On Wednesday we moved from the castle to a B& B down by the bay. I misquoted the cost of the castle: it was $259 a night not $330. We found out when we checked out. Still it was a bad experience. When the B&B owner picked us up at the hotel, she asked about our stay. We told her we were disappointed and she said they had a terrible reputation and that there was no resident manager. Apparently he manages another one of their hotels and rarely shows up at the castle. Anyway, our B&B was delightful and right on the bus line. After putting our luggage there we headed to town and revisited Design Yard, the beautiful arts and crafts gallery then went on a one-hour tour of Dublin Castle that was built on the foundation of the original castle built in the 1100’s. The building is still used for important meetings and dinners by heads of state and the like. Afterwards we had a good lunch nearby. Being starved for a good film, we went to the Dublin Film Center and saw Other People’s Lives, an excellent German film.
We came back to the B&B and went to the great award winning Pakistani restaurant where we had eaten our first night in Dublin. After much deliberation, we ended up ordering the exact same dishes that we had enjoyed a week earlier. Yum. Back to the B&B that was just a few blocks away and off to bed we went. Up at 5:00 to catch our plane. We flew to London, short layover and a breakfast, then on to Chicago, a short layover then to Boston where David met us and drove us to Portland ME. From start to finish we traveled 23.5 hours and slept for 30 minutes between Chicago and Boston. We quickly fell into bed and today we are moving slowly. The kids are in school and David and Anne are at work so we can rest in between laundry and computer time.
It must be 70 degrees at least here today. We walked to a nearby café for lunch and didn’t even need our sweaters. Maine has had their coldest April this year but something changed while we were here. It is sunny and gorgeous! Lucky us. We took an hour-long nap after lunch and feel almost back to normal after our marathon no sleep trip.
Tuesday April 24th
Time flies. Yesterday we had a great day hanging out with our grandkids Jacob (5) and Tess (2.5). In the morning we planted some shrubs we had purchased on Sunday and in the afternoon we took them to a fire station to see the big trucks. Jacob is crazy about cars and trucks so we thought is would be a fun surprise outing. He got very shy when we got there. But a fireman came sliding down the fireman’s pole from upstairs and that was way cool. He gave both kids a fire chief hat and a sticker badge. Jacob would only go in the cab of the fire truck after Ron went in and Jacob sat on Ron’s lap. Then we ran a few errands and came home. The kids had a special event at their school so we walked them to school and we came back since Anne was to attend the event after work and she brought them home. Anne’s mom came over to baby sit and we took David and Anne out to eat dinner at a neat place in the downtown area.
The weather continues to be unbelievably beautiful: sunny, warm days. We have been getting up every morning and walking for 45 minutes. Today we were very bad. We stopped by a bakery on the way home for a cup of coffee and you had to walk right by the pastry case to order your coffee. Well heck, who can refuse a warm, whole-wheat sticky bun smothered in pecans??? Not me for sure. So we walked and gained two pounds from the so-called breakfast we ate at the bakery. We took a trip to the dump to recycle all the yard debris we collected when we raked the yard this weekend. We can’t stay inside in this weather. The week before we arrived Portland had a big windstorm with 65 mph gusts and many trees and limbs came tumbling down. Many in the city were without power for three days including David and Anne. They didn’t lose any trees but the yard was a mess. After yard work on Sunday we went to the mall and had family portraits done. Would you believe that the last time I had a professional photograph taken was my high school yearbook photo in 1963!!!!!!!!!! Yikes, I am older than dirt. Then we went to Pat Parker’s house for dinner. Anne’s mom is a retired college professor and Anne’s dad still teaches in Japan but plans to retire in a year. They had just completed an addition to their already lovely home that sits on a hill overlooking a bay. Living on water is a very special experience.
After the dump run we came home, cleaned up and Ron took me downtown to Anne’s hair salon. God grief, the haircut was 50% more than what I pay in Vancouver. Do I live in a vacuum or what??? Well it feels good to have my hair trimmed.
Today we take David to catch a plane to Cambridge where he will be meeting on a work project and we head out in the morning to drive to Providence RI where we will hook up with Ron’s sister Sandi. We will turn our rental car in and she will drive us to her home in Kingston where we will stay until Friday when we head to VA to see Mark, Rachel and Avi, their son who is almost eight months old.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Did I mention that there are lots of palm trees in Dublin? It was a big surprise to see them here. We have been touring around the countryside and have been able to see quite a bit in the short time we are here. Ireland is best described as “tidy”. The homes and yards are quite tidy. Most homes are multiple dwelling units, the most common being what we would call duplexes or townhouses. Often they are two stories with both units facing the street. The yard is divided by a hedge four to six feet high, giving each unit privacy.
While Ron was in meetings on Saturday and Sunday I took two different country tours along the coast-one to the north and one to the south. In addition to seeing the beautiful Irish countryside I saw Malahide Castle the first day. It was built in the 1100’s and the same family resided there for 800 years. It was sold in 1976 when the owner died unexpectedly while traveling abroad. On the second day we went to Powercourt Gardens, the finest in Ireland, both for their design and their dramatic setting at the foot of the Sugarloaf Mountains. The house and grounds were commissioned in 1730s. The gardens fell into disrepair but in 1840 were restored to their original plan. New gates, urns, statues and ornamental gardens were added in 1858-75. The building was gutted by fire in 1974 but the ground floor and ballroom have been restored. About six of the partners went out there together and had delightful weather in which to roam around the gardens. My only regret was our limited time. There were numerous ponds with fountains, waterways throughout, beautiful statuary and enormous terraces.
We are staying at Clontarf Castle Hotel built in 1172 originally and it was demolished and rebuilt in 1837. It became the Clontarf Castle Hotel in 1998. It is a 4 star hotel and cost $330 a night for the cheap rooms. It has the poorest service we have ever encountered. For starters I had to bring our luggage in (it took four trips to the waiting car) because the desk clerk pointed to the concierge when I asked for assistance. He however was fully engaged with guests who needed help planning their day. After waiting five minutes I gave up and did it myself. There was no other staff in sight. At breakfast it took 25 minutes to being our order while those seated after us were served before us. This morning we were never given menus so Ron went back to the desk and picked some up. No one ever came by to take an order. The coffee that was served was undrinkable so I sent it back and asked for more. Today they told our friends they couldn’t serve scrambled eggs or omelets because the chef wasn’t here but they could order poached or fried eggs?????????????? I can’t imagine how you can fry an egg but not know how to scramble an egg….not my idea of four star.
On Tuesday ICMA took us on a tour to a Navan where the City Manager gave a brief overview of their economic development plan and then treated us to a tour of Newgrange (where we had gone last Friday, not knowing this was on the agenda) and to the Hill of Tara, a site of mythic importance and the political and spiritual center of Celtic Ireland and the seat of the high kings until the 11th century. We have been quite surprised at the quality of food that is served at the tourist spots like Newgrange and Powercourt. Not the usual junk food we have at such spots in the US but rather fine dining or something close to fine dining.
We ended the day with a banquet at Ye Olde Abbey Tavern in Howth, a small fishing village. We had a fabulous meal and ended with Irish dancing and music. It was a perfect ending to an absolutely delightful trip. We have Wednesday free to see whatever we missed and grab an early plane on Thursday to London, Chicago, and Boston where our son David will meet us and take us to Portland ME.
While Ron was in meetings on Saturday and Sunday I took two different country tours along the coast-one to the north and one to the south. In addition to seeing the beautiful Irish countryside I saw Malahide Castle the first day. It was built in the 1100’s and the same family resided there for 800 years. It was sold in 1976 when the owner died unexpectedly while traveling abroad. On the second day we went to Powercourt Gardens, the finest in Ireland, both for their design and their dramatic setting at the foot of the Sugarloaf Mountains. The house and grounds were commissioned in 1730s. The gardens fell into disrepair but in 1840 were restored to their original plan. New gates, urns, statues and ornamental gardens were added in 1858-75. The building was gutted by fire in 1974 but the ground floor and ballroom have been restored. About six of the partners went out there together and had delightful weather in which to roam around the gardens. My only regret was our limited time. There were numerous ponds with fountains, waterways throughout, beautiful statuary and enormous terraces.
We are staying at Clontarf Castle Hotel built in 1172 originally and it was demolished and rebuilt in 1837. It became the Clontarf Castle Hotel in 1998. It is a 4 star hotel and cost $330 a night for the cheap rooms. It has the poorest service we have ever encountered. For starters I had to bring our luggage in (it took four trips to the waiting car) because the desk clerk pointed to the concierge when I asked for assistance. He however was fully engaged with guests who needed help planning their day. After waiting five minutes I gave up and did it myself. There was no other staff in sight. At breakfast it took 25 minutes to being our order while those seated after us were served before us. This morning we were never given menus so Ron went back to the desk and picked some up. No one ever came by to take an order. The coffee that was served was undrinkable so I sent it back and asked for more. Today they told our friends they couldn’t serve scrambled eggs or omelets because the chef wasn’t here but they could order poached or fried eggs?????????????? I can’t imagine how you can fry an egg but not know how to scramble an egg….not my idea of four star.
On Tuesday ICMA took us on a tour to a Navan where the City Manager gave a brief overview of their economic development plan and then treated us to a tour of Newgrange (where we had gone last Friday, not knowing this was on the agenda) and to the Hill of Tara, a site of mythic importance and the political and spiritual center of Celtic Ireland and the seat of the high kings until the 11th century. We have been quite surprised at the quality of food that is served at the tourist spots like Newgrange and Powercourt. Not the usual junk food we have at such spots in the US but rather fine dining or something close to fine dining.
We ended the day with a banquet at Ye Olde Abbey Tavern in Howth, a small fishing village. We had a fabulous meal and ended with Irish dancing and music. It was a perfect ending to an absolutely delightful trip. We have Wednesday free to see whatever we missed and grab an early plane on Thursday to London, Chicago, and Boston where our son David will meet us and take us to Portland ME.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
On Monday evening our family had a farewell dinner for us. Tui said she never cooks but she prepared a feast for us. We had chicken soup with egg bean cake (a form of tofu) red curry, fried dried squid (we have not yet acquired a taste for dried seafood that is so popular in
We then went back to the house and started to wrap things up there. In a short time, Tui and Timm were at the door, saying we had given Timm way too much money. We explained how invaluable having the car had been. There is so much we were able to accomplish because we had the car. Everything from going shopping, picking up take out meals, shopping for household items, and on and on. I begged her to take the money and saying it was a small amount to us. I ended my plea by saying, ‘Khun Nattawan (her aunt) had suggested this amount”, assuming that Nattawan has the final say in the family. Thanks Nattawan for your suggestion! Timm then accepted the money.
Neither of us slept that well, probably a little anxious before yet another trip. Always so many details to track and god knows, we’re OLD so remembering those details is a trip in and of itself!! So we gave up about 4:45 and got up and finished covering the furniture with sheets. We do this to save having to dust everything. Tui comes down from
So two hours to the airport with almost no traffic. I drifted off for part of the trip. The new Bangkok airport is HUGE and gorgeous. We were struck by how quickly we got through all the lines, including the plane loading. We had a full plane and the woman who sat next to me liked to lift the chair arm so she to have a bit more space that was non-existent. For some reason it didn’t bother me. I liked how casual she was and as she sort of moved into my space and was physically leaning into me, she looked over and said, “Okay?” I said sure. The trip was 12 hours and although it seems short compared to our 26-hour trips to SL, I was weary before we arrived in London. The ibuprofen didn’t offer relief. We arrived in London around 6:30 pm (12:30 am body time) and went to our B&B near the airport. The room was one of the tiniest ever. My favorite was the “bathroom”. From a construction standpoint it was fascinating. It was basically an upright rectangular box that was retrofitted into the existing space. So from a user standpoint, you stepped up into the room. Hence it was easy to install the plumbing underneath without having to do a lot of infrastructure work. There was a toilet, small sink and perhaps the smallest shower ever. It was 18 inches wide and about 30 inches long. I laughed. I was looking forward to a long soaking bath to ease my weary bones but decided to fall into bed as it looked like a shower would be more work than fun. Again we didn’t sleep well. We are off our body clock by six hours and basically went to bed about 3:00 a.m. body time. Again we gave up around 4:45 London time and showered. It was refreshing. We never even opened our suitcases as the room was so tiny and we were so tired that we put on yesterday’s clothes, fixed a cup of tea. Ron worked on the computer and I started reading the Ireland tour book. At 6:00 we left for the airport. We arrived in Dublin and it was 57 degrees and the sun was shining. They have had eight days of sunshine, which is unheard of this time of year. I checked on the Internet and it is due to rain on Sunday so between now and then we will rejoice with the sun.
We had a delightful, talkative cab driver take us to the B&B where we are staying until Sunday when we move into the castle where we are staying for three nights. It costs more than three times the B&B, which is why we aren’t staying there for the entire time. Ron’s ICMA meeting is being held there.
After getting unpacked we headed to town, catching a city bus just down the street from our house. We are quite close to the ocean and got to see lots of shore birds at low tide. Tomorrow we will get up to exercise and walk down by the water. Once we got to town we were starving so ducked into the first restaurant we saw, a Cuban cocktail bar, complete with photos of Hemingway, Spencer Tracy and Fidel as a young man. I had delicious steamed mussels and Ron had fish and chips. Off we went on a walking tour of the area north of the Liffey River that runs through town. We were amazed at how much we got to see in a relatively short time. We went to the Customs House (1791) ,Moore St market with fresh produce and flowers, general post office (1818), St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral (1825) Around 4:30 we stopped for a espresso drink and a pear tart before heading home to put our very tired feet up. At a little after 7:00 we headed down the street to a Pakistani restaurant. It turned out that the restaurant has won numerous awards including Best Ethnic Restaurant in Ireland for 2007! Oh my goodness the food was incredible. We had a vegetable jalfrazi and a chicken dish with incredible spices and coconut cream. Rice and paratha completed the meal. We almost licked our plates it was so good.
We will retire early, as we are quite tired after two sleepless nights and a bit of jet lag. We were taken aback at how small Dublin appears. I had expected a metropolis with skyscrapers but never saw anything over five stories today and most buildings are two stories. We discovered that Dublin and the county have a total population of 1.1 million, much smaller than I had thought it would be. Bangkok by contrast is 14 million in population.
Thursday
We bought tickets for a tour in Dublin. We boarded a bus that makes 24 stops and you can get off and on throughout the day, choosing which sites you want to explore in depth. We saw impressionist paintings at the National Gallery, spent a long time at the Guinness Storehouse where we learned about how Guinness stout is made. You should know we stood in a long line to buy tickets for the self guided tour and paid senior rates of 19 euros. The storehouse is huge, seven stories and you visit each floor to learn about the history of 250 years of making brew. The facility is on 66 acres of land in the heart of Dublin that Arthur Guinness got 45 pounds per year lease for 9000 years! That’s what we call thinking ahead!! No pun intended. It is the largest brewery in the world. At one point they made 1000 oak casks a week to store the brew. The place was packed. We ate lunch in one of their many restaurants and it was delicious. Ron had a so-called complimentary pint (if you pay 9.50 euros to get in how can it be called complimentary???) Then he used my chit to get a second one at lunch. He never got pass drinking the first half of the second pint but it made for a very relaxed afternoon. Next we visited the National Museum where we saw an exhibit of contemporary ceramic artists, the history of clothes and Irish furniture. After the tour we wandered through what is known as Temple Bar (a bar is a riverside path). It is filled with cute shops and quaint restaurants. We had an espresso and came home.
We had another glorious day weather wise. It was chilly in the morning but all we needed was a sweater today. The sun was out the entire day. The flowering trees are in blossom, the tulips are blooming and birds are singing. At last we are experiencing spring. I should mention that we are so far north that it was still light at 8:30 last night. What a treat! That’s it from the land of redheads and rosy cheeks.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
4-3-07
It was so hot today we couldn’t get the house cooled down with both ACs going. Bummer. I am sweating as I write this in our bedroom with the AC on. When I was at the IC (internet café) I checked the temperature here today and it was 86 but with humidity factor it feels like 99 according to Weather.com. It is supposed to be in the low 90’s the rest of our time here so with humidity factor I reckon it will be hot, damn hot!
Ron worked all day on his proposal. He sent it off late this afternoon. Around 1:00 o’clock, the window blinds crew showed up. We ordered wooden blinds for the bedroom. They goofed on measuring two windows. Ron had suggested that the blinds be hung above the windows so the inside screens can be opened in order to open the windows and clear the blinds when raised but below the arch that is above the window so you could see the arch. When the man came to measure, he didn’t take into account the thickness of the slats so the blinds ended up being about 15cm short. It is what we call an ‘oh shit’ and I would imagine he said something similar in Thai when he saw what had happened. So one set got hung and two went back to the shop for adjustments.
Ron and I walk to the Internet café (IC) that is about three blocks from the house. There are twelve computers in the shop and usually it is filled with kids 12 years old and younger playing games. The bad news is they are playing violent games with soldiers, who have assault rifles, grenades, bayonets and handguns. Oy, if their mothers only knew the research on the effects on kids watching violence their little hinnies wouldn’t be in there. Some kids play a game with dancers. Yesterday I saw a game that at first looked like a pastoral scene with green grass and cute little animals. Then a pony-tailed girl comes onto the screen with some kind of stick weapon and beats the living daylights out of the cute little animals. Lovely. So far I have only observed three games but the place is packed every time we go. Today there were no computers available when I went in the late afternoon. The other awful part of this place is the noise. Bullets flying, grenades exploding and dance musical at a crescendo. Jeez when did I get so damn OLD? I am going to try and go at 9:00 a.m. when kids are hopefully in school and the place will be quieter. We went early today and had quiet until about 9:30 when two guys came in on motorcycles. The other funny thing that happens here is people take off their sandals outside shops and homes usually. But at the IC they take them off right as they step into the doorway so you have to watch your step as you walk in or you will stumble over a myriad of sandals.
One of the truly great pleasures of being in the tropics is the fruit. Tonight we had fresh mangoes off the trees on the property, rambutans, mangosteens (eat your heart out Larry) and another fruit whose name we don’t know but it looks like a small mango but has a different flavor. It was a feast!
After dinner we drove to an area of town we aren’t familiar with, it is a main commercial area that Jeap showed us on Saturday. We thought by walking around we could discover more of what is here such a dry cleaners, barber shops, etc. It was hotter than at the house due to the heat radiating off the asphalt and concrete from the heat of the day but we enjoyed exploring and will go back again to explore more streets. We did find a good size grocery store that is much closer than the Big C, which is way out of town. It has many of the staples we use but no produce. There are very few people who look like the Bergmans. I have seen one white person in Phetchaburi and he looked like a burned out hippie from the 60’s. I on the other hand am an aging hippie but not burned out! HA!
4-4-07
Out dirt was delivered this morning. Unfortunately the truck could not get to the house because earlier in the year Noi have put a carport roof over the drive near the front of the property and neither our moving van nor the dump truck can fit under it. Bummer. They will have to haul the dirt by hand from a very long way up the drive. The dirt quality here is quite different from home. At home you can get any mix you want with compost, sand, etc. There is even a grade called landscape grade. Not so here. We paid for a better quality dirt and got something that looks like clods of clay with roots, twigs, and god only know what else is in it. Such is life in the tropics. We will buy some compost in bags at the nursery to amend the soil. The bad news is we can’t bring compost or any plants to the back of the property until the drive way is cleared of the dirt and that may take awhile. One step forward, two steps back. A good lesson in patience for Americans who are so use to ‘having it my way’.
This afternoon we went looking for trees at a couple of nurseries. We are hoping to find some good shade trees. We didn’t find any that were suitable but we found a charming garden bench. It looks antique and will sit against the front of the house looking out at the river. The nursery offered to deliver it and we suggested Saturday hoping that by then the driveway will be cleared of the big pile of dirt. Things move slowly sometimes so we shall see.
We then went for a foot massage and thoroughly enjoyed it. That is the other wonderful thing about Thailand that I forgot to emphasize: massage. Thai body massage is usually 90-120 minutes and costs $10-$14. It is a clothed massage on a mattress that is on a raised platform. It is a very physical massage where you are manipulated or moved into various postures. The foot massage often goes way beyond the foot and includes the leg up to or above the knee. Sometimes, like today our arms, shoulders and head were massaged also. Pretty darn wonderful. Ron says we are sluts for massage!
Our fruit snack tonight was the best watermelon imaginable. Yum. That’s it from the land of tropical fruits, beautiful women and 99 degree hot weather.
It was so hot today we couldn’t get the house cooled down with both ACs going. Bummer. I am sweating as I write this in our bedroom with the AC on. When I was at the IC (internet café) I checked the temperature here today and it was 86 but with humidity factor it feels like 99 according to Weather.com. It is supposed to be in the low 90’s the rest of our time here so with humidity factor I reckon it will be hot, damn hot!
Ron worked all day on his proposal. He sent it off late this afternoon. Around 1:00 o’clock, the window blinds crew showed up. We ordered wooden blinds for the bedroom. They goofed on measuring two windows. Ron had suggested that the blinds be hung above the windows so the inside screens can be opened in order to open the windows and clear the blinds when raised but below the arch that is above the window so you could see the arch. When the man came to measure, he didn’t take into account the thickness of the slats so the blinds ended up being about 15cm short. It is what we call an ‘oh shit’ and I would imagine he said something similar in Thai when he saw what had happened. So one set got hung and two went back to the shop for adjustments.
Ron and I walk to the Internet café (IC) that is about three blocks from the house. There are twelve computers in the shop and usually it is filled with kids 12 years old and younger playing games. The bad news is they are playing violent games with soldiers, who have assault rifles, grenades, bayonets and handguns. Oy, if their mothers only knew the research on the effects on kids watching violence their little hinnies wouldn’t be in there. Some kids play a game with dancers. Yesterday I saw a game that at first looked like a pastoral scene with green grass and cute little animals. Then a pony-tailed girl comes onto the screen with some kind of stick weapon and beats the living daylights out of the cute little animals. Lovely. So far I have only observed three games but the place is packed every time we go. Today there were no computers available when I went in the late afternoon. The other awful part of this place is the noise. Bullets flying, grenades exploding and dance musical at a crescendo. Jeez when did I get so damn OLD? I am going to try and go at 9:00 a.m. when kids are hopefully in school and the place will be quieter. We went early today and had quiet until about 9:30 when two guys came in on motorcycles. The other funny thing that happens here is people take off their sandals outside shops and homes usually. But at the IC they take them off right as they step into the doorway so you have to watch your step as you walk in or you will stumble over a myriad of sandals.
One of the truly great pleasures of being in the tropics is the fruit. Tonight we had fresh mangoes off the trees on the property, rambutans, mangosteens (eat your heart out Larry) and another fruit whose name we don’t know but it looks like a small mango but has a different flavor. It was a feast!
After dinner we drove to an area of town we aren’t familiar with, it is a main commercial area that Jeap showed us on Saturday. We thought by walking around we could discover more of what is here such a dry cleaners, barber shops, etc. It was hotter than at the house due to the heat radiating off the asphalt and concrete from the heat of the day but we enjoyed exploring and will go back again to explore more streets. We did find a good size grocery store that is much closer than the Big C, which is way out of town. It has many of the staples we use but no produce. There are very few people who look like the Bergmans. I have seen one white person in Phetchaburi and he looked like a burned out hippie from the 60’s. I on the other hand am an aging hippie but not burned out! HA!
4-4-07
Out dirt was delivered this morning. Unfortunately the truck could not get to the house because earlier in the year Noi have put a carport roof over the drive near the front of the property and neither our moving van nor the dump truck can fit under it. Bummer. They will have to haul the dirt by hand from a very long way up the drive. The dirt quality here is quite different from home. At home you can get any mix you want with compost, sand, etc. There is even a grade called landscape grade. Not so here. We paid for a better quality dirt and got something that looks like clods of clay with roots, twigs, and god only know what else is in it. Such is life in the tropics. We will buy some compost in bags at the nursery to amend the soil. The bad news is we can’t bring compost or any plants to the back of the property until the drive way is cleared of the dirt and that may take awhile. One step forward, two steps back. A good lesson in patience for Americans who are so use to ‘having it my way’.
This afternoon we went looking for trees at a couple of nurseries. We are hoping to find some good shade trees. We didn’t find any that were suitable but we found a charming garden bench. It looks antique and will sit against the front of the house looking out at the river. The nursery offered to deliver it and we suggested Saturday hoping that by then the driveway will be cleared of the big pile of dirt. Things move slowly sometimes so we shall see.
We then went for a foot massage and thoroughly enjoyed it. That is the other wonderful thing about Thailand that I forgot to emphasize: massage. Thai body massage is usually 90-120 minutes and costs $10-$14. It is a clothed massage on a mattress that is on a raised platform. It is a very physical massage where you are manipulated or moved into various postures. The foot massage often goes way beyond the foot and includes the leg up to or above the knee. Sometimes, like today our arms, shoulders and head were massaged also. Pretty darn wonderful. Ron says we are sluts for massage!
Our fruit snack tonight was the best watermelon imaginable. Yum. That’s it from the land of tropical fruits, beautiful women and 99 degree hot weather.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Sunday
Yesterday we had just gotten out of bed and were moving around in the kitchen to start breakfast. We looked out the window and Jeap (chicken), the man we had hired to bring us from the airport to Phetchaburi and his wife Gop (frog) were approaching. Jeap told us Thai had nicknames after animals. They are neighbors and had brought us a traditional Thai breakfast: a salad of lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, corn, shredded cabbage and chicken and hum bao. Can you believe it? This is a prime example of the Thai people and their generous hospitality. He wanted to let us know that he was free on Saturday if we needed anything. We decided it would be good to have him take us around Phetchaburi to locate resources such a good hardware stores, restaurants, barber shops, etc. He speaks excellent English and was most helpful. We wanted to go for a Thai massage later in the day and Jeap told us about motorcycle taxis so he arranged for our pick up and introduced us to the lead guy who speaks very little English.
Ron spent about half a day working on his proposal. I think I mentioned that he got a job writing a proposal for ICMA while we are here. I went to the Internet café to pay bills. Everyday we stop by Khun bah Cha-Onn to say hello. She had gone to Bangkok on Friday for a checkup after her hip replacement surgery. We have been using her daughter, Timm’s car this week. Timm came by in the morning to return the money we had left for her to pay for the use of the car. She was on her way to Bangkok for the weekend with her husband Tum and would be taking the car. We are totally spoiled by ‘our family’ here. They bring us food; let us use their car, made sure I started using their UV umbrella instead of my rain umbrella and on and on it goes. We feel like royalty here and find it difficult to find ways to repay their kindnesses.
Promptly at 4:30 our two motorcycle taxis arrived at the front gate and away we went to the massage at the hotel in town, about a seven-miinute trip. Drivers in Thailand take liberties that we would be arrested for in the US. Motorcycle drivers are slightly worse at taking these liberties than auto drivers. So if access to the correct side of a street is blocked, rather than going the long way around to get access, they just drive the wrong way on the one-way side of the road until they can get access! So we had yet another adventure. It brought back memories of when I was twenty and was hitch hiking across Europe and Northern Africa. I caught a ride across Sicily on the back of a Vespa! Oy, youth….
The massage was fabulous although painful. But then I have never had a therapeutic massage that wasn’t painful but my masseuse had thumbs of steel and I couldn’t communicate to her to lighten up so just endured. The after effect was great. Our massage cost about $8.00 each for 90 minutes, not including tip. Ron is concerned that we aren’t taking full advantage so I am sure we will be going back to the Royal Diamond Hotel for more massages before we head out on the 10th. Since we had miscalculated our time for pick up with our cabbies, we decided to have a cold drink at the hotel bar then decided to grab dinner. Bad mistake. I ordered ‘crispy spicy catfish’ and got slimy spicy catfish. We ate the sauce over our rice and ate Ron’s veggie dish. Last time we dine at the Royal Diamond. It was our first bad Thai meal so we can’t complain given how many times we have eaten Thai food.
After dinner our cabbies appeared and off we went to home. A little later we went to the Internet café, about three blocks away, catching up on email then came home and off the bed. I had an email from Nattawan saying that when she was here, she turned on the two bedroom air conditioners and opened the bedroom doors in order to cool the entire house. I am trying it today, as the living area is unbearable during the day. It is a good place for a sweat if you are in the mood.
Today we were awake but not yet up and we heard a tapping at the door. There was Timm’s daughter Pear, about 13 years old I would guess and she had our breakfast in hand. Unbelievable! It was the same breakfast as yesterday and so good. Everyone seems to worry that we won’t have enough to eat. We can’t keep up with the food that comes our way. Today we need to work on eating the food that we have in the refrigerator or else!!
Yesterday I spied rambutan at a fruit stand. We were on the motorcycles at the time but soon I want to get some for the family here and for ourselves. I can’t believe my luck that they are in season while we are here.. They are one of my favorite tropical fruits after mangoes that are also in season right now. Only thing I am missing is mangosteens. Thinking of you Larry Brown.
What do I do while Ron is on the computer writing? All of our clothes are hand washed, dried outside and ironed by yours truly. When we did yard work, I sent our shorts and t-shirts to the laundry but usually we don’t wear t-shirts due to the heat. They are too heavy and we have a wardrobe from SL of very lightweight cotton shirts. In the tropics you need to dust and sweep daily and mop frequently so that keeps me of the street and out of trouble. I ‘prepare’ our food and wash up afterwards. Notice I didn’t say cook our food. We are buying take out and it has worked out just fine. So I make rice in the rice cooker or cook noodles to serve the various Thai dishes on. Our rate of consumption of food has decreased due to the heat. I finally started to drop some of the pounds I gained in SL. We ate in AC almost the entire time we were there so the heat didn’t deter my eating. Bummer!
A knock at the door and there is Nit who has been working in our yard to clear more debris with two packets of coconut ice cream. Almost all food is packaged in little plastic bags that hold about 8 ounces and sealed with a red rubber band. Mine had toasted cashews and fresh corn sprinkled on top and Ron had nuts and we’re not sure but maybe sweet potato on top. Yum! He also gave us four mangos off the tree. Ready to eat. IS this paradise or what??
I forgot to mention that there are four dogs here. One poodle and three other small dogs. Every night one family member makes the dogs’ food with a base of rice and I’m not sure what else. Not quite like America where we buy it off the shelf and now of course we have about a gabillion choices: the hallmark of our abundance and excess. Let’s see there is food for puppies, senior dogs, dogs on a diet. Well you get the picture.
We got ants. I don’t think you can live in the tropics without them. So I had to put cereal in Tupperware then put the Tupperware inside a large zip lock bag.. Otherwise these industrious critters find their way into the cereal. I’d sure like to understand their communication system and we could all learn something from their cooperative attitudes. Ron had bought some crackers that were in a sealed bag, not yet opened and they chewed right through the packaging to get at those crackers. The hole was tiny and on the corner so I opened the package hoping to save the crackers, thinking maybe they were just eating the first cracker or two but no way, they were working the whole tray of crackers.
When we were out and about on Saturday with Jeap, we passed a place that had the neatest garden benches. We stopped to see how much they were. It turns out they were made from the wooden hubs and wheels of old bullock carts and were not for sale. It was someone’s collection that was being displayed. Bummer. They would have looked so good in our garden.
The property here has several old ceramic pots and Noi cleaned up three of them so we can use them in the garden. They are the ones that are two tones of brown with a dragon design Many of you have seen these in the US I’m sure although they are made in this part of the world. We are hoping to have dirt delivered this week and if so we can order a few trees and other plants to get the garden project really rolling.
That's it from lovely Thailand, the land of beautiful women.
Yesterday we had just gotten out of bed and were moving around in the kitchen to start breakfast. We looked out the window and Jeap (chicken), the man we had hired to bring us from the airport to Phetchaburi and his wife Gop (frog) were approaching. Jeap told us Thai had nicknames after animals. They are neighbors and had brought us a traditional Thai breakfast: a salad of lettuce, cukes, tomatoes, corn, shredded cabbage and chicken and hum bao. Can you believe it? This is a prime example of the Thai people and their generous hospitality. He wanted to let us know that he was free on Saturday if we needed anything. We decided it would be good to have him take us around Phetchaburi to locate resources such a good hardware stores, restaurants, barber shops, etc. He speaks excellent English and was most helpful. We wanted to go for a Thai massage later in the day and Jeap told us about motorcycle taxis so he arranged for our pick up and introduced us to the lead guy who speaks very little English.
Ron spent about half a day working on his proposal. I think I mentioned that he got a job writing a proposal for ICMA while we are here. I went to the Internet café to pay bills. Everyday we stop by Khun bah Cha-Onn to say hello. She had gone to Bangkok on Friday for a checkup after her hip replacement surgery. We have been using her daughter, Timm’s car this week. Timm came by in the morning to return the money we had left for her to pay for the use of the car. She was on her way to Bangkok for the weekend with her husband Tum and would be taking the car. We are totally spoiled by ‘our family’ here. They bring us food; let us use their car, made sure I started using their UV umbrella instead of my rain umbrella and on and on it goes. We feel like royalty here and find it difficult to find ways to repay their kindnesses.
Promptly at 4:30 our two motorcycle taxis arrived at the front gate and away we went to the massage at the hotel in town, about a seven-miinute trip. Drivers in Thailand take liberties that we would be arrested for in the US. Motorcycle drivers are slightly worse at taking these liberties than auto drivers. So if access to the correct side of a street is blocked, rather than going the long way around to get access, they just drive the wrong way on the one-way side of the road until they can get access! So we had yet another adventure. It brought back memories of when I was twenty and was hitch hiking across Europe and Northern Africa. I caught a ride across Sicily on the back of a Vespa! Oy, youth….
The massage was fabulous although painful. But then I have never had a therapeutic massage that wasn’t painful but my masseuse had thumbs of steel and I couldn’t communicate to her to lighten up so just endured. The after effect was great. Our massage cost about $8.00 each for 90 minutes, not including tip. Ron is concerned that we aren’t taking full advantage so I am sure we will be going back to the Royal Diamond Hotel for more massages before we head out on the 10th. Since we had miscalculated our time for pick up with our cabbies, we decided to have a cold drink at the hotel bar then decided to grab dinner. Bad mistake. I ordered ‘crispy spicy catfish’ and got slimy spicy catfish. We ate the sauce over our rice and ate Ron’s veggie dish. Last time we dine at the Royal Diamond. It was our first bad Thai meal so we can’t complain given how many times we have eaten Thai food.
After dinner our cabbies appeared and off we went to home. A little later we went to the Internet café, about three blocks away, catching up on email then came home and off the bed. I had an email from Nattawan saying that when she was here, she turned on the two bedroom air conditioners and opened the bedroom doors in order to cool the entire house. I am trying it today, as the living area is unbearable during the day. It is a good place for a sweat if you are in the mood.
Today we were awake but not yet up and we heard a tapping at the door. There was Timm’s daughter Pear, about 13 years old I would guess and she had our breakfast in hand. Unbelievable! It was the same breakfast as yesterday and so good. Everyone seems to worry that we won’t have enough to eat. We can’t keep up with the food that comes our way. Today we need to work on eating the food that we have in the refrigerator or else!!
Yesterday I spied rambutan at a fruit stand. We were on the motorcycles at the time but soon I want to get some for the family here and for ourselves. I can’t believe my luck that they are in season while we are here.. They are one of my favorite tropical fruits after mangoes that are also in season right now. Only thing I am missing is mangosteens. Thinking of you Larry Brown.
What do I do while Ron is on the computer writing? All of our clothes are hand washed, dried outside and ironed by yours truly. When we did yard work, I sent our shorts and t-shirts to the laundry but usually we don’t wear t-shirts due to the heat. They are too heavy and we have a wardrobe from SL of very lightweight cotton shirts. In the tropics you need to dust and sweep daily and mop frequently so that keeps me of the street and out of trouble. I ‘prepare’ our food and wash up afterwards. Notice I didn’t say cook our food. We are buying take out and it has worked out just fine. So I make rice in the rice cooker or cook noodles to serve the various Thai dishes on. Our rate of consumption of food has decreased due to the heat. I finally started to drop some of the pounds I gained in SL. We ate in AC almost the entire time we were there so the heat didn’t deter my eating. Bummer!
A knock at the door and there is Nit who has been working in our yard to clear more debris with two packets of coconut ice cream. Almost all food is packaged in little plastic bags that hold about 8 ounces and sealed with a red rubber band. Mine had toasted cashews and fresh corn sprinkled on top and Ron had nuts and we’re not sure but maybe sweet potato on top. Yum! He also gave us four mangos off the tree. Ready to eat. IS this paradise or what??
I forgot to mention that there are four dogs here. One poodle and three other small dogs. Every night one family member makes the dogs’ food with a base of rice and I’m not sure what else. Not quite like America where we buy it off the shelf and now of course we have about a gabillion choices: the hallmark of our abundance and excess. Let’s see there is food for puppies, senior dogs, dogs on a diet. Well you get the picture.
We got ants. I don’t think you can live in the tropics without them. So I had to put cereal in Tupperware then put the Tupperware inside a large zip lock bag.. Otherwise these industrious critters find their way into the cereal. I’d sure like to understand their communication system and we could all learn something from their cooperative attitudes. Ron had bought some crackers that were in a sealed bag, not yet opened and they chewed right through the packaging to get at those crackers. The hole was tiny and on the corner so I opened the package hoping to save the crackers, thinking maybe they were just eating the first cracker or two but no way, they were working the whole tray of crackers.
When we were out and about on Saturday with Jeap, we passed a place that had the neatest garden benches. We stopped to see how much they were. It turns out they were made from the wooden hubs and wheels of old bullock carts and were not for sale. It was someone’s collection that was being displayed. Bummer. They would have looked so good in our garden.
The property here has several old ceramic pots and Noi cleaned up three of them so we can use them in the garden. They are the ones that are two tones of brown with a dragon design Many of you have seen these in the US I’m sure although they are made in this part of the world. We are hoping to have dirt delivered this week and if so we can order a few trees and other plants to get the garden project really rolling.
That's it from lovely Thailand, the land of beautiful women.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday
It hasn’t cooled off one bit. We have discovered that houses here that are two stories are much cooler since they have the upper floor to insulate the first floor. We visited Khun Pa Cha-Onn, Nattawan’s aunt, who recently broke her hip and her house is significantly cooler with very high ceilings and two stories. We will survive.
On Sunday and Monday we worked on a yard project. The front yard was filled with construction debris. Since we want to implement our landscape plan the first step is preparing the soil. So that means digging up the front yard that has chunks of concrete, tile and wood. There is also about six inches of sand on top of the dirt. Nit and Noi, Nattawan's cousins, had started the project but we had a long way to go to finish so we pitched in working only very early in the morning (until the sun came up) or in the late part of the day (after the sun went down). We moved very slowly as the heat is unbelievable. We made progress and were pleased that by the end of the week we would be able to finish.
On Tuesday we drove to Hua Hin about an hour south of here and shopped for household items like outdoor doormats, and ready made or assemble your own cabinets for bathroom storage. Although the selection is much better in Thailand than SL, it is still limited by our standards. Most Americans have no idea how the rest of the world lives. Take it from me they make do with a fraction of what we have on every level and are doing just fine without 100’s if not 1000’s of choices. After finding some of the items on our list we went over to Kay and Bill’s house. They had invited us to spend the night so we thought ‘why not’. We are on vacation and Ron is semi retired so why the heck not??? We had a great visit, got to see some news in English (something we both miss when we travel) and Kay prepared a lovely Thai feast for us. Kay owns a fantastic Thai restaurant in Eugene and has to go back there soon for a month to relieve her business partner.
The next morning we got up and had another delightful Thai meal: rice with sliced chicken and sauce. Yum. Our favorite cuisines are Thai and Indian so we are in hog heaven here. Food is so inexpensive here, and it is real easy to find take-out places so our breakfast was take-out. Many Thai people eat take-ut meals. After breakfast we went to town for more shopping. We were able to find some reading lamps for one of the bedrooms. Ron had hoped to find lamps parts here so he could make lamps from celadon vases. No such luck. He will have to buy the parts in the US and bring them here. We will also have to bring lampshades from home. Lampshades here are quite different and part of the lamp hardware is part of the shade. We were glad to have found something, as we love to read every night in bed before going to sleep. Next we went to a design center and found a few more things like the doormats I wanted. We got a quote on wood blinds for the master bedroom, the only room that needs privacy as it is exposed. After a quick lunch of duck noodle soup, we headed back to Kay and Bill’s and then headed home. On the way we stopped for a massage at a place we had not tried in Phetchaburi and got a mediocre massage so we won’t be going back there.
When we got home we discovered Noy and a friend had finished the de-rocking project in the front yard. We were flabbergasted. All the rocks were stacked to one side and all the sand had been moved to another part of the yard. On Thursday they worked all day in the sun to move the rocks to another part of the property. I tried to get them to stop because of the heat but they kept working so I took them water and fresh fruit that had been chilled. Noy said I couldn’t work anymore! You should know all the family speaks English but very limited. So Noy pointed to me and said, "No working". He told Nattawan he couldn’t believe Ron and I would get out there and do yard work. Little does he know when we re-landscaped our yard we worked hard labor for 16 weekends to transform our backyard. We will have some challenges here because there is a significant amount of concrete walkways around the yard. In addition Noy has started improving the yard by planting various plants. So we will need to do what we can to implement the design given these factors. All the more fun.
The family has us completely spoiled. They bring us tropical fruit grwon in the yard and various Thai dishes to try. We are blessed: mangoes are in season. We can't get over how accepting and kind our Thai family is. We have fun trying to communicate. Yesterday Tui got Cha-Onn, her mother to say thank you very much. Cha-Onn is 86!
Ron got a job while here to write a proposal for ICMA. We have a desk and his computer in the bedroom so yesterday he was in there all day with the AC on and I found lots of excuses to join him since the rest of the house is so hot. Another factor that increases the heat is the window and door screens we added. Since Ron’s episode with Dengue fever in SL, we are more cautious. But screens really cut down on airflow
Today Ron was doing a project: shortening the legs of a freestanding bar that had been given to Nattawan as a house-warming gift. It was about four inches too tall. So Ron was killing himself trying to saw these very big 4inch thick legs with a hand saw. Being the pushy broad that I am I told him I thought he was killing himself and what he needed was a circular saw so made him stop and took him to the one store we knew might have one. My treat. He now has a circular saw and is making a grand mess in the living area that I swept and mopped yesterday. I think I had it backwards. The bar is now the right height thanks to Ron’s hard work in the heat.
I have decided it makes no sense to cook here when take out is so readily available and so inexpensive. Today I got eight little packets of food for 80 baht, not quite three dollars. This will be enough for two people to have at least two main meals. When the man told me the price, I exclaimed, "Is that all?" Everyone laughed. We got food from this stand near the house two days ago and it was delicious.
All week we have had the use of Timm and Tum’s car, Nattawan’s cousin and her husband. Driving here is a trip. Although they had real roads unlike SL, it is not uncommon to have people on motorcycles or cars coming at you on both sides. Yikes! It is unnerving to say the least. The motorcycle is the predominant mode of transportation here and the cyclists are very reckless in their driving so you have to pay complete attention when you drive. So I help out by pointing out potential hazards. We are quite a team of old codgers! But so far we have done quite well, given that they drive on the left side of the road. The driving is tame compared to SL however.
If we were to compare Thailand to SL, we would agree that Thailand is far ahead in terms of development. Both are democracies. Thailand has a very revered king. The country’s name was changed to Thailand, the land of the free from Siam when it became a democracy. People seem more industrious here and Thailand is much cleaner. There is a higher standard of living here and Ron said the food is better. We have geckos in the house here also. Both are tropical in terms of climate. When the tsunami hit Thailand they declined outside aid, saying they could take care of their needs so others could have the money. Unlike SL, Thailand has never been colonized. The pubic transportation system, infrastructure and the like are far superior to SL.
We are searching for a water delivery company that might have the equivalent to a five-gallon water bottle that will fit the water-dispensing machine we bought from SL. We have found a similar model here but since there is no ‘yellow pages’ we are stuck so far. Time to post so bye for now.
It hasn’t cooled off one bit. We have discovered that houses here that are two stories are much cooler since they have the upper floor to insulate the first floor. We visited Khun Pa Cha-Onn, Nattawan’s aunt, who recently broke her hip and her house is significantly cooler with very high ceilings and two stories. We will survive.
On Sunday and Monday we worked on a yard project. The front yard was filled with construction debris. Since we want to implement our landscape plan the first step is preparing the soil. So that means digging up the front yard that has chunks of concrete, tile and wood. There is also about six inches of sand on top of the dirt. Nit and Noi, Nattawan's cousins, had started the project but we had a long way to go to finish so we pitched in working only very early in the morning (until the sun came up) or in the late part of the day (after the sun went down). We moved very slowly as the heat is unbelievable. We made progress and were pleased that by the end of the week we would be able to finish.
On Tuesday we drove to Hua Hin about an hour south of here and shopped for household items like outdoor doormats, and ready made or assemble your own cabinets for bathroom storage. Although the selection is much better in Thailand than SL, it is still limited by our standards. Most Americans have no idea how the rest of the world lives. Take it from me they make do with a fraction of what we have on every level and are doing just fine without 100’s if not 1000’s of choices. After finding some of the items on our list we went over to Kay and Bill’s house. They had invited us to spend the night so we thought ‘why not’. We are on vacation and Ron is semi retired so why the heck not??? We had a great visit, got to see some news in English (something we both miss when we travel) and Kay prepared a lovely Thai feast for us. Kay owns a fantastic Thai restaurant in Eugene and has to go back there soon for a month to relieve her business partner.
The next morning we got up and had another delightful Thai meal: rice with sliced chicken and sauce. Yum. Our favorite cuisines are Thai and Indian so we are in hog heaven here. Food is so inexpensive here, and it is real easy to find take-out places so our breakfast was take-out. Many Thai people eat take-ut meals. After breakfast we went to town for more shopping. We were able to find some reading lamps for one of the bedrooms. Ron had hoped to find lamps parts here so he could make lamps from celadon vases. No such luck. He will have to buy the parts in the US and bring them here. We will also have to bring lampshades from home. Lampshades here are quite different and part of the lamp hardware is part of the shade. We were glad to have found something, as we love to read every night in bed before going to sleep. Next we went to a design center and found a few more things like the doormats I wanted. We got a quote on wood blinds for the master bedroom, the only room that needs privacy as it is exposed. After a quick lunch of duck noodle soup, we headed back to Kay and Bill’s and then headed home. On the way we stopped for a massage at a place we had not tried in Phetchaburi and got a mediocre massage so we won’t be going back there.
When we got home we discovered Noy and a friend had finished the de-rocking project in the front yard. We were flabbergasted. All the rocks were stacked to one side and all the sand had been moved to another part of the yard. On Thursday they worked all day in the sun to move the rocks to another part of the property. I tried to get them to stop because of the heat but they kept working so I took them water and fresh fruit that had been chilled. Noy said I couldn’t work anymore! You should know all the family speaks English but very limited. So Noy pointed to me and said, "No working". He told Nattawan he couldn’t believe Ron and I would get out there and do yard work. Little does he know when we re-landscaped our yard we worked hard labor for 16 weekends to transform our backyard. We will have some challenges here because there is a significant amount of concrete walkways around the yard. In addition Noy has started improving the yard by planting various plants. So we will need to do what we can to implement the design given these factors. All the more fun.
The family has us completely spoiled. They bring us tropical fruit grwon in the yard and various Thai dishes to try. We are blessed: mangoes are in season. We can't get over how accepting and kind our Thai family is. We have fun trying to communicate. Yesterday Tui got Cha-Onn, her mother to say thank you very much. Cha-Onn is 86!
Ron got a job while here to write a proposal for ICMA. We have a desk and his computer in the bedroom so yesterday he was in there all day with the AC on and I found lots of excuses to join him since the rest of the house is so hot. Another factor that increases the heat is the window and door screens we added. Since Ron’s episode with Dengue fever in SL, we are more cautious. But screens really cut down on airflow
Today Ron was doing a project: shortening the legs of a freestanding bar that had been given to Nattawan as a house-warming gift. It was about four inches too tall. So Ron was killing himself trying to saw these very big 4inch thick legs with a hand saw. Being the pushy broad that I am I told him I thought he was killing himself and what he needed was a circular saw so made him stop and took him to the one store we knew might have one. My treat. He now has a circular saw and is making a grand mess in the living area that I swept and mopped yesterday. I think I had it backwards. The bar is now the right height thanks to Ron’s hard work in the heat.
I have decided it makes no sense to cook here when take out is so readily available and so inexpensive. Today I got eight little packets of food for 80 baht, not quite three dollars. This will be enough for two people to have at least two main meals. When the man told me the price, I exclaimed, "Is that all?" Everyone laughed. We got food from this stand near the house two days ago and it was delicious.
All week we have had the use of Timm and Tum’s car, Nattawan’s cousin and her husband. Driving here is a trip. Although they had real roads unlike SL, it is not uncommon to have people on motorcycles or cars coming at you on both sides. Yikes! It is unnerving to say the least. The motorcycle is the predominant mode of transportation here and the cyclists are very reckless in their driving so you have to pay complete attention when you drive. So I help out by pointing out potential hazards. We are quite a team of old codgers! But so far we have done quite well, given that they drive on the left side of the road. The driving is tame compared to SL however.
If we were to compare Thailand to SL, we would agree that Thailand is far ahead in terms of development. Both are democracies. Thailand has a very revered king. The country’s name was changed to Thailand, the land of the free from Siam when it became a democracy. People seem more industrious here and Thailand is much cleaner. There is a higher standard of living here and Ron said the food is better. We have geckos in the house here also. Both are tropical in terms of climate. When the tsunami hit Thailand they declined outside aid, saying they could take care of their needs so others could have the money. Unlike SL, Thailand has never been colonized. The pubic transportation system, infrastructure and the like are far superior to SL.
We are searching for a water delivery company that might have the equivalent to a five-gallon water bottle that will fit the water-dispensing machine we bought from SL. We have found a similar model here but since there is no ‘yellow pages’ we are stuck so far. Time to post so bye for now.
Monday, March 26, 2007
3-25-07
WOW! We are here and it feels great to be in Thailand and even better to be at ‘our’ home in Phetchaburi. It is hotter than blue blazes but we have AC in the bedroom so we can sleep at night. During the day you move very slowly and don’t do anything that requires much energy!
We got up at 4:00 am in Colombo and left the hotel at 4:30. Our flight left at 7:15 and we were worried we weren’t going to make it as the line to the counter was soooo long and one agent was serving the line. So my brilliant husband got into the shorter line for Singapore and they served him even though he was in the wrong line. Such a smart guy! There was no time to grab anything to eat or drink so no java, nuttin honey! We survived as they did feed us on the plane unlike the US. It was a three and a half hour flight so we were grateful for the breakfast. We grabbed a cab into Bangkok and checked into our hotel that was conveniently located and quite nice for $47 a night plus VAT and taxes brought it up to $70. Such a deal in the heart of the big city. We went shopping for a resource guide to Bangkok, that tells you where to shop for whatever you need. We discovered from the resource guide that there were several lamp stores in our immediate area. That was good due to the heat. Oy! We checked out three places, one had pretty celadon lamps but the price was too high for the frugal Bergmans so we will continue to search. We passed a window display with a gorgeous wall hanging, a traditional Thai weaving and I couldn’t resist it. I think I paid way too much but it’s too late now. I fell in love with the color and knew it would fit right above the living room couch. I got to Phetchaburi and discovered the colors were all wrong so it will move to the day room couch and the painting in the day room will move to the living room most probably. By now (back to Bangkok) we were tired, very hot and sweaty so headed back to the hotel for a rest and shower. Around 7:00 we headed out to the Thai massage establishment next door. We had one of the best foot massages ever that ended with a head massage and shoulder/back massage. Calling it a foot massage was not exactly accurate but we were delighted.
We ate dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. Yes that’s right, condoms. The man who started the restaurant wanted to do something to bring awareness to the need for family planning and the rise of AIDS in Thailand so he created a theme restaurant. His thinking was that condoms should be as easy to get as cabbages in the market. So there are mannequins through the restaurants in various forms of dress made from condoms and/or packets of birth control pills. Our table had a glass over rows of condoms. The place was packed and the food was good. That isn’t always the case with theme restaurants. A portion of the proceeds goes to help family planning clinics and AIDS charities. Instead of after dinner mints that usually come with the bill, you guessed it, you get two condoms! They also had a craft shop that is owned by the restaurants with funny t-shirts that continue the theme such as: Stealth Condoms-no one will see you coming.
On Sunday we met Jami Sachs and her husband John. He works for the US Embassy in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) and she works for ICMA, Ron’s employer for the SL project. They had come to Bangkok for the weekend to get away from the really bad pollution in Chiang Mai. You won’t believe this. In Thailand (this may be a global standard but I don’t know) 100 particulates per cubic ft is considered the threshold for safety (I may have the ratio wrong but hang with me on this) In Bangkok on any given day there are about 50. In Chiang Mai the current rate is 380!!!!!! You know it’s bad when you come to Bangkok for clean air!! That aside, they took us to a delightful restaurant called Crepes and Co. that was two doors down from where we had dinner the night before. It was delicious and they had good decaf so imagine how happy I was. Jami ordered a pot of Moroccan tea. It is a very light tea poured over fresh mint. It brought back a flood of memories as I had last had that tea in 1966 when I hitch hiked across Western Europe and Northern Africa. I guess there is something to that thing about cycles….
We had hoped to go to a famous outdoor market in Bangkok but it was just too hot and we ran out of time. We mentioned it to John and Jami and they gave us a very interesting statistic. The market, called JJ market by the locals and the Chatuchak for the rest of us has 6,000 booths. That’s not a typo. The statistic is if you visited each booth for one minute and did this for 8 hours at a time on Sat and Sun when the market is open it would take 2 months to see all the booths. I’m not sure I even want to go there but John and Jami said it is fun. Okay but no in 102-degree heat. Maybe in November…I’m such a magnolia blossom. I’d rather we sitting on the veranda in my porch swing sipping something ice cold….
We raced back to our hotel to catch our prearranged ride to Phetchaburi. Our friend Su who lives in Bangkok and is a dear friend of Nattawan joined us. Everyone worries that Ron and I will have a difficult time here so various friends and family members are assigned to take care of us and always spoil us. Jeap was our driver and lives about two blocks from our house in Phetchaburi. He is a professional driver and we are thankful to have found him. So we had a quick two-hour drive and arrived just in time for dear Su to present our lunch that she had purchased in Bangkok for us. It was khaao-man gai-boned chicken with rice. It is one of our favorites. While she got lunch on the table, we went to the big house and said hello to Nattawan’s aunt. She is 83 and recently fell and broke her hip. She then had hip replacement surgery and is recovering. She is an amazing woman and although she doesn’t speak English she always greets us warmly. She loves to ‘chat’ with us and we enjoy her company. Su had to leave shortly after lunch to go back to Bangkok as her work was plied up. She teaches agriculture in a university in Bangkok.
We spent the afternoon unpacking and getting settled. We walked to the store after a short rest (the heat demanded it) and got milk, water, and juice for breakfast. There was an open-air market across from the market so we walked through it. We are the only white people in the neighborhood so we got lots of friendly smiles and hellos. We got a small orchid bouquet for Nattawan’s aunt. Tomorrow we will go to a larger grocery store when we have use of a car and stock up. In the meantime, we decided to go out for dinner and had a difficult time finding anything open. As we were walking around the area, we passed a store where several people were eating outside. It is most common to cook and eat outside here due to the heat. They waved us over and started a conversation, with very limited English but it was great fun trying to understand one another. They were most curious as to where we were staying. Of course we have no idea of our address so couldn’t tell them the street name or number. Very few signs are written in the alphabet we use and we are clueless when it comes to reading the Thai alphabet. At last we found an outdoor restaurant. The music was so loud we couldn’t hear a word the waiter said to us and had to ask him to turn down the music. As we looked around (it was lit by fairy lights so it was hard to see much) we realized we were three times older than anyone there. No English and we couldn’t see the photos due to lack of light on the menu to determine what they were serving. After trying our Thai and not being understood, we whipped out our Thai language book and pointed to roasted chicken and sticky rice. No problem. Two women hopped on a motorcycle and went to some other restaurant and brought back our order! HA!! They didn’t serve water so I had my first Pepsi in about 20 years. Our dinner was delicious and we watched young people sing karaoke throughout the meal. We looked at each other and said, "We’re old". When we paid the bill, they asked us to wait for five minutes so we assumed they had to go out for change. Life here is different and we love it!
This morning we got up a little before 7:00 so we could get a little yard work done before the heat was unbearable. We went outside and started digging rocks out of the soil. I think I mentioned we had a landscape design done in Vancouver so want to get things moving to implement the design. We may get the soil in the front prepared and that may be all. It is filled with construction debris so it will take all week just to get the big rocks out and we will need to amend the soil in order to grow anything. But we have lots of time and no schedule. Noy, Nattawan’s cousin who lives in front of our house came out and helped us. He speaks a little English. We worked probably 45 minutes and stopped. The sun was up and not too kind. There is no need to kill ourselves on this. Noy looked at us when we said it was time to quit and commented ‘evening work’. I hate to tell him, it’s just as hot at night as early morning. We came inside and showered and had a light breakfast. We have weight scales here and we have gained weight. The hot weather should curb our appetite. We plan to eat lunch in the neighbor eateries and fix a light supper here at the house at night. That should help take some weight off.
Later today our friends Kay and Bill who live in Hua Hin, about an hour south of us, will come by and we are going out for lunch. They have always been a treat to be with. Bill is a retired contractor so he and Ron had lots in common. Well it is so hot at 11:00 I am sitting three feet from the fan and sweating. Time to wrap it up!!
WOW! We are here and it feels great to be in Thailand and even better to be at ‘our’ home in Phetchaburi. It is hotter than blue blazes but we have AC in the bedroom so we can sleep at night. During the day you move very slowly and don’t do anything that requires much energy!
We got up at 4:00 am in Colombo and left the hotel at 4:30. Our flight left at 7:15 and we were worried we weren’t going to make it as the line to the counter was soooo long and one agent was serving the line. So my brilliant husband got into the shorter line for Singapore and they served him even though he was in the wrong line. Such a smart guy! There was no time to grab anything to eat or drink so no java, nuttin honey! We survived as they did feed us on the plane unlike the US. It was a three and a half hour flight so we were grateful for the breakfast. We grabbed a cab into Bangkok and checked into our hotel that was conveniently located and quite nice for $47 a night plus VAT and taxes brought it up to $70. Such a deal in the heart of the big city. We went shopping for a resource guide to Bangkok, that tells you where to shop for whatever you need. We discovered from the resource guide that there were several lamp stores in our immediate area. That was good due to the heat. Oy! We checked out three places, one had pretty celadon lamps but the price was too high for the frugal Bergmans so we will continue to search. We passed a window display with a gorgeous wall hanging, a traditional Thai weaving and I couldn’t resist it. I think I paid way too much but it’s too late now. I fell in love with the color and knew it would fit right above the living room couch. I got to Phetchaburi and discovered the colors were all wrong so it will move to the day room couch and the painting in the day room will move to the living room most probably. By now (back to Bangkok) we were tired, very hot and sweaty so headed back to the hotel for a rest and shower. Around 7:00 we headed out to the Thai massage establishment next door. We had one of the best foot massages ever that ended with a head massage and shoulder/back massage. Calling it a foot massage was not exactly accurate but we were delighted.
We ate dinner at Cabbages and Condoms. Yes that’s right, condoms. The man who started the restaurant wanted to do something to bring awareness to the need for family planning and the rise of AIDS in Thailand so he created a theme restaurant. His thinking was that condoms should be as easy to get as cabbages in the market. So there are mannequins through the restaurants in various forms of dress made from condoms and/or packets of birth control pills. Our table had a glass over rows of condoms. The place was packed and the food was good. That isn’t always the case with theme restaurants. A portion of the proceeds goes to help family planning clinics and AIDS charities. Instead of after dinner mints that usually come with the bill, you guessed it, you get two condoms! They also had a craft shop that is owned by the restaurants with funny t-shirts that continue the theme such as: Stealth Condoms-no one will see you coming.
On Sunday we met Jami Sachs and her husband John. He works for the US Embassy in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) and she works for ICMA, Ron’s employer for the SL project. They had come to Bangkok for the weekend to get away from the really bad pollution in Chiang Mai. You won’t believe this. In Thailand (this may be a global standard but I don’t know) 100 particulates per cubic ft is considered the threshold for safety (I may have the ratio wrong but hang with me on this) In Bangkok on any given day there are about 50. In Chiang Mai the current rate is 380!!!!!! You know it’s bad when you come to Bangkok for clean air!! That aside, they took us to a delightful restaurant called Crepes and Co. that was two doors down from where we had dinner the night before. It was delicious and they had good decaf so imagine how happy I was. Jami ordered a pot of Moroccan tea. It is a very light tea poured over fresh mint. It brought back a flood of memories as I had last had that tea in 1966 when I hitch hiked across Western Europe and Northern Africa. I guess there is something to that thing about cycles….
We had hoped to go to a famous outdoor market in Bangkok but it was just too hot and we ran out of time. We mentioned it to John and Jami and they gave us a very interesting statistic. The market, called JJ market by the locals and the Chatuchak for the rest of us has 6,000 booths. That’s not a typo. The statistic is if you visited each booth for one minute and did this for 8 hours at a time on Sat and Sun when the market is open it would take 2 months to see all the booths. I’m not sure I even want to go there but John and Jami said it is fun. Okay but no in 102-degree heat. Maybe in November…I’m such a magnolia blossom. I’d rather we sitting on the veranda in my porch swing sipping something ice cold….
We raced back to our hotel to catch our prearranged ride to Phetchaburi. Our friend Su who lives in Bangkok and is a dear friend of Nattawan joined us. Everyone worries that Ron and I will have a difficult time here so various friends and family members are assigned to take care of us and always spoil us. Jeap was our driver and lives about two blocks from our house in Phetchaburi. He is a professional driver and we are thankful to have found him. So we had a quick two-hour drive and arrived just in time for dear Su to present our lunch that she had purchased in Bangkok for us. It was khaao-man gai-boned chicken with rice. It is one of our favorites. While she got lunch on the table, we went to the big house and said hello to Nattawan’s aunt. She is 83 and recently fell and broke her hip. She then had hip replacement surgery and is recovering. She is an amazing woman and although she doesn’t speak English she always greets us warmly. She loves to ‘chat’ with us and we enjoy her company. Su had to leave shortly after lunch to go back to Bangkok as her work was plied up. She teaches agriculture in a university in Bangkok.
We spent the afternoon unpacking and getting settled. We walked to the store after a short rest (the heat demanded it) and got milk, water, and juice for breakfast. There was an open-air market across from the market so we walked through it. We are the only white people in the neighborhood so we got lots of friendly smiles and hellos. We got a small orchid bouquet for Nattawan’s aunt. Tomorrow we will go to a larger grocery store when we have use of a car and stock up. In the meantime, we decided to go out for dinner and had a difficult time finding anything open. As we were walking around the area, we passed a store where several people were eating outside. It is most common to cook and eat outside here due to the heat. They waved us over and started a conversation, with very limited English but it was great fun trying to understand one another. They were most curious as to where we were staying. Of course we have no idea of our address so couldn’t tell them the street name or number. Very few signs are written in the alphabet we use and we are clueless when it comes to reading the Thai alphabet. At last we found an outdoor restaurant. The music was so loud we couldn’t hear a word the waiter said to us and had to ask him to turn down the music. As we looked around (it was lit by fairy lights so it was hard to see much) we realized we were three times older than anyone there. No English and we couldn’t see the photos due to lack of light on the menu to determine what they were serving. After trying our Thai and not being understood, we whipped out our Thai language book and pointed to roasted chicken and sticky rice. No problem. Two women hopped on a motorcycle and went to some other restaurant and brought back our order! HA!! They didn’t serve water so I had my first Pepsi in about 20 years. Our dinner was delicious and we watched young people sing karaoke throughout the meal. We looked at each other and said, "We’re old". When we paid the bill, they asked us to wait for five minutes so we assumed they had to go out for change. Life here is different and we love it!
This morning we got up a little before 7:00 so we could get a little yard work done before the heat was unbearable. We went outside and started digging rocks out of the soil. I think I mentioned we had a landscape design done in Vancouver so want to get things moving to implement the design. We may get the soil in the front prepared and that may be all. It is filled with construction debris so it will take all week just to get the big rocks out and we will need to amend the soil in order to grow anything. But we have lots of time and no schedule. Noy, Nattawan’s cousin who lives in front of our house came out and helped us. He speaks a little English. We worked probably 45 minutes and stopped. The sun was up and not too kind. There is no need to kill ourselves on this. Noy looked at us when we said it was time to quit and commented ‘evening work’. I hate to tell him, it’s just as hot at night as early morning. We came inside and showered and had a light breakfast. We have weight scales here and we have gained weight. The hot weather should curb our appetite. We plan to eat lunch in the neighbor eateries and fix a light supper here at the house at night. That should help take some weight off.
Later today our friends Kay and Bill who live in Hua Hin, about an hour south of us, will come by and we are going out for lunch. They have always been a treat to be with. Bill is a retired contractor so he and Ron had lots in common. Well it is so hot at 11:00 I am sitting three feet from the fan and sweating. Time to wrap it up!!
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