Jaidan and I headed out to the Grand Sheraton for breakfast this morning. This gave mom time to clean up the apartment as we are having some friends over for a small birthday party for Jaidan this afternoon. Here are a couple of pics from this morning:
Jaidan trying out his birthday present.
Jaidan drying his hair after his bath ... getting ready to head out to the Sheraton.
Today is a major Buddhist holiday so Bangkok is pretty quiet today. Tomorrow, Saturday will see the bars open up once again. However, many of the girls will be missing as they took advantage of the 2 day Buddhist holiday to go home to their villages for a 4 day weekend.
I will add more pics after Jaidan's party is over.
2013 Edition ... like wine ... the Stones get Better with Age! The Stones have to go down as the Greatest Rock Group of all Time due to their longevity and remaining true to themselves.
Make sure you watch this video!!!!
It has been a while since I covered the naughty scene in this blog so having a free couple of hours I headed down to Soi 7/1 to the magic Table. (http://bangkokafterhours.blogspot.com/2013/05/magic-table-soi-71-in-bangkok-at-130-am.html). The Magic Table has an outdoor pool table that is seldom busy and some of the girls are not too bad (at pool ... get your mind out of the gutter); better still, they have an outdoor bar that is excellent for watching the comings (no pun intended) and goings on the Soi. Soi 7/1 is the home of the famous Dr. BJ's bars. (http://bjbarbangkok.com/).
From the outdoor bar at Magic Table I could watch the steady stream of traffic into Dr. BJ's. BTW, the traffic is both male, female, and couples. One of these days I really have to go inside and check it out :-). Dr BJ's open at 10 am for your morning BJ and closes down around 2 am depending on demand. I was there in the pm and most of the customers were in their mid twenties to mid 30's which dispels the old man reputation that Bangkok has. The working girls, coming and going, often for snacks, were OK but not the stunners that you sometimes see in the GoGo bars around Bangkok.
Dr. BJ obviously fills a need a need because there was a steady stream of customers.
The HJ jobs around Bangkok really don't make sense to me. I understand they are cheap (500 Baht), whereas BJ's are 750 - 1000 Baht, but really, hand jobs are something we guys can do by ourselves. At some moment in time I really have to explore that venue as well.
Most of the HJ bars seem to be located in Soi Cowboy (http://singlemansparadise.com/a-handjob-at-the-bar-toy-bar-bangkok-review/ ... warning not PC). Apparently the BJ's happen out in the open. Perhaps they service the inner voyeur in us :-). They have outside bar seats so that would enable me to monitor the comings and goings. I will report on Toy Bar at a later date.
On another note, Bangkok is in a bit of a drought and the water coming out of my tap is brackish and highly chlorinated. However apart from brushing your teeth, it can be avoided. We drink Singha bottled water all the time. Back in the village they drink rain water that is collected in cisterns from the roof.
So, Bangkok remains a city unto itself. It really is unique. I can't understand why more of you are not interested in visiting the LOS.
Today's song is: Taking it Easy ... Eagles 1977 ... a feel good kind of song
The military junta just passed a law stating that any business within 300 meters of a school or university is prevented from selling alcohol. Apparently the students are getting tanked up on alcohol before and after classes. I have mentioned before the problem of junk food vendors within 300 meters of schools and I believe they are more of a long term problem to Thailand.
However, despite the intention of the law, the powers to be should have gotten out their meter sticks and looked at the implication of the law. Apparently there are many 5 star hotels and high end restaurants within 300 meters of schools. I am not sure of the hours that are affected but if it 8-5 then it will have devastating effects on some businesses.
Somehow, I don't think the students are sneaking into the local Sheraton or Marriott for their pre class drink so they are not affected. It is basically the Family Marts and 7/11 convenience stores. I tend to think the problem may be the level of instruction that are driving the students to drink :-)
Today's song is Eric Burdon and the Animals singing It's My Life - Old Fart Performance
It is quiet in downtown Bangkok these days. The bar girls say it is very slow and they aren't making much money. Times will be tough for mom and the children in the village. The number of punters is down and the majority of them are Japanese and they have their favorite bar venues.
There are new types of visitors to Thailand these days. They are young couples and older retired couples. Rumor has it the punters are moving on to Cambodia and the Philippines. The US dollar is doing great but the Canadian dollar is falling as is the price of gold which all Thais follow religiously because gold is often their savings. Much better than money in the bank because you get to wear it and flaunt it (if you have lots).
We have been getting some rain at night this past week which also has an effect on the bar trade.
Today is buy one, get one free at CoffeeBean so when Jaidan wakes up we are off for a walk, a couple of coffee shakes and a blueberry muffin warmed up, most of which Jaidan eats up.
Jaidan will have his 1st bday on July 31st and will no longer be a baby but a toddler. He has actually been walking for a while now and is quite verbal at times but we have no idea what he is saying. He enjoys watching television and listening to music. He breaks out into a dance shuffle at the slightest hint of a tune. He also likes to eat and drink fizzy drinks. he especially likes 100plus which has recently started being imported into Thailand from Malaysia. It is marketed as a lo-cal hydration drink, low in calories but no artificial sweeteners.
Here are some of the latest pics taken with my Asus ZenFone 2 (highly recommended as best bang for the buck)
Today's song is Turn ... turn ...turn by the Byrds ... but first their version of 'Times are a Changin' ... Dylan's song from yesterday.
Times are a Changin ...
Turn ... Turn ... Turn ... 2010 performance
The Byrds (Folk Rock Group 6's-70's) were obsessed by time. They had a total of 5 songs hat were themed around time. The two above plus ... Time Between, She Don't Care About Time, Set You Free This Time.
I must admit having experienced a fair bit of time under the bridge that time has become more important to me, especially free time ... the kind of time where you can do what you want when you want. Life is not a dress rehearsal ... make the most of it. In the immortal words of Ivan Kelly .. Don't fool around ... buy a round!
Actuarial tables are so depressing. They can give you a ball park year when you cash your chips in. According to Canadian data that gives me 20 more years to make the most of. Not so bad given the wisdom I have accumulated and the freedom I have.
Perhaps's folk rock's best known song is a Dylan song ... How Many roads ... You would not believe the many different artists that have sung this song ... I will leave it to you to research. In the meantime, my 2 favourites ...
Springsteen
Canadian Alanis Morissette (I had dinner at her parent's house while she was just a young teenager) ... dad played QB for the Carleton Raven's and Mom taught with me. Very nice people!
