Canada Eh!

Today's song is: Waking Up the Neighbors by Riot Child

I arrived in Canada on the 19th and today is the 28th and I have been quite remiss in posting to this blog. I have been busy with business and programming but have a break for the next couple of days.

I had been staying with my business partner but I am now with my sister. I also had a great visit up to my sisters house in the woods and saw my daughter Jaime who seems to be doing great.

I also connected with 2 recently divorced friends and their buddy Gerry who all live together in a big house which Gerry is trying to keep out of his divorce by renting out rooms to his divorced buddies who are both trying to downside to become footloose and fancy free, somewhat like me. We had a great time in Gerry's backyard, having a few beers and reminiscing about the turns our lives have taken. At one point we became quite loud and had to quiet down so we did not wake the neighbours  .. hence, today's song.

My initial impressions of Canada over this past week are:

• Canada is a beautiful clean country
• Canadians are predominantly overweight
• Canadians are old
• Canada is multicultural

The first point is obvious. There is very little pollution and Canadians do not litter. The air is fresh and the sky is blue. In Ottawa there has been lots of rain so grass is green and trees have yet to start changing colour and losing leaves.

The second point stems form the fact that Asians have slim builds where Canadians have bigger bones and indulge in a diet which is high in carbs and the result is chubby Canucks, despite the prolific availability of fitness activities. A diet of meat and potatoes (or burgers and fries) is not the same as rice, a bit of meat (predominantly white meat) and veggies.

The third point is a wow factor. Everywhere I look I see grey. I will check the net now for stats.

Above you can see the aging of Canada over the years.

Above you can see the age groupings by growth in those groupings.

• The country's median age edged closer to 40.
• A greater percentage of the population fell within the over-65 category.
• The under-15 category shrank.

I could not find similar graphs for Thailand but according to Wikipedia ...

Thailand Age structure

0–14 years: 21.2% (male 7,104,776/female 6,781,453)

15–64 years: 70.3% (male 22,763,274/female 23,304,793)

65 years and over: 8.5% (male 2,516,721/female 3,022,281) (2008 est.)

0–14 years: 19.9% (male 6,779,723/female 6,466,625)

15–64 years: 70.9% (male 23,410,091/female 23,913,499)

65 years and over: 9.2% (male 2,778,012/female 3,372,203) (2011 est.)

You can see the over 64 group is less than 10% whereas in Canada, that is the largest group.

The last observation of Canada being multicultural is a duh moment. Canada prides itself on being multicultural and it is evident everywhere you go. The media, and every aspect of Canadian society mirrors this policy. In Thailand, Thai-ness is very important, hence the term farang, which roughly translates as 'foreigner'. Two very different countries.

Tonight my sister and I will head out for dinner at a local brew pub for a beer and pizza.

TTYL

Homeward Bound

Today's song is: Homeward Bound by Paul Simon and Willie Nelson ... Sorry Mr. Garfunkel

I chose this version as I really like Willie Nelson.

My flight leaves at 12:40 am on Wednesday August 19th. I always get a little paranoid when I fly at that time as it is all too easy to read the time wrong and miss your flight. A friend of mine who tragically killed himself in Subang Jaya, Malaysia by hanging himself off his apartment balcony did unfortunately miss out on a week long vacation to Paris France by misreading his ticket. Michel, always the optimist handled it better than I would of. Unfortunately, there were some things in his life he could not handle.

Male suicide is an unfortunate part of today's society that is under reported for some reason. Death by suicide is more common in men than women but the PC do not deem it important.

I am looking forward to seeing my two children Jaime and Jordan and my two sisters Ann and Elaine while I am home. Unfortunately I have a couple of weeks work to do as well, but Brent and Jeanine are great hosts and look after me well. I also look forward to getting together with life long friends Larry (aka Coach), Don (aka little Dude), Billy, Liz (aka Dizzy Lizzy), Debbi (aka Wicked Wensley), Mike (aka Bainer), Rheal (aka Duke), Cindy, Francis and Matt.

It would be nice to see Steve, Linda, and Gabe as well. It is always good to reconnect with old friends you have not seen in a long time. Randy Fitton who now lives in Singapore will be hosting a luncheon for anyone who he worked with at the Secondary Program department. We are shooting for lunch on Wednesday Sept 9th. If you are interested in attending drop me an eMail at CoachJimDale@gmail.com. Please note this is a change of date from this week!

Maybe I am a little dense but I am slowly beginning to realize the debt you owe your friends as you progress through your life. Sure family is important but you get to choose your friends where you do not get to choose your family. People in life I admire and probably never told them include, in no particular order are Mike Revels, Derry Byrne, Vic D'Amico, Micheal Baine, Brent Wilson, Peter Lineger, Tom D'Amico, and last but not least, Larry Brown. Some of you may have noticed there are no women in that list and I would be remiss not to mention Liz, Debbi, and Deirdre who are all guys kinda gals.

I also admire my two children Jaime and Jordan who are great individuals who any parent would be proud to call his own. I also tend to take me two sisters for granted (probably due to sibling rivalry) as they are both extremely successful and supportive of yours truly.

Nuff said, time for another Scotch. Today's scotch is Seagrams 100 Piper's ... not my favorite but cheap.

TTYL

BTW

The bombing last night in Bangkok was 7 km from where I live so I am safe. Unfortunately 28 people died and well over a hundred were injured and sent to hospital. Unfortunately there are cowardly idiots in this world who look to injure innocent people for whatever reason. Thank you to all who enquired :-)

Last Monday in LOS

Today's song is: Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.

Another classic from the 90's

Last night (Sunday) I was footloose and fancy free and made the rounds of X-Bar (expat bar), Country Road (live music and pool), and Shark GoGo Bar. I met an old friend at X-bar and chatted for a while and then decided to play some pool so off to Country Road I went. I decided to play 2 of the pool girls with whom I am normally competitive with but I lost 6 games in a row and packed it in. Now that Jaidan is here, I seldom play and never get a chance to practice and it shows in my game.

After losing at pool I strolled down Soi Cowboy and decided to enter a bar I have never been in before called Shark GoGo. Now by that name I would expect to find some Thai girl sharks out to exploit punters and I was not disappointed.

It was happy hour and drinks were 80 Baht so that was good. The ladies on stage were GoGo dancers and Coyotes. I made eye contact with a flirtatious GoGo dancer and when her dance shift was over she dropped by and said hello. She had a great smile and a good command of English so I bought her a drink and we discussed her nose reconstruction and breast augmentation surgeries and whether or not they were good for business. She was obviously a career bar girl and I made it clear that I would not be taking her home because I had a GF. While she was chatting I asked her the difference between the GoGo girls in white and the Coyote girls in black. She said that the Bar Fine for GoGo girls was 600 Baht and Coyotes was 1,500 Baht and I asked why the big difference. She said the Coyote girls were all 20-22 where the GoGo girls were 25 and up.

I suggested to her that we smile at one of the coyote girls to get her to drop by after her shift and she did. The prices for a girl drink were also different. GoGo girl drinks were 160 Baht and Coyote girl drinks were 200 Baht. When the Coyote girl arrived she could speak very little English and acted like the 20 year old that she was. Why anyone in their right mind would bar fine the 20 year old bimbo over the 28 year old GoGo girl is beyond me. I guess some punters like that type.

When the next shift hit the floor I was surprised to see an old friend up on stage. The first time I met her she was working Soi 22 and later on moved to Nana. I jumped up and waved her over and received a big smile from her. She was a GoGo dancer despite being only 22 as she had been working the bars since she was 19.  I immediately booted the other 2 girls away and bar fined my friend so she would not have to get up and dance every 10 minutes. We then spent a couple of hours chatting on what was happening in our lives.

My friend was a little bit depressed as she has been unable to find the love of her life. She is absolutely gorgeous with the most stunning figure I have seen in Bangkok and it is all real. She was at a loss to explain why she has not found someone to be with. Her latest interest was a 56 year old guy that she really liked but he told her that she was too young for him and was looking for someone in their early 30's. Now I would say she is not a young 22 year old as she has 3 years in the industry but she is one of the few Thai girls I know that does not have a child. The 20 year old coyote girl I chatted with already had 2 children.

My friend and I said our goodbyes after a couple of hours and she went back to her dancing and I went home alone to sleep. My friend wanted to join me but I left my butterfly life behind when I met Thavorn and Jaidan was born.

I chose today's song for my friend. I hope she finds what she is looking for.

TTYL

Lonely

Today's song is: Mr. Lonely by Bobby Vinton ... 1964 ... I am 13 years old :-)

The Beatles are just about to burst onto the North American scene, but ballads are still very popular.

Today Thavorn and Jaidan headed off to her village by taxi. Jaidan looked so sad as he waved goodbye to Poppa. Little does he know it will be a month before he sees me again. I decided to send Thavorn by taxi because there was a lot of baby stuff we wanted to give to her brother Tum and she could not take it on the bus. It will be almost a 3.5 hour taxi ride and the cost will be about $100 so not too bad.

Thavorn 's aunt just died on Friday and the cremation will probably be Monday or Tuesday. Regardless because I leave for Canada on Tuesday night, I could not attend. I am not too upset because it will be very hot in the village and the mosquitoes seem to love this farang's blood not to mention the red ants that eat my flesh at night. The red ants seem to be able to get under the mosquito netting.

The last time I went to Canada and was away from Jaidan he was 1 month old and barely remembered me when I got back after about 3 weeks. This time I am gone for almost a month but I am sure he will remember me and will miss me. He always comes to me when he is in need of a hug :-)

I spent the day programming and learning some new things about programming. A quiet day and an even quieter Saturday night as I plan to curl up with a Science Fantasy book that I have been ignoring.

TTYL

Thailand's Best Decade

Today's song is: Wind of Change by the Scorpions ... 1990's hit ... 2007 Old fart edition live

The lifers I meet in Bangkok lament the end of the 90's as the golden age in Thailand for farangs. The bar scene was in high gear, the Baht was low, the girls were beautiful and naive, and hungry for a better life. It was also the end of the Cold War and Vietnam vets had put together some of the best bars in South East Asia.

So what has changed. Mostly the internet has opened up the world for Thais. We are also into a second generation of bar girls who are tech savvy and can tell a hi-so farang from a lo-so farnag to some degree. It is harder for a punter to pull the wool over a bar girls eyes nowadays. It used to be that every farang was viewed as rich guy and many lies were told on both sides of the bar.

I have even noticed a change over the past 5 years. Thailand has 0% unemployment. That means everyone who wants to work can and there is now choice. The internet also enables Thai girls to connect with men online so they don't have to work in a bar to meet a farang. The only thing holding them back is the lack of English. They don't use computers much but most Thais have a smart phone and a data plan. At least the women do ... don't see many smart phones with the lo-so male crowd.

I have mentioned before that coyote dancers are a relatively new phenomena where they make their living getting neophyte tourists to buy them expensive drinks while they dance on stage in skimpy shorts and tea shirts. When they are not doing that they are usually seen shooting selfies of themselves or booking nose or boob jobs with the money they earn. Narcissism run a muck.

Thai people remain friendly but they have lost their innocence which is unfortunate. However, I can still elicit that innocence when I meet a new bar girl. I usually ask them what village they are from, how many babies they have, what age, and we start sharing pictures. They know I understand them and are more than willing to spend some time practicing their English instead of saying 'You buy me drink?' or 'You go with me?' My usual answers are yes, I buy you drink and no, my girlfriend boxing me if I go with you! That usually brings a laugh and Thais like to laugh.

TTYL

Canada Soon

Today's song is: It's a Long Way Home by the Ottawa Band the Staccatos

Somewhat appropriate ....

In 9 days I start the journey home.A little different trip this time around, going in the opposite direction. Bangkok to Zurich, Zurich to Toronto, and Toronto to Ottawa, a total of 25.5 hours.

Coming back I fly Ottawa to Toronto, Toronto to Copenhagen, and Copenhagen to Bangkok, a total of  28 hours.

I usually fly Eastward to Ottawa but it really does not matter as Ottawa is pretty well halfway around the world from Bangkok. The shortest flight you can hope for is about 22 hours but I usually look for a decent price and air miles with Air Canada. I am flying with Thai airlines and Air Canada this time around.

Thavorn and Jaidan and I headed out to Nana for a beer and some tourist watching and not much has changed. We usually stop at Hillary 4 on Soi 4 which has a great staff of waitresses and bar girls who absolutely spoil Jaidan with attention. It is a nice bar to watch the tourists play some pool, or meet  a bar girl. Highly recommended ... however but no live music but the DJ is good.

TTYL

Audience

Today's song is: Asshole from El Paso by Kinky Friedman ... definitely the least PC singer around.

Who reads this blog? Interesting question. Google keeps stats on who is viewing the blog and from where. Not to worry, it is anonymous.

As you can see, most of the viewers are from Canada which is to be expected. I do meet a fair number of expats from other countries and that may explain some of the other countries but I can only assume that the google search engine is responsible for the other viewers.

It would be really nice if some of you would comment on posts from time to time. If you are researching Thailand for a potential visit then leave a comment and we can enjoy a beer together when you visit the LOS.

TTYL

Lazy Jimmy

Today's song is: Mr Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan

Dylan performing in the summer of 1964 ... that makes me 13 at the time.

Dylan was a real poet. Take some time and read the lyrics ...

"Mr. Tambourine Man"

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand

Vanished from my hand

Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping

My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet

I have no one to meet

And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to 

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirlin' ship

My senses have been stripped, my hands can't feel to grip

My toes too numb to step, wait only for my boot heels

To be wanderin'

I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade

Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way

I promise to go under it.

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to 

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though you might hear laughin', spinnin' swingin' madly across the sun

It's not aimed at anyone, it's just escapin' on the run

And but for the sky there are no fences facin'

And if you hear vague traces of skippin' reels of rhyme

To your tambourine in time, it's just a ragged clown behind

I wouldn't pay it any mind, it's just a shadow you're

Seein' that he's chasing.

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to 

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind

Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves

The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach

Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands

With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves

Let me forget about today until tomorrow.

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to 

Hey ! Mr Tambourine Man, play a song for me

In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

I just noticed my last post was on Saturday and here it is Thursday morning. Bad Jim!

Sunday, if I remember correctly was a quiet day at home. However Thavorn, Jaidan and I were up early Monday morning to take Jaidan to the medical clinic where he goes for his bimonthly checks and inoculations. Jaidan is still doing well in growth. He is at the 97th percentile in height (80 cms) and is still off the charts in terms of weight at 13.4 kilos. Jaidan is not fat, but chunky like his Dad. He is quite strong and is now able to open every drawer in the apartment. He is into everything. My daily workout is carrying Jaidan around for 2 or 3 hours at a time.

Jaidan was due for 2 shots and the nurse recommended that he get one during that visit and come back in a month for the second shot. That means Thavorn will have to go to the clinic with Jaidan by herself as I will be in Canada. Not that unusual for Thai women to look after children by themselves. I keep telling Thavorn she is spoiled having me at home 24/7.

I was also scheduled to do a 90 day reporting visit to the Thai immigration office on Monday but I learned last time not to go the Monday after a long holiday weekend so I went on Tuesday instead. The good news is I was done in 20 minutes rather than a couple of hours. The bad news is that put me back in a return taxi at 9:30 am which is still part of the incoming morning rush hour traffic in Bangkok. My wait period just got shifted to the taxi. A 40 minute taxi ride was now almost double in time and cost. Lesson learned, go on a Tuesday and go a little later in the morning or seek out a place to have a leisurely breakfast before heading back downtown.

Yesterday, Wednesday was hump day as usual so Thavorn, Jaidan and I headed out to Rendezvous Bar to see what the tourists were up to and then headed off to Soi Cowboy about 6:15 pm (after the end of happy hour at Rendezvous) where happy hour goes from 6 pm to 9 pm (like most happy hours in Cowboy bars). Drink are typically 80-90 baht at happy hour and 120-150 after happy hour ends.

Jaidan enjoyed the music as always but was a little frustrated at the bar girls lining up to hold him. Such is life in the fast lane for the little guy. The nice thing about hump day is that Jaidan is usually tired by the time we get home at 9 pm and goes straight to sleep which gives Thavorn and I some free time.

I have been busy programming my own webserver with integrated websockets for real time message and data exchange. I have also added pdf generation to handle reporting. Why would I do this when their are many commercial and free webservers available? The same reason I took my bicycle apart when I was 10 and my my Norton 850 motorcycle when I was 22. I have this thirst for knowledge about how things work. I also like creating and building things. I think I have a creative spark in me. When a day goes by without something learned ... it goes by wasted.

I hope your days are filled with learning and interesting activities. If they are not you should be asking yourself if you are living your life or simply existing. You only go around once :-) unless you are a Buddhist and then you get a Mulligan or do over. Contrast that with Christian religions where behavior is guilt driven with a delayed reward in the afterlife. I am still baffled where the wisdom dispensers on things such as sexual activities are people (priests) with no practical experience in those activities.

TTYL

Today's song is: another Stone's classic ... Sympathy for the Devil

2006 edition

You have to love the stones. They were not as PC as the Beatles and lived the life they sang and are still doing so. Would love to catch them on tour before Jagger croaks.

Jaidan's Birthday Cake ... he is not sure about this!

I keep forgetting to shoot video on my phone with the phone sideways. One of these days I will learn!

Last night (Saturday) I decided to head out on my own and see how the weekend nightlife was doing. I walked down Sukhumvit from Soi 22 to Nana (Soi 4). Once you cross over Asoke, the night stalls selling everything form Viagra to silk scarves and designer knockoffs start taking over the sidewalks. This was one of the activities that the junta tried to do away with and was successful for about 2 weeks. Once you stop enforcing the ban then the vendors spring back quickly.

The traffic was mostly Arabs from the middle east. I guess it is pretty hot back there and schools are on holiday. At one point in my journey I noticed an older lady in a wheel chair pushed by a teenage boy trying to get past a choke point. I stepped to the side to let them by and watched a steady stream of people stream past me oblivious to the wheelchair trying to get by. I was amazed by the lack of civility and manners in the mostly Asian and Arab people passing by. Civilization comes in many forms and I have found North Americans lead the world in manners and concern for your fellow human beings.

Fancy 5 star hotels, exotic cars, and high end malls with Gucci and Hermes, does not a civilized society make! They just don't get it.

I continued on to Nana and decided to take in some music at Hillary 2. As usual for a Saturday night it was packed with all ages of people enjoying the band. The band was just finishing their last set and as they made their way off the stage one of the band members noticed me and asked came over to say hello and ask where I had been for the past year. I told him that Thavorn and I had a 1 year old and that severely restricted what we could do. I showed him a pic and he commented how little Thai showed in his features. We said our goodbyes and I told him Thavorn and I hoped to get out more now that Jaidan is 1 year old.

I did not enjoy being at Hillary by myself as most of the people are in groups of 4 or more and I looked like I was looking for a hookup. After a few ladies approached me, I decided to leave and head home. The total walk so far was about 6 kms so I had the munchies and filled the need with a McD's double cheeseburger.

I decided that, like most things in life, Bangkok night life is best shared with a friend, albeit male or female.

TTYL