by Scott Coates

Smiling Albino Partner/Director/Advisor Todd Kuipers recently organized a trip to Portland to celebrate his 40th Birthday. A dozen of his closest friends

The Gang at the Ace Hotel at the start of the day

and family made the journey. Why Portland you ask? – Beer. Todd is an accomplished beer aficionado and tells me that Portland has more microbreweries per capita that Munich, Germany. And it has to be true as you can’t go more than a couple blocks without walking past somewhere to have a pint. And most places don’t just serve beer, but local beers and often are brewing on-site. The city is truly alive with beer culture which apparently began in the late eighties. People seem to eat, drink and live beer.

On Saturday, July 25 we met at the Ace Hotel and headed out on the town, following our trusty leader Todd to five of his favorite breweries in northern Portland.

A short ride on the metro train took us to the very nice Widmer Brothers – Gasthaus Pub (955 N Russell, 503-281-3333), a cozy pub that brews on-site. We tucked into some giant pretzels with dip, beer-cheese soup and a six-glass sampler platter. There are two of these and I tasted a total of 12 tasty brews with Todd. They are famous for pioneering America’s first Hefeweizen. It’s very refreshing but my favorite was the Drop Top Amber Ale – a very tasty, fruity, refreshing brew.

Todd sampling at Widmer Brothers

A 15 minute walk north and up a small hill took us to Amnesia Brewing (832 N Beech St., 503-281-7708), a very funky setup in an industrial type garage with picnic tables and outdoor seating in summer. It’s been around since about 2004 and is very laid-back and inviting. A number of beers were tasted here but it was the Slow Train Porter that got my attention. Rather heavy as porters are, but flavorful and really kicked the afternoon into high-gear.

Walking was the best idea of the day as we were all rather ‘rosy’ after just two of five planned stops and enjoyed a leisurely stroll to stop number three at 5Q Old Lompoc (3901 N Williams Ave, 503-288-3996), the standout for me for all around great beers. Tried another sampler platter here of six brews and they were all outstanding. On top of that their nachos were incredible and they even had Connect Four – the classic game of ultimate wit and intelligence. The tastiest here was Proletariat Red, a heady pint at 6.4% which went great with the nachos.

Scott & Shawn playing Connect Four

Another stroll through Portland neighborhoods (much needed to help work the beer through) took us to McMenamins Chapel Pub (430 N Killingsworth St, 503-286-0372), a wonderful building that was previously a church and dates to 1932. They have a very nice patio and it was a gorgeous early evening. Feeling like something lighter some of us had beer shakes and many of us (me included) dove-in to several pints of their very refreshing Ruby, made with raspberries and low in alcohol at 4.39%. After probably a few too many pints we dragged ourselves away from the now very comfy patio for our final planned stop.

Saraveza (1004 N Killingsworth St, 503-206-4252), an extremely funky and inviting venue featuring more than 200 bottles available and 10 rotating drafts was the final ender.  Snacks, very friendly staff, a great inside and outside atmosphere made this a standout. Their six beer sampler was delicious too with the Hitachino Ginger wowing most of us. Truly an outstanding and original brew.

Outside our last stop - Saraveza

After 30 different beer sampled it was time to call it a day/night. We packed-up, jumped in taxis and returned to our hotels, but not without a nightcap at Clyde Common, next door to the Ace Hotel and featuring a huge range of bourbons (just what you need after a huge day of beer tasting).

Portland is not only a beautiful, friendly and eclectic city but indeed one of the world’s greatest for beer. They have embraced the art and if you enjoy a cold one, be sure to put it on your list for places to visit. We hope to convince to host an annual Portland Brew Experience to add to our roster of adventures.

Happy 40th Birthday Todd and thanks for a memorable day! You’re one of the greats.

by Scott Coates

The last couple months have seen me visit an array of world cities and use their train systems to get around. Each city’s system is unique, varies in age, technology, area of coverage, price and ease of use. I deliberately took no map to any of the following systems, relied on my intuition, map reading skills, system staff to field questions and fellow riders to answer questions.
Sitting on the ‘Go Train’ leaving Toronto heading north to Aurora to visit a multi-time Smiling Albino (SA) guest, following is a summary of various systems and my experience on them:

Bangkok's Skytrain

Bangkok
The city has two systems, one aboveground and one underground. Both trains are made by Siemens as are their ticket systems. They are three interchanges, coverage is good and will continually be expanded in the coming decades.

The Good
Wide, clean, bright modern carriages.
Limited route coverage which makes it easy to use.
Frequent, affordable service ($0.50-1.10US).

The Bad
Limited route coverage.
Many stairs to access the aboveground system with few escalators.
Staff’s English is very limited.
The aboveground system’s ticket machines only work on coins.
Last train leaves at 00:00.
No public toilets.
No airport link (due to open sometime in 2010).

The Ugly
Despite both systems being run on Siemens equipment the tickets are not interchangeable.

Singapore's underground MRT system

Singapore
One clean, underground, efficient system that sails across this city-state. Trains are also manufactured by Siemens.

The Good
Clean, friendly carriages with lots of seating.
Huge coverage around this small country.
Very affordable (roughly $1.50US) for all routes.
Staff speak English very well and are very helpful.
Stations are all air conditioned with glass walls separating riders from oncoming trains.
The train runs all the way to the airport making travel super quick and easy.
Trains run until about 02:00.

The Bad
Tickets need to be returned for a $0.60US deposit, causing you to have to return to a ticket machine after each journey.

The Ugly
Absolutely no drinks can be taken on to the train.

Vancouver
This gorgeous city has one aboveground system known as the ‘Skytrain’. There are no drivers on the train which makes for a shock the first time you look in the front of the first car and there’s no one driving!

The Good
Trains go into the early morning hours.
Wide area of coverage.
There is a ‘White Phone’ at all stations which you can call to get route advice (very handy and useful).
Great views of the city while riding.

The Bad
Fares are expensive, ranging from $2-4US.
Lost of people on the trains.
A bit dirty and lots of ‘sketchy’ people hanging out at the stations.
No link to the airport (due to open in late 2009).

The Ugly
Trains are very small, narrow and the seats are tiny too. Way too small all-around for the size of the city and number of people who use the system.

NYC's subway inside looking out

New York City
One of the world’s most famous systems – it’s underground for the most part and used by everyone.

The Good
A plethora of routes and massive coverage mean you can get just about anywhere.
Very affordable – a flat $2.25US/trip.
Lots of interesting characters on the trains making people watching the perfect way to pass the time.
Friendly staff that are eager to assist with route information.
Runs all the time so you can always get around. This is the City that Never Sleeps!

The Bad
Underground stations are a bit old, dark and dirty.
It’s quite hard to get a suitcase in/ out of the stations if you’re going to the airport.
What are those friendly attendants saying (NY accents are really neat/unique)?
No direct train to any of the airports.

The Ugly
The trains themselves are a bit rundown and old looking compared to ones in Asia.

Toronto
Canada’s largest city has a fairly extensive system to move its 4 million residents in/out of the city to/from the suburbs. It’s mostly underground with an aboveground ‘Go Train’ serving the outlying areas.

The Good
Fairly extensive route that interconnects with streetcars to get you the final push to your destination.
Affordable at $2US/trip if you buy 5 tokens at once.
The largest mix of people from around the world on the trains. This must be the most ethnically diverse on the planet – truly amazing!

The Bad
Hardly any staff about to answer questions/offer route advice.

The Ugly
No train to the airport.

Each system was quite easy to use during my visits, got me where I needed to go rather quickly and was used by a lot of local residents. I felt safe on all of them, with the exception of Vancouver which on a couple of occasions I felt as though a fellow rider might freak out and cause a problem on the train.

My pick for top system is a tie between Singapore and New York City. Singapore’s system is amazing for its speed, efficiency, cleanliness, area of coverage and ease of use.
New York City has such an established system that covers a vast area and is used by everyone from the poorest to wealthiest, it truly is a system ‘for the people’.

While Asia has adapted mass rapid train systems in the last couple decades, they are building state of the art ones and definitely setting the pace.

Get out there and ride those trains!

by Scott Coates

The cure it seems to riding the world of bribes is pants without pockets.
A recent BBC online story told of how authorities at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport are issuing pants without pockets to airport staff. It seems there have been a high number of complaints by Nepalis that workers at the airport have been accepting/requesting bribes, almost exclusively from Nepalis, not tourists, over the last few months.

Be sure to wear your pants

Due to the stagnant economy in Nepal, many people, mostly men, seek employment in the Middle East, where they can earn better wages, send funds home and visit occasionally. The average Nepali makes $1,100US/year and finding a way to get a little extra is appealing, especially when you work at the airport, seeing people coming and going with neat things in-hand.

During my many visits to Nepal, you see lots and lots of television sets and other high-tech good being brought in by Nepali workers returning home from a stint abroad. These goods are not only available outside the country but much less expensive than in this land-locked, Himalayan country. My guess would be the temptation for Customs officers to not make a bit of money on a spontaneous ‘import tax’ is likely the main cause of the bribes. I can also say that during my many visits to Nepal and going through Immigration at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport, I have never been asked for money and only received most polite service. Nor have I ever heard of foreigners being asked for bribes – ever.

It must be stressful to return to your home country and have to contend with Immigration and Customs officials looking to make some extra Rupees from their countrymen. This is likely not much different than how goods get into a lot of countries but authorities proposing pants without pockets for airport staff seems a bit ridiculous. Where will one keep their wallet, house keys, money for lunch and mobile phone? Is this really going to improve the problem, rather than say educating airport staff of the dangers of accepting bribes, boosting their wages a bit and laying out a harsh penalty for those who accept bribes? Then again no one would get new pants and the people who make pants would have less work. What do you think the chances are someone at the top of the airport staff also has a company that makes pants?

So, next time you go to Nepal and enter via the country’s main airport you’ll see hands by their sides and certainly no bribes happening. To pants without pockets!

by Scott Coates

Having lived in Bangkok since September 1999 it becomes tougher to find new, interesting, quality places to take guests. As we’re always designing innovative experiences and checking out every nook and cranny it’s a treat to discover something new that fits the Smiling Albino mold.

The Ariyasom's main building

I recently inspected a new property which I’d heard of a number of times called Ariyasom Villa. Tucked at the very end of Sukhumvit Soi 1, in the heart of modern Bangkok, Ariyasom is a work of art, tenderly conceived and executed by the owner David and his Thai wife, who is the grand daughter of the original owner.

The main house was built in 1942 and has been lovingly preserved, refurbished and added upon. The entrance is surrounded by lush gardens, all designed by the owner, and the building is larger than a regular house, but does not feel like a hotel as all buildings have been designed to look like houses, which are connected. Colonial is in the air and you instantly forget you’re in an Asian mega-city. The lobby is more like someone’s private reception area and the rooms truly Thai in design.

Higher-than-average ceilings create a very spacious feeling and all furnishings/decorations have been purchased or commissioned by David, who has spent his life decorating and designing international hotels around the region. Real teak floors feel incredible on the feet as you stroll from the bedroom to the spacious bathroom. I enjoyed an Executive Deluxe Room which featured the best bathtub I’ve ever experienced. It’s large enough for two people to sit in without touching, there were more jets and areas where water shot out than you could ever want and it was true bliss. Hotels here often strive to provide a ‘Thai’ atmosphere but the decorations come off as a bit hokey – not at Ariyasom. Everything fits together like a puzzle.

The restaurant prides itself on serving organic, mostly vegetarian fare, which at first seemed like a turn-off as I’m an avid meat eater. That said, there are a handful of non-vegetarian choices and after eating lunch, dinner and breakfast, my tummy was very happy and I could have tried more things from the menu. All dishes were tasty, fresh and innovative. The bacon is apparently vegetarian, tasted and looked like real bacon, and I’m still wondering “how did they do it?”

Inside some of the rooms

With just 25 rooms Ariyasom is very comfy but still manages to pack in lots of amenities and extras. A small spa does great Thai massage and a covered outdoor ‘sala’ (covered gazebo of sorts) serves as a natural environment for enjoying your treatment. I was hot and opted for an indoor treatment which the staff happily accommodated. The cozy library is a wonderful place to read and unwind, a meditation room is open for use and twice per month they bring in a monk to lead free meditation sessions. Top this off with a gorgeous outdoor pool, nice deck chairs and a good selection of reasonably priced beers (they have Asahi which I like) and time flew by.

Something that could be a dislike for some is a huge plus for me. The hotel backs on to ‘Khlong Saen Seab’, Bangkok’s longest and oldest canal. While you can’t see the canal from the hotel you can hear boats passing by between 06:00 – 20:00. Bangkok is known as the ‘Venice of the East’ and canals still play an important role in the city. Hearing the boats go by and stepping out the door to walk along the canal (accessible by a footpath 20m away) was a charming feature that should be promoted more by the owners. A school opposite the hotel provides a background soundtrack of chattering children, but there again, the sounds of laughter and learning made me smile and appreciate where in the world I was.

For those wanting a totally unique Thai experience, not requiring an international hotel brand, and craving a peaceful escape, Ariyasom Villa gets top marks.

Smiling Albino is happy to arrange accommodation at Ariyasom Villa. Our rates are lower than you’ll find online, start at about $110US/night and we’ll handle the entire process, including confirming and re-confirming your arrangements so everything is seamless.