Top Five Songs To Get You Moving

by Brett Atkinson on

No, I don’t mean songs for the perfect road trip, but those tunes which inspire you to get the atlas out, hot foot it down to the library to grab the latest guidebook, and then plan your eventual visit to the actual destination.

Forget articles and photos. I’m just as inspired to visit these places (for the first or second time) after hearing these songs.

  1. NYC by Interpol
  2. Big Sur by The Thrills
  3. Anchorage by Michelle Shocked
  4. Sin City by Gram Parsons
  5. Summer in Siam by The Pogues

Any more nominations for songs which capture your favourite (past and future) destinations?

I took the pic of Koh Mak in eastern Thailand, just not in summer.

Blowfish sold as salmon kills 15, sickens over a hundred

by Matthew Firestone on

As a frightening aside to my Big in Japan column on the subtle art of eating blowfish, MSNBC reported today that over the last three years, fugu meat that has been passed off as salmon in Thai markets has resulted in 15 deaths and over a hundred cases of food-poisoning.

As a result of a nationwide ban in Thailand on the selling of blowfish meat, some rather unscrupulous fishermen have taken to the practice of dying fugu and passing it off as salmon. The issue was brought to light following a report issued by Dr. Narin Hiransuthikul at Bangkok’s Chulalonkorn University Hospital.

As a warning to anyone travelling in Thailand, it’s probably best to skip on the salmon spring rolls!

** Photo by Flickr user Howdy, I’m H. Michael Karshis **

Bangkok Airport Video

by Erik Olsen on

This comes to us from a friend who runs one of my favorite sites on the Web: Newyorkology. Amy Langfield sent us a link to a video as soothing as it is bizarre.

The shots here, slow-mo and grainy, but oddly compelling, were made in Bangkok Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Thailand at 4 am. I’m sure the new-agey music has something to do with it, but I had a hard time pulling my eyes away from this.

Beckham Statue in Buddhist Shrine

by Neil Woodburn on

Every culture since the dawn of man has embraced its share of idols.

Most have honored their reverent spirits by building statues, shrines, and temples to which the faithful can pilgrimage and pay their respects to the god of their choice, be it Buddha, Jesus, Zeus, or Beckham.

Beckham? David Beckham?!?!?

Yes indeed, a Buddhist temple in Bangkok has incorporated a golden sculpture of the famous soccer player into the otherwise Buddha filled interior. In case you’re wondering, Buddha is the one on the left in the photo above.

Blogger Chris Mitchell has thoughtfully sent us this little hidden gem of Bangkok. But that’s not all. In addition to capturing the great photo above, he has also provided detailed instructions on how to find the Beckham temple amongst the hundreds located in Bangkok.

This is great news for the Beckham faithful who will soon be flocking to Bangkok to prostrate, flagellate, and otherwise pay respects to the lord of soccer.

On a related note, rumors of a Posh Spice tribute at Pat Pong have not yet been confirmed.

(note: the website seems to be having some problems loading up all the photos. Hit refresh a couple of times and it should work)

New Years’ Is Just Around the Corner

by Iva Skoch on

Or so it seems. It’s about time to buy those tickets, book those hotel rooms, otherwise you might be out of luck and stuck at home with a bag of Doritos again.

Whatever happened to spontaneous traveling you say? Got me. I guess you can’t be spontaneous and go to “it” places at the same time.

To get you motivated, here is Editors’ of Sherman’s Travel Top 5 Places to Ring in the New Year:

  1. Aspen, CO, US
  2. Bangkok, Thailand
  3. Barcelona, Spain
  4. Edinburgh, Scottland
  5. Goa, India

I can’t really comment on that because I haven’t spent New Year’s in any of these places although I am putting all of these on my list. I made a commitment to spend the New Year in a different city every year. For the last 13 years, I have managed to do that. My favorite one? Perhaps in Batopilas, in the Copper Canyon region of Mexico a few years ago.