Signs from around the world

A few photos from my travels.

I’m a big fan of travelling and therefore every winter for the last ten years I’ve gone backpacking around the world. On my travels I’ve encountered a few signs which have caught my attention and so I thought I would post photos of a few of them on my blog.

1) An undercover operation

The first photo is a photo I took while in Krakow a few years ago and it was taken outside the Secret Service Headquarters, handily signposted to ensure people can easily find it.

The Secret Service Headquarters in Krakow, a very undercover operation.

I have to say, maybe I’m missing something but it didn’t really appear to be that secret.

2) No smoking alcohol

Next comes a rather ambiguous sign.

No smoking alcohol.

No smoking alcohol … but presumably drinking alcohol is fine. To be honest, drinking is the method I generally prefer to use to consume my alcohol in any case, so the restrictions weren’t really a problem for me.

3) Proof of age is optional

Next up is a rather blatant sign situated on Khao San Road in Bangkok.

"We do not check ID."

‘We do not check ID.’ Can you imagine if a bar in England had a sign like that? Somehow I suspect the local police wouldn’t be quite so indifferent as the Thai police apparently are.

The weird thing is that if you're backpacking in Thailand then you're going to be old enough to drink anyway. After all, you don't generally see many kids going off backpacking around the world on their own!

4) Not the best!

The next photo is a sign outside Cosmic 2 Restaurant in Koh Phi Phi which makes the following boast / admission about their pizza...

By their own admission, not the best pizza.

'Not the best pizza, but nice one.' Refreshing honesty from Cosmic 2 Restaurant.

That’s not the first time I’ve encountered such refreshing honesty in Thailand. I remember one time when I was at the Chatuchak Weekend Market in Bangkok and I asked how much a can of Sprite was, and was told 20 baht. I was therefore just about to hand over a twenty baht note when the Sprite seller whispered very conspiratorially ‘fifteen … fifteen.’ So after looking confused for a few seconds I eventually acted on his prompting and came back with a counter offer of fifteen baht. He agreed to my reduced offer with fake reluctance and begrudgingly handed me my can of pop. The whole thing was quite bizarre and very much like the haggling scene from Monty Python’s The Life Of Brian.

5) A vague sign

The next photo is a vague sign I saw one time at the Full Moon Party in Koh Pha Ngan advertising the prices at a food stall on the street.

'Some drink.' A non-precise sign at the Full Moon Party.

'Some drink.' Imagine if the menus in restaurants in England were as vague as that. ‘What would you like to drink, sir?’ ‘Hmm ... I think I’ll go for ‘some drink’ please. And to eat I think I’ll go for ‘some food’.’

6) Another TV or peace?

The last photo comes from a slogan projected on the wall at a Howaysis gig I went to a few years ago (an excellent former Newcastle based Oasis tribute band, who are unfortunately no longer going).

Peace would get my vote, although admittedly it's not that hard a decision
for me as I don't watch that much TV (except for sport and comedy).

‘If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.’ Wise words, although perhaps a little naive as to how the world works.

Anyway, that was some signs from my travels around the world.

You can find more signs from around the world in the following posts:
Funny signs (part 3)
Lost in translation