may be less reliable than others. Generally , as long as there are lines at the stall (if there are many locals, this is even better) your probably good to go street food will generally cost you 30-40 baht ($ 1 to 1.33 ) per plate and you have your choice of fish , chicken, pork , spicy, sweet or spicy factor in a drink and a desert, and your still looking at around $ 3 for a meal with Chang beer and ice cream Thai . . : )

Massage : Whether your looking for a foot massage, back of shoulder or head massage , the famous Thai massage, lotion massage, full body massage or a really full body massage (if you know what I mean ) , you can certainly find it all here in Thailand, and at very affordable prices. As for other places in Asia where the cost of living is much lower than in the West , Massage massage parlors local cost you $ 4 to 8/hour for Thai massage and foot 6 $ -20/hour for oil massages . If you feel like indulging in a spa for the day , however , the good will cost between $ 100-200 for the day. I recommend hitting up your spa Massage Golf needs well, they are like a factory massage on several floors , but offer treatments Western-style quality but former value . $ 15 for a Thai massage 2 hours and $ 20 for a oil massage 1 hour ( see photo).

Until now , I had a Thai massage and foot massage and some massage oil . Overall, they were quite satisfactory , I highly recommend the Thai massage , although we warned a traditional Thai massage is known for pain and relaxation equal parts as molds you like a trained masseuse piece of putty; experience not to be missed though.

Akihabara: Welcome home master

My favorite part of Tokyo Akihabara is a destination not to be missed by anyone thats wants to experience modern Japan in all its splendor .
The journey is just beginning to Akihabara station , where you go to Akiba city a glorious monstrosity over 6 floors with any electronic you can think of and a whole lot more . Nearly two floors devoted to only the coldest and mobile phone accessories and more advanced ( I'll upload a pic of some crazy dongles mobile phone soon) I could literally spend days there, but I 'm retired and few hours and ventured further .

Next stop, another style skyscrapper mall to check out some of the other great offers Japanse and my visit to an original invention of Tokyo " main coffee " ** after 4 floors or fresh Japanese trinkets and -a- thing I madooes 'm online for " at Home Cafe household " , where I offer a choice of counter or in the living room , I just counter so I could really enjoy and savor the envrionment . the girls were all very bubly constantly Gigling , dressed to the T and tried to respond as best they can given their limited English skills. I ordered a latte , cheesecake shapped like a cats face , my total expense seat ( and my own membership card international bronze (no, I did not pay extra for it ) was about $ 17 dollars , so a little on the pricey but the atmosphere was well worth it , highly recommended!

Next stop: Shinjuku
This is the typical image you get from Tokyo traffic and huge crowds of people and subways where people are packed like sardines during rushhour . I finally found a really cool mall shopping center which had Pachinko *** on the ground floor and a games room on the 2nd (also an underground swimming area )
I visited a few arcades in Tokyo now and I must say that it is not to be missed . I spent most of my time on SF4 just because it was the only game I knew, tried a few others, but defenitely not the craziest there ... wait for it ... arcade game based on the trading card ... wow . HD huge where people buy collectible card games (all basic rules of trading cards screens, including rare but now you play against on a sensitive screen, move them as you would a stick arcade and follow the action on the screen. It must be seen to be believed ...

As a completely independent side note, invaded Virgin Radio Montreal , with the introduction of Virgin Radio, but ... then flew Mix 96 and brought him back to the UK? check http://www.mix96.co.uk/

** To cafes household uninitiated are spread all over Akihabara and theme varies from one to another, but the general principle is , you are greeted by Japanese bubly girls in suits relating to the particular theme of cafes, greet you warmly with a " welcome home master " so that you can relax after a long day of Tokyo. The menus are usually a bit limited , but the themes are limited only by Japanese imigination ...

*** Pachinko is a Japanese invention of crazy games and is apparently very addictive machine hybrid on / marble / playing cards

Thailand: Land of smiles

Thailand: Land of Smiles , cheap food and tuk -tuks crazy

After my time excited to Tokyo, and the flight of about 51 /2 hours , I was now at Suvarnabhumi look very sweet and his midnight airport. After avoiding taxi services and Summary ' limousines offer their services (they are everywhere in Thailand btw, if you are there for the first time make sure you never get into a taxi is not a taxi meter you will recognize by the large panels on top) , I opted instead for my first adventure using public bus in Thailand to get to Khao San Road ( oh and what makes it even more fun is that I have decided not to book a room for the first night , its all free style :)
So I asked around and found a shuttle from the airport to the central bus station , fortunately for most lines already stopped working. I had my handy Lonely Planet Bangkok ( The thank you guys ) and I knew I had to take the 551 bus to get closer to where I needed. Unfortunetly when I got the bus terminal only had 2 hours : (: . Public bus ( not So after all On the bright side , I met 3 other like minded travelers who were heading in the same direction and we shared a taxi ( the total bill was a huge ~ $ 13 400 Bhat split 4 ways haha ) so I was wondering around and installed for NJ Guesthouse, good rates and looked good , put my bags away and I started my first night on Khao San Road (its main backpacker / hippie area ) by this time, it was about two hours.
He was crazyiness everywhere, just look at the photo, it is setting all day here with street carts selling everything from fake id $ 1 padthai (I had my fair share at this point! @ )

Shibuya, Harajuku (Cosplay at its finest) & Omatesandu

Day 2: Shibuya, Harajuku, Omatesandu
Got up early in the morning (well didn't get much sleep anyway since I was to anxious to start the next day and I may have had a few green teas earlier in the night)

My first stop along the way was the Gold's Gym in Shibuya, an awesome facility on 3 floors (See attached pics) It had all the facilities you would expect from a world class gym including sauna & jacuzzi which felt great after the long travel. Their weights weren't as new as the ones back home .. but hey now i'm just being picky.
After that it was off to cosplay land; Harajuku. Turns out the goths sleep in and i was there at 9 which was about 2 hours to early for any actions so i ended up taking a stroll on the streets and checking out the punk/hipster cool shops and funky creps, they looked absolutely delicious and i debated eating the plastic demos for a moment. Take a look and tell you dont feel the same.
Next stop Omatesandu, where all the big name shops are located. Not much to see here, think 5th avenue, i'm not much for designer shopping to this was the shortest part of my trip.
Finally i headed over to Asakusa where I was staying at Smile Hostel. It's a quaint place, I stayed at their annex which was a couple blocks away from the main hostel, but it was much newer and the facilities were spotless :) :)

Adrift in Tokyo (Edo)

First night in Tokyo is definitely one that wont soon be forgotton.

As a first, the flight actually arrived half an hour before shedule ! I knew the Japanse were efficient but is it still timely if they are half an hour early? I defenitely didnt it though; I needed all that extra half an hour and about another hour for good measure just to figure out the Tokyo map and how I was supposed to head to where i wanted to go in the City from Narita Airport. Take a look at the map on the right hand side and you`ll see what I mean.

However after getting into Tokyo and to my first chosen district Shibuya which is really where all the youth hang out and I was supposed to see all the Japanese kids dressed up as their manga characters, but apparently thats more popular on Sundays, so i'll go back then :)

The one good thing that did come out of this is that I did find a 24 hour internet and Karaoke institution that offered very reasonable rates for an overnight stay, it was actually just what I needed/expected, private cubicle and your own computer (Quadcore and kicks major ass ... except that its in Japanese :S ) with very high speed internet. I'll post a better quality pic up when i get the chance, but thats the pic i took with my iPhone.

So, i'm pretty wiped at this point so I'm going to catch some asian Zzzzz's but i'll leave you with a few more pics that I took on my way around .

Shibuya is like the Time Square of Tokyo on speed, it stretches out quite a bit and has some awesome stuff to see.

Pic on right :Am i just seeing things, or is that a Fido sign, but backwards, and for a real estate agent???