Cu Chi Tunnels

The Cu Chi tunnels were exactly as I expected. Scary, narrow, long, and dark. At first I thought the whole area was too developed and touristy. As we walked down the tunnel to get into the jungle area the walkway was machine made, wide, and well lit. We did see some openings in the ground where the jungle was in the 70’s but fairly unimpressive until I actually went into a tunnel of about 40 meters. I had to crawl on my hands and knees to get in and then had to wind my way around walls clutching and grabbing to find my way out. How the Viet Kong made this with no equipment and then lived in the tunnels for years on end is truly amazing.

I only went to the first level of about 4 levels which each level getting narrower and more harrowing.. The Viet Cong had been building the tunnels by hand for about 10 years before the American War which went all the way from the 17th parallel around Danang to just outside Saigon. Each tunnel had two exits. One to the American landing zone area and one to the Saigon River. Some of the tunnels were never discovered by the Americans because of the jungle and the camouflage. Looking at some of the booby traps the Viet Cong created and hearing the rifle range a few hundred yards away took my imagination to l972 and the fear the GI’s must have felt in the jungle in the middle of the night.

Today, the Vietnamese tend to hate the French much more than the Americans surprisingly. They feel that the French exploited them when they were here, not letting them have an education and keeping them in low paying jobs. The Americans, on the other hand, who came in 1954 once the French moved out made sure the Vietnamese got an education, gave them jobs and so on, according to our tour guide. Unlike the French, they left the women alone and were good to the South. The north, on the other hand, naturally feels differently because they were bombed daily, with the first bomb being dropped at beautiful Halong Bay which we visited a few days ago.

We also visited the War Remnants Museum, a name to satisfy the American sensitivity. It was organized in a very interesting way. In the first gallery, there were excerpts from world journalists who had been killed but wrote or photographed some horrible scenes. The worst or most disturbing gallery was the one showing the effects of agent orange. There were two embryos in a bottle that were deformed and another picture that stays with me is an American soldier holding up a dismembered head of a Viet Cong. Many people left the gallery crying, which was, of course, the purpose of the exhibit.

Saigon, as Sylvia says, is pulsating. The traffic never stops, the horns are incessant, but surprising we can somehow cross the street. There are no stoplights but for some reason the motorcycles stop for you when you cross the street. We just tend to follow some Vietnamese family and wind our way through the traffic. I imagine traveling on the Mekong river tomorrow should be calmer, but who knows? I will let you know once I try it.

King for a Day

Have you ever been to a cyber casino? With nothing to do last night in the Imperial City of Hue, we went for a walk and passed a 5 start hotel with a casino. What we found inside was quite different to anything I have seen before in a casino. Like all Asian places, there were about five people to serve each one of us and watch for our every nuanced request. I told them I wanted to play blackjack so they led me over to the ‘tables.’ There was actually a dealer, sort of, and she frankly spoke to us quite nicely. I liked the first dealer the best because she had a great smile, but the other dealers were not so bad really. They all spoke sexily, were complimentary and quite efficient. The only different thing about them, really, was their appearance. They appeared on a screen and were cyber dealers. However, they were as good as any dealer I have ever faced in Las Vegas and were as good as Vegas in taking my money (and Josh’s).

Gambling was certainly something I cannot get in Bangkok.A friend’s wife was arrested in her own house for gambling in Thailand. Another difference between Thailand and Vietnam is the clear Chinese and French cultural influences. China ruled over Vietnam for a 1000 years, so until the French came there was Chinese writing or characters. It wasn’t until after the French came that the Roman alphabet was introduced, even though you pronounce words at your own peril because the accents tell you whether to go up, down or sideways and like Thai, it is a tonal language. Every Vietnamese word only has one syllable which makes things somewhat easy. Viet nam, for example, means south of China and Han oi means between the rivers.

In Hue, we saw the tombs of three emperors constructed during the Chinese period and today we saw the imperial city or walled city which reminded me very much of the Forbidden City in Beijing. A lot of it was destroyed in either the French War of the American War and we certainly saw bullet holes and crumbling brick to prove it. However, the ‘city’ itself was quite fascinating with its beautiful Chinese architecture.

Hue is quite an interesting but peaceful city. I think we have seen it all in the last few days. We even went to Ho Chi Minh’s house last night but there was no electricity. Some old man, who said he was Ho’s uncle lit a candle to show us around the meager two or three rooms. He collected rain water in a big barrel from the eves trough, I guess for drinking and bathing.

Hoi An was a quaint little town south of Hue which most people visit for shopping, I guess. It was virtually untouched by the American War and no matter which taxi, cyclo or store you go in to, they all have a cousin or sister or parent who runs the best tailoring shop in Ho An. Josh and I had shirts made with monogrammed cuffs. I don’t care if the shirt falls apart after one wash. I just loved the concept of buying a tailored made shirt with monograms for $15. Josh also had a jacket made which was delivered to us in Hue ( three hours away) that very evening and it fit perfectly.

Yesterday, in Hue, if you look at my pictures, we had pictures done for $1 dressed up as the imperial king andQueen. These pictures were delivered to my hotel a few hours after taking them. Amazing really.

Now I am just sitting in a departure lounge waiting for our flight to Ho Chi MInh city, ( Saigon) and I can’t wait to get back to the heat!

Christmas Eve Hanoi Style

It happened again. It was Christmas Eve and it seemed everyone in Hanoi was out walking around the lake in the centre of town or riding their motorcycles to the main square around the church. There were thousands, if not hundred of thousands, of people milling around in front of the church and the surrounding area. Josh said he had never seen so many people in his life. We were simply being pummeled by the crowds and everyone seemed to want to go into the church where something was going on.

As usual, Sylvia had to go to the bathroom and since we were outside the church and there didn’t seem to be a bathroom for miles around she asked an older gentlemen who understood English whether she could use the bathroom inside the church through this side door. Both of us were ushered into a chapel where there was a toilet behind the alter. When we were in the hall coming out of the church the man asked us if we wanted to see the ‘performance’. We said sure, but our son was outside. He said he could also come but when Josh tried to get in he was blocked by the priests acting as guards because everyone, and I mean everyone, was trying to make their way through. There was one particular older woman who insisted on getting in but was being blocked at the door by the priest and she was howling in anger. Somehow, Josh managed to find his way in and the fun began.

We were taken down a hallway and ushered into the auditorium through a side door in the very front row as honoured guests, sitting in front of the nuns, in front of the parents of the kids performing and in front of a group of priests. It was absolutely unbelievable to see this grandiose performance from the very first row when thousands of people outside were watching on short circuit TV How does this keep happening to us? Thousands wanted to get in and there we were in the best seats in the house.

There were hundreds of little girls dancing, professional singers, a wide screen with excerpts from the Passion of the Lord, Internet excerpts, a mass choir and various dancers. It was truly something very special.

It was certainly quite a change form Halong Bay which was remarkably peaceful, considering how many boats set out at the same time as us. We had a four hour cruise in the morning in our own private boat. Josh asked my why I chartered such a huge boat for ourselves, but in truth, I just bought a package tour that was laid out for us and didn’t even check the itinerary.

The Bay was really spectacular as we meandered our way through the limestone islands and went into a cave. The meal, which was served to us by a white gloved waiter started with shrimps and crab freshly caught and then really got serious with about enough food to feed 10 people.

The only negative was that every other tourist was in some boat or other having the same cruise and it reminded me of our Sunday canoe ride on the Dordogne in France a few years ago where we were restfully floating down the river with about 10,000 of our closest friends.
Today we take a plane to central Vietnam, the northern part of the temperate zone and I can’t wait for the heat. Just bring it on!!!

Instant Millionaire Status

I punched out 2 million dong last night from an ATM in Hanoi and still had money left in my account. I guess I have finally made it to the millionaires club!

I have been looking forward to this Vietnam trip for a long time. I am sure that if it was my first time in Asia I would be blown away by the noise, sounds, smells and incredible number of people but frankly, after living in Bangkok for the past 4 months, it is not such a big deal. However, there are differences between the two countries. As Joshua’s tailor told me a few hours before I left Bangkok, he said Vietnam was the Thailand of 25 years ago and now I see what he meant by that. As we drove through the countryside, I saw open pit coal mining, harvesting of rice by hand with no machines, and not much infrastructure to support tourism. In fact, our guide told me that tourism counts for 5% of the Vietnam GDP but something like 40% of Thailand’s. In Hanoi, the airport was like a small Caribbean island airport as opposed to one that supports a population of 4 million people with 2 million motorcycles. Every one of these motorcycles, by the way, takes it as a point of honour to honk their horns at least once every 5 minutes leading to a cacophony of noise. The whistles Thai doormen use to usher cars on to the street now sounds melodious to me.

I was also surprised that the women do not seem to take as much care as Thai women in how they dress. In fact, a women in an art gallery was wearing pajamas. The prices of goods are cheaper in Vietnam, which I guess is another difference.

There are also some Asian similarities. The respect and veneration for parents especially dead parents. As our guide told us, even though 80% of Vietnamese people are declared atheists, they definitely venerate their parents and on the 1st and 15th of every lunar month pay their respects to their parents by lighting incense in their house and putting food on the alter or shrine of their deceased parents and perhaps grandparents. .One of the reasons it is so important to have a boy child is that it is the boys that set up the alter to their dead parents. If you only have girls you will not be officially remembered since it is the woman’s duty to support her husband in ancestor worship or respect. It is the woman’s brother that would set up a shrine in his house.

The markets are similar, although prices cheaper, but the haggling the same. People are equally friendly, I think, and take great delight when you try to speak their language, which comes from Chinese, I think, so it is a tonal language. However, there is only one syllable in every word so Han oi, for example, is two words. They use a Roman alphabet because of the 80 year influence of France until 1954.

Last night we drove down to Halong Bay which looks like it has wonderful shaped limestone islands which I am looking forward to seeing tomorrow. The weather is very cold for me at 20 degrees, but it should be the last day of the excruciating cold and then we fly south to Danang and China Beach.

Looking forward to the perpetual summer again..it really is not that hard to take!

The Jewish Santa

I bet you think it is easy dressing up as Santa and trying to get crying babies to sit nicely in your lap so that their Japanese mothers can take their obligatory picture. How hard can it be just sitting there and smiling you ask?

Have a look at the pictures of me starting out with the long underwear, putting on multiple layers of clothing and then finally putting on a beard and hat- I am the one who should be crying! Try smiling at the same time as you are constantly adjusting your beard and making sure your hat stays on, all in forty degree heat!

When the management of my apartment asked me when we were going away for the holidays, I told them the 22 of December. Good they said, we will make the Christmas party the 21st so I could be Santa Claus. How hard could that be I thought. In l969 I was the Santa at Bayview Secondary when I started teaching and high school kids sat on my knee and I gave them presents. None of them were Japanese and all of them could speak English. To-day, none of these kids could speak English and for sure they didn’t want to sit on my lap. Just look at the pictures of the crying babies. As you may or may not know, I live in a building and an area that is about 90 percent Japanese.

Being Santa just topped of my day.Unfortunately, I had a meeting with the director of the school earlier in the day and she asked me to be the principal of the Bangna campus since the incumbent had just resigned. It was actually a no win situation for me since what do you say to the boss when you are asked such a question? Actually, I did have an answer and asked it politely”: is there anyone else you had in mind?” Only you she replied. I had no more questions..

I guess the advantages of taking the job are that being a principal is the only job I have not had in teaching so it will round out my career nicely and I am sure I will learn why all principals tell me they would rather be in the classroom. Secondly, it is the principal’s who get the presents at the end of the year for simply sitting in the office and doing their jobs and thirdly have the big retirement parties at the end of their careers. I guess I also like the fact that principals have signing authority to witness a passport application even though there will not be a big run on my signature since we are no longer in Canada. But truthfully, there is some prestige, rightly or wrongly, with being a principal. A small taste at the end of my career hopefully will not be bad.

On the other hand, I will have to spend two hours a day in a cab since the school is at the other end of the world, all of my present friends will no longer be my friends once it sinks in they have to suck up to me since I am the boss and thirdly, like every other principal on this campus in the last few years, I am sure I will end up resigning. I just hope I can feel good about myself at the end of the experience and not make too much of a mess of things left in my wake. I know I am good at certain things like human relations but not so good at timetabling and so on. In fact, I have no interest in those things so I hope someone on staff is interested and would be willing to do it. I guess the first thing I will have to do is figure out how the timetable works and when the periods are.

To-day we are off to Vietnam and will spend the rest of the year there. I will take my computer but who knows if I will get a chance to use it. The tour looks to be pretty heavy.We have organized a private car and tour guide and will be traveling from the north to the south over the next 10 days. Hopefully, I can let you know how we are enjoying it if any of the hotels have Internet.

The tale of the red shirt

If you have been reading this blog, you may remember the night I bought my pink king's shirt and took off the red Roots shirt I was wearing so I could wear the new shirt I just bought. Unfortunately, I left the Root's shirt in the car of my new friends and assumed I would never see it again, like the tale of my black pants.

However, last night I got my red shirt back! Our new friends invited us to supper and returned the red shirt left in their car. Eat's oldest friend, a lawyer and candidate in the upcoming election had rented his house on the Chay Prayo river to a restaurant that is now famous in Bangkok and Josh and Sylvia and I had the privilege of eating there . The lawyer gave us a tour of the house, taking us to his bedroom ( now filled with dinners), showing us where they lit the kratong candles to float in the river at the lo kratong celebrations ( again, filled with diners) and where they used to play...in the kitchen. Not sure the chefs appreciated us waltzing through their kitchen or the diners for that matter.

The food was great and the advantage of going with Thais is that they order for you and everyone shares in the meal. I ate food I would normally not eat or in fact, ever dream of eating. The Thais have a very specific way of preparing to eat their food. For example, the dumpling that we had for appetizers had to be put on a bed of lettuce with spices, then a very specific sauce was liberally sprinkled on top and then eaten in one gulp. What was great, as we were eating the various dishes, was to know which sauce or spice went on which dish. Sylvia and I passed on a few dishes but Josh was very adventurous and ate everything.

The conversation ranged from the election this week-end to Karma and the 10 principles of Buddhism. The politician/lawyer had just gone to a fortune teller who told him he was going to win the election, so I guess I now know a member of parliament. They have a proportional voting system, so if he does win, he will simply be a number in a coalition government. It is very hard for any one party in a proportional voting system to win a majority.

We also had a chance to discuss colours and days of the week. Apparently, every day of the week has a different colour and every Thai person knows what day of the week and time they were born. In fact, the names of the days of the week correspond to the names in the solar system i.e. sun, pra-a-tit, is the name of the sun as well as Sunday when you use a different prefix-wan

The Thais also know what time they were born and with the day of the week and time they can predict their personalities and they did quite a good job describing Josh because we happened to know the time and day of the week when he was born.

To-night, I am playing Santa Claus for a bunch of Japanese kids in my building who probably never heard of Christmas or Santa Claus and tomorrow we are off to Vietnam so the next few days should be quite the adventure.

Bangkok Jungle

It's hard to believe,but a 25 second ride in a long boat across the Chayo Prayo river lands you in a world so far removed from Bangkok you can forget where you are. There is literally a jungle on each side of the narrow road only wide enough for a bicylce or footpath with homes growing out of the foliage.

I had previously read about this area called Bang Ka Jao in one of the guidebooks and I had intended to take this bicylce tour many times but never seemed to get around to it. Yesterday, a number of teachers rented bikes and told me how to get there from the school, and it only seemed to take them 15 minutes , so Josh and I dutifully rented bikes today and off we went. Admittedly, it did take longer than 15 minutes by the time we found the little pier where we literally walked through a hole in the fence to rent the skiff but it was well worth it.

On the one side was the city of Bangkok which I am so familiar with. The soaring towers of Sathorn and grand apartment buildings of Sukhumvit. Literally within seconds we were hoisting our bikes out of the boat and into an area that was filled with trees, lagoons, flowers, houses growing out of the ground it seemed and most importantly tranquility. One of the things I truly do not like about Bangkok is the noise pollution. There is hardly a time I do not hear motorcycle's, cars or buses on the street. This was different. Momentarily we were surrounded by lush greenery and tranquil streams. If you look at the pictures, you will also see great flowers growing on the banks of the lagoon. The roadside stands, on the 'main' street sold fruit and water and the kids were great. About every kilometer there were even narrower roads leading to a few houses on each road with the obligatory sleeping, fleabitten dogs in our path. Come to think of it, I should take a shower before I change clothes for dinner.

Josh has arrived and for the first few hours anyway seems to be having a good time. Last night, we took him to a staff party and he may be reconsidering his academic path. Maybe being a chiropractor was not the place to meet beautiful young women. Perhaps teaching fits that bill. He was also measured for a shirt and pants we pick up tomorrow and had a heydey at Chatachuk market. I would ask him what his other highloights are, but he is out taking a massage at the moment so I can't ask .

The 'Almost' Birthday

When I woke up this morning, Sylvia wished me a happy birthday but for some reason it did not compute. I guess one of the reasons was that it was 6 am and I am not a morning person but the most important reason was that it was sunny and hot outside and it just did not feel like a December morning. It is all so surrealistic. My December 12 birthday is usually cold and clear with the emphasis on cold! How do I get my head around a December 12 that feels like July?

Secondly, I carried on with my normal routine, which is not so normal considering what I have been doing for the past 60 years of my birthdays. I started by going to school and having my usual Thai lesson with my taxi driver for an hour…not my normal December 12 thing at all. Because Thai is a tonal language; it seems like they have about a 100 words but each word can be pronounced in at least 5 different ways so even though you may be saying the words, no-one knows what you are talking about because you are saying the words incorrectly. I spend my mornings listening to the cab driver correcting me and not being able to hear the difference between what he is saying and what I just said! This morning was no different as I repeated words in my book 10 different times trying to get him to understand and failing hopelessly.

At ten, I went to a meeting at another school and, as usual, I was chauffeured in a 10 seater van with just me sitting in one of the back chairs with my TV panel, water and crystal glasses and a driver who does not understand a word of English. Again not my normal birthday thing. I have been a teacher all my working life so being treated like some executive is certainly not my usual thing. The driver waited while I had my meeting and drove me back to school. In Canada, I would be lucky if the driver even remembered I was at a meeting.

I forgot to mention that in the morning, I had I organized a golf demonstration by the Thai long ball champion who was easily hitting the golf ball over the swimming pool which was 325 yards away as measured by a laser. Josh called to wish me a happy birthday as I was picking up golf balls after the demonstration. How does this compute in my brain? Here I am walking in our frankly too hot schoolyard, just after the morning flag raising ceremony and speaking with Josh thousands of miles away in a snow covered country on my cell phone. Even the cell phone blows me away, never mind the weather, the long-ball champion of Thailand, the chauffeur driven van and so on.

After school, Sylvia and I went to play on a night lit golf course with our caddies (which I am used to already) and had a delightful evening playing golf. Why doesn’t this compute to my usual December 12 activities?

A week-end in Hua Hin

We decided to go to Hua Hin for the long week-end because it was the only place we could get a guaranteed hotel reservation on this long week-end. December is great in Thailand with the King’s birthday, Constitution day and so on. They even seem to celebrate Christmas (or the commercial side of it anyway) even though less than one percent of the population is Christian

As you can see from the pictures, the hotel we did stay in in Hua Hin was intimate and cozy. The room was great and opened up to the small pool. The weather couldn’t have been better. I bet it went down to 24 degrees or so but Sylvia still found it way too hot. I imagine it will take her a few days to get used to this heat. I am actually cold when it goes down to the low 20”s

We decided to go golfing because where else can you golf in December ( other than half of the world)? What Sylvia would have to get used to was playing with a caddy and having an intimate group of 8 people watching every shot. The four players and the four caddies. As we made our way around the golf course Sylvia’s caddy, the only man I have ever seen as a caddy, helped her with her posture, positioning, club selection and placement of ball. On the green, he set up the ball with the writing facing the hole and all Sylvia had to do was hit it. ( that was exactly the challenge). It took her about 10 minutes to get used to a caddy and will probably never play without one again. Do they have caddies in Canada?

We went to Sofitel across the street from our small hotel and looked at the car show with older model cars in remarkable shape and went for a walk along the beach. The water was too cold for Sylvia so we did not go in, but apparently the week before there was not even a beach there because of the tides. Actually, I do not like the sand in Hua Hin and even though it is probably the most popular beach resort near Bangkok the sand is so much nicer on the eastern side of the Gulf of Thailand. It probably has lots of very posh all inlcusive resorts with yoga, massage and all the other amenities but the town itself and the beach that I saw were not that great. I did love the little train station though, which looked so much like the train station my parents got me when I was 5 years old!

When we got back to Bangkok, we went to eat at a very nice European style restaurant run by Thais and had what I considered a delicious meal. I think Sylvia is going to start her own blog so it will be interesting to get her perspective on things. I am back at school and will post this now and see what adventures Sylvia gets in to the next little while. Josh is coming Thursday and we will be off to Vietnam. Should be fun!

p.s you may remember a picture I took in Kuala Lampur with Cambodian and Laotian labourers being rounded up as illegal immigrants and being put in a paddy wagon. To continue the story, I was reading the Bangkok Post yesterday and apparently the war on illegal immigration to Malaysia is next to its war on drugs. They collect the labourers or illegal immigrants, whip them and then send them to the border and let them get in trouble with their own governments. Apparently they employ thousands of special soldiers to do this.

It reminds me of California. When they need labourers to pick the grapes in , they open the borders and let the Mexicans sneak across. When the season is over, they round them up and send them home so they don't have to pay for school and medical and so on. Why can't we just allow the free flow of labour where it is needed in the world? Unfortunately, the answer is only too clear!

King's Birthday-December 5

Imagine Times Square New Year’s Eve, Trafalgar Square any Sunday, Red Square at New Year’s and you still won’t be able to imagine Bangkok on the King’s Birthday, unless you put all those people and all those squares together. It was an amazing and awesome site at the same time.

Were you ever in a wave of people just pushing you along with nothing much you could do about it? I was outside the palace at about 3 pm when the King was just arriving for birthday ceremonies and the crowd was rushing to see his Royal Highness (I was more interested in the car frankly, but all I can tell you is that it was big and white!) .

Surprisingly, no-one was killed or trampled and I found a safer spot, I would like to say on higher ground, but there is no higher ground in Bangkok since it is built on a swamp. However, across from the palace there is a huge park with lots of room ( you would think) for wandering about.

Now fast forward to the literally millions of people assembling at night around 8 when the official ceremonies at the palace were over and the King was leaving with his entourage away from the palace. When his car passed, the night sky was lit up with flashes and there was an audible gasp from the legions of Thais who revere the King and came to celebrate his 80th birthday.

Can you imagine a million people, period, but a million people all dressed in yellow shirts, Monday’s colour, since the king was born on a Monday. In his old age, the king seems to be playing with us and is dressing up in all sorts of bright colours. When he went to visit his sister in the hospital a few weeks back he wore pink and by the next morning, every corner stall was selling pink shirts. He has also worn both red and purple recently but for some reason, that trend did not happen overnight, but perhaps by the end of the month.

At precisely 7:02, the time of his birth, everyone lit a candle and sang national songs. I can’t imagine this happening like this quite anywhere else in the world. There were huge screens set up around the park and palace and people were watching the ceremonies, singing and quite enjoying themselves. I had to get Sylvia from the airport at midnight and feared I might never get there if the fireworks and festivities kept up for much longer. I negotiated with a motorcycle for 50 baht to take me to the nearest BTS, no mean feat considering the millions of cars in the way, but as he weaved his way through the traffic, scraping my knees and his own on the buses and cars he scooted between I yelled at him that if he went cha cha, slowly slowly, I would give him 100 baht but there was so much noise, he did not hear me and I am still shaking from the experience. In a ride at the exhibition, you know that although you may be scared, you are going to survive it. I was thinking what would happen if I got killed and Sylvia was waiting at the airport for me at 12 at night and I did not show up?

As you can see from the pictures, Bangkok is also a city of contrasts. As I waited for the fireworks and king's exit from the palace I wandered over to Wat Bowouniwet and saw a Buddhist ceremony which you can see from the pictures. It was a sea of tranquility compared to the crowds milling around the Grand Palace. This sort of stark contrasts has become the norm for me in Thailand, especially Bangkok.

Maybe next year I will watch the festivities on television, but for this year, it was an experience not to be missed.! Off to the airport to pick up Sylvia. Hopefully her flight will arrive on time. Guess I better check.

It happened Again!

I was just walking around a night market at Ramkahaeng a friend told me about and a lady stopped me and asked where I was from. I usually say Sukhumvit “si sip gow”
(where I live) but she seemed so sincere I didn’t want to shock her so I said Toronto. It turns out she works for the Ministry of Education and wanted to practice her English. She asked what I was doing here and so on and I told her about my background. She works in the department of innovation and I told her I had very clear ideas about where the Thai education system should be going. Who knows where that contact will lead in the long run, but certainly in the short run she invited us to a Thai wedding on December 18 at the Erawan hotel, which is the poshest hotel in Bangkok. I imagine it should be absolutely great.( as well as costly!). Apparently Thais have huge weddings.

The reason I was at the market, is, of course, all about pants. Can’t remember if I gave you an update on the pants situation since I mentioned I left my black pants in the taxi but here is the story. I decided to have pants made for me and went to one of the 10,000 tailors on Sukhumvit. I clearly chose the wrong one and have been back with the same pair of pants about 5 times. I asked him the last time:” do you have anyone who pays a deposit but doesn’t pick up their pants?” He said sure and runs upstairs to bring down more pants. I can’t resist a bargain and bought two more pair ( neither of which fit) which led to 5 more visits. Needless to say, we are on a first name basis, but we both hate seeing each other.

What an ordeal and what stupidity on my part. This is why my colleague phoned me to-night and told me he was at an outdoor Thai market where they were selling Dockers pants for about $5.00 and all kinds of other neat stuff and I should get out there. I bought a pair of casual pants and read the label: “Assembled in the Dominican Republic” What a story that must be about manufacturing, marketing, transportation etc. Would love to explore that route from design, to assembly and purchase of raw materials, to shipment, to sales and how it ended up in an outdoor market for $5.00 in Thailand! I bet Friedberg could write a book about that.

Sylvia and Josh are coming next week so things should be a little different around here. In preparation, my owner bought me a new air conditioner which sounds like a 737 staring up, a new fridge which just appeared when I came home from the week-end down south and God knows what else. Will have to go and look as the country is gearing up for the King’s birthday this Wednesday. Should be a blast…literally. There are fireworks and concerts every night so lots to do.