Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Today's song is: YMCA by the Village People


Punter's Discourse: Tim Sharky talks about his experiences with hookers in Bangkok in a totally politically incorrect manner. You have been warned :-)


I am seriously considering living in Thavorn's village for a few months when my current condo lease runs out in April. My lifestyle in Bangkok costs me about 60,000 baht a month. That would include about 30,000 baht for my condo, 10,000 baht for food, and 20,000 baht for entertainment.

Moving to the village would free up 50,000 to spend on something like a new motorcycle. I have been an avid motorcyclist since I was 16 and bought my first, a 650cc Triumph Bonneville in the summer of 66. I followed up in subsequent years with a Norton 750cc, a Norton 850cc, a Honda 650cc, and a Yamaha 1000cc crotch rocket. I would not purchase a nice motorcycle in Bangkok because of theft and traffic congestion. However, in the village I would be able to start to explore the many different regions of Bangkok. Food for thought ... Walter Mitty may be back.

SO many choices but the taxes on Motorcycles in Thailand is quite high except for certain bikes manufactured in Thailand. I could be tempted by a Triumph street fighter 675cc or a Kawasaki Versys 650cc.




Both would be good choices. Triumph for sentimental reasons and hooligan fun and the Kawasaki, a more logical choice for touring around the countryside in search of bars that I would miss living in the village :-) Both bikes cost about 450,000 Baht, or 10 months in the village.

Jaidan asleep in the village at 10 am.  Handsome boy! Notice he is sweating (hair).

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TTYL

All Alone am I

Today's song is: Alone by Heart


It is Thursday night and I am all alone. I suggested to Thavorn that she and Jaidan go visit her Mom, Tai, and Dun because it is Dun's birthday on November 1. Thais are not big on birthday celebrations but I am slowly convincing Thavorn they are important.

I am going to use the days from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm to develop some web apps I am interested in. I have updating various apps and I find that very boring so I need something intellectually stimulating.
The first web app I am creating is a vThankYou web site that anyone can use to post a thankyou or Kudo to someone else.  This comes about because of my experience as a parent, teacher, and student.

Teacher's get tired of receiving yet another 'teacher' coffee mug at the end of the year and/or Christmas. They end up being stored away with the other 10 of the same ilk. Would it not be better to be able to thank a teacher, coach or mentor online and email or SMS the person the url which will stand and  accumulate with others for posterity on the net. The person would be able to respond back.

A group, such as a bball team could also submit a thank-you. The site will support a YouTube video or a photo as well as comments from each individual in the group. The site will be searchable so eventually anyone would be able to search on a name and find all the thank you's received by a certain person.

It will also enable you to thank someone when you finally realize what they meant to your personal development but were oblivious to at the time (think teenager).

Saturday night is Halloween so I will probably head out for some fun.

TTYL

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Yippie kai yai

Today's song is: Is a pop anthology mashup from 2012  .. very typical of the music played at Hillary 2 and Climax Disco by the 4 resident bands.


Jaidan will be 15 months old at the end of the month so I figured it was time we found a care-giver (I don't think baby-sitter is PC) so that Thavorn and I can get out once a week. One of her friends from her high school and village who recently moved to Bangkok for work came to visit us 2 days ago. Jaidan seemed to take to her. I asked Thavorn to approach her with the idea of looking after Jaidan for us on Saturday nights from 7 pm to the wee hours of the morning. I told Thavorn I was willing to pay up to a 1,000 Baht as that is what it would cost me for 1 12 year old back home in Canada and that would be only until midnight.

Thavorn gave her a call and she talked it over with her boyfriend and she said she would do it for 700 Baht as she would have to take a taxi each way. Now 700 baht is about $25 CDN so We booked her and her boyfriend (They are both about 30ish and are lots of fun) for next Saturday night.

I plan on a movie and then off to Hillary 2 for a night of music, dancing and maybe a bit of pool. The next few months should be lots of fun now that Saturday night is happening again.

TTYL

When in Bangkok

Today's song is: 8 Miles High ... Byrds original clip


Way back in time when my 2 oldest children Jaime and Jordan were young (7 and 4 years old) I used to wake up early Saturday morning and strap them into their seat belts in the van and head off downtown Ottawa (30 min drive) for a toasted bagel with cheese, coffee for me and OJ for the kids. This was a routine for us and we used to take a window seat and watch Ottawa walk by. We used to rate the pretty girls on a scale of 1 to 10 (much to my wife's chagrin).

I Bangkok, I also like to take Jaidan out early for a walk (10 mins) to rumours bar where I order a vodka and OJ and and Jaidan gets his OJ in a shot glass which is just the right size for him. I never order a drink for Jaidan, the staff just always provides it (with a smile). Jaidan is a little young to rate the ladies verbally but he definitely prefers the pretty ladies, judged by his willingness to be picked up by them.

Thavorn gets a little break at this time and usually joins us 90 mins later (3 vodkas and OJ's), (yes, I know that is bad, but life is not a dress rehearsal, you only go around once, Buddhists excepted) and then we either head out for some fun or head home for Jaidan to sleep. This time it was back home for Jaidan's nap.

Steve, an expat form the states was at Rumours and said hello. Steve got hit with some kind of eye degeneration and lost 80% of his vision, but that does not deter him form making his bar rounds and attending to the bar girls. They are very good to Steve, ordering his food, drinks, and taxi to journey to his next bar. Not a bad way to handle the loss of his vision. Steve makes his living day trading in the markets and makes use of one big magnifying glass. Looks a bit like Sherlock Holmes when he uses it.

Thavorn and I have talked and we have agreed to hire a baby sitter one night a week so we can get out more. Of course there is some disagreement on who to hire and how much to pay. I told Thavorn that it would be usually at least $30 for a night out in Canada and that would be about 1,000 baht but she wants to go cheaper and of course offer it to a friend from her village while I would offer it to one of 3 people who work at Rumours who Jaidan really likes and they have shown how much they like Jaidan by playing with him at every opportunity.  Thai not go moon :-(

Thavorn is thawing out some chicken legs via the microwave (which she referred to as the fridge) while I work on my blog. She makes excellent fried wings and legs. Not sure why they are called wings when half of them are legs (in Thailand, the wings go missing). Go figure.

Today is Saturday but it looks like it may be a quiet evening for us ... but then ... the wanderlust (or just plain lust) may set in.

TTYL

Monday, October 19, 2015

Liberals In

Today's song is: Times are a Changin  .. Dylan


Canadians wanted a change after 10 years of Harper and a Conservative government. In comes Justin Trudeau and the liberals and time will tell if a change was worthwhile. What  I care most about is the Canadian dollar in relation to the Thai baht so I hope this change brings in a new level of prosperity for Canada.

What I would really like to see is Canada stop selling property and land to foreigners, driving up real estate prices so that Canadians can not afford them. These foreigners often accumulate their wealth without the restrictions that Canadians have to work with. They often run sweat shops and pay daily rates of less than $10 a day. They are the modern day Robber Barons.

I also don't understand why, although having the the 4th largest oil reserves in the world, we pay such high prices for gas at the pumps. I don't think the average Canadian in Canada benefits from these reserves, unlike the average Camel Jockey or even Malaysian. Go figure.

Not much happening these days on the entertainment front as I am being frugal while saving up to pay my Canadian tax bill from 2014. Someone has to support your Canadian lifestyle :-). As they say in Bangkok  .. no money, no honey!

TTYL

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Saturday Night

Today's song is: Danny Boy by Celtic Woman  ... thought about John Shannon for some reason today


Thursday turned into an eventful day as Thavorn and I went for a walk to get some glue and duct tape to fix our Ikea chair. The Ikea chairs are usually bullet proof but we often had Tahavorn, Jaidan and myself in the chair and that turned out to be too much. Nothing that some glue and duct tape could not fix however.

On the way home with the glue and duct tape, Thavorn noticed that her belly button jewelry had fallen off. My initial thought was the jewelry was not tightened fully and the locking part had come undone. I decided our best course of action was to jump in a taxi and head back to the studio which had done the piercing and the install.

Bit of a pain in the ass, taxi, MRT, and walk, basically retracing our steps from Wednesday with Jaidan in my arms.

One thing you have to understand is Thailand is Thailand, and 'Thai not go moon' ... for a reason. Nothing is ever straight forward to the Thai mind.

When we arrived at the studio we were faced with a new Thai girl working today. I ask where is the girl from yesterday and was told she took a day holiday. Complication # 1!  Thavorn explained that the piercing and install was done yesterday and that the jewelry fell out less than an hour ago. Without much thought, the girl said come back in a month and pay 1,300 Baht again and they would do it over again. Thavorn said okay (Thai seldom argue or push). When I asked her to translate, you can imagine this farang's reaction and Thavorn, by now, knew what to expect.

I asked Thavorn to tell the girl that solution was crazy and unacceptable and that the shop had messed up, by not tightening the stud, and they should do it again at no cost. I also asked why she could not simply insert a new piece of jewelry as there was no way the hole had healed over in less than an hour. The girl was adamant about coming back in a month for a do over. I told Thavorn to tell her that was not going to happen and to call her manager or boss or owner of the store, which she agreed to do.

I am not privy to the discussion that went on as I do not understand Thai but the end result was the girl went and got a new, nicer piece of jewelry and agreed to try to reinstall it. She disappeared into the piercing room with Thavorn and Thavorn emerged 2 minutes later with a new piece of jewelry shining away in the appropriate spot at no charge. Thavorn had a big smile and for once did not seem embarrassed to have a farang argue with a Thai over whatever.  She is learning the farang sense of right and wrong and just not accepting the wrongness.

Friday was quiet, we went for a walk and that was about it. I continue to swim everyday and Thavorn is learning to jump rope as she can not do hoop until the piercing heals which they tell her is 6 months but in reality is about 3 weeks.

Today is Saturday and we went shopping at Emporium for food for Jaidan and some face and skin cream for Thavorn as she has run out of it.  We were successful on both counts and plan to stay in and watch a movie and get up to date with my blog.  I am also installing the Windows 10 update on my Windows 8.1 Lenova Table to see if it is worth upgrading.  My 2 existing development laptops run Windows 7.0 and 8.1.

TTYL

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Hump Day

Today's song is: Can't Stop  ... Chili Peppers


It's hump day (Wednesday) again and I had promised to take Thavorn to get her belly button pierced so into the shower at 11 am (after my 45 minute swim) for Jaidan and I, followed shortly by Thavorn and we headed off via taxi to the closest MRT station which is Sukhumvit and Asoke. Now, normally we would walk but I knew I would be holding Jaidan for a long time so we wimped out and took a taxi rather than walk the 4 kilometers to the station.

MRT is the underground subway and we used it to get to Silom road, home of Pat Pong (naughty area) and Silom Complex which has the belly button piercing placing clinic. I assume the belly button piercing location has something to do with pat Pong being close by. Many bar girls have their buttons pierced. The clinic's name is NooYoo and is a great concept. Would be a great franchise to bring to Canada.  

http://www.nooyoo.com

Thavorn was a little apprehensive but the use a piercing gun which is much better than the needle I have seen used in some places.  Jaidan and I were left to our own devices while the piercing was underway and we cruised the mall until his diaper needed changing (into the men's washroom I went, the diaper changing station was in the women's washroom, but we made do). Thavorn was done and she was pleased with the results so we headed off to the MRT for the return home. Once out of the Sukhumvit station we wimped out again and caught a taxi home.

It was a quiet afternoon because Jaidan decided he needed a 2 hour nap. Thavorn is cooking up a chicken cashew stir fry for supper. She is a really good cook and seems to enjoy it. In return, she never has to clean a dirty dish or pot.

I really have to find some sort of mp3 music player for Jaidan as he loves music and we don't feel comfortable with Jaidan using our expensive smart phones as a player. Something that pairs up with our blue tooth speakers would be ideal. Seems to be quite a few players available for under $35 or about 1,000 baht, but then again you can buy a Chinese phone with KitKat 4.4 for 1,000 baht as well, plus you get a camera.

Lots of choices :-)

TTYL

 

Monday, October 12, 2015

Monday Monday

Today's song is Monday, Monday by the Mommas and Pappas



I was out and about by myself tonight. First stop was Thong Lo to meet up with my buddy John and a few friends for trendy chicken wings (actually, only legs). From there Arthur, a Yank, and I caught a taxi to Soi Cowboy to listen to some live music and play some pool. Actually, Arthur and I did not play as I ended up playing with Santa Claus, another Yank until Ann, a friend form Doll House showed up with a Yank in tow (Customer). I got a big hug from Ann as I had not seen her for some time. We ended up playing doubles, me partnered with Santa Clause and Ann and her customer. Can't remember who won the best of five but we had a good time time. From there I bar hopped around Soi Cowboy for a while and got to know a new Coyote Dancer at Tilac which was fun. Such a noob right out of Issan.

I dropped in at the Dollhouse and lo and behold Snata was there. Who would have thought it. I thought he only played pool, not the ladies. I made a quick pit stop at Crazy House looking for Chocolate but she was with a customer or back in her village.

I walked over to Soi 22 and ended up playing best of 5 against Rutki, a bar girl who epitomizes the bar traffic in Bangkok. She won 3 games to 2 and said say hello to Thavorn for me. Thavorn and Rutki never hit it off together.

I am home now and eating peanut butter toast and warmed up barbecue ham for a late night snack.

All in all, a good night out.

TTYL




Sunday, October 11, 2015

Lady in Red

Today's song is: Lady in Red by Chris DeBurgh


Thavorn is slowly working her way through her wardrobe as she dips below 50 kilos. When I met her, she was a size 24 short and pants or simply xs here in Asia. Of course Jaidan did not do wonders for her and it has been a lot of work on her part to return to her normal 47 kilos.

Today, Sunday, she dug out her Guess leather look red jeans, and paired them up with H&M black boots and her black Converse sneakers.

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Lookin good .. despite no makeup

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Break for a hug from Jaidan

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Matching leather jacket from a previous life

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Nice Butt (taute) in Thai

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Jaidan ... doncha wish your Momma was hot like mine :-)

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Now, if we can only find those size 24 black jean shorts from Guess :-)
TTYL

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Saturday Night

Today's song is: Another Saturday Night by Cat Stevens


It's Saturday night and I usually like to get out and about Bangkok but I programmed 12 hours today and coupled with a few hours of sleep last night, I think I will just curl up on the couch with Thavorn and watch a movie. That is, if Jaidan ever falls asleep, which he shows no sign of doing yet. He has mastered the chairs and pushes them everywhere to get up on counters and tables and reach the things that we place higher up to keep out of his busy little hands.

Yesterday, Friday, we went window shopping at Terminal 21. Then it was over to Suda (an outdoor restaurant for dinner. Jaidan did not seem to want to sit, so Thavorn ordered to go and I suggested we stop by Cowboy on the way home and listen to some music which Jaidan is always willing to do. He can sit for hours and watch the live band. We ordered a jug of Singha (with an ice bucket) and Thavorn went off to play pool with our favorite pool lady. I used to diss people who put ice in their beer but it serves 2 purposes in bangkok. It adds to your fluid intake and let's you nurse a jug a lot longer, which keeps the carbs off somewhat.. A couple of hours later, it was 9:30 and time to head home. Jaidan is quite heavy now (14.5 kilos) and I wimped out and suggested we take a taxi home, which we did.

When we got home we ate the takeout and some Campbell's soup and Jaidan fell asleep quickly.  Unfortunately, for some reason, I tossed and turned all night. Goes to show I should have walked home and then I would have been tired.

Tomorrow, being Sunday is always an easy day to get around Bangkok so I imagine we will go a walk somewhere. Thavorn is contemplating getting her belly button pierced so that may be our goal for the day.

InsiderTV has a new video out on Bangkok.




Jaidan playing a bar game with pretty bar girl at Denny's

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My little climber, helping himself to a bottle of water

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Here is where he got the water from ...

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Thavorn and Jaidan with the giant pussy at Terminal 21.


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Pretty Lady

Today's song is Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison ... 2010 edition


Are you familiar with the movies 'Pretty Lady' with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. I would think it was Julia's breakout movie. It is the story of a wealth business man who falls in love with a country hooker who makes him rethink his life experience to date. Of course, the same can be said for the girl as she becomes a 'Lady'.

There is a similar movie named 'My Fair Lady' with Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison where a lo-so lady is transformed into an elegant woman of substance with the same results.

These two movies come to mind because of my past experience with my two Russian friends and now Thavorn. My two Russian friends were more like Audrey Hepburn whereas Thavorn is more like Julia Roberts. I have notices (and Thavorn as well) that Thavorn attract a lot more attention from farangs these days when she is out and about. Last night we were at Country Road and Thavorn was playing pool with one of the pool ladies and a young farang kept hitting on her, asking her to dance or play pool. Thavorn was laughing it off, while the pool lady was getting pissed off at the young farang as she knows Thavorn has a family and is a 'good' girl.

Thavorn has grown into an elegant, confident, young woman whom exudes a comfortable ambiance in a night club. Apparently, this is quite attractive to farangs. She has always had the disarming, welcoming smile, but paired with her new confidence she is quite alluring. It is also plain to see, that she has resumed her svelte, pre birth, physical shape as she recently slipped below 50 kgs. she is downright sexy :-)

Shaun recently asked me why I now call Saa (her Thai nickname) Thavorn and the reason is, she is different now, and Thavorn fits better in my mind. Thavorn and I had a discussion (I forgot to mention that her English is much better now) and she agreed that she is more comfortable in her skin. I have noticed that she reads much more now, via her smart phone. She often knows about some news before I do, so her world view is expanding. All in all, a great change has occurred in Thavorn. Hopefully she will not out grow this old farang.

TTYL


Tuesday, October 6, 2015

News and Flying

Today's song is: 8 Miles High by the Byrds


I was watching France24.com on cable this morning on channel 67. This channel usually hosts Fox News, but it appears they have run afoul of the censors.

The big news was two Air France executives getting their shirts ripped off their backs when they announced cuts of 3,000 to the work force of Air France. Air France is simply not competitive against the other national carriers in Europe. Their pilots fly 2/3rds as much yet get paid 1/3rd more. Ditto for their ground support personnel. French unions just don't get it. Their solution is to re-regulate the skies and force the other airlines to charge the same. That means that you and I, the regular folks that use these airlines get to support these new French bourgeoisie as they live a life style they can not afford in a global economy. No wonder France has a 10% unemployment rate. Duh!

Meanwhile, in the developing world we have Air Asia (all Asia) and NokAir (Thailand) and I get to fly with efficient, inexpensive airlines with great service. Contrast that with the geriatric cabin crew on Air Canada, who seldom smile and despite growing old in a young person's job are not willing to give up  their unionized pay scale. Just don't ask them to help put your carry-on in the overhead compartment.

As always, I do not have the answers, just observations. Feel free to comment ...

TTYL

Monday, October 5, 2015

Back to Routine

Today's song is: One Way ... by Blondie.



Our weekly routine is back to normal since Shaun has departed to China.  That means no nights out, daily 30 minute swim for me, biweekly trips to Big C to stock up on food, diapers, formula, etc., and programming 20 hours a week. It is actually not a bad life for Thavorn and I although we would like to get out and enjoy the night life. We are probably about 6 months away from doing that. One avenue we are contemplating is bring Thavorn's 2 oldest children to live with us. They are 10 and 9 years old, and the girl (Thai) is very good with Jaidan and she would be the ideal baby sitter for us.

For this to happen, we would have to move closer to a school and get a 2 bedroom condo about twice the size of what we have. Probably the smart thing to do is move to Pattaya and rent a house. Ever since the Russian rouble tanked, properties in Pattaya have dropped in price and the night life in Pattaya is just as much fun, if not more than what is available in Bangkok. We can rent a 3 bedroom house for under 25 Baht. We currently pay 22,000 Baht for a one bedroom. Thavorn, Jaidan and I are planning a trip to Pattaya (Sin City) next month. We would not move until our lease is up in April.

One of the advantages of Pattaya is you don't have to take a 45 minute taxi ride and wait in line for 2 hours to renew your visa. It is 90 minutes to Suvarnbhumi Airport from Pattaya and the cost is about $5 Canadian so that is not a problem. The air is also cleaner because Pattaya is on the ocean. It would also make sense to buy a motorcycle to get around on. Yippie kai yah!!!! All in all, I would not mind trying Pattaya for a year or two.

Here is a 16 minute video of 'Walking Street', the major naughty area in Pattaya.


TTYL

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Friday Night out for Thavorn

Today's song is: Four Strong Winds by Ian and Sylvia


Thursday was a very quiet day for all of us and on Friday Shaun wanted to head to Rumours Bar for a walk and a quick drink. He asked if I wanted to go and I suggested he take Tavorn as she needed to get out of the apartment. I was on Jaidan duty which was fine by me.

Shaun and Thavorn headed out about 8 pm and Shaun returned back after 90 mins and Thavorn called me and said Tacky had just called her and asked her out for a night of fun, music and dancing. I said great, go for it, but don't come back and talk to the toilet. Wishful thinking on my part. Take a young Thai girl out of the village and plunk her into a live disco with free drinks provided by Nimo and Tacky and you have one Thai girl who is going to cut lose. It was actually good to see Thavorn have a great night out and she only talked to the toilet once when she returned home at dawn.

It turns out they bar hopped for a while, visited a Japanese Sushi restaurant, and then a hit new disco on Soi 11 (home of Climax bar, which is also great) that was packed, so Nimo booked an alcove for the 3 of them which quickly became 5 or 6 as Tacky's friends got off work. The price for the alcove was 3 bottles of whisky for 9,000 baht, but the mix was free. That would be about $300.

From the pictures I saw, it looked like everyone had fun. Thavorn woke up about 12:30 pm and spent the rest of the day, feeling 'not so good!'. But, that is a small price to pay for a walk on the wild side. If you can't have fun in Bangkok there has to be something wrong with you.

Needless to say, Saturday was a quiet day and Sunday was quiet except for a walk to Rumour's bar and a quick beer. I ordered a taxi for Shaun by GrabTaxi (online line) and Shaun headed off to Don Muang and his flight back to China.

It was a great visit and it was good to renew an old friendship. Hopefully Shaun will be back sometime in the new year.

TTYL

2nd Night Out

Today's song is: Puff the magic Dragon .. for the children in all of us .. may we never grow up and still experience the awe and wonder that is still there in our world ... if you have the will to look for it .. 2013 old farts version


Shaun and I started out at Country Road because I wanted to find out how bad we were on Monday night. We were greeted with smiles and the older lady I shoot pool with told me we were lots of fun and well behaved and very entertaining. I figure that is the way it should be. We started out listening to the band and after about 15 mins I suggested we should sit outside and watch the 7 pm shift arrive for work at Soi Cowboy.

One of the first ladies to arrive was Shaun's wing lady from Monday night that accompanied us to Pat Pong until she disappeared. She had a big smile for us so I figured we were safe. I asked her where she had got to and she said she suggested to Shaun that we would have more fun if we did not have a lady in tow. As it turned out she was correct and enjoyed the opportunity to head home for an early evening. Most people do not realize that the girls can not take an evening off and they get fined if they do not show up for work 24/7.

After an hour of navel gazing Shaun and I headed off to my favorite bar which is the Dollhouse. 1 of my 3 favorite ladies was on stage and I invited her down for a lady drink. About the same time, 3 crazy guys in their early 30's arrived. A German, and American, and an Aussie. They had been travelling alone until they met at a bar a few days earlier and had been a trio ever since. They were all engaging and funny with the Aussie being the most fun which is not unusual.

I have discovered that Shaun is ADD and his attention deficit disorder kicked in after about an hour and I had to leave my lovely friend and head off to Nana Plaza on Soi 4. We decided to walk to wear off a few vodka and RedBulls and along the way we passed the many stalls selling knockoffs, sex aids, and everything else that you can imagine.

When we hit Soi 7/1, I suggested that we stop at the Magic Table as I wished to see an old friend I had not seen for about 6 months. She spotted me before I hit the curtained opening and I was greeted by a leaping hug. Good thing she only weighs about 45 kilos. The Magic table is aptly named because the ladies dance, commando style, with skimpy little skirts on top of tables that feature a mirrored top. I leave the result to your imagination. My friends number tag is #1 and she has that honor for reasons I will not go into.

The ladies that work the Magic Table are really funny and good humored. I highly recommend this bar for a fun night. They also have a pool table out front but it is pretty beat-up. The man who runs the bar is simply referred to as the French Man, and is, indeed, from Paris, but now makes his home in the LOS.

I explained to my friend that we were touring bars and she said, 'Jimmy, I wait for you?', and I respectfully told her I doubt if we would make it back and told her not to wait.

Shaun and I headed off for the short walk to Nana Plaza and decided to check in at the Lollipop Bar to see if his friend from his last visit was working, or perhaps Thavorn's friend Tacky was there. We were both disappointed and decided to bar hop. After about an hour I decided to head off to Hillary 2 to listen to my favorite live bands. Shaun told me he would follow along later.

It has been quite a while since Thavorn and I had been to to Hillary's and only one waitress recognized me. However 4 band members did and I got a big hello. I quite enjoyed the music and was joined by a young lady after about 20 minutes, and what the heck, a little company would be fun.  Shaun showed up about 90 minutes later and decided he would head home. I decided to head off to look for some place to play pool which did not have an 45 minute wait in order to play.

By this time, it is about 1:30 am. I headed off to a bar called Strikers which has quite a few tables and was greeted by a young lady who stated that she was pretty good at pool and that there was a free table.  I said great and walked over to the table and lo and behold there was Thavorn's friend Tacky and Nimo, one of her constant companions. I mentioned to Tacky that I had a night out and Thavorn could use one as well and encouraged her to give Thavorn a call to set something up.

The pool and young lady both turned out great and I ended up winning 3 games to 2 so I was pretty happy and bid her adieu (after explaining I had a girl friend) and decided to walk the 7 kms home. I have always felt safe walking around Bangkok at all hours and it was 2:30 am and I wanted to walk off some more vodka and RedBulls. Walking is a great time to reflect on life and at that moment I was quite content with mine.

I made it home about 3:30 am and happily flopped into bed rolling over to give Thavorn a kiss goodnight.

TTYL