kuala lumpur concrete superstar

Petronas Towers

A family of condominiums

Little India

penang market

cycling out of bangkok

Initially, we were weaving through screaming horns and exhaust. Two hours later, we were winding through narrow paths in the rainforest. I have never seen such a transformation on a bicycle ride. The process was gradual:

The chaotic roads soon became one-metre wide laneways. We stopped for scooters and dodged dogs. The rusted sharp corners of corrugated metal walls also kept us in the middle of the path.

The laneways funnelled into wide roads, but with no traffic and flanked by fields of green vegetables.

These soon shrunk again, but this time into muddy rainforest trails with the occasional concrete slab.

We stopped for ice tea at a temple and tom yom soup under a pandanus roof. Our return river crossing was via boat instead of bridge. We stumbled back into the hotel room, muddy and wonderfully exhausted.

Wat Chalor

A very old temple in someone's backyard!

khao san road - tourist ghetto

Cheap beer and bad tattoos - Khao San Road is a true tourist ghetto. Red-eyed backpackers order breakfast at 2am. They chose from menus of pies and pasta, rather than pad thai. The westernism is only trumped by the clambering tuk-tuk drivers. We enjoyed some sweet pineapple, bought some genuine fakes, then left.

percussion

CMC is the biggest producer of percussion instruments in the world. Their factory is the first arena of mass production I have ever seen. We followed the transformation of a splintered piece of chopped wood into a beautiful conga. The percussion, automation and human touches all mesh together efficiently. Seeing the process made me think about the people behind the products on the shelves.

bangkok - first impressions

The Skyrail efficiently cruises over the khlongs - small canals and bodies of water dotted between properties. Narrow, uneven bridges arch over the green and brown. The most surprising sight is the way the plots of rectangular land are used. Some have geometric rows of crops, broken up by a single, over-sized house. Others have a few tumble-down shacks and a playground, improvised from the local flora. Occasionally, a monochrome shock of identical roofs obliterate the green. These are housing estates on the outskirts of the city. The houses are all from the same mould. They appear pushed together, as if fearful of invasion from the surrounding fields.

friends in the city 9 - kindness

Time always seems scant in the city, so kindness has to be efficient. It is more time effective to donate electronically, rather than shift through a wallet to give the destitute some coins. In addition, the homeless never seem to have their electronic banking details handy, and getting a receipt is difficult.

"My strong buttress roots will protect you from those graffiti hooligans"

"I'll watch your lunch while you play"

Next episode of "friends": April 3rd (It's a long way off, but there'll be other stuff in the meantime)

friends in the city 8 - allure of the spectacle

"In .......,

Concrete jungles where dreams are made of,

There's nothing you can't do,

Now you're in ......."

With an endorsement like that, maybe we should all go.

A rollercoaster through skyscrapers. Japan wins.

Next episide of friends:  March 11th