Bangkok

Time to hit the road — driving in Thailand — September 2015 After my first night in Bangkok, I decided I was not in the mood for ‘doing a city’, and I needed to get out of town — fast. So, I decided to rent a car and head to the country. The Plan The idea was to drive out of Bangkok…

Not a great start — My first night in Bangkok was not a great start. I got a ‘Hong Kong’ feeling on my first night in Bangkok. I made my first visit to Hong Kong after spending a week in laid-back Bali, and I found Hong Kong to be overpowering. I felt I had made…

Arrived in Thailand — September 2015 My first experience of Thailand wasn’t great. At Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK; ท่าอากาศยานสุวรรณภูมิ), it took a long time to clear immigration. The immigration form was not correct and was missing the telephone number section. This caused all kinds of confusion and delays. Trying to get a SIM for my…

Time to move on to my last country of the trip — September 2015 Time to leave Laos and move on to my last country of the trip — Thailand. My hope for Bangkok, Thailand, is decent connectivity. In Laos, the Wi-Fi and mobile phone network was very slow, and it wasn’t only in the hotel; it was everywhere, bars, cafés, and…

I analyzed my own commute based on the data from Google Maps Location History. I recently started a new job as a data scientist at a real estate company, marking the end of my time as an urban planner — the first job I had after graduating from college. On…

If I told you that eating insects could solve world hunger, would you do your part and eat a bug? That’s what entomophagist (a person who eats bugs), Daniella Martin, argues in her book, Edible. I’m intrigued by the idea of insects as a nutritious food source. Crickets are 65%…

Is there a particular candy that evokes childhood memories for you? My most turbulent teenage years can be conjured up by the sweet, sour, and spicy flavor of Pelon Pelo Rico, a soft tamarind candy popular in Mexico. I grew up in East San Jose, a neighborhood in Santa Clara…

Ever go out to a restaurant and taste the most amazing dish, only to have no idea what you just ate? Like it was an amalgamation of flavors so delicious that it short circuits your ability to even describe it? That’s what it’s like to eat in Thailand. Nothing that…

When I was a teenager, weekends and holidays were dedicated to prayer and visiting the temple to do volunteer work. Our neighborhood temple sat atop the hills of East San Jose with panoramic views of Silicon Valley. The complex was once a school, and its playground was the most serene…