Thailand – Random Happenings

Tuk tuk drivers are one of a kind. Peace!

Take “advantage” of the cab driver’s “massages”.

Those army fatigues and doc martins just too hot for the beach?  Why not try these comfy neo-nazi flip flops.

Seriously though, the stuff that is sold on the street markets can be a bit disturbing.

“OK, all the cool guys stay on the bus.  Everybody else, get off, you’re staying here.”

Jay Z’s done record labels, clothing brands, energy drinks and vodka.  Rumour has it scooters are next.  Here’s the prototype.

The clothing bootleggers don’t always get it quite right.  We’re not sure what the people at Addict would think of these ‘Addick’ shorts.

Mods in the jungle.

Koh Samet

We had a few days before our flight left Thailand so we headed to the nearby island of Koh Samet for some more beach action.

We arrived in the evening, which was no bad thing.

Summer moods.

Back on the beach. Time to celebrate again – 80s style.

Anyone who’s been to Thailand will know that people quite often ask to have their photos taken with complete strangers. This guy wanted to have his picture taken with Chris. Hey watch those wandering hands pal.

… and relax.

Deep House Brotherhood at Club Culture

Deep House Brotherhood is, despite the what the name suggests, a collection of DJs from Thailand, Germany and elsewhere into great soulful and jazzy music from Deep House, to Boogie, Disco, Soul and beyond. Chris played at their night at Club Culture, Bangkok’s second biggest club – a great spot. It’s a renovated theatre and has some great original features, not to mention a really good sound system.

Bang, zoom, rock the house, pow.

Yo.

Deep concentration … again.

Name on the big screen!

Boogie shoes.

Got change for the bar?

Lotta and Nat. Get the party started.

Shake that thang.

Good times.

Drink like there’s no tomorrow …

… and dance like nobody’s watching.

More good times.

Nat rocks the disco.

More boogie flavour.

Mutual big ups.

Representing for the Brotherhood.

Sign up!

It’s not everyday that you leave a club at 3am and see an elephant stroll past.

Thai Massage Deluxe

After a couple of weeks on the islands it was back to Bangkok as Chris was playing at Club Culture on the weekend.  Nat, the promoter of the club, was kind enough to hook us up with a Thai massage at one of Bangkok’s 5 star health spots.  This photo is of the ‘VIP’ floor where we were treated to 2 hours of pretty brutal bone crunching and muscle pounding.  No pain, no gain!

The first and last time you’ll catch Chris in a pair of Thai trousers.

Pyjamas on and ready for a beating.

Beard.

Taken moments before Chris’ first shave of the holiday.  Looks a little bit like Herbie Hancock on the cover of the Secrets album … only white.

Wildlife.

Before.

After.

The second fella appeared in Chris’ towel after hanging out of the window in our hut.  He must have been there for a while.

Deep blue.

Ko Nang Yuan is a cluster of three tiny uninhabited islands just north of Koh Tao.  The scenery is pretty amazing.

Beach time … again.

The islands are surrounded by shallow reefs which makes it ideal for snorkelling and generally swimming about with the fish.

Gear on and underwater camera in effect.

Hanging out with the fish.

Rainbow bright.

More fish.

It was hard to leave this place.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Another boat ride and we came to Koh Tao, famous for its diving and snorkelling. It’s a little more built up than Koh Phan Ngan, but beautiful nonetheless.

Rastafari teach I every ting

For no obvious reason Thailand is full of Rastas. Thai Rastas means beach bars, red, gold and green souvenirs and bootleg Reggae CDs.

I’m not sure if this is what he had in mind when he wrote ‘movement of Jah people’.

Champion sound.

Mr Handsome

Mr Handsome offered some essential services round the island;

Make you bike “fast”.

Clean and good smell “for 10 year”.

Love from Mr Handsome.

Stop … hammock time!

Hammock; check. Beer; check.  Peanuts; check. Cheesy pose; check.

It’s hard to look intellectual whilst holding a half empty Bacardi Breezer.

Koh Phan Ngan, Thailand

After a couple of days, we took a ferry over to the more beautiful island of Koh Phan Ngan.

A rough ride over the hills on dirt roads in a 4×4 gets you to Thong Nai Pan beach.  The little hut on the right of the picture was our home for a week or so.

Sunset on the beach.

Koh Samui, Thailand

After a short night’s sleep (by which we mean a nap in an airport listening to pan pipe cover versions of Whitney Houston songs on permanent repeat), we took a short flight down to Koh Samui. It’s one of the more built up islands, but it does have some beautiful scenery;

Namuang Waterfall number 1.

Rock pool beneath the waterfalls.

Last one in’s a rotten egg.

Swimming in the rock pools. (Photo shoot for topman swimwear catalogue in the background?).

Namuang Waterfall number 2.

Elephants grazing.

Like father like son.

Sydney – random happenings.

Oxford Street, Sydney is an altogether different place to Oxford Street, London. The shop names might give a clue as to the ‘vibe’ of the area.

Even the takeaways are a little ‘fruity’.

A short walk from there gets you to Paddington, a really nice area which has some decent boutique type shops and markets for clothes and some second hand records etc.

I bet he didn’t sign the visitor’s book though.

Directions please.

Eat Dessert First … on the dancefloor.

The Blue Mountains

Before leaving Sydney we took a trip out to the Blue Mountains, about an hour and half’s train journey inland from the city.

Words and pictures can’t really do this view justice. Close your eyes and imagine you’re on the set of Jurassic Park.

We took this glass bottomed cable car from one side of the valley to the other…

… and this was the view of the waterfalls beneath.

The Three Sisters.

We spent most of the day walking back across the valley. It’s pretty much impossible to get tired of views like this. Probably the most beautiful scenery we saw on the whole trip.

Mick ‘Crocodile’ Dundee…

… and his trusty side kick Sue Charlton.

Turntables on the Harbour – boat party!

On the Saturday night we hooked up with a couple of Chris’ friends from Birmingham who are living in Sydney and headed down to the Turntables on the Harbour boat party (incidentally sponsored by FBI Radio). Good music, a few drinks and boating into the sunset.

Birmingham in the house. Captain Woody and Jameelah.

Top deck party people.

Jameelah and the Sydney crew.

Lotta sporting Captain Woody’s party hat.

Pass the hat.

Hat swap.

Taking in the view.

“Aga do, aga do. Push pineapple, shake the tree.” (For the avoidance of doubt this is a reference to the inflatable palm tree, not the music – which was mostly excellent.)

“Oompah, oompah, stick it up your joompah.”

The cycle messenger fashion craze hits Sydney with horrendous / awesome results depending on your point of view.

Everybody say “cheese”.

Beautiful sunset.

Gardener’s corner part 2.

Right between Sydney harbour and the main business district are the Botanic Gardens which as parks go are pretty impressive.

It’s not just plants either. There are also animals – namely bats – loads of them. It’s not easy to see from the photo but those bad boys were enormous.

Got something to say about life? Say it in 2 meter high trimmed hedges. ‘Sex and Death’.

Can’t live without my radio.

Pretty much the first thing we did after a quick tour downtown was head over to FBI Radio (94.5FM if you’re in the neighbourhood) for Chris to do a guest spot.

Thanks again to Hanna for the lift to the station. We certainly wouldn’t have found it without you!

Deep concentration.

A big thanks to Shantan and Jack for hooking up the show and to John for making it possible in the first place. Keep up the good work.

As a side note, it was refreshing to visit a radio station which is both run professionally and with the sole purpose of playing decent music with enthusiasm. A good number of the UK’s playlisted radio channels could learn a thing or two from these guys.

Home from home.

Lotta’s friend Hanna was kind enough to give us a place to stay for our first few days in town, not to mention a few great meals. Thanks for the hospitality!

Hanna’s place.

The back yard (and the open bush, by which we mean jungle, behind it). Full of Aloe Vera plants which are handy for relieving the pain of sunburn as we found out early on in our stay.

Down under!

Straight out of the airport and a quick train ride lands you in downtown Sydney. Despite having seen Sydney harbour and the opera house in a million films and pictures it’s actually pretty impressive in the flesh.

The harbour bridge. For about 80 quid/1200 kronor you can strap yourself to the railings and climb over the top…

… or for free you can walk across at road level which did us fine.  This is the view!