Streets of Bangkok

I am in Singapore to help take care of some family issues.  Sadly, a couple of days before I left Phoenix, my brother passed away.  He has been in poor health the last few years.  This is as much a relief for him as it is for the family.  You hate to see a love-one lying in bed suffering.  He died peacefully in his sleep.

Amidst all the friends and family visits, I was able to sneak away with 3 other family members for a short trip to Bangkok.  I have not been to Bangkok for almost 20 years.  It conjures memories of delicious food at cheap prices, chaotic traffic, hot and humid weather, massages, temples, friendly people, shopping, etc.  Since we only have 3 days there we planned our visit carefully.  The priority, according to the others, is eat and shop.  While not doing either, we will sightsee.

True to our spirit, our Job One after landing and checking into the hotel is head out to Chinatown for a seafood dinner.  Bangkok has a sizable Chinese population.  It's one of the more popular parts of the city, for locals and tourists.  Along the main road, you find vendors selling all kinds of street food.  The variety is as creative as they come:  fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice, sticky rice mango, noodle soup, roasted chestnuts, etc.  Our seafood dinner was delicious and inexpensive.  Don't expect any ambiance here.  Your table may be on the street; noisy traffic is your background music.

Yaowarat Road (Chinatown)

A sumptuous seafood dinner.

Pomegranate

Durians - pungent but tasty to some.  Arguably, the kind of fruits.

Mango Stick Rice - Delicious!

Next stop is the popular Khaosan Road.  It is a must-stop area for low-budget travelers.  Khaosan in the evening resembles a boisterous block-party.  Mass massage on the street.  Vendors selling all kinds of food, including all kinds of insects - scorpions, crickets, worms, roaches, etc.  Popular Thai dishes like Pad Thai can be purchased for about US$1.

Tourist tasting scorpion

Mass Massage on Khaosan Street

About an hour outside of Bangkok is the popular Floating Market.  This used to be a local market but has turned into very touristy affair.  Boats jam the waterways.  Shops sell mostly stuff that tourists want to or can afford to buy - souvenirs, handicrafts, fruits, etc.  Vendors will bring their boats alongside our boat to try to entice us to buy from them.  Unquestionably it is a unique experience.

Fruit Vendor on the Floating Market

Next stop is another popular tourist trap called Chatuchak Market.  The last time I was here, this market was a loose confederation of lean-tos' and temporary shelters.  The place was unorganized, hot, and probably a fire and safety hazard.  Today it is a well-organized weekend market with about 8,000 stalls covering about 35 acres, selling everything: clothing, pottery, food, spices, lamps, pets, massages, etc.  It's one of those places where you literally "shop till you drop."  It even has its own Skytrain (BTS) and subway (MRT) stations.  The market is uncharacteristically clean for Bangkok.  Even smoking is prohibited.

Later that evening, we have the pleasure of meeting Walter Ziering and his family.  Walter is a good friend of a mutual friend, Dean Bishop, who passed away last year.  I have known Dean for more than 40 years and learned a lot about America from Dean, while I was still in my late teens in Singapore.  Walter and his family treated us to a wonderful Chinese buffet dinner at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, the second tallest building in Bangkok.  It was a beautiful dinner and company in remembrance of Dean.

Beautiful Dinner with the Walter Ziering Family

The next day I alone took a day tour of Ayuthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand.  There were four of us in the van:  2 women from New Zealand with their Burmese lady friend and me.  We visited the old palace, temples and took a ride on an elephant.  This is the second time I've rode on an elephant.  The first time was in Chiangmai, Thailand.  It costs less than US$15 for a 20-30 minute ride.  For me, it's an interesting juxtaposition - seeing wild elephants in Botswana and South Africa and here in Thailand, riding a domesticated elephant.

Palace at Ayuthaya

Buddha Head buried in tree at one of the temples at Ayuthaya

Hail to the King!

Golden-robed Buddhas lining the walls of one of the temples

While I was touring Ayuthaya, the rest of my group were out shopping at the humongous Platinum Mall.  If that's not enough, we spent the final half-day at the same mall doing some last minute shopping.  Fortunately, there was a very nice food court on the top floor.  It saved my sanity.  This is as much space as I would devote to shopping.  It was a short and fun trip.  Any longer would have push my patience to the limit with the traffic jam, crowd and heat.

Fall in Northern Arizona

Fall is an exciting time in Arizona.  It represents change.  For those of us living in southern Arizona, it means a relief from the hellish heat of Arizona.  No longer will you be smack with the heat when you go out to the driveway to pick up your paper.  Everything pumpkin start showing up:  Pumpkin Bagels, Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Waffles, etc.
To truly appreciate Fall, one must leave the brownish landscape of the desert to where Mother Nature does her magic every year.  Up in the higher elevations of Arizona, cooler weather means a change in color.  Trees are bracing for winter and the leaves are turning yellow and some, red.  This is not quite New England, but it's close.
On my second trip with Arizona Highways Photo Workshops (AHPW), we started in Flagstaff, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Phoenix, Arizona.  There were 6 participants from all over the country:  Texas, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri (two attendees) and Arizona.  Our Zen Photographer, Shane McDermott, hails from Vancouver Island, Canada, but has lived in Flagstaff for about 10 years.  Zen because of his calm demeanor and approach to photography.  He is into meditation and yoga and the environment.  You can see his work at this site:
Wild-Earth-Illuminations

This 5-day workshop starts in Flagstaff.  Most serious photographers shoot pictures only early in the morning, around sunrise, and late in the afternoon, around sunset.  This is when you get the best light.  During the middle of the day, you get direct lighting that is too harsh.  So, for our first photo shoot, we met at 4 pm in the hotel lobby and drove about 30 minutes to the Hart Prairie area outside of Flagstaff.  Here is an open field with views of the mountains around Flagstaff.  We took pictures of clusters of aspen trees with leaves already turned yellow.  There was also a beautiful sunset with red clouds lighting the sky.

Aspen Trees Turning Yellow

Sunset at Hart Prairie

The second day's morning shoot was in Lockett's Meadows, about 45 minutes outside of Flagstaff and on the way to our next destination:  North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Here we hiked through a forest of aspen trees.  In the early morning light these trees display colors that you don't normally see during the day.  Shane showed us what to look for and how to shoot those beautiful shots of the trees.

Aspen trees, some appear blue in the morning light

Aspen trees bathed in blue light

Looking up at the yellow leaves of aspen trees

We next drove to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The North Rim is much less crowded than the South Rim.  It's opened only a few months in the summer.  In the winter it gets so much snow that most of the time, the roads are impassable.  This is only my second visit to the North Rim but I've been to the South Rim many times.  It takes only about 1 1/2 hours to drive from Flagstaff to the South Rim but 5 hours to the North Rim.  Both rims offer great photo opportunities.

After you entered into the Grand Canyon National Park entrance, you still have about 14 miles before arriving at the lodge.  On this road, you see many aspen trees turning yellow and if you are lucky, you may see a herd of bisons grazing by the side of the road.

Bisons at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Aspens along the highway entrance into the Grand Canyon

We spent 2 nights at the Grand Canyon, taking pictures at different vantage points.  Most of them require about 30 minutes to an hour drive from the lodge.  You ate almost all our meals at the Dining Room at the lodge.  Without the crowd, the lodge area provides a very relaxing place to visit and admire the Grand Canyon.
In between the shoots, we had a photo critiquing session and a well-deserved morning off to relax and enjoy the place.

East Terrace next to the Lodge

View from Cape Royal

Expansive View from Cape Royal

Sunrise at Point Imperial

On the fourth day after the morning shoot, we drove back to Flagstaff.  About an hour before Flagstaff, we stopped at the popular Cameron Trading Post for lunch.  This Trading Post includes a hotel, gift shop and a restaurant.  One of the unique dishes in this area is the Navajo Taco.  This consists of a base of Indian fry-bread, topped with beans, ground beef, cheese, etc.  Indian fry-bread is a dough, patted flat, and deep-fried.

Navajo Taco

Morning Photo Shoot at Lockett's Meadows near Flagstaff

After 5 days and getting less than 5 hours of sleep every night, everyone was exhausted.  On the last day before everyone goes their separate ways, we gathered at one of the participants, Christye's house in Flagstaff for a brunch.  We went through some of Shane's best pictures.  It was a beautiful way to end the trip.

Black & White

My first workshop as a Volunteer Trip Leader (VTL) with Arizona Highways Photo Workshop (AHPW) was called "Seeing the World in Black & White."  The workshop was held in Flagstaff, AZ, from August 14-16, 2015 and was taught by Joel Wolfson.  Joel is a professional photographer with 25+ years of experience, having works published in Newsweek, Elle, Seventeen, Family Circle, etc.

Almost all professional photographs are taken in RAW format.  RAW, as the name implies, means that the camera sensor captures all the light that it sees.  This is converted to a viewable format like JPG, TIF, EPS, or PNG using software like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, or Nikon ViewNX2, or other software.  Taking pictures in RAW format means the file is much bigger, often around 10 MB.  Taking casual pictures in JPG or JPEG format don't need to be processed and are usually much smaller in file size.

Pictures are almost always taken in color and can be converted using one of the software mentioned above.  We used a Topaz Black and White plug-in for Adobe Lightroom to create the B&W pictures.  Lightroom itself has B&W options but Topaz gives more presets and options.

On the first day of the workshop, we met in a conference room at the hotel.  There were 15 participants and their experience range from novice to semi-professional.  All of them were asked to bring 2 or 3 photographs that they have been taken to be critiqued.  Critiquing is an important part of a photography class.  The instructor and others in the class give comments about your picture and help you learn what you could've done better.  It is meant to be positive.  Joel also showed some of his pictures and explain how and why he took them a certain way.  This is very helpful as it sets the bar for the participants to try to achieve.  He also went into photography techniques and explain about the Zone System.

On Days 2 and 3 we started early (about 5 am) for sunrise shoots.  On Day 2 we went to Sunset Crater and on Day 3 we went the San Francisco Peaks area.  Both locations offered many excellent photographic opportunities.  Participants are encouraged to be creative.  We also have photo shoots in the afternoon - a wooded area near Snow Bowl, at the Museum of Northern Arizona, and in downtown Flagstaff.  After the photo shoots, each participant submits 2 or 3 pictures to be critiqued.

This is a very affordable class.  It costs about $800 for the 3-day workshop, which includes 2 nights hotel and lunches.  All participants gave the class very positive remarks in their surveys.

Sunrise near San Francisco Peaks area, Flagstaff

A Black and White version of the above picture.

A dead tree surrounded by grass

Morning Clouds near Sunset Crater

A dead tree in Sunset Crater

Trees make interesting pictures

Downtown Flagstaff

Arizona Highways Photo Workshop

I've been taking pictures as part of my travels the last few years.  Photography was always secondary to why I travel:  being in a different place or country, tasting the food, understand the history and culture, meeting new people, etc.  You motivate me by reading my blog and giving me feedback.  Many of you tell me that you like my pictures because it makes you feel that you are there with me.  Some of you even say you travel vicariously with me.  What a compliment!

Some of the feedback that I've been getting is that I can take even nicer pictures.  As I mentioned before I've taken a few classes at the Arizona Highways Photo Workshop (AHPW).  Taking this one step further, I've joined AHPW as a volunteer trip leader (VTL).  A VTL's job is to help the workshop instructor make the workshop a success by taking care of all the other details:  transportation, hotel, classroom, meals, students' requirements, etc.  It's an exciting opportunity because not only will I have the opportunity to sit in on a photography class and learn new skills, I get to travel to some of these interesting places as well. Here is a listing of AHPW Workshops.

Besides the travel and photography, I get to hangout with people who are passionate about photography and accomplished photographers themselves.  My first workshop, as a "trainee", is on how to take pictures in black and white.  It will be held next week in Flagstaff, AZ, about 3 hours north of Phoenix, and it's called Seeing the World in Black & White.  I will share my experience in my next post.

Alaska - The Last Frontier. Final Thoughts

I just finished an amazing month of travel in one of the most beautiful places in the world.  Nowhere in the world do you see so much wilderness and wildlife, yet so easily accessible.  Alaska has 23 national parks!  It is the largest state in the United States; twice the size of Texas.  Mount McKinley has the highest peak in North America.  After reading my blog, it should not surprise you that I am a big proponent of conserving and protecting the environment.  A place like Denali has done such a good job protecting the wildlife there that the animals probably think of vehicles and people as just another animal.

One thing you find out very quickly traveling in Alaska is everything is expensive.  Expect to pay up to 30% more for anything that you'd pay in the lower 48 states.  One puzzling thing is why seafood that is abundant there like salmon and halibut are so expensive in restaurants.  Most of the salmon or halibut dishes I ate or saw are about $30 a dinner.  Even Alaskans don't understand why.

Speaking of fishing, most non-Alaskans see pictures of pristine rivers or streams full of salmon where there are very few people fishing.  That's not true.  Yes, those places exist but you probably have to fly to those remote places at $600-700 per trip.  Alaskans love their fishing too.  When the season starts, you can see them standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the river.  Alaskans called it "combat fishing." In some parts of Alaska they do something called dip-netting.  This involves putting a big net into the river and catching whatever salmon swims into the net.  I think the limit for Alaska residents is 25 fish per year.  More for native-Alaskans.

Dip Nets being sold at Costco

Another item you won't see at Costco elsewhere - Bear Repellant

Alaskans also love their coffee.  You see standalone expresso stands at almost every shopping mall parking lot.  The local Costco even has a big roaster on its premises.  Don't know why but maybe it makes the coffee taste fresher and better.

Big coffee roaster at Costco

I mentioned about the sled dogs in Denali.  The NPS has a live webcam that you can see the puppies. Allow some time for the camera to refresh

Live Puppy Cam from Denali National Park Kennel


If you enjoy watching bears catching salmon at Brooks Falls in the Katmai National Park, go to this website:  

Live Bear Cam at Katmai National Park

Salmon runs are most active in July so you can see a lot of bears having a fish buffet here.
At this website you can get links to other live cams of other animals around the world.  If you are bored, this is something that will make you smile.  Watching live animals in action is never boring.

Here is a very good article in the New York Times about the bears at Katmai National Park:

At Katmai National Park in Alaska, Bears Rule - August 7, 2015

Did I enjoy my trip?  Absolutely!

However, if I have more information or the right information, I'd have done it slightly differently.  I'd have rented a car in Anchorage to drive to Denali instead of taking the train or shuttle bus.  It'd have  given me more flexibility in my schedule and allow me to do more things at Denali.  I found out that Alaskans use a travel guide called Milepost to give them detail information about what is available at each mile post on the Alaskan roads.  It includes advertising from local businesses at each mile post.  This is different from the generic travel guides from Frommer or Lonely Planet.  If you are planning on traveling on your own, this is the book to get.

What about future Alaska trips?  Here are some future Alaska trip ideas for me:

1. Fly to Katmai or other areas to see live bears catching salmon in action.  There are many companies offering these trips from the Kenai Peninsula.
2. Salmon fishing in a remote area.  Possibly combining that with bear-watching.
3. Camping or back-country hiking and camping at Denali National Park
4. Driving a car or RV from the lower 48 states through Canada to Alaska.  Drive through the Yukon area and visit historic places like Dawson City.
5. Go further north to the Arctic Circle and places like Nome and Barrow.
6. Explore more of Southeast Alaska - Haines, Skagway, Ketchikan, etc
7. Visit the Prince William Sound area.

Finally, thank you very much for reading my blog.  Knowing that my friends and family are reading my blog makes me a better traveler.  I go out of my way to do the things I like and make sure that you enjoying reading about them too.  Instead of casually looking at things, I spend more time reading and asking questions so that I can share the information with you.  This is also a journal for my travels.  I still go back to my 2011 European trip to refresh my memory on some of the places I visited.  As we grow older, we like hang on to whatever good memories we have.

I am working on my next trips.  Keep checking back to see if I updated the blog.  Until then, hope to see or talk to you soon.

Halibut Fishing

I came back to Homer specially for this.  This is the grand finale of my Alaska trip before I return to Phoenix.  I love fishing.  When I saw pictures and actually saw the deck hands filleting halibut, lingcod, and salmon around the Homer Spit, I was hooked.  Some of the halibut that were caught were over 200 pounds!  Of course, I'll be happy even if I catch one that is around 100 pounds.

I signed up with North Country Halibut Charters.  It costs about $180 for a 3/4 day fishing trip.  There are some that are for 1/2 day and some that are full day.  The one I signed up for is for halibut only.  The longer trips are usually for multiple variety of fish.

Fishing boat "Irish" that took us halibut fishing

For those not familiar with the halibut fish, it's a very good eating fish.  It has white, slightly firm meat and usually served in fillets.  A halibut dinner usually costs around $25-$30 in the US.  It's the biggest flat fish, which means it swims flat, like a flounder, usually at the ocean bottom.  The top part of the fish is brown, the bottom is white.  When caught, they fight very hard.  I understand that it's one of the strongest fish.   You can read more about halibuts here.

A recently caught halibut

We have to get an Alaska fishing license in order to fish.  Our limit is 2 halibuts - one that is any size, the other must not be bigger than 29 inches.  Our captain first took us to an area where there are a lot of big halibuts.  That way we can catch our bigger fish first.  Unfortunately, the fishing was quite slow.  Only 4 or 5 of us caught a fish, the biggest about 50 lbs.  After 3 or 4 hours of frustration, the captain took us to an area where the water is much deeper.  As soon as we dropped our lines we were catching fish.  Not very big but around 30 inches.  After a while all of us on the boat caught our limit.
Everyone went home happy.

This fish is about 25 inches long, my second fish

All the fish that our boat caught - limit of 2 each

Our deck-hand David cleaning and filleting a fish

When we got off the boat there were a couple of guys waiting for us to take our fish and help us freeze, pack or ship them.  It's a separate company and it costs us extra.  I am going to vacuum pack, freeze and have them put in a box so that I can check in with the airline.

Tomorrow (July 16, 2015) I am flying home.  I am driving from Homer to Anchorage, hang around Anchorage a little bit before taking a red-eye flight first to Los Angeles, then to Phoenix.  I will give some closing thoughts to this amazing trip to Alaska when I get home.

The Eagle Has Landed

It was a short one-hour flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage.  I picked up the rental car and drove about 5 1/2 hours to Homer.  Tomorrow is the grand finale for my trip - halibut fishing.  After I checked into the hotel, I hung around the beach watching a few people fishing.  I noticed a couple of bald eagles nearby and knew they were waiting for dinner opportunities.  Well, you see for yourself below.

Searching for food

On the way

Claws down, ready to grab the fish

Got it!

Heading back for a nice dinner

Dinner is served