Christmas in Thailand
I will attempt a description of Christmas here but probably won't do a great job.
Christmas does exist here - it is completely an accommodation for the foreigners, an opportunity to make some money from their silly little holiday. Decoration is marketed and sold as being for Christmas as well as New Years, so for the most part what is available is chosen so it can do that double duty. As I said before, we bought a 6 kilogram (about 13 pound) turkey with bread stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce, cooked and packed in a Styrofoam cooler. And we found a bottle of our very favourite Wolf Blass wine. However, we paid more than it costs to feed me and Jacquie for a month.
Seven of us ate Christmas dinner together – me, Jacquie, Mathew, Mike, Yen, Ju and Ja. Ju and Ja were good sports and tried all of the bland flavourless food – I think it was made palatable by piling the spicy lime glass noodle salad with shrimp Ja made on top of it. I guess I’m settling in – I too thought that was the highlight of the meal.
After dinner six of us (not Ju) went swimming. Five of us acknowledged that it was the first time in our lives any of us went swimming on Christmas day. Ja didn’t say one way or the other, at least that we understood.
The bars along the road mostly celebrate the season by having the girls selling themselves wear skimpy red outfits and Santa hats. Can you say ho, ho, ho? One place has a large inflated Santa out front pole dancing with the girls, and on at least one occasion getting a lap dance. That particular bar also had live music and free barbeque to celebrate “number 25”, so of course that is where we went for Christmas evening. Continuous music from two excellent bands, delicious barbeque (no turkey), a pool tournament (“killer”, about 3 bucks to get in and the winner – not me or Mike - made about 60 bucks) and dark rum and cokes (no eggnog).
A Thai Christmas tradition at the hooker bars.
New Years is a different story. All over Asia it is intensely celebrated. A news story out of South Korea explains an initiative to get celebrants to promise not to keep the tradition of getting a prostitute at the end of the liquor soaked new years eve parties. And from Thailand, tens of thousands of police cracking down on “drink driving” in an effort to reduce the usual 6-7000 accidents with the accompanying 500-600 deaths across the country over the 4-5 day holiday. (I figure the rule on Koh Samui where the death toll is always high will be to stay off the roads completely). The vast variety of gift baskets available at Tesco almost all have a big bottle of Johnny Walker (most either red or black label) in them.
I don’t know if it even hit your news channels there, but the earthquake near Taiwan has severely damaged 6 of the 7 underwater optic fibre cables which provide most of Asias internet connectivity. The vulnerability of the whole system has been demonstrated, with the entire financial sector being seriously affected. It will take until Jan. 16 to effect any repairs and until the end of Jan. to achieve full repair. In the meantime extensive rerouting is occurring, and our connection is often gone and at best very slow. So for now it’s no phone or video chats and very little email. My work will be compromised also.
Completely unrelated to any of this, if anyone would like to read another, and different perspective on life here, check out Mike and Yen’s blog at:
www.roamingwanderlust.blogspot.com
We are even mentioned, so I periodically check it to make sure there is nothing too bad in there.
Sabadee be mai. Happy New Year.
My plan for this edition, the last of 2006, was to attempt a review of the events that happened in our lives this year. While I at first thought that would be an overwhelming task, after some reflection it has occurred to me that only a few of the really, really important things have actually changed after all. We are still together and still happy ( I guess I should say I am and let Jacquie speak for herself) and Sami is still with us and I think happy (he can't speak for himself). We all still have our health, and sometimes are too tired or too hot or too cold or working too hard (but not as often). We still don’t have enough free time with our friends and family, and that is worse now – except the new friends here. I still get to play basketball and go for walks with Sami and Jacquie (more often now) and we still watch the odd movie on television (instead of renting for about $1.50 we now usually just buy for about $3.00, and usually they are just released and still in the theatres).
So really, what has changed? I guess I’m a lot more relaxed and calmer about life now. That is the biggest change for both of us – the reduced role that work now plays in our lives – the newly achieved balance that I now cherish so much.
Speaking of relaxed, we spoke with Nigel (Nigel’s Barbeque) and he advised that the place to go for New Years Eve was Chaweng beach, because all of the resorts and beach bars and restaurants (and there are hundreds and hundreds) all have fireworks. We all decided that sounded cool, so we ate at a local restaurant first then all (me, Jacquie, Matt, Mike and Yen) jumped in the truck and headed to Chaweng in time to see it all.
Now, I need to mention the running stats being published daily in the Bangkok Post on this years death and injury toll for traffic accidents this holiday, better known as the “Seven Deadly Days”. Like a score sheet, each day they add yesterdays totals with comparisons to last year. So far we are down 14% from last years grand total of 609 dead and 2500 injured. About 50% are drink driving related (note Johnny Walker gift baskets mentioned above), and another 25% from speeding. In excess of 80% of the dead and injured were on motorbikes – hence our choice of going by truck and walking a bit further.
I also need to tell you that since arriving here Sami has developed an extreme fear of thunder and fireworks. So all of Sunday has been a long day for him, and especially since sundown when the fireworks started to be basically constant. Our being there really didn’t help much, so we put him on our bed with the A/C on and left him.
I have now seen - really seen - fireworks for the first time in my life. They are clearly plentiful and inexpensive, and they were everywhere on Chaweng beach. Yes, all of the resorts had large displays, each one about equivalent to Bridgewater on July 1. And yes, each bar and restaurant added their own smaller display. But what Nigel hadn’t mentioned was that every drunk with an extra ten or twenty bucks in his pocket had some too. I figure we now know what Beirut was like back in the day. On two occasions the blast went off so close to us we could feel it. On one of those occasions the blast caused a wind that blew Jacquies dress. You had to be very careful where you walked, so as not to be in the line of fire. I saw three large rockets go wrong and shoot into the crowded beach, then go off in the crowd. We didn’t hear any screams over all of the explosions and rock music and drunken hollering, so we are happily assuming no one was seriously injured.
I will never forget having a large rocket go off ten feet from me, and then the firework go off directly overhead. . By 12:30, after about 45 minutes of intense fireworks going off in three directions as far as you could see – and overhead, so I guess that’s four directions, we were fully shell shocked and the display started to subside. All that was left in the sky by then were a few late fireworks and the thousand hot air balloon lanterns that had been sent up by revelers, creating a new artificial solar system for our viewing pleasure.
And a happy new year to all, and to all a good night.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Big Adventure - 19
Long Live The King
Today is His Majesty The King’s Birthday. May His Majesty have many years of happiness.
Possibly the single most important thing to understand when you come here is how important the monarchy is to Thailand and Thais. Until recently this was a Democratic Monarchy. Now, and numerous times before in recent history (there have been 18 Constitutions in the past 74 years! ), it has lost the Democratic designation, but through it all, and above all, it is a monarchy. King is the longest reigning monarch in the world (60 years) and he is absolutely beloved by the people of Thailand. The quickest and easiest route to a stay in jail here of undefined duration would be to disrespect the King – with or without a democracy.
I bought an orange rubber bracelet that says “Long Live The King” which I wear proudly. You can’t live here – especially through the coup – without coming to understand and appreciate the importance of the throne to the overall stability of the country. After a few Thais commented with such excitement that I loved their King I found out that indeed the Thai words on the bracelet say “I Love My King” . That’s okay, and at least now I know. So when the woman barbequing my pork on a stick in the morning says, with a huge smile and a thumbs up, “You not love me, but you love my King!” I understand that it’s not a come on ( although Jacquie thinks she really likes me – a lot)
So today, on the occasion of the King’s 79 birthday, almost everyone is wearing a bright yellow shirt in His honour (we got ours at Tesco for 49 Baht ($1.50). And we have the day off to sit on the beach and swim and reflect upon the importance of the Monarchy to the country, also in His honour (I must admit that I left my bright yellow shirt off after my swim – it’s a nice heavy cotton, and even with the sea breeze it’s a bit too warm for in the sun).
Yesterday we bought a DVD player with speakers. We wanted a set of speakers for the beachfront, but discovered that we could get them with a DVD player for almost the same price. So now the iPod (again, a warm thank you to PDCLR and staff for that most perfect parting gift) is providing the perfect accompaniment to the pounding surf (surf is way up today – perhaps the leading edge of tropical storm Durion, which it is feared has killed over 1000 people in the Philippines while it was still a typhoon). The bad with the good.
It is also Fathers Day here today. On the Queens birthday they celebrate mothers day, and on the Kings, Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day dad. Wish you were here.
As I think I already said (but am too lazy to check), Matt is coming for Christmas. We are all getting excited – it’s been a year since we’ve seen him (last Christmas when he flew home to surprise us). He and Jacquie are flying up north to Chiang Mai for a few days, then spending a few days in Bangkok before coming here to join Sami and I on Christmas eve. We were going to cook a turkey for Christmas, but are now rethinking that. There is a place near here that is selling turkeys stuffed, cooked and delivered. That sounds better to us. The tree will probably be decorated before Jacquie leaves – or at least hopefully Jacquie will have finished making all of the ornaments.
I think she will have more time than we thought – the trial of work at the Beautiful World showroom did not go great. Turns out the owner is not a very supportive guy, and Tuktak, the Thai clerk, got tired of him yelling at her and has left. Worst of all it appears immigration officials were in sniffing around, and if Jacquie works without a work permit she can be deported, a risk we are definitely not prepared to take. So no work for sure until we get a permit, and not there in any case. The whole experience has helped her appreciate the leisure a bit more, so I think we’ll focus on getting her a motorbike, Thai language lessons, and Matt’s visit.
Hey, who knows – she may end up decorating freelance (not just the Christmas tree). There certainly is a huge demand.
I know I mentioned Mike and Yen , the couple from Toronto that Jacquie met on her Visa run to Malaysia. They came back here from Bangkok – a whole lot nicer here they now realize – and we have become friends. They are very nice, and very much like us (well, younger versions of us). They have just snared a beach house a little ways up our beach, which they are thrilled about, and now plan to stay as long as they can wangle with the folks at immigration. He is working on his third album, which isn’t “working in Thailand” so won’t get him thrown out. Sami loves them – goes swimming with them everyday. It is certainly nice to have people around to speak English to – although I won’t learn Thai as fast with that crutch. Mike just got contacted by the New York Times – a story with photo will be in this weekends Arts and Leisure section. He is understandably pretty thrilled.
Well, weather updates all around. Durion (the storm not the fruit) strengthened over Vietnam and is now back to being a Typhoon, leaving more dead and missing, in Vietnam this time. Meanwhile, I hear a big snow storm has hit Nova Scotia. I’m only smiling; I’d be laughing if Durion (the storm not the fruit) wasn’t headed straight for us. I guess everyone but me woke up last night from the noise the rain was making – no power for quite a while this morning. And Durion isn’t even here yet. I do understand from the weather reports here that none of our precipitation will be in the form of snow.
Wow. Halfway across the gulf, at the last possible moment, the storm took a sharp turn south and missed us. All we got was a beautiful fresh 30 cm deep blanket of white sand on our beach. The bottom step is covered, but I’m NOT shoveling!!
Jacquie has been going every day up to the “Wound Dressing, Ear Toilet, Preg Nancy, and Motorbike Rent” place to have the burn wound cleaned there by a nurse. She has received that service from the nurse there for $3.00, then $1.50 after a few visits – volume discount. Today she came home to tell me about the guy before her who walked out with an IV, carrying the bag of whatever he is getting intravenously, then hopped on his motorbike and drove himself home – holding the bag up as he drove with the other hand. What a photo that would have made!
The things I love about these people are the laid back contentment with their lives, the understanding that happiness doesn’t come from having more stuff and that worry about things you can’t change is pointless (okay, a lot seem to also not worry about things they could change). The things I hate about these people are the laid back contentment with their lives, the belief that happiness doesn’t come from having stuff and their complete unwillingness to worry about things you can’t change, as well as about things they could change).
With the acknowledgement that I am generalizing:
-they don’t care at all about the environment, and seem to litter and pollute with no remorse at all. They look at you funny when you pick up garbage – your own or anyone else’s, A few days ago a boat moored off our beach spilled or dumped diesel fuel into the water. A few Thais continued to swim as it washed ashore, past the fishing boats. Um um good
-there is a general lack of knowledge about anything in the world beyond supper. Most I spoke to didn’t even know a storm was coming. None knew about the 1000+ dead in the Philippines, and seemed confused that I knew or cared.
-today a little poodle was killed on the road in front of my office. Jacquie came to get me, in tears of course, because no one was stopping to move it, so I had to go and do so. We went to the women across the street who were watching and wondering why we did that, to ask if they knew who’s dog it was, and they said oh yes, it was the woman next door, then one of them tried to tell Jacquie she should not worry. Their reaction freaked us both out – our first chance to really see the Buddhist philosophy up close. Complete inability to understand why anyone would be upset. I’m a long way from there – so is Jacquie. I thought I was preparing myself for the inevitability of seeing that. I wasn’t prepared.
As I sit back down to write some more – a week later – I realize that my life is filling up, and thus time for writing this is getting scant. But this is a good thing, because my life isn’t filling up with work. Doing stuff takes priority over writing about that stuff.
A morning swim most days, work most days, basketball most days, an evening swim most days, walk with the dog most days (some days he swims so much he’s too tired for his walk), then out for food or drink or sightseeing or shopping or all of those things. I sleep like a log – exhausted and worry free. Like the ad on TV for Bowflex – I’m in the best shape of my life.
Last week we bought a motorbike for Jacquie – a sort of retro, "Vespa" like scooter called a Yamaha Fino. Cream and black with a tan leather seat – Jacquie did after all need to choose it based on looks. I’ll append a little picture of it, small so as not to clog anyones email. It drives great – automatic, electric start, and cute. A little too pretty for taking to basketball, but it’s fast so it’s worth it.
So now she has some independence back and will I hope start to really love it here.
Jacquie drove the scooter with me on back two nights ago when we went to a bar in Chaweng with Mike and Yen to see “the best band in Thailand”. We were all in awe. Maybe not the best (at least I hope not for Thailand’s sake) but probably the hardest working - what a show! They didn’t take a break. Mostly 70’s music (I think they were playing to the 50’s something white males in the crowd) from five people dressed like a heavy metal band – the two women had BIG black “Kiss” boots. They did a memorable rendition of the Beatles classic, “Ret it Be”.
The reason I finally do have a few moments is that Jacquie left this morning for Bangkok, to meet Mathew and head to Chiang Mai. Meanwhile, it has poured here with lightning and thunder all morning (poor Sam is terrified of the thunder) so for the first time in a long time there is nothing to do but brush him and catch this up. I could do some work, but I need to leave something to do on Monday.
The tree is all decorated with red and white mini lights, and the ornaments Jacquie made from white shells and ribbon and glue. Jacquie and Matt arrive back here on Christmas eve. The turkey with stuffing and gravy we ordered will be cooked and delivered at noon on Christmas day. Can anyone send me a recipe for eggnog? – it’s not for sale anywhere here.
There’s no snow yet, and I don’t think we’ll have any for Christmas. It sure feels weird. We’re planning a diving trip to Koh Tao over the Christmas break.
Merry Christmas everyone, from all of us here. And Happy New Year – in case my life stays too full to write all through till then.
Today is His Majesty The King’s Birthday. May His Majesty have many years of happiness.
Possibly the single most important thing to understand when you come here is how important the monarchy is to Thailand and Thais. Until recently this was a Democratic Monarchy. Now, and numerous times before in recent history (there have been 18 Constitutions in the past 74 years! ), it has lost the Democratic designation, but through it all, and above all, it is a monarchy. King is the longest reigning monarch in the world (60 years) and he is absolutely beloved by the people of Thailand. The quickest and easiest route to a stay in jail here of undefined duration would be to disrespect the King – with or without a democracy.
I bought an orange rubber bracelet that says “Long Live The King” which I wear proudly. You can’t live here – especially through the coup – without coming to understand and appreciate the importance of the throne to the overall stability of the country. After a few Thais commented with such excitement that I loved their King I found out that indeed the Thai words on the bracelet say “I Love My King” . That’s okay, and at least now I know. So when the woman barbequing my pork on a stick in the morning says, with a huge smile and a thumbs up, “You not love me, but you love my King!” I understand that it’s not a come on ( although Jacquie thinks she really likes me – a lot)
So today, on the occasion of the King’s 79 birthday, almost everyone is wearing a bright yellow shirt in His honour (we got ours at Tesco for 49 Baht ($1.50). And we have the day off to sit on the beach and swim and reflect upon the importance of the Monarchy to the country, also in His honour (I must admit that I left my bright yellow shirt off after my swim – it’s a nice heavy cotton, and even with the sea breeze it’s a bit too warm for in the sun).
Yesterday we bought a DVD player with speakers. We wanted a set of speakers for the beachfront, but discovered that we could get them with a DVD player for almost the same price. So now the iPod (again, a warm thank you to PDCLR and staff for that most perfect parting gift) is providing the perfect accompaniment to the pounding surf (surf is way up today – perhaps the leading edge of tropical storm Durion, which it is feared has killed over 1000 people in the Philippines while it was still a typhoon). The bad with the good.
It is also Fathers Day here today. On the Queens birthday they celebrate mothers day, and on the Kings, Fathers Day. Happy Fathers Day dad. Wish you were here.
As I think I already said (but am too lazy to check), Matt is coming for Christmas. We are all getting excited – it’s been a year since we’ve seen him (last Christmas when he flew home to surprise us). He and Jacquie are flying up north to Chiang Mai for a few days, then spending a few days in Bangkok before coming here to join Sami and I on Christmas eve. We were going to cook a turkey for Christmas, but are now rethinking that. There is a place near here that is selling turkeys stuffed, cooked and delivered. That sounds better to us. The tree will probably be decorated before Jacquie leaves – or at least hopefully Jacquie will have finished making all of the ornaments.
I think she will have more time than we thought – the trial of work at the Beautiful World showroom did not go great. Turns out the owner is not a very supportive guy, and Tuktak, the Thai clerk, got tired of him yelling at her and has left. Worst of all it appears immigration officials were in sniffing around, and if Jacquie works without a work permit she can be deported, a risk we are definitely not prepared to take. So no work for sure until we get a permit, and not there in any case. The whole experience has helped her appreciate the leisure a bit more, so I think we’ll focus on getting her a motorbike, Thai language lessons, and Matt’s visit.
Hey, who knows – she may end up decorating freelance (not just the Christmas tree). There certainly is a huge demand.
I know I mentioned Mike and Yen , the couple from Toronto that Jacquie met on her Visa run to Malaysia. They came back here from Bangkok – a whole lot nicer here they now realize – and we have become friends. They are very nice, and very much like us (well, younger versions of us). They have just snared a beach house a little ways up our beach, which they are thrilled about, and now plan to stay as long as they can wangle with the folks at immigration. He is working on his third album, which isn’t “working in Thailand” so won’t get him thrown out. Sami loves them – goes swimming with them everyday. It is certainly nice to have people around to speak English to – although I won’t learn Thai as fast with that crutch. Mike just got contacted by the New York Times – a story with photo will be in this weekends Arts and Leisure section. He is understandably pretty thrilled.
Well, weather updates all around. Durion (the storm not the fruit) strengthened over Vietnam and is now back to being a Typhoon, leaving more dead and missing, in Vietnam this time. Meanwhile, I hear a big snow storm has hit Nova Scotia. I’m only smiling; I’d be laughing if Durion (the storm not the fruit) wasn’t headed straight for us. I guess everyone but me woke up last night from the noise the rain was making – no power for quite a while this morning. And Durion isn’t even here yet. I do understand from the weather reports here that none of our precipitation will be in the form of snow.
Wow. Halfway across the gulf, at the last possible moment, the storm took a sharp turn south and missed us. All we got was a beautiful fresh 30 cm deep blanket of white sand on our beach. The bottom step is covered, but I’m NOT shoveling!!
Jacquie has been going every day up to the “Wound Dressing, Ear Toilet, Preg Nancy, and Motorbike Rent” place to have the burn wound cleaned there by a nurse. She has received that service from the nurse there for $3.00, then $1.50 after a few visits – volume discount. Today she came home to tell me about the guy before her who walked out with an IV, carrying the bag of whatever he is getting intravenously, then hopped on his motorbike and drove himself home – holding the bag up as he drove with the other hand. What a photo that would have made!
The things I love about these people are the laid back contentment with their lives, the understanding that happiness doesn’t come from having more stuff and that worry about things you can’t change is pointless (okay, a lot seem to also not worry about things they could change). The things I hate about these people are the laid back contentment with their lives, the belief that happiness doesn’t come from having stuff and their complete unwillingness to worry about things you can’t change, as well as about things they could change).
With the acknowledgement that I am generalizing:
-they don’t care at all about the environment, and seem to litter and pollute with no remorse at all. They look at you funny when you pick up garbage – your own or anyone else’s, A few days ago a boat moored off our beach spilled or dumped diesel fuel into the water. A few Thais continued to swim as it washed ashore, past the fishing boats. Um um good
-there is a general lack of knowledge about anything in the world beyond supper. Most I spoke to didn’t even know a storm was coming. None knew about the 1000+ dead in the Philippines, and seemed confused that I knew or cared.
-today a little poodle was killed on the road in front of my office. Jacquie came to get me, in tears of course, because no one was stopping to move it, so I had to go and do so. We went to the women across the street who were watching and wondering why we did that, to ask if they knew who’s dog it was, and they said oh yes, it was the woman next door, then one of them tried to tell Jacquie she should not worry. Their reaction freaked us both out – our first chance to really see the Buddhist philosophy up close. Complete inability to understand why anyone would be upset. I’m a long way from there – so is Jacquie. I thought I was preparing myself for the inevitability of seeing that. I wasn’t prepared.
As I sit back down to write some more – a week later – I realize that my life is filling up, and thus time for writing this is getting scant. But this is a good thing, because my life isn’t filling up with work. Doing stuff takes priority over writing about that stuff.
A morning swim most days, work most days, basketball most days, an evening swim most days, walk with the dog most days (some days he swims so much he’s too tired for his walk), then out for food or drink or sightseeing or shopping or all of those things. I sleep like a log – exhausted and worry free. Like the ad on TV for Bowflex – I’m in the best shape of my life.
Last week we bought a motorbike for Jacquie – a sort of retro, "Vespa" like scooter called a Yamaha Fino. Cream and black with a tan leather seat – Jacquie did after all need to choose it based on looks. I’ll append a little picture of it, small so as not to clog anyones email. It drives great – automatic, electric start, and cute. A little too pretty for taking to basketball, but it’s fast so it’s worth it.
So now she has some independence back and will I hope start to really love it here.
Jacquie drove the scooter with me on back two nights ago when we went to a bar in Chaweng with Mike and Yen to see “the best band in Thailand”. We were all in awe. Maybe not the best (at least I hope not for Thailand’s sake) but probably the hardest working - what a show! They didn’t take a break. Mostly 70’s music (I think they were playing to the 50’s something white males in the crowd) from five people dressed like a heavy metal band – the two women had BIG black “Kiss” boots. They did a memorable rendition of the Beatles classic, “Ret it Be”.
The reason I finally do have a few moments is that Jacquie left this morning for Bangkok, to meet Mathew and head to Chiang Mai. Meanwhile, it has poured here with lightning and thunder all morning (poor Sam is terrified of the thunder) so for the first time in a long time there is nothing to do but brush him and catch this up. I could do some work, but I need to leave something to do on Monday.
The tree is all decorated with red and white mini lights, and the ornaments Jacquie made from white shells and ribbon and glue. Jacquie and Matt arrive back here on Christmas eve. The turkey with stuffing and gravy we ordered will be cooked and delivered at noon on Christmas day. Can anyone send me a recipe for eggnog? – it’s not for sale anywhere here.
There’s no snow yet, and I don’t think we’ll have any for Christmas. It sure feels weird. We’re planning a diving trip to Koh Tao over the Christmas break.
Merry Christmas everyone, from all of us here. And Happy New Year – in case my life stays too full to write all through till then.
Big Adventure - 18
“The Motorcycle Diary”
Balance - it’s what living here is all about. There is an opportunity to find it here, and if you can’t find it then you won’t survive here. Or at least you won’t thrive here.
Physical health, spiritual health, emotional health, intellectual health, mental health – all in balance; work, play, meditation, sleep and, most importantly of all - driving a motorcycle.
Hopping on my hog and hitting the road has become a part of daily life here. Becoming good at it is extremely important. Critical, if we want to avoid critical care.
So as I watch the Thais just about stop at traffic lights without putting a foot down, I realize – balance;
The 70-80 year old woman who is our landlady sits on back sidesaddle and gets driven around – balance;
The guy driving with one hand yesterday, holding a squirming rooster with his other hand – balance;
The guy driving with one hand, holding the tiny child behind him with the other arm, because he already had an even smaller child in front of him – balance.
It’s all pretty funny until you remember that there were 158 serious accidents last month here, with 12 dead. Far and away the leading cause of death in our tropical paradise. Pretty sobering stats.
Speaking of sober, our friends Mike and Yen from Toronto met a guy who was showing them his motorcycle accident scar and preaching the need to wear helmets. Then he mentioned that he was driving drunk when he had his.
I can’t stop thinking about what I was told my first week here, about having an accident on a motorbike: “It’s not if, it’s when and how bad.”
I’ve been cut off twice at speed, kept the bike upright both times with the rear wheel skidding sideways. I don’t think I could do that with Jacquie on board. I’ve been here longer than her, so I’ve acquired more – balance. (The first time a young Thai guy on a motorbike behind me pulled along side and said “He drive bad!” about the truck that pulled out in front of me, then “You do good!” with a thumbs up, to congratulate me on not being dead. Damn I was proud.
A couple of weeks ago I burned my leg on the motorbike’s muffler. It is just now healed out. One week ago it was Jacquie’s turn – not quite as big as mine but hers got infected, so last night we went to the hospital for cleaning, dressing, antiseptic crème, antibiotics, and Tylenol which we gave back and said no thanks – I guess that’s how they make a bit more money. (aside: the nurse showed us the TWO burns she got on her leg from the motorcycle muffler in the same week. I’m pretty sure this is a regular occurrence Also, a nasty little dog ran out at us twice (to and from the hospital) trying it’s best to bite one of us while I tried my best to avoid it while keeping my – balance)
Are these burns our accident, or are we still waiting? We’ve started wearing helmets more often (before it was never) just in case. Not to mention the potential – now real - $9 ticket for not wearing one. Hey, now we can drive drunk!
Jacquie has been advised to keep her leg dry for a while. This does not please her – she is missing swimming already. I have recently added a morning swim with Sam to my routine, making it even worse for her.
I have mentioned getting a real (bigger) motorcycle, but Jacquie already has seen and heard too much, so that’s a no. At least she’s okay with a small one – that’s good. Actually, we are shopping for an automatic shift motorcycle to buy. They are easier to learn to drive – less chance of panic in an emergency – and the seats are a bit lower so Jacquie can get her feet on the ground without falling over (until her balance gets good enough to stop without even putting a foot down). The “firm” motorcycle is in high demand anyway, and if she will be working – or whatever ends up keeping her busy – she needs independent transportation. And she looks really hot in that cute little red helmet.
Wow, what appropriate timing – Ja just drove across the parking lot headed out on her daily ride on the motorbike to take the garbage to the spot where it is collected. Now, you need to know that Ja is in her mid-50s, really overweight (5 ft tall, 200 pounds) and quite de-conditioned. She has dizzy spells and tingling down her arms and in her hands, and has been told she has high blood pressure. The drop for the garbage is at the street, next door to us – same side of the street. It’s about 100 feet of level ground. Each way. I have NEVER seen her walk it. I drove once, but found it quite dangerous stopping the bike to drop the garbage – lots of traffic and it’s on the inside of a curve. I think if I drive again I’m going to park in my driveway and walk the last 30 feet.
It is worth noting that Ja is going home – down in the deep south where all of the unrest and violence is – for a visit, and maybe to stay. There are daily terrorist attacks down there – bombings and shootings of innocent citizens for no reason other than to create terror. Her friends here are all trying to convince her to come back because it is safer here. I’m thinking that the terrorist attacks in the south are the least of her worries.
Well as if by karma, I decided to wait until evening to send this, and thus can close with this new antidote. As Jacquie and I returned from a trip to look for a motorbike to buy – on the firm motorbike - it started to feel rough and make a noise. I stopped and sure enough the rear tire was flat. Where I stopped was eight feet – yes, eight feet – from a garage where a mechanic was sitting seemingly waiting for us. Within 2 minutes the tire was off and the tube examined, evidencing a tear around the valve which could not be patched. Five more minutes and the wheel had been taken off, a new tube provided and installed and the wheel put back on. We are on our way again – total cost about 4 bucks.
Balance - it’s what living here is all about. There is an opportunity to find it here, and if you can’t find it then you won’t survive here. Or at least you won’t thrive here.
Physical health, spiritual health, emotional health, intellectual health, mental health – all in balance; work, play, meditation, sleep and, most importantly of all - driving a motorcycle.
Hopping on my hog and hitting the road has become a part of daily life here. Becoming good at it is extremely important. Critical, if we want to avoid critical care.
So as I watch the Thais just about stop at traffic lights without putting a foot down, I realize – balance;
The 70-80 year old woman who is our landlady sits on back sidesaddle and gets driven around – balance;
The guy driving with one hand yesterday, holding a squirming rooster with his other hand – balance;
The guy driving with one hand, holding the tiny child behind him with the other arm, because he already had an even smaller child in front of him – balance.
It’s all pretty funny until you remember that there were 158 serious accidents last month here, with 12 dead. Far and away the leading cause of death in our tropical paradise. Pretty sobering stats.
Speaking of sober, our friends Mike and Yen from Toronto met a guy who was showing them his motorcycle accident scar and preaching the need to wear helmets. Then he mentioned that he was driving drunk when he had his.
I can’t stop thinking about what I was told my first week here, about having an accident on a motorbike: “It’s not if, it’s when and how bad.”
I’ve been cut off twice at speed, kept the bike upright both times with the rear wheel skidding sideways. I don’t think I could do that with Jacquie on board. I’ve been here longer than her, so I’ve acquired more – balance. (The first time a young Thai guy on a motorbike behind me pulled along side and said “He drive bad!” about the truck that pulled out in front of me, then “You do good!” with a thumbs up, to congratulate me on not being dead. Damn I was proud.
A couple of weeks ago I burned my leg on the motorbike’s muffler. It is just now healed out. One week ago it was Jacquie’s turn – not quite as big as mine but hers got infected, so last night we went to the hospital for cleaning, dressing, antiseptic crème, antibiotics, and Tylenol which we gave back and said no thanks – I guess that’s how they make a bit more money. (aside: the nurse showed us the TWO burns she got on her leg from the motorcycle muffler in the same week. I’m pretty sure this is a regular occurrence Also, a nasty little dog ran out at us twice (to and from the hospital) trying it’s best to bite one of us while I tried my best to avoid it while keeping my – balance)
Are these burns our accident, or are we still waiting? We’ve started wearing helmets more often (before it was never) just in case. Not to mention the potential – now real - $9 ticket for not wearing one. Hey, now we can drive drunk!
Jacquie has been advised to keep her leg dry for a while. This does not please her – she is missing swimming already. I have recently added a morning swim with Sam to my routine, making it even worse for her.
I have mentioned getting a real (bigger) motorcycle, but Jacquie already has seen and heard too much, so that’s a no. At least she’s okay with a small one – that’s good. Actually, we are shopping for an automatic shift motorcycle to buy. They are easier to learn to drive – less chance of panic in an emergency – and the seats are a bit lower so Jacquie can get her feet on the ground without falling over (until her balance gets good enough to stop without even putting a foot down). The “firm” motorcycle is in high demand anyway, and if she will be working – or whatever ends up keeping her busy – she needs independent transportation. And she looks really hot in that cute little red helmet.
Wow, what appropriate timing – Ja just drove across the parking lot headed out on her daily ride on the motorbike to take the garbage to the spot where it is collected. Now, you need to know that Ja is in her mid-50s, really overweight (5 ft tall, 200 pounds) and quite de-conditioned. She has dizzy spells and tingling down her arms and in her hands, and has been told she has high blood pressure. The drop for the garbage is at the street, next door to us – same side of the street. It’s about 100 feet of level ground. Each way. I have NEVER seen her walk it. I drove once, but found it quite dangerous stopping the bike to drop the garbage – lots of traffic and it’s on the inside of a curve. I think if I drive again I’m going to park in my driveway and walk the last 30 feet.
It is worth noting that Ja is going home – down in the deep south where all of the unrest and violence is – for a visit, and maybe to stay. There are daily terrorist attacks down there – bombings and shootings of innocent citizens for no reason other than to create terror. Her friends here are all trying to convince her to come back because it is safer here. I’m thinking that the terrorist attacks in the south are the least of her worries.
Well as if by karma, I decided to wait until evening to send this, and thus can close with this new antidote. As Jacquie and I returned from a trip to look for a motorbike to buy – on the firm motorbike - it started to feel rough and make a noise. I stopped and sure enough the rear tire was flat. Where I stopped was eight feet – yes, eight feet – from a garage where a mechanic was sitting seemingly waiting for us. Within 2 minutes the tire was off and the tube examined, evidencing a tear around the valve which could not be patched. Five more minutes and the wheel had been taken off, a new tube provided and installed and the wheel put back on. We are on our way again – total cost about 4 bucks.
Big Adventure - 17
Busy, busy, busy. Lots of new things to write about, but no time to write.
Tuesday 21 November 2006.
Back to Bangkok for another wasted day. Same drill as before - up at 4:45 to get the 6 am plane. This time though I see that they paid the equivalent of $120 each way - the same price as for the planes that leave at more humane times. Now I'm pissed I couldn't have gone later.
I told Kris I needed to go get the Apple store to look at my broken computer (that's another story) at 10 am, before I went to the office. He said no, they need me at the office at nine sharp to get going on my work permit and Visa. I went to the office for nine, planning to sit on my ass for an hour waiting for something to happen. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I only ended up sitting on my ass for 50 minutes, whereupon we (Gai and I) left by taxi for the work permit office.
The work permit office gave me an appointment to finish my application and get my permit on the 24th, three days from now. I assume that was the next available appointment. You can only GET an appointment by going there. Wow. Anyway, it will be no problem as long as I am in the Kingdom legally on that date. Of course I will not be, as today is the last day of the seven day extension granted on the ninety day Visa I got in Singapore 97 days ago, which was given so that I would have plenty of time to get all of this completed. So, now they will need to fly me back to Singapore (and pay the fine for my overstaying my 90 + 7 day visa), where I must spend two days getting another 90 day Visa, so that I can finish my application for a work permit. I figure I'll be back in Bangkok 90 days later, and then again 7 days after that, etc. The only silver lining is that we can apply for a Visa for Jacquie at the same time - as long as she accompanies me to Singapore.
Of course the folks at my firm doing the work blame all the mess on the unreasonable inflexibility of the Immigration office. We knew a week ago that I had to come back within seven days and why. So we waited until the seventh day. You've got to love the Thai efficiency.
So we got all of that nothing accomplished in the morning, and I was back at the office no further ahead by 11:45 am. No to Kris' lunch with client invitation so I can go get my computer looked at.
I did a recommended software update, and now it won’t start in Mac OS at all, even from a CD – only Windows. The genius at the Apple store thinks re-formatting the hard drive will fix it. I asked him why then it would not boot from the original CD (since you can do so with no hard drive at all if the computer is working) and he says that is puzzling. Yeah? Not to me. I take the computer and leave, no further ahead but no further behind. I will attempt further repair when Jacquie’s "new to her" laptop arrives – Bought on ebay from a guy in Australia. At least mine will boot into Windows, so while I find everything harder and slower to do, at least I have email and internet. So go ahead and laugh everybody – I am using Windows! Better than nothing, but only barely.
Driving in Bangkok - a game of inches. I believe that these guys would be excellent formula 1 drivers. When they got comfortable with trading paint they would be very impressive. On the freeway it is about the same as back home, in that there are some cars that go slow - though I have never actually been in one.
Central World has turkeys for sale on the Food Floor - about 3 bucks a pound. Jacquie is planning to have turkey for Christmas dinner. We already have a tree - a six foot fir tree growing in a pot - we are getting some mini lights and Jacquie is making ornaments with white shells, some ribbon and glue. I'll need to make my own eggnog I figure.
Back to the office. With no plan as to how, I am reassured that we will get all of this taken care of . I press and ask how and when.
I need to get to the airport for my 9 pm flight home, but I am instead waiting for them to prepare and print the paperwork needed to accompany the letter I drafted in the taxi back from the work permit office, all of which I must take to Singapore. I think and Kris agrees that going right away makes sense since the fine for overstaying my Visa is about $15.00 per day. They will book it for tomorrow (Wednesday) and confirm it with me in the morning. I finally get the stuff and hit only miner traffic, making my flight with 20 minutes to spare.
Wednesday 22 November 2006.
I am assured that flight booking info will be confirmed to me soon. Jacquie is at work (that too is another story) and waiting for me to confirm IF we are going, so she can come home early. We have both half packed just in case.
At 1:10 pm I can’t wait any longer and head off to pick up Jacquie just in case. At 1:15 I’m waiting with a hundred other people for the police to process my ticket for no helmet. Quite an operation. The fine was about 9 bucks ( a helmet costs 6) . I had to reassure the guy behind me in line that having it on the bike with him but not on his head would likely not be worth arguing. Thankfully they did not ask to see a passport or drivers license or ID of any kind, since I had none of those things. It will be less scary next time.
I turned back to get helmets, so we wouldn’t get two more tickets coming home (not surprisingly the road block was long gone by then anyway). Finally home, still no confirmation. Then Kris calls me and asks if I think we should go this week or next !!! I say it doesn’t matter to me, but the fine they will pay will be less this week. Okay, he decides we should go today. Again. Confirmation of flight finally arrives at about 3:20 – our flight goes at 4:35. Tickets are bought we are told; money for the hotel, etc has been deposited to my account – we will need to get and pay for that ourselves.
At the airport, they have no booking for us, so I must use my Visa (the credit card, not the right to stay in a country) and pay about $850 for our tickets. Then we arrive in Singapore – it’s 8 pm when we start walking from hotel to hotel with our increasingly heavy backpacks looking for a room. It seems they are getting more expensive at each place. By $450 per night we decide to return to the seems-like-a-good-deal-now $310 per night place, but they now only have a $480 room – the highest yet. The next cheapest – at $358 per night – is still available and we grab it. By now it has occurred to me that it would have been cheaper to do this next week, pay the fine but pre-book a hotel. Even $250 a night looks cheap now.
Friday 24 November 2006.
Short story conclusion: we had two wonderful days in Singapore at a beautiful hotel in an upscale room with lots of comps., and with only two quick trips across the street to the Thai Embassy we both got 90 day single entry Visas (the right to stay in a country, not the credit cards).
Oh, and we were one block from the Apple Store. I took my computer there Thursday morning, and in about 20 minutes the nice young man (probably not yet allowed in bars) had it working as good as new. No charge, no data loss. Sweet.
Saturday 25 November 2006.
Jacquie had planned to go in to work today to make up some lost time, but now has decided not to – she’ll go back Monday It seems she has decorating in her blood. She has a job offer to run the ‘Beautiful World’ Koh Samui showroom. They are a decorating company with stores in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Phagnan and here on Samui, with a graphic designer and Interior Design team selling to large developers. She has agreed to try it for one month – till Mathew comes to visit – and help with inventory and merchandizing. Then she will decide if she will return to it in January or not. Already had a contractor on the island that I had met ask her last night (at a little wine and cheese we were invited to) to call him to talk. I think she will quickly be out billing me – if she wants. I think she is thrilled to again have a reason to get out of bed – beyond walking Sami on the beach and reading.
Jacquie did mention that the trip to Singapore was worthwhile from the perspective that the big city FULL of shopping made her more fully appreciate the peacefulness of our little island
I client of the firm, who also happens to be the landlord of this office – is here with his girlfriend (she would fit the mold perfectly if she was Thai – the fact that she is white gives it a Donald Trump feel ) and their two Golden Retrievers. Sami is enjoying the company tremendously, but by Sunday is looking a bit tired from all of the activity – he is a lot older than them.
Sunday 26 November 2006.
Finally, a chance to sit quietly and relax. I have written much of this while sitting on the beach in the shade of a coconut tree with my feet in the surf. Jacquie is beside me reading, and Sami is sleeping at our feet, half in the water and half covered in sand. Jacquie is going next door for a beach massage after Ja serves lunch. The busy week makes this all the sweeter. Perfection.
Tuesday 21 November 2006.
Back to Bangkok for another wasted day. Same drill as before - up at 4:45 to get the 6 am plane. This time though I see that they paid the equivalent of $120 each way - the same price as for the planes that leave at more humane times. Now I'm pissed I couldn't have gone later.
I told Kris I needed to go get the Apple store to look at my broken computer (that's another story) at 10 am, before I went to the office. He said no, they need me at the office at nine sharp to get going on my work permit and Visa. I went to the office for nine, planning to sit on my ass for an hour waiting for something to happen. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I only ended up sitting on my ass for 50 minutes, whereupon we (Gai and I) left by taxi for the work permit office.
The work permit office gave me an appointment to finish my application and get my permit on the 24th, three days from now. I assume that was the next available appointment. You can only GET an appointment by going there. Wow. Anyway, it will be no problem as long as I am in the Kingdom legally on that date. Of course I will not be, as today is the last day of the seven day extension granted on the ninety day Visa I got in Singapore 97 days ago, which was given so that I would have plenty of time to get all of this completed. So, now they will need to fly me back to Singapore (and pay the fine for my overstaying my 90 + 7 day visa), where I must spend two days getting another 90 day Visa, so that I can finish my application for a work permit. I figure I'll be back in Bangkok 90 days later, and then again 7 days after that, etc. The only silver lining is that we can apply for a Visa for Jacquie at the same time - as long as she accompanies me to Singapore.
Of course the folks at my firm doing the work blame all the mess on the unreasonable inflexibility of the Immigration office. We knew a week ago that I had to come back within seven days and why. So we waited until the seventh day. You've got to love the Thai efficiency.
So we got all of that nothing accomplished in the morning, and I was back at the office no further ahead by 11:45 am. No to Kris' lunch with client invitation so I can go get my computer looked at.
I did a recommended software update, and now it won’t start in Mac OS at all, even from a CD – only Windows. The genius at the Apple store thinks re-formatting the hard drive will fix it. I asked him why then it would not boot from the original CD (since you can do so with no hard drive at all if the computer is working) and he says that is puzzling. Yeah? Not to me. I take the computer and leave, no further ahead but no further behind. I will attempt further repair when Jacquie’s "new to her" laptop arrives – Bought on ebay from a guy in Australia. At least mine will boot into Windows, so while I find everything harder and slower to do, at least I have email and internet. So go ahead and laugh everybody – I am using Windows! Better than nothing, but only barely.
Driving in Bangkok - a game of inches. I believe that these guys would be excellent formula 1 drivers. When they got comfortable with trading paint they would be very impressive. On the freeway it is about the same as back home, in that there are some cars that go slow - though I have never actually been in one.
Central World has turkeys for sale on the Food Floor - about 3 bucks a pound. Jacquie is planning to have turkey for Christmas dinner. We already have a tree - a six foot fir tree growing in a pot - we are getting some mini lights and Jacquie is making ornaments with white shells, some ribbon and glue. I'll need to make my own eggnog I figure.
Back to the office. With no plan as to how, I am reassured that we will get all of this taken care of . I press and ask how and when.
I need to get to the airport for my 9 pm flight home, but I am instead waiting for them to prepare and print the paperwork needed to accompany the letter I drafted in the taxi back from the work permit office, all of which I must take to Singapore. I think and Kris agrees that going right away makes sense since the fine for overstaying my Visa is about $15.00 per day. They will book it for tomorrow (Wednesday) and confirm it with me in the morning. I finally get the stuff and hit only miner traffic, making my flight with 20 minutes to spare.
Wednesday 22 November 2006.
I am assured that flight booking info will be confirmed to me soon. Jacquie is at work (that too is another story) and waiting for me to confirm IF we are going, so she can come home early. We have both half packed just in case.
At 1:10 pm I can’t wait any longer and head off to pick up Jacquie just in case. At 1:15 I’m waiting with a hundred other people for the police to process my ticket for no helmet. Quite an operation. The fine was about 9 bucks ( a helmet costs 6) . I had to reassure the guy behind me in line that having it on the bike with him but not on his head would likely not be worth arguing. Thankfully they did not ask to see a passport or drivers license or ID of any kind, since I had none of those things. It will be less scary next time.
I turned back to get helmets, so we wouldn’t get two more tickets coming home (not surprisingly the road block was long gone by then anyway). Finally home, still no confirmation. Then Kris calls me and asks if I think we should go this week or next !!! I say it doesn’t matter to me, but the fine they will pay will be less this week. Okay, he decides we should go today. Again. Confirmation of flight finally arrives at about 3:20 – our flight goes at 4:35. Tickets are bought we are told; money for the hotel, etc has been deposited to my account – we will need to get and pay for that ourselves.
At the airport, they have no booking for us, so I must use my Visa (the credit card, not the right to stay in a country) and pay about $850 for our tickets. Then we arrive in Singapore – it’s 8 pm when we start walking from hotel to hotel with our increasingly heavy backpacks looking for a room. It seems they are getting more expensive at each place. By $450 per night we decide to return to the seems-like-a-good-deal-now $310 per night place, but they now only have a $480 room – the highest yet. The next cheapest – at $358 per night – is still available and we grab it. By now it has occurred to me that it would have been cheaper to do this next week, pay the fine but pre-book a hotel. Even $250 a night looks cheap now.
Friday 24 November 2006.
Short story conclusion: we had two wonderful days in Singapore at a beautiful hotel in an upscale room with lots of comps., and with only two quick trips across the street to the Thai Embassy we both got 90 day single entry Visas (the right to stay in a country, not the credit cards).
Oh, and we were one block from the Apple Store. I took my computer there Thursday morning, and in about 20 minutes the nice young man (probably not yet allowed in bars) had it working as good as new. No charge, no data loss. Sweet.
Saturday 25 November 2006.
Jacquie had planned to go in to work today to make up some lost time, but now has decided not to – she’ll go back Monday It seems she has decorating in her blood. She has a job offer to run the ‘Beautiful World’ Koh Samui showroom. They are a decorating company with stores in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Koh Phagnan and here on Samui, with a graphic designer and Interior Design team selling to large developers. She has agreed to try it for one month – till Mathew comes to visit – and help with inventory and merchandizing. Then she will decide if she will return to it in January or not. Already had a contractor on the island that I had met ask her last night (at a little wine and cheese we were invited to) to call him to talk. I think she will quickly be out billing me – if she wants. I think she is thrilled to again have a reason to get out of bed – beyond walking Sami on the beach and reading.
Jacquie did mention that the trip to Singapore was worthwhile from the perspective that the big city FULL of shopping made her more fully appreciate the peacefulness of our little island
I client of the firm, who also happens to be the landlord of this office – is here with his girlfriend (she would fit the mold perfectly if she was Thai – the fact that she is white gives it a Donald Trump feel ) and their two Golden Retrievers. Sami is enjoying the company tremendously, but by Sunday is looking a bit tired from all of the activity – he is a lot older than them.
Sunday 26 November 2006.
Finally, a chance to sit quietly and relax. I have written much of this while sitting on the beach in the shade of a coconut tree with my feet in the surf. Jacquie is beside me reading, and Sami is sleeping at our feet, half in the water and half covered in sand. Jacquie is going next door for a beach massage after Ja serves lunch. The busy week makes this all the sweeter. Perfection.
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Big Adventure - 16
So here I sit, contemplating this moment.
I got here by Boing 707 from Koh Samui at seven o'clock this morning. Six hours ago. The first two hours were spent sitting around the airport, wondering if someone was coming to get me. The next two hours were spent in the back of a taxi - no, nobody was coming to get me - driving to our Silom Road office. Next came the two hours sitting here, waiting for something - anything - to happen. The plan was to go to the immigration office with Gai and get my long stay Visa - my 90 day Visa from Singapore expires today. So Gai asked me for my Health Certificate. The one I got last week that Ju mailed to our Silom Road office. Seems now that wasn't the best idea. Discovered after I have been flown here for the sole purpose of getting my Visa that it did not arrive yet.
Now we're up to date. No health Certificate (or 4 passport sized photos mailed with it) so no new Visa. I cease to be in Thailand legally at midnight tonight. I am wondering if this will now mean that I must leave the country again. I want to suggest that I go shopping, to see the new Central World (500 stores and 50 restaurants), but I'm guessing that wouldn't be too popular, especially with Kris who is paying for all of this. I'm thinking it would be better for office moral for me to be gone instead of sitting here with my thumb up my butt, but I will try to look busy for 5 more hours, till I can leave here for the two hour taxi ride back to the airport.
I guess this is still better than a minibus, so I ain't gonna whine. Yet.
Oh - one of the women in the office shared her lunch with me - totally delicious.
So at 2 pm, Kris comes out of his office and throws a little fit. I don't know much Thai, but he sounded upset over the situation.
In an instant, I am up following Oh to the elevator. We hurry downstairs to a medical clinic, blood pressure (a little high), then run across the street avoiding 6 lanes of moving cars to a photo shop for a photo (with their tie and jacket on - a bit small), then run back through traffic to the same clinic, retest of my blood pressure (now a lot high), then while the doctor is grilling me on family history of high blood pressure, a call from upstairs - the certificate and photos (without a tie or jacket) have now arrived from Koh Samui (my blood pressure was fine when tested on Koh Samui amazingly). We pay for the certificate showing high blood pressure as an exception, rather than wait 20 minutes to see if it will go down, and head back upstairs. I sign the application forms. I'm offered a drink of water - I don't need to go to the office in person apparently. It is 2:30 and the crisis is over. A days work done in a half hour. So now I sit here with only 3 hours to kill. Sweet.
I got here by Boing 707 from Koh Samui at seven o'clock this morning. Six hours ago. The first two hours were spent sitting around the airport, wondering if someone was coming to get me. The next two hours were spent in the back of a taxi - no, nobody was coming to get me - driving to our Silom Road office. Next came the two hours sitting here, waiting for something - anything - to happen. The plan was to go to the immigration office with Gai and get my long stay Visa - my 90 day Visa from Singapore expires today. So Gai asked me for my Health Certificate. The one I got last week that Ju mailed to our Silom Road office. Seems now that wasn't the best idea. Discovered after I have been flown here for the sole purpose of getting my Visa that it did not arrive yet.
Now we're up to date. No health Certificate (or 4 passport sized photos mailed with it) so no new Visa. I cease to be in Thailand legally at midnight tonight. I am wondering if this will now mean that I must leave the country again. I want to suggest that I go shopping, to see the new Central World (500 stores and 50 restaurants), but I'm guessing that wouldn't be too popular, especially with Kris who is paying for all of this. I'm thinking it would be better for office moral for me to be gone instead of sitting here with my thumb up my butt, but I will try to look busy for 5 more hours, till I can leave here for the two hour taxi ride back to the airport.
I guess this is still better than a minibus, so I ain't gonna whine. Yet.
Oh - one of the women in the office shared her lunch with me - totally delicious.
So at 2 pm, Kris comes out of his office and throws a little fit. I don't know much Thai, but he sounded upset over the situation.
In an instant, I am up following Oh to the elevator. We hurry downstairs to a medical clinic, blood pressure (a little high), then run across the street avoiding 6 lanes of moving cars to a photo shop for a photo (with their tie and jacket on - a bit small), then run back through traffic to the same clinic, retest of my blood pressure (now a lot high), then while the doctor is grilling me on family history of high blood pressure, a call from upstairs - the certificate and photos (without a tie or jacket) have now arrived from Koh Samui (my blood pressure was fine when tested on Koh Samui amazingly). We pay for the certificate showing high blood pressure as an exception, rather than wait 20 minutes to see if it will go down, and head back upstairs. I sign the application forms. I'm offered a drink of water - I don't need to go to the office in person apparently. It is 2:30 and the crisis is over. A days work done in a half hour. So now I sit here with only 3 hours to kill. Sweet.
Big Adventure - Part 15
Well, I’m finally back writing something. Okay, lots
The second wireless router I had requested finally arrived a week ago, so now we have excellent coverage over the entire property and at our apartment – including the beach (I’ve only tested it as far as the low tide line). The surf breaking over my feet while I write this should help to inspire me. Certainly it helps keep a positive spin on it all.
The Loy Krahthong Festival ends tonight – the end coincides with the twelfth full moon of the year. It is a sort of “festival of lights” that involves millions of people all over Thailand floating lit candles in small floats made from banana leaves of various shapes (the most common shape is a lotus flower) on rivers and lakes and, here at Big Buddha, in the ocean. Doing this will help bring good luck – couples will also get happiness and luck in love. Whether or not you believe any of that, they have been doing this for thousands of years, and appear to have been happy for thousands of years, so I’m thinking maybe it’s worth trying.
There has been a big market/fair in Chaweng since last weekend, in celebration of Loy Krahthong, and there after a wonderful meal of fried stuff I bought a big bag of deep fried crispy chicken skin. I’m eating the last of it right now – good luck already and I haven’t even floated my Krahthong yet !
I’ve been asked by many people over there about the coup, and what it’s like living under military rule. I’ve been thinking about that, and continuing to watch life here, and then yesterday it struck me – military rule here is a lot less oppressive than democratic rule in North America. Here the government – even the military government – doesn’t have it’s fingers in every aspect of daily life like it seems to there. Thais are okay with military rule, but I’m pretty sure they would refuse to accept the level of governmental control that exists in Canada.
We checked out the Aerobics class for Jacquie over in Chaweng – she says it’s okay, and is happy because it at least is exercise. It is held every night at the same time as basketball, and costs $0.30 a time. Right now I’m driving her, dropping her, driving to ball (the opposite direction from home) then going back to fetch her afterward. Motivation to get her driving.
Last night the new motorcycle arrived. I convinced the firm that Ju and Ja needed one, because there isn’t enough truck to go around (and Ja can’t and won’t drive it, and Ju can’t and will). Jacquie and I might still buy our own, but this lets us delay that decision for a bit. Kris has been in the truck with Ju driving and wants her driving the motorbike instead. I much prefer the motorbike so I’m not sure that will work out. We’ll see.
The approaching monsoon season has already resulted in a shift of the prevailing wind, and the currents arriving at our beach. So suddenly we a getting a steady supply of wood, garbage and assorted crap washing ashore. A couple of days ago a dead eel (about 3 ft. long) washed up on our shore, with a hole in it the size of a .45 calibre slug. I had to bury it (unmarked grave) when it started to stink. Yesterday it was a large dead fish (no bullet wounds – cause of death unknown).
Jacquie is starting to settle in. I can see her turning back into the happy Jacquie. She needs constant fixes for the four-book-a-week habit that she’s developed, but so far that’s the worst dependency. Other than the constant need for fresh fruit, but that is easily satisfied. She is now looking at and contemplating things to do with her life. She already has one decorating opportunity. For my two cents worth something different might be nice, but of course that would be overpaying for what my opinion is worth. To be honest it does sound like a sweet opportunity - we'll see.
Sami, well he has completely settled in – he loves it here. He goes swimming every day, with or without us. He just goes in for a swim whenever he gets hot. The people seeing it just stare slack-jawed at the big black dog out swimming around in circles, figure-eights, etc.. He is getting a lot more exercise so we’re feeding him extra, with rice (which he loves) and treats in his food. On our regular evening walks, he is the star of the street. Most words here have the emphasis on the last syllable, so they tend to do that automatically. Thus, Sami is sa-ME. He largely ignores them because, I think, he doesn’t know they were trying to say his name, so I’m trying to teach him to answer to sa-ME. Anyway, all of the girls in the bars now call out to “sa-ME, how are you.” instead of “Hello darling! I want to meet you”. I would say that more people here know him than know Jacquie or I (other than that we are the people who own sa-ME). Now if I go out alone, everyone asks “Where sa-ME?”. I need to teach him to ride on the motorbike with me. (Like many other dogs do)
The dogs on the street – well that is just funny. All the little scared dogs bark frantically and run after us, and Sami doesn’t even turn his head to acknowledge them. The few (about 3 or 4) really nasty, dominant dogs, come at him with lips curled back and teeth barred – really mean looking – and for them he stops and turns and stares. They come right in until he lunges at them, which backs them up – it always seems like they are glad he is on a leash.
We went to my second and Jacquie’s first “Ex-pats Club dinner. It was everything the first one was, and all that I had described to Jacquie. A bunch of foreigners mostly wanting things to be more western. Ate western food (which of course is never as good as a western cook could have managed) and then they voted to go back to that same restaurant next month – because the food was so good. I could have cooked a better pork chop. I think it was fried alone in a pan. Great.
It’s funny, 90% of the foreign people who have moved here are constantly happy. Many say they will never go home again, not even to visit, because they are different people now than when they arrived. But then there are the ten percent. The guy next to me at dinner complaining about the Thai ways, telling me not to trust them – his Thai “wife” sitting beside him either didn’t mind him saying that stuff of didn’t understand.
The Loy Krahthong Festival at Big Buddha was awesome. They also had little (about three feet high) hot air balloons they made (cost to buy $3.00 – about the same as a nice Krahthong) with a big piece of wax honeycomb at the bottom that was lit and the whole thing flew up and away. A few had fireworks attached. An incredible sight with a bunch of those flying away above thousands of floating candles, all supplementing the light of the full moon. . We stopped to eat at a décor store we had been to the day before – they were celebrating by offering free food and drink. The food was great, but then a couple came in and sat at our table – the guy was too old for Jacquie, and the girl was too young for me. Creepy seeing what could have been our father with what could have been our daughter.
We finally found and bought a computer on ebay which hopefully will be delivered – from Australia – soon. It has Apple’s old processor so that the software will run that will allow us to use Jacquie’s accounting application. What a mess. Seems her IT guy dropped the ball a bit on this transition.
Thursday. More new experiences. First, our internet is not working at all. It was working but really, really slowly until the computer guys that came took the wireless router with them. I think the wires leading to it from the street are the culprit – I think they got wet when the guys were here yesterday cleaning all of the air conditioners in the building. They were spraying water around like the place was on fire. I see a new wireless router in our future, and if the timing is right the wires will be dry by then. Meanwhile tonight we took the notebook to the internet café just up the street and for $1.80 per hour connected to their wicked-fast connection for Jacquie to chat with Rhonda at her store.
Well, tonight Jacquie convinced me to go with her to aerobics for the last time. In spite of the chance to exercise with 40 women and 2 other men to the rocking beat of “Shake your pussy now, come on” I don’t think I’ll return any time soon. Somehow jumping sideways with my arms in the air is way easier while playing defense than it is while trying to copy a woman half my size and twice as agile up on a stage. Jacquie did get a good laugh – at my expense – and she figures the people behind me were probably cursing me.
By the way, I don’t think there is yet a law here against using your cell phone while driving – half of the people driving their motorcycles here are doing so with one hand while talking on the phone. Of course, there may be a law that is simply ignored, like the helmet law. No one wears those, but there is a law requiring it. I even saw a sign on the road the other day “Wear Safet Helmets” I guess it makes perfect sense if you think about it - you spell it like it sounds.
On Monday, one week shy of 90 days after getting my 90 day Visa in Singapore which was to give my employer lots of time to get my yearly Visa and work permit, they called from our Bangkok office and said they needed me to send my passport. I was worried about doing so because Jacquie has to leave on a “Visa run” by Saturday and I want to go with her. They promised me absolutely that I would have it back by Friday so that I could go with her.
Thursday after lunch we booked a trip for Jacquie to go alone to Malaysia on Friday (at least on Friday I’m working anyway), then Thursday evening I got a call from Bangkok – they will not have my passport back to me by tomorrow after all. Yeah, we knew that. It is still frustrating when you are told things about times and schedules that you know will not happen, but you can’t say anything. So on Monday when I wanted to say “no, you won’t have that back to me on Friday” they would have been insulted. Or yesterday, “No, the minibus (“air conditioned”) won’t pick Jacquie up by 5:15 am, it will be late” – but the woman would have taken it badly. Anyway, Jacquie is now off on her mini adventure – a 15 hour round trip to have lunch in Malaysia and get a fresh tourist visa stamp for 30 more days on her passport. The only thing that makes me okay with not being able to go with her is the 15 hours in a crowded “air conditioned” minibus.
Meanwhile, our Bangkok office wants me to get and send them 4 copies of a photograph plus a health certificate from a doctor, I guess to say I’m not bringing communicable diseases into the country with me? Apparently I only need to be healthy if I’m staying long term. Otherwise ones ability to endure 15 hours in a minibus once a month is proof enough of good health. Anyway, they need those things delivered to Bangkok by Monday or I will cease to be legal, so I’m off to one of the three hospitals nearby (there are EIGHT on our little island, each offering a complete range of services – although not all have MRI machines) in hopes that they will know what medical certificate I need for a long stay Visa, and then hopefully get one. Good thing they didn’t leave it to the last minute again. “No, you won’t have it done in time.”
“Bacteria”
I’ve decided that “bacteria” is something invented be the refrigeration industry - a ploy to boost sales. Make us believe in “bacteria” and we’ll all run out to buy and USE refrigerators. Well, I’ve been watching food preparation and food handling practices here, and clearly that “bacteria” thing is just a myth.
So as long as I don’t forget this important fact, it doesn’t matter when I see food dropped on a table put back in the dish. Or the guy pouring water into the wok to rinse it before cooking my Khao Phad, taking the opportunity to also rinse off his other hand. And I told Jacquie about this important discovery when she mentioned the fresh fish we had for supper was not in fact quite fresh, having been left out on the counter since the morning. Refrigeration is optional here. Jacquie says she keeps putting the eggs in the fridge and Ja keeps taking them back out. You can buy butter here in a can!! On a shelf with all of the other cans. And don’t get me started on the ants. Or the flies.
Speaking of flies, I did notice a number of stalls at our local market have these ingenious little electric “fly swatters” – small electric motors hanging above the meat and fish spinning wires with feathers on the end above the food. There are just as many flies at the market, they just all congregate at the stalls without these devices – now that is creepy. Let’s just say Jacquie and I are staying away from the beef !! Even the butcher had too many flies on him.
Anyway, all of those practices are fine, since I now know that “bacteria” is a myth. Jacquie has been feeling ill for a couple of days, Ja went to the hospital – not feeling well. I have come down with a cold. I must have picked up a germ somewhere. Oh well, time to head to the hospital to try to prove that I’m healthy enough to stay here.
Health care – Thai style.
The first thing you notice is the beautiful architecture and gardens out front. Only the sign reveals that this is not in fact another resort, but is rather one of two Samui branches of the Bangkok International Hospital.
The second thing you notice is the warm smile and greeting from everyone, starting with the parking attendant and security guard. At the registration desk, four young women greet me and explain in excellent English that there are different Certificates for a Visa and a Work permit (after a trip back to the office because Jacquie has my mobile on her minibus to Malaysia, and a call from Ju to Gai, I return with the knowledge that I need the work permit certificate), Being a first timer, I fill in a short “who am I where do I live” type of form at a small table with one of the young women sitting with me. She then escorts me – no follow the blue line here – to another room where a put my arm in a small device that inflates a cuff, takes my blood pressure and inputs the results into my file on the computer, Then a scale for my weight and an escorted walk to the waiting lounge next door. Sumptuous. Large leather sofas to lay or sit on while enjoying a wide selection of complimentary beverages and watching television or reading. All to make the ten minute wait to see the doctor more pleasant. After a 5 minute cursory examination, I am escorted to the cashier window, handed my signed Certificate and advised that the cost will be 600 Baht - $15.00.
Now I realize that this wasn’t brain surgery – although, if it was, they do have a brain surgeon on staff (fully equipped head trauma facilities) – but still I was very impressed. A half hour after arriving with no appointment I’m back in my truck with my certificate in hand. Even the parking was free.
On a related topic, did I mention (I know I didn’t, that was just friendly banter) the roadside clinic just up the road from here, where according to the sign they offer “Wound Dressing, Ear Clean (on one side of the sign it’s actually called “Ear Toilet”), Preg Nancy (poor Nancy) and Motorbike Rent. Wow, we’ll probably never even need a hospital.
Friday Jacquie and I went up a new to us road near here to see where it went, and found ourselves waiting with some other motorists at a gate while a plane was landing. This road crossed the end of the runway, and so thirty times a day the guard at each side lower the gate and make the motoring public wait for an airplane.
Yesterday – Saturday (Wan Saew) – we hopped on the bike with towels and water and went exploring. At one spot on the side of the road two dogs were barking frantically at a three foot lizard they had cornered in the ditch (though I had the distinct impression that the lizard did not feel in the least cornered. What an awesome sight.
We ended up stopping at a little beachfront restaurant all by itself on a beautiful stretch of deserted beach, with a tire swing hanging from the top of a coconut tree. Lunch and a swim, then back on the motorbike. Back home – with too much sun – in time for b-ball, and Jacquie, Ju and Ja to all go to aerobics (Ju did it, Ja watched). Dinner up the street at the restaurant across the street from 7-11, where everyone knows Sami’s name, for a fabulous dinner with Sami at our feet.
Our first really wonderful day here together.
The second wireless router I had requested finally arrived a week ago, so now we have excellent coverage over the entire property and at our apartment – including the beach (I’ve only tested it as far as the low tide line). The surf breaking over my feet while I write this should help to inspire me. Certainly it helps keep a positive spin on it all.
The Loy Krahthong Festival ends tonight – the end coincides with the twelfth full moon of the year. It is a sort of “festival of lights” that involves millions of people all over Thailand floating lit candles in small floats made from banana leaves of various shapes (the most common shape is a lotus flower) on rivers and lakes and, here at Big Buddha, in the ocean. Doing this will help bring good luck – couples will also get happiness and luck in love. Whether or not you believe any of that, they have been doing this for thousands of years, and appear to have been happy for thousands of years, so I’m thinking maybe it’s worth trying.
There has been a big market/fair in Chaweng since last weekend, in celebration of Loy Krahthong, and there after a wonderful meal of fried stuff I bought a big bag of deep fried crispy chicken skin. I’m eating the last of it right now – good luck already and I haven’t even floated my Krahthong yet !
I’ve been asked by many people over there about the coup, and what it’s like living under military rule. I’ve been thinking about that, and continuing to watch life here, and then yesterday it struck me – military rule here is a lot less oppressive than democratic rule in North America. Here the government – even the military government – doesn’t have it’s fingers in every aspect of daily life like it seems to there. Thais are okay with military rule, but I’m pretty sure they would refuse to accept the level of governmental control that exists in Canada.
We checked out the Aerobics class for Jacquie over in Chaweng – she says it’s okay, and is happy because it at least is exercise. It is held every night at the same time as basketball, and costs $0.30 a time. Right now I’m driving her, dropping her, driving to ball (the opposite direction from home) then going back to fetch her afterward. Motivation to get her driving.
Last night the new motorcycle arrived. I convinced the firm that Ju and Ja needed one, because there isn’t enough truck to go around (and Ja can’t and won’t drive it, and Ju can’t and will). Jacquie and I might still buy our own, but this lets us delay that decision for a bit. Kris has been in the truck with Ju driving and wants her driving the motorbike instead. I much prefer the motorbike so I’m not sure that will work out. We’ll see.
The approaching monsoon season has already resulted in a shift of the prevailing wind, and the currents arriving at our beach. So suddenly we a getting a steady supply of wood, garbage and assorted crap washing ashore. A couple of days ago a dead eel (about 3 ft. long) washed up on our shore, with a hole in it the size of a .45 calibre slug. I had to bury it (unmarked grave) when it started to stink. Yesterday it was a large dead fish (no bullet wounds – cause of death unknown).
Jacquie is starting to settle in. I can see her turning back into the happy Jacquie. She needs constant fixes for the four-book-a-week habit that she’s developed, but so far that’s the worst dependency. Other than the constant need for fresh fruit, but that is easily satisfied. She is now looking at and contemplating things to do with her life. She already has one decorating opportunity. For my two cents worth something different might be nice, but of course that would be overpaying for what my opinion is worth. To be honest it does sound like a sweet opportunity - we'll see.
Sami, well he has completely settled in – he loves it here. He goes swimming every day, with or without us. He just goes in for a swim whenever he gets hot. The people seeing it just stare slack-jawed at the big black dog out swimming around in circles, figure-eights, etc.. He is getting a lot more exercise so we’re feeding him extra, with rice (which he loves) and treats in his food. On our regular evening walks, he is the star of the street. Most words here have the emphasis on the last syllable, so they tend to do that automatically. Thus, Sami is sa-ME. He largely ignores them because, I think, he doesn’t know they were trying to say his name, so I’m trying to teach him to answer to sa-ME. Anyway, all of the girls in the bars now call out to “sa-ME, how are you.” instead of “Hello darling! I want to meet you”. I would say that more people here know him than know Jacquie or I (other than that we are the people who own sa-ME). Now if I go out alone, everyone asks “Where sa-ME?”. I need to teach him to ride on the motorbike with me. (Like many other dogs do)
The dogs on the street – well that is just funny. All the little scared dogs bark frantically and run after us, and Sami doesn’t even turn his head to acknowledge them. The few (about 3 or 4) really nasty, dominant dogs, come at him with lips curled back and teeth barred – really mean looking – and for them he stops and turns and stares. They come right in until he lunges at them, which backs them up – it always seems like they are glad he is on a leash.
We went to my second and Jacquie’s first “Ex-pats Club dinner. It was everything the first one was, and all that I had described to Jacquie. A bunch of foreigners mostly wanting things to be more western. Ate western food (which of course is never as good as a western cook could have managed) and then they voted to go back to that same restaurant next month – because the food was so good. I could have cooked a better pork chop. I think it was fried alone in a pan. Great.
It’s funny, 90% of the foreign people who have moved here are constantly happy. Many say they will never go home again, not even to visit, because they are different people now than when they arrived. But then there are the ten percent. The guy next to me at dinner complaining about the Thai ways, telling me not to trust them – his Thai “wife” sitting beside him either didn’t mind him saying that stuff of didn’t understand.
The Loy Krahthong Festival at Big Buddha was awesome. They also had little (about three feet high) hot air balloons they made (cost to buy $3.00 – about the same as a nice Krahthong) with a big piece of wax honeycomb at the bottom that was lit and the whole thing flew up and away. A few had fireworks attached. An incredible sight with a bunch of those flying away above thousands of floating candles, all supplementing the light of the full moon. . We stopped to eat at a décor store we had been to the day before – they were celebrating by offering free food and drink. The food was great, but then a couple came in and sat at our table – the guy was too old for Jacquie, and the girl was too young for me. Creepy seeing what could have been our father with what could have been our daughter.
We finally found and bought a computer on ebay which hopefully will be delivered – from Australia – soon. It has Apple’s old processor so that the software will run that will allow us to use Jacquie’s accounting application. What a mess. Seems her IT guy dropped the ball a bit on this transition.
Thursday. More new experiences. First, our internet is not working at all. It was working but really, really slowly until the computer guys that came took the wireless router with them. I think the wires leading to it from the street are the culprit – I think they got wet when the guys were here yesterday cleaning all of the air conditioners in the building. They were spraying water around like the place was on fire. I see a new wireless router in our future, and if the timing is right the wires will be dry by then. Meanwhile tonight we took the notebook to the internet café just up the street and for $1.80 per hour connected to their wicked-fast connection for Jacquie to chat with Rhonda at her store.
Well, tonight Jacquie convinced me to go with her to aerobics for the last time. In spite of the chance to exercise with 40 women and 2 other men to the rocking beat of “Shake your pussy now, come on” I don’t think I’ll return any time soon. Somehow jumping sideways with my arms in the air is way easier while playing defense than it is while trying to copy a woman half my size and twice as agile up on a stage. Jacquie did get a good laugh – at my expense – and she figures the people behind me were probably cursing me.
By the way, I don’t think there is yet a law here against using your cell phone while driving – half of the people driving their motorcycles here are doing so with one hand while talking on the phone. Of course, there may be a law that is simply ignored, like the helmet law. No one wears those, but there is a law requiring it. I even saw a sign on the road the other day “Wear Safet Helmets” I guess it makes perfect sense if you think about it - you spell it like it sounds.
On Monday, one week shy of 90 days after getting my 90 day Visa in Singapore which was to give my employer lots of time to get my yearly Visa and work permit, they called from our Bangkok office and said they needed me to send my passport. I was worried about doing so because Jacquie has to leave on a “Visa run” by Saturday and I want to go with her. They promised me absolutely that I would have it back by Friday so that I could go with her.
Thursday after lunch we booked a trip for Jacquie to go alone to Malaysia on Friday (at least on Friday I’m working anyway), then Thursday evening I got a call from Bangkok – they will not have my passport back to me by tomorrow after all. Yeah, we knew that. It is still frustrating when you are told things about times and schedules that you know will not happen, but you can’t say anything. So on Monday when I wanted to say “no, you won’t have that back to me on Friday” they would have been insulted. Or yesterday, “No, the minibus (“air conditioned”) won’t pick Jacquie up by 5:15 am, it will be late” – but the woman would have taken it badly. Anyway, Jacquie is now off on her mini adventure – a 15 hour round trip to have lunch in Malaysia and get a fresh tourist visa stamp for 30 more days on her passport. The only thing that makes me okay with not being able to go with her is the 15 hours in a crowded “air conditioned” minibus.
Meanwhile, our Bangkok office wants me to get and send them 4 copies of a photograph plus a health certificate from a doctor, I guess to say I’m not bringing communicable diseases into the country with me? Apparently I only need to be healthy if I’m staying long term. Otherwise ones ability to endure 15 hours in a minibus once a month is proof enough of good health. Anyway, they need those things delivered to Bangkok by Monday or I will cease to be legal, so I’m off to one of the three hospitals nearby (there are EIGHT on our little island, each offering a complete range of services – although not all have MRI machines) in hopes that they will know what medical certificate I need for a long stay Visa, and then hopefully get one. Good thing they didn’t leave it to the last minute again. “No, you won’t have it done in time.”
“Bacteria”
I’ve decided that “bacteria” is something invented be the refrigeration industry - a ploy to boost sales. Make us believe in “bacteria” and we’ll all run out to buy and USE refrigerators. Well, I’ve been watching food preparation and food handling practices here, and clearly that “bacteria” thing is just a myth.
So as long as I don’t forget this important fact, it doesn’t matter when I see food dropped on a table put back in the dish. Or the guy pouring water into the wok to rinse it before cooking my Khao Phad, taking the opportunity to also rinse off his other hand. And I told Jacquie about this important discovery when she mentioned the fresh fish we had for supper was not in fact quite fresh, having been left out on the counter since the morning. Refrigeration is optional here. Jacquie says she keeps putting the eggs in the fridge and Ja keeps taking them back out. You can buy butter here in a can!! On a shelf with all of the other cans. And don’t get me started on the ants. Or the flies.
Speaking of flies, I did notice a number of stalls at our local market have these ingenious little electric “fly swatters” – small electric motors hanging above the meat and fish spinning wires with feathers on the end above the food. There are just as many flies at the market, they just all congregate at the stalls without these devices – now that is creepy. Let’s just say Jacquie and I are staying away from the beef !! Even the butcher had too many flies on him.
Anyway, all of those practices are fine, since I now know that “bacteria” is a myth. Jacquie has been feeling ill for a couple of days, Ja went to the hospital – not feeling well. I have come down with a cold. I must have picked up a germ somewhere. Oh well, time to head to the hospital to try to prove that I’m healthy enough to stay here.
Health care – Thai style.
The first thing you notice is the beautiful architecture and gardens out front. Only the sign reveals that this is not in fact another resort, but is rather one of two Samui branches of the Bangkok International Hospital.
The second thing you notice is the warm smile and greeting from everyone, starting with the parking attendant and security guard. At the registration desk, four young women greet me and explain in excellent English that there are different Certificates for a Visa and a Work permit (after a trip back to the office because Jacquie has my mobile on her minibus to Malaysia, and a call from Ju to Gai, I return with the knowledge that I need the work permit certificate), Being a first timer, I fill in a short “who am I where do I live” type of form at a small table with one of the young women sitting with me. She then escorts me – no follow the blue line here – to another room where a put my arm in a small device that inflates a cuff, takes my blood pressure and inputs the results into my file on the computer, Then a scale for my weight and an escorted walk to the waiting lounge next door. Sumptuous. Large leather sofas to lay or sit on while enjoying a wide selection of complimentary beverages and watching television or reading. All to make the ten minute wait to see the doctor more pleasant. After a 5 minute cursory examination, I am escorted to the cashier window, handed my signed Certificate and advised that the cost will be 600 Baht - $15.00.
Now I realize that this wasn’t brain surgery – although, if it was, they do have a brain surgeon on staff (fully equipped head trauma facilities) – but still I was very impressed. A half hour after arriving with no appointment I’m back in my truck with my certificate in hand. Even the parking was free.
On a related topic, did I mention (I know I didn’t, that was just friendly banter) the roadside clinic just up the road from here, where according to the sign they offer “Wound Dressing, Ear Clean (on one side of the sign it’s actually called “Ear Toilet”), Preg Nancy (poor Nancy) and Motorbike Rent. Wow, we’ll probably never even need a hospital.
Friday Jacquie and I went up a new to us road near here to see where it went, and found ourselves waiting with some other motorists at a gate while a plane was landing. This road crossed the end of the runway, and so thirty times a day the guard at each side lower the gate and make the motoring public wait for an airplane.
Yesterday – Saturday (Wan Saew) – we hopped on the bike with towels and water and went exploring. At one spot on the side of the road two dogs were barking frantically at a three foot lizard they had cornered in the ditch (though I had the distinct impression that the lizard did not feel in the least cornered. What an awesome sight.
We ended up stopping at a little beachfront restaurant all by itself on a beautiful stretch of deserted beach, with a tire swing hanging from the top of a coconut tree. Lunch and a swim, then back on the motorbike. Back home – with too much sun – in time for b-ball, and Jacquie, Ju and Ja to all go to aerobics (Ju did it, Ja watched). Dinner up the street at the restaurant across the street from 7-11, where everyone knows Sami’s name, for a fabulous dinner with Sami at our feet.
Our first really wonderful day here together.
Big Adventure - Part 14
Well, everything – finally – is falling into place. This is what I had in mind when I made the 180 degree turn and moved here three months ago.
And now I can finally stop holding back on telling the truth, so as not to piss off Jacquie who was left with so much work over there – life is perfect here. That’s it. Perfect. The work is perfect. The sun and sand are perfect. The people are perfect. The food is perfect. Jacquie is perfect – but most of you already knew that.
I’m enjoying showing Jacquie around her new home. She says it’s nicer than I described. I’m admitting that I already knew that.
As Ja says, "Khun Jacquie sawie" = Jacquie beautiful !
Not surprisingly, we are not yet in our new place (you know, the one that will be ready October 1st) Now it will be completely ready for us to move in tomorrow (Tuesday the 17th) morning. We bought two lounge chairs this afternoon that we are sitting in right now at the beach, and tonight we will go buy some sheets, a coffee maker, etc. etc. It’s kind of fun – sort of just married honeymoon new home fun. I’ll spare you details.
Jacquie has now decided that she never wants to cook again, as long as we have Ja. Damn she can cook.
Sami is amazing. Yesterday I walked up to my office to get a drink out of the fridge. When I returned 30 seconds later, my dog was more excited to see me then he was at the Bangkok airport after three months. Every Thai person is afraid. The stares are incessant. Big in Thai is “Ooy”. We hear that a lot. “Ooy, ma see dam!!” “Big black dog!!” It’s funny, the girls in the bars have all stopped saying “Hello darling, how are you, where you go?” now that Jacquie and Sami are with me. But you should see them all staring at Sami. I have tried to explain to him that he can not have any money, and “No money, no honey”.
The security guard at an upscale resort nearby has as clearly as he could advised us, while pointing at Sami, “I fear, I fear!” I’ve decided we might go there for a swim in their pool some night, or to break into rooms or whatever – as long as we take Sami with us we’ve got the run of the place.
I am watching a beautiful sunset across the water with my dog at my feet and my beautiful wife beside me – and I feel utter peace. At least for this moment, I am successfully living in the moment. And it is good.
Jacquie has begun the long process of decompressing. She is as awe struck as I was over all of the inefficiencies and contradictions here, and she still wants to know what time it is. Eventually she will put away the mental Daytimer, but it takes a while.
We conducted an experiment Monday night. Just the dog and I went walking. Now we know that it was Jacquie, not Sami, that stopped the girls from speaking to me.
Sam barks at geckos. They don’t care.
Well, last night we were all ready to move in to our new apartment, and at about 7 pm the electricity went off. No A/C, so no sleep there. Back to my room. This morning at about 7 am it came back on. I’ve told our landlady (Jeet - the daughter I’ve been dealing with all along) that I think there is a timer somewhere, and got her phone number. So tonight at 7 pm when it went off again I called her, she sent electricians around and it’s back on. We get to spend our first night in our new home on Jacquie’s birthday. Cool.
We’ve been shopping for a few touches – Jacquie touches – for our new place. In Tesco I notice up by the cash, with all of those little “impulse buy” things that are always there, are a wide selection of condoms. Right there beside the Fisherman’s Friend cough drops.
Sometimes the movie channel has English movies with English subtitles. Some of the subtitles are great – in the newest Star Wars the Jedi Council translated as the Cheddar Council. And there’s “the ways of the force” = “the rest of the fall” and “a pawn” = “upon”. It would be fun to sit and watch with the sound off.
Well, probably to the complete surprise of no one, now that Jacquie is here finding time to write this is becoming more difficult. To catch up on the things a don’t already forget:
-Friday, two days late, we finally selected and ordered the oil paintings that are to be Jacquie’s birthday present. There is for the most part no original design or art here, but they are amazing copy artists. Book after book of artwork at the place we went – some that Jacquie has and can order from – that we simply picked from, then choose a size and come back 2-3 days later for your oil painting – a near perfect copy from a photo in a book.
-also Friday, also two days late, we finally had her birthday dinner out in the incredibly romantic Fishermans Village. The nicest restaurant we have ever been in anywhere, and it’s a few miles up the road from where we live on a little island. I bit expensive, but the wine actually cost more than the food.
-my trip to Singapore on the weekend changed fairly last minute to be a trip to Phuket. Another show running concurrently and the lawyer doing it couldn’t at the last minute. Phuket is beautiful, but two days sitting at a booth in a mall bit. I am anxious to go back – with Jacquie and on holiday, not to work. The properties there have all gone way beyond reality – 10 to 20 million US dollars is normal there. Playground of the rich and famous. It’s nice, but I’m not sure it’s THAT nice. It was the first place I’ve been in Thailand that I thought it could have been somewhere other than Thailand. Westernized. The only clue was the couples in the mall where the Thai wife might be with her husband, or that might be her white grandfather.
-Jacquie is a bit terrified of driving here – just watching from the passenger side is scary enough for her. Driving on the left side is of course troubling, but in no small measure the fact that the new vehicle is a large four door truck that she needs to climb into doesn’t help. Anyway, she did drive me to and back home from the airport on the weekend without incident, so she will get it. She needs to, because of course this is a huge transition for her which at times she is struggling with, and she absolutely needs some of her independence back.
We met a couple on the beach Monday here on holiday from Phuket with their three young children. He is from Singapore, she from Australia. The kids love the dog and Jacquie, and Jacquie is in heaven. We were over to the villa they are renting two doors down the beach for drinks Monday night, but I think Jacquie prefers their kids. She and her new playmates can on most days be found down on the beach, making sand castles and swimming. We had to explain to the youngest boy that it was only okay to ride Sami on the land, because in the water it would scare – or drown – the dog. (Actually, now the little boy has learned to just hang on to Sami’s collar, and it’s like a kiddy’s version of a dolphin ride) Today is Wednesday morning, and the dog has gone back upstairs to bed – he is toast.
I just found out those peoples last name – they are clients of my firm, and I helped out on their property purchase. Small world.
Kris is here today with a client, and they are meeting some investors – the client wants to find the best hotel on the island – when I mentioned one beautiful 5-star spa resort he said no, they want 7-star. Anybody out there ever heard of a 7-star resort? I haven’t. I’m guessing those people are basically hard to please.
There is a very basic difference here in the concept of cleanliness and bacteria. They don’t have the “5 second rule” – here it’s the five minute rule. I’m sure if I ask what the Thai word is for Salmonella, there is none. Yesterday Ja par-boiled a big hunk of pork, then left it out in the sun for a few hours to dry before cutting it up and finishing the cooking in our supper (it was by the way really delicious). The kitchen rag is pretty much multi purpose. If I’m going to keep eating the food, I think I must avoid writing any details on that topic. Sam is welcome at pretty much every restaurant we’ve been to. They always get him a bowl of water, and he lays at our feet.
The rain, that till now seems to have been miraculously missing us, has been hitting many parts of the country really hard. There is widespread flooding in Bangkok and in various places in the north. Some deaths, big problem. You can almost feel the weather changing daily. Everyone knows that the monsoons are still coming, they are just late.
Severe weather ...... something new to experience and write about.
And now I can finally stop holding back on telling the truth, so as not to piss off Jacquie who was left with so much work over there – life is perfect here. That’s it. Perfect. The work is perfect. The sun and sand are perfect. The people are perfect. The food is perfect. Jacquie is perfect – but most of you already knew that.
I’m enjoying showing Jacquie around her new home. She says it’s nicer than I described. I’m admitting that I already knew that.
As Ja says, "Khun Jacquie sawie" = Jacquie beautiful !
Not surprisingly, we are not yet in our new place (you know, the one that will be ready October 1st) Now it will be completely ready for us to move in tomorrow (Tuesday the 17th) morning. We bought two lounge chairs this afternoon that we are sitting in right now at the beach, and tonight we will go buy some sheets, a coffee maker, etc. etc. It’s kind of fun – sort of just married honeymoon new home fun. I’ll spare you details.
Jacquie has now decided that she never wants to cook again, as long as we have Ja. Damn she can cook.
Sami is amazing. Yesterday I walked up to my office to get a drink out of the fridge. When I returned 30 seconds later, my dog was more excited to see me then he was at the Bangkok airport after three months. Every Thai person is afraid. The stares are incessant. Big in Thai is “Ooy”. We hear that a lot. “Ooy, ma see dam!!” “Big black dog!!” It’s funny, the girls in the bars have all stopped saying “Hello darling, how are you, where you go?” now that Jacquie and Sami are with me. But you should see them all staring at Sami. I have tried to explain to him that he can not have any money, and “No money, no honey”.
The security guard at an upscale resort nearby has as clearly as he could advised us, while pointing at Sami, “I fear, I fear!” I’ve decided we might go there for a swim in their pool some night, or to break into rooms or whatever – as long as we take Sami with us we’ve got the run of the place.
I am watching a beautiful sunset across the water with my dog at my feet and my beautiful wife beside me – and I feel utter peace. At least for this moment, I am successfully living in the moment. And it is good.
Jacquie has begun the long process of decompressing. She is as awe struck as I was over all of the inefficiencies and contradictions here, and she still wants to know what time it is. Eventually she will put away the mental Daytimer, but it takes a while.
We conducted an experiment Monday night. Just the dog and I went walking. Now we know that it was Jacquie, not Sami, that stopped the girls from speaking to me.
Sam barks at geckos. They don’t care.
Well, last night we were all ready to move in to our new apartment, and at about 7 pm the electricity went off. No A/C, so no sleep there. Back to my room. This morning at about 7 am it came back on. I’ve told our landlady (Jeet - the daughter I’ve been dealing with all along) that I think there is a timer somewhere, and got her phone number. So tonight at 7 pm when it went off again I called her, she sent electricians around and it’s back on. We get to spend our first night in our new home on Jacquie’s birthday. Cool.
We’ve been shopping for a few touches – Jacquie touches – for our new place. In Tesco I notice up by the cash, with all of those little “impulse buy” things that are always there, are a wide selection of condoms. Right there beside the Fisherman’s Friend cough drops.
Sometimes the movie channel has English movies with English subtitles. Some of the subtitles are great – in the newest Star Wars the Jedi Council translated as the Cheddar Council. And there’s “the ways of the force” = “the rest of the fall” and “a pawn” = “upon”. It would be fun to sit and watch with the sound off.
Well, probably to the complete surprise of no one, now that Jacquie is here finding time to write this is becoming more difficult. To catch up on the things a don’t already forget:
-Friday, two days late, we finally selected and ordered the oil paintings that are to be Jacquie’s birthday present. There is for the most part no original design or art here, but they are amazing copy artists. Book after book of artwork at the place we went – some that Jacquie has and can order from – that we simply picked from, then choose a size and come back 2-3 days later for your oil painting – a near perfect copy from a photo in a book.
-also Friday, also two days late, we finally had her birthday dinner out in the incredibly romantic Fishermans Village. The nicest restaurant we have ever been in anywhere, and it’s a few miles up the road from where we live on a little island. I bit expensive, but the wine actually cost more than the food.
-my trip to Singapore on the weekend changed fairly last minute to be a trip to Phuket. Another show running concurrently and the lawyer doing it couldn’t at the last minute. Phuket is beautiful, but two days sitting at a booth in a mall bit. I am anxious to go back – with Jacquie and on holiday, not to work. The properties there have all gone way beyond reality – 10 to 20 million US dollars is normal there. Playground of the rich and famous. It’s nice, but I’m not sure it’s THAT nice. It was the first place I’ve been in Thailand that I thought it could have been somewhere other than Thailand. Westernized. The only clue was the couples in the mall where the Thai wife might be with her husband, or that might be her white grandfather.
-Jacquie is a bit terrified of driving here – just watching from the passenger side is scary enough for her. Driving on the left side is of course troubling, but in no small measure the fact that the new vehicle is a large four door truck that she needs to climb into doesn’t help. Anyway, she did drive me to and back home from the airport on the weekend without incident, so she will get it. She needs to, because of course this is a huge transition for her which at times she is struggling with, and she absolutely needs some of her independence back.
We met a couple on the beach Monday here on holiday from Phuket with their three young children. He is from Singapore, she from Australia. The kids love the dog and Jacquie, and Jacquie is in heaven. We were over to the villa they are renting two doors down the beach for drinks Monday night, but I think Jacquie prefers their kids. She and her new playmates can on most days be found down on the beach, making sand castles and swimming. We had to explain to the youngest boy that it was only okay to ride Sami on the land, because in the water it would scare – or drown – the dog. (Actually, now the little boy has learned to just hang on to Sami’s collar, and it’s like a kiddy’s version of a dolphin ride) Today is Wednesday morning, and the dog has gone back upstairs to bed – he is toast.
I just found out those peoples last name – they are clients of my firm, and I helped out on their property purchase. Small world.
Kris is here today with a client, and they are meeting some investors – the client wants to find the best hotel on the island – when I mentioned one beautiful 5-star spa resort he said no, they want 7-star. Anybody out there ever heard of a 7-star resort? I haven’t. I’m guessing those people are basically hard to please.
There is a very basic difference here in the concept of cleanliness and bacteria. They don’t have the “5 second rule” – here it’s the five minute rule. I’m sure if I ask what the Thai word is for Salmonella, there is none. Yesterday Ja par-boiled a big hunk of pork, then left it out in the sun for a few hours to dry before cutting it up and finishing the cooking in our supper (it was by the way really delicious). The kitchen rag is pretty much multi purpose. If I’m going to keep eating the food, I think I must avoid writing any details on that topic. Sam is welcome at pretty much every restaurant we’ve been to. They always get him a bowl of water, and he lays at our feet.
The rain, that till now seems to have been miraculously missing us, has been hitting many parts of the country really hard. There is widespread flooding in Bangkok and in various places in the north. Some deaths, big problem. You can almost feel the weather changing daily. Everyone knows that the monsoons are still coming, they are just late.
Severe weather ...... something new to experience and write about.
Sami's Big Adventure - Part 1
Hallelujah.
After 2 days for them and 3 months for me, Jacquie and Sami have made it here, safe and sound.
After a bit over 20 hours in a travel crate without incident, in true Sami style he spent a few minutes in the park at Suvarnabhumi Airport to find the perfect spot for a pee. It all went off as it was supposed to with the dog - everyone was great. Now after swims for both, wife and dog are sleeping at the beach - well deserved I'd say.
This is going to be interesting for Sami. The circus has come to town, and Sami the dog faced boy is the star attraction. These people have never, in their entire lives, EVER, seen a dog this big. Gasps and exclamations everywhere. They really do think he's a freak. I'd say that conservatively one to two hundred Thais now know his name. About a dozen have photos. Some younger children aren't so afraid, but their parents quickly pull them away and shield them from the monster.
People here told me beware, the wild dogs will rip him apart. At a rest stop in the middle of the all night drive last night Sami tried to make friends with a few of them. They started coming towards us, then all turned tail and ran away, seemingly thinking "What the hell was that?"
A long trip for everyone.
David happy. Now.
After 2 days for them and 3 months for me, Jacquie and Sami have made it here, safe and sound.
After a bit over 20 hours in a travel crate without incident, in true Sami style he spent a few minutes in the park at Suvarnabhumi Airport to find the perfect spot for a pee. It all went off as it was supposed to with the dog - everyone was great. Now after swims for both, wife and dog are sleeping at the beach - well deserved I'd say.
This is going to be interesting for Sami. The circus has come to town, and Sami the dog faced boy is the star attraction. These people have never, in their entire lives, EVER, seen a dog this big. Gasps and exclamations everywhere. They really do think he's a freak. I'd say that conservatively one to two hundred Thais now know his name. About a dozen have photos. Some younger children aren't so afraid, but their parents quickly pull them away and shield them from the monster.
People here told me beware, the wild dogs will rip him apart. At a rest stop in the middle of the all night drive last night Sami tried to make friends with a few of them. They started coming towards us, then all turned tail and ran away, seemingly thinking "What the hell was that?"
A long trip for everyone.
David happy. Now.
Big Adventure - Part 13
Well, the interesting stuff just keeps on happening.
Monday morning coffee at the beach before work, and the girl from Sunday that was just being friendly is there - waiting for me I think. I think that because she came up into my yard and said “I wait for you.” Gee, really friendly. I said I go to work now and left her there with Ja. My plan was that Ja – who happens to speak fluent Thai – would once and for all explain reality to her. I while later I noticed she was gone. I’m hoping my plan worked, but if not I’m sure Jacquie can make her understand when she gets here.
Monday also saw the arrival of a new and wondrous bug here on my island. I’d say it looks a fair bit like a flying ant, only it’s green, about one inch long and has about a two inch wingspan. Impressive looking when there are a whole mess of them on the glass door I enter and exit through.
Speaking of bugs, I left the empty wine glass from Sunday here in my office. Tuesday as I walked past it the large gecko that had taken up residence in it moved. Yes, I jumped. I threw the gecko outside and took the glass down to be washed. There on the floor near the sink there is a huge swarm of little ants devouring one of the new green bugs. I guess they aren’t that tough.
Every meal here is served with rice, which is cooked in an electric rice steamer in the morning and kept warm in it all day. You spoon it out as needed with a big plastic spoon on a holder on the outside – after basketball I usually do it myself. Well, today I walked by it at about 4:30 pm and there were about 50 flies on the spoon, enjoying some rice. Sometimes it’s better not knowing. Damn.
Since Ju is gone, Ja is cooking just for me, and I am tending to finish what’s put in front of me. Well I think that she thinks I’m not getting enough, because each meal seems to be larger than the one before.
I’ve booked a flight to Bangkok. Direct from here the cheap (about $60) seats were sold out, so I am taking the ferry to Suratthani on the mainland and getting $30 Air Asia flight from there, instead of the $100 flight from here at a worse time. I arrive at Suvarnabhumi at about noon, with about 5 hours to explore and find the animal place. I pray that wife and beast will arrive okay.
The woman next door says they hope the apartment will be ready for us by Saturday. If we arrive back here as planned on Saturday after an all night drive from Bangkok, maybe Jacquie will want to jump right in to moving.? I think we should wait at least until Sunday.
They have done a beautiful job. I’ll send a photo after it’s all done.
A motorbike with four kids on it just drove in. The driver looks to be 8 or 10 years old – I guess the rule is the oldest one gets to drive.
When I booked my flight out of Suratthani, I new from the map that the ferry terminal is a little ways from the city. Well, last night at basketball one of the guys who plays told me it is over 100 km. from the ferry to the airport, and it will take 2 to 3 hours to get there – a bus must be pre-booked from the ferry to the city, then a taxi from the city to the airport. He STRONGLY suggests I take the 5 am ferry if I want to be sure to make my 10:45 flight. And I do want to be sure to make my 10:45 flight. I’m awfully glad I talked about the trip at ball – I was trying to decide between the 6 am boat and the 7 am boat, and I probably would have been screwed. So I guess Jacquie will be leaving at 4 am on Thursday, and I’ll be leaving at 4 am on Friday. Hopefully we’ll both be in Suvarnabhumi International Airport by 5 pm Friday.
I have not shared with Jacquie that the driver is coming to get us from somewhere else, and Kris says he won’t be there till 7 pm. Now if I believed that, 7 pm wouldn’t be too far off, by the time we get the dog sorted. But I’ve been living here a little while now, and I will be a bit surprised if we see him much before 9. I figure I’ll break that news to what I expect will be an exhausted Jacquie as it happens.
Speaking of that, Ju is due back here by Thursday morning for work. It is now Thursday at 2 pm and no sign of her and no phone call. What is cool about all of this is that Ju or the driver or the contractors next door don’t have the faintest idea why there would be any problem with any of that. We westerners take awhile to get used to it, and I doubt I’ll ever really understand.
Fried rice for lunch with what looks and tastes like squash in it. Man, even fried I’ve got to draw the line somewhere – and squash is somewhere.
Ju just called, at about 2:45. “Ju stay in Chiang Mai today. Ju come back Saturday. Or Sunday.”
So I guess I’m driving myself to the ferry and finding a place to park the car and hoping it’s alright when I go retrieve it. On Saturday. Or Sunday.
I just spoke to Jacquie on the telephone as she is about to leave. It is instructive to realize how hard it is, having the woman you love and your dear dog heading off on such a long and difficult journey. The shoe doesn’t fit so well on the other foot.
I am sending this off before I leave here on my mini odyssey. I won’t get back here until Saturday – what time will depend upon when we leave the airport for the 10-12 hour drive (see above). So sometime on Saturday an email will go out to everyone advising how it all worked out.
It is 4:40 Thursday afternoon here – 6:40 am in Nova Scotia – and Jacquie’s plane is scheduled to leave Halifax for New York right now. This seems like a perfect moment to end this and press “Send”
God speed Jacquie and Sami.
Monday morning coffee at the beach before work, and the girl from Sunday that was just being friendly is there - waiting for me I think. I think that because she came up into my yard and said “I wait for you.” Gee, really friendly. I said I go to work now and left her there with Ja. My plan was that Ja – who happens to speak fluent Thai – would once and for all explain reality to her. I while later I noticed she was gone. I’m hoping my plan worked, but if not I’m sure Jacquie can make her understand when she gets here.
Monday also saw the arrival of a new and wondrous bug here on my island. I’d say it looks a fair bit like a flying ant, only it’s green, about one inch long and has about a two inch wingspan. Impressive looking when there are a whole mess of them on the glass door I enter and exit through.
Speaking of bugs, I left the empty wine glass from Sunday here in my office. Tuesday as I walked past it the large gecko that had taken up residence in it moved. Yes, I jumped. I threw the gecko outside and took the glass down to be washed. There on the floor near the sink there is a huge swarm of little ants devouring one of the new green bugs. I guess they aren’t that tough.
Every meal here is served with rice, which is cooked in an electric rice steamer in the morning and kept warm in it all day. You spoon it out as needed with a big plastic spoon on a holder on the outside – after basketball I usually do it myself. Well, today I walked by it at about 4:30 pm and there were about 50 flies on the spoon, enjoying some rice. Sometimes it’s better not knowing. Damn.
Since Ju is gone, Ja is cooking just for me, and I am tending to finish what’s put in front of me. Well I think that she thinks I’m not getting enough, because each meal seems to be larger than the one before.
I’ve booked a flight to Bangkok. Direct from here the cheap (about $60) seats were sold out, so I am taking the ferry to Suratthani on the mainland and getting $30 Air Asia flight from there, instead of the $100 flight from here at a worse time. I arrive at Suvarnabhumi at about noon, with about 5 hours to explore and find the animal place. I pray that wife and beast will arrive okay.
The woman next door says they hope the apartment will be ready for us by Saturday. If we arrive back here as planned on Saturday after an all night drive from Bangkok, maybe Jacquie will want to jump right in to moving.? I think we should wait at least until Sunday.
They have done a beautiful job. I’ll send a photo after it’s all done.
A motorbike with four kids on it just drove in. The driver looks to be 8 or 10 years old – I guess the rule is the oldest one gets to drive.
When I booked my flight out of Suratthani, I new from the map that the ferry terminal is a little ways from the city. Well, last night at basketball one of the guys who plays told me it is over 100 km. from the ferry to the airport, and it will take 2 to 3 hours to get there – a bus must be pre-booked from the ferry to the city, then a taxi from the city to the airport. He STRONGLY suggests I take the 5 am ferry if I want to be sure to make my 10:45 flight. And I do want to be sure to make my 10:45 flight. I’m awfully glad I talked about the trip at ball – I was trying to decide between the 6 am boat and the 7 am boat, and I probably would have been screwed. So I guess Jacquie will be leaving at 4 am on Thursday, and I’ll be leaving at 4 am on Friday. Hopefully we’ll both be in Suvarnabhumi International Airport by 5 pm Friday.
I have not shared with Jacquie that the driver is coming to get us from somewhere else, and Kris says he won’t be there till 7 pm. Now if I believed that, 7 pm wouldn’t be too far off, by the time we get the dog sorted. But I’ve been living here a little while now, and I will be a bit surprised if we see him much before 9. I figure I’ll break that news to what I expect will be an exhausted Jacquie as it happens.
Speaking of that, Ju is due back here by Thursday morning for work. It is now Thursday at 2 pm and no sign of her and no phone call. What is cool about all of this is that Ju or the driver or the contractors next door don’t have the faintest idea why there would be any problem with any of that. We westerners take awhile to get used to it, and I doubt I’ll ever really understand.
Fried rice for lunch with what looks and tastes like squash in it. Man, even fried I’ve got to draw the line somewhere – and squash is somewhere.
Ju just called, at about 2:45. “Ju stay in Chiang Mai today. Ju come back Saturday. Or Sunday.”
So I guess I’m driving myself to the ferry and finding a place to park the car and hoping it’s alright when I go retrieve it. On Saturday. Or Sunday.
I just spoke to Jacquie on the telephone as she is about to leave. It is instructive to realize how hard it is, having the woman you love and your dear dog heading off on such a long and difficult journey. The shoe doesn’t fit so well on the other foot.
I am sending this off before I leave here on my mini odyssey. I won’t get back here until Saturday – what time will depend upon when we leave the airport for the 10-12 hour drive (see above). So sometime on Saturday an email will go out to everyone advising how it all worked out.
It is 4:40 Thursday afternoon here – 6:40 am in Nova Scotia – and Jacquie’s plane is scheduled to leave Halifax for New York right now. This seems like a perfect moment to end this and press “Send”
God speed Jacquie and Sami.
Big Adventure - Part 12
Yesterday for lunch – again with the food – I had Phad Pet Moo. Translates to fried hot pork. Lesson learned – beware the food that has the word “hot” in its name. Also fried spinach or grass or something. Lesson learned – fry it and I’ll like it.
Today it was ribs for breakfast, ribs for lunch, ribs for supper, cooked three completely different ways – how does she know how much I love ribs? And yes, I think we are getting breakfast sorted out – she can see me tuck into Asian food for breakfast and realizes she doesn’t need to struggle with western food. Lightly curried noodles with ribs, fried rice with shrimp. Again there is that key word – fried.
This is the rainy season here, but it barely rains – on average we probably get an hour a day of rain. We probably get about the same total amount as an entire rainy day in Nova Scotia, but it comes with 6-8 hours of sun, and it’s always warm ( the locals might disagree with that, but they haven’t spent a winter in N.S.)
It’s when the rain prevents basketball that ticks me off.
Jacquie has gotten her new passport at last – with days to spare. She leaves in a week. The longing to have her here with me that I have been able to bury is now starting to bubble to the surface. She enters more and more of my everyday thought. It feels like the time is short enough now that I can dare to admit how much I’m missing her.
Eight more sleeps.
No sign that the work next door is nearing completion. I admit I’m starting to lose hope that I’ll be moved in before Jacquie gets here, but since there is nothing I can do about it, I won’t fret.
Ju and Ja were asking about basketball after Jacquie arrives, and speculating that I wouldn’t be going every night. I said I’d probably go three times a week, and I told Ju about the nightly aerobics classes held at Chaweng, and that Jacquie would likely go while I played ball. Turns out she didn’t know about those and loves aerobics and hopes she can go with Jacquie. Ja won’t be going I’m guessing. I think she is her own biggest fan of her cooking – poor thing wraps her knees every day – mine hurt more just watching her walk. I think she takes it as an insult that I would choose to play basketball before eating her food.
Wednesday morning Ja was standing on a chair, on her toes for she is not a tall woman, reaching over the wall and picking leaves off of the neighbors vine / shrub.
Yup, you guessed it – fried stolen leaves with pork for lunch. Delicious!! You never know one day to the next. Saturday I ate prawn twice, Sunday hotdog fried rice.
Big news: the CDRM (see Part 11) has AGAIN renamed itself – they are now the Council for National Security (CNS). Again same guns and tanks, but somehow this new name sounds more ominous. They are still saying they are giving the country back. I think I’m going to re-read George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Locally, Ju decided to go to her home in Chiang Rai for a few days holiday. Taking the bus – 12 hours to Bangkok plus 12 hours to Chiang Rai, then same back again. All to spend what will be four days there. Makes me feel like a pussy complaining about the flight here from Canada.
She needed to go to Nathon to buy her ticket by 2 pm Friday, I had a 1 pm meeting at a law office in nearby Lamai, so she came with me and took the car while I was in my meeting. Three minutes after she left I discovered the office had moved a mile up the road, so I called her to come back and get me, and I swear she asked me “Where are you?”
Got her sorted and on her 3:30 bus – she was really happy and excited to be going. It’s lonely here for her.
I feel like I’m finally settling in here. I got my first tattoo finished (no photos till after Jacquie sees it) and I actually recognize a few words when I listen to Thai conversation – if they aren’t talking fast. I’m starting to hear “Hello darling, how are you? Where you go/” in my sleep. I think that will stop if Jacquie comes walking with me (already a few of the bars close by that I pass almost every night have given up on me – quitters!)
The work here is fun. That Friday meeting was with the seller and his lawyer to discuss my clients purchase of an $8 Million dollar stake in an apartment development. My client is talking like he’s headed to Walmart for a new toothbrush. And I’m just trying to act like it’s run of the mill for me too. You know, it’s good that we are careful here so you don’t loose your $8 million dollars. Okay?
Sunday. Jacquie’s Big Adventure starts soon. Four more sleeps for her. She is hanging on. It’s a good thing she is a strong woman - her preparations are surely a test for her. She finally – we think – has all of the paperwork needed for the dog (one more call to Thai Airways with the new 7-digit Government-generated-for-a-fee-in-Kentville number should do it). Any problems now will be dealt with during her trip by crying etc. Everyone, cross your fingers or say a prayer for her or both.
At my end we have a solution to the David driving through the heart of Bangkok problem. Seems my new four door 4-wheel drive truck has been delivered to Bangkok, and Kris and the driver were going to drive it down this weekend and fly back. Now they are not. Instead the driver and new truck will meet me and Jacquie and Sami at Suvarnabhumi Airport Friday night, and after sorting Sami’s importation he will drive us all to Koh Samui. So I get my wife, my dog and a new truck, all at once.
The new baggage handling computer system at Suvarnabhumi crashed twice on Saturday, so 6722 pieces of luggage missed their outgoing flights. They have gone to a manual system of a few days – which takes 15 seconds more per piece. So far at least no incoming luggage is being adversely affected. Or so they say.
Today on the beach a woman approached me as a left the water. Spoke very little English, but I think she was trying to pick me up. She started by telling me she lives alone but wants a boyfriend, and asking if I live alone. Blank stare when I said I have a wife, like she didn’t understand. The English then got good enough to tell me she has no job, has a baby girl and both she and her daughter are living with her sister who works at the 7-11. The baby’s father is dead. Then finally the conversation went:
“You not have woman in Thailand?
“No.”
“You not want?” – looking at me like I must be gay.
“No, I have woman in Canada, she come soon.”
“You must love woman in Canada a lot.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Maybe she was just being friendly.
The folks from Club 44 all arrived again for a picnic on the concrete floor, then cards at the table (why don’t they play cards on the floor too? One woman arrived with a Scottish guy – I got to chatting with him. He paid for her for three weeks ( and now is spending the afternoon sitting at my beach alone while she gambles with her friends, probably with his money). Oddly, he seemed quite happy with the arrangement. He is 52 and looks 57. She appeared to be late 20’s. According to him the going rate for a “short time” is 300 Baht – about 9 bucks Canadian. I didn’t ask how much 3 weeks (which I assume would qualify as a “long time”) cost. Certainly it is clear that men here are judged solely on their financial ability to provide for the women. Women are judged by their beauty and their cooking – and it appears they had better be able to cook by the time they hit 30.
Interestingly (I think, and since I’m writing this I get to decide) the newspaper coverage of baseball and NFL football is extremely week, but the NHL hockey standings are now being published daily. Must be more hockey fans over here than I realized.
Tonight I stood on my beach, under a clear sky, and had a glass of wine while I watched the almost full (last night was the full moon party, but I didn’t go) moon lighting the edge of the cloud mass and lightning – steady lightning – lighting the inside. You could hear the rain hitting the water just offshore.
More importantly, the papers are filled daily with worsening stories of the worsening flooding in various parts of the country. The photographs are devastating. It is impossible to not be affected seeing the fear and suffering in those peoples eyes, knowing how little they had to begin with. All they want – really – is food and shelter. It’s awfully sad to see even those things taken. And yet, they persevere. No government program, just those more fortunate as always helping those less so.
What a wonderful place to live.
Today it was ribs for breakfast, ribs for lunch, ribs for supper, cooked three completely different ways – how does she know how much I love ribs? And yes, I think we are getting breakfast sorted out – she can see me tuck into Asian food for breakfast and realizes she doesn’t need to struggle with western food. Lightly curried noodles with ribs, fried rice with shrimp. Again there is that key word – fried.
This is the rainy season here, but it barely rains – on average we probably get an hour a day of rain. We probably get about the same total amount as an entire rainy day in Nova Scotia, but it comes with 6-8 hours of sun, and it’s always warm ( the locals might disagree with that, but they haven’t spent a winter in N.S.)
It’s when the rain prevents basketball that ticks me off.
Jacquie has gotten her new passport at last – with days to spare. She leaves in a week. The longing to have her here with me that I have been able to bury is now starting to bubble to the surface. She enters more and more of my everyday thought. It feels like the time is short enough now that I can dare to admit how much I’m missing her.
Eight more sleeps.
No sign that the work next door is nearing completion. I admit I’m starting to lose hope that I’ll be moved in before Jacquie gets here, but since there is nothing I can do about it, I won’t fret.
Ju and Ja were asking about basketball after Jacquie arrives, and speculating that I wouldn’t be going every night. I said I’d probably go three times a week, and I told Ju about the nightly aerobics classes held at Chaweng, and that Jacquie would likely go while I played ball. Turns out she didn’t know about those and loves aerobics and hopes she can go with Jacquie. Ja won’t be going I’m guessing. I think she is her own biggest fan of her cooking – poor thing wraps her knees every day – mine hurt more just watching her walk. I think she takes it as an insult that I would choose to play basketball before eating her food.
Wednesday morning Ja was standing on a chair, on her toes for she is not a tall woman, reaching over the wall and picking leaves off of the neighbors vine / shrub.
Yup, you guessed it – fried stolen leaves with pork for lunch. Delicious!! You never know one day to the next. Saturday I ate prawn twice, Sunday hotdog fried rice.
Big news: the CDRM (see Part 11) has AGAIN renamed itself – they are now the Council for National Security (CNS). Again same guns and tanks, but somehow this new name sounds more ominous. They are still saying they are giving the country back. I think I’m going to re-read George Orwell’s Animal Farm.
Locally, Ju decided to go to her home in Chiang Rai for a few days holiday. Taking the bus – 12 hours to Bangkok plus 12 hours to Chiang Rai, then same back again. All to spend what will be four days there. Makes me feel like a pussy complaining about the flight here from Canada.
She needed to go to Nathon to buy her ticket by 2 pm Friday, I had a 1 pm meeting at a law office in nearby Lamai, so she came with me and took the car while I was in my meeting. Three minutes after she left I discovered the office had moved a mile up the road, so I called her to come back and get me, and I swear she asked me “Where are you?”
Got her sorted and on her 3:30 bus – she was really happy and excited to be going. It’s lonely here for her.
I feel like I’m finally settling in here. I got my first tattoo finished (no photos till after Jacquie sees it) and I actually recognize a few words when I listen to Thai conversation – if they aren’t talking fast. I’m starting to hear “Hello darling, how are you? Where you go/” in my sleep. I think that will stop if Jacquie comes walking with me (already a few of the bars close by that I pass almost every night have given up on me – quitters!)
The work here is fun. That Friday meeting was with the seller and his lawyer to discuss my clients purchase of an $8 Million dollar stake in an apartment development. My client is talking like he’s headed to Walmart for a new toothbrush. And I’m just trying to act like it’s run of the mill for me too. You know, it’s good that we are careful here so you don’t loose your $8 million dollars. Okay?
Sunday. Jacquie’s Big Adventure starts soon. Four more sleeps for her. She is hanging on. It’s a good thing she is a strong woman - her preparations are surely a test for her. She finally – we think – has all of the paperwork needed for the dog (one more call to Thai Airways with the new 7-digit Government-generated-for-a-fee-in-Kentville number should do it). Any problems now will be dealt with during her trip by crying etc. Everyone, cross your fingers or say a prayer for her or both.
At my end we have a solution to the David driving through the heart of Bangkok problem. Seems my new four door 4-wheel drive truck has been delivered to Bangkok, and Kris and the driver were going to drive it down this weekend and fly back. Now they are not. Instead the driver and new truck will meet me and Jacquie and Sami at Suvarnabhumi Airport Friday night, and after sorting Sami’s importation he will drive us all to Koh Samui. So I get my wife, my dog and a new truck, all at once.
The new baggage handling computer system at Suvarnabhumi crashed twice on Saturday, so 6722 pieces of luggage missed their outgoing flights. They have gone to a manual system of a few days – which takes 15 seconds more per piece. So far at least no incoming luggage is being adversely affected. Or so they say.
Today on the beach a woman approached me as a left the water. Spoke very little English, but I think she was trying to pick me up. She started by telling me she lives alone but wants a boyfriend, and asking if I live alone. Blank stare when I said I have a wife, like she didn’t understand. The English then got good enough to tell me she has no job, has a baby girl and both she and her daughter are living with her sister who works at the 7-11. The baby’s father is dead. Then finally the conversation went:
“You not have woman in Thailand?
“No.”
“You not want?” – looking at me like I must be gay.
“No, I have woman in Canada, she come soon.”
“You must love woman in Canada a lot.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
Maybe she was just being friendly.
The folks from Club 44 all arrived again for a picnic on the concrete floor, then cards at the table (why don’t they play cards on the floor too? One woman arrived with a Scottish guy – I got to chatting with him. He paid for her for three weeks ( and now is spending the afternoon sitting at my beach alone while she gambles with her friends, probably with his money). Oddly, he seemed quite happy with the arrangement. He is 52 and looks 57. She appeared to be late 20’s. According to him the going rate for a “short time” is 300 Baht – about 9 bucks Canadian. I didn’t ask how much 3 weeks (which I assume would qualify as a “long time”) cost. Certainly it is clear that men here are judged solely on their financial ability to provide for the women. Women are judged by their beauty and their cooking – and it appears they had better be able to cook by the time they hit 30.
Interestingly (I think, and since I’m writing this I get to decide) the newspaper coverage of baseball and NFL football is extremely week, but the NHL hockey standings are now being published daily. Must be more hockey fans over here than I realized.
Tonight I stood on my beach, under a clear sky, and had a glass of wine while I watched the almost full (last night was the full moon party, but I didn’t go) moon lighting the edge of the cloud mass and lightning – steady lightning – lighting the inside. You could hear the rain hitting the water just offshore.
More importantly, the papers are filled daily with worsening stories of the worsening flooding in various parts of the country. The photographs are devastating. It is impossible to not be affected seeing the fear and suffering in those peoples eyes, knowing how little they had to begin with. All they want – really – is food and shelter. It’s awfully sad to see even those things taken. And yet, they persevere. No government program, just those more fortunate as always helping those less so.
What a wonderful place to live.
Big Adventure - Part 11
The CAR has now apparently changed its name to the Council for Democratic Reform under Constitutional Monarchy – for some reason the acronym is CDRM. Same guns and tanks, new name.
The lawyer from Bangkok I mentioned before, Dong, was back this weekend. If he was in Canada I would think he is an Asshole. Here, were everyone is so nice, he is a HUGE asshole. I want to say poor guy, it’s just a drinking problem, but I can’t – Dong is a dick.
Richie next door, who shares my opinion (and I’m thinking it’s got to be pretty obvious if even he can see it) figures he is an eldest son and we are all beneath him. It’s the job of someone less important than him to pickup the empty beer cans from the garden where he threw them. Or clean the shards of glass from the grass and beach from where he threw and smashed the empty vodka bottle.
Etcetera. Oh, and he has a drinking problem.
The new maid/cook arrived Tuesday. Her name is Ja (that keeps things easy for me – Ju and Ja) and she immediately started to clean up the kitchen. (I was already the person less important than Dong who picked up the empty beer cans and the shards of glass from the broken vodka bottle.) Does this mean breakfasts again? Well, Wednesday morning came and went and not so far. No talking at all – a grunt when I say hello in Thai. I’m thinking maybe she needs an attitude adjustment…….I just ate lunch – a large omelet stuffed with fried rice and beef and spices – and I really like the new maid/cook. I don’t know what I was thinking, she is really nice.
Thursday morning, and I’m having cut up, microwaved Hot Dog – Thai word Hot Dog – for breakfast.
Today at basketball, first play, stole the pass, full speed down court for uncontested lay up, planted my foot on the wet concrete, but it didn’t plant – went down like a sack of rice. Bruised and sore. Concrete is harder than wood.
Don Muang International Airport deserves a few words. It closed this morning at 3 am. It was the oldest airport in the world, having been in operation as a commercial airport since 1914 - 92 years.!
Suvarnabhumi International Airport (pronounced’ sue varna boom’, with the r being mostly silent ) took over as Bangkok’s airport – and it of course is now the worlds newest airport. It is also the largest single terminal airport in the world. There were lots of pictures in the insert in the newspaper, and it sure looks beautiful. I can’t wait to get there. Hope they soon get the baggage conveyor system working, and get all of the leaks in the roof fixed. Rainy season is here.
My concern now about the new maid/cook is that I may never get to eat these exquisite foods again. She just made fried carrots, broccoli and ground pork taste incredible. Yesterday it was basically fried cabbage with shrimp, same thing.
The ants are mostly starting to leave. I think regular cleaning is a good thing.
Monday morning, October 2
Another weekend is over – they seem to be getting longer – hard to resist working to pass the time, but I managed it. Highlights of the days off:
-I went motorcycle shopping. A challenge that I hadn’t expected was distinguishing a motorcycle store from any successful business with customers parked out front. Can’t find ANY used automatics, though there must be some somewhere since they do sell new ones. I can get a decent standard shift 4 speed (clutchless) for about $600. I can get a new automatic with electric start for about $1400. I’ll keep looking.
-had another massage. Seems like every time I do that the next day I feel like I’ve been beaten up. Today is no different. I hurt more than I did after falling on concrete last week.
One step forward, one step back. This morning Ja cooked me breakfast. The egg was delicious, cooked on both sides – it was wonderful. It was served with 2 dry toast, no butter, and 2 lightly warmed in the microwave hot dogs. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.
Update on Jacquie and Sam’s travel plans. She found a much lighter crate, and in it Sami weighs 103 pounds. American Airlines flies to New York in the mornings with a 100 pound limit on shipping live animals, so she has bought the crate and a ticket, put Sami on a diet, and extended a deeply heartfelt warm “thank you anyway” to Rhona and Cathy who had offered to drive them to New York (as you might have guessed, I’m repeating that thank you here now – thank you). That’s the good news.
Thai Airways (the New York to Bangkok flight) had confirmed to me that even if he is over 100 pounds all we had to do was buy her ticket and then advise which flight in advance. But now Jacquie is being told they won’t guarantee him going on that plane at any weight – big problem. She has to call back this week to see – another hurdle for her to struggle with.
I’m looking into flying to Bangkok, then all of us flying back to Samui. Bangkok Airways (my only choice – they own the airport here and won’t let any competitor use it) say they want me to guarantee that the dog will not bark at any point during the trip !! What are they going to do, turn back? I mentioned this to Kris, and he apparently knows some people, etc. and has a lawyer in our Bangkok office working on that for me. I’m actually okay with driving, and even mostly have my route through the middle of Bangkok picked out, but Jacquie and Sam will have been traveling for 30 hours already so a 10 hour drive overnight to a morning ferry and then more driving probably won’t be that attractive to either of them.
On a positive note, Ju and Ja are both looking forward to welcoming them both. They wanted to know if Jacquie was nice / friendly and I said of course and they are thrilled at the prospect of being her friends. I am confident that Sami will have constant companionship here. Ja wanted to know what to cook for Sami (I tried to explain no people food, but I’ve got serious doubts on that). Ju says she will teach him the key Thai words he needs to learn: no, down, sit, stay…ball, treat, good boy. I’m thinking it might be easier to teach Ju and Ja the English words. That’s true for me.
On the weekends, the women all like to have a picnic and eat on a mat on the cement beside the large tables and chairs (I know, I don’t understand it either). Anyway, I’m betting Sami will enjoy the picnics. I am wondering how he will react the first time he wolfs down a blistering hot hunk of meat. Maybe I’ll leave a dish of Nham pik (ultra hot mashed spices used sparingly as a condiment on rice) out for him deliberately – that ought to cure any food theft issues.
11 days. Hopefully. Anyone not sense my increasing excitement?
As expected, the renovations next door are not finished, but it is coming along and is beautiful. There was a strip by the house not done, but I am now advised that it will be a garden with some colourful flowers, and stone path to our door. She wants me to go in with her this week to discuss and decide upon furniture placement.
Me.!!
I said sure, but that maybe my wife might want to move one or two things after she arrives, if that would be okay. I think she’s fine with that. Right now the plan has her father arriving back on the 6th to a mostly finished house and me getting in soon thereafter. Still hopeful I’ll be in before Jacquie and Sam arrive (I mean I want to move in before the 12th, not that they be later arriving)
It’s Monday afternoon and the wind is up. Way up. I think this might be the remnants of Typhoon Xangsane (now merely a tropical depression). I think I’ll try to send this while we still have electicity.
Till next time….
The lawyer from Bangkok I mentioned before, Dong, was back this weekend. If he was in Canada I would think he is an Asshole. Here, were everyone is so nice, he is a HUGE asshole. I want to say poor guy, it’s just a drinking problem, but I can’t – Dong is a dick.
Richie next door, who shares my opinion (and I’m thinking it’s got to be pretty obvious if even he can see it) figures he is an eldest son and we are all beneath him. It’s the job of someone less important than him to pickup the empty beer cans from the garden where he threw them. Or clean the shards of glass from the grass and beach from where he threw and smashed the empty vodka bottle.
Etcetera. Oh, and he has a drinking problem.
The new maid/cook arrived Tuesday. Her name is Ja (that keeps things easy for me – Ju and Ja) and she immediately started to clean up the kitchen. (I was already the person less important than Dong who picked up the empty beer cans and the shards of glass from the broken vodka bottle.) Does this mean breakfasts again? Well, Wednesday morning came and went and not so far. No talking at all – a grunt when I say hello in Thai. I’m thinking maybe she needs an attitude adjustment…….I just ate lunch – a large omelet stuffed with fried rice and beef and spices – and I really like the new maid/cook. I don’t know what I was thinking, she is really nice.
Thursday morning, and I’m having cut up, microwaved Hot Dog – Thai word Hot Dog – for breakfast.
Today at basketball, first play, stole the pass, full speed down court for uncontested lay up, planted my foot on the wet concrete, but it didn’t plant – went down like a sack of rice. Bruised and sore. Concrete is harder than wood.
Don Muang International Airport deserves a few words. It closed this morning at 3 am. It was the oldest airport in the world, having been in operation as a commercial airport since 1914 - 92 years.!
Suvarnabhumi International Airport (pronounced’ sue varna boom’, with the r being mostly silent ) took over as Bangkok’s airport – and it of course is now the worlds newest airport. It is also the largest single terminal airport in the world. There were lots of pictures in the insert in the newspaper, and it sure looks beautiful. I can’t wait to get there. Hope they soon get the baggage conveyor system working, and get all of the leaks in the roof fixed. Rainy season is here.
My concern now about the new maid/cook is that I may never get to eat these exquisite foods again. She just made fried carrots, broccoli and ground pork taste incredible. Yesterday it was basically fried cabbage with shrimp, same thing.
The ants are mostly starting to leave. I think regular cleaning is a good thing.
Monday morning, October 2
Another weekend is over – they seem to be getting longer – hard to resist working to pass the time, but I managed it. Highlights of the days off:
-I went motorcycle shopping. A challenge that I hadn’t expected was distinguishing a motorcycle store from any successful business with customers parked out front. Can’t find ANY used automatics, though there must be some somewhere since they do sell new ones. I can get a decent standard shift 4 speed (clutchless) for about $600. I can get a new automatic with electric start for about $1400. I’ll keep looking.
-had another massage. Seems like every time I do that the next day I feel like I’ve been beaten up. Today is no different. I hurt more than I did after falling on concrete last week.
One step forward, one step back. This morning Ja cooked me breakfast. The egg was delicious, cooked on both sides – it was wonderful. It was served with 2 dry toast, no butter, and 2 lightly warmed in the microwave hot dogs. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.
Update on Jacquie and Sam’s travel plans. She found a much lighter crate, and in it Sami weighs 103 pounds. American Airlines flies to New York in the mornings with a 100 pound limit on shipping live animals, so she has bought the crate and a ticket, put Sami on a diet, and extended a deeply heartfelt warm “thank you anyway” to Rhona and Cathy who had offered to drive them to New York (as you might have guessed, I’m repeating that thank you here now – thank you). That’s the good news.
Thai Airways (the New York to Bangkok flight) had confirmed to me that even if he is over 100 pounds all we had to do was buy her ticket and then advise which flight in advance. But now Jacquie is being told they won’t guarantee him going on that plane at any weight – big problem. She has to call back this week to see – another hurdle for her to struggle with.
I’m looking into flying to Bangkok, then all of us flying back to Samui. Bangkok Airways (my only choice – they own the airport here and won’t let any competitor use it) say they want me to guarantee that the dog will not bark at any point during the trip !! What are they going to do, turn back? I mentioned this to Kris, and he apparently knows some people, etc. and has a lawyer in our Bangkok office working on that for me. I’m actually okay with driving, and even mostly have my route through the middle of Bangkok picked out, but Jacquie and Sam will have been traveling for 30 hours already so a 10 hour drive overnight to a morning ferry and then more driving probably won’t be that attractive to either of them.
On a positive note, Ju and Ja are both looking forward to welcoming them both. They wanted to know if Jacquie was nice / friendly and I said of course and they are thrilled at the prospect of being her friends. I am confident that Sami will have constant companionship here. Ja wanted to know what to cook for Sami (I tried to explain no people food, but I’ve got serious doubts on that). Ju says she will teach him the key Thai words he needs to learn: no, down, sit, stay…ball, treat, good boy. I’m thinking it might be easier to teach Ju and Ja the English words. That’s true for me.
On the weekends, the women all like to have a picnic and eat on a mat on the cement beside the large tables and chairs (I know, I don’t understand it either). Anyway, I’m betting Sami will enjoy the picnics. I am wondering how he will react the first time he wolfs down a blistering hot hunk of meat. Maybe I’ll leave a dish of Nham pik (ultra hot mashed spices used sparingly as a condiment on rice) out for him deliberately – that ought to cure any food theft issues.
11 days. Hopefully. Anyone not sense my increasing excitement?
As expected, the renovations next door are not finished, but it is coming along and is beautiful. There was a strip by the house not done, but I am now advised that it will be a garden with some colourful flowers, and stone path to our door. She wants me to go in with her this week to discuss and decide upon furniture placement.
Me.!!
I said sure, but that maybe my wife might want to move one or two things after she arrives, if that would be okay. I think she’s fine with that. Right now the plan has her father arriving back on the 6th to a mostly finished house and me getting in soon thereafter. Still hopeful I’ll be in before Jacquie and Sam arrive (I mean I want to move in before the 12th, not that they be later arriving)
It’s Monday afternoon and the wind is up. Way up. I think this might be the remnants of Typhoon Xangsane (now merely a tropical depression). I think I’ll try to send this while we still have electicity.
Till next time….
Big Adventure - Part 10
Well, I see that I have been here for just about 10 weeks and this is the tenth edition of my ramblings. Hey, maybe I could call this a weekly column and “publish” it on a regular schedule?
I worked this weekend (yes, I thought that I was moving away from that) – my first really big new client all my own – 2 mill for the land then several large apartment complexes – here we go. As a result of being so exhausted from working on my weekend, I’m writing this and finishing reading my book today (Monday).
Work continues next door – of course. Four guys are out in my parking lot squatting down cutting lumber with hand saws. I should tell them about sawhorses and power saws. On the weekend they were out there cutting 8 x 8 teak posts to length with the same hand saws. That took a while.
I find myself saying things like “David go Tesco” and “many traffic” in daily conversation. If this continues no one will understand me when I come there, eh?
Well, I got some wonderful news this morning – Jacquie is booked !!! The plan is hopefully coming together. I light at the end of the long dark tunnel of loneliness. Assuming the plan holds (that is that the arrangements for the dog to fly on the same flight can be finalized and confirmed) she will arrive in Bangkok on Oct. 13. Oh happy day.
I don’t know if you get any news about Asia over there unless it’s about a disaster, but Bangkok’s brand new state of the art airport opens on Sept. 28th. Suvarnabhumi International. Apparently the largest single terminal airport in the world, it is located on an 8,000 acre site 40 minutes from downtown. The main passenger terminal building is just shy of 6 million square feet – the duty free stores are all together in a mall that is one kilometer long. The train system being built to serve it won’t be finished until next year or the year after that, but in the meantime 10,000 taxis will serve it. There is of course a hotel, but also a movie theatre and bowling alley. It will handle 100 million passengers a year, and they can handle 9,600 pieces of luggage AN HOUR.!!
So two weeks after it opens Jacquie and Sam arrive there by plane and I must find it by car. I just realized that I’ve never driven anywhere in Thailand off of this island (except the odd day with a rented motorbike on some other islands) and I can’t get too lost here – it’s an island. Now I’m going to take a 10 +++ hour drive to a brand new airport the size of a town, on the far side of Bangkok – a city with 12 million people and about the same number of cars and motorbikes.
I think I should leave tomorrow, to give myself time to find it.
It’s tomorrow, I didn’t leave but I did spend some time finding maps, etc. and sorting out the route to and from Bangkok. There is one key road right in the city I can’t find a route number for, but otherwise it looks doable. All freeways all the way, barring any wrong turns. I might go a day early just to be safe.
Today the yard guys came to mow, etc. I couldn’t go get coffee because rocks from the whipper snipper guy were dinging off of my glass door the whole time. Three guys were here for about 2 hours and charged about $24. For here that is a lot of money. I assume if a window shatters from being hit with rocks they’ll go good for it.
The changes next door are progressing. They will include a small patio under the pergola outside our living room with a table and chairs. They have just started laying beautiful terracotta tiles there. Very inviting – a nice spot for morning coffee or a cool drink in the evening. She says it still should be all finished and ready for me by the end of the month – at worst I should at least be moved in before my wife arrives.
Well. Add to the list of things I should not take for granted a stable democracy and a constitution. As you all know, there was a successful coup by the army yesterday, while the “caretaker Prime Minister” was in New York speaking at the UN (he has cancelled his speech and is flying back I think). It appears the coup was led by General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, although he was clearly not acting alone.
The coup was conducted in true Thai style – no violence and the army has apologized to the people for the inconvenience caused by them seizing power. A kinder, gentler coup. Television and radio were taken over as well but today are back on the air reporting both sides of the situation. Here on Samui we are a long way from Bangkok. No tanks in the streets (a tank and a car couldn’t pass on these roads). The only signs of the coup are the media reports and the fact that school has been cancelled country wide. When I was in school we had storm days, but I never, not even once, got to stay home because of a coup day.
The new regime is calling itself the Council of Administrative Reform. So apparently the CAR is being driven by General Boonyaratkalin.
General Boonyaratkalin has said that he will act as Prime Minister for two weeks until a new leader “who is neutral and upholds democracy” can be found. Nice to see that the leader of the armed coup that overthrew the democratically elected government so strongly believes in democracy.
We have no constitution now. Interesting to contemplate the potential of that.
The biggest concern is the impact all of this will have on the economy. Already today the Baht his hit a four year low – great for tourists coming here but not so hot for lawyers who moved here to work and are being paid in Thai Baht (and who want to spend Thai Baht to travel to other countries – maybe we’ll limit our travels in the short term to countries where the government has been recently overthrown by a military junta).
On the plus side, I have learned the correct spelling of coup d’état. And I’ve got a new nickname, being like the new sheriff in town – “Marshall Law” (all of you can call me Marshall.
Even the news channels have picked it up – they’re all saying “Marshall Law is in Thailand”. How cool is that?
10:30 at night and the plumbers just arrived. It doesn’t really sound like they are working. It sounds more like they are having a tailgate party in the parking lot below my balcony. I hope they get whatever it is that’s broken fixed by my bedtime.
The next day.
No, they didn’t. Now we have no water again. Apparently it went dry last night and Ju called those plumbers. They say now that the well is dry. I’ve suggested that she arrange to buy water to fill the cisterns on the roof. Almost makes me look forward to the rainy season.
Afternoon, and the water vendor has arrived. I assume that we are buying what comes off of the truck – so we are paying for the 50 or so gallons running across the driveway from the leaky hose.
Today I went to Tesco for soda water and the computer store for a new monitor. At Tesco I saw a woman in her 80s with tattoos, orange hair, and a tube top. On the drive back from the computer store I saw a big, big woman on the songtaew (pickup truck taxi with a roof) in front of me change her clothes. I’m not sure if that was a bikini or underwear – I’ll let you know which it looks like in the nightmares (she’ll probably have orange hair and tattoos).
We are now 2 days post coup, and it is now being touted as “The Peoples Coup”. As one description put it,
“The feeling here is similar to how it feels when you finally pull a
splinter out that has been hurting for so long.......still a little
raw....but what a relief..... “
A poll today shows an 87% approval rating for the military. Wow.
Saturday morning, and on page 2 of the paper there is a story explaining that astrologers and fortune tellers are saying that the future looks bright for the country now, because of the coup. I wonder who has editorial control over at the newspaper.
Well, when we decided to move here, we at no time considered that we might be moving to a military state. But now I’m here and living it and I guess nothing is really different. I will feel even better when the former Prime Minister’s children – who haven’t been seen since Wednesday - resurface safe and sound.
And I’ll feel better still when I am complete again on October 13.
David happy. Soon.
I worked this weekend (yes, I thought that I was moving away from that) – my first really big new client all my own – 2 mill for the land then several large apartment complexes – here we go. As a result of being so exhausted from working on my weekend, I’m writing this and finishing reading my book today (Monday).
Work continues next door – of course. Four guys are out in my parking lot squatting down cutting lumber with hand saws. I should tell them about sawhorses and power saws. On the weekend they were out there cutting 8 x 8 teak posts to length with the same hand saws. That took a while.
I find myself saying things like “David go Tesco” and “many traffic” in daily conversation. If this continues no one will understand me when I come there, eh?
Well, I got some wonderful news this morning – Jacquie is booked !!! The plan is hopefully coming together. I light at the end of the long dark tunnel of loneliness. Assuming the plan holds (that is that the arrangements for the dog to fly on the same flight can be finalized and confirmed) she will arrive in Bangkok on Oct. 13. Oh happy day.
I don’t know if you get any news about Asia over there unless it’s about a disaster, but Bangkok’s brand new state of the art airport opens on Sept. 28th. Suvarnabhumi International. Apparently the largest single terminal airport in the world, it is located on an 8,000 acre site 40 minutes from downtown. The main passenger terminal building is just shy of 6 million square feet – the duty free stores are all together in a mall that is one kilometer long. The train system being built to serve it won’t be finished until next year or the year after that, but in the meantime 10,000 taxis will serve it. There is of course a hotel, but also a movie theatre and bowling alley. It will handle 100 million passengers a year, and they can handle 9,600 pieces of luggage AN HOUR.!!
So two weeks after it opens Jacquie and Sam arrive there by plane and I must find it by car. I just realized that I’ve never driven anywhere in Thailand off of this island (except the odd day with a rented motorbike on some other islands) and I can’t get too lost here – it’s an island. Now I’m going to take a 10 +++ hour drive to a brand new airport the size of a town, on the far side of Bangkok – a city with 12 million people and about the same number of cars and motorbikes.
I think I should leave tomorrow, to give myself time to find it.
It’s tomorrow, I didn’t leave but I did spend some time finding maps, etc. and sorting out the route to and from Bangkok. There is one key road right in the city I can’t find a route number for, but otherwise it looks doable. All freeways all the way, barring any wrong turns. I might go a day early just to be safe.
Today the yard guys came to mow, etc. I couldn’t go get coffee because rocks from the whipper snipper guy were dinging off of my glass door the whole time. Three guys were here for about 2 hours and charged about $24. For here that is a lot of money. I assume if a window shatters from being hit with rocks they’ll go good for it.
The changes next door are progressing. They will include a small patio under the pergola outside our living room with a table and chairs. They have just started laying beautiful terracotta tiles there. Very inviting – a nice spot for morning coffee or a cool drink in the evening. She says it still should be all finished and ready for me by the end of the month – at worst I should at least be moved in before my wife arrives.
Well. Add to the list of things I should not take for granted a stable democracy and a constitution. As you all know, there was a successful coup by the army yesterday, while the “caretaker Prime Minister” was in New York speaking at the UN (he has cancelled his speech and is flying back I think). It appears the coup was led by General Sondhi Boonyaratkalin, although he was clearly not acting alone.
The coup was conducted in true Thai style – no violence and the army has apologized to the people for the inconvenience caused by them seizing power. A kinder, gentler coup. Television and radio were taken over as well but today are back on the air reporting both sides of the situation. Here on Samui we are a long way from Bangkok. No tanks in the streets (a tank and a car couldn’t pass on these roads). The only signs of the coup are the media reports and the fact that school has been cancelled country wide. When I was in school we had storm days, but I never, not even once, got to stay home because of a coup day.
The new regime is calling itself the Council of Administrative Reform. So apparently the CAR is being driven by General Boonyaratkalin.
General Boonyaratkalin has said that he will act as Prime Minister for two weeks until a new leader “who is neutral and upholds democracy” can be found. Nice to see that the leader of the armed coup that overthrew the democratically elected government so strongly believes in democracy.
We have no constitution now. Interesting to contemplate the potential of that.
The biggest concern is the impact all of this will have on the economy. Already today the Baht his hit a four year low – great for tourists coming here but not so hot for lawyers who moved here to work and are being paid in Thai Baht (and who want to spend Thai Baht to travel to other countries – maybe we’ll limit our travels in the short term to countries where the government has been recently overthrown by a military junta).
On the plus side, I have learned the correct spelling of coup d’état. And I’ve got a new nickname, being like the new sheriff in town – “Marshall Law” (all of you can call me Marshall.
Even the news channels have picked it up – they’re all saying “Marshall Law is in Thailand”. How cool is that?
10:30 at night and the plumbers just arrived. It doesn’t really sound like they are working. It sounds more like they are having a tailgate party in the parking lot below my balcony. I hope they get whatever it is that’s broken fixed by my bedtime.
The next day.
No, they didn’t. Now we have no water again. Apparently it went dry last night and Ju called those plumbers. They say now that the well is dry. I’ve suggested that she arrange to buy water to fill the cisterns on the roof. Almost makes me look forward to the rainy season.
Afternoon, and the water vendor has arrived. I assume that we are buying what comes off of the truck – so we are paying for the 50 or so gallons running across the driveway from the leaky hose.
Today I went to Tesco for soda water and the computer store for a new monitor. At Tesco I saw a woman in her 80s with tattoos, orange hair, and a tube top. On the drive back from the computer store I saw a big, big woman on the songtaew (pickup truck taxi with a roof) in front of me change her clothes. I’m not sure if that was a bikini or underwear – I’ll let you know which it looks like in the nightmares (she’ll probably have orange hair and tattoos).
We are now 2 days post coup, and it is now being touted as “The Peoples Coup”. As one description put it,
“The feeling here is similar to how it feels when you finally pull a
splinter out that has been hurting for so long.......still a little
raw....but what a relief..... “
A poll today shows an 87% approval rating for the military. Wow.
Saturday morning, and on page 2 of the paper there is a story explaining that astrologers and fortune tellers are saying that the future looks bright for the country now, because of the coup. I wonder who has editorial control over at the newspaper.
Well, when we decided to move here, we at no time considered that we might be moving to a military state. But now I’m here and living it and I guess nothing is really different. I will feel even better when the former Prime Minister’s children – who haven’t been seen since Wednesday - resurface safe and sound.
And I’ll feel better still when I am complete again on October 13.
David happy. Soon.
Big Adventure - Part 9
Monday morning. I’m sitting here in my office watching the workers from next door. Over the weekend they broke up what appeared to be a perfectly good concrete driveway by hand, then carried the pieces in baskets to our side of the dividing wall and made a large – large – pile in our yard. Today the job begins to pick up all of those pieces one at a time and throw them in to the back of the pickup truck – the same truck that sat here empty on the weekend while they made the pile. I assume that at the other end of the trip they will unload the truck by hand one piece at a time, into a pile no doubt in the wrong place to be moved again later.
I should mention that the workers consist of men and women. Men fill all of the skill positions, women all of the laborer positions. Even breaking up the concrete driveway with sledgehammers. I’ve got to say it looked like hot work, all bundled up in long pants, long sleeved sweaters, face masks, hats, and swinging sledgehammers that probably weighed as much as they did. While the men worked constructing the sala.
The roof of the Sala is made of about 8 inch square diamond shaped pieces of concrete shingles that overlap and interlock. On the corners (it’s a hip roof) they are building forms and pouring concrete right onto the roof.
I also am listening – want to or not – to the truck radio of the newest team of plumbers here trying to get us water. Now I can communicate with them in Thai – I can say hello, I can say water, and I can say how many minutes they have been here, and I can tell them I have lost my passport or ask where the restaurant is. That’s all, no plumbing conversation yet – It is still early in my new quest. Anyway, they seem to favour extremely loud Thai music. It could be a long day.
The woman from next door on the beach end (our property runs from the road to the beach; beside us are two properties, Richie the Torontonian on the road and a very elderly couple on the beach who share our driveway. Theirs is the third property served by the well, and the woman of whom I speak is the daughter who is doing all of the new construction and renovations as a surprise for her parents who are away because her father is in the hospital getting back surgery) says she knows who worked on the plumbing system originally and she is going to get them to come because they know where all of the pipes go. This is the same woman who is paying a large team of women to move piles of concrete pieces around. I’m confident now.
What I haven’t shared – until now – is that in my search for a house or apartment for when Jacquie and Sam arrive (sooner if I get no water) I discovered that those folks on the beach end have a two bedroom apartment for rent. Furnished. I have spoken with the woman mentioned above, I’ve viewed it and I think I've got it. (I mean verbally I do have it) 2,000 Baht per month cheaper than Richie the Torontonian told me, because he was going to pocket that amount. What a nice guy, doing me the favour to mention the place. I guess he should have kept the location secret, so I couldn’t screw him back. The woman (daughter) lives just up the road and has said we can also drop by anytime we want to swim in their pool, in case we get tired of swimming in the gulf. Anyway, I am watching the renovations and new driveway with greater interest. This place is the perfect location for us, at least for now. On the beach and right next door. It is supposed to be ready by the end of September (when her parents are due back), so I can be all moved in before Jacquie and Sam arrive. Sometimes things just work out.
The team of plumbers want to tear apart the building to get at the pipes below the floor – even though there is no water to the beach house either which would suggest the problem is not beneath the floor. We said no, so within a couple of hours we have water again anyway. They still want to come back and look under the floor, which they do later in the afternoon. I think they are here to stay, till another job comes along.
The guy with no appointment who is building a large resort has just left, and the guy who had an appointment Friday but was sick in Bangkok just called looking for us – he is on his way over. So much for a quiet day watching the women lug concrete.
It’s Tuesday morning and the plumber guys are back. I need to wash some clothes Quick while I still have water. Basketball every night sure makes the dirty laundry pile up. I need a maid.
The process of piling concrete and then moving the pile is continuing. I find it incredibly difficult not to go suggest that they move it directly onto the back of the truck. It keeps lots of people employed I guess.
Last night I watched a lightning storm nearby while I lay under a starry sky. The weather here seems prone to extremes. By November we will be in full blown monsoon season and there will be flooding and mudslides. It will be interesting. I’ve never seen a foot of rain in one day. I can’t even really imagine it. I almost look forward to the experience. Almost.
There has been one disturbingweather pattern developing – perfectly nice all day until late afternoon, then quickly clouding over and raining at basketball time. Already this week we’ve been completely rained out once and mostly rained out the next day – and here come the clouds again today at around sip har nar li gar (15:00). Damn it.
My new daily ordeal is sitting here on my lazy ass while the gang of tiny women haul concrete and rocks and dirt and throw it onto a pile, then periodically load same from that pile onto the back of a pickup truck. It’s no wonder they’re all thin, and no wonder that they seem to look at me like I’m nuts when I exercise for fun. On the plus side I’m drinking less coffee – I’m too embarrassed to walk past all of them to go get it (gee, maybe I should send Ju to fetch it for me?)
Crab curry, mayonnaise seafood, spicy cheese. lobster – yes, those are some of my favourite flavours of potato chips. I buy the bulk / Halloween pack at Tesco. A dozen bags, total weight equals about one large bag there (sip jeht (17) grams each bag). I admit that I sometimes eat two bags at once.
I want to extend a huge apology to my mother. Years of trying to get me to eat liver, and now I eat chicken livers on a stick just so Ju won’t feel bad. I never worried about moms hurt feelings. Sorry mom.
Ju made up for the chicken livers with the Goi Kae – banana deep fried in a coconut batter – for desert. Say, that would make a good potato chip flavour. Better than Nori Seaweed I’m guessing.
I finally found a scale, so I can see how all of this food and exercise is balancing out. According to it I weigh 190 (no, I can’t count past 99 (gao sip gao) yet – about the same as when I left. It must be right – I paid three bucks for it.
It’s Thursday afternoon, and for the first day this week there have not been any plumbers here – at least so far. Yesterday I washed some clothes. The water was almost as brown as it was back on York Street, so I just washed basketball clothes. The water is getting clearer every day, so maybe in a day or two I’ll try some more laundry. If we still have water; I’ve added water to electricity and internet as things that I should not be too dependent on. All I’ll say is that for now I have all three.
Mosquitoes here are tiny and very quick. You can barely see them if at all and you don’t know until it’s way too late that they were around. Probably because they are so small, they go for very specific spots where the blood is close to the surface – backs of hands, feet, ankles, behind ears. The good news is that they don’t appear to carry Malaria or Dengue Fever – at least so far.
As expected, having even a tiny grasp of numbers and time is proving very helpful. I see people warming to me just for trying. Today I heard one of the carpenters next door say “30 blah blah blah” (sahm sip for anyone keeping score). Anyway, what brings that topic up is my attendance at the party supply store I mentioned before, called “Let’s Party” – and no, it is not a bar with girls out front. They have cards and gift wrap and balloons, etc. for all occasions. I was able to arrange for sip sohng (12) balloons to be filled with helium and be ready for pick up at yee sip sohng nar li gar (22:00) tonight (hopefully after Ju has retired for the night) so that they and the birthday card I also got can be outside her room when she opens the door tomorrow morning – her yee sip hoc (26) birthday. I still think I’m their first customer, but there were sohng (2) staff there to help me.
I picked up the balloons, walked home with them. I think the strings could have been tied better, because only seven of them made it. Oh well, she won’t know.
Friday Ju was thrilled with the balloons, the card, the cake, and the party they had for her over at "Club 44" with more cake.
The plumbers were back today, as expected. We still have water, but it’s always nice to see them.
And the work continues next door. Never before have I seen so many people work so hard for so long and accomplish so little. Richie (I’m going to stop calling him Richie the Torontonian before it becomes a habit) says they are all Burmese and that they make 100 Baht a day – 3 bucks.
After basketball I showered but I didn’t use any deodorant. When I walked into the bathroom a lizard scurried behind the deodorant, and being the humanitarian that I am I didn’t want to disturb him/her.
Made another call today to the airline about the dog. Turns out the crate is 30 pounds, so with him in it the total weight is about 115 pounds. I spoke with two people at the Bangkok office and made one of them double check with their supervisor to be sure – there is no problem with the dog coming on the same flight as Jacquie. Over 100 pounds he is considered two extra pieces of luggage instead of one – double the extra charge but still much less than cargo. So now Jacquie has to find a ride to New York and book a flight, then advise the New York reservation office in advance that a big dog will be coming along (and pay). Again I was reassured it would be no problem – as long as he has all of his health certificates when he gets here.
Hopefully one step closer.
I should mention that the workers consist of men and women. Men fill all of the skill positions, women all of the laborer positions. Even breaking up the concrete driveway with sledgehammers. I’ve got to say it looked like hot work, all bundled up in long pants, long sleeved sweaters, face masks, hats, and swinging sledgehammers that probably weighed as much as they did. While the men worked constructing the sala.
The roof of the Sala is made of about 8 inch square diamond shaped pieces of concrete shingles that overlap and interlock. On the corners (it’s a hip roof) they are building forms and pouring concrete right onto the roof.
I also am listening – want to or not – to the truck radio of the newest team of plumbers here trying to get us water. Now I can communicate with them in Thai – I can say hello, I can say water, and I can say how many minutes they have been here, and I can tell them I have lost my passport or ask where the restaurant is. That’s all, no plumbing conversation yet – It is still early in my new quest. Anyway, they seem to favour extremely loud Thai music. It could be a long day.
The woman from next door on the beach end (our property runs from the road to the beach; beside us are two properties, Richie the Torontonian on the road and a very elderly couple on the beach who share our driveway. Theirs is the third property served by the well, and the woman of whom I speak is the daughter who is doing all of the new construction and renovations as a surprise for her parents who are away because her father is in the hospital getting back surgery) says she knows who worked on the plumbing system originally and she is going to get them to come because they know where all of the pipes go. This is the same woman who is paying a large team of women to move piles of concrete pieces around. I’m confident now.
What I haven’t shared – until now – is that in my search for a house or apartment for when Jacquie and Sam arrive (sooner if I get no water) I discovered that those folks on the beach end have a two bedroom apartment for rent. Furnished. I have spoken with the woman mentioned above, I’ve viewed it and I think I've got it. (I mean verbally I do have it) 2,000 Baht per month cheaper than Richie the Torontonian told me, because he was going to pocket that amount. What a nice guy, doing me the favour to mention the place. I guess he should have kept the location secret, so I couldn’t screw him back. The woman (daughter) lives just up the road and has said we can also drop by anytime we want to swim in their pool, in case we get tired of swimming in the gulf. Anyway, I am watching the renovations and new driveway with greater interest. This place is the perfect location for us, at least for now. On the beach and right next door. It is supposed to be ready by the end of September (when her parents are due back), so I can be all moved in before Jacquie and Sam arrive. Sometimes things just work out.
The team of plumbers want to tear apart the building to get at the pipes below the floor – even though there is no water to the beach house either which would suggest the problem is not beneath the floor. We said no, so within a couple of hours we have water again anyway. They still want to come back and look under the floor, which they do later in the afternoon. I think they are here to stay, till another job comes along.
The guy with no appointment who is building a large resort has just left, and the guy who had an appointment Friday but was sick in Bangkok just called looking for us – he is on his way over. So much for a quiet day watching the women lug concrete.
It’s Tuesday morning and the plumber guys are back. I need to wash some clothes Quick while I still have water. Basketball every night sure makes the dirty laundry pile up. I need a maid.
The process of piling concrete and then moving the pile is continuing. I find it incredibly difficult not to go suggest that they move it directly onto the back of the truck. It keeps lots of people employed I guess.
Last night I watched a lightning storm nearby while I lay under a starry sky. The weather here seems prone to extremes. By November we will be in full blown monsoon season and there will be flooding and mudslides. It will be interesting. I’ve never seen a foot of rain in one day. I can’t even really imagine it. I almost look forward to the experience. Almost.
There has been one disturbingweather pattern developing – perfectly nice all day until late afternoon, then quickly clouding over and raining at basketball time. Already this week we’ve been completely rained out once and mostly rained out the next day – and here come the clouds again today at around sip har nar li gar (15:00). Damn it.
My new daily ordeal is sitting here on my lazy ass while the gang of tiny women haul concrete and rocks and dirt and throw it onto a pile, then periodically load same from that pile onto the back of a pickup truck. It’s no wonder they’re all thin, and no wonder that they seem to look at me like I’m nuts when I exercise for fun. On the plus side I’m drinking less coffee – I’m too embarrassed to walk past all of them to go get it (gee, maybe I should send Ju to fetch it for me?)
Crab curry, mayonnaise seafood, spicy cheese. lobster – yes, those are some of my favourite flavours of potato chips. I buy the bulk / Halloween pack at Tesco. A dozen bags, total weight equals about one large bag there (sip jeht (17) grams each bag). I admit that I sometimes eat two bags at once.
I want to extend a huge apology to my mother. Years of trying to get me to eat liver, and now I eat chicken livers on a stick just so Ju won’t feel bad. I never worried about moms hurt feelings. Sorry mom.
Ju made up for the chicken livers with the Goi Kae – banana deep fried in a coconut batter – for desert. Say, that would make a good potato chip flavour. Better than Nori Seaweed I’m guessing.
I finally found a scale, so I can see how all of this food and exercise is balancing out. According to it I weigh 190 (no, I can’t count past 99 (gao sip gao) yet – about the same as when I left. It must be right – I paid three bucks for it.
It’s Thursday afternoon, and for the first day this week there have not been any plumbers here – at least so far. Yesterday I washed some clothes. The water was almost as brown as it was back on York Street, so I just washed basketball clothes. The water is getting clearer every day, so maybe in a day or two I’ll try some more laundry. If we still have water; I’ve added water to electricity and internet as things that I should not be too dependent on. All I’ll say is that for now I have all three.
Mosquitoes here are tiny and very quick. You can barely see them if at all and you don’t know until it’s way too late that they were around. Probably because they are so small, they go for very specific spots where the blood is close to the surface – backs of hands, feet, ankles, behind ears. The good news is that they don’t appear to carry Malaria or Dengue Fever – at least so far.
As expected, having even a tiny grasp of numbers and time is proving very helpful. I see people warming to me just for trying. Today I heard one of the carpenters next door say “30 blah blah blah” (sahm sip for anyone keeping score). Anyway, what brings that topic up is my attendance at the party supply store I mentioned before, called “Let’s Party” – and no, it is not a bar with girls out front. They have cards and gift wrap and balloons, etc. for all occasions. I was able to arrange for sip sohng (12) balloons to be filled with helium and be ready for pick up at yee sip sohng nar li gar (22:00) tonight (hopefully after Ju has retired for the night) so that they and the birthday card I also got can be outside her room when she opens the door tomorrow morning – her yee sip hoc (26) birthday. I still think I’m their first customer, but there were sohng (2) staff there to help me.
I picked up the balloons, walked home with them. I think the strings could have been tied better, because only seven of them made it. Oh well, she won’t know.
Friday Ju was thrilled with the balloons, the card, the cake, and the party they had for her over at "Club 44" with more cake.
The plumbers were back today, as expected. We still have water, but it’s always nice to see them.
And the work continues next door. Never before have I seen so many people work so hard for so long and accomplish so little. Richie (I’m going to stop calling him Richie the Torontonian before it becomes a habit) says they are all Burmese and that they make 100 Baht a day – 3 bucks.
After basketball I showered but I didn’t use any deodorant. When I walked into the bathroom a lizard scurried behind the deodorant, and being the humanitarian that I am I didn’t want to disturb him/her.
Made another call today to the airline about the dog. Turns out the crate is 30 pounds, so with him in it the total weight is about 115 pounds. I spoke with two people at the Bangkok office and made one of them double check with their supervisor to be sure – there is no problem with the dog coming on the same flight as Jacquie. Over 100 pounds he is considered two extra pieces of luggage instead of one – double the extra charge but still much less than cargo. So now Jacquie has to find a ride to New York and book a flight, then advise the New York reservation office in advance that a big dog will be coming along (and pay). Again I was reassured it would be no problem – as long as he has all of his health certificates when he gets here.
Hopefully one step closer.
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