Bangkok Revisited

Today's song is: Cake by the Ocean ... DNCE

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher born in 544 b.c. said, "No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

Substitute Bangkok for river and it applies equally. I had spent the last 9 years living mostly in Bangkok and travelling home to Canada for a month each summer to look after business.  I have just come back from six months in Canada with my family and have found my taste for Bangkok has diminished.

My six months in Canada strengthened my appreciation for what Canada offers citizens.  For the most part, it just works and everyone is treated equally and no one needs go hungry. The rules of the road and society itself are mostly followed.

The climate is temperate for 8 months of the year and Winter has an uniqueness that adds an extra dimension to the Canadian experience. The air is clean and fresh and you can really enjoy outdoor activities, even a simple walk.

Contrast Canada with Thailand, with complex visa requirements that are arduous such as 90 day reporting, T30's to fill out whenever you stay overnight away from your residence of record, etc.

Simple things like opening a bank account, buying a car with no job, but a secure healthy pension, or buying land becomes too complex or even impossible..

Try to explain the concept of a public transportation bus in Canada , that bends down to provide a step up, or a wheel chair access ramp to a country where the sidewalks have no taper to the road.

My favorite is the concept that 'pedestrians are more important than vehicles' is completely missing in Thai culture.

Just recently, the government announced that hospitals can charge tourists twice the amount as Thais for identical services.  They already charge twice the amount for admission to historical sites.

The Thai baht has also increased dramatically against most currencies except for the US dollar which makes Thailand much more expensive to visit or live in.

Factor in temperatures of 32 degrees in winter and upper 30's with humidity in the summer and walking outside becomes an exercise of dripping sweat within 5 minutes.

Many expats are choosing to leave Thailand for the Philippines or Cambodia because of the reasons listed above.

We have family here in Thailand that Thavorn will always need to visit but I see us reducing are time in Thailand, from six months to three if not two months in years to come.

I was a child in a candy shop, but after awhile you lose your taste for sweetness and start to appreciate other parts of the world for what they offer.

TTYL

Back in the LOS

Today's song is: Walk Me Home  .. Pink .. favorite of mine

Oh to be back in a developing country with access to lightning fast internet and mobile speeds and very inexpensive prices. Canada has a lot to learn in this regard. They are even starting to roll out 5G.

For example, my mobile plan is 80 gigs, shared across 5 sim cards, at 50 mbs, all for $60 a month.

Our flight from Vancouver to Bangkok was 24 hours, but that included a 7 hour stop over in Janning China.  Boring but we slept on the floor for about 4 hours and had a bite to eat. It is always a long ass flight no matter what you book, excepting first class.

Jaidan managed to sleep quite a bit and has turned into a great traveler.

Tonight is Friday night and Thavorn is heading out for a night on the town with about 5 of her close friends. They will start at some Thai venues, but they usually end up at Hillary 2 for some dancing.  Thavorn will sleep over downtown at one of her friends places. No doubt she will regale her friends with stories about farangland.

Tomorrow will be my favorite night out, Saturday and I am heading out with King Arthur and Shaun. We plan to bar hop as much as possible but as usual, I like to end up at Hillary 2 as well. It will be interesting to see if people recognize me with short hair. maybe I can pretend to be a naive first time tourist. That is always a lot of fun.

My basketball players were happy to see me and I was happy to see them. It should be a great year as my team is peaking.

So far, all is good, although I am still coding way to much as school boards back home roll out our new software. Hopefully that will diminish soon.

That's about it for now, but I should have some good tales to tell from my Saturday night out in the Big mango on Sunday.

TTYL

Walkabout

Today's song is: Born to be Yours .. Kygo and Imagine Dragons

Crocodile Dundee set out on a walkabout. I consider my  time in a walkabout as well.

This past 6 months I went for a walk each day (sometimes 15 kms) but I would never consider them a walkabout. I seldom give or get a hello and, as often as not, no reply when I try. So much for the grumpies maybe the people in cars are happier in their steel cocoon.

However, every walk I take in Thailand is a walkabout (except of course just a jaunt to the ubiquitous 7/11).  I  think that is the attraction for S.E. Asia and Thailand in particular. I find myself reacting to the environment, via the sights, sounds, and smells. People are friendly, smile and say hello. There is an adventure around every corner, and every bar.

I think the many expats I call my friends are of like minds and are enjoying their walkabout as well.

Today is our last day in Ottawa and I went for my morning walk and enjoyed the sunshine and 24 degrees and clean air, especially after the early morning rain. However, it was boring and I stopped in at Timmies as the breakfast sausage on a biscuit was on sale for 2-4-1 and both Thavorn and I enjoy them,

We are packed and are awaiting our drive to the airport at 2:30 via my daughter Jaime.  We will be in the air around 5ish and will spend the next 2 nights in Vancouver awaiting our flight on September 1 to the Big Mango.

We will be staying at Big Tree again as we try to have as many constants in Jaidan's life as possible as we traverse the world. He is getting an interesting education that I suspect is much different than kindergarten would give him.

Thavorn and I are both looking forward to something different. Not better, just different.

Jordan is growing up

and Thavorn is getting skinny

TTYL

8 Days Until the Journey Starts

Today's song is: Don't Call Me Up  .. Mabel

We are leaving Ottawa in 8 days but I have already planned for our next arrival in Canada about March 8th 2020. One of the first things I will do is buy a new car. After much research and a test drive I have decided to lease a 2020 Volkswagen Jetta GLI. It is the perfect vehicle for me as it accommodates the family well, has lots of power (228 horses and 258 pounds of torque), but best of all, it makes me smile  :-)

We measured a zero-to-60-mph time of 5.6 seconds with our dual-clutch automatic test car, matching the best figure we've recorded for a GTI, and a still-solid 5.8 seconds with the manual.

The other car that I really enjoyed driving was the Dodge Charger, but it is $10K more, so a no go.

We are starting to empty out the fridge and freezer so we don't end up wasting any food. extra clothing has been parceled out for storage in Canada and we plan to go back to Thailand with half of what we brought to Canada. Live and learn, particularly in Thavorn's case.

Jaidan is looking forward to seeing his Thai siblings, Tai and Dun. He is also looking forward to seeing snow again  :-)

When we arrive back in Canada in 2020, Jaidan will enter 5 Year old kindergarten at March break. Hopefully it will not be too traumatic for him.

Once we arrive in Thailand, Thavorn will recover from jet lag and then head off to the village to finish the purchase of land and see her family. I will start coaching and I am looking forward to it.

TTYL

12 days of Thailand

Today's song is: Something Just Like This   .. Chainsmokers and Wake Me Up  .. Avicii

I imagine many men would like to have my life judging by the looks we get from everyday Canadians. Definitely not boring :-)

Just like the 12 days of Christmas, we have 12 days before flying, and just like the 12 days before Christmas we are very busy.

I am very busy as we convert the two Ottawa school boards to our new software.  A lot of the delay was due to board employees on summer holidays. However, this week, everyone is back so we hope to be live with the software by the end of this week.

Thavorn and I have suspected that Jaidan is on a growth spurt as he has been eating everything in sight. I just measured him, and he is now 4 feet tall (48 inches for you metric folks). Jaidan as always been over the 99 percentile. I decided to query Google to see how he is progressing.

It appears Jaidan is still ahead of the curve.  Thavorn's father was about 6'2" so I suspect he is getting some of that height. However, we are still in a booster seat for a while:

In Ontario, children under age 8, who weigh less than 36 kg (80 lb.) and are under 145 cm (4-foot-9) tall, must be secured in an appropriate child seat or booster. Once any of these limits are surpassed, the child only needs to wear a seat belt.

Now that Jaidan is 4 feet we will probably go to Universal Studios in Singapore while in Thailand, as he will be able to go on any ride. Ditto for Thavorn, who was pregnant last time we visited.

The old adage is that it is good to get away and good to go back home is true. The only problem is that I consider both Canada and Thailand to be home. Thavorn would side with Thailand, and Jaidan is on the fence.

My basketball team is awaiting my arrival and I am looking forward to seeing them. Great kids :-)

TTYL

17 Days to Flight

Today's song is: Sweet but Psycho  .. Ava Max

Things are starting to get busy. Today we headed out to renew Jaidan's passport and we took the bus to Parliament hill and then walked over to Place de Portage in Hull for the passport office. I am used to long waits, but we were in and out in 15 mins. I arranged for pickup in the same office on August 27th, not wanting to trust Canada Post.

We logged 1200 steps which is quiet impressive especially with Jaidan walking it. On the bus on the way home some 30 ish clown was wowed by Thavorn  and could not stop looking at her and gave her a big wave on leaving the bus.  I guess I had better get used to that in Canada.

We had lunch at Boston Pizza and I had not been there for years and it was resaobaly priced and good as usual. I had pizza, Thavorn had Jumbalaya and Jaidan had french fries. The meals came with a salad and we washed it down with a beer (cola for Jaidan). Jaidan kept himself busy with a coloring book.

The Thai baht is slowly falling so we ordered 100,000 baht in the bank today and it comes in in 3 working days. We will do another 100K as we get closer to flying. It is much cheaper than sending money electronically to our Thai accounts.

I read some sad news that Queens Park Plaza on Soi 22 will be demolished to make room for yet another hotel.  Bangkok is slowly being neutered so if you want a walk on the wild side I suggest you visit sooner than later.

Some pics from today's excursion:

TTYL

21 Days Until Heading back to LOS

Today's song is: This Feeling  .. ChainSmokers

I was really disappointed with my progress in the fitness center. I was running 3.25 km or 2 miles and I did not feel I could go faster than 6 km/hr.  The equipment maintenance person was in today, and I asked him if the machines were metric or imperial and he said imperial.

So, it turns out I was running 3.25 miles at 6 miles an hour. I am quite okay with that as I never broke 5 minutes for a mile in high school and at 68 years, I am happy with 6 minutes.

We have 21 more days until we fly in the big airplane as Jaidan calls it.  My friend Arthur just flew in from Boston to Bangkok, and all he said was, 'Fuck, that's a long flight!'. That is why we fly to Vancouver, spend a couple of nights and then do the 11 hours to Taiwan, and then 4 more after a break to Bangkok.  I call it 3 meals, 3 movies, and 3 naps, with about six 10 minute strolls up and down the plane to get the blood flowing and the numb bum a break.

We (actually Thavorn) just noticed that Jaidan's passport needs renewing so we will do that on the 19th when we have a car rented. Oops, just noticed the 10 day waiting period.  Guess we will put the application in this Tuesday, the 13th.

TTYL