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.
