The whistle blew and I was off. Stuffing 12 rice cakes in my mouth at once. I have watched Hot Dog eating contests so I knew I had to drink water to soften the rice cakes. People were gathered around cheering excitedly, and it seemed like I was making great progress. I was tied about halfway through the contest. I was suffering, the cakes were cutting the roof of my mouth, but I had to keep going. That's when I heard the cheers for the 1st and 2nd place cont...

Pookie and I went to Koh Payam for 4 days. I guess it was the beginning of low season because we were the only ones on the whole beach. We had an entire bay to ourselves. Beautiful sunsets, delicious food and fun motorbike rides through the jungley interior of the island. Please don't tell any about Koh Payam because it might end up like every other island in Thailand (overcrowded, expensive and touristy). Now I'm off to Northeast Thailand for the Phi Ta Ko...

This time in Bangkok I wanted to find more details that I enjoyed about the city. There is still so much that I don't like. But, here are some things that I appreciated. 1.) The availability of fresh fruit everywhere and really cheap 2.) Thai Food is so delicious and they have so much diversity of flavors and dishes 3.) Chinatown - great neighborhood The food is achingly spicy, to the point that it hurts to eat it sometimes. I can eat any Mexican food with...

More touristy than Disney World. That should be Thailand's national tourist promo. About a month before I came, someone told me, you'll see when you get there, "Thailand has sold it's soul to tourism." I had no idea how on spot that comment was. I have never been to a place that was so difficult to find authentic anything. Probably the biggest travel dissapointment of my life. I still enjoyed my time there, had amazing sunsets, met some great peopl...

Chiang Mai is a wonderful little city. The frustration I felt in Bangkok melted away, and I fit right into the vibe in Chiang Mai. It is a much smaller city, but has great culture, arts, alternative scene, food and a music scene that rivals many in the United States. One night as I was walking I heard a band playing inside a training school. I went inside and joined a party of 50 or so Thai teenagers for a punk rock show. I have some video that I will post f...