The Gym

Today's song is: Private Dancer .. Tina

Before I actually visited Thailand, I envisioned a land of temples, villages, rats and snakes. I certainly did not expect to find the 5 star hotels, complex shopping centers and movie cinemas, and exotic cars I find on the streets of Bangkok.  Cambodia and Laos are more like I envisioned and Thailand, I discovered is a land of contrasts.

I am totally amazed with the selection of vehicles I see on the street. Exotic cars and motorcycles are common place. Whenever I walk to Big C, I pass by a car/motorcycle detailing shop where I see Maserati, Ferrari, the odd Rolls, etc. Someone is making lots of money in Thailand!

Harley Davidson, Ducati, KTM, and even Vespa (the Cadillac of scooters) all have a presence in Bangkok. However, most of the population are riding 125cc motorbikes. Thailand is considered a developing country but it sure puts Canada and the US to shame when it comes to expensive rides.

Bangkok also has the best gyms I have experienced. It is interesting to see how the gyms are used. In Malaysia, the most common activity was walking on the treadmill and reading the newspaper. In Bangkok, I find there are 2 types of users. The user either uses the running, stair steppers, bikes or gliders for aerobic exercises (predominantly women) or use the strength building machines to get in shape or get bigger. Very few people (mostly women and myself) use both types of machines.

The group classes are very popular with women and Thai kickboxing training is also popular with the ladies.  The clientele has to be hiso as the gym is expensive.  It would appear to be a great place to meet someone, but I see very little evidence of that, but that may go on after work hours, when I do not use the gym.  During the day and on the weekends it is quiet.

The outdoor environment at Queens Park is very popular with the loso runners and weight lifters, mostly when the sun goes down and the temperature drops below 30 degrees.

Thailand, is a land of contrasts  .. interesting that the middle class is starting to disappear in North America as the rich get richer and the middle class slips .. hey Bernie, what are you up to these days?

TTYL

Bangkok's Aquarium

Today's song is: Hold the Line  .. Toto

Jaidan has been training for the 2 year old strong man competition. Here is his typical workout:

I was off to the gym today and afterwards Thavorn and Jaidan hooked up with me for a trip to the aquarium located in the Siam Paragon shopping complex which is probably the swankiest shopping center I have ever seen, putting anything in North America to shame.  The aquarium has pricing in Thai (490 baht) and English (990 baht) but the young gentleman working the cash gave me the Thai price when I submitted my passport showing I had a retirement visa. Jaidan, being under 3 yeas of age was free. This is about the best bang (poor choice of words) for under 1,000 baht you can get in Bangkok.

Jaidan was a little scared at times so wanted to be held. Here are some pics:

TTYL

Winter has Arrived .. in Ottawa

Today's song is: Let it Snow  .. Dean martin

Today is officially the first day of winter back in my home town of Ottawa, Canada.  Here is the 7 day forecast:

Flurries on the way  ...

One of the things I don't miss is winter clothes and boots, plus scraping windshields and driving in ice and snow. Matter of fact, I don't miss driving at all except for riding motorcycles. I do enjoy going for a swim outdoors in the sunshine and letting my thoughts drift through the images of snowdrifts and driveways waiting to be shoveled.

I have been doing quite a bit of programming lately so I just had to go out and buy a nice bottle of scotch and settled on this at the local 7/11. BTW, it is wonderful to walk down to the 7/11 and buy booze rather than jumping in a car to go for beer or liquor. Canada is really quite antiquated in a way, actually many ways. We really are a nanny state.

The jury is still out whether programming goes better with red wine or scotch. I tend to drink less of the scotch as it is a much stronger taste.

Thavorn headed out with her friend Tacky for a night on the town, and as usual, drank too much and stayed out to late, but from all accounts had fun with lots of Japanese hitting on her. I was out on Thursday night so I shall not complain, although I was home by 11 pm  .. and I won my pool games 4-1  :-)

I made it to the gym this morning and it was bump day, where I push myself a little faster on the tread and increase the weights I am lifting in my sets, so I am tired.  Time for a nap  ..

TTYL

Hump Day

Today's song is: Turn the Page  .. Bob Seger

The middle of the week always presents a challenge. Off to the gym I went and had a great workout and then I headed off to McDonalds for their signature hamburger special.  I had previously agreed to meet my friend Arthur at Rumours Bar at 1 pm so I had time to kill and decided to people watch out the window at McDonalds that looks out on Sukhumvit, the major thoroughfare in Bangkok.

There was the same cross section of tourists, from young couples with backpacks, boys on the prowl (usually with backpacks), girls on the prowl (usually with rollies), older couples (always with rollies) and farang/Tai couples (hand in hand). My first observation is that the older folks in their late 50's or early 60's would really benefit from time in the gym and less time at the table.

I envy the boys and girls on the prowl. I would have had a fantastic time in my mid 20's.  It would have been a real eye opener and would have dramatically changed how I spent my mid life.  For better or for worse, who knows, but as momma used to say, 'The Walter Mitty in you would have loved it!'

Farang/Thai couples really interest me. There has to be a book in there somewhere. I would really like to interview the couples and ask where they are in their relationship. Some of the farangs are obviously besotted with their Thai partner, whereas I am thinking, 'Of all the Thai girls out there, why her?'  Some of the older farang/Thai couples seem very comfortable with each other and are obviously in a long term relationship.

The older farang couples were suffering with the heat today, whereas I found it quite pleasant without the humidity of the rainy season. You do get acclimatized after a few years.

Monday was the Loy Krathong Festival in Bangkok and Thavorn, Jaidan, and I braved the crowd to launch our offering.

Loy KRATHONG – FLOATING LIGHTS

The krathong is a small floating offering about 20 centimeters in diameter. Traditionally this is made from the leaves and wood of the banana tree. The raft is decorated with flowers, a candle and an incense stick. People often leave a small coin in the krathong, and occasionally they will leave a lock of the hair or even nail clippings. On the night of the full moon people will light the candle and the joss stick, and float their krathong down the river. This is a way that bad fortune can be discarded and made to float away. Thousands of these will float down the river making for a beautiful and moving spectacle.

This festival is very popular with locals and tourists alike.

Usually at this time of year there would be lots of Christmas ornamentation but that is missing this year due to the morning period of the King. On Monday, music (live bands) returned to the bars but everyone is still wearing black and white. The closing hours are back to their normal 2 am.

If I get out this weekend I will update you on the bar scene.

TTYL

Casting Blame ...

Today's song is: I've Seen Pubic Hair  .. McLean and McLean

This politically incorrect song is brought to you by two infamous Canadian entertainers whom I had the good fortune to catch live during my university days at Carleton ...

The democratic party in general and Hillary specifically are trying to attach blame over their loss. FBI director Comey is Hillary's latest deflector target. Hillary does not want to acknowledge that she was a flawed candidate that target 3 groups of voters (Hispanics, Blacks, and Women) who did not get out and support her in the same numbers as Obama. The fact that she did not even set foot in Wisconsin during the run up is evidence of she did not really have a grasp of the discontent that was out there. I get a real sense that Hillary was a puppet for the democrat party, who danced to their tunes and that means that the Democratic party s ultimately to blames for choosing a flawed candidate.

CNN, whom I consider left of the medium in the political media have posted some interesting links in the blame game that make for interesting reading:

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/11/politics/hillary-clinton-loss/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/politics/why-donald-trump-won/index.html

Back to Comey .. he was between a rock and a hard place and I think we will discover that after his second revelation that another 65,000 emails were found on Hillary's aide's computer that undue pressure was placed on him to announce those newly found eMails did not change his previous recommendation that Hillary was essentially negligent (stupid) in handling sensitive communications. There is only one place where this undue pressure could have come from and that is the White House.

On a more somber note Leonard Cohen passed away  .. RIP  .. many great artists are passing away  .. I wonder how Kati Perry,Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber will be mourned ...

So Long Marianne ... 

TTYL

Winners and Losers

Today's song is: Symphony for the Devil  .. Stones

In a democracy there are always winners and losers and usually in the range 55-45 range, so the numbers are not that different. It is up to the losers to accept that majority rules. The pendulum does swing and after the last 8 years of democrats, they are not accepting their loss well. It is there right to peaceful protest, but it is not their right to disrupt the day to day business of living in America.

Most of the protesters appear to be millennials. Perhaps they would have preferred to have Bernie in power but he lost as well. Perhaps they are upset because their student loans will not be forgiven. Perhaps they are upset because they are not getting the jobs that their colleges promised.

The road to change is to get into the political process and work the system. That is what Trump did and if he was smart enough to manipulate the media and the electoral system that, in my mind, means he is smart enough to be the president of the United States.  Better to have a smart person in charge than a 'connected' person in charge.

The protesters seem more like anarchists than protesters to me as they are not willing to work for change within the system. Millennials are perhaps the least invested in the country because of their age. Have they paid their dues and taxes for the past 30 years? Have they raised a family? Have they pursued a career and worked 12 hour days? Intelligence does not infer wisdom.

Millennials do, for the first time in 50 years, represent the majority of the vote as they have surpassed the baby boomers in number. They will be in charge if they manage to get on board the political system that rules in the US. Anarchy is not the path to leadership!  Marching is not the same as working for change. One is short term and one is long term.

Regardless  .. Give Trump a chance  .. the majority voted for him .. that is what democracy is all about :-)

TTYL

The Pendulum Swings ..

Today's song is: We are the Champions  .. Cream

The American election over and the pendulum has swung ... The American form of government is stated as: Government for the people by the people  .. but lately has become: Government for the elite by the elite.

This was painfully evident in the last couple of weeks of the democratic campaign where they paraded pop stars, movie stars, and sports stars across the stage performing for and pledging their support for Hillary. Trump joked, there's no guitars, just me :-) Hillary's primary group of supporters were white college graduates. It turns out that blacks and Hispanics did not turn out in the numbers required to seize the day.

I am impressed that American women decided it was preferable to have a better future for their children than having a flawed woman as president. They saw the future and seeing their children stuck in part-time low paying jobs working as baristas and waiters and waitresses did not appeal to them.

So now America has an ADDH male as president who despite being a mostly self funded billionaire, claims to have the common person's back in the American political system. There is no doubt that Trump is not politically correct and speaks what he thinks, but at least that is better than the calculated spin that the democratic party has served up as policy over the past 8 years.

Over the past month, the democratic party has been shooting the messenger rather than addressing the message. It does not matter if it be the FBI or wiki leaks. The FBI participated in partisan cronyism and Wikileaks is part of a Russian conspiracy. Not once did they address the content of the message. Deny, deny, deny is the democratic mantra.

Trump is not stupid. He knows the bad guy in reality TV shows is often the most popular and the media loved the bad guy image and were all to happy to bash and exploit Trump to add to their ratings. They played into his hands and saved him buckets of money in advertising. They sure changed their tune quickly during the actual voting.

I think Trump will be different and less of a loose cannon now that he is president elect. This election was about change and change the American people will get. I think the average American will have more of a voice in government and Trump would be smart to add Bernie Sanders to his inner cabinet and help bridge the divide between the two parties.

We live in interesting times  ...

TTYL

Unfortunately One More Night ...

Today's song is: Another Brick .. Pink Floyd

The doctor dropped by today and we had a discussion about Jordan. He recommended that he stay another full 24 hours as there was still a rattle in his lungs. He also asked about our histories and I do believe Jaidan has had pneumonia for the past 30 days and the recent cold just put it over the top.

Thavorn's family has no history of asthma or pneumonia, but I can not say the same. My first son Jaidan had some issues in his first 4 years and my older sister and Father all had lung problems. My mothers first 2 siblings both died of pneumonia and I myself had it around the age of 2. Therefore I also thought it was prudent that Jaidan be completely symptom free before departing the hospital.

The final tally will probably be about 10,000 baht which I joking referred to as 3 short term boom booms  .. so no big deal :-). BTW, some of my readers find my comments a little over the top at times and maybe in bad taste, but the thoughts represented here are not necessarily my own, but are representative of many farangs and participants in the communities I enjoy in Thailand. I do enjoy being politically incorrect at times  .. so if it offends you  .. you have been warned :-) For those of you who are not easily offended, the latest readers' submission to Stickman tells it like it is .. if you are easily offended, don't click on the link!

https://www.stickmanbangkok.com/readers-submissions/2016/11/dream-on/

TTYL

Sprung Today?

Today's song is:  Whisky in the Jar  .. Grateful Dead

This song is dedicated to the ex director of the Ottawa Catholic School Board, Derry Byrne  .. the finest Catholic educator I have known and lots of fun to share a jar of beer with  .. Taken back much too soon  ... he is survived by his memories  ... May he RIP

Thavorn and I, and I suspect Jaidan, are hoping he gets sprung from the hospital today as we are all getting pretty bored with the confines of the hospital room. Jaidan is also starting to be his normal ADDH self :-)

Not too much to reflect upon when your environment is 4 walls and the 7/11 across the street.

However, Shaun and I have been planning his 2 week visit to Thailand during the first 2 weeks of January and that should be fun. So far the trip features 3 days and 2 nights in Thavorn's village, exploring the local spots, the Buddhist temple and market as well as communing with the scorpions at night. I think Shaun will find the village and the neighboring town, Wichian Buri interesting. After the village, we are back to Bangkok for a night and then head off to Pattaya (Sin City) and Shaun has never been there. There is also much of Pattaya that I have never seen, so I am quite looking forward to our 3 days and 2 nights.

After Pattaya, it is back to Bangkok for the remaining week of spaghetti and bar hopping with a few side trips to the local produce market, which is huge as well as a temple or two where Thavorn will take Shaun to atone for his many sins over the previous week ....  5555  ... btw 555 is hah, hah, hah as that is how the number 5 is pronounced in Thai.

I am also looking forward to getting back in the gym as I have now missed 8 days because of Thavorn's trip to the village, my cold, and Jaidan's hospital stay.

TTYL

Pneumonia

Today's song is: Gimme Shelter  .. Stones

Jaidan was born in a mid tier Thai hospital name Kluaynamthai and 27 months later we returned on a Saturday night at midnight as Jaidan was struggling to breath with shallow breaths and a a very rapid heart beat along with a fever. Sure enough, it turns out that Jaidan has pneumonia and we are heading into our second night in the hospital.

Treatment consists of 3 liquid medicines taken by mouth, 4 half hour treatments of oxygen via a mask, and x-rays to determine whether it is working. We hope to go home with the medicines tomorrow as Jaidan is getting a little bored wit the room.

Today I went back to our apartment and loaded up on stuffed toys, toiletries, food, phone chargers, etc.

Here are some pics:

Jaidan and the Foxes at Emporium just before falling sick

Midnight at the hospital

Self medicating big boy

Jaidan with IV and oxygen

Feeling a little bit better

Getting bored

Being a monkey

Thavorn taking a break

TTYL

In Search of the Golden Fleece

Today's song is: Can't You Hear me Knocking  .. Stones

I struggled with today's title. Jaidan and I were up and about early, going for a walk, in search of a Lego toy we bought yesterday. The search was in vain, much as I suspected it would be. We also observed many Farang/Thai couples that I suspect were the result of last night's search in the bars. Ode to a Grecian Urn was also on my mind as I observed the angst on both Farang and Thai faces as negotiations were underway.  'You want see me tonight?' Yes. 'You bar fine me again, pay me 5,000 baht?' Whoa, 'You not like me last night?' 'Yes, but if I not go work I will be fined!'. 'Okay, I pay bar fine.' 'You want me stay with you all night?' Yes. 'Then I need 5,000 baht, have to pay rent, buy food'. WTF?

My chances of finding the lost toy were next to impossible as a Thai person finding it would thank their lucky karma and explaining to the Thai person working at the Drugstore I suspected I left it in was challenging to say the least. How you can be a university trained pharacist and not have a modicum of English is beyond my understanding.

There has been quite a bit of discussion by punters online about the rising cost of pay4play in Thailand and Bangkok in particular. The punters state that Thai women all think they have a golden pussy and are charging prices accordingly. I think what the punters don't get is that pussy (can call it that as Trump does) is now a global commodity and with the advent of the internet and smart phones, Thai women are well versed in its value to punters from developed countries.

In a global market place, supply and demand as well as what buyers are willing to pay determine the price. Air fares in S.E. Asia are very cheap and the South Koreans and Japanese can easily pay more for pussy with what they save on air fare compare to your average Farang. It appears that the Koreans and Japanese are much easier for the Thai ladies, who have nicknamed them 333's ... 3 minutes, 3 inches, and 3,000 baht. They invariably only want short term, and do not seek out the GFE (girlfriend experience).

The Farang/Thai couples I observed seemed to be negotiating on what to do now. No doubt the punter is doing the math figuring out that last night cost him about $300 and at that rate, 2 days into his 1 week holiday, he will be running out of money soon,  The Thai girl is thinking, can I spin this out over the next 5 nights and be able send some money home to mama and the kids, or perhaps even put some in my bank account, and maybe I can convince (fleece) him to look after me by sending money monthly to keep me out of the bars.

At this moment in the Farang's brain, if he is well educated, he will recall that Keat's Ode to a Grecian Urn is all about the hunt and passion and not the conquest, because the conquest is seldom as much enjoyment as the brain (addled in alcohol as it was) assumed it would be. And that, is the one truth to be learned about Farang/Thai relationships.  It is also why many Farangs who live in Bangkok do not wish to a have a Thai girlfriend or wife, but merely indulge in pay4play on as needed basis.

So I chose the title of Golden Fleece, rather than golden pussy. I must be getting more PC in my old age.

Thavorn gets back from the village this afternoon and I am looking forward to curling up with a good book for a couple of hours of down time. Jaidan has been excellent, but he is a busy boy at times :-)

TTYL