After five years working in London, I decided it was time to move back to Los Angeles, but not before taking a year off to see the world. I gave up my great job with Lehman Brothers in Administration and a fantastic flat (and roommate) I’d lived in for over three years, packed up all my belongings into some 60 cubic feet of boxes and said farewell to the wonderful friends I made in London. Before setting off for Asia, I spent seven weeks in the States including a weekend getaway in Chicago with my best friends from high school, corrective eye surgery in Philadelphia, Aud and Rob’s wedding in Bermuda, 13 days in Israel on Birthright (with a side trip to Petra) and time in quiet Oak Park with my parents and sister. Then, on July 18, 2010 at 1am, with only 13 kilograms in my 50L backpack and a small shoulder bag, I boarded a flight to Singapore. The goal of my adventure is not one of self-discovery or mending a broken heart but a journey of true desire to explore the world, experience new cultures, taste various cuisines, explore beautiful wildernesses, meet local people, and maybe learn some Spanish along the way. What lies below are my stories (or more of a daily recount of events) from the road.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Wat with a political agenda

Saturday, October 16, 2010
  • Don’s café for breakfast – good food, but slow service and it took them almost 20 minutes to tell us there were no home fries
  • Granite warehouse
  • Bus station to get ticket to Chiang Mai
  • Wat Rong Khun (aka White Wat) – Construction started in 1997 by a popular local artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat.  Completely white with mirrored chips.  Inside the main building was some very shocking political artwork including images of Spiderman and Superman and the World Trade Center on fire surrounded by an oil pump snake. Wish I could have taken a picture. Walked through Kositpipat’s gallery, an interesting mix of paintings.  One painting showed Bush and Osama bin Laden on a missile.

  • Sat looking at the Wat while enjoying frozen coffee
  • Drove back – stopped at supermarket on the way home
  • Went to Bruno’s house to see the views – he has an incredible location overlooking the Mai Nam river.
  • Quick visit at Roger and Margarett's local wat
  • Back to town for dinner.  Ran into friends of Roger and Margarett’s who joined us.  Sat with a view of the clock tower (also by Kositpipat, which lights up with music on the hour).   Delicious food.
  • Random performance at 9:15pm and we had front row seats.  Hung out until 11pm.


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