Analyst

i agree, probably the most stunning woman i have ever seen was from bergen norway in 2005.

Sounds like a great trip, Poly. Always finding those places far off the reservation.

Bucharest (Romania) and the Balkans are on my list to check out.

Been waiting for this for a long time. Thanks for the update.

Shields always said they were going to do another album. After a decade, I never thought it was going to happen.

Thong Lor area...

Yeah im one of the lucky inhabitants of Bangkok as well. Here are some of the more street style stores listed. Its in German but they also put the addresses in these articles.

http://styledepartment.com/blog/sneaker/18/bkk-streetwear-sneaker-stores-update/

http://styledepartment.com/blog/schuhe/25/bangkok-shopping-spree/

I can recommend all places mentioned there. Preduce has also opened another store in a new mall called Esplanade Ratchada.

Anyway I wouldn't come here as mentioned before its an absolutely terrible place, just ugly chics around and all that.

Is this the same Preduce that has the skate shop in Siam Square?

Not much going on with the Esplanade, but there are a ton of "working" girls hanging out there BEFORE they start their shift in the early evening.

Ratchada is home to the top-shelf massage parlors in the city. Fishbowls, model lounges, sideline girls, etc. The works.

Another interesting place is the Huay Kwang market around the Ratchada area, which also has a ton of "working" girls hanging out, shopping and eating, AFTER they finish their shift around 12:00am (assuming they didn't catch one more for last call at midnight). Numerous noodle stands, clothing kiosks, cellphone assessories, etc. This marketplace is open like 24/7 and is absolute chaos.

Oops. Forgot to add a disclaimer to that...

Okay, got back from my visa run to Laos!

Largo, great pics and info on Vientiene!

Yes. Hit on girls that AREN'T in the likes of Soi Cowboy, Nana Plaza, Patpong, Soi Bang-La, or pretty much the entire town of Pattaya.

It's gotten to the point where Patpong and Nana Plaza just isn't hardcore or sleazy enough anymore. One's tolerance definitely goes up the longer that you're here. Lines start turning into eightballs.

These days, Soi Cowboy is one of the few "legit" places that still has a pulse.

Anyone seen this blog before?

http://morallydiminished.blogspot.com

That's how I know that I've been here too long now. Sigh......

Any good places to stay while at Ko Pha Ngan? I'm going to be there for the ny fmp and havn't had much luck in finding decent places.

I stayed at two places on Ko Pha Ngan, both times on Haad Rin, which is the main beach and major drop off from Samui. The first time, I stayed at the Drop In Club resort in Haad Rin. So so experience and it costs about 50$ each night.

The second time, I stayed at Sarikarntang Resort on Leela Beach. It's assessible from Haad Rin but a little further away from the main beach, which will be a good thing during the Full Moon Party. I liked Sarikarntang much better than Drop In: better rooms, private beach, etc. It's run by May and Mai, two sisters who are really cool. Random fact but in a prior life, they were both an ex-management consultant and an ex-economist from the Thai central bank, respectively, before opening their report.

Another option is to stay somewhere else on the Pha Ngan, which is actually a pretty big island. Thong Sala, a small village where most of the locals actually live, is about a 15 minute ride away from Haad Rin. It's not as "exciting" as Haad Rin, but you might prefer to be away from all the ghetto-ass backpackers there.

There are also small bungalows and guest houses all over the island. Two cool places come to mind. Thong Nai Pan on the west side of the island and Mae Haad on the northwest side of the island. Chulokum on the north side of the island is pretty cool and has a good hookah bar up there. Most dive trips off of Koh Pha Ngan also launch from Chulokum.

Hope this helps...

Bangkok has tons of generic leather goods stores. Make sure to bargain.

Chaopraya Boots on Soi 4 is fairly well known. They custom make boots, belts, bags, etc.

Damn, England. You got Bangkok wired!

i was just thinking about how retarded i was for not getting a suit made last year when i was there. Analyst even walked me by the shop that has made suits for all the ambassadors and shit. and now i just bought a shitty h&m suit.

Oh yeah...we were actually on our way to grab a drink at Rainbow 2, before heading over to the Champagne Room. Good times!

The tailor you're referring to is Rajawongse, which is run by a father and son team. They have quite a reputation among the expat, private sector and intelligence communities (both in Thailand and in the US), as is evidenced by the pictures and letters from George Bush and the executive business cards on the dressing room walls: Secret Service, Dept of Homeland Security, Lufthansa, Deloitte, Google, United Airlines, etc. Victor also has an uncanny ability to remember everyone of his customers' names as soon as they walk in the door.

Their shirts are excellent and run around $25 a piece. Reams of fabric line the walls, so you just mark the reams you like with some chalk when buying shirts. Turnaround time is about a week.

They do a pretty good job on suits, too. Prices are about $350, which is slightly higher than most of the other tailors in Bangkok. I just gor a suit cut for my engagement and had to "firmly" reiterate several times about what I wanted done: working buttons, double vents, no cuffs, etc. Jesse, the dad, will usually be more likely to "tell" you what you should want, which comes from cutting suits for the last 20+ years. If you know what you want, be direct and specific from the beginning. Two fittings are standard.

It's pretty amazing. If I went back to that bar, I would definitely ask the talented lady how she accomplished the feat..It's the one trick that still sticks in my mind..

They should make a sequel to the Prestige and have it set in Patpong

Awesome information on Brazil.

Any information on the saunas and themaes? Hehe.....

Make sure you check out Ear-X-Tacy on Bardstown Road. It's one of the few great record stores that is still alive.

internet censorship exists in most south east asian countries. The fact that the cut it off is very strange, but you can't say you didn't see it coming...

Yeah, during the coup in Thailand, internet access to any websites from outside the country was shut down. CNN and BBC was also shutdown. The next day, CNN and BBC were available but would be "scrambled" everytime the journalists would "report live from Bangkok".

YouTube was also blocked for like 4-6 months for some videos portraying the king in an "unfavorable" light. We just got YouTube back online about 2-3 weeks ago. Nuts.

from my previous trip to the store i remember it being a japanese-designed but thai manufactured line...unless i got the store assistant wrong.

bought a shirt earlier in january when i went, their jeans look pretty nice as well.

That sounds about right. They used to be sold at the Emporium and Zen as well, but now only at the Siam Center boutique.

Their denim has been sold out for a while now. Looks like they move pretty fast whenever a shipment comes....

from my previous trip to the store i remember it being a japanese-designed but thai manufactured line...unless i got the store assistant wrong.

bought a shirt earlier in january when i went, their jeans look pretty nice as well.

That sounds about right. They used to be sold at the Emporium and Zen as well, but now only at the Siam Center boutique.

Their denim has been sold out for a while now. Looks like they move pretty fast whenever a shipment comes....

This is my beater, PAM177, Titanium

nice strap....is that OEM?

I've been trying to find a pre-vendome buckle for a PAM 164....those things are hard to find out here....

Vices:

Denim

Watches

Books

BKK's Finest....

Here's a conversation table for the DJ-501XX Heavies. This should help those who are not keen on the metric system.

I just reserved a pair of the 01 size for the DJ-501XXs.

I wear 31 in 45rpm Sorohikos, 30 in Rag and Bone and 29 in Jean Shop classic raw.

I really hope these will fit well. Fingers crossed.

Prada Sport runs a little big. For their sport loafer, I sized down one size.

Trapeze Swinger - Iron and Wine

Fade Into You - Mazzy Star

who the hell would go to macau for gardens? haha.

Macau is one of the best places for taking a guys' trip, as in "no GFs allowed." It's definitely going to be one of the stops on the bachelor party tour.

Some to dos:

Gambling at the Sands

Afterhours at the Hotel Lisboa basement

Exploring the talent at the various MPs

I recently picked up this Tank Francaise for my fiancee. It's pretty understated, classic and minimal. The best part is that it doesn't cut you off at the knees like a Patek Twenty-4.

Today, I ran across a small store in Siam Center, the mall right off the Siam Square BTS Station, called Ken Nakamura. The clothes and store have a strong 45rpm-ish feel (i.e., indigo-dyed tee-shirts, Henry Cuir-style bracelets and accessories, indigo-dyed cotton gauze fisherman pants, loose-knit shirts, etc.). Basically, they are similar to 45rpm but without the Abercrombie & Fitch-ish blazers and khakis.

They also have their own unisex denim that are washed selvedge with some interesting bells and whistles (i.e., patterned fabric for the pockets, selvedge all along the inner waistline, nice hardware). They look decent and are priced at 3995 baht, or around $120 USD.

I'll try to see if I can get some pics next time. The store's card mentions a Ken Dee Co., Ltd. Anyone heard of these guys? They are definitely a Japanese-based company. Not sure if it's a micro-brand or something larger in Japan. Any info would be great! Thanks...

Tisswat should be able to fill you in on Amsterdam. He has posted extensively about the ins and outs of the city.