Analyst

That works. Alternatively you can just walk around Shibuya or Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku and wait until those touts in the black trench coats approach you. Around 18K-19K.

Be prepared for the bait and switch, though. You'll be getting the busted ones that have been heavily depreciated.

I originally put these up in the Finding Denim in Japan thread a while ago.

Here's a Japanese fast-food burger chain. They make amazing burgers, shakes, fries, etc. This is in Harajuku, close to the Pure Blue Japan shop.

You can find them all over the Tokyo, and they also have branches in HK. Enjoy

The cheeseburgers are excellent. Crispy lettuce, fresh tomatoes, onions.

They have cookies and shakes, too.

Gotta love the burger girls working the line.

I just went to Park Avenue Winter last week. They change the menu and decor for each season of the year. Nice atmosphere.

http://www.parkavenyc.com/winter/

I've heard great things about Costa Rica: cheap coke, legalized prostitution, amazing diving and surfing.

A bit deceptive since Russia and China eat up a lot of surface area. Really want to go to the Middle East and South America.

damn, i was actually just driving and listenig to NPR and heard about the shit going down, then got an email from a friend who is stranded and can't get out of bangkok by plane, so she's on a bus to cambodia. I got home and hopped on google chat to see if analyst was on to see if I could get an update. Shit, analyst, that stuff is nuts. Hope you're safe buddy. keep us INFORMED.

At last, the airports are now open and are resuming flights. They should be fully operational in about two weeks.

After much anticipation, the Thai government has been disbanded. Again. The anti-government protesters claimed victory as the Thai Supreme Court ruled that the current Prime Minister must step down and would be banned from politics for five years for elector fraud. But this victory was "won" at a terrible cost to the country, economically and politically.

Looking ahead not much will change. The party of the current PM will form a new group under a new name, already dubbed "For Thais". And new elections will be held which will install a new PM, from unsurprisingly the same government party. And again this PM will be successfully "democratically" elected by most poor, rural voters in the North and Northeast who received 10$ and/or a water buffalo in return for their vote. Obviously, the Thai country is not quite ready for a democracy, which has been tossed around here as a trendy buzzword.

The same anti-government party will protest the election results, without suggesting a viable alternative solution, and will start their protesting again. Thus is the political life in Thailand. 19-20 coups in the last forty years or so. At the heart of the matter is the "untouchable" subject of succession planning regarding the current monarchy.

Strict laws ("lese mejeste") prohibit any kind of so-called negative remarks against the monarchy. Thailand is the only country in the world that upholds this law.

On the flip side, maybe this lawlessness and slight anarchy in Thailand is what makes it such an interesting country. I'm not sure if I would want the stability or predictability of another Singapore or Hong Kong. The nightlife and partying is still amazing, if not better than before. The street food is tops. The Thai attitudes of sabai-sabai and jai dee are still there. Maybe the Kingdom of Thailand is just fine as it is, after all.

Things in Thailand are not so good at the moment. Actually it's been in pretty bad shape for the past few months.

As of yesterday, the anti-government protesters dubbed the PAD forced Thailand's Suvarnabhumi International Airport to close, stranding thousands of passengers at the airport. Last I heard the bank's forex branches and restaurants in the airport had closed leaving those stranded to depend on handouts from police and the protesters.

I don't expect the situation to be cleared anytime soon. The pissing match between the government, which the protesters view as a proxy for the disposed PM Taksin, and the so-called People's Alliance for Democracy, or PAD, is starting to escalate at a rapid pace. The PAD wants the PM to step down and wants to appoint their own members into the government. The government wants to hold on their seat since they view that they were "democratically" elected. That said, I'll tell you right now that Thailand is not ready for a democracy. The poor, rural people in the North will always vote for their self-interest. And can you blame them? The wealth gap in this backwater nation is so wide that corruption will always be a way of life until you address the root cause to that issue. And that's never going to happen anyway.

I feel that more violence is imminent as the police and military sit on the sidelines.

In my view, the PAD no longer represents the people and are only pursuing their own self-interests. And as of late, most professional Thais in Bangkok are turning against the PAD as their latest actions are destroying the country's tourism sector and any future hope of economic recovery. If history repeats itself, Thailand's latest political situation won't be cleared until 2011-2012.

With tomorrow being Thanksgiving I feel horrible for the Americans that are trying to get home to their families but are still stuck at the airport. My heart goes out to them.

Fuck, I'm depressed.

I'm sad this thread doesn't get more love.

The DJ-501XX is one of my favorite denim. I would post pics but my pair still has a long time to do before they become "presentable".

Amazing detailing and the denim is incredible.

Prague has been rainy and cold these last few days. Been eating lots of beef goulash and dumplings and exploring the various districts. The Charles Bridge has to be one of the most beautiful walking bridges in the world.

Pictures to come.

Thailand is going through a tough time right now. Chronic political issues here have killed consumer confidence and business sentiment. And with the global recession that's hitting the developed world now, Thailand's economy is going to be hit in a bad way in the near term as demand for exports comes to a halt.

A lot of places that were previously discussed have closed down. Playground on Thong Lor is gone and its sister Manga inside Central World at Chit Lom have also been boarded up. Denim Style in Siam Square is also closed.

Let's see. Blackjack inside Erawan (Chit Lum stop) has lots of Raf by Raf Simons, Helmut Lang, Y-3, Marc Jacobs, etc. Its sister Club 21, also inside Erawan has Dior Homme, Issy Miyake, Comme de Garcon, Junya Watanabe, etc.

Recently, I stopped by Cloud 9 inside Gaysorn Plaza, which sits across the street from Erawan, and was surprised to see Rag and Bone and Band of Outsiders on the racks.

I haven't been to Tanner Lee & Na for a long time but their small shop is in the MBK mall in Siam Square. They carry imported Japanese denim and marks up by about 33%. But they have lots of Evisu, Warehouse, Studio D'artisan, Take 5 collabs, Stormy Blues, Denime and Yamane; all in limited sizes. Tanner knows Benny from Take 5 in HK. He has a bit of a sour attitude but his wife who also helps run the shop is really nice.

If you're looking for denim in Bangkok, the fake levis and evisus are better buys, I think. For the real thing, it's better to go to HK or Tokyo. The Chatuchak market out toward Lad Prao (Mo Chit BTS stop) should have plenty of denim as well as small shops run by emerging designers etc. Go there only on Saturday or Sunday morning.

The Suan Lum Night Market next to Lumpini station also has tons of small shops. Hit or miss. But it's probably a good place to browse at night and wonder around its maze of closet-sized shops and kiosks. The sad thing is is that this place is supposed to be shutting down since the lease has been up since early 2008 and the property was purchased by the Central Group, who plans to open another super-mall to rival the Siam Paragon shopping mall. But even though the vendors are supposed to have vacated the premises, the shops are still bustling as far I can tell.

I'm probably leaving out some stuff, so please let me know if you find anything new. Have a great trip. The weather is amazing right now.

January 09. I'll be in the states for a few weeks visiting friends and family.

I might be back in BKK in Feb for a few months or might be moving to NYC. Lots of uncertainty right now.

What do you want to do? More clubs and parties or chill stuff at restaurants and bars? How much do you want to see? They make the best beer so there are few great places to visit. I've been to Prague probably 10 times so I know few places. Most of the book guides are trash so it's not that easy to find good spots. Shopping is non existent unless you want to get some Adidas or some shit like that.

Yeah, the few guide books that I've seen don't really cut it.

I have a week so will have a few days to really explore the city. Ideally, I'd like to get pretty deep into the city. I'm mainly looking for the few interesting districts or streets to check out: shops, bars, restaurants.Not tourist traps.

Any guidance on chill bars and restaurants would be very much appreciated. Thanks!

I'm heading to Prague for a week next month. Any tips on things to do, streets for shopping, etc.? Tisswat, I know you must know of some places. I'll post up lots of pictures when I get back.

Thanks in advance...

so, i just started teaching english at four different elementary and junior high schools.

it's been fun so far but more challenging than i thought it was gonna be.

between that and everything else i've been doing, i've hardly had time to sleep.

but, i promise to put some updates up, probably the final updates, this weekend!

Miz, have you been kancho'ed by any students, yet? Hilarious...

I've been following this thread for a while and it just got better! I love the pics of daily life in Okinawa. Keep it going. Thx.

Things are fine in BKK despite all the hoopla on the news. I didn't even get a day off from work during the heat of it all.

All the protesters and their related activities are localized in the Rajdamnern area close to the United Nations. So from anywhere on Sukhumvit, Silom, Siam or Sathorn, you wouldn't even know that Bangkok was under a state of emergency (recently lifted).

Sigh. Thai politics is sad and humorous at the same time. When will they ever learn...

Looks great, Mike...

England, nice recap of your trips to Laos...I need to finally check out Luang Prabang soon.

Is the currency still 2 Belize dollars = 1 USD???

Yes. Their currency is pegged to the US dollar at 2:1.

About four years ago, I spent five days and nights on Ambergris Caye. Overall, it's a very laid back island. I stayed in a private house next to the Ramon's Resort during that time and spent my mornings diving and the nights hanging out at the many bars and restaurants in San Pedro.

Capricorn, on the north end of Ambergris Caye, is an excellent dinner spot. Easiest way to get there is to just grab a water taxi to take you there. The restaurant is located on a quiet beach away from downtown San Pedro. Great staff and service and a perfect place to kick back with a Cohiba after dark.

I don't remember any other restaurants or bars by name. But with most places on the island, you can't go wrong with any ceviches or jerk chicken or lobster dishes. Lobster should be in season during this part of the year. They won't be as big as the 4-5lb Nova Scotian variety but should be tasty, nonetheless.

The only thing that seemed odd about Ambergris Caye was that I felt I was still in the continental US. Everyone I met on the island was American and visiting from Texas. I've never been anywhere else in the Caribbean so don't know if this is the norm.

In my opinion, the coolest thing about Belize and Ambergris Caye was the diving, You'll get easily 20-30 meters of visibility in very warm water. The top dive spot is the Blue Hole, a underwater cavern formed from a sinkhole. Takes about 2hrs to get there by boat. The dive is pretty technical and requires advanced open water status through PADI. Most dive shops will take you down to about 35-40 meters. Plenty of black tip, and I think, hammerhead sharks, although I didn't see any. Check out this pic. It's pretty overwhelming:

Thanks for sharing your trip with us. This is what I love about Sufu...

Awesome pics and trip. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm in Japan...

Been lurking about more than posting lately but...

England

Poly

Tisswat

Coldrice

Tweeds

Lowrey

Chicken

Any one flew on the A380, on Emirates or Singapore Airlines, yet?

Coldrice,

I didn't make it out unfortunately. Ended up working a little later than expected. Same thing happened when DJ Craze was in town at Q-Bar.

But I've seen Grandmaster Flash a few times back in DC when he used to show up at the old Buzz parties. Still a great performer though....

U coming to TH soon?

I got a couple of PMs asking about the location of the PBJ shop in Harajuku, as it's a little tough to find. Hope this helps....