Condom fashion

Beijing is a hip city and that can be seen in the clothes worn by the new generations, but will anybody wear this?

Quiz question

Q : What is the full name of Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand?


A : Krungthep mahanakhon amonratanakosin mahintara ayuthaya mahadilok popnopparat ratchathani burirom udomratchaniwet mahasathan amonpiman avatansathit sakkathattiya witsanukamprasit


This tongue twister is recognized as the longest name for a city in the Guinness record book. In Thai the name Bangkok is not used, because Bangkok is an old quarter of the city it is now. Thai people will not pronounce the full name, except if they want to show off. Normally just the first word Krunghtep is used to indicated the city of Bangkok. Krunghtep means literally "City of Angels". All the rest of the name is a description of the wealth and greatness of the city itself.

Most Thai people know the full name of their capital city. Greatly because in 1989 a Thai rock band made a hit single that repeats the name of the city. So when you ask to reproduce the city name some Thai will start singing that song.

Strange signs - Engrish

Ah you forgot your dictionary in the hotel room and you are looking for a pharmacy, internetbar, ... You try to speak in English but nobody understands you. And the strange signs on the front of the buildings don't help either. Does this sound common to you, well then you might have experienced the huge communication problem you might encounter in Asia. Especially China and Japan are no 1 countries for such an embarrassment.

But these countries are trying to do their best to help us foreigners, who can't understand a single sign of their exotic language, by putting an English subscript. Now those translations, I think, are done by a machine or a man holding a dictionary and copying the appropriate words. That's how you get very very strange translations or misspellings ( a famous one is the "crap" soup ).

There are some funny websites dedicated to this subject, check Engrish for English bloopers in Japan and Chinglish for the ones in China.


Here is my collection so far.

Enjoy:

Belgium on air

On 5 September 2007 my lovely girlfriend Nok arrived from Thailand to Belgium. She will have to discover the delights of Belgium food and drinks. And a lot of activities are planned to impress her.

On 8 September 2007 we made a special tour in a hot air balloon. We (well a professional team) set up the balloon in Lokeren and after about 30 minutes of blowing we could start and were air born. The wind carried us over a big part of Lokeren and we crossed the highway E17 in Beervelde and headed to Wetteren. After one hour we made a relatively soft and bumpy landing in a field in Kalken, just before Wetteren.

During the whole trip we had a clear view and the visibility was perfect. We could see on the horizon different cities as Ghent, Brussles, Aalst and Doel. The balloon obtained a maximum height of 1000ft, which is about 300m high. Because of the good weather conditions other balloons were visible very close to us.

It was a marvelous experience and everybody enjoyed including Nok!

Far away on the horizon is the city of Gent, with the 3 towers standing out of the city.

The Highway E17 seen heading towards Gent.

The village of Beervelde.

Getting dark around 20.00 and time to look for a good field to land. That means the field must be empty, no corn and no cows.

The field we landed in, is situated a bit further but was full of cow shit hence I had to wash my shoes and trousers.

Thai Festival

On Sunday 16 September 2007 the Thai Embassy of Belgium organize a free festival.

Place of the happening is the Dumon place (Stockel). Starting from 10.00 to 18.00.

The main theme is just Thai culture of course and a lot of typical Thai food will be presented.

Other activities will also be seen, such as the traditional handicrafts, Thai cooking classes, ...

For more information click here.

If you don't have anything to do and want to sniff up some new culture it's maybe a nice opportunity.

Professional Photographs

When we talk photography I am rather an amateur, but I am sure you noticed already.

I want to show you the work of a friend of mine, Tony Vingerhoets. He resides in Beijing and is currently working in the fast-growing world of art, entertainment and advertisement. As a hobby and part of his job he takes pictures around China. The results are splendid (each time an extract of some sets):

Part of a set about Guilin province :

Part of a set about faces in Beijing during winter time :

Part of a set about the city Chengdu :

Pictures

Picturetime!

25 August 2007

Longji village, Guilin province, China

A local Zhuang lady picking the best chillies. She makes a damn good chili paste with it!

29 April 2006

Wat Arun, Bangkok, Thailand

A detail from the top of the temple. The Wat Arun is totally decorated with Chinese porcelain.

23 June 2005

Guiyuan temple, Wuhan, China

Guardian lion is decorated with red ribbons. The ribbons are sold by the temple and good wishes are written on. People can write their names (or the on of their relatives) on the ribbons and hang them up. This is a way to ask for good fortune.

8 June 2006

Yao village, Chiang Rai province, Thailand

Thailand the land of smiles! This lady is part of the Yao minority living in the Northern parts of Thailand. Even I didn't buy anything she keeps on smiling, way to go!

9 April 2007

Measa Elephant Camp, Chiang Mai province, Thailand

Ok this is a very ugly picture, but I want to show the picture in the frame. It depicts a white elephant. These are very rare and special and bringers of good luck. According to Thai custom if you find or possess such an elephant you should immediately offer it to the king. So now the present king, Rama 9 got some in his palaces. The whiteness of the elephant is important, because there is a whole gradation of characteristics. Nose, ears, sex, ... all should be white to get the highest qualification.

Nowadays such elephants can sometimes be seen in royal parades.
In the old Thai national flag a white elephant could be seen in the middle.

30 April 2004

St-Vitus Cathedral, Prague, Czech Republic

Closer home, but what a beautiful city, Prague.

This is a view from one of those fairy-like streets that opens out on the Prague Castle.