I arrived in Chiang Mai bus station at around 7am and took a taxi to get to Rux Thai Guesthouse which cost ฿80 (Rs. 118/$2.6/€1.8). Rux Thai is a place I stayed last year as well. It’s located just off Loi Kroh road, which is essentially Chiang Mai’s tourist-filled area with the Thapae Gate at one-end and Ping River at the other.
Since I was going to be spending 3 to 4 nights, they gave me a room I requested on the ground floor (because they don’t have a lift) for ฿450 as supposed to the rack rate of ฿490 (Rs. 700/$16/€11) — which includes Wi-Fi. No breakfast included, but they have a restaurant on the ground floor which offers a decent menu at reasonable prices.
American breakfast costs ฿90 (Rs.133/$3/€2)
After a hot shower, I took a nap as I barely got any sleep in the bus (as is the norm for me in any bus journey). I got up as it neared lunch time, unpacked and took out all the camera equipment I had bought.
Credit card abuse for 2010
Though I did test out the Canon 70-200mm f2.8 lens and the tripod before I purchased them, I didn’t get to play around with them as much as I wanted.
The tripod & ball head can easily handle the weight of the Canon 7D and the lensMy first shot with the Canon 70-200
I loaded the equipment into my backpack and left the room at around 2pm.
This is Loikroh Lane 1 Road
Other budget hotels on this lane are Centerplace Guesthouse, where you get single rooms starting from 200 baht onwards. Vipa House (the one with yellow board pictured above) is right next to Centerplace and is priced about the same as Rux Thai. (Maybe I should check out Vipa next time).
Though there was a cookery class near Rux Thai, I had already booked myself into another cooking class (which was one of the things I would be doing in Chiang Mai).
I crossed Loi Kroh road and walked pointlessly through the alleyways on the other side.
Lazing in the afternoonWat Saen Fang (‘wat’ is Thai for ‘temple’)
You can rent theseBut the more sexy the bike looks, the more expensive they are to rentI walked all the way around and got to Kotchasarn Road
I chose to eat lunch at the same cosy small eatery I ate at last year.
Run by a mother and daughter duoIt’s inexpensive and the food is goodSpicy prawns and calamari with rice, ฿40 (Rs. 60/$1.3/€1)
After lunch, I rented a moped from the travel agent in front of Vipa House and decided to go on a drive around Chiang Mai.
I highly doubt itI parked on the other side to click a few photos
The poster (I’m guessing) was confirming that Loy Krathong celebrations were definitely November 20th to 22nd this year
Though, I did ask around to find out when exactly the release of the hundreds of lanterns at once was going to be. From research online, I did learn that the event was something that is held at some University grounds at a place called Mae Jo, but when I asked the people at Rux Thai, they weren’t sure about anything. (Communication is a bit of an issue in Thailand, despite how touristy this country is)
Chiang Mai gate
They had floats in the canals which children were riding and jumping off of
I got back on my bike and moved on
I planned to ride up Doi Suthep on the outskirts of the city, which wasn’t too far away. The route is quite simple really, plus I had done last year. Chiang Mai city isn’t as complex as say, Bangkok. As I got towards the road leading up to Doi Suthep hill, I stopped again to take photographs.
The name of this place? Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (try saying that fast)
I wanted to drive up the hill as I loved the ride last year. I wasn’t planning to drive all the way up to the temple, just up until the last view point before the temple.
Stopped at a small temple on the way
There’s a small waterfall up here
Doi Suthep is very popular among speed cyclistsBikers, cars, superbikes… you’ll see everybody enjoying the rideThis was my ride (฿200 for 24 hours)It was starting to get darkPanorama comprised of 10 shots
It was at this hairpin bend that the viewpoint was located.
You can’t actually see the sun set from this side
I set up the tripod because I knew I would be pitch dark soon.
It was a full moonShot at 200mm & cropped
As it neared 7pm, I packed up and left the viewpoint. I drove back down and this time, I took my jacket with me… because last year, I froze!
Once back in the city, I parked on the side when I saw some beautiful decorations in front of Saun Dok Gate .
I headed back to Loi Kroh road.
After parking the bike in front of the hotel, I stepped out again, this time choosing to go by foot.
Walked down Loi Kroh roadIf you want your 5-star fix, there is Le MeridienAt the end of Loi Kroh is Changklan roadPlenty of restaurants, hotels and stores here
I walked to Chiang Mai’s night bazaarPlenty of good seafood restaurants here
The night market sells the usual gamut of clothing, accessories and home decor
I wasn’t hungry and wanted to know where all the major Yi Peng celebrations in Chiang Mai would be. I was told that the major gathering point would be along Ping River.
I walked away from the bustling crowds near the night marketI could already see lanterns in the skyI ended up taking a turn back to a main roadTo be frank, after 15 minutes of walking, I didn’t know where I wasPing Nakara Boutique Hotel & spaWalked towards this big templeI was bored of walking, so I went in
Devotees were slowly trickling in to the temple to float Krathongs
As I walked out, I saw a ‘roti’ vendor on the way out and decided to eat something as it was getting late.
‘Roti’ in Thailand is commonly referred to sweet pancake batter filled with banana and other fillings
As I walked back, I realized I took a much longer route as the temple itself was not to far from the night market.
I just needed to walk through the food court and come out the other end
I walked to the bridges over Ping River
Loi Krathong celebrations had already begun… for someFirecrackers are very much a part of the celebrationsI went from one bridge to anotherThere are several bridges all along Ping River
Chiang Mai’s youth were all out to enjoy the festivitiesLined all along the streets snacking, singing and having a few beers with their friends
The banks of Ping river saw its share of revelers tooMoved to another bridge
No surprises there
Flowers, lots of flowersThe markets were still bustling at this timeHad to get down to ground level for a closer lookSwitched to the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 lens for the next few shots
These are ‘krathongs’The base is made using a thick slice of banana plant stem
The Frenchman in the above photo and I got talking, though I don’t remember how the conversation got started. Maybe I was wearing my ‘It’s Football, Not Soccer‘ t-shirt which has my website’s logo at the back and so he gave me his blog’s domain as well.
That is a *lot* of slain pigs
Paper lanterns on sale (prices ranges from ฿20 to ฿60 depending on size)
I called it a night after this and headed back to my room.
Can’t wait to see what the city has in store the next three days
I had my dinner from a rather nice joint on the same lane as Rux Thai. Lovely pork spring rolls and a can of beer (came to ฿200). I hit the sack early because I needed more sleep. Tomorrow was going to be any early morning, for I had to get ready to learn how to make Thai curry!
Last November, I decided just a few weeks earlier to go back to Thailand. The main purpose of this trip was to witness the Loi Krathong (or Loy Krathong) festival, one of Thailand’s most beautiful festivals and one that I always wanted to cover. Although it’s a national festival, Thailand still doesn’t get a public holiday for it.
Usually falling in November, I first booked my flights in October via Cleartrip.com which had a really good offer: a return ticket from Thai Airways (direct flight) + 2,000 hotel voucher + 1,000 worth of credit for a Uniconnect Thailand SIM card + an entry to DreamWorld theme park… all for 16,742 ($375/€262). Awesome deal if you ask me!
But, one week prior departure, I won the chance to go see Linkin Park in Abu Dhabi! So I delayed my departure by a few days, and then again after I read Jay Park was going to be performing in Bangkok. I left for Dubai on a Friday early morning and returned to Bangalore late Sunday night. I then went to office on the following Monday and then left for the airport in the evening for my early morning flight on Tuesday!
The flight wasn’t full, so I had an entire row to myselfThe Thai chicken curry meal was yum
Unlike my first visit to Thailand, in which I tried to cover the entire country in 9 days (I did it, but I didn’t quite enjoy the experience), this time around I was only going to focus on North Thailand. Most of my time would be spent in Chiang Mai covering the Yi Ping Festival (as Loi Krathong is called in Chiang Mai), after which I planned to go to Chiang Rai & then a day in Pattaya before heading back to Bangkok.
Arrived in Bangkok at dawnHello Suvarnabhumi!Sigh, the many travelators you have to cross…… to finally get to the visa-on-arrival section
Once I did get to the Visa-on-arrival counter, I submitted my form, showed them how much currency I was carrying and got my visa-on-arrival without having to pay the usual ฿1000. After that was customs and then collecting my bags. Last year, I took a taxi from the airport into Bangkok city which cost ฿320 but this time, I decided to take a shuttle bus.
The private bus going to Sukhumvit cost ฿150 (Rs. 222/$5/€3.5)
That’s Suvarnabhumi airportGetting near Sukhumvit took only 20 minutes
But then, Bangkok’s infamous traffic soon began. And my god did it last long! It took the bus nearly an hour just to get into Sukhumvit road.
I finally got dropped at Nana BTS station. I chose to stay at Thai House Inn, a place where I spent two nights at last year — because it’s 30 seconds walk from the metro station (literally) and its not far from all the malls. I needed to stay here because first on the list of things-to-do was to buy some camera equipment, so I had to have quick access to the shopping centers, especially MBK. Those whole followed my Singapore & Malaysia series must have read that I couldn’t pick up a good camera tripod while I was there. So this time, I just couldn’t go to Chiang Mai without it!
But first, I had to get some sleep! After a whirlwind trip to Dubai and then hopping on to another flight to get to Thailand, my body needed some proper rest.
I got up at lunch time, took the BTS SkyTrain and headed straight to MBK Center, one of my favourite malls in Bangkok.
From Nana, the Siam station is only 3 stops away; costs ฿25
MBK houses Fotofile, the store from where I bought my Canon 7D and other accessories last year. Fotofile also manages the official Canon store and two other stores in MBK! List of things to buy included a 70-200 f2.8 lens, another 16GB card, an interval remote, and a good tripod. I went to all of Fotofile’s stores, a BIG Camera branch and jotted down the prices for all that I wanted.
I had lunch from the food court which offers a lot of variety (though mostly Asian cuisine & fast food)
I left MBK and thought I’d check out some other stores.
I never walked on that pedestrian bridge below the Skytrain tracksThe traffic is like this from 8am to 8pmThe skywalk bridge connects to a lot of the malls along the Ratchaprasong areaI didn’t even step into Centralworld last time
I got down from the skywalk
I decided to head to the parallel Petchburi Road where Pantip Plaza is located.
The side section of Centralworld Mall
Amari Watergate Hotel is located on Petchburi RoadRight across Amari Watergate is Platinum Fashion MallPetchburi road is also famous for the Pratunam market area
I came to Pantip Plaza because none of the camera stores in MBK (and the Siam malls) sold tripods from the brand Vanguard. I had a particular model in mind but even after stepping into pretty much every Pantip Plaza shop that sold camera equipment, none stocked products from Vanguard.
I left Pantip Plaza disappointed
I wanted to try and buy everything I wanted from one store, so that I didn’t have to swipe my card three or four times and incur additional charges for each transactions.
I decided to head back to Sukhumvit roadIt was nearing sunset and my body was telling me 4 hours of sleep wasn’t enoughRatchathewi station is at the far end of Petchburi roadBy the time I stepped out of the train, it was already dark. The sun sets rather quickly out here.I decided to check one last mall before heading back
Centralworld is actually one of the biggest malls in Thailand
I looked up the store directory and saw that BIG Camera had a bigger branch here but unfortunately, it was in the part of the building which was under renovation.
After checking which ever stores were open, I left CentralWorld.
The one good thing I liked about the area I was in is that it’s actually full of Arab visitors, and therefore plenty of businesses exist catering to tourists from the Middle East and Africa.
Which meant, plenty of Middle Eastern cuisine for me to eat!Yeah, it’s *that* Gulf-y!
I picked up a beef shawarma (฿50) and a drink from a 7-11 and made my way back to my room. I had kept the air conditioner on for a while to ventilate the room and rid it of the Bangkok ‘stench,’ which takes a little getting used to. (The ‘smell’ of Bangkok city is essentially the smell of fish sauce emanating in the air.)
I needed more sleep and I had to wake up early the next day. I assessed all the camera products and all the prices I made a note of. I had to pick up everything tomorrow itself and then leave early enough to get to Mo Chit bus terminal.
Next day
After waking up and breakfast at Au Bon Pain in MBK, I waited for the Fotofile stores to open.
Walked around the ‘street market’ stores on the 6th floor to pass timeI picked up an additional 16GB card, the interval remote and an extra battery for the Canon 7D from the Foto Thailand store on the 3rd floorLots of second hand lenses for sale
The telephoto lens I was keen on picking up was the Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS Mark 1. Unfortunately, that model was recently replaced by the newer Mark 2, which was obscenely expensive and thus made finding the Mark 1 a challenge.
So I ended up picking up a brand new Canon 70-200 f2.8 non-IS lens and using the substantial savings to purchase a good tripod instead. I needed one anyway.
I picked up the lens from the official Canon store managed by FotofileNone of these are for sale, just on display
The Canon store had a few Manfrotto tripods on sale and I considered the Manfrotto 055x Pro B but it was too pricey. I went down to the BIG Camera store and picked up a Sirui tripod for around 7k baht. The model was very good value for money and complimented my newly acquired 70-200 lens well.
With all my shopping done, I went to one of the two main food courts in MBK.
Fifth Food Avenue is the name of this food courtI was still on my Malaysia high, so I had Nasi Goreng (although they went overboard with the soy sauce) ฿160
After lunch, I still had some time to kill, so I went to Siam Paragon to find out where the Jay Park concert was going to be held.
Siam Discovery, which is the older and slightly more wallet friendly mallClever ad Siam Paragon mall is the more posh offeringThe Royal Paragon Hall was on the top most floor, near the cinemasHmm, interesting
After finding out where Royal Paragon Hall was, I made my way out.
Walked past the luxury car showrooms on the second floorLast year, they had a ‘No Photographs’ sign on the glass
So this time, I went in and got up close to the Lamborghinis. You don’t realize just how big these sexy machines are until you stand next to them. I spoke to the sales girl and I asked her how much the import duties for these cars are and she told me it’s over 100-150%, including the many taxes on these luxuries… making them super-expensive in Thailand. She wouldn’t disclose how many they sell a year but at such prices, I’m guessing not many. I hardly ever saw one on the road in the two trips I’ve made to Thailand.
Once back in my room, I re-packed my bags and checked out. The lady who runs Thai House Inn asked me why I was leaving so early and assured me there would be plenty of buses, but I didn’t want to risk not getting a seat. Going to Chiang Mai early is what I essentially came for.
I took the BTS all the way to till last stop, Mo Chit station, and from there I took a moped taxi (to Mo Chit bus terminal, which caters to North Thailand).
But when I got to the terminal, a lot of the buses to Chiang Mai leaving that night were already full! Especially the luxury buses, and I had to go from one transport company to another to find available seats. Fortunately, I got a ticket in a regular push-back seat bus — it was their last for the night!
Last year I got a seat in a luxury bus which cost me ฿700, for which I just showed up at the station and got my ticket. Of course, the sold-out seats today were due to the Loi Krathong weekend rush. So word of advice, if you want the luxury buses during Loy Krathong weekend, buy the tickets in advance.
Not that the bus I got was bad or anything, it was just one of those regular buses used on overnight long distance journeys, in my case an 8-hour journey.
A seat costs ฿403 (Rs. 597/$13/€9)
The bus made a rest stop for toilet break and for picking up dinner/snacks. In a few hours, I would arrive at Thailand’s second biggest city, and my second trip to Thailand officially begins!
Though I spent 13 days in Thailand, I thought I’d get this story out first.
When I won the contest to go see Linkin Park live in Abu Dhabi during the F1, I had to postpone my trip to Thailand. At first, the dates were Nov 17th to Nov 28th, a Sunday, so I could get back to work on a Monday. Then I heard about Jay Park’s fan meet happening in Bangkok — so I pushed my return date to the 29th!
Jay Park
Now, if you’re someone who reads my blog or is wondering, who the hell this guy I pushed my dates for is, here’s a brief intro on Jay Park. Park Jaebeom, is a Korean-American (though more American than Korean) artist who gained fame when he became a member of a Korean boy band called 2PM. He was the group’s ‘leader’ and with their smash hit “Again & Again,” they were one of the hottest boy bands (both in terms of fame and appearance) in Asia.
And then, controversy. Apparently he said something on his Myspace page (back when people still used Myspace) about how much life in South Korea sucked (he’s a third generation Korean American born in the US) and that riled up a few Koreans. Demanding an apology, they asked for action to be taken against Jay Park. 2PM’s label said all is well but then a few months later, bad news. Jay Park is out of 2PM.
Fans are shocked. Mostly because JYP didn’t make it public as to why he was “fired” from the group. All that was mentioned was that he did something worse than saying “South Korea sucks”. What it was, nobody knows… which pissed off fans even more.
Jay Park soon left South Korea and made his way back to his home town in the US. Tears were shed at Incheon Airport by 2PM fans but to no avail. “Leader” Jaebom Park was officially out of 2PM, and the country.
Months pass and no word on what the guy is up to. And then, he pops up on YouTube and decides to sing a cover of “Nothin’ On You,” the then fresh single by debut rapper B.O.B featuring Bruno Mars. His version became sooo popular that he actually released a version of his own and a Korean version of the same featuring B.O.B.
Jay Park is now signed to Sidus Entertainment, another Korean agency and announces he’s going to be appearing in a dance flick called Hype Nation out in 2011. Jay Park has always said he loves b-boying more than anything so it seemed like a natural fit that he stars in a movie on the same (though, its not like there hasn’t been others).
So when did I become a fan? When he teased a single from the movie called “Demon”. I can’t really share a link or anything… because the single hasn’t been released yet.
I heard it for the first time back in August I believe and since then, the initial performances have been since removed from YouTube. It was from a performance he had done in South Korea and the audio wasn’t very good. But even despite that, from what I heard, I loved it! It’s a killer track!
Produced by the legendary Teddy Riley, “Demon” was a song originally written for Michael Jackson, and now posthumously given to Jay Park. Either his label paid shit loads for the song — or even Teddy Riley realized Jay Park is destined for greatness and agreed to give him the song.
None the less, “Demon” is going to be featured on the soundtrack to Hype Nation, so I’m guessing the music video (even though they have already finished filming it) isn’t going to come out until a few months before the movie does.
Anyway, coming to the Thailand fan meet. I booked my ticket while I was in Chiang Mai and I opted for the 1000 baht (Rs. 1500/$33) seat because… well the guy hasn’t even got an album out, so I was going just to see him perform “Demon”. Plus, I didn’t want to sit so close to the speakers because when recording, the only audio I would have gotten would have been the thumping bass… plus a lot of girls screaming.
It was on the 28th of November, a Sunday evening, held at the Royal Paragon Hall — which is located on the 5th floor of the Siam Paragon mall in Bangkok city. I got there by around 5pm as I had to collect my ticket. There was quite a line already.
Jaywalkers were out in full force too.
Even very young fansSo were the media
After standing in line for nearly 45 minutes, I make my way near the counter only to be told I only had to go to another counter for online bookings.
All I had to do was come here
Oh well. Once ticket in hand, the next queue was for the security check. I came fully prepared with all my lenses, extra batteries, extra memory card and with my Canon 70-200 f2.8 in tow, I wasn’t worried about being so far away from the stage.
Unfortunately…
… they were taking away camera bags and DSLRs
But guess what, I put my bag on the other shoulder and made it past them! Woo hoo!
Unnnfortunately when it came to the gates, where security were checking handbags, they saw my DSLR and asked me to hand it over to the folks in charge of taking away cameras.
Crap.
I went in with lenses, but no camera body to fit those lenses onto. Well, at least I still had my phone.
Once inside, I got my seat. The hall wasn’t sold out, but had a very good turnout none the less.
Waiting for the show to start
At around 6:30pm, the lights go out. The crowd (mostly girls) start to scream! And then two Thai MCs come on stage. I obviously didn’t understand what they were saying but I’m pretty sure they were asking if the crowd was ready to see Jay Park. Obviously, we all were.
So the hall goes dark again. And then:
The girls sitting beside me were going crazy! This was a ‘sit down’ show, and in their excitement, I expected them to stand up to get a better view. But they didn’t. They were just jumping and shaking in their chairs. I couldn’t help but laugh!
Anyway, after kicking off the show with his cover of “Nothin’ On You,” the lights dimmed once again and then a video came on screen:
After hearing the song (twice) I essentially came for, I felt satisfied.Yeah, I didn’t manage to get the best recording, so if you want a closer look, check this or this one out instead.
After the performance, Jay came back on stage and was joined by the two Thai MCs for a Q & A session.
Sadly, that’s all I could record. Security came by and told me to stop recording — and then went around telling everybody else the same. They were pretty strict about it henceforth.
During the Q & A, the questions were fairly childish and basic. Like what he likes to do in his free time, his hobbies, etc. Jay Park looked lost most of the time, mostly ‘lost’ in translation. The hosts didn’t seem well prepared either. Took ages for one of them to understand “bromance” and when it came selecting 3 girls to come on stage, oh boy, did that seem like ages.
Three lucky fans did get a chance to get up close with their idol though.
One of them even got Jay to draw something for her, one of them got to squeeze his nose and the last girl got to hug him. There were fans who had come from Indonesia and Hong Kong; but since the guy who came from India was sitting all the way in the back, he wasn’t noticed :/
Jay Park was also joined on stage by his b-boy crew Art of Movement.
Jay Park is right in the middle
The hosts were asking the audience what they’d like to know and when it came to asking for secrets about Jay Park, Cha Cha from the AOM crew said “Jay likes to bathes himself in hot sauce,” to which Jay LOL’d. Not quite sure if he meant Jay just loves hot sauce or he actually likes to smear hot sauce all over his body.
The crew left the stage and said they’d be back for their performance, which I was so looking forward to. When they did perform, the minute I raised my phone to try and record, the security came by my row. Sucks.
Anyway, it’s not like Art of Movement doesn’t have videos on YouTube.
There was also a performance by rap duo The Quiett & Dok 2. They performed two songs, along with the usual rap instructions: “Throw your hands up in the air” and “Say ‘Yeeeahhhh’…”. There were okay. Then Jay Park returned to the stage and joined the rap duo for a song.
Other songs Jay Park performed were “Speechless” with ChaCha (who wrote & produced it). Jay Park also hit the stage with a cover of Jay Sean’s “Down” and Usher’s “U Got It Bad”. The roof came down during “U Got It Bad” when towards the end, Jay Park finally did it — he ripped off his vest. I’m sure the girls got their money’s worth.
The last song Jay Park performed was “Bestie” and the entire AOM crew came on stage to join the performance.
After that, he and AOM said their goodbyes and left the stage. Immediately, some got up and began to run towards the exit. Maybe they just wanted to head home quickly or wanted to pick up their cameras. I know I sure wanted to, so I got up as well. And then the Thai MCs came back on stage.
Again, they were speaking Thai so I couldn’t understand but I got the drift they were asking if we enjoyed the show. Also, they pointed out to the fans making their way out as if to say “You’re leaving? You think it’s over?”
Guess what, it wasn’t! Jay Park along with the AOM crew hit the stage once again for a dance off…
… and all I have to show for it is this crappy cellphone photo. Sorry, but even now the security was looking at me.
After another stellar show of their dance skills, this time the show was actually over. And everybody knew it.
The show ended at around 8:30
After a good 2 hours of entertainment, I collected my camera and saw several fans queuing up again!
There was going to be a meet & greet with Jay Park now
Of course, it wasn’t for everyone. It was open only to those who bought the most expensive tickets — 4500 baht (Rs. 6600/$150).
I wasn’t one of them, obviously, but I did finally get a chance to shoot with my 70-200mm lens.
Every fan got an autographed poster & a chance to shake hands with Jay Park
Here’s just a few who were lucky:
Even though the fans were instructed not to get too physical or spend more than 2 seconds with Jay, some did manage to get what they wanted.
And Jay Park gladly obligedThis kid even got a hug from the burgeoning global star
After 15 minutes of shaking hands and receiving many, many gift bags from his loyal supporters, Jay Park finally said goodbye.
First, a big “khob-kun-ka” (“thank you” in Thai) to his fans…… and finally, lots of love.
With that, Jay Park left the building.
So was my ticket worth it?
Yes.
I pushed my dates just to see Jay Park for a reason. Ever since I heard “Demon” and started getting to know more about Jaebeom Park, the more I started to believe Jay Park is going to be a huge star. The guy can rap, sing and dance. He’s writing his own material with his friends in AOM and working with some of the biggest names in the music business.
Sure, the tickets were slightly expensive. But I can understand why. I can imagine how much it would have cost to not just bring Jay Park down, but his AOM friends as well (and not to mention his management staff too). Sure, I didn’t get to capture the event the way I had hoped to share it with everybody. It’s ok. I can understand if MTV paid for exclusive performance footage. It’s all business at the end of the day.
Sure, if I had a chance to ask him some questions, I would have asked him about his music. Like who are the other producers or artists he’s collaborating that we don’t know of yet. Or like, what date and time is “Demon” getting an official release! But I guess I’m in the minority. I’m a 28-year old guy who likes ‘Jay Park the artist’. Most Jaywalkers (mostly young girls) like him for his music, his 2PM legacy, his abs, his hair, his looks, his… anything!
And Jay Park knows that.
I know it’s too early to shower so much praise on a guy who hasn’t even come out with a full-fledged album yet, but I’m calling it now itself…
– Jay Park is going to be the break-out star of 2011
– won’t be surprised if “Demon” tops the Billboard Top 100
– the next big ‘Jay’ of Asian descent (the first being Jay Sean) and the first Korean-American solo singer to have a no. 1 single globally
I may end up being wrong of all the above, but even if I am, I still have faith in Jay Park’s talents. Even if he doesn’t crack the Western markets, he’ll still be crazy popular in Asia.
And I’ll still pay to see him perform. Maybe just a little bit more the next time.
P.S: He he, I even made an appearance on Thai television. Around the 0:53 mark ^_^
I planned to ride up Doi Suthep on the outskirts of the city, which wasn’t too far away. The route is quite simple really, plus I had done last year. Chiang Mai city isn’t as complex as say, Bangkok. As I got towards the road leading up to Doi Suthep hill, I stopped again to take photographs.
I wanted to drive up the hill as I loved the ride last year. I wasn’t planning to drive all the way up to the temple, just up until the last view point before the temple.
As it neared 7pm, I packed up and left the viewpoint. I drove back down and this time, I took my jacket with me… because last year, I froze! 
I headed back to Loi Kroh road.
I wasn’t hungry and wanted to know where all the major Yi Peng celebrations in Chiang Mai would be. I was told that the major gathering point would be along Ping River.
As I walked out, I saw a ‘roti’ vendor on the way out and decided to eat something as it was getting late.
The Frenchman in the above photo and I got talking, though I don’t remember how the conversation got started. Maybe I was wearing my ‘It’s Football, Not Soccer‘ t-shirt which has my website’s logo at the back and so he gave me his blog’s domain as well.
I called it a night after this and headed back to my room.
