tm_nyc

The 787 has been in service for 14 years with no previous serious accidents. Someone pointed out that the landing gear on the plane had not been retracted as it normally would have been which is another indication of a major systems failure.

US State Department travel warning is to 'exercise caution' in 3 southern provinces, not in Thailand as a whole: Exercise Increased Caution to: Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat, and Songkhla provinces due to civil unrest associated with ongoing insurgent activities I agree that such travel advisories should generally be taken with a sizable grain of salt.

Great photos! Thank you for posting.

A major force in gay literature for the last 50-odd years: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jun/04/edmund-white-novelist-dies

It could be that prices escorts charge in CDMX are determined by what they can earn in LA or Houston or what rich California (?) gays are willing to pay in Puerto Vallarta. This blog by a gringo expat in CDMX has descriptions of the gay scene, including cruising, parties & sex clubs, mainly intended for younger guys who don't want to pay: https://traceyparkertravel.com/ Not sure how up-to-date the information is but interesting reading!

Unfortunately I have also encountered very promising looking guys hanging out in front of Da Nang massage shops but I realized that they are just touts & the services in the shop are all provided by women. Apparently it's a pretty common scam in Da Nang for touts & motocy drivers to steer men to 'VIP Massage' shops which then rip them off in various ways (or so I've been told).

Totally agree. I have read & enjoyed each one of your posts & I appreciate your candor in talking about the ups and downs of dealing with your Thai ex-BF.

@bkkmfj2648, thanks again for your excellent & enjoyable posts! It really is a reminder that I should return to Da Nang for another visit. AND... I am looking forward to a detailed report if you make contact with the dreamboat at Hero Spa!

Thank you, @bkkmfj2648, for another excellent report & I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed the Champa Museum! I will definitely check out the Sculpture Park when I return to Da Nang. (Photos of the museum attached.) If you are interested in Champa culture, there is the My Son Sanctuary, a ruin from the Champa period about an hour's drive from Da Nang: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/949/ The site is not very large & you can probably see it all in an hour but I was glad that I went.

Thank you @bkkmfj2648 for the excellent posts. I paid a brief visit to Da Nang last November & really liked it. Odds & ends: Nha Viet Banh Mi & Coffee on Ha Chuong, the side street near the Monarque Hotel, is a popular banh mi place which I liked. For a culture fix, the Museum of Cham Sculpture, across the river near the end of the Dragon Bridge: https://vinpearl.com/en/museum-of-cham-sculpture-2025-tips-for-visiting-and-more I tried the T Ten Massage Studio, one of the few male-male massage shops in Da Nang. It was a small shop on a residential street. There was only one very average looking masseur available, the massage he did was decent but no more than that.

I believe that the title of the HK movie is Infernal Affairs. I liked the Scorsese version but I think that the original was better than the remake.

The Departed w/Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio & Mark Wahlberg. Directed by Martin Scorsese.

I like that word!

X2 on Sophia's!

Thai fusion! Anglo-Thai chef seems like an interesting guy & the food looks amazing. Prix-fixe dinner 125 GBP or approx 5500 THB in central London.

Are you planning to visit the Jim Thompson House? It's unlike anything else you're likely to see in Bangkok! https://jimthompsonhouse.org/ It is not far from the National Stadium BTS Station.

Usually AirBNB listings are accompanied by reviews by previous guests. You could check & see whether or not the reviews mention problems that the previous guests have encountered.

Thanks for the news about Ms Christie & the reminder about The Go-Between, which is an excellent movie. Very impressive list of her best films (not that I agree w/all the rankings): https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/apr/17/julie-christie-at-85-her-20-best-films-ranked Good for you!

I haven't tried it but it looks like the Khlong Toei BTS station is fairly close to the southwest corner of Benchakitti Park. @bkkmfj2648 gets extra points for doing his explorations in the hot season!

Thank you for a very interesting post on Oscar Wilde & a reminder of what a wonderful performance Edith Evans gave as Lady Bracknell in the 1952 movie. I will carp about just where Jack was found in the handbag: JACK [Very seriously.] Yes, Lady Bracknell. I was in a hand-bag—a somewhat large, black leather hand-bag, with handles to it—an ordinary hand-bag in fact. LADY BRACKNELL In what locality did this Mr. James, or Thomas, Cardew come across this ordinary hand-bag? JACK In the cloak-room at Victoria Station. It was given to him in mistake for his own. LADY BRACKNELL The cloak-room at Victoria Station? JACK Yes. The Brighton line. LADY BRACKNELL The line is immaterial.

The last Broadway show I saw was 'The History Boys' with Richard Griffiths & the original London cast in 2006 (?). So, at least my NY theatre-going ended on a high note. As the prices of Broadway shows kept rising, I more or less lost interest in the NY theatre. Now it's very hard to imagine paying the current nosebleed prices as there really isn't anything that seems worthwhile (to me). Incidentally, the Guardian's review of the Denzel Washington/Gyllenhall Othello described it as 'underwhelming' in spite of the ticket prices.

I had a case of food poisoning & I went to BNH in Feb 2024. The initial out-patient treatment was excellent. Then they recommended at CT scan ('just to be sure') & I agreed to do that. When I got the results of the scan, I definitely felt like I was getting the 'hard sell' to do further treatment which I wasn't convinced I needed.

I agree. Bumrungrad is supposed to be 'the best' so I would go there. I have had a couple of routine medical/dental problems taken care of there & I think that their care is excellent. There is something called a retinal or ocular migraine which causes temporary (1 hour?) blurriness in one eye but is not serious. Might be that.

My pre-Covid memory of the Phu Quoc Night Market was that they had open-air fish restaurants with spectacular displays of fresh fish & customers could choose what they wished to eat. I don't recall the Thai ice cream. What with the buses & the replica Venice & the like, it sounds like there are a lot of development & changes taking place on Phu Quoc. Thanks for the update!

Can you exchange the old USD bills for euro in Poland? You probably would get a better rate w/USD in Bangkok but euro are accepted at currency exchanges. It sounds like trying exchange those old USD notes is going to be a big, time-consuming hassle if you wait until you get to BKK.