Queens Park Escape

I had to escape form the Mound of Round that inhabits the floor space of my apartment and talked to Thavorn and she too needed to escape for a variety of reasons ... so we put Jaidan into the kangaroo pouch and disappeared for 4 hours.

On our way we stopped at CoffeeBean because I had accumulated some 'buy 1 get 1 free' vouchers so we ordered 2 caramel ice-blended and a blueberry muffin ... warmed up ... for Jaidan to nibble on. After our treat we headed out to Queen's Park. Queens Park which was dedicated by the current Queen to the people of Bangkok and it is a central recreational area for both Thais and farangs.

Dedication Monument

Beautiful walkways - jogging track around the outside.

Man made lake with fountain in the middle. Emporium Shopping Center in distance.

Many workout areas get used at night when it cools down.

Park benches get lots of use ... nice breeze.

Thai game played without hands ... mostly head and feet.

Basketball action picks up at night when the big kids come out as sun goes down.

Skate board park is huge!

Many statues adorn the park.

There are 2 major kid play areas.

A bevy of Monks await ...

Somewhat like Easter Island ...

 Each monk is quite distinct ...

My favorite

Somewhat serious.

No young monks here ... I wonder if they represent real life monks.

Thavorn doing the Buddhist thing ... much of it I do not understand.

Thavorn waiting for her 'water' blessing.

The fountains come alive with the monks in the distance.

Lots of fountains ... they light up at night.

I have been suggesting to Thavorn it is time for Jabba and the kids to go home. I know she is tired of cooking 2 large meals a day .... and I am certainly tired of cleaning up after them. Thavorn says her mom is bored so it may happen soon ... not sure how 'eat ... sleep .. and watch TV' differs in Bangkok from the village apart from the aircon, better selection of TV channels .. and lack of mosquitoes and hence mosquito netting. I think she misses the gossip that always goes on in a small village. She is now the 'go to person for how to bag a farang'.

I also discovered that Jabba is pressuring Thavorn for money to get an addition on her home and some repairs done. This is pretty standard faire for momma's of Thai girls who have farangs as boyfriends. They assume that the WATM (walking Automated Teller Machine) is never short of money. This WATM is short after ponying up over $50,000 to get out of his existing marriage this past year!

I also object to the assumption that I will pay for it. I told Thavorn there is no way I would. I also shared my opinion that her moma would be dead within 2 years due to a stroke or heart attack due to her obesity so it made no sense to put any money into the dwelling (hard to call it a house). I would not be at all surprised to find out that Jabba is diabetic.

I am thankful that Thavorn is not 'Thai Thai' (my term for traditional Thai) and is strong willed enough to say no! Of course the brother and sister are never asked to put into repairs as they are traditionally Thai poor. 

Unfortunately a farang boyfriend is often viewed the same as winning the lottery for the whole extended family.  Not with this farang! No doubt I will return to 'farang fleecing' from time to time in this blog :-)

TTYL