Where have you been?

Like all large cities Bangkok has its share of slums. Here we see some shanties bulid on one of the larger canels in the city. They are very beautiful in a sort of sad way but life there must be very difficult indeed. Our tour guide told us that some of the girls who work in the go-go bars live in these places.

As Bambi shows in this picture it is always best to respect the local traditions. Here we see him giving alms in the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Thai people are extreamly friendly and are very happy to share their culture with foreigners. Although many do not speak english thye have fun trying to help us understand the culture as best we can.

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country whose culture has been influenced by many of the surrounding countries. Muay Thai, for examle, is derived by the many actions and movements of the Hindu god Hanuman who plays a major role in the Ramakien or the Thai National Epic. The Ramakien is based on the Indian (Hindu) Ramayana epic but has been changed to suit Thai (Buddhist) needs. Complicated...

Above are photos of the Marble Temple in Bangkok.

While looking for photos of california mountains for my girlfriend I found TrekEarth.com. This site has loads of beautiful travel photos and various photography related forums, tutorials, and contests. I might start posting my photos there.

I would like to recommend that everyone training with Singto Muay Thai in Cambridge or friends of the Network go on the Thailand trip. Experience a new culture, eat tastie food, see exciting and sometimes strange things. You would have to try hard to not come home with really great stories to tell you grand children about. I have hilarious stories about all three people in the picture above but what happens in Thailand...

Wow, Scotland was really beautiful.

This will be the last Triumph related post but I am sure everyone will love these stories. First of all, I acheived a top speed of 140mph (225km/h) on this baby. It was on the A14 just east of Cambridge heading towards New Market. I think the bike could have reached about 160mph but I never pushed that limit again.

I did however decide that I need to get a 1000cc sport bike next time. You know, something with real power. I decided this on my way home from Wales when I could barely keep up with a guy on a shitty Ninja. At 90mph through traffic I was fine, right on his ass, but accelerating from 90 to 130mph he would pull away quickly. I tailed him for about 20 miles and had to laugh once he got off the freeway, all I really wanted to do was get home and take a shower! I had already ridden 250 miles that day, gotten lost (for the third time) near Birmingham, and ran into traffic and decided to go slow and relax. Oh well, next time...

More from Scotland.

I like spiders and actually had a trantula when I was younger. England does not have poisonous spiders but they still look cool. I have a few good stories about black widows which are common in the American south west so if I can get a good photo of one I'll share it.

Note - while looking for species informan on this spider I found an interesting webpage about the south west deserts. Click here to learn more.

Who doesn't like fast cars? Who doesn't like the glamour of speed? Who doesn't like crashing? Well, maybe not crashing. A boy racer friend of mine recently totaled this 5-series BMW while trying to drift through a round-a-bout. He was taking his girlfriend home at the time but luckly no one was hurt. He now has to buy a new BMW and transplant all of his race kit but he still has that never say die attitude. At first it was "No, I am not stupid, I never drive beyond my limits, I'll never crash" but now its "Well, I have had my one crash so I shouldn't have to worry about another one". Good luck with that ace...

This picture is of a different friend racing his 3-series BMW.

While I don't really like Tom Hanks' movies, Forest Gump does teach a few valuable life lessons. Fisrt, his mom teaches us that sometimes you need to lay down and take one for the team to get what you want in life. But more importantly life really is like a box of chocolates. You will never know what tomorrow brings unless you live every day. Kocham cie Agusia.

A photo from my buddies house out in the California desert.

This picture was taken many years ago using my fathers Nikon F. It brings to mind a backwater area where the Klan would "take care of business". While it is true these horrible things happend and some form of this sick and racist ideal goes on today, Texas is also quite cosmopolitan. I lived in College Station, Tx, - a small college town in the middle of no where - for four years and was suprised how similar the people I met were to me. We enjoyed the same music, the same TV shows, the same cars. My first roommate was a "cowboy" from a town of about 1200 people but he was a sincere, compassionate person. It is strange how we pre-judge people while they are probably pretty similar to ourselves.

No matter where I have visited things are always the same. People want to be happy, to work, to be successful and provide for their loved ones. There is always the problem of apathy and pollution too. Not many seem to care about keeping the planet clean. Or maybe the few who don't care screw it up for the rest of us. This was taken in the Highlands of Scotland just north of Glasgow.

While in Inverness I rode across to the Isle of Skye. Its very beautiful and, I have been told, has wonder hiking trails. A nice Austrialian couple I met while staying at Bazpackers in Inverness told me that because of the rapidly changing weather Skye is best visited over several days. This way you can catch all the moods of the island and enjoy it to its fullest. Deep huh?

My brother's new house has minor problems like all new houses. The shower in my bedroom, for examlpe, has problems draining because the new grout clogs up the drain. I was able to use a trick shown to me by an Essex bird where you use a terry-cloth towel to plunge the drain. Now it drains perfect! Nice one...

This rainbow was spotted on my way up to Scotland. I guess thats one advantage of living where it rains all the time, lots of rainbows. Although I didn't find Lucky the Leprechaun I think he might have been the pilot on my Aer Lingus flight home...

This photo cracks me up. While I am sure there is some historic/logical reason for ships being moored in this fashion, I could not see southern Californian sailors tolerating this. "What, my $200k boat dry docked! What's my lawyers phone number again?" And what do you do if you miss the tide coming home?

Having been born in Torrance California I could not pass up the chance to visit Torrance Scotland. The California version is named for one of the city founders, JS Torrance, while the Scottish version is from the Gaelic An Toran, which means something like steep, craggy, mountains.