Accommodation is also reasonable here and the food is cheap and excellent. For example at a cheap street restaurant a great green curry with chicken and rice is 20 baht (currently 36 baht to a dollar). Another way to go is eating from the street stalls on Khao San Rd. For example:
Corn on the cob -> 10 baht
Phad Thai -> 10 baht
1/4 of a cantaloupe melon -> 10 baht
Khao San Rd. is always busy and can be a bit much sometimes but the atmosphere is great. The street is full of guest houses, restaurant/bars, market stalls, cloth shops, book shops, travel agents, jewellery shops... The restaurants show movies all day and you can watch one and only order a soda and no-one minds. On Sunday I went to the weekend market. It is one of the biggest markets I have been to and in 3 hrs I saw maybe a 1/10 of it. They sell most things (eg. plants, food, cloths...) and the prices are unbeatable.
I had a great time in Japan. It was my 3rd time there so I did little sight seeing. I spent most of my time seeing my brother and his wife and their friends and her family who are all wonderful people and were very generous to me. It is of course very expensive but my brother and his wife kindly supplied accommodation and food. I got spoiled in Japan. I got to sleep in the same place for more than a week and I had hot water, a heated bath, and a washing machine. I had not forgotten how good the food is in Japan but I had forgotten how much they eat! I had many great meals.
I enjoyed looking at Japanese technology. From the new smallest phones and computers to DVD car navigation systems (GPS). Many people have 'navi' systems in their cars (they also double as televisions). At the push of a button a computer voice will talk then home from anywhere in Japan. The old systems had a 2D map the new DVD systems have a 3D map! I even saw a motorcycle (Suzuki Djebel) that came from the factory with a GPS system. Cell phones are everywhere in Tokyo. They are cheaper to set up than a normal phone and almost as cheap to use. Many young women have a device called a pocket board. It is specifically for checking email. It is about the size of an organizer and you plug your cell phone into it and away you go for about 10 yen a minute (120 yen to the dollar).
I am traveling alone at present. Tonight I leave for Chiang Mai which is in northern Thailand.
Rupert
Bangkok 2