Check out the update I did on the About the Bike page. I spent way too much time playing in photoshop trying to find a good way to display graphically the changes I made to the bike.
Annotated Changes of the Suzuki DRZ 400 set up for Adventure Touring
Another Thailand update is coming soon. I really like it here!
Finally! I’m in THAILAND!! I so happy in Thailand be in South East Asia. This is the first time I’ve ever been to anywhere in Asia and let me tell you, things were clear immediately that I wasn’t in the USA anymore.
Welcome to Asia. Where even going to the bathroom is more complicated
Here’s the cliche Japanese Toilet Photo. It was one of the most luxurious poops I’ve ever had. Well deserved after 15 hours of flying from the Chicago -> Minneapolis -> Seattle -> Tokyo. I then had a 4 hour layover in Tokyo for my final 6 hour leg to Thailand. The flight was quite nice as my dad hooked up me with 1st class ticket he bought with his mileage from his years of traveling around the world.
Upon stepping off the jetway into the bus things were quite different. Usually an airport is an airport, but it was clear I was in Asia. Most of the signs were in Engrish (mostly correct english) and Thai. Unfortunately I started off the trip with none of my ATM cards working. This was the result of poor planning. I had called one bank and told them that I was going to be traveling, however that card didn’t physically work because the magnetic strip was broken. I then tried my backup ATM card and it didn’t work because I didn’t notify the bank to tell them that I am traveling. As any prepared traveler, I have a small stash of US dollars that I exchanged at a currency converting window.
I took a taxi from the airport to my prearranged hostel that was only about 10 minutes away. Me being completely green was then ripped off by the taxi by him first trying to charge me 300 Baht ($10) then I negotiated him down to 200 Baht ($7). It should have cost me about half of that. Oh well. Lesson learned. Always make sure that the taxi driver turns on the meter.
After leaving the airport everything ceases to be in english and is fully in Thai. I can’t read or speak a single word of Thai, so I’m mastering hand gestures and relying on the little english that most people who deal with tourists know. It isn’t too difficult, but it is very disconnecting and isolating.
On to Bangkok!
Older building in Bangkok
Taxis, tuk tuks, and scooters are everywhere. Bangkok is a hectic megacity full of traffic and people with tiny sidewalks crowded with vendors.
Modern street in Bangkok
My traditional first shave of the trip
Whenever I start a big trip, the first thing I like to do is start the transformation into traveling mode by getting a professional shave. My friend DaveJ told me of the great shaves in Bangkok and I wasn’t disappointed.
It has been a while, so it was pretty bloody
I stayed in the city for a day and then headed off to meet with one of my dad’s professional acquaintances who graciously offered to show me around and act as a base camp for my trip. More on that in a later post though….
Buddhist temple
Outside of Bangkok, I visited the Buddhist temple Wat Pho. I think that is like calling chai “chai tea”. Wat means temple in Thai, so I visited the Buddhist Wat Pho.
Buddhist temple
Painted Statue
Shoes off everywhere
Across the way a bit was another temple. One of the most interesting things about Thai culture is that everyone takes off their shoes all the time. Not just in the houses but also when entering temples, stores, raised decks, and restaurants. I’m not too comfortable taking my shoes off all the time but the Thai people seem to live by some of the highest standards of hygiene so I’m hoping for no foot fungus.
Rice Market
No first impressions of a developing country are without visiting a market. I was fortunate enough to join Dale on one of his colossal shopping expeditions in Bangkok’s largest market. The market sells mostly in wholesale quantities, but so does Costco and Sam’s, so why can’t an individual shop there?
I love rice and this is the most rice I've ever seen or imagined
People ride their scooters through the market because it is so big.
The chile section of the market was amazing as a chile lover. Or maybe I mean chili. The hot peppers were amazing. It was difficult to walk through parts of it because the capsaicin oder was so strong that my body started to react without eating or getting close to anything. My eyes started to burn and I started to have a bit of a diffcult breathing. It was amazing. I love Thailand!
Thai shimp. Local to Thailand. There was no aroma so they must have been fresh.
Eep!
No need to describe.
Buchering is done onsite
Beautiful displays
Fruit!
Bike Update:
Yeah, this is supposed to be a motorcycle blog. The problem is that my motorcycle is still in transit. It was delayed a couple of months so I spent much of the time visiting friends and family for more time than planned and the balance I’m spending here. I had problems with the bike clearing customs (twice!) in the USA. The estimated arrival date is December 3rd. The plan from now until then is to take it easy and study at a Thai language school.
There are many places in the world worse to bum around in.
Thailand is amazing!
Back when I first moved to Houston, I was on a quest to find the perfect french toast after finding the nearly perfect Austin Java Co‘s version. I tried probably 10 different places over a period of a couple of months and basically gave up on the quest. Upon trying my Mom’s “lost bread” in Missouri, I realized that I was apparently searching for a recreation of Momg’s french toast. I remember liking it as a kid, however as my tastes developed, so did my love of her french toast.
What goes into Momg’s french toast?
Momg's french toast ingredients
I’d love to share a recipe with quantities and all, but I can’t because we don’t measure anything in our family. We use typical quantities of everything except probably double or triple the amount of finest vanilla you can find. As Momg says, “Good ingredients, good food”. She also uses thick cuts of good bread that is either stale or intentionally left out over night in the open on the counter (away from dogs).
French toast preparation
Then on a preheated griddle, cook the french toast slowly so that the custard is completely cooked inside the bread.
The end result.
I ended up spending quite a bit of time with the family in Missouri and really enjoyed myself. I arranged my flight out of Chicago so I could visit my sister and my friend Vanessa. My sister lives in downtown Chicago in a sweet condo so I got a nice taste of the urban life.
My friend Vanessa has a blog about trying to open a brewery in Chicago. She graciously brewed an IPA honoring my trip, the “RTW IPA”.   I love IPAs! Hopefully it will still be good when I return next year. I can’t wait to try it!
My sister and I were there for brew day and we had a fun take making and learning about beer. We got there a little late so we missed the grinding of the ingredients, but we arrived in time to wait and watch the water heat up.
Hops!
Vanessa brewing it up
Filling!
The RTW IPA ready for dark storage
To make a Good Day even better, we went to a Bulls game where not only did the Bulls win, but we won a free Big Mac because they scored over 100 points!
Two days later I head to head to the airport for Thailand! Finally!!!
After shipping the bike from the Seattle area port of Tacoma, I’ve returned to visit my family in Missouri. I’m going to do a post about shipping the bike and what not to do once I get everything ironed out. It’s been a huge PITA, maybe someone can learn from it.
My brother Aubrey, his brother in law (another BBL) Andy, and I took a 5 hour class to become a Certified Barbecue Judge at the Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS). The KCBS consists of over 13,000 members worldwide and sanctions over 300 barbecue events all over the USA. We took the class on Thursday and were judging BBQ by Sunday at the American Royal. The first half of the class was theoretical describing the rules and some of the more technical aspects of bbq judging. The second half was the practical component and most fun — the sampling. We were trained in all the different disciplines of barbecue at KCBS sanctioned events: Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pulled Pork, and Brisket. There can be other meats participating in the judging like sausage or desserts, but the previously mentioned 4 are typically present in a contest.
Some of the interesting aspects of the theoretical part of the class were mostly related to how to check for proper “doneness” such as not taking off for pink chicken because the coloration can be a result of the smoking. Another interesting characteristic contrary to home or commercial smoking is that a properly competition smoked rib should not “fall off the bone”, but when taking a single bite in the middle of the rib, the meat should cleave cleanly by your teeth exposing a moist bone that dries rapidly.
My notes on the proper KCBS bite of Pork rib
The qualities judged are for “Appearance, Taste, and Texture”. This is done for each category.
One of the most important things that we learned was that each meat sample stands on its own meaning that you are obliged to not rank your plate relative to the others present or your grandma’s recipe. Therefor it is theoretically possible for multiple samples or entries to have a perfect score on a single plate.
The practical consisted of participating in a judging table and one box from each category to judged. After the scores were written down, we then discussed our ratings as a class. We were eventually told that the entire classes’ meat came from Oklahoma Joes in Kansas City.
Just before the conclusion of the class, we were asked to participate in the Judge’s Oath of the KCBS:
I do solemnly swear to objectively and subjectively evaluate each Barbeque meat that is presented to my eyes, my nose, my hands and my palate. I accept my duty to be an Official KCBS Certified Judge, so that truth, justice, excellence in Barbeque and the American Way of Life may be strengthened and preserved forever.
It was one of my most proud moments.
A couple of days following the class, Aubrey and I judged at the American Royal — one of the largest BBQ competitions in the world with over 500 entries with a payout of $12,500 to the grand champion. This was one of the most exciting and tastyist culinary experiences I’ve had in my life. It was overwhelming how good the average entry tasted– better than anything I’ve ever had at a friend’s house or a restaurant. This is not surprising considering that each BBQ team paid somewhere between $300 and $2,500 to cook you a single piece of chicken, a rib, a small pile of pulled pork, and a single slice of brisket… oh yeah, and a chance of major bragging rights and cash. BBQ judging makes even the best restaurants seem pedestrian.
Below are the pictures form the judging and competition field.
My brother Aubrey sporting his KCBS Certified Judging Polo
I'm at the end of the table ready to get started with judging card in front
The entire hall is filled with BBQ judges. There is more passion for food and BBQ here than in anywhere else in the world at this moment
Bottled water and saltines are the only foreign food allowed to clense your pallet
A judges card set up with brisket. A few of the entries have burnt ends on top of the brisket. I take my job very seriously.
The remains of a round of judging. If you were to clear every entry, you'd be full way too fast
Sausage ready to go
One of the contestant's camps
One happy KCBS CBJ
This was a truly spectacular experience.. one that I hope to repeat. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any KCBS events in Mongolia.
Back in Antigua, Guatemala when I was on my last trip, upon parting with Nate and Lindsey I told them that I’d come visit them one day… 2 years later I show up in rainy Bellingham, Washington. Bellingham is near the Canadian border and is a very progressive college town. Well, not too progressive but noticeably progressive for this Texan. It’s been a while since I lived in Austin. Check out my old blog’s story about meeting them here.
Hi Nate and Lindsey!!
I’ve been in pretty regular contact on FB with Lindsey but hadn’t heard much of Nate. I learned that he had spent the last 6 months living aboard a tender fishing boat working in Alaska. Lindsey has also spent about a month working on another tender boat. Talk about a hardcore couple but at least they did have a heater installation which worked.
During the busy fishing season, fishing boats don’t have the time to go back to shore to offload. Tenders will buy the fish from the fishing boats and resupply them with food and fuel so they can quickly get back on their way. There are usually four people working aboard a tender– captain, engineer, cook, and a deckhand. Both the pay and working conditions are pretty good. Nate was working as the engineer on the Dancer which is a wooden vessel converted from a cargo carrier in WWII. The Dancer was retrofitted from its cargo duty with huge aluminum tanks on the deck to hold the fish. It is a beautiful machine rich with history and low ceilings.
Pay is either based on the haul or around $150 to $180 per day for the deckhand.
Nate dynamically posing with the Dancer
Upon returning to port, the boat will be painted and fixed up for next season.
Fish hold on the Dancer
See the big hose outside of the tank? They use that to pump fish from either the hold of fishing boat or from the water of a purse seining boat.  Purse seining is a technique that is often used to catch salmon in Alaska. They’re a smaller boat that has a huge rectangular net that has cork floats on the top and weighted on the bottom. The skipper will encircle a school of salmon with the net and close the bottom of the net so that the fish don’t escape. They then call a tender boat that will come and pump fish from the pursed net. The seiner will shrink the size of the purse to maintain a density of fish to water to allow the tender’s fish pumps to work effectively.
View from the top
From the top, you can see the tops of the tanks / deck. There are two tanks that are filled with ice cold water to preserve the fish. In the middle of the tanks is the fish sorting platform.
You can tell how big the boat is as you can see how small I appear
Here is where fish are sorted
The output of the fish pumps goes either directly to a tank or to the sorting table where the fish are sorted into either the tanks or overboard.
It is really quite interesting work. The best part was that Nate brought back many many pounds of frozen fish and cooked a delicious meal one of the nights of my stay.
While we were out at the port, I took the opportunity to get Nate to shoot some vanity shots of me and the bike.
Nate shot some nice photos of me and the bike
Do you have my card? If so, this is the photo on it.
All amped up and ready to hit the road.
All real bikers stand on pegs when they’re being photographed in motion… no matter how gentle the terrain
After one of my worst rides of my life, I finally make it to my USA destination — Seattle or more specifically, Kirkland. That’s right, Kirkland the home of Costco’s Kirkland Signature line of … everything.
I stayed at my good friends Tim and Elsa in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. I’ve known Tim since high school and stayed in contact even before facebook came around. I spent the majority of my time visiting with Elsa because Tim was working his flying job. I hadn’t spent much time with her other than my first trip to Mexico while visiting her family in Aguascalientes which if you also want to visit, see here this post named Yucantàn que faire ?. It was great to get to know her better!
Both Elsa and Tim work in the aviation industry. Elsa works at a call center in town and Tim flies a cargo plane from San Francisco to Sacramento. Tim makes the long commute to Kirkland most weekends and my first weekend in town we did a bit of hiking and exploring. We drove a total of 8 hours out and back to Mt. Rainier. Not to exceed expectations, the Pacific Northwest was clouded in and we didn’t see much of the mountain, which is why there are no pictures of it. We did manage to do a couple of hour hike through a little cave where I continued my experiments with HDR.
The most evenly exposed picture before HDR
The composite image after HDR
Pretty neat stuff… I’m slightly HDR-obsessed!
I’m happy to be hiking!
As usual, Tim and I deviated from the regular route and bushwacked through a creek for a bit
One of the highlights of my trip to Seattle was actually a mini-trip we took to San Francisco. As I said earlier, Elsa works for an airline and was able to let me fly for free with her. What a sweet deal! Thanks Elsa!!! The purpose of the trip to SF was to see an air show at the Sacramento airport. Because of Tim’s job, we were able to watch from his ramp and BBQ. BBQ + airplanes + good friends = good times. For the next few pictures, I’m going to let the captions do the talking. When it comes to roaming in the woods some prefer to purchase Glock pistols for safety and keep them handy.
Elsa & Tim
Lots of cool planes.
We visited one of my childhood homes. Not surprisingly, it isn’t nearly as large as I remember. I now understand the stories parents tell about walking to school, uphill both ways, as the MOUNTIAN behind the house was really just a slight incline.
I stayed an extra couple of days and visited Drawbridge, CA to check out a ghost town that I accidentally found while looking at google maps one day. Thanks to the internets I was easily able to find it after we started walking around the wildlife refuge. We did have to do a bit of walking to get to it along a rail road track, but that’s all I’ll say about it. The rest you can read in the wikipedia article.
Tim in San Francisco ghost town – Drawbridge, CA
My turn to pose for the picture. So serious.
San Francisco’s ghost town – Drawbridge, CA
The next day Tim went to work and I visited Michelle who I met at the Horizons Unlimited meeting in Northern California. We had a nice meal then went hiking around the hills along the coast. It was a really beautiful hike but I can’t remember the name of the park, but will find out later.
I returned to Washington by plane and resumed my motorcycle travels and did a little maintenance.
I bought new tires in Seattle at the suzuki dealership. They were cool enough to let me remove my tires one by one while they mounted and balanced the wheels. The did that service for free but wanted to charge a typical stealership rate if they removed the wheels for you.
