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.
Lookin good .. despite no makeup
Break for a hug from Jaidan
Matching leather jacket from a previous life
Nice Butt (taute) in Thai
Jaidan ... doncha wish your Momma was hot like mine :-)
Now, if we can only find those size 24 black jean shorts from Guess :-)
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
My little climber, helping himself to a bottle of water
Here is where he got the water from ...
Thavorn and Jaidan with the giant pussy at Terminal 21.
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.
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 ...
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.
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.
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.
