An ordinary life in an extra-ordinary place
Life
General ramblings
Whilst Suvarnabhumi airport is operating normally, the old airport at Don Muang has been completely swamped over the past few days, as can be seen from this photo taken by Tom Claytor.
Khun Tic has been my friend for around ten years. We worked together in Bangkok and discovered common interests in cameras, gadgets, beer and women. We used to hang out at weekends, perhaps Starbucks in the mornings and a suitable hostelry for beer in the evenings. We bought too many gadgets, we built and raced and crashed radio controlled cars, we took the occasional trip to neighbouring countries in search of the latest toys. We were eventually to go our separate ways when I retired and Tic went first to work in Kuala Lumpur (excellent choice, so I could go to the Grand Prix) and then Singapore (excellent choice, so I could go to the Grand Prix); but we have always stayed in touch and he is the friend I would turn to first when I need a friend to turn to.
A common theme throughout our beer fuelled discussions was the search for a partner in life. We were both spectacularly unsuccessful at choosing suitable girlfriends for a long term relationship and were continually working through a cycle of initial enthusiasm, followed by doubt, followed by dumping as potential partners came and went. Then I found she who must be obeyed and I was sorted; but Tic continued to stumble through a succession of hopefuls until he too finally found the right person to spend his life with. Her name is Khun Kade and on Saturday they were married.
The wedding ceremony in the morning took place at the library in the Dusit Thani hotel, a pleasantly informal setting, but not easy light for photography unless you used flash; and I didn’t want to use flash. Still, the Fuji X100 did a good job at ridiculously high ISOs and I have a few shots I can give to Tic to add to the massive collection that will be presented by the official photographer, videographer and the army of family and friends wielding cameras, phones and tablets.
The library at the Dusit Thani, a good place to get married.
Smile for the tablet
Exchanging rings
Exchanging gifts
Married at last
Tic had told me that he was thinking of surprising Kade at the reception in the evening by playing a song for her. He is a competent but not professional guitarist and it would take some guts to play in front of a couple of hundred people; but he did it.
It’s been a long time coming, but finally my friend is married. Although we don’t have much to talk about in the women department any more, there remains cameras and gadgets that will be in need of discussion over a few beers and I hope we can carry on doing that for many years to come. Congratulations bro!
She who must be obeyed has been under a lot of pressure. A new job to master, living alone in Bangkok for three weeks, a threat of floods, missing her home, her cats, and perhaps me. It all came to a head yesterday when she had to close down her assignment in Bangkok, rush straight from work to a wedding, rush straight from the wedding back to her apartment and pack, and then travel back to Pattaya. It is therefore more than understandable that she forgot that today is my birthday.
I awoke this morning to no greetings and hugged myself with glee. In the eternal war that is the battle of the sexes, there is no better points scorer than missing a birthday or anniversary. If I could carry this off I would amass so many bonus points I could get pissed and urinate in her clothes cupboard and still come out on top.
“You’ve peed all over my best clothes!”
“Ah yes, but you forgot my birthday three years ago! I win! In fact I still have enough points remaining that I can projectile vomit over your shoes.”
I planned to say nothing and leave it for a while, maybe January, when I would just make a passing remark to lodge my claim for seven million points.
I reckoned without my mother-in-law. Mid-morning she rang my wife and there was a short conversation. She who must be obeyed looked a little startled.
“My mother would like to wish you a very happy birthday. (Pause). And so would I.”
Damn, bonus already crashed to one million points and any lead I might have had was further reduced when she nipped out and bought me a very nice present this afternoon.
Still, I reckon I am still far enough ahead to forget our next anniversary; but emptying my bladder in the general direction of her clothes collection will probably have to remain a distant dream.
Bangkok. To the west and east of the city, the land is flooded, roads and rail are blocked. To the north, massive amounts of water are slowly moving south and flooding the suburbs, bringing misery to thousands.
In the city itself, which is still dry, an air of uncertainty hangs in the air, faces are drawn and the stress is clear to see; these are people living on borrowed time whose lives are about to be seriously disrupted. Err, no. After a couple of days in Bangkok I can confirm that life goes on as normal. The skytrain is packed with smiling, chatty Thais. The roads are busy and the shopping malls are rammed with locals and tourists. Thirty kilometres away and people are forced out of their homes by deep, stinking water; but people in the city are determined to keep on living life until they are affected.
There is some evidence of preparation. Sandbags are prepared at many places….
..and some people have gone as far as walling up their driveway entrance. Must make parking the car difficult:
No sign of flooding though. So your massively intrepid reporter risked live and limb to travel on the skytrain to the river to capture Getty-ready shots of the drama. But there wasn’t any. The river was certainly flowing fast, but it had not reached the top of the barriers.
I gave up in my hunt for devastation and headed for the latest Bangkok mall, Terminal 21. Packed out, mainly with young Thais strutting their stuff and showing no signs of shopping for rubber boots or inflatable boats. What’s wrong with these people, don’t they know that a flood of “biblical proportions” is about to hit them (thank you CNN)?
After attending a wedding yesterday, we packed up she who must be obeyed’s possessions and headed back to Pattaya. Good to have her home again; but Pattaya is extremely crowded with Bangkok refugees and I wouldn’t mind popping back to Bangkok next week for a quiet meal and a bit of shopping.
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If you want a view of what is actually happening within Bangkok, I recommend following @RichardBarrow on Twitter, or via his website http://www.thaitravelblogs.com/.
Am I aware that my contributions to this organ have been somewhat lacking over the past couple of weeks (Months? Years?). This can be ascribed to laziness, inertia and a lack of subject matter; but it is also due to the fact that my wife is stuck in Bangkok and I spend too much of my time watching flood updates on Twitter.
The good news is that she who must be obeyed has agreed with her employer that there is no point in her continuing her training in Bangkok, as many of those she is meant to be working with are already away trying to safeguard their homes. I am off to Bangkok tomorrow, will be looking for some flood related snaps in the afternoon and then on Friday there is the wedding of a very good Thai friend of mine; provided that the Dusit Thani is not underwater. On Saturday we will return to Pattaya and life will return to a less stressful level and I can perhaps give this blog thingie a bit more attention.
Of course this plan could all go to pieces if the water comes quickly and comes deeply. If you don’t hear from me by Sunday, please airdrop Mars Bars. I thank you.
An afternoon excursion to the taste-free capital of Pattaya (and that’s saying something), the Saha Farms complex. I have been there before, but I was pretty sure that Ian of PattayaDaze would love the place; and indeed he did; whatch out for his offerings in due course.
As for me, it was the first time to try out my Olympus 45mm in anger; and it proved to be an excellent performer. All the shots below were taken wide open at F1.8. The bokeh (the effect the lens has when it renders the out of focus background) at that aperture is really pleasing. Great lens, shame about the subject matter. Still, Ian is always amusing company and further outings are planned.
Seen off Naklua this afternoon:
When I lived in Brunei, these were quite common and I used to yearn for a closer look; until one headed for shore, passed within two hundred metres of me and removed the roof of the boat club. I no longer relish a close inspection.
She who must be obeyed’s new employer deigned to give her a day off and she duly arrived home on Sunday evening and embarked on an extended session of cat cuddling. I got a hug too, so that was nice.
Very good to have her home and we spent a pleasant Monday hanging out together. But there are still two weeks of Bangkok familiarisation to go, unless the adventure is cut short by massive flooding which is looking increasingly possible.
The plan was that I would take her to Pattaya bus station this morning, and then return to the comfort of my bed for some extra sleep. So, up at 0500 and off to the buses. Wife goes to buy a ticket and discovers she can’t get on the next bus and will have to wait until 0630; too late for her to make it to work on time. Given there has just been a long weekend, extra bus demand is maybe not surprising; but thankfully her wonderful husband, rather expecting that her plans for the next bus would be rather optimistic, had waited around and offered to drive her to Bangkok. What a star I am.
So instead of crawling back into bed, I crawled up to Bangkok and back in my truck, close to five hour of driving. This has rather put paid to enjoying the rest of the day; but I did pop out to re-stock the cat food and cat litter supplies which my wife is convinced are about to be in short supply. Also looked to increase our water stock; but there is none to be found.
Bangkok dominates the news as it stumbles towards crisis; but what I find amazing is the apparently zero coverage of the thousands of people who have already been made homeless to the north of the capital. As they are mainly poor, they don’t seem to matter.
I am not a happy man.
She who must be obeyed is still in Bangkok and I wish she wasn’t. The slow-moving tsunami that is the several zillion cubic metres of water descending on the city is going to overrun the capital at some point; the only questions are when and how deep. Meantime, life goes on as normal and my wife is expected to report for work daily.
She has two weeks left of her familiarisation and during that time either nothing will happen, or she will be stuck in an apartment with two metres of water outside the door, or, most likely, something in between. She has been preparing for being stranded by storing four pots of noodles and a few bottles of water; enough for two days at the outside.
Her plan, such as it is, is that she will hop on a bus for home at the first sign of flooding in her area. This assumes she can reach the bus terminal, can get on a bus, and the bus can get out of Bangkok.
As a first step in support of operation SWMBO escape, I travelled to Bangkok yesterday morning and loaded up with all the surplus clothes and assorted crap that we had taken to Bangkok two weeks ago; leaving her with a few changes of clothes, assorted essentials and a suitably sized bag into which she can throw all her stuff before swimming to the bus station.
Until she is safely home I shall not feel relaxed. I take little consolation from the fact that she is coming home tomorrow night for a day’s holiday (“because I really need to smell the cats”), and look forward to her permanent return to the home where she belongs.
Pattaya, of course, is not affected by the flooding and has rubbed this in by providing quite delightful weather over the last couple of days. But there is an impact on our otherwise idyllic existence, and ironically it’s water. Specifically, there isn’t any.
When the floods arrive and everything is swamped, one of the essentials of life becomes bottled drinking water. Supplies have rightfully been diverted to the victims of the flooding. If the rest of the country was sensible, then there would probably be enough water for all. But fearing a potential shortage, people have been panic buying and creating unnecessary shortages. Stores in Bangkok are substantially sold out of drinking water. Of course, in Pattaya, we should not need to panic buy; but my local 7-11 stores have no water left in stock and ranging further afield indicates that stocks are running out throughout the city.
It’s ridiculous, and if only people behaved sensibly there would be plenty of water for everyone. As for me, my not at all panic buying over the past couple of days has resulted in a water stock of 102 bottles in my cupboard. Enough for a couple of days, but I might go and hunt some more tomorrow.
My recent successful visit to a dentist convinced me that I might have to courage to return for a teeth-cleaning procedure, something that had had me squirming in agony when I last tried it, about nine years ago in Bangkok.
And so it was I found myself back in Doctor Bee’s torture chair again a couple of days ago. It took her an hour and she did a lot of singing, but it didn’t hurt at all and I felt very pleased with myself once she had finished. So pleased in fact that I decided to stay there another hour and have my teeth whitened.
This is also a painless procedure, if a little uncomfortable. First they fit your mouth around a protector that stops your gums being fried, then they stick something over your tongue to protect it, and finally yours teeth are coated with a gel. Then you have to lie still for twenty minutes or so while a magic blue light shines on the gel and somehow all the shit ingrained in your teeth is removed. Then the process is repeated a second time; after which my neck was very stiff and I was very glad it was finished. But it was worth it when I looked in the mirror and saw a set of shining white teeth.
That’s me set for a few years I thought. “See you back in a year to do it again” said Doctor Bee. What? I assumed this would last for years. “Not when you are older, your teeth are more porous and you will need more regular treatment. Oh, and no staining food or drinks like coffee or tea for 4-5 weeks.” WHAT?
Short term, it was even more restrictive. For the first couple of days I am only allowed to eat food which is white or non-staining. Doctor Bee didn’t tell me that, I discovered it while browsing the web and eating a mango; which is why my pearly whites are already slightly tinged with orange. Since then I have had chicken with non-staining salad, for three consecutive meals and I already sick of chicken. I have had no coffee since Thursday and I am suffering extreme caffeine withdrawal. I am off down to Boots to see if they sell caffeine patches.
The only bright spot (apart from my orange-tinted teeth) is that both gin and tonic are on the list of permissible consumables in the forty eight hour high risk period. Need something to take my mind off all that bloody chicken.
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