1. The most popular western band in Thailand is the Eagles
a. I have heard Hotel California more times in one week in Thailand than I did growing up in Southern California in the late 70s/80s
b. Thais singing Life in the Fast Lane at karaoke are no better at it than Japanese singing Country Road
c. Or, for that matter, Americans singing karaoke at all

2. The most popular band among Thai taxi drivers is Carabao
a. There is also an energy drink of the same name sold everywhere, one with a green label and a brown one marked XO
b. The one marked XO tastes like frog penis
c. Or at least what I imagine frog penis tastes like, you fags

3. Currently, the most overplayed music in the Chattuchak market stalls is Punjabi MC
a. Second is Linkin Park/Jay Z (Collision Course)
b. The only thing more annoying than overplayed Punjabi MC is the unmistakeable stench of shit that permeates certain areas of the market
c. Luckily, those areas do not include the deep fried pig stalls, which make the best deep fried pig in all of Thailand in my humble opinion

4. The violinist in the lounge of the the Fortune Hotel in Ratchada is tone deaf
a. Or maybe just never learned how to tune his shit
b. Or maybe just avant garde
c. Or maybe just hates his job and is fucking with everyone

5. Thai rap is fucking awesome
a. Now all they need is a Thai Flava Flav
b. With his clock set to "Thai time" (15 to 45 minutes late, depending on mood)
c. I saw a hooker who looked just like Terminator X walking down the street in a dress and high heels

This is just a short topic I wanted to write down for future reference.

Anything older than the very newest US dollars can be a real pain in the ass to exchange in Thailand.

- I was flat out refused at one major bank and two exchange booths trying to exchange $100 bills.

- One bank had a note written on the window saying that US currency from 1990, 1993, 1996, and 2002 of any denomination, could not be accepted. (I suppose we have Kim "supernote" Jong Il to thank for that.)

- To determine if a note is real or counterfeit, the following procedure is used by the cashier:
1. Hold the bill up to ceiling light and squint at it for a while.
2. Straighten out the bill against the edge of the counter; reversely, if bill is new, crumple it up a bit and mumble something about it being "too old" or "too new."
3. Call over the next cashier and let them squint at it against the ceiling light for a while.
4. Pass it under a UV lamp (presumably in case "COUNTERFEIT" has been stamped across it with lemon juice).
5. Call over the manager. He will take the bill and executively squint at it against the ceiling light for a while.
6. Test it with a counterfeit detecting pen.
7. Collectively squint at the bill against the ceiling light with every staff member in the bank, up to and including the branch president, and his pet poodle. Pretend you all know little details to look for like the booger in Andrew Jackson's nose, etc., and have a little powwow about it.
8. Once you have cleared the first bill, start from step one to check any additional ones.

I'm working on the wedding videos and learning new software (Adobe Premiere 2) at the same time, so bear with me. So far I've captured the 3 hours of footage that T took, and I'm waiting for delivery of another few hours from the videographer in Thailand. I will edit it and distribute on DVD to whoever asks for a copy... Meanwhile, here's a test clip I made while playing around tonight:

(Left click image to play the video, or right click and choose "Save As")

Well, she said she was gonna get it and she got it. What can I say.

Note: Sharp viewers will spot the obviously confused participant on the left side of the screen.

(click on image to enlarge)

This is, quite simply, the coolest urinal I have ever seen (and I have seen my fair share of urinals, son). This was located at the floating market located a couple hours from Bangkok, Damnoen Saduak, which was incidentally well worth the trip. A lot of people said it was a tourist trap so I was kind of wary at first, but all I can say is: Racing longtail boats down narrow canals! Monitor lizards basking in the sun! Awesome urinals!

If your name is Chris, and you are Chinese (and you are studying medicine in Chicago and dating my little sister), you need to see this:

Peanut Kiss Not Cause of Death for Quebec Girl

Why the coroner waited until now to reveal this news is unclear, as is the reason why the "test results" are taking so goddamn long. We should obviously not be expecting the hit show CSI:Quebec anytime soon, I am thinking.

Anyway, Chris is a real nice guy, but I suspect that's more of a survival requirement than anything else, since people who he pisses off can get revenge by simply shooting him with Skippy-tipped bullets... And remember, all of you - I won the right (via rock-scissors-paper) fair and square to administer the Epi-pen shot, Vincent Vega style.

Would you take sleeping pills on your drive back home? It appears that some people do.

I can attest to the fact that Ambien works - I bummed one off my mom when we were in Bangkok, partly because I was all nerves and couldn't sleep, and partly because I was curious. I can also attest to the fact that Ambien should not be used when drinking. "Don't take it with alcohol," my mom said. Of course, I took it with alcohol.

I woke up sometime in the early morning and puked on my pillow, very matter-of-factly. Like in a "I feel the need to regurgitate and shall do so, calmly, right here and now on this very pillow since I do not have the strength to go to the toilet" kind of way. Then I fell asleep again, face down.

I woke up the next morning with something dry and crusty matted in my hair and stuck to the side of my face. Nam was less than amused.

sometimes, mother knows best.

Apparently, there were OVER 500 GUESTS at our wedding. We only invited 350. I love Thailand.

I must say, the overall quality of knock-offs in Bangkok, or at least in the Patpong area, has dropped greatly in every area - bags, watches, clothes. There were a couple of decent items, as well as some nice "originals" (Prada greatcoats and Jaeger-styled IWC watches), but the rest of it was shit. We were all very unimpressed.

The most recent knock-off shopping I've gone besides Thailand was in Korea, and the quality of the stuff there was world-class, with very hagglable prices.

click to enlarge

Photo by Adam, I think. Taken on Monkey Island, Hua Hin, Thailand.

The wedding photos are up on flickr (it's nice to be able to finally use my pay account to its fullest)!

Most of these were taken by my brother Adam (my sister Merin and I took a few as well).

Warning: These photos have not been culled (except for some on-camera) or edited, and there are THOUSANDS of them. Thumbnails for ALL of the photos load on a single page, so it will take several minutes to load in entirety. Just hit the link and let the page load for a while, or dig right in and start a loooong slideshow.

Morning Ceremony Photo Set

Evening Reception Photo Set

UPDATES:

Photos Taken at Wedding Studio

FIRST VIDEO CLIP!: Bouquet Toss! (Interception!)

Photos from my cousin Yumi (shutterfly)

Photos from Lek-san: Morning, Evening (Yahoo Photos)

Sakamoto's Photo Set (on my flickr account)

Taro's Photo Set (on my flickr account)

Photos from Uncle Po!

Hired photographer's Morning (Wedding Ceremony) Photos

Hired photographer's Night (Reception) Photos

2006 Trip to Thailand - Mika's Photos

NEWEST UPDATES:

Michelle's Photo Set

Dave's Photo Set

..............

Anybody else who puts photos from the wedding online, let me know. I will continually update this post with your contributions!

Some of you are such fucking nerds, I swear! I love it!

Seriously, though, thank you for all the kind notes... Nam is coming back from Thailand this Sunday, and we hope to see you all soon.

(YT notes that she generated the image here)

click image to enlarge

After sitting on the dashboard of a Bangkok taxi for so long, who else could aspire to such calmness?

(Notice the bits of gold foil someone has pressed onto him - it's not just for the big statues at the temples!)