Today's song is: By the Dashboard Light .. I never get tired of this Meatloaf song about teenage love angst.
On Sunday, we jumped on the BTS and took it up to Siam Paragon to do some window shopping. Turned out there was a dinosaur display which Thavorn, and Jaidan of course, had never seen. The previous evening we had watched 'Walking with Dinosaurs on television so Jaidan could relate.
Some pics:
Today we decided to go get some street food at a little court that we had noticed. Turns out most of Bangkok had the same idea so we bought some pork balls and corn on the street and took it back to the resort to eat.
After eating Jaidan was tired so I lay down with him and he was out like a light in 5 mins which gave me the time to enter this blog entry.
I am going to the gym every day and running for 25 mins. I forgot how much I miss running and how much better I feel when I go to the gym. New Year's resolution #1 .. buy a gym membership and use it to the max!
We are enjoying our stay at the Marriott , The Empire Place, although Thavorn's relatives think we are ding dong for staying here as we have an apartment just 30 mins away. They miss the point I have a certifiacte that I must use before the end of the year, and this resort does not require us to spend money on travel such as air fare.
The room is spacious at over 1000 sq feet and includes a full kitchen. Here are some pics:
Complete with high chair for Jaidan
The kitchen and eating area.
I am watching lots of basketball .. don't get NCAA at apartment.
Master bedroom ensuite.
Thavorn sleeping in the king size (soft) bed with feather pillows, and crib for Jaidan.
The second bedroom .. empty .. no one ever comes visit us.
Second bathroom.
View from the balcony.
One of 3 televisions .. get to watch what I want :-)
Washer and drier.
Yesterday we went for a walk to Pat Pong as Thavorn had never been there. It was only 30 minutes away, closer than I thought. We also bought a BBQfish for 140 baht that we ate for supper. We learned from Friday night and asked for a crib for Jaidan last night and had a good night's sleep.
Today I think we will learn this part of the BTS and ride it up to Siam Plaza which we already know. They have a great book store there as well as lots of coffee shops to sit and relax in.
I took advantage of the gym today and ran for 20 minutes which was not bad considering I have not run for over 1 year. Also did some weights and chatted with a fellow Canadian from Vancouver who now lives on an island in the Philippines. He is enjoying the good life along with his wife.
I had an Interval certificate which was set to expire soon so I thought I would make use of it here in Bangkok as it would not cost me anything to use it but a taxi fare to the vacation resort. I will actually save a couple of thousand Baht as I can turn off all the electricity using appliances in my apartment.
As usual, it is a Marriott resort that we are booked into for a week in Bangkok. It is actually in a part of the city I do not know very well so it will be fun exploring plus it is also close to the river so we will take a river boat cruise for an hour on the river and through the canals of Bangkok. Bangkok used to be called the Venice of Asia because of its extensive canal system which is now mostly unused. What price progress?
This is the vacation club we will be staying at as of this Friday:
Yesterday was a big celebration for Thais, best described by Wikipedia.
Loi Krathong takes place on the evening of the full moon of the 12th month in the traditional Thai lunar calendar. In the Western calendar this usually falls in November. According to the Royal Institute Dictionary 1999, loi (ลอย) means "to float", whilekrathong (กระทง) has various meanings, one of which is "a basket to be floated on water in the Loi Krathong festival".[2] Several translations of krathong are found, such as "floating crown", "floating boat", "floating decoration". The traditional krathong are made from a slice of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. Modern krathongs are more often made of bread or Styrofoam. A bread krathong will disintegrate after a few days and can be eaten by fish. Banana stalk krathong are also biodegradable, but Styrofoam krathongs are sometimes banned, as they pollute the rivers and may take years to decompose. A krathong is decorated with elaborately-folded banana leaves, incense sticks, and a candle. A small coin is sometimes included as an offering to the river spirits. On the night of the full moon, Thais launch their krathong on a river, canal or a pond, making a wish as they do so. The festival may originate from an ancient ritual paying respect to the water spirits.
Here are some pics of our 'float a boat' from last night at the lake in Queen's Park. It was very busy!
Today's song is: Heaven can Wait .. another great Meatloaf song
Tavorn needed a break from Jaidan so I went for a walk with him and ended up at Rumours bar. While at Rumours I met an American, Jose from Miami who was on a vacation that included the Phillipines, Malaysia, and Thailand. He had 3 days in Thailand and had just arrives in Bangkok. We chatted on how to make the best of his 3 days and he immediately wanted to take notes and draw a map about the places I was recommending.
I suggested we finish our drinks and go for a walk and then that would orient him with regards to getting around downtown Bangkok. He was staying on Soi 22 so it made it easy. We headed out and walked the 10 mins to Cowboy. Along the way I pointed out Crazy House, a must place to visit about 10 pm that night. We then headed down Cowboy and I recommended the Suzie Wong show at 10:30 and the Dollhouse immediately across from Suzies. We then stopped in at Country Road for another drink and to discuss what he had learned so far.
I suggested he should also explore Nana which was a 20 minute walk form Cowboy, so off we went. It turns out he also believes walking around is the best way to get to know a place. We ended up at Hillary 4 in Nana and I called Thavorn to meet us there. By this time, Jaidan and I had been gone for about 3 hours. She jumped in a taxi and came to meet us.
It turns out that Jose was a hit with the ladies, being a Puerto Rico native that although he was 50 looked to me to be about 35. We chatted some more and had some more drinks and then Jose paid the tab and headed back to his hotel and shower before heading out for the night. I gave him directions on how to get back to Soi 22 and he decided to walk the 25 mins back.
I trust he had a good night. I have his eMail so I may check back with him in a day to see how he enjoyed the City of Angels.
I am including a pic of Thavorn and jaidan. Thavorn is 5' 7 so Jaidan is sprouting up. Unfortunately I do not have a tape measure. He is 16 kilos now as he approaches 16 months of age at the end of the month.
Today's song is: Play that Funky Music by Wild Cherry
Thavorn, Jaidan and I headed out for a walk about 4:30 and as we often do, we ended up at Soi Cowboy at Country Road. While Jaidan entertained the ladies, Thavorn went off to play pool and ended up playing against Jean, a bald young French man who lives in Bangkok.
Jaidan and I ended up being entertained by Jimmy, who has lived in Bangkok for the past 30 years but who is originally from Singapore. Jimmy speaks 7 languages and has the cutest well behaved little dog who accompanies him while he plays pool on Country Road. Jaidan was enthralled with the dog who kept giving Jaidan kisses.
Jimmy introduced me to his friend Michael from Mississauga (small world) and who is also from Singapore originally but manages to visit S.E. Asia for 2 months every year. While in Bangkok he stays with Jimmy but he also owns condos in Singapore and the Philippines.
I ended up playing Jean for a couple of games and when I finished I ended up back with Michael who had met David from Manchester England. Davis visits Canada quite often as he is a sales person for a paper company, and get this, they sell paper to Canada. It turns out none of the Canadian companies want to produce specialty papers (think stamps) in small quantities for Canadian firms like Canada Post. No wonder the CDN $ is so low these days. WTF!
After a total of about 7 games of pool and 2 pitchers of Singha I paid the bill of 600 baht (about $20 CDN) and we headed off to walk home with Jaidan on my shoulders in search of some chicken legs for Jaidan and I and some BBQ squid and pork balls for Thavorn. Mission accomplished and we headed home.
There is this one problem of having a child at 2^6 years of age, now that Jaidan is almost 2^4 months old and weighs 2^4 kilos. WE like to walk but 5 kilometres carry 16 kilos in your arms or on your shoulders (preferred) makes me sweaty and tired at the end of the walk. C'est la vie!
I put Jaidan into the bath and then put him to sleep to the tunes of Meatloaf and he is sleeping soundly so I get to update my blog in peace. This a usual Saturday night for me. I almost always meet some new acquaintances from around the world and no doubt I will bump into them again sometime.
Thavorn's tattoo is healing well. Stay tuned for some pics in a couple of days :-)
Today is hump day and Thavorn will go get her Tattoo at:
Of course I did due diligence and this is one of Bangkok's premier tattoo parlors. We went for a walk last night and it was full of young farang males in their late 20's waiting to get their tatts. They seem quite interested in the old farang with the pretty Thai girl with Jaidan in tow :-)
This is the tatt that we decided upon. I say we because Thavorn played the thai girl 'up to you' game for a while so I provided some input. The tatt symbolizes many things about our relationship. Thavorn came to Bangkok searching for the sun, moon, and stars and instead found a friend in a local butterfly. Despite the obstacles holding us back our friendship developed into something else. There is a hidden joke in that one of my favorite expressions is 'Thai not go moon'.
Of course, the tatt is destined for the lower back with the butterfly on the left butt. Once the redness disappears I will post a pic of the real tatt and let you know how the whole experience went. Apparently it will take about 2 hours and we chose the machine rather than bamboo procedure.
There are cheaper places to get tattoos but in my experience, you get what you pay for and it's kind of permanent and I will be looking at it everyday.
I just realized that Friday 13th passed without incidence here in Thailand. The Thais are a superstitious lot. Thavorn had a dream that her brother died so she called her mom and her Mom said she had to buy some lottery tickets with his age and the date she dreamed he died as numbers on the ticket. Go figure.
My Russian friends had all sorts of these superstitions as well. No whistling inside the house or condo was a really bad one that I violated all the time. No matter that bad things never happened .. it was just a matter of time.
Chinese have a morbid fear of the number 4 so you will often see floor 3 and 3A. Ditto for floor 13 and 13A. Obviously, the number 13 is good to go with the Chinese.
I don't think I have any of these wacky ideas .. at least none that I can think of, except for walking under ladders, especially here in Thailand. You never see the standard aluminum or fiberglass ladders here in Thailand. They are always wooden, made out of bamboo and help together with twine. If you saw them, you would not walk under them either :-)
Thais have a real belief in ghosts and it permeates the culture, especially television and movies. I suppose it has something to do with Buddhism as the ghosts are waiting to be reborn and joining the wheel of life once again.
Here are a couple of pics of Jaidan
Waking up a little grumps with Ellie the elephant and having his morning juice
A popular bar in Nana was shut down for 1 week for employing an under age girl. You have to be 20+ to work in a bar in Thailand and most of the girls working these bars are 25 - 35. An Australian news channel picked up on this and ran this story:
The girl in question was 18 and had borrowed her sister's ID card in order to get employment in the bar. There was no trafficking involved but simply a desire to make some big bucks in a short time. Most Thais are finished school shortly before they turn 16 and start work somewhere at the minimum wage of $10 a day. Compare that with what they can make working in a bar and you begin to understand the lure of the bar scene for young Thai girls. Most of them hear about the bars from sisters, friends, and mothers who turn a blind eye as to how their daughters earn the money to send home.
I have heard stories of young girls sold to older Thai men by the mothers but this is not unlike the customs in many Asian countries for pre-arranged marriages. The money is viewed as a dowry and often the family can no longer support the girl on their meager income. However, this is the exception and not the norm. The majority of Thai girls working in the bars are doing so for economic gain and hop from bar to bar looking for the most money or hoping they hit the jackpot and find some farang who is willingly to 'look after her, and her family'.
As the Thai economy grows and jobs begin to pay better I would think it will be more difficult to find bar girls to work in the bars but the lure of a farang boy friend will always be there. It is the only avenue that offers a quick route to hi-so from lo-so.
It is only after you have talked to many bar girls over many years that you begin to realize that the girls are there by economic choice as they laugh at the notion of giving up their 50,000 Baht a month life style for a job at 7-11 paying 10,000 Baht a month for a 12/7 job. Many of the older ladies I meet are in the bars because their Thai boyfriends or husbands have forced them out of their marriage because of 'boxing me' or 'him a butterfly'.
The hidden agenda of many of these crusaders are the conversion of the girls to Christianity from Buddhism. Christianity has a lot to say about sex and what goes on between men and women. Buddhism leaves it up to the men and women. I find it difficult to believe we need missionaries in the global world we now live in. What is the difference between a missionary and a jihadist .. a gun :-)
Today's song is: one of my favorite songs .. Paint it Black .. Stones live in concert 1990
Thavorn, Jaidan, and I headed out in the afternoon. Originally we decided to go to Terminal 21 (up to you), but when pressed Thavorn suggested we go to Nana for some tourist watching. We caught a taxi to Nana and proceeded to Hillary 4 where Jaidan was warmly welcomed by the bar girls who had not seen him for a couple of weeks.
It was our typical tourist watching experience until I started chatting to a middle aged man from Sweden by the name of Matt. Turns out he was on his 2nd wife, this time around a Thai woman and he had a 5 year old half and half with her. His wife was in her village because her dad had suffered a heart attack and they had come to Thailand from Sweden (where they live) to visit him. Matt, like me, finds Bangkok just a little bit more fun than the village, so there he was.
Meeting people from all over the world is one of the est things about Bangkok. We talked hockey, politics, terrorism, and Thai women. Mostly Thai women :-)
Today's song is a video: From Thailand's got talent .. a lady boy makes it to the next round ...
Today is Friday and we had a request from Tacky in her village to borrow 2,000 baht and we quickly deposited it into her bank account. Tacky is always good for a loan and it seems she spent all she had on her children in her village and did not have enough to make it back to Bangkok tonight for her shift at Nana's. This is so like tacky and why I nick named her Whacky Tacky. She is one of a kind!
Friday night and Saturday night are typically the busiest nights in Bangkok but we will stay home tonight as we were out at Soi Cowboy 2 nights ago and last night we met some friends at Robin Hood Pub for 3 or 4 beers. You really can't go out every night in Bangkok unless you are on a 1 or 2 week holiday and then you must, so that you don't miss out on anything!
However, I do like to get out on Saturdays so perhaps we will go visit Tacky as she dances on the stage in Suckers (used to be called Lollipop Bar, but a local BJ bar who had the name before them, threatened to take them to court). It is always interesting to watch your friends dance in a g-string or not :-)
Will finish off with 'You don't Know me' .. by Willie .. definitely not Katoey
Today's song is: I have Always Been Crazy by Waylon Jennings
I have been quite remiss in my blog posts. The problem is I have been very busy programming and when that happens I tend to avoid computers when I don't have to use them. It looks like the programming may be tapering off.
On Sunday I managed to get out for some fun and pool at Soi Cowboy. I played 3 games at Country Road and won all 3 as the lady I was playing with was not up to her usual game. However, I will take the 3 w's against her. After pool I headed off to the Tilac to see if my friend nidNoi but she was not there. Turns out she checked in at 9 pm, but I was home by then. A farang friend had taken her for shopping and dinner at Terminal 21.
I then headed off to the Dollhouse to see my friend Ann and get a look at her sister's nose job but neither was there. BTW, if doing sisters is on your punter bucket list then the Dollhouse may be the place for you. Other items on the punter bucket list is twins and mother/daughter. Popeyes used to have twins and mother daughter used to be found at Mew Mews in Soi 22. Don't ask me how I know :-)
After the Dollhouse I stopped in at Shark bar and my friend apple (best butt in Bangkok) was there. We chatted for a bout 30 mins and then I decided to call it a night. I promised Thavorn I would only be gone for 3 hours.
Monday, Tuesday, and today were uneventful except for shopping for groceries at Big C and a few afternoon vodka's and OJ at Rumours in Queens park on Soi 22. I am getting to the swimming pool most mornings for a 30 minute swim.
Thavorn and I are getting a little bored with Bangkok so when our lease is up in April we will probably move to Pattaya or Hua Hin, or perhaps even Phuket. If we do so it looks like we will buy a small car to get around on. It turns out you can buy a Honda Jazz (Fit) for about 500,000 baht which is about the price I was willing to pay for a motorcycle, but would be more practical because all three of us can start touring around Thailand. A GPS will be essential for me as I can not read Thai traffic signs.
This color kinds me of my Chevy Cobalt SS that was so much fun to drive. However, comes with backup camera and passenger side camera which is nice. Cobalt had 190 hp whereas this car has only 130 hp but is lighter. Will have to take a test drive :-)
Today's song is: Let's get this Party Started by Pink
I have heard that sometimes my pics do not show up. I think it is because I sometimes email myself a photo and then copy from the eMail and paste directly into my blog. I think this causes the link to be corrupt. It appears okay to me but the photos are cached locally rather than on the server. I will avoid that in the future.
It is Sunday today and Thavorn is back to normal, if not a bit chagrined. Friday night was her night out with her friend Tacky and her friend Nimo. Nimo visits Thailand once a month for a week and is on an expense account so the fun is expense free for Tacky and Thavorn and whomever else is tagging along. Nimo likes to live large.
They started off at his favorite Japanese restaurant at 10 pm, drinking Sake and eating sushi. Around about midnight they headed off to his favorite club on Soi 11 and started drinking Jagermeister bombs and whisky. After about 3 hours of this things started to unravel. Thavorn is not used to drinking huge quantities of alcohol and mixing is usually a recipe for disaster.
The whirlies arrived and Thavorn headed off to the toilet to discuss the situation with the big white telephone. Tacky was a little concerned and fetched Thavorn back a little too soon and Thavorn hurled, spewed, over the alcove they were inhabiting. On the way back to the toilet, the bouncers intercepted Thavorn and Tacky and decided to eject Thavorn for messing up the alcove.
Tacky did not take kindly to Thavorn being man handled and stepped in and was intercepted by another bouncer. Bad choice for the bouncer as Tacky tee'd off on him and the bouncer ended up in the hospital. Apparently Tacky is quite the brawler, but she too inherited quite a few bruises, especially to her hands that made frequent contact with the bouncer.
Tacky (don't mess with me) and Thavorn
Tacky's knuckles
More hand bruises on Tacky
Tacky's arms where the bouncer tried to pin her - before the head butt :-)
I wish I could say it turned out okay but all three were ejected from the club and they are now officially blacklisted and barred from that club. They ended up back in Queen's Park (Soi 22) entertaining the staff at Pop Eyes, where Tacky is now a local legend. I received a call from Nimo, asking me to come pick up crazy Thavorn but I explained I could not as I was looking after Jaidan, who was now noisily objecting to being woken up by my phone ringing.
About 20 mins later all 3 arrived in a taxi and I put the coffee on. I must admit I was pretty impressed by Tacky's pugilistic skills and thanked her for looking after Thavorn. Definitely not a boring night for the threesome.
Thavorn was quite surprised by my not being angry with her. Why, she asked? I replied, 'Did you learn anything?' and she said yes, and I replied, 'Then it was worthwhile, and you have already been punished enough!'. Kind of reminds me of my son Jordan when he was 16 :-)
Thavorn and Jaidan arrive this afternoon about 2 ish.
My favorite Pad Thai Gai food stall .. best in Bangkok .. 60 Baht
Thavorn and Jaidan are back and life is back to normal which is mostly good. Tacky's Swiss customer is back this weekend and Tacky and her customer friend have invited her out on Saturday night for an evening of fun. Last time she did this she came home after sunrise and talked to the toilet for a while. I promised she could do it once a month (he comes back every 4 weeks for a week and is on an expense account) as long as she gets in around 3 ish in the morning.
You know what they say, 'If you love something, set it free, if it comes back, it is yours, if it does not, it never was'. Seriously, though, Thavorn is 29 and needs to get out with her friends and cut loose every now and again. I certainly do, so it would not be fair if she did not have the same opportunity I have. My only concern is alcohol and Thai girls do not mix well, especially when the alcohol is free flow.
Thavorn and I went for a walk today and everyone on Soi 22 was happy to see us all together again. I think we are a living example that Farang/Thai relationship sometimes work out well. Many Hi-Fives for Jaidan and 'Where have you been?' for Thavorn.
Two Thai ladies and one of their Thai boy friends have bought out one of the pubs in Queens Park and I sincerely they make a go of it. It is good to see them invest their hard earned money rather than gamble, drink, or give it away. I know I will frequent their bar as long as they have a happy hour and their girls to not badger me with, 'You buy me drink?' They certainly have the bar experience to make a go of it.
I met quite a few new bar girls when Thavorn was in her village. Not to worry, I was a good boy, but I do like to meet pretty young ladies and play the bar game. However, if I tell them I have lived in Bangkok for 5 years they give up with a, 'You have Thai wife?' Still, lots of fun kicking the tires :-)
Today's song is: I have Never Been to Me .. by Charlene .. not sure why I like this song so much .. I would have called it .. A Beautiful Woman's Lament' .. brings a certain Russian to mind.
Yippee Kai Yah ... Thavorn and Jaidan come home tomorrow!
Last evening, Sunday, after programming all day, I went for a walk down to Nana to sit and watch the tourists and punters walk by. My usual perch at Hillary 4 was occupied so I crossed the street to Bar 4 and sat there for an hour. Different perspective, same experience. No one knows me at Bar 4 so it took about 5 minutes for the bar girls to size me up for an approach. Usually it is the 'hungriest' lady that will approach you if you decide not to make eye contact which I did not. The lady arrives with the usual one liners ... You come here before, Where you from, What your name, etc. followed up after an appropriate time with, You buy me drink? If the answer is no, she departs and everyone leaves you alone. I play the game when I usually just want to get directly to the 'No'.
Nana is very close to the Arab quarter which is across the street so you see quite a few Arabs walking by with their ninja's in tow. I have not yet ascertained their fascination with Thailand. I think it is because it is inexpensive and they can get a visitor's visa easily.
I noticed that their were fewer blacks around this time which coincides with the police report I saw on television where they were rounding up tourists who had over stayed their visa's. When the cops do this they indulge in racial profiling big time. What is it with cops and their tight, brown uniforms? They must be made of spandex! Either that or they frequent the tailors often as they gain weight.
I noticed that there are more and more farang women visiting Thailand, usually in groups of 2 or 3. I think Thailand has universal appeal as it has an interesting culture. However, I seldom see them talking with Thais, and that is something you want to do to get to know Thailand. Street vendors, cops, bar girls .. all Thais are usually happy to try out their English.
It is funny to watch a good looking 20 year old farang man walk around Thailand. He has instant rock star status with the young girls who will often grab him and pull him into a group of 3 or 4 girls, where they will tease him and flirt with him. It is hilarious to watch this scene unfold. Thai ladies really do find farangs attractive. They even like big noses which is usually a turnoff for ladies in farangland. Even ugly, overweight, dirty farangs can be seen with beautiful girls but that will be at a price and for a short time.
I find the scene of classic Thai girls being shuttled to and fro on the back of motorcycle taxis to be the defining graphic of Bangkok life for me. Not sure what that says about me?
Today's song is: Poppa was a Rollin Stone by the Temptations
Last night was Halloween and after a full day programming I decided to go for a walk at 7 pm to view the Halloween costumes and makeup that inevitably hit the bars on that particular night. I would guess that a third of the bar girls had on face makeup that made it difficult to tell who they were, or just how pretty they were. That just made it all the entertaining.
There is one big problem with the City of Angels and that is temptation, grass is greener, or whatever you want to call it. I have mentioned before that many farangs treat their GF's as cars and trade them in for a newer model once they start showing their age. One of the problems is there is no shortage of newer models arriving daily in Bangkok from the villages.
Some farangs, once they have spent some time in Bangkok, start preferring the 'classic' car model which in Thai GF parlance would be a young lady, 30 - 40 years of age. One must remember that Thai women do not look their age. That 20 year old you think, may actually be a 30 year old. Their figures seldom betray them as they can keep their greyhound silhouette well into their 40's and later if they use a gym. What really separates the 'classic' model from the latest and greatest is their outlook on life. They don't play games and they do not indulge in endless selfies of how pretty they are.
It brings to mind 'Girls just want to have fun'. Begs the question .. was I tempted .. always .. but so far I have never gone over to the dark side. Thavorn is a classic and a keeper. But, it sure is fun to browse the showroom and kick the tires.
