Sami, one of my former basketball players arrived Monday for 2 years of teaching at TCIS (Thai Chinese International School). On Tuesday I suggested we get together for dinner along with my buddy Shaun and his gf Nancy. Thavorn's brother Tum showed up at our apartment at the last moment so despite having no English, he decided to tag along for a free meal :-) I suggested the Wine Connection as the prices are reasonable and the food is good, and not spicy for the newly arrived farangs.
After the dinner and a bottle of red wine, Thavorn was ready for a night out at Soi Cowboy and we had Tum as a babysitter so off we went to Country Road and some music and dance. People at Country Road are always surprised to see us together as we usually do not have a sitter so we party separately with a variety of friends. Typically the first item of conversation is, 'Where is your boy?'.
Thavorn found herself being stalked by a girl who seemed to think she knew Thavorn from this year's Songkran festival which is probably true as Thavorn tied one on big time and could not remember the girl who obviously remembered Thavorn.
Some pics:
Ooops .. did got get any pics of Sami and her family
Today's song is:Rock and Roll from the Vietnam War era
I am currently watching the Netflix series on the Vietnam war and I am astonished at the duplicity of the LBJ and South Vietnamese government. Reminds me the democrats have been morally bankrupt for a long time.
Sooner or later I will be on Google's Earth View as I managed to capture one of its imaging cars and no doubt it caught me at the end of Soi 20.
On another note, we are getting ready to move from Soi 22 out to near the airport. It is time for a change as we have been on Soi 22 for 5 years now. Our rent will drop by 50% which frees us up to stay overnight at a hotel downtown whenever we wish to party which I suspect will be about 4 times a month.
My buddy John and his wife phone are also moving from Nana out near the airport as well so we will have friends nearby. My buddy Shaun and his girlfriend Nancy are also moving into the same building as us so we will not be lonely.
Thavorn and Jaidan just returned from 15 days in the village. Jaidan really enjoyed it as he is quite close with Thavorn's older boy Dun, as evidenced by these photos. The younger girl is from another father and lives near Phuket with the father's family and is being raised by the grandmother. The photos shows she does not really feel part of the family.
I have finally trained Thavorn to hug her kids and they now hug back. Typically when Thai parents say goodbye to their children, they simply wei.
Jaidan is still growing like a weed and just hit 106 cm. and is still off the Canadian growth chart. He will turn 4 on July 31st and the invite list is growing, but everyone invited is an adult. When we arrive in Canada I will have to enroll Jaidan in some sports so he can develop his social skills with the same age group. He interacts with adults all the time. We will forgo 4 year old kindergarten :-)
Today's song is: A medley of my favorites .. for Thavorn
On any given night in Hillary 1 or 2 you will hear many of these songs. Mostly mushy love songs that Thavorn and I like dancing to. You can substitute many Thai girls for Thavorn but it is not the same, but for a tourist passing through it seems to suffice.
However, if you decide to make her permanent, be prepared for a bit of the last song with Eminem. They are a feisty females. Hear be dragons :-)
Thavorn and Jaidan get back from the village tomorrow or Monday. I am looking forward to it. I am good for about 3 days then I get lonely and bored and most of my drinking buddies are available this time of year so I have been getting out and about. I have a bit of a reputation as a butterfly with the bar girls. That means I like to play around. I usually remind them I am not a butterfly, more like a helicopter which usually gets a laugh out of them.
However, I follow Thavorn's rule of no boom boom, which leaves me free to bar fine them and go dancing, and bar hopping. The girls especially like to go bar hopping because they are not allowed entry to bars when they are by themselves or in a group of girls. Ok mai if they are with a farang.
Actually bar fining a girl and taking her bar hopping saves me money as I am not buying lady drinks all night long :-)
I have found there are 2 reasons they like to see other bars. One, they like to see what it is like to work in the different bars, and two, they have an appreciation for beautiful sexy girls. I figure about 33% of Thai girls are bi.
One of the reasons I like and find bar girls refreshing is they are honest about most things. They will lie to you about how long they have worked in the bar, whether they have a Thai boy friend or a farang on the hook, etc., but they quickly tell you how old they are, how much they weigh, how many babies they have, whether they like girls, etc. Basically if it affects the bottom line, they may lie, if not, usually truthful.
I have mentioned before that I have a different experience dependent on how I answer the questions, 'Where you come from?' and How long you stay in Bangkok?' If I answer, I have lived in Bangkok now for 8 years, the bullshit disappears and I can have a real conversation with them. The next question however will dramatically change the direction of the conversation ... You have Thai wife?'
Tonight I am out with my English buddy Harvey who is over the loss of England in the world Cup semi final. It should be fun but I will go easy on the booze as I wish to be happy and cheerful (there is a difference) when Thavorn and Jaidan arrive tomorrow.
I have many friends in Bangkok who just happen to be girls. I can share a beer with them, share a dinner, and chat with them about their lives, their families, and future aspirations. I think , perhaps I could fill a book and may do so one day. All of these girls are, or were working girls!
I suppose that is totally not PC and I would be criticized my many people, especially women.
However, I take solace in the fact that a great historical figure also chose to hang around with working girls, hung out with a great group of guy friends, and chose to criticize the establishment and was definitely not driven by political correctness. He lead a simple life and certainly did not use his time accumulating and worrying about 'stuff'. We could learn a lot from this young man .. his name was Jesus.
Don't think for one moment that I am comparing my lifestyle to his. I only draw your attention to the simple life he lead. It is unfortunate we know so little of the first 25 years of his life. I think we could learn much from how he lived.
You would never know that it is low season in the Big mango. Hillary 2 was so busy on Tuesday night that it was difficult to move around and the dance floor was packed. The good news is the waitresses could not get to you so you could enjoy the band and dance for a couple of hours without spending any money. I, for one, did not need anything else to drink :-) I usually arrive at Hillary 2 after bar hopping through the many happy hours at Soi Cowboy. As usual I move between Nana and Soi Cowboy which takes 1 minute and costs $2.
I had a lovely dinner with one of my girl friends at the Wine Connection (highly recommended of upscale restaurants in Bangkok). She usually picks at her food but demolished the lemon sea bass in record time. She normally avoids hi-so farang restaurants but I pointed out, that I was the only farang in the restaurant.
Her meal
My meal
many wines
We then walked the 2 kilos to Soi Cowboy, had a quite a few happy hour drinks, in many bars and chatted with some more of my friends, before catching a taxi to Hillary 2.
It was a great night, and I dropped her off at her BF's hotel who had spent the day golfing and was saving himself for the next night and the England vs Croatia game at 1 am. Of course he is English and is weeping today as England lost.
Thavorn and Jaidan are still in the village as I am coding during the days and getting out about every third night. Definitely will have to go for a walk tonight to burn some carbs and add a few carbs via happy hour drinks.
BTW, happy Hour prices were banned in Canada many years ago. Just another government intrusion into your life. I have heard you are now responsible for friends that leave your house under the influence. Whoa! When did we lose responsibility for our own behavior! I doubt the house owner tied you up and pouted the alcohol down your throat via a funnel.
This PC world is getting out of hand. S.E. Asia is different but I have no doubts that eventually the governmental types will take our fun away, big daddy takes my t-Bird away :-)
Today's song is: The Boys are Back in Town .. Thin Lizzy
The Boys are back in town. The 3 kings left for Phnom Penh on Wednesday and had 5 days and 4 nights in Cambodia's capitol city. However, we quickly got used to our new names, Darling, Honey, and Baby. Phnom Penh is indeed like Bangkok was in the late 90's .. lots of fun.
There are some differences, such as no GoGos, and no nudity. However the beer bars are more fun than Bangkok's as the girls speak better English and are more friendly and not as jaundiced as Thai bar girls.
Prices are also 50% of what they are in the Big Mango. However, 3 days and 2 nights would be sufficient to explore Phnom Penh. Another bonus of Phnom Penh are the outdoor cafes that dot the Mekong River walkway. I suppose that is due to the French colonial influence.
Another major difference is the wonderful mix of western and Cambodia restaurants that feature superb meals at 50% of the price of Bangkok. Larry's is highly recommended for superb western food and great prices, served up by very pretty and friendly waitresses. Darling could not eat all his Italian sausage pizza and offered it up to the serving staff, expecting to be politely refused but they dived right in and finished it off. Try that back in North America!
There also appears to be an excellent community of expats, most of whom hale from Australia. They were very friendly and willing to share information on the best bars and restaurants.
Baby had some great suggestions especially when it came to a rooftop bar that overlooked the Mekong River. The weather was nicer, less humid, and lower temperatures. We also never saw a mosquito, fly, rat, or cockroach the entire trip. The streets are clean of rubbish and there are few street vendors.
The Phnom Penh airport is modern and efficient which makes coming and going easy, unlike the overcrowded Thai airport. However, the Chinese have discovered Phnom Penh and I suspect it will change fairly rapidly so I suggest you visit sooner than later.
Honey likes to chat with the ladies and they were quick to point out that the Japanese and Koreans pay twice as much for the same services as farangs. The ladies work for teh same reason as Thai girls .. to raise money for their families. They seem to have fewer children but often have them at 17 or 18 years of age and like their Thai bros, the Cambodian males desert them as soon as the baby is born.
One major difference is that Tuk Tuks are more common than taxis and are cheaper than taxis. The Tuk Tuk drivers are also fun to chat with and don't run any scams that we detected.
Bars are open very late, until 4ish and many bars are open 24 hours. Draft beer in a big frosted mug is $.50 during the long happy hour. Bar fines are $10, short time is $50 and long time is $100.
However, now that Darling, Honey, and Baby are back in Thailand, it feels good to be home. It is good to get away, especially in the company of friends, but it is also good to get back home.
Today's song is: We Reserve the Right to Refuse Service to You .. Kinky Friedman
The times, they are a changing. The people in the US who are left of center in their politics are advocating for mob rule. The first signs of this were the 'Occupy Wall Street', then 'Black Lives Matter', and now the persecuting of anyone who advocates, supports or works for President Trump.
When you see these protesters who advocate violence if necessary they all seem to be in their twenties or early 30's, perhaps 2/3 female and seem to have lots of time on their hands or jobs that seem to afford them days to protest. They are using the internet to advertise and organize their protests.
What I find interesting is that many of them are university students but when they are asked why they are protesting they say they are anti trump but have difficulty explaining why. They usually state because of his policies but are hard pressed to come up with a specific policy they object to and what they would suggest to replace it.
I would imagine, many of these protesters are part of Bernie Sanders followers. Many advocate for socialism but are hard pressed to explain what it means except, for open borders, free tuition, decent wages for everyone, and support for those who don't work.
The recent upset of the #4 Democrat in NYC by the 28 years old female socialist is interesting in of itself.
I think what we are going to see is a split in the democratic party between the old guard and the new (socialist) guard.
Margaret Thatcher best summed up socialism by 'The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.'
The Millennials that seem to be driving this new direction do not seem to have an appreciation for history and the failure of socialist governments. Searching for Utopia in Governments is akin to tilting at windmills.
The latest hot issue is the nomination of the next Supreme Court Judge who Trump is nominating by July 8th. The democrats are going to get ugly but none uglier than Maxine Waters:
however, be warned you will be labelled a misogynist if you subscribe to all or even some of it.
Meanwhile back in the Big Mango, the 3 Kings are getting ready for their pilgrimage to Cambodia. I have been reading up on Cambodia and lately they have not been doing well, apparently due to changes in the weather that have hurt the farming industry. The Bangkok Post recently published this article which sums it up:
My last visit to Phnom Penh was over 10 years ago so I am interested to see what has changed in the last decade. I will endeavor to take some photos to share with this blog.
Now that Thavorn has her Permanent Resident visa we are starting to make plans for the move to Canada. We are planning for a February flight that will drop Thavorn and Jaidan into the Great White North. It will be a great culture shock for them. I plan to soften the shock by flying into Vancouver and spending a couple of weeks there. It will enable us to purchase some winter clothing and get used to Canadian cultural differences. After 2 weeks we will fly into Ottawa and look for a place to live for at least 6 months.
A Permanent Resident visa requires that Thavorn spends 2 years out of the next 5 years in Canada. I plan to ease into it with a 6 month in, and 6 month out out, and then at least a full year in.
Leaving in February will enable us to say our goodbyes to Thavorn's other children as they get a full month vacation in October. I also want to coach the senior boys basketball team again as I had forgotten how much I enjoyed coaching basketball. The majority of the boys are in going into grade 11 and I will have them for this coming season and the next. After that, I will be turning 70 so I will reevaluate after that.
We will also decide whether we want to live in Ontario or British Columbia. B.C. has a more moderate climate and a more Asian population and also shortens the flight back to Thailand for visits much shorter and much cheaper. However, for the next two years it will be Ottawa.
Eventually we will settle into a snow bird's life, using Thailand as a substitute for Florida.
