Chris Backe's Blog, page 101
January 29, 2015
Destination: the Institute for Southern Thai Studies / Folklore Museum
I wasn’t sure what to make of this place at first. It was billed as a chance to take in the history and culture of southern Thailand, officially opened in 1991. What I didn’t expect was a few weird places in an otherwise interesting (but mostly mainstream) place.
A dual-pricing system is in effect, meaning lucky foreigners pay about three times more than locals. Get your tickets near the entrance, then head up the hill to park your scooter / car. Once you’re at the top, head down the stairs an...
January 27, 2015
On focus
Image credit:LearningFundamentals.com.au
For too long, my morning (er, early afternoon) routine has consisted of the following:
Get cup of coffee
Check Gmail, click a few links
Check Facebook, click on a few news stories my friends have shared
Check a tech blog or three
Review my mile-long to-do list for a few things that need to be done
Open a new Chrome tab, begin writing a blog post
Get distracted by something else (“did I ever message that guy about that thing we said we were going to do…?”)
Head...
January 25, 2015
Random pictures: the shells edition
As always, Random Pictures posts show some of the shots that didn’t make it into other posts. See previous random pictures over here.
So I went out to abeach near Krabi recently andplayed with extension tubes in-between swims. These devices are basically a hollow pipe that fit between your DSLRand lens. They change the optics so that you can focus closer on things than you ordinarily could – kind of like with a dedicated macro lens. Extension tubes are a fraction of the cost of a macro lens, s...
January 22, 2015
The Five-Step Guide To Pinning Your Awesome Images To Almost Any Group Board On Pinterest
And you’ve heard group boards are the way to go. Beyond creating your own boards and pinning things on them, group boards are an awesome way to get discovered by brand new audiences – and of course, driving traffic from Pinterest to your website.
One of the stumbling blocks with Pinterest group boards (as of this post, January 2015) is the difficulty in getting invited to them. The owner of the board has to send that invite to youmanually (e.g. type in your na...
January 20, 2015
Coming to Asia: the 10 immutable laws of traveling in Asia
Having lived in South Korea from 2008 to March 2013 and Thailand from then until now, I’ve heard and read lots of advice: don’t drink the tap water (in most cases), be aware of your surroundings, don’t flash your expensive baubles, and so on.
I’d arguethere are 10 immutable,unchangeablelaws of travelingin Asia. No rule should be ignored while traveling in Asia, but some may be less relevant in some locations.
1. Watch your drink. It doesn’t take long to get sloppy about this. Watch the bartende...
January 18, 2015
Where the fish get freaky – Destination: Krabi Coastal Fisheries Research and Development Centre
Call it a breeding place or development center if you like – we know what’s really going on under the water.
A few minutes away fromthe Ao Nam Mao pier is Nemo. No, really – that’s the landmark to look for when finding the place. Nemo, the orange clownfish made famous by Pixar, is in fact the bestclue along the road that there’s plenty more to the story.
There’s almost no English around here, which makes understanding what’s going on – or what kind of fish are around – rather difficult. Accordi...
January 15, 2015
An open letter to the first-time international traveler
Dear first-time international traveler,
Sit down and graba beer, coffee, or tea. No, seriously, if you’re not reading this letter with a beverage of choice in hand, stop reading and go get one.
There. That’s better.
You might be feeling nervous about traveling internationally because you’ve read some horror story online, or your friends have told you a crazy story about this one time at a hostel…? You know he’s prone to exaggerating, and you also know not to believe everything you read online, b...
January 13, 2015
January Book Reviews: Success on AirBnB, the worst motorcycle in Laos, traveling long term on a budget, and more
Once a month, I put together the books I’ve readinto a single review post. Alternatively, see plenty of previous book reviews over here, or see how I rate books.
Want to get your travel book reviewed?Send it for review over at oneweirdglobe.com/review-book.
I skipped December’s book reviews due to the 24 Beaches series, so enjoy a couple extra reviews on the house.
The Worst Motorcycle in Laos – Rough Travels in Asia
Chris Tharp has done it again. I’m not sure I’d want totravel with the guy, but...
January 11, 2015
The tale of Singapore’s two toy museums – one big, one small, both worthwhile
See the toys your parents and grandparents might have played with.
Yeah, I’m a big fan of toy museums. Been to two in Thailand (see the Million Toy Museum in Ayutthaya, theBatcat Museum in Bangkok, and there were quite a few in theHouse of Museums) – there’s still a big kid inside me…
Singapore’s two toy museums avail themselves to tourists young and old, although I suspect the older tourists will get the bigger kick out of them. First up here is theChildren Little Museum, though calling it a m...
January 8, 2015
Coming to Korea: saving money, being happy, and 8 other tips to getting started in Korea
This post may come across as rather ironic, seeing as how I left Korea in March 2013, but the advice is still true. In no particular order:
1. Learn hangeul. The Korean alphabet, designed by King Sejong and/or his royal assistants, was designed centuries ago to be easy to learn. If a 17th century Korean farmer can learn it, so can your university-educated brain. Associate each letter with the sound it makes, then go from there. There are plenty of books out there to help you learn Korean (sham...
