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Photos by MJ Klein (and others, uncredited), including FOOD PHOTOS!

Recently I went to Thailand on business to pick up some tools at a factory in the Isaan area.  Fortunately for me, I had time to enjoy myself while there and having my new D7000, I took lots of photos.  Speaking of which, please bear with me in this first installment about my trip, as I have been adjusting the D7000 to optimize it for the look that I want.  Initially, I had the colors jacked up too high and occasionally it made for some cartoonish photos.  But I soon found where the settings want to be and I’ve been shooting it that way since.  So without further delay, please enjoy this first installment in my 2012 Thailand trip!

We start off at Taoyuan International Airport, which is currently under construction to renovate Terminal 1, where my flight originated.  This strange roof cover seems to be completed now and I didn’t recognize the terminal when my taxi drove up to it.

More plans for the airport.

The shopping area now benefits from a make-over.

You see what I mean when I say I had the colors jacked up.

I’m not sure if the gate areas have been re-done because they look pretty much the same, if memory serves.

It was a bright beautiful morning – perfect for a flight to Thailand.

This decoration is something I hadn’t seen before.

Finally I put the camera away and landed in Thailand, where I was met by 3 old friends:

A-nune,

A-jo and Oath.

These guys now live in Chonburi, in a nice town called Phanat Nikhom, where few foreigners are to be found.

We stopped at a Thai rest area on the highway.

This place is huge!

First thing these guys did right off was to help me get a mobile phone SIM card.

And then it was off to lunch!

This is one of those large open-air places that Thailand is famous for.

It has a nice outdoor feel to it, and of course, includes karaoke.

A-nune and A-jo start a friendly game of snooker.

Oath pours the beer, Leo, Thai style with plenty of ice.

Soon the food arrived, this fried rice being the first dish.

Along with the accompanying Thai style vegetables.

This nice soup was next.

The rice looked good dished out on my plate.

This is the famous Thai dish called “krapau” made with pork.  Full bodied with plenty of basil and just enough hot peppers, this dish was great.

These are pieces of dry pork (deep fried) with peanuts, garlic and scallions.

More dry pork.

Just as things were getting interesting, food-wise, this delightful creature showed up with her mother in tow.

This is Miss Elle.

While we were eating and drinking, Oath decided to get up and render a few tunes for us.  It was great hearing him sing again after so long.

Then Elle sang for us.

Dry beef arrived,

and more dry pork.  Can’t get enough of this kind of thing when you’re drinking!

Soon it was time to leave and take me to my hotel for the duration of my stay.  Naturally I took a rest for a few hours after all that eating, drinking and catching up.

A-nune picked me up and took me to the next stop on the agenda – the place where he performs nightly.  There are some areas in Chonburi that are experiencing long-term water problems, such as this section of the road along the way.

Now remember, I cannot read Thai at all, so I never know the names of any of these places unless there is an English name that I happen to catch.  This is an outdoor restaurant built on a dock on a lake.  The food and atmosphere here is excellent.

A-nune does a show with Elle (whom the guys call “meimei”), and a guy he calls “didi.”

This video embed shows them performing.  I cannot speak Thai, and I have no idea what they were saying at the beginning, therefore I did not realize they would talk for so long before they started the song (but I didn’t want to risk missing the intro of the song, so I kept on shooting).  So, feel free to skip forward to when they start singing: 1:23.  This is a D7000 video.

Naturally, brother Oath joined A-nune on stage for a few tunes.

After a few hours of great Thai music and food, we went to the next place:

This is where Oath performs nightly.

Everyone came down to hang out together.  That’s Mr. Nom on the right.

Oath and his partner put on a good show.

While Elle joked around with everyone.

Elle likes the D7000 a lot and she picked it up several times and took some photos.

Drinking 100 Piper’s whisky, a Thailand institution.

Later on, Nom and A-nune joined Oath onstage for a few tunes.

Elle took this photo of Yours Truly, wearing my famous bush hat.

The night ended at midnight, and it was a great ending to a great day.

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