I'll Take My Clothes Hand Tailored, Please

Another industry that Bangkok is known for is having hand tailored clothes made on the cheap.  While I don't have a need for many suits, I do enjoy a nicely fitted shirt and pants.  If you've ever met me, you'll probably quickly notice my 6 foot, 4 inch (193 centimeter) body that is even further punctuated by a lankly body type.  I often got the string bean comment during my younger years.

The biggest issue I have when finding shirts is that I need a large or extra large so that they are long enough but that is too much fabric around the waist. I feel like I'm wearing a tent.  I've found a good shirt size at Banana Republic but it's still too short in the waist.  When I got the opportunity to have good hand tailored clothes made for a reasonable price, I jumped on it.

I got fortunate in that I didn't need to do a lot of research to find a tailor.  An employee of my client recommended someone that she used when she was in Bangkok for a college trip.  I lucked out in that his store wasn't too far from my office. It was only two BTS SkyTrain stations away plus about a two block walk. So with only 3 weeks left of my trip, off to Raja's Fashions I went!

Walking into the store front you immediately see suit and slack fabric on your left and shirt fabric on your right.  The middle is overflowing racks of completed tailored clothing.  

Pardon the blurring cam. 

The store had Bobby and his father working with customers in getting measurements or fitting rough cut suits.  There was also 4 or 5 females helping customers pick fabrics.   The place was small but busy.

Stepping in the first thing I was asked wasn't what kind of suit I wanted or how many pairs of pants I could buy.  It was "what would you like to drink? Cocktail, Beer, Soda, Water?"  Before I knew it I had a beer sitting in front of me and about 15 books of suit fabric samples.  

One of my Thai friends came with me, Pom, and she helped me go through the books.  I let her know what kind of fabric I wanted and we went to it.  As it turns out, I ended up going with the sticking with the very first fabric I looked at in the very first book.  We flipped through some style books to pick out the style of suit that I wanted.  Before I knew it, I was being fitted.

Bobby did the measuring himself.  While he spoke fluent English, he rattled off my measurements in Thai.  He was quick and determined at getting the measurements and his assistant wrote the numbers down in a leather-bound book.  It is actually quite amazing that he keeps track of this information in these booklets.  In fact, there wasn't a single computer in sight at the store.  I ordered a package deal that gave me a suit, tie, and 4 shirts.  I was then charged with figuring out the fabrics for the shirts.  Before I knew it I was done and handing over 5,000 baht as my deposit (~$166).  Bobby requested that I return in 5 days for a rough fitting.  I don't know for sure how long it took, but it felt like 45 minutes from entering the store to leave.

I will say that I left that fitting feeling somewhat frustrated with myself because I didn't do any negotiating.  I decided that the price he gave me was worth it to me but there's always leaving something on the table that didn't need to be.  It's similar to finishing a race with plenty of energy in the tank.  Who knows what would have happened if I tried.  I might not have gotten anywhere.

I returned on a Tuesday for the rough fitting and it was a similar process in that I was offered a drink but I needed to get back to the office as soon as possible so I was hoping for a quick fitting.  My pants looked to be 90% done and one of my four shirts was ready to try on.  Everything fit quite well and I tried on the suit jacket, which still had plenty of work to go.  He asked me to come back in three days for the final fitting.

On Friday I stopped in and tried on everything again but this time with a second shirt.  They were to make a few more adjustments but he indicated that it would be ready the next day to take home.  Wow!  I actually deferred to the following Monday because we were going out of town to Khao Yai National Park.  So Monday night I stopped in and tried everything one final time:

A nice close fit!

The night before I had talked to TKB about picking up the suit and she recommend I consider getting some slacks.  When I was trying on the suit for the final time, I noticed my current slacks were starting to look worn so Bobby set me up with 4 slacks.  When we talked about it, I did try to negotiate with him about throwing in a shirt or whatever.  We chatted for a minute and he wouldn't budge.  When I resigned to go with his price, another customer, a westerner, in the shop commented that he was looking forward to see if I could work out some sort of deal because Bobby didn't relent on Hillary Clinton when she worked him for a discount.

Well, that made me feel somewhat better!  The skeptical person I am makes me wondered if he was just saying that to make me feel better; however, Bobby's shop is full of autographed photos and letters of appreciation from military personnel.

Yes, there is a signed photo from Bill Clinton in there.  Maybe it is the truth!

So in three days he had made 4 slacks!  Very quick but I could have probably gotten them sooner if I really needed.  It worked perfectly because I picked them up the day before I left for home.

I was quite pleased with everything from the process to the packaging.  On my way out I asked Bobby about future orders.  He said he would send me swatches in the mail to the US and since he already had my measurements, could make something and ship it to me... all via email.  I'll take it!

When I think about what I paid and what I got I am pleased.  Thinking about my frustration with myself goes back to the fact that you can walk up and down Sukhumvit and you'll find tailors on every street block.  Many of which have signs out to have a suit made for $150.  I paid more than 3 times that much for a suit, four shirts, and a tie.  One thing thing though is that those same stores are always empty and there is usually someone out front barking at you to come inside.  Bobby's shop was ALWAYS busy.  Usually two people being measured, someone trying on clothes and one, two or more people waiting to be helped.  I think I'd rather spend more money for reputable, quality clothes.

In addition, I was in Halls at Crown Center a couple weeks after my trip to pickup some cuff-links. The gentleman who was helping me mentioned that in August and February they produce fitted, hand tailored shirts.  He mentioned that prices were between $100 - $150 per shirt.  Bobby's price is easily 1/4 of that.

My plan for now is to put these clothes in my work attire rotation over the next four to six months and see how they last.  More people from my company will be making this 2 month long trip in the future so I might have some more shirts/slacks ordered and hand delivered back to me!!!  

So, if you want a handmade suit.  Buy a plane ticket to Bangkok and schedule a week long vacation.  You will spend less on that trip + the suit than if you were to go to a tailor in the United States.

Note:

Bobby's shop is moving and will actually be more convenient for customers.  He is current down a side street that can be hard to find.  He's moving his shop that will be right off the Nana BTS station instead of a couple blocks from it.  Keep checking his website for location and information on the move.  The location can be found in the bottom business card in the image above.

To Be A Two Year Old Again

Ever wonder what it's like to be a two year old?  Ever think back to those simple times when you were in information overload learning new things such as colors, numbers, words?  Well, the best way to take the "Delorean" back to this innocent days is to live in a foreign country for an extended time.

Language
I knew when I was preparing for this trip, I was neglecting to learn some of the basics of the Thai language, such as numbers.  I think knowing the challenge of the tones derailed me.  I did purchase a phrase book at the Barnes & Nobles gave me enough ammo if I needed it.  During my plane flight over the Pacific Ocean, I pulled the phrase book out and started reading up on simple greetings such as sawadee khrap (hello/good morning/good night) and khob kuhn khrap (Thank you).  That should be more than enough to get me from airport to hotel!

The next two months turned into a complete emersion into the Thai culture.  You couldn't help but learn some of the language. From the first meals with the Thai associates where we learning things such as Pork, Beef, Chicken, more spicy, less spicy, delicious, etc.  It didn't take long to pick up some of those words.  Then over the course of the month we moved on to numbers and very simple phrases and grammar.  For example, the word for delicious is "a'roi", pronounced "aloy" (yes, the "R" and "L" stereotype lives true in Thailand).  If you add the word "mai" to the end, it turns it into a question as "mai" is used to negate things.  So "a'roi mai" means, "Delicious, isn't it?".  You would then respond with "a'roi" for "delicious" or "mai a'roi" for not delicious.  You can add emphasis to things by adding "mak mak" to it, meaning "more" or "very".  So "a'roi mak mak" is very delicious.

One thing I've noticed about Thai language written in the "English" letters is that it is more of a courtesy and not something that is based on specific rules.  I've found many versions of the same words "translated" to our alphabet.

One thing that I did get translated was my name: สก็อต.

Food
Another aspect of feeling like a 2 year old is simple doing things for the very first time.  Now there is the aspect of learning how to get around in a new country or learning the culture, but this is more about food. I'm not a very picky eater but if there are other options to choose from, I will likely pick the items I enjoy. In Thailand, I took the stance of "if it won't kill me, I'll eat it".  So I lived that mantra to the fullest:

Fried Baby Crab - A'roi mak mak!!!

Squid tentacles

Snake Fish

Squid... Lots of it!

Squid pieces from the above platter.  It's Squidy!

This is the post-race food.  Lychee, Coconut Gel, Red Beans, sweet syrup and ice.

Somewhere in this photo is squid and frog legs.

Fried Fish.

Fried Alligator

Some sort of fried fish.  This were tiny and about the size of a minnow. 

Mushrooms.  Not exotic, per se, but I'm not a huge fun of the fungi.

Other exotic (to me) food was Octopus and Jellyfish.  When you take these Cephalopod foods together, I have a hard time discerning a flavor.  The food just seems rubbery to me.  I'm sure if I had a lot of the food I would be able to enjoy it more.

It seems many people I talk to back in the US getting freaked out about the large whole fish, which I find rather odd.  This is a cooking style in the US but maybe not as prevalent.  The fish is quite good; however, I have a hard time with it because of the fish bones so I started just asking the veteran Thai associates to get me a piece to avoid the bones.  I also do that because I'm more likely to destroy the fish trying to get a piece.

Overall, I like how food is fried in Thailand.  There is a sweet flavor to it and because most is small pieces, they don't have to cook it long so it's not overcooked.

I will say that food I did turn down was raw fish.  I've had it and don't like it.  I have a hard time getting over the texture of the food, so I have a hard time tasting it.

There was definitely a lot more exotic food but I couldn't find pictures of it to remember it.

How To Eat
In Thai restaurants you don't get knives.  You have a spoon and fork and that's it.  In reality, you don't need a knife.  Pretty much all foods are already served in small pieces so it's not necessary.  Using the fork and spoon isn't necessarily that straightforward though.  You are suppose to hold the knife in the left hand and spoon in the right.  The fork then pushes food onto the spoon and you serve yourself from the spoon. Stabbing food with the fork and eating from it is considered rude, so I avoided it.

Many of the dishes are served with a specific dip.  You are not to mix with other dips of other plates.  In addition, you will be served rice with your meal and I eventually learned to not eat the rice alone but instead only eat it with the dishes.  I think this was one of the big reasons I gained weight out there (excluding the beer I drank, of course!). I would just sit and eat the rice while waiting for the next dish.

Why would I be waiting for the next dish?  Food is served to the table as soon as it is ready.  So if you receive your plate but your table mates are still waiting, you start eating.  It may be 5, 10 or more minutes before they get their food.  Eat now so your food isn't cold.  In the situation where a bunch of plates are ordered for the entire table to eat, you just eat what you are served when it is served.  This is the typical meal.  We would order 5 or 6 dishes and share.  In one situation we ordered 6 plates of food and it took nearly 45 minutes for the last plate to be served.

Bathroom
Not wanting to spend a lot of time on this but let's just say that most all toilets have spray hoses attached, similar to that of the sprayer on a kitchen sink.  I will admit to using it and glad I did!

One of the bathrooms I came across while at a pitstop on a road trip was a turkish toilet.  I could have used a manual.

Other "New" Items

• Happy Hours are buy one, get one free.  You order one beer and they bring you two.  While in the US we have 1/2 price beers during happy hour, there is something pretty awesome about this.
• Learning the transit system.  It's mostly because I always drive in the US.  There is no need to learn the bus system but in Thailand we how to use the BTS SkyTrain system.
• Chopsticks -- I finally figured out how to use chopsticks; however, I've probably already forgotten. I brought two sets back to the US, so I'll take them to the next BBQ joint I go to.

I'm sure there are many more items but these are the big ones that come to mind.  Thanks for reading!

To The Beach! Hua Hin

We've been pretty busy with various things, so I haven't really returned to my hotel room until after 8pm each week night the last two weeks.  I haven't had a chance to update the blog regarding our trip to Hua Hin two weeks ago but I have a few hours before heading into work to help with an event tonight, here we go!

German Beer Garden, March 2
I can't talk about this weekend without talking about the Friday night before the trip to Hua Hin.  Some associates took Peter and me to the Tawandang German Bewery.  This place was absolutely HUGE.  Easily a thousand people could fit in this place but part of that was because they have a stage with singing and dancing.  Tonight our ears were tickled with American covers and Thai songs.  They had Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, and other impersonators.  They would also dress the part too.

I don't know how many different kinds of beers were here but I do know one thing, when they serve the beer, they serve it tall.

That is three liters of liquid gold.  Toom is such a good model.

Dinner was pretty typical Thai cuisine, at least it seemed to be.  Some of our dinner plates:

Left over pig leg.  Also, Peter working two beers at once.

As you can see from this photo, Thai (and likely, Asian) cultures love their dips and sauces.  There are 9 dips/sauce bowls in the above picture.  That doesn't mean that they just like to flavor the food with whatever, each food has it's own dip to use.  It helps balance the sweet, sour, and/or saltiness of the dish.

Umm.... raw shrimp.  I did not try this but I was told it has a sweet taste.

Much more my style!

Squid

The evening was absolutely wonderful.  We probably stayed until 10pm but we took down 5 towers of beer in the process.  I think I did one on my own.  It will be one of those nights that I will remember the most... from what I can remember.

Geal, Peter, Toom, Art, Por, O, Mink, Pom, Crazy Foreigner, Gluay, Nin

The next morning we were to meet at the office by 8am for our trip to Hua Hin, and that came pretty quickly.

Hua Hin
Peter, Esteb, and I met 5 other associates at the office at 8am. This was an overnight trip, so we all showed up with a carry-on to load into the van.  Esteb, being the gracious gentlemen that he is, carried Kate's:

Pink is a good color for Esteb, don't you think?

After about an hour on the road, we arrived at Khao Luang Cave.  It is a cave that contains multiple Buddha images.

It was quite dark and I left my tripod at KC, so the images are a little blurry.

I liked this little guy.  Monkeys have a special presence here, as you'll see in a moment.

A drop from a stalactite.

There were actually a lot of people with tripods setup  to take a photo of this droplet from the stalactite.  I'm not exactly sure if there was some kind of significance but it definitely made great photo for those who were prepared.  The light is coming from a big hole in the ceiling of the cave.

If you look closely, you will see a bunch of little monkeys in this photo.  They were all over the place. In fact, there were a bunch of them on the driveway up to and in the parking lot.

Talent

We were warned to watch out for them as they like to take things.... like glasses.  I stayed plenty clear of these little guys.

After the 30 minute visit to this temple, we took off again and found our way to a train station.  While we could have easily finished the commute to Hua Hin in our van easily, we took a train the final stretch.  We ended up waiting over an hour for a commuter trainer to take us the rest of the way but it was worth it.  It was very interesting seeing how people commute using the train system.

This was actually the train we thought we were taking but it was full of kids from a  soccer camp.  That is why we waited another hour for the next train.

As you may have been able to pick up by now from recent posts, there is a Thai price and a foreigner price for many things, especially public venues like the Grand Palace and now the train system.  The Thais are free but the "farang" (Western foreigner) cost 6 baht, roughly 20 cents.  Pretty steep.

When getting on board, I had my 6 baht in coins ready to hand over to someone and then it happened.  I was turning right to walk down the train car after boarding when I felt someone gently grab my left arm.  I immediately thought that this was the person I was to hand over my boarding fee.  I looked down and it was a very sweet old Thai gentlemen.  He gave me a toothless smile through his wrinkly face and looked down at my arm.  I smiled right back and he let go.  Just as quickly as it happened, I was on my way down the train car following my coworkers.

You see, in the months leading up to my trip to Thailand one of my coworkers said that I would have people staring at me, kids following me in the street/parks, and people touching my skin.  I knew I'd be the oddball in the elevator but wasn't sure about that last part.  It didn't freak me out but it was an interesting experience.

Kate and Mai enjoying the ride.

The country-side.

I stole this photo from I-Tim on Facebook.  Thanks!

This car is air conditioned!

During the ride there were plenty of people walking the aisles selling food and beverages.  These trains make extremely long runs so it's basically the dining service.  Weep told me that when he was in university he would take a train to northern Thailand that would take 20 hours.  Yikes!

After roughly 30 minutes, we arrived!!!

I-Tim, Weep, Esteb, Mai, Sam, Kate, and Peter

We met up with our van and drove over to a sea side resort for lunch.  It was filled with seafood served in the Thai style.  Peter and I recognized many of the dishes from the night before.  Even the serving dishes matched:

Squid dish.  The squid in my "Squid Face" photo above was served in the exact same style of dish.

Another I-Tim stolen photo.  He's a great photographer!

After lunch we finally had a chance to admire the ocean.

I thought my Dad would appreciate the tractor in this photo.

So pretty.

We made it to Siam Beach Resort but not without some trouble.  The road to the resort was under construction and, basically, I mean it wasn't there.  It was a dirt road but the bridges were concrete, so there was a short but steep dirt ramp to get on the bridge where normally there would be road.  This presented a problem for our van which had low to the ground panels attached.  His first attempt going up this incline actually damaged part of the ground effects.  There were two other vans carrying our team members, so the drivers of those vans got out to help.  One guy found some sheetrock off to the side of the road and used that to make the incline less steep and it worked.  Crazy but great teamwork!

Peter and I were given keys to a beach view villa and we got ready for some fun in the water.  While waiting for others we walked over to to an area that had a couple canopies setup and massage tables.  After a little thought, I decided to hop on the table for a Thai massage.  There were two tables, so Peter had already started a few minutes before me.

I've been told that they are painful but worthwhile.  It was 250 baht (about $8) for an hour.  I guess being athletic has its benefits because I never felt in extreme pain.  I just laid there quiet and enjoyed it.  It was almost like a scene of a movie....  Wind in my hair, sounds of ocean waves crashing on the sand, Peter grunting under the pressure...

Trying not to cry

Water activities were next.  We did a little swimming and then a slightly-larger-than-a-waverunner boat came by with a banana boat attached.  That's one of those long inflatable rocket sleds where 4 or 5 people can ride and hope to not fall off.  We spent about 15 minutes on it and toppled a couple times.  It was so much fun!  However, the time on the banana boat pretty much reversed the relaxing massage.

After the water sports, we went back to the resort and soaked in the salt water pool for a bit before dinner and tried to relax.

For dinner we loaded back into the vans and trekked over the dirt road and bridge to a beach side restaurant.  Actually, it was a beach restaurant.  All the tables were on the beach, it was very neat!

The ocean is probably forty feet from the tables.

Another Thai seafood meal and delicious.  It was about this meal that Peter and I started learning how to eat Thai meals.  I'm not just saying how to break open a crab:

I'm talking about how to pace oneself during these meals in which you may see 10 different plates of food pace your nose.  I've learned that a lot of our Thai friends will put food on our plates for us.  A lot of the times it is because some food (such as crabs) require extracting food from shells or carcasses (fish).  Many of them will do this for us (I'll probably destroy a fish trying to pull the meat off the delicate bones), so I've learned not to take portions on my own.  That has helped me from getting overly full to the point of being uncomfortable.

After dinner we hit up a night market.  It's similar to the JJ Market we have visited a couple times but smaller.  Kate helped us buy some more souvenirs.

No... this is NOT  a sign to the red light district.  Do you seriously think I would post my picture of that?

After this shopping adventure, we went back to the resort for some late evening festivities with our Thai friends.  We sat out on a picnic table with some adult beverages until about 2am.  It was so much fun!  I provided some music background with my iPhone.  Adele and Florence & The Machine were the predominate artists for the evening. I don't think they would recognize that much from my music selection.

It was really interesting sitting on the sidelines watching our bartender Weep, Sam, Mai, Fluke, Tam, and others talk to each other, ending in a burst of laughter, all while Peter, Esteb and I would wait for the translation.

Floating Market, March 4, 2012

Getting loaded up for the trip north to Bangkok.

The next day we had brunch at the resort and were on the road by 10:30am.  Our next stop would be about an hour or two away for lunch.  It was near a fishing town and the restaurant was over the water.  It was very cool.  Again, another wonderful Thai seafood meal;

I believe the building in front may have been the kitchen but the buildings with green roofs were the dining area.

Kate, Mai, Weep,and Sam

After lunch we were walking back to the vans and noticed these interesting fish in the muddy water.

Fish that crawled in the mud!  I made the Thais promise we didn't eat one of them.

Our next stop was one of the famous Floating Markets in Thailand, Ampawa.  On the way to the market we drove by a couple interesting sites:

The top photo is of a salt farm harvest.  They pump in the seawater and let it evaporate to collect the salt.  They transport the sale to large "barns" for storage. The second photo is someone prepping an area for the salt water.  It appears to be a dirt ground that is packed down to hold the water.  It's very neat to see.

The above buildings are also farms, of sorts.  It took some time for the Thais to translate this for us because it was a concept that was hard for me to understand too.  These are Swift bird houses.  The swift birds will fly into the small holes and make a bird nest.  The interesting thing is they will use saliva and even their own blood to build the nest.  People will harvest these nests and actually make soup out of them.  It is a chinese delicacy.

We finally made it to Ampawa and walked around the floating market.  This market reminded me of something I might see in Venice.  The buildings appear to be fully cemented into the ground but there are waterways that contain boats for tours, boats as kitchens as patrons will sit on very small tables along the walk ways, and boats selling goods.  It was Sunday afternoon and extremely crowded.  Most of the Thai associates purchased food to be taken back to Bangkok and possible eaten at work the next day.

Foooooooooood.

We only spent about an hour here because of the time necessary to get back to Bangkok.  We got back in the vans and off to Bangkok.  We finally arrived around 7pm (remember, we left at 10:30am) and then back to our hotels.

The weekend was absolutely wonderful.  Our hosts (about 25 of them) took such great care of us and I'm glad we were able to spend it with them.  They organized transportation, lodging, food, and entertainment for us and did a fabulous job.  They know how to have a good time!


Bonus Photo

This is Mai holding up the receipt from our meal on Saturday afternoon after we arrived in Hua Hin.  Now you know what I mean about these people know how to eat!

More bonus photos and videos found on Flickr here.