T i T - this is Thailand

Well the first 2 days were hard – travel followed by finding that the lock to my condo had quit working – we had to have the maintenance guy take a large hammer to the door handle – fortunately doors here are made of hardy stuff and fitting a new lock only took a short while. Had a cleanup crew come in for a half hour – amazing how much dust and dirt accumulates in 8 months – I think I had a guest colony of ants living there for part of the time – they were gone but they left a mess behind.

Next day was an 11 hours of driving (on the wrong side with lots of overtaking on 2 lane roads – somewhat stressful) – found Da and her brother at the appointed place in the Thai/Cambodian border market.

Yesterday was more restful – food, beach and shopping (I wasn’t the one shopping needless to say).

Much ado about nothing

Nobody in line to check in - one person ahead of me at security - no body scanners - no groping - just the old fashioned walk through metal detector. Dammit now I am unspeakably early fir the flight.

no cold-turkey for me

Off to the airport tonight - with no icy road misgivings - Sound Transit Link light-rail will take me from a block from home to the airport. Then it is running the groping gauntlet of TSA - I will opt for the full body scan machine - hell I dont care who sees my junk - but would prefer not to be fondled by some illiterate ex K-Mart TSA agent - now if he had worked at Target and could read he might be more "eligible" - then we might come to a groping arrangement. 13 hours by EVA to Taipei, a 40 minute layover then a 4 hour flight to Suvarnabhumi Airport Bangkok. Thence a 90 minute bus ride to Jomtien, a 15 minute pickup truck to the end of my Soi and a motorcycle taxi to my condo. Putting it like that it sounnds intimidating but the end justifies the means plus I enjoy the whole travel process. Then its 85-90 for 10 days out of this cold icky Seattle winter. More later... enjoy your Turkey.

Travelling madness

I have to confess to riding the Link light rail to the airport today for no reason other than to be travelling - I need to be going somewhere to be happy I think - in my defence it is right across the street and it is all paid for with my monthly pass - and it is an unparalleled piece of sociology. As I grow older I realise I am becoming my Father - it's the kind of thing he would have done. I walked around the airport for a half hour reading the departures boards and dreaming - have I lost it? I was actually sad to see that tomorrow's EVA flight to Taipei has been cancelled.

Limited travel

So having become one of the employed again - there will unfortunately be few travel opportunities for a while - so until the next adventure the blog is in hibernation.

Tacoma - okay it's travel of a sort...

I had occasion to be in lovely Tacoma - actually it really isnt a bad place at all despite its reputation - people in Seattle just need somewhere to look down on to make themselves feel superior. Having said that I encountered the most amazing situation I have experienced in a very long time. I needed a visit to the bathroom - I was driving around killing time before an appointment and had had one too many coffees. I remembered the Tacoma Public Library which is a few blocks west of downtowm - I knew they had plentiful free parking - so I headed up there to pee. As you approach the bathrooms there is a sign informing you that due to drug dealing activity and other unlawful activities, the bathrooms are limited to one occupant at a time - at the doorway there is a table with a security guard - this poor guy has the job of allowing one person in at a time and ensuring that they have no bags (I got the impression he was ready to frisk people too) - after someone emerges from the bathroom he puts a barrier across the doorway and goes into the bathroom to ensure that the previous person has not left drugs in there for someone else and/or I guess used drugs. Inside there are 3 stalls, there are no garbage cans, presumably to remove hiding places. So this guy has the job of checking the bathroom after people have done their business - now presumably to detect the use of crack he has to go in there and do the sniff test - public bathroom, sniff test - do the math. He then emerges - removes the barrier and checks out the next candidate. What a job - what a situation - presumably the rest of the library is well covered with CCTV but they cant do that in there for obvious reasons. Now unemployment rates are high but who would take that job?

Pounding Peppers

Da making a pepper and garlic dressing - delicious. The stoneware mortar and wood pestle cost me a grand total of fifty cents. Also showing off her blue contacts - she was so proud of those.

My condo

This was the day I was moving in - there was construction going on down the hallway hence the noise. Bare bones - as yet not containing the essentials. Lame attempt to demonstrate such things as light switches and the extractor fan. For better video quality go to my YouTube channel as detailed below.

Pictures

Pictures of my most recent trip to Thailand - the new condo and Da's visit are at http://picasaweb.google.com/dpgraves666

Videos

I continue to be unaware of how video quality can be improved on this blog - it seems to crop the videos.  For a much better video viewing go directly to YouTube and to my channel http://www.youtube.com/user/davidpgraves

Park Lane Jomtien pool

A video of the pool at my new condo in Jomtien Thailand- okay it goes on rather long but that is reflective of the fact that I could spend the rest of my life in the pool and be quite happy. You will notice the gym which is not yet in use - awaiting more equipment - and the restaurant/bar area which is similarly not yet in use - 2 of the 4 buildings are still in construction phases and all will be completed by end of 2010. My unit is on the top floor of one of the completed buildings but on the other side with city and beach view rather than pool view. Other video will show view from the condo.

"Home"

"If home is defined as "where the heart is" then no I am not home - if it is defined as "where most of your crap is stored" then here I am.

Trip highlights:

- getting the new condo into habitable shape - the site is still a construction site (buildings 3 and 4 are not complete) but it is looking to be really nice - better than I expected - the pool is fabulous and the management people seem to have great ideas for future progress.

- choosing top floor with outside view was an inspired choice - future developments along the road beneath my window will be small and will block the (infrequent) road sounds while not impacting the view

- Da getting stuck in the elevator/lift - couldnt admit it to her but it was rather amusing - of course had it been me it would not have been quite so funny

- Da's first flight PNH-BKK - she was very cute in her nervousness

- the Hippos at the Khao Kaew Zoo - those are some dudes with whom I can relate body-type wise

- driving - I love driving in Thailand - just such an adrenaline rush - traffic and pedestrians coming from you at all times from all angles yet it seems to work - a fabulous feeling of achievement aftrer every successful trip - probably akin to a jet fighter sortie from an aircraft carrier over enemy territory - well maybe that's overstating it - carrier pilots dont have to cope with dogs sleeping in random locations on the carrier deck

Another memorable trip - unfortunately now I need to find a job - but I will be looking in that general area of the world as well as more practical locations

Some videos and pictures to follow for anyone interested.

One Night in Bangkok....

...with a 7am flight to Taipei - boo hoo.

Chillin in Chomtien

If it is posisible to chill  in 95 degrees - notice how I cleverly chose an alternative romanization of the place name to improve the alliterative qualities - my god sounds like a critique of Vogon poetery - no prize for guessing what I am rereading.

Open zoo yesterday was fun - beach today.

Back to Seattle on Friday - boo hoo.

Need to exhaustively document the condo development in next few days so I can suficiently bore with pictures and videos upon returning.

SE Asia ramblings

I spent a few days sweating my ass off moving into the condo - moving is hell even when it just involves buying new stuff and moving it into the new place.  I put bedroom curtains up - that of course involved buying a screwdriver and a hand drill - I got all the kitchen requirements and a DVD player sorted out - bedding, towels etc etc.  What they failed to mention when I was told that it was ready for occupancy was that the 4th building is still under construction (which I knew) and that they were busy pouring the access roads (pouring isnt the right word - whatever you do with black-top) and as a result I had to park abouta half mile away (or so it seemed) and carry everything through an active building site - the workers dont wear helmets so why would they think I would care? - all this in an unusually high for early March 95 degrees - I sweated like never before - of course I also had to carry large botles of drinking water.  Thank goodness the elevators are working and due to my being on the top floor I never ever had to wait for an elevator - they rest one on the top floor and one on the bottom.  As far as I can figure out by taking a census of lighted windows at night there are currently about 5 other people actually in residence - although 500+ units are sold - I met a Norwegian and a Russian family- how 4 of them are living in a small single bed condo I dont know and I didnt ask.  I am now in Phnom Penh today we went to apply for Da's Thai visa which she will get tomorrow - we fly to Bangkok on Sunday and she will spend 2 weeks at the condo  -we will rent a car (we - who am I kidding?) and she already has my time well planned - pictures later when I get around to it.

Bangkok Ludicrous

Bangkok never ceases to amaze.


When walking about the streets one gets all kind of marketing fliers thrust into ones hands.

This one was given to me by a cute girl after I stepped aside to let her by - I didn't read it until I got back to my room and I ended up in tears as a result.

It started out normal enough...

Now Grand Opening,
NAREE SUITES
Room for Rent
700THB/NIGHT
Standard Room
Family Room
Safe and Clean 100%
Free Internet Wi=Fi
Free Cable TV
Free Safety Box
Free Car Parking

This sounded good and it was on the street where I am currently staying and half the price - maybe I will consider this the next time (as the airlines would say) my travel plans bring me to Bangkok (when don't they as I would say) - then the flier had the following line which led me to tears of laughter..

DUNGEON ROOM FOR RENT

Yes it was all in capitals - my only overriding thought was "where is the dungeon room in relation to the Family Room".

That line was followed by “24h Services” but by that point who cared what services were being offered – my god it was a dungeon room!!

My god I love this country.

Geek Heaven

Imagine 60 Frys Electronics stores, 50 Best Buy stores, 50 Apple stores and about 500 computer geeks in their parents' basements and their girlfriends (funny geeks in Asia are cool and have girlfriends).  Cram them all into 6 floors of a city block sized building - add plentiful food stalls, hundreds (seemingly) of ATMs - multiply it by a factor of 4 - make it REALLY noisy and insert every floodlight from every football stadium in the country - take a couple of tabs of LSD - spin yourself around about 30 times - you may at this point have an approximation of Panthip Plaza - IT City in Bangkok. Unbelievable. No idea why I had not visited before - I spent about 4 hours just looking around - amazing.  Every conceivable computer product, video product, video game and equipment etc.  Every peice of software (some of it maybe even legal copies) every possible DVD - probably very few of them legal copies and guys who leap out of random corners magically revealing porno DVDs (which are illegal here) out of their clothing to try to tempt you. If Gates and Jobs were to build Sodom and Gormorrah - this is it - fabulously anarchic and amazingly interesting.  I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses as I was leaving - cue ZZ Top.

Buddhist Death Metal

I have often wondered what that Buddhist monk in his saffron robes is listening to on his IPod when he is sitting in the airport departure lounge - Dharma? Chanting? - what?  I dont know that there is an acceptable protocol for asking.  Yesterday in the Taipei airport there was one siting there and he was tapping his feet and playing air drums on his knees in such a tempo that it could have been the hardest death-metal band he was listening to.  I am even more confused now.

If anyone reads alarmist reports...

Political upheavals continue in Thailand - a court verdict on seizing the assets of the former Prime Minister is due next Friday - I will be well away from any potential trouble spots so, Mother don't be concerned...

Report below from Agence France Press sums it up pretty well - this has been years in the making...

Thailand braces for explosive Thaksin verdict - Focus

by Claire Truscott

BANGKOK: -- (AFP) - Thailand has stepped up security and is braced for fresh turmoil this week as the country's top court decides the fate of fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra's 2.2-billion-dollar fortune.
The government has deployed thousands of troops and assigned guards to Supreme Court judges while embassies have issued travel warnings due to fears of a violent backlash if the tycoon's funds are seized on Friday.
Thaksin's supporters, known as Red Shirts for their signature garb, have vowed to demonstrate after the verdict, expecting that he will lose at least some of the assets frozen after he was deposed in a 2006 coup.
They have insisted any action will be non-violent.
"We will wait and see what the court says, but any injustice will bring about a phenomenon," Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan told AFP, adding that the government "underestimates the Red Shirts".
The current Thaksin-hating administration has done little to quell fears of trouble, analysts say, instead stoking anxieties by casting the Red Shirts as a dangerous force in a bid to take the focus off the fragile governing coalition.
At least 20,000 extra security personnel have been deployed across Bangkok and pro-Thaksin regions, including around the homes of judges, politicians and government and commercial institutions.
Last week a bomb was defused near the Supreme Court and a grenade exploded at government offices, prompting the United States, Britain and Australia to warn people visiting Bangkok to exercise caution.
The government has announced it will cede control of security to the army and even declare an emergency if necessary, but says it hopes to control the situation.
"We hope that the security measures that we have put in place can handle the instability or incidents that can cause violence," government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told AFP.
"If the security measures are employed accordingly we should not have any trouble."
Thailand has been beset by political turbulence since the 2006 coup.
Thaksin's "Yellow Shirt" opponents -- a disparate collection of royalist and military elites -- forced the closure of Bangkok's airports in late 2008 after months of sometimes violent rallies.
Now the Red Shirts, mainly from the rural north and northeast, want to see the return of Thaksin, who is living abroad to avoid a two-year jail term for corruption.
They have numbered no more than 30,000 at protests this year but 100,000 turned out last April, when they forced a major Asian summit to shut down and rioting broke out in Bangkok.
The threat they pose could, however, have been overblown for political gain, said Michael Montesano, an expert on Thai politics at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
"The fact that they need to put in place these measures today is a reminder of how little progress the Abhisit government has made since coming to power in changing the political landscape," he said. "I think a lot of it's propaganda."
Eton and Oxford-educated Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is seen as an elitist among the Red Shirts, who remain a key electoral force.
Talk of an imminent coup is relentless in Thailand, where there have been 18 coups and attempted coups in the 64-year reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
But analysts say Abhisit, who came to power in 2008, will hang on as long as he maintains the wavering support of the country's top brass.

Amtrak

More opinionated ramblings but this time from someone who has in all likelihood ridden more trains in more countries than you ever will...

Amtrak seems to try hard - the Cascades service which runs from Vancouver to Portland has nice rolling stock (albeit rather dated by European standards) clean, fresh and leather reclining seats with (even for me) sufficient legroom - I would certainly recommend it as a route to Portland if expense/stress is a concern but timeliness isnt - unfortunately whereas everywhere else I have ridden the train passenger trains have precedence over freight - in this transit-confused country the tracks are owned by the freight hauling companies which can (and did on Friday) lead to extremely annoying periods of "waiting for freight traffic" - three 20+ minute stops en route.  As with trains everywhere you get a wonderful voyeuristic view of the communities through which you pass (I would hang myself within a month if I lived in one of those small towns along the way - Winlock, Kelso etc - they looked like death incarnate) - as a result we arrived in Portland about 2 hours later than scheduled.  The trip home on Sunday was a different matter - we were within 3 minutes of the scheduled time.  Maybe some day a dedicated  high speed (300kph) line will provide a one hour service between Seattle and Portland - and maybe 4 hours to San Francisco - which when you compare to the time to get to, from and through airports is comparable (or better).  As a lifelong train fan I can hold out hope but in this country I will not be holding my breath.

Random pictures from Cambodia

There are some random unexplained and unsorted pictures from my time in Cambodia on Picasa - along with a bunch of pictures of Cambodia and Thailand from several years ago.
Some time I will get around to compiling and posting some more videos - there just doesnt seem to be sufficient time despite not having a job to go to - how the hell did I manage to function when 8+ hours per day were devoted to "the man"? - unfortunately I will need to rediscover that state in the none too distant future.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dpgraves666

The NWA "solution"

Northwest's "solution" to terrorism - declare about 90 minutes out - still somewhere close to Calgary - that we expect severe turbulence on descent into Seattle and that as a result the crew will secure the cabin - no service items - no more movie - no toilets - no more access to carryon baggage - yes of course that would deter any terrorist - what a lame attempt to bolt a barn door - and of course there wasn't any actual turbulence at all.  A more reassuring factor was the intensity of the searches (yes two) at Schipol - of course they still have large egg stains on their faces after Christmas Day - carryons were meticulously searched - every item being handled - and the body search (for everyone not just if you beeped the metal detector) was very hands on - yes even Mr Happy got a pat down.  So be assured that the past threats are being addressed - of course the future threats will be different I am sure so security will always be reactive - but I still prefer travel to the alternative.

Thai condo completed

Murphy's Law of course dictated that the day I got back to the US was the day on which I received the email saying my condo will be ready for handover on January 25th - 3 months early - so I guess I will have to start planning my next trip - Oh the hardship - probably just a short trip in early April just to handle the condo matter - I think I have sufficient miles accumulated to make that a "free" trip/

ahhh jetlag

Ah the wonders of time zone changes - its 4am and wide awake in Pacific timezone - gotta love the confusion - and of course all the snow went away immediately when I left Hull so all those things we were going to do could have been done - Mother Nature I renounce you.

Bugger me - Minus 18 Centigrade

Brrr

Had a great 3 days in the south.  Highlights included some of the best Indian food I have ever had, a visit to the Tate Gallery of Modern Art - now possibly one of my ten favorite places in the world - a half day was about 5 days too short to see it all but I will be back.  Took a great walk along the Regents Canal for about 6 miles on a cold crisp morning - in part retracing the walk that my Dad took the week before he died ten years ago - somewhat poignant.  Some great Chinese food for lunch in Camden by the canal locks.  Just being in London is a great experience - a truly fun city just people watching - in my top 3 cities - once I win that big lottery my apartment there will join the ones I will have in Bangkok and San Fran.  Just a few more days here in the frozen UK - experiencing the coldest prolonged period in 30 years - snowing and more forecast - those 34 degree temperatures back in Southeast Asia sound really good right about now - but i guess for a while Seattle will have to suffice.

Go South Young Man

Zipping along on the train to London for 3 days of culture - a few gallery visits maybe a museum and a walk along the canal through London.  Headed to Winchester (an hour west-ish) to stay with childhood friend Paul and his wife Sara.  Will commute into the city for a couple of days of walking around time.  Getting up at 630 wasnt easy and of course it had snowed again but as we head south at 100+ I see the snow has gone from here so all should be well.