David's Big Adventure - Part 4

The 2nd, 3rd,4th, …..(and I imagine 2000th) day at work was much like the first. Everything here seems to revolve around the food It is a key part of their culture There is a whole vocabulary to learn just to name every subtle variation of every kind of food. Eating is the event (three events) of the day.

Hey, that’s fine with me!!

The cook (maid) is very concerned that I won’t like what she is cooking, then seems to try harder each time, in spite of my reassurances that it is ALL “aloye” (it seems the most important word to know over here – it means delicious.

"Cooky" is 44, has a daughter 24 in Bangkok and a son 10 I couldn’t understand where, but not here with her. That may explain why she is leaving at the end of the month. I’ll miss her. No, it’s not just the food. I’ll miss her friendly smile. Yesterday it was REALLY hot. In the morning I dropped off a pile of dirty laundry, Mid afternoon I went down to the beach to ask her to make me more coffee. There she stood sweating profusely ironing all of my freshly washed clothes, with that same smile. I’ll miss the smile. (I didn’t have the heart to ask for the coffee)

I think she ironed my mesh shorts! And my socks.

I’m starting to understand – and appreciate – the pace of life here. What a transition from my old life – learning not to feel guilty about a few moments, or an hour, watching the surf break on the beach.

I’m now starting to appreciate the peace that is everywhere here. This is good for your soul. A chance to put some spirituality back into my life. Yup, it’s what I came for.

It strikes me that Jacquie is going to be way behind when she gets here – by then I will probably be way relaxed, and she will still be going at 100 miles an hour, needing it all done now. What fun I’ll have helping her understand.

It will be a bit different – tougher – for her, because the roles of men and women here seem to be a little different – the other evening Richie sent his woman here to invite me to go join him at a bar up the street for a couple of drinks. (Ju told her she thought I was asleep so they didn’t knock on my door – it was EIGHT O’CLOCK !!) I’m having a little trouble picturing Jacquie doing that for me, but I guess we’ll see!

Went shopping for a few pieces of furniture, to make my place more “homey”. Stopped at a little shop with beautiful stuff from Bali, northern India and China. The proprietor, from England, is excited about the chance to meet Jacquie and the possibility of her maybe wanting to get some stuff for shipment to Canada – and I was just looking for a dresser (ended up getting a cheap one somewhere else)

Still have not found a basketball net to buy – Tesco has balls for sale, so they obviously have at least HEARD of the sport. I’ll keep looking.
It’s been two weeks since I left Canada (one week in Bangkok, one week here. Seems much longer. My biggest accomplishments so far:

1. I’m eating whatever is put in front of me. Squid, liver, tofu, octopus, unidentified “meat”, and an assortment of vegetation completely unknown to me - it mostly is delicious, and what isn’t I stop eating. I figured if I’m going to be content living here I need to get over being picky. (Today at lunch I had Gan Pet. Pet means “spicy” – was it EVER. I don’t know what Gan means, but my best guess would be “pigeon”.);

2. I have been driving my Suzuki Jeep wannabe for a week on the left side of the road (it’s not just me, everyone drives on that side) with no accidents so far. I’ve almost completely stopped turning the wipers on when I want to signal a left turn. (The leading cause of death here is traffic accidents, and there is a nut ball passing someone around every turn – literally. The ambulances just use lights, no sirens – I’ve seen at least one or two fly by every trip out.). Last months death toll from car accidents was right on the average – ten. I’ve told Kris I’m happy with no driver, I just want a safer vehicle (I get an SUV in two weeks). I prefer having control of the vehicle when there’s a cement truck coming at me on my side ( the worst drivers I’ve seen so far are all driving cement mixers – nasty);

3. I am learning to relax. I mean really relax, not just force myself to do nothing for awhile until I can get back to it. Really appreciate moving slow and doing less.

All of the lawyers at this firm are apparently quite envious that I get to live here. At every opportunity they come, mostly from the Bangkok office. That figures – I told Kris that if the job was in Bangkok I wouldn’t have even applied. Anyway, on Friday morning Dong arrived – a Thai lawyer from Bangkok – on the 7 am flight I had come on (it’s about half as much money for early am or late pm and so corporate policy to use those flights. He seemed happy to be here when I got up at 7:30 – offered me a Singha while he was getting his second one ( I declined – suggested to him that it MIGHT be too early, which seemed to confuse him.

By Monday night Kris was back here too, saying how much he loves it here. I thought he was here to arrange for a new maid/cook, but at the twelvth hour – literally – he convinced "Cooky" to stay for one more week.

August 1, 2006.

A really nice couple that had dropped in to chat last week called and made an appointment for today. I gave them a second opinion mostly agreeing with what their existing lawyer had said, then I produced my FIRST BILL. Well actually, how it works is I email Arunee, the billing person in Bangkok, tell her what I want, and she produces a bill and sends it back to me as a PDF attachment. My billable rate is 5000 per hour – period. It is absolutely not negotiable. For those wondering, that’s almost exactly $150. Clearly as I get busier I’m going to want a BIG raise (actually, more paid vacation in priority one).
Kris and I went out meeting people today – realtors and a prospective developer – and some of the most spectacular ocean views I have seen in my life. ( one piece not for sale had 270 degree views from way up high – she has already turned down $1.3 million for the land). There is no working on both sides of a transaction here so every one was thrilled to meet us and have another lawyer to refer buyers too. Sweet.

Dinner time, and Kris announces he is hungry and wants steak. By now there is a second Thai lawyer here from Bangkok – Gai – so Kris, Gai and Dong all pile into the Suzuki and head for Tesco Lotus. Much later they return with much, much food – Steaks, salad bread, a big bottle of 100 Pipers Scotch. All of the necessities.

I must digress a moment. Monday night Kris asked if I would have a drink with he and Dong, and I said yes. I few instructions in Thai and Dong was off, to return with a quart of Jack Daniels and a quart of Sang Som (dark rum). And a general lets get started attitude was evident.

By Tuesday night about a half bottle of Jack and a half bottle of rum remained. And now we have a quart of scotch to add to our supply.

Gai wasn’t out of the truck before she started mixing herself a drink of Jack and soda water. And a general lets get started attitude was evident. Many hands pitched in to help cook (not me) and soon I was sitting, drink of rum in hand, in front of a large t-bone steak. Wafer thin, fried in a wok. “Aloye mai?” I am excitedly asked. – “Is it delicious?” “local beef” Kris adds with some pride – way too much pride I’d say. I politely said it was very good as all eyes watched me to see if I would like it – I avoided saying “aloye” because the magnitude of that lie just seemed too great. All and all it was actually pretty decent, just a bit tough and fatty. The party atmosphere was really something though – just another Tuesday night on the island.

Once everyone had finished their steaks, Kris announced it was time for the regular meal of Thai food that had been prepared and put away hours before. "Cooky" – who seems to always be around working – brings out plate after plate of food. To the surprise of many I said no to a large plate of rice – I figured since I had JUST finished dinner. I did have Tom Yam soup with prawn and some Larb Moo (cooled my burning mouth and throat with rum and coke instead of rice).

Aloye.

Moments after the eating appeared to be over, out came the Lays potato chips, with some comment that they were fattening !! Yeah, it was the chips that did this to me. Damn !!

I wish I could understand a bit of the constant chatter in Thai throughout – at least more than the few awkward translations offered to try to include me.

I must learn Thai.

Now, on full – really full – stomachs, Kris wants to go swimming. I convince him to wait a bit, so a couple of drinks later off we go.

I had already known that people all thought I was crazy for swimming at night but I didn’t know why. Last night I found out it is because they are afraid! I think Kris must have ordered everyone “into the pool”, because they all came but with great reluctance. Someone brought a soccer ball in and we played around like little kids. Fun. They all got over their fears.

It was when we returned to the beach for another drink (all the liquor and ice and mix had miraculously been set up on the beach while I was swimming) that disaster struck.

Dong cut his foot (probably on some broken coral, very sharp) and came out crying like a baby that he was bleeding, Gai and Ju tended to his bo-bo with great concern. I think he will live.

Then the worst part. It looks like someone walked off with the rest of the scotch while we swam. All thoughts of the cut ended while he and Gai hopped in the Suzuki to go get replacement liquor (they were the drunkest so the perfect choice to go). I suggested that they walk since the store is across the street, but they thought that was craziness; better to drive the 300 feet drunk.

A bottle of VSP Regency brandy appears moments latter, and its time for me to excuse myself and go get a good night sleep.

This morning I faced breakfast again. Now I’m assuming that "Cooky" won’t be reading this. She can’t speak or understand English so I’m guessing she can’t read it either.

She was worried she couldn’t cook western breakfasts and so I wouldn’t like them. I told her I like an egg – fried or whatever. That was a week and a half ago.


Every morning – EVERY MORNING – I eat two eggs, partly fried on the bottom, completely raw on the top. They just kind of slither down your throat. I decided that I wouldn’t say anything because she was leaving end of July. Now I’ve got another week of this, but it’s too late to say anything. I’ve convinced her that I love them this way.

Up until this weekend past I was having bacon or ham or sausage with the eggs, plus two toast and tomato and lettuce. On the weekend she was making a list of what I like the best for the new person who would be coming to replace her. It was my chance to say I don’t want as much squid and octopus, or fish, but like prawn and pork and chicken a lot. And I said that at breakfast I like sausage and ham but I like bacon the best. (I thought she heard right because that night she made a plate of deep fried bacon with basil and Kaffa lime.

Now every morning I have two eggs, two toast, tomato, lettuce, bacon – and sausage – and ham. A heart healthy start to my day.

Back home I always said if you work extra long hours to try to get everything done, you won’t do it, you will just end up working all of the time. Here it works. Last night I worked at what I had to do today while they were off buying food, and this morning I can lay in the hammock and write this instead of working. I only wish I could zip back to Nova Scotia for a few hours to help Jacquie deal with the thousand things she is stuck doing. But I cant.

The more settled and contented I get here, the more I miss her.