Life Goes On ..

Today's song is: We Reserve the Right  .. Kinky  .. so not PC  :-)

The good news is I don't have to buy 2 more tickets to Canada at $2,000 CDN. As our visa application stretched into over 120 days the price of tickets from Bangkok went up due to the Canadian dollar dropping in value to the Us dollar and proximity to flight dates. I will make my annual pilgrimage to Canada in the month of August to attend to business and see friends and family, but I will do it alone, thanks to Canada's brutal immigration process and policies. Can you imagine waiting 120 days for an answer on a visitor's visa to any other country?

I have been reading up on Canada's visa problems and they all stem around Canada's paranoia of letting someone in, who may then claim refugee status. I guess the thinking is to make legitimate visitors pay for the few problem visitors who may overstay. A reasonable solution would be to make the problems pay by deporting them rather than giving them free access to lawyers and our bleeding heart legal system.

Enough, time to move on  ..  shame on you Canada! Legitimate visitor's are missing out on weddings and funerals while you fiddle with a broken immigration system.

Bangkok is aflood again as the monsoon rains hit early this year. It really does not affect me as I live in a tourist area and it is relatively high ground.  The city planners can basically control which areas get flooded by an intricate gate system. Better that the tourist areas don't get flooded, despite it being off season.  However, the nightly deluge is having an impact on the night life in Bangkok.  When in doubt, carry an umbrella and wear sandals as the water sometimes gets ankle deep.

Thavorn sitting down to Som Tum - a favorite dish - bamboo on the side

The dish combines the five main tastes of the local cuisine: sour lime, hot chili, salty, savory fish sauce, and sweetness added by palm sugar. The ingredients are mixed and pounded in a mortar; The general Lao name tam som literally means "pounded sour", however, the more specific Lao name tam maak hoong literally means "pounded papaya". In Khmer, the name bok l'hong also means "pounded papaya". In Thai, the name som tam, (a reversal of the Lao name), literally translates as "sour pounded". However, other pounded salads in Thailand are consistent with the Lao naming convention in which the word tam ("pounded") is listed first.

Despite the use of papaya, which one may think of as sweet, this salad is actually savory. When not yet ripe, papaya has a slightly tangy flavor. The texture is crisp and firm, sometimes to the point of crunchiness. It is this that allows the fruit to withstand being beaten in the mortar. Wikipedia

Most of the time you see people eating on the street, enjoying a salad, they are eating Som Tum. It is very spicy so beware and if you order it for yourself (farang) ask for it to be not too spicy. However, you must sample this dish if you visit Thailand.

TTYL

Visa Refused

No song today as I am too upset!

Thavorn's visa was refused today. The reasons given for refusal were:

1. There was not sufficient evidence that Thavorn would leave Canada.
2. Thavorn did not have sufficient money in her bank account to support herself in Canada.
3. Thavorn did not have sufficient international travel history.
4. Thavorn did not have sufficient ties to Thailand.
5. Thavorn did not have a job to return to.

Some thoughts.

1. The impending winter, the lack of good Thai food, and wanting to see her other two children are more than enough reason to leave Canada. They seemed to discount the fact that I prefer to live in Thailand rather than Canada.

2. Thavorn keeps 50K baht in her bank account for spending money. They seemed to discount our family finances of $100K Canadian

3. Thavorn and I have traveled to Singapore and Malaysia together. I guess we need to become jet setters in the future, just not to Canada.

4. Two children that she would never abandon is not sufficient ties? She also owns land in the village.

5. In this day and age I guess the value of being a homemaker and care giver to a toddler is not considered a worthwhile job. Working at 7/11 for 10,000 baht a month is something to return to?

The most frustrating part of the refusal is it is nameless. Our only recourse is to apply again, correcting the inadequacies that were stated. Oh yes, and that would take another 120 days.

The whole process makes me embarrassed to be a Canadian.

TTYL

Thavorn

Today's song is: Forever and For Always  .. Shania and Willie

Thavorn continues to blossom now that she is 30. Giving birth to a 4.5 lb baby is not easy for Thai women because they are slim hipped. Giving birth to Jaidan took a lot out of Thavorn and she now just getting back into the shape she feels comfortable in.

We went shopping at Central World and H&M and she finally decide she could wear short jean shorts again.

Born in the year of the Tiger

Nor too bad for 4 babies  ..

Having a latte at Coffee Bean

We are at 110 days and are still awaiting a response for Canadian Immigration on Thavorn's visitor visa for this summer. Meanwhile, the price of airfares is going up.

Thailand has officially entered its rainy season and that means you can usually expect a 30 minute rain shower at about 4 pm daily. Not too big a deal most of the time, but it does tend to make the cockroaches scurry up the walls looking to stay dry.

my friends .. the roaches

My friend Phai is at our place for a visit and she and Thavorn are cooking up lots of Thai yummies.

Thai girls like cooking as much as eating  .. part of the culture

TTYL

The Slave Trade -- Beer bars

Today's song is:  .. Private Dancer  -- Tina

I have a good friend (P) who used to work in Crazy Girls Bar in Queen's Park Soi 22. I used to frequent the bar quite often because I knew one of the bar owners (ex bar girl) quite well. The bar is owned by 2 ex bar girls and an ex male bar tender whom I shall call (M) for moron.

The trio bought the bar about 7 months ago at the start of the busy season and business was good. None of them are business savvy and combined with Thai predilection for ignoring the future, they did not put money in the bank to survive in off season so they have started extort money from the girls working for them.

They have increased the late fine from 1 baht per minute to 2 baht per minute and have increased the bar fine to 800 bahts. If a bar girl wants to bar fine herself, they charge her 1,000 baht. Sometimes a girl just needs a night off. They have also increased the lady drink quota from 150 drinks per month to 200 drinks per month. Of course, if the girl does not meet her quota she gets fined which comes out of her monthly salary of 2,000 baht. This effectively means that the girls are now working for free during the off season. I am sure the 3 pimps are dancing for joy.

My good friend who works in tat bar just quit. Not because of the business stupidity but because  M has started bad mouthing her on the bar's LINE account. His latest major complaint if she used one of her monthly days off to see a farang friend who frequently spends 20,000 baht a month in Crazy girls, visiting our mutual friend. M then complains that she does this often (2 days a month being often) and should be bar fining herself on her day off.  I am having a difficult time understanding M's logic, if there is any.

My friend, who has more than a modicum of self respect got fed up and quit. She paid the ridiculous fee of 15,000 baht to buy out her contract so she could walk away from Crazy Girl's with her head high. The buyout amount is usually 10,000 baht but I can only assume the math is too difficult to divide up the 10,000, so it being low season, and the rent coming due, they raised it to 15,000.

When a beer bar treats the girls like this I think slave labour and I start seeing bar owners as pimps.

As a consumer, I, my friends, and the bar girl's other friend, and his friends, will not be spending any baht in Crazy Girls in the future. That is a loss of about 40,000 baht a month.

I is quite difficult to lose money on a beer bar, but obviously, it can be done!

TTYL

An Empty Suit

Today's song is: Is not a song but an Ode to Jane Fonda

And Jane on Trump with some Russkies commenting  ..

and the song  .. Universal Soldier  .. Buffy  .. no, not the Vampire Slayer

Shades of McCarthyism .. you can't talk to our adversaries, the Russians.  Makes you wonder how you turn an adversary into a friend if you can't talk to them. How has that worked for US-Russian relationship over the the past 50 years.

It raises the question, 'Why don't we like the Russkies?' As much as I can tell, it is because they do not embrace the US ideals of Democracy and Capitalism. It appears the Russians are guilty of influencing the election. You don't think for a moment perhaps the ultra rich in the US did not influence the election with their SuperPacs?  But, I guess that is okay as it is the status quo, the democratic, libertarian way of ruling the populace.

There is no doubt that Donald Trump is a buffoon and far from politically correct. It is easier for the parties to control an 'empty suit' like Obama, a product of the party system in the US. He was praised for his innovative use of social media during past elections, but Trump gets pilloried by the press for using the same media to bypass their filters.

From Day 1, the press has united against the current president. He can't do anything correct in their eyes and they constantly parade their 'flunky' experts to reinforce their dogma.  What is the press?  Is there a formal body that licenses and polices their activities that doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc have? It appears not. It seems a pretty or handsome face and the ability to read a teleprompter is the only criteria required to 'influence' the electorate.

Who owns these 'empty suits'? The average Joe or Jane?  I think not, they are owned by the rich elite. Are they mostly left leaning. CNN has been influenced by Hanoi Jane according to Ted Turner's son:

'Blame Jane: Ted Turner's son says Fonda made dad a lib',  http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/22/blame-jane-ted-turners-son-says-fonda-made-dad-lib.html

The press is railing against democracy as they try to bring Trump down. It was the democratic system that elected Trump and like the man or not, the conservative party should govern for the 4 years. It is the will of the people. The press should be happy  .. what news would they have to read from their teleprompters if they had another 'empty suit' in the light house.

TTYL

Visa Update

Today's song is: Two out of Three  .. Meat Loaf

We have an update on Thavorn's visa. After 100 days we have been notified that the application has been transferred to the Bangkok Office and notified that we should contact them. I immediately sent off an eMail requesting status on the application and go the do_not_reply back, stating that they will get back to me within 10 working days.  Progress, I guess?

This is Jiadan's 4 day in the nursery school and Thavorn dropped him off and he did not cry. I guess he is now convinced that either Thavorn or I will pick him up later in the day. Progress? Definitely. Jaidan seems to enjoy the program and Thavorn and I get time to ourselves and Jaidan goes to sleep at 8 pm which gives us even more time alone.

Boy or Girl .. a question we often get asked  .. looks a bit like Meat Loaf

I was out with Arthur, John, and Harvey for a short time on Wednesday night and it is definitely the off season as the bars were not busy and the girls were actively dragging punters inside.The one disappointing part of the night was the idiotic 30 something tattooed English lo-so guy who intruded on our company thing he was funny when he was only drunk. We got rid of him by paying our bill and moving on.

I can't stress too much that happy hour from 7 pm to 9 pm is a good time to visit cowboy because drinks are under 100 baht. However, in some bars, the A-team does not show up until 9 pm (Tilac, Dollhouse, Crazy House) whereas in other bars (Lighthouse) the A-team is on at 7:30 pm.

TTYL

Nursery School

Today's song is: Freedom  .. Hendrix

Jaidan is well into the terrible twos and can be very busy at times. To keep him busy on Sunday we went for a walk and discovered a nursery school about 1 kilometer from where we live. Luck would have it that the owner-operator was on the premises and she gave us a tour.  The price of 4,500 baht for 6 hours a day was certainly good. Jaidan's new friends and schoolmates would be about 10 Korean and Japanese children split evenly along the sexes and within one or 2 years of age with Jaidan.

As it turns out Jaidan towers over all of them. The staff could not believe he was only 2 years and nine months. However, when it was time for Thavorn and I to leave Jaidan alone with the school, students, and staffs they soon believed Jaidan's age as he called for his mamma and poppa. It was heart rendering!

However, when we went to pick Jaidan up 6 hours later, he did not want to leave! This looks like it could work out well for the family. Jaidan needs to learn to share and play with pother children and Thavorn and I need some time alone.  The future looks bright  :-).

Some pics:

advertising blurb  .. can't believe the prices

Jaidan's first day

and some videos

Hope you understand Thai  .. luckily Jaidan does  :-)

Feeding time  ..

Ttyl

Agoda

Today's song is: The Prayer  .. Charice and the Canadian Tenors

Expedia has market share in the west, but Agoda rules in Asia. I was fortunate to get invited to Agoda's workshop on using React. It was a 3 hour event where they showed a road map of where they are and where they want to be in a couple of years. They have over 1,000 developers worldwide which is massive for a travel app company. They have very ambitious plans both in Asia and the west. Their development head office is in Bangkok  :-)

The Agoda offices are in the Central World Shopping Center Plaza. I had never been to that shopping complex but I will be back. It would appear that it is the best shopping mall in Bangkok. Awesome selection of stores.

There is also an extensive above ground walk way between the Chitlom and Siam BTS stations so it is possible to walk from Central World Mall to Siam Paragon Mall, the top 2 malls in BKK. When I left the Agoda workshop I walked towards the Chitlom BTS station and passed the Erawan shrine that was the site of the bombing last year. I had never seen it before and it was quite busy and well lit up at night.

The Erawan Shrine, formally the Thao Maha Phrom Shrine (Thai: ศาลท้าวมหาพรหม; rtgs: San Thao Maha Phrom; "Shrine of Lord Brahma the Great"), is a Hindu shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, that houses a statue of Phra Phrom, the Thai representation of the Hindu god of creation Lord Brahma. A popular worship attraction, it often features performances by resident Thai dance troupes, who are hired by worshippers in return for seeing their prayers at the shrine answered.  from Wikipedia

Saturday I have some friends coming to my place for Italian night. Arthur is bring lasagna and I am cooking up a big batch of my spaghetti.  John is bring the red wine and I must remember to get some shredded cheese and a few baguettes.

TTYL

Down and Out

Today's song is: I Walk the Line .. Johnny Cash

It is not all that unusual to see farangs on the street that have lost it, financially (the shirt off your back), mentally,  and emotionally. Thailand can do that to you if you are not careful. Last week I saw this strange man (little bit like Crocodile Dundee) strolling up and down Nana with his girlfriend in pursuit, hurling vindictives at him (no doubt well earned), although she looked to be in just as bad a shape. I managed to get some stills and a short video.

He is the dude in the underwear.

He went up and down Nana at least 5 times with the GF in pursuit.

Two nights ago I found him sleeping on the street in the same attire.

When Jaidan arrived back from the village, he actually has a tan. I have mentioned before that being half Thai, he does not burn!

Thavorn is fed up with the village as she has had it with her momma's live in BF who is often pissed and abusive to anyone around him. Thavorn decided to have it out with him and he was quite surprised when she teed off on him and threatened to go to the kitchen and get a knife to cut her. I can only surmise he was afraid to box her. Thavorn told him to go ahead and she would end up doing the cutting. He backed off and was quiet but I would guess that ended as soon as Thavorn left the village.

Beneath this pleasant appearance is the Eye of the Tiger.  I would not want to mess with her  :-)

Thavorn dyed her hair for the first time while she was in the village. I think she looks great!

TTYL

Brilliant Farang

Today's song is: An Hour of Clean Bandit live in concert

Thavorn's village has about 500 people living in it. The closest town is about 10 minutes away by motorbike.  Recently, a farang got hitched to a Thai gitl in the town which has a population of about 10,000 and has a library, hospital, and now a water theme park that the farang built. What a great business idea. There is nothing for Thai kids to do in the country except have sex, ride around on unlicensed motorbikes and drink or consume jabba.  Best of all, it is only 50 baht for the day's entrance. Thavorn took  her kids yesterday and they had a riot, especially Jaidan!

Last night I headed out with my new friend Harvey to Cowboy to bar hop during happy hour.  Lots of fun as always and the bars had their A-teams in place :-) Harvey is the English BF of a bar girl friend of mine.

Meanwhile, back in the village it is still very hot and the ice cream man makes many sales as the kids go running when they hear the bells.

Still no news on the visa front and Sunday will be the 90 day mark and I will send out my monthly query to see if I can find out why we have no answer.

TTYL

Off Season

Today's song is: Symphony .. Clean Bandit

It is definitely off season for Thailand and that is not good for the bar industry. The bar girls are smart and often take extended vacations back in their village which leaves the bars populated with what I call the B-Team. The B-team is made up with rookies, and not so svelte ladies (chubby). The B-team is also smaller in numbers but that is because there are a lot fewer customers out there.

Arthur, my American buddy headed out at noon yesterday and had fun checking out the differences. The girls are hungry due to the lack of customers which meant that there was a lot of nuisance approaches and way too fast, 'What your name?' and 'You buy me drink?' requests.  The good news is that, being new to the bar, the girls could not tell Arthur and I (lifers) from the regular run of the mill punters so we had fun playing along.

After awhile we got bored with Hillary 4 and headed across the Nana parking lot to play some pool at Strikers. We had quite a bit of fun there as Strikers had their regular 'pool girls' on staff and I managed to get beat 2 out of 3 games despite playing okay.

After an hour at Strikers we decided to head over to the Bier Garden to see how it was doing in the off season and it was not very busy. Apparently it will be closing down soon as the land owner wants to build another hotel or condo.

After a quick beer, we headed over to Country Road for a jug of Singha and watch the girls arriving for work on Soi Cowboy. The girls start arriving at about 5:30 for their 7 pm start. They like to eat first and then layer on the makeup depending on how old they are. After we consumed the pitcher we started bar hopping along Cowboy and were somewhat dismayed at the B-teams at Cowboy. The Dollhouse had 3 girls on stage where it would normally have 15-20 girls.

Yesterday, Thavorn, Jaidan, and her 2 older children headed off for a couple weeks in the village which means I am a bachelor for the next 2 days. Arthur won the lottery as his wife took a 1 year year work contract in the US and he will be a bachelor for a whole year. I tend to suspect he will be a little bit lonely in about 2 weeks. I spent yesterday morning cleaning the apartment and now I enjoy walking around without food and other things sticking to my feet.

Jaidan seems to enjoy the village and was happy to see that momma has a cat. He also likes playing with his gf Icy and is teacher her Lego building. Apparently it is just as hot in the village as Bangkok, which has been very hot, in the high 30's lately. It is better to hide out inside during the day and head out about 6 pm when it starts to cool down a bit.

TTYL