We booked a trip to Thailand about a year ago and we leave on December 31st and are back on Feruary 1st. That means Jaidan misses the month of January in school which makes him very excited. I will do some home schooling while in Thailand to keep him caught up. His teachers are envious :-)
My surgery went well on the 28th of November and I appear to be recovering well. My 3 doctors do not seem concerned I am off to Thailand a month after the surgery.
Thavorn is looking forward to spending time with her kids and grand kid while in Thailand. She will fly to Phuket for 10 days in the middle of January. Jaidan will stay in Bangkok with me to give free time for Thavorn. Jaidan and I have no trouble filling our time in Bangkok.
This is a pic of the results of my robotic surgery. I was left with very little pain and only spent one day in the hospital. I am now part of the Borg Collective.
Jaidan attended a basketball camp in the fall. (2nd from right)
I am enjoying coaching the U19 Boys basketball team as they are all new. We have no expectations for them and it will be fun to see how they grow as a team.
Other than that, life is pretty routine with Thavorn's work and my business activities. I am looking forward to another walk on the wild side :-)
We flew out of Phuket on the 5th of September via Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Toronto and finally Ottawa. It did not happen without incident. Our flight from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi was delayed for 3 hours due to mechanical problems. Needless to say, we missed our next flight from Abu Dhabi to Toronto. We were flying with Etihad airlines who put us up in a 5 star hotel hotel in downtown but not without incident. Jaidan and I could leave the airport on our Canadian passports but Thavorn needed a visa to leave. We ended waiting 6 hours in the transit area while Etihad arranged for Thavorn's visa. Communication was very poor but the airline eventually did all the right things first class, However our trip home was 40+ hours long.
A bigger problem was, I had used aeroplan points for 3 seats from Toronto to Ottawa I had to rebook those seats for the next day and Aeroplan charged he $325 to change them. Worst still, if I wanted to cancel the tickets and get by points back it would have cost me $525. Aeroplan nickles and dime you! Beware!!!!
We eventually arrived in Ottawa and Elaine picked us up and drove us home to sleep. Jaidan was too tired for school on Friday and I booked him off due to jetlag.
To describe the trip, it would be, 'It was the best of times, and the worst of times.'.
Next up is for Thavorn to work as much as possible to pay off the visa $10,000 that our tickets ended up costing us. It was $3,600 to get there, and a whopping $5,600 to get back. The airlines seem to be gouging the international students big time as the return tickets in August, September, October are twice as expensive as the outgoing tickets.
I am coaching U19 boys basketball again this year and it is going well.
I also have a date for my kidney surgery and it is November 28th. In the meantime, I have come down with a very similar illness to the one I had in Thailand and I just tested positive for covid so I suspect another Covid strain is what I had in Thailand.
It has been 15 days since the last post and I have been ill the last 10 days with some awful bug. I tried to fight it off for the first 5 days but eventually went to the local pharmacy with Thavorn and got a round of amoxocillin and I started to heal. I believe it is that RSV thingy.
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)
Respiratory syncytial (sin-SISH-uhl) virus, or RSV, is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but RSV can be serious. Infants and older adults are more likely to develop severe RSV and need hospitalization.
It was exacerbated by not being able to rest as I was busy with Jaidan as well as relocating from Bangkok to Phuket. However, definetly on the mend as that is good because I fly to Phnom Penh on the the first for a visa run.
We arrived at the Marriott Beach Club Resort in Phuket on Friday, the 25th and Thavorn's mother passed away on the Monday the 28th. Thavorn and Jaidan immediately joined the sister's family in the 12 hour pickup drive to the village. I stayed behind due to my illness (mainly the hourly diarhea).
Thavorn and Jaidan should arrive back in Phuket on Monday sometime and we fly out Tuesday back to Canada. I fly back from Cambodia on Sunday and have booked an airport hotel for the 3rd and 4th. It has not been an easy trip due to many things.
Thavorn is happy to be there for her mom as well as see her family that she has not seen for over 4 years. She wore a joyous smile on her face as she held her 4 year old grandchild for the first time :-)
It is low season in Bangkok but you could not tell last night. I started off as usual at Country Road for a couple of happy hour vodka and red bulls. Then it was off to Dollhouse, one of my favorite Cowboy bars where I met an Aussie who had recently discovered Thailand. Kind of reminded me of myself about 13 years ago.
The Aussie was enamoured of a recent addition to the bar scene who was very shy and needed a little encouragement. I suggested he invite her down for a drink and I would do the same with another lady so she would have some Thai company. That turned out to be a good idea and the 4 of us decide to go party at Nana for the evening. We decided to walk from Cowboy to Nana which is always a good test of how much fun the ladies will be.
Nana (soi 4) was busy as usual as we threaded our way to Nana Plaza. First stop should always be Billboard and it was superb as usual, especially the suds tub. After Billboard we hit her sister bar Butterflies and it was also very busy. The pole dancer was good and turned out to be a friend of the girl I was with so we shared some conversaation over a few drinks and then headed off to Hillary 2 for some dancing, drinking, and songs.
I was dismayed I no longer knew any band members but that changed when the bands changed and one of the band member recornized me and gave me a big hug. I stayed at Hillariy's until 2 am when I baled on a motorcycle taxi back to my hotel where Thavorn and jaidan were sound asleep.
The next morning my new Aussie friend texted me stating he had a very enjoyable night.
Thavorn, Jaidan and I are in Bangkok for the next week or more. Thavorn's mom is still alive, if you can call incubated and tied to the bed, alive. She seems to have stabilized so Thavorn made the decision to come to Bangkok to stay with Jaidan and I in a hotel. She can taxi back to the village in 4 hours if her mom's situation changes.
Unfortunately, Thavorn has come down with a fever and a sore throat. If you spend enough time in a hospital, you are bound to get sick.
I had a night out in BKK with my freind Arthur on Wednesday night and then again on Thursday night by myself. I much prefer being out with a friend as it is much more fun. Both nights, I was home by 9:30 as Jaidan was alone in the hotel by himself.
Today, my friend Shauna arived and I met her for lunch. Tonight we are going out for a few drinks and explore what has changed over the past 3.5 years.
It has been a busy week as Thavorn's mom ended up in the ICU of the Wichian Buri Hospital due to complications with her diabetes and the superbug. The family is congregating to decide on a course of treatment, if any.
I booked a one way flight from Toronto to BKK for Thavorn, Jaidan, and I as we could not be sure of the outcome although I suspect she will be taken off life support.
We flew to Toronto on my airmiles, Toronto to Icheon South Korea with Air Canada, and Icheon to Bangkok visa Jeuju Air. We then stayed at an Airport hotel in Bangkok and took a taxi the next morning to the village at a cost of 3,000 baht.
We spent the first night in the heat under a mosquito net on a hard yet saggy mattress. Jaidan and I bailed to a local hotel for last night bur we will change locations for tonight as their are no grocery stores or restaurents near by.
Last night, Thavorn's sister arrived about 8 pm and Thavorn got to see her new nephew and neice for the first time as well as her son Dun and daughter Tai for the first time in over 4 years.
Yesterday afternoon, Thavorn and I went with her two aunts to the hospital and saw her mom. She is on her last legs and I believe there is a family meeting today with the head nurse for next steps.
Not much has changed in the village except for more dogs roaming around and more vegetation than I remember last night was also a huge rainstorm last about 3 hours. Very humid.
I am getting used to my laptop once again and will post some pics
Long time with no post. Why, not much to talk about, other than my friend John and I both agree we should be back in Thailand asap. The reason why is that costs are out of control in Canada due to the Liberal government bungling the economy leading to inflation.
Housing is beyond the reach of middle class Canadians and those that managed to actually buy a house may soon lose it if they can't make their mortgage payments due to increasing mortgage interest rates.
Meanwhile Canada is chasing after over a million immigrants per year! I really don't know where they are going to live or how they will afford food and gas. However that said, an immigrant family with 5 children, mom not working, and dad with a minimum wage job will be middle class due to the Canada Child benefit paying over $700 a month for each child. They do not get taxed on the benefit. However my taxes are paying for that benefit. Jaidan gets under $200 because it is mostly clawed back because I make too much which is all taxable.
John is staying in Canada until his wife earns enough money to build a house back in Thailand. Thavorn and I probably have another 3 years in Canada as we want Jaidan to stay in his current school for another 3 years. He is mostly a B+ student except for an A+ in Mathematics.
However we hope to visit Thailand (John's aim as well) each year for the next 3 years. However airfares are exremely expensive as airlines try to recoup their Covid losses. Airfare is currently $3000 plus so that may not happen.
So life is boring as we don't do much as we are saving for airfares. Life goes on but it is pretty boring.
Today's song is ... I would do anything for love ... Meatloaf (RIP)
Forest Gump's mom said, 'Stupid is as stupid does'. Thavorn's village is abuzz with the gossip that one of the Thai women in the village has landed a Swedish Farang and he is staying in the village at her family's house.
The last Swede to hook up with a Thai girl in the village built her a house to live in and was quite amazed to visit, unannounced, to find her living with her Thai boyfriend and hosting parties frequently on his dime. Needless to say, he bailed and was out well over a million baht in less than a year.
Farang pee bah means 'stupid farang'. Apparently the latest Swede met with his Thai Lady online and arrived in the village to meet her face to face or perhaps genitalia to genitalia :-) This is not going to end well! The Thai lady is in her mid forties and her husband recently left her due to the debts she accrued due to het gambling problem. No problem for a farang to cover but significant for future happiness. The only good news is she only has one child although she lives with her mother.
The Thai lady had previously contacted Thavorn's mom to ask Thavorn if she could find a farang for her. That kind of thinking reflects on how Thais view farangs. They are hanging on trees, waiting to be picked. Now sometimes, they are low hanging fruit, but more often they are lonely men looking for love.
Little does the Swede know that the whole village is watching to see how this plays out.
On another note, we have booked our air tickets for our first visit back to Thailand in about 4 years. We will be there for a month this coming January. Thavorn has saved enough money to build her house and will visit her village to start discussion with builders on costs, timelines, etc. She will also visit her sister and kids in Phang Nga who she has not seen for far too long. Myself, I plan a deep dive into Bangkok and Pattaya night life :-)
I am thinking there should be enough material to write about that I can start filling this blog with some interesting posts in the coming months.
I managed to secure 3 air tickets (Air Canada) for about $3,600 by booking on this past Good Friday. Perhaps it was divine intervention. The next couple of days the price was over $6,000!
Problem was it took me 60 years to figure it out. My Mom saw it in me early as she called me her 'Walter Mitty'. Should more people take a leap and embrace something different, perhaps, but be warned that your mileage may differ. 'Here be Dragons'.
"Here be dragons" means dangerous or unexplored territories,
in imitation of a medieval practice of putting illustrations
of dragons, sea monsters and other mythological creatures on
uncharted areas of maps where potential dangers were thought to exist.
Thailand has dragon mythology especially the river dragon Naga:
Here is a pic of a Naga float on the Mekong river. Interesting is the family on a motorbike passing by. The most people on a motorbike, that I have seen, is 7!
To me, Thailand was the edge of the map. It was so different from the life I had led for 60 years. In particular, Thai women were so different from farang women. I could write a book on the differences. It lends much meaning to the nature/nurture argument in human development. I would argument the economics play a much different role in Thai development.
My buddy John and I took a day long trip up the Mekong river and we did not see any dragons but we did see the ongoing deforestation due to Agent Orange used in the Vietnam war. Of particular note, was the young girl sitting in the river fishing. We saw her about 9 am and she was still there on the return journey about 5 pm. I hope she had a break at some point during her day. I would think her world outlook is quite different from a farang woman.
For you Walter Mitty's out there, take a walk on the wild side at some moment in your life.
Given the choice would you rather be, 'A Candle in the Wind' or 'A Flash of Lightning in a Storm'.
For some reason my son Jaidan is always asking 'Would you rather be ... ?' questions. Some of the time it can be annoying, but sometimes they get me thinking. For me, the answer is easy ... a flash of lightning.
We are here for a short time, not a long time, and for some of us, the time is getting shorter. My Thai accomplice, John and I noticed that our age group is starting to drop. Always a good time to reflect on your life, what you accomplished, how you will be remembered, and most of all, did you make a difference in peoples lives.
We boomers where labeled the 'Me Generation'. I am not sure we warrant that label but what is done is done. To counteract that label I suggest we strive to make a difference as we sail off into the horizon. Take a risk, climb a mountain, visit the other side of the planet, or perhaps volunteer for something outside of your comfort zone.
At 72 I am coaching U19 Boys basketball. I hope I am making a difference. After coaching for 40 years, coaching over 1600 games and winning over 1,400 of them, I certainly don't do it for aggrandizement. It is to pass on knowledge that I have accumulated through experience and other coaches who shared. It is a way to acknowledge the role my own coaches, I had as a youth, played in my development. As opposed to the concept of 'pay it forward', I am 'paying it back'.
At the same time strike out against ageism and show that we older folks have something worthwhile sharing. Most of all, keep it light and make it fun and perhaps leave some memories behind.
It is much better to be joyful than joyless (grumpy) It is akin to the glass being half full as to being half empty. It is not to be confused with being content which is really maintaining the status quo.
Do you know any joyful people? I find they are not very plentiful. I am lucky enough to be married to one. Thavorn is almost always joyful. When we leave our place for the 30 minute drive to her work she runs to the car with a big smile on her face despite facing a 10 day on her feet. When she exits her work at 5 pm she always has a friendly smile and welcome to Jaidan and I when getting into the car.
So how does one become joyful? I believe it begins with getting rid of the, 'I want, I want, want ...' as you will never have enough stuff to make you joyful. Think about that brand new car that brings a smile to your face when you drive it off the lot. Now think about the first scratch or dent it gets. Are you joyful or pissed off.
Things are not important. Health is important, friends and family are important, and that sense of wonderment is important when you see or do something new is important.
Minimalism, I believe, is important. Surround yourself with only the things you need, not the things you feel you need. Hugs are important, seek them out. Surround yourself with people who are happy.
Don't ride a dead horse. Get on a new horse and go exploring, go where no grump has ever gone before ... Become Thai-like ... live in the present, forget about the past, and the future will look after itself.
Some pics of Thavorn being joyful despite being half the way around the world from her family and 3 children
embrace the cold ...
try something new
I made this ...
Children are God's gift to mankind
sometimes
good friends
Joyful in the village ... preparing a meal on the floor
