A Moveable Feast

(November 28 - December 1st)

Moving day was upon us.  I had packed the first bunch of boxes (that Mick was kind enough to find for me), and Tim was able to borrow a pick-up from work.  The new condo requested that we not move in on the weekend, so Friday morning Mick and I took the first load over to the new place.  It went surprisingly quickly - I loaded boxes onto all the carts our condo had available, and took them down the elevator to the lobby.  Mick packed up the truck while I gathered a few more things, then we made the 25-minute drive down Beach Rd. and through Walking Street (Walking Street is opened to traffic during the day, and closed off at night).  We passed through a very busy, big boat yard with hundreds of boats up on trailers being moved, cleaned, repaired, etc., and drove up Pratumnak hill.

The office manager met us, and with the help of the security guard, we managed to get all the boxes moved in quickly.  We planned to bring the rest on Monday.

Saturday morning we met with our real estate agent and the office manager for the final walk-through of the new place.  Afterward, we unpacked the boxes we'd brought before and gathered the empty boxes to take back and fill again.  They took us to the "juristic office" to scan our thumbprints, as this is how we would be able to access the elevator to our condo - nice extra security measure.

Saturday night was the final night of the International Fireworks Festival.  This takes place every year just off Beach Rd near Central Rd.  We are unable to see them from our old condo because of the way our building faced.  So we decided to spend Saturday night at our new place and see if we could see the fireworks from there.  We packed for overnight, but realized we were without a few necessities.  We headed to Central, caught the final episode of the Hunger Games movies, and picked up the items we needed for the night.

Around 8 or 9, we could hear the rumble of fireworks and stepped out onto our new deck.  The view was phenomenal!  The show lasted quite a while, as several different countries presented their fireworks displays.  We were able to sit on our bench and enjoy, without ever having to leave home.
What a lovely welcome to the new neighborhood!

We headed back to the old condo on Sunday to get the rest of the packing done.  On Monday morning (Tim's birthday), Tim headed to work and I feverishly packed the last of our things; there was a lot more than I thought!  Once finished, Mick once again kindly packed up the truck, and we drove the last of our stuff to the new place.  Then it was back to the old condo once more, to do the final walk-through with the office manager there.  Once more we crossed town, and I entered the new condo for good.  Now it was a matter of finding a place for everything.  The new condo has lots more room, but little in the way of good storage.  I'd have to buy lots of shelving to get things in order.

new living room

Tim's birthday gift from our driver and his wife
on the left (dragon), mine on the right (laughing Buddha).
They know us pretty well.

One view from our new balcony

If the International Fireworks Festival wasn't enough, the King's birthday was celebrated a few days later, and we enjoyed a beautiful fireworks display on the other side of our building!

All manner of tributes to the King are
available for purchase - Mika found
this one for Momo

Everyone wearing the yellow and blue "Bike for Dad"
shirts in honor of the King's birthday.

Shrine for the King's birthday
at church

King's birthday fireworks
on Prathumnak Hill

Just a few days after that, some fireworks were set off on the water just outside our condo.  Fireworks three times in the first week!  This place is gonna be great.  We are very excited to begin "Thailand 2.0!"

Three Cups of Tea

(November 23, 2015)

A charming little tea shop, called Tea Village, graces the north side of Pattaya Nua, the main east/west street on the north side of the city.  It is run by a lovely Thai lady and a Russian gentleman.  Their pleasant shop offers many different kinds of loose tea in large bamboo canisters, and one can open the canisters to sample the many aromas.  They also sell tea pots and other accessories.  In the middle of the shop is a special counter where they prepare the teas for their customers to sample.  It is a warm and welcoming place, and my friend and I enjoy patronizing their establishment.

https://www.facebook.com/teavillageclub/
http://tea-village.com/en/

Mika's beautiful and talented sister, Nao, was visiting from Tokyo.  She has been trained in the Way of Tea, the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.  She graciously agreed to perform a tea ceremony at Tea Village while she was in town, and I was lucky enough to be invited.

We all met at Tea Village on Tuesday, and our friends at the tea shop set up some seats for us at the special tea-making counter.  Not all the specialized instruments were available for the ceremony, so Nao improvised as best as she could with what was available.  Nao's English was a bit limited, so Mika skillfully served as translator.

They began by showing us a template of all the tools traditionally used in a tea ceremony.  The items all serve very specific purposes, from the brazier to the bamboo whisk.  Nao gave each of us a tiny, wrapped sweet with some special, thin papers beneath.  She carefully and methodically purified each piece of equipment, then began to prepare the tea.

A bit of matcha powder is placed in a beautiful cup, hot water is added, and the tea is blended with a bamboo whisk.  Each step of the process was explained.  The first person is invited to eat his or her sweet, which enhances the flavor of the tea.  Then the first cup of tea is offered to that same first person; in this case, it was me.  I was told the special Japanese words to say when accepting the tea ("Otemae chodai itashimasu" - "Thank you for making tea"), and how to hold the cup.  I was handed the cup with the beautiful design facing me, then turned the cup two times to move the design away from me while drinking.  I then apologized to the others for going first ("pardon me for going ahead of you"), and enjoyed the warm, mellow tea, being instructed to finish the last sip with a slurp to indicate that I was finished.  Then I used the thin papers to wipe the lip of the cup, turned it back two turns, and handed it back to Nao.

She purified everything again, and prepared the second cup of tea, inviting the second person, Lita, to enjoy the sweet.  I discovered that being the first person to receive the tea is a position of honor.  The second cup of tea was also offered to me first, and I then defer to the second person.  While the second person drinks her tea, I could converse with the preparer of the tea; but only I could converse with her - the others were not allowed.

This was continued with the third person, Vee, then the tools were purified again and carefully cleared from the service.  It was a lovely and educational experience, and Mika did a fine job as translator!  I was very grateful to be included in such a special event - thank-you to Nao and Mika!  And also grateful to Lita and Vee for offering their shop.  A most memorable morning!

Afterward, Mika, Nao and I enjoyed a nice lunch at the Dusit Thani, just a few blocks from the tea shop.  The restaurant was situated next to a beautiful, tropical garden in the center of the hotel.  We enjoyed some delicious fresh lime soda and tasty food.

An absolutely lovely day!

A few nights later, Tim joined Mika, Lita, Vee and me for a night out.  Vee took us to a small night market that is popular with Russians, and introduced us to some delicious Russian market food.  We really enjoyed the food and the company of some new friends.

Let Me In

Our visitors were gone, and we had lots to do.  At the top of my list was applying for my China visa for my trip in January with my brother.

Tim and Mike left on Sunday, and Wednesday Mick and I were headed back to Bangkok - his favorite place to drive (not).  I hoped I had all my paperwork in order (thank-you, brother Paul, for your good advice).  I needed a passport photo, and thought I had some extras left from when we first came to Thailand, but it turns out we'd used them already.  Unfortunately, I waited until the night before to discover that fact.  I hoped we could print some more copies somewhere along the way.

I got up and dressed with Tim in the morning, and rode to work with him.  It would be much easier to head to Bangkok directly from there, rather than having Mick come all the way back to Pattaya to pick me up.  The drive to Ford was just over an hour, then the drive to the China Visa office in Bangkok, which seemed to take forever.  We were on the lookout for photo shops along the way, but didn't have any luck.  I'd checked online and found a location in Bangkok, but it didn't work out so well.  Eventually I said we should just head to the visa office - perhaps they could direct us to a shop nearby.

Bangkok traffic

The office strictly dedicated to issuing China visas is separate from the Chinese embassy - it is located in a shiny high-rise, Thanapoom Tower.  We had to drive up several floors in the parking structure, and Mick dropped me at the entrance on level five.  This turned out to be the entrance to the 4th floor, but I quickly found my way up to the 5th floor; a stranger walking past me said, "China Visa this way."  I guess farangs are only there for one thing (I feel so conspicuous sometimes!)

After I waited in a small line, a very busy woman at the desk told me there was a shop on the second floor that did passport photos - phew, got lucky!  A nice Thai lady stood me in front of a white wall and snapped a photo just inches away from my face, or so it seemed.  I waited a few minutes, then she printed off six copies, I paid my 150 Baht (about four dollars), and zipped back up to the fifth floor.

The woman at the desk looked over all my paperwork - passport, copy of passport, travel itinerary, flight info, invitation letter from the travel agency...but something was missing.  She pointed to a letter in an acrylic stand and said I needed one of these.  It was a letter stating one's intent - where you were from, where you were going, why you wanted to go there, and who was paying for it!  She led me around a wall to two public computers, and set me up to type my letter there.  When I'd finished, I had to go back around and get her, so she could load the letter onto her memory stick and take it back to her work station to print it off.  I was not happy to leave this document open while I went to get her, as there were lots of people milling around, but what choice did I have?  She printed it off, had me sign it, and gave me a number, pointing out the rows of chairs where I should wait until called.

Once I was called to a window, the woman there very meticulously went through each document, highlighting and checking off information, triple-checking everything.  She found a spot where I'd missed a digit from my passport number, and had me write it in.  She questioned where I was going, where I would be staying, etc.  Very thorough, but not too painful.  She finally said she would give me a ten-year visa, with a limit of thirty-day-stays at a time.  I was given a slip of paper and told to return in five days to retrieve my passport with the new visa attached.  The whole process was done in about half an hour.

Back in the car for the long ride home.  It was after 1 p.m. by the time we arrived back at the condo.  We left at 7 a.m., which means we were in the car for nearly six hours.  I could have driven from Brighton to Terre Haute in that time!  I was glad to have that task checked off my list.

The following Wednesday we repeated the routine - I rode with Tim to work, then we drove back to Thanapoom Tower.  The traffic was much lighter this time, for some reason, and we arrived about forty minutes earlier.  Since I'd been let off a floor below last time, I asked Mick to go up one more level in the parking structure.  But when we drove around to the building side of the structure, there was no door to go in!  I guess only certain levels have passageways across to the tower.  We had a good laugh, and wound our way back down to the level with the entrance.  In less than ten minutes, I had paid for and picked up my visa, and we were on our way.

On the drive home, Mick pointed out a guy on a bicycle carrying a big tree trunk on one shoulder.  He said, "Look - for krathong."  The traditional krathong is made from the banana tree.  The trunk is sliced into one- or two-inch discs, which are then decorated with flowers, banana leaves, etc.  These become the krathongs, the vessels that are launched into the water to thank the goddess of the water and to symbolize the negative things in your life being carried away from you.

That night was the Loy Krathong festival - the celebration of lights that had greeted us on our very first day in Thailand.  I'd picked up a krathong made of bread from the grocery store, as I'd heard the fish could eat these, making them better for the environment.  My driver said he wasn't sure the fish in the sea could eat the stuff, thinking it was more for rivers or lakes.  We decided to give it a shot anyway.

A steady, driving rain pounced as evening fell.  The festival takes place after dark, so the rain undoubtedly dampened the plans of many.  We decided, rather than trying to join the revelers on Beach Rd., we would just launch our krathong at our condo's beach.  The rain finally dissipated by 8:30 or 9, and Tim and I took our krathong and headed down to the water.  Tradition says that couples put clips of their hair and nails into the krathong before sending them off into the water to bless their union, so we each contributed our DNA.

Last year the sky was dotted with chinese lanterns, those little paper lanterns that float up into the sky when they fill with hot air.  Sadly, the lanterns have been banned this year, and I understand the police were actively enforcing the ban.  I guess they might have caused fires, or interfered with air traffic.  I heard that air patterns over Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, were actually altered for the festival, to avoid the risk of lantern vs. plane.

At the beach, we lit the candle and the incense, expressed our gratitude for the gifts of the sea, and our candle promptly blew out.  We had to light it several times, as it was quite windy.  We finally just launched it into the water and watched it slowly bob in the water as the mosquitoes pounced.  Not quite as romantic as we'd hoped, but a nice memory nonetheless.

We spotted several krathongs in the water the next morning...

& Sons (Part 3)

Leisurely breakfast, a little time by the pool, and some quality time with the ivories.

I will miss this piano

Then we all headed out on foot, in an impromtu rain shower, to a nearby massage place.  Thailand has a reputation of questionable "massage" parlors, but it also has many legitimate places offering massages at ridiculously low prices.  No one should visit this fair country without enjoying this opportunity.

Savanna Massage is a chain with shops all over the city, the closest just a five or ten minute walk away.  We left our shoes at the door, and requested Thai massages for all - Tim Sr. added a foot massage as well.  They first wash everyone's feet as a ritual to prepare you for the massage.  This, to me, is almost the best part.

We were led upstairs to a hall of tiny rooms with raised floors, mats and pillows laid out with a set of cotton "pajamas" to wear.  All our rooms were adjacent, and the women chatted between the walls, evoking the old Elaine Benes nail salon episode from Seinfeld.  The hour-long Thai body massage

...includes rhythmic pressing and stretching of the entire body. This may include pulling fingers, toes, ears, cracking knuckles, walking on the recipient's back, and moving the recipient's body into many different positions.             - wikipedia

Some of it was a bit painful, and not entirely relaxing, but felt good for the most part.  The cost of the hour-long massage was around ten dollars.  How much would you pay for that in the US?

It was fairly late in the afternoon when we finally finished, and Mick picked us up for our last night out in Pattaya.  We wanted to get up to Buddha Hill before sunset, and the traffic was uncooperative.  It was twilight by the time we reached Wat Phra Yai (Thai name of the hilltop temple).  The 18-meter-high Buddha is easily visible from the bottom of the naga-protected steps, making for a reverent ascent to the top.  The city lights were just coming on, and the crowds were gone, making for a lovely visit.

People worshiping at the shrine

The boys wanted to visit a music store in town, so we battled our way through the traffic to Sukhumvit Rd. and the music store with the big guitar out front.  Our musicians enjoyed checking out the instruments, and tested some electric guitars before each deciding the prices were too good to pass up.  They both got nice guitars and cases at a good price.  (We nearly had to buy a few more acoustic guitars when I knocked one into another with my backpack - yikes.  Luckily no visible damage was apparent.  I decided it was better if I waited in another part of the store...)

With two satisfied customers in tow, Mick fought his way through the congestion to another of our favorite restaurants, Cherry's, for a late dinner.

Saturday morning, the guys got packed up and we spent our last hours enjoying the view on our deck.

Then we packed up the car and headed for Bangkok.  We wanted our guests to experience some of what Bangkok has to offer, if only for a bit.  The drive was long, especially once we got into the city.  We finally found our way to the Jatujak market, that huge weekend market that has a bit of everything.  By the time we found a place to park, it was late afternoon.  So we hoofed it through the crowded, smelly streets and entered the market at the entrance nearest to us, which turned out to be in the pet section.  We encountered row after row of puppies, fish, snakes, turtles, birds, squirrels, bats...plus all manner of pet supplies.  This seemed to be quite the opposite end of the market from where we'd entered before, and it took a lot of wandering to finally get to the non-pet sections.  We enjoyed browsing the myriad of goods; Mike picked up a shirt and some bandannas for his soccer team.  We enjoyed a nice fruit smoothie, browsed some more, and eventually made our way back to the car, using our spatially-talented son's sense of direction (you know the one).

Our car was boxed in, with cars parked perpendicular to the normal parking spots.  So Mick got out and pushed a big car out of the way - what is he, Superman?  Apparently people leave their cars in neutral so they can be shifted out of the way when necessary.  Wild.

I'd planned one more stop in Bangkok, but the traffic was bad, and the day was quickly disappearing.  Instead, we made our way toward the airport, and looked for a place to grab some dinner.  The area near the airport was quite a mix of businesses, like Pattaya.  We eventually settled on a place called The Zone, and made our way to the back to the air-conditioned section.  The waitresses were provocatively-dressed, and I'm not entirely sure it was a straight-up business, but we had a decent meal.  We still had time to kill before the boys needed to be at the airport, so we asked Mick to just drive until we found somewhere we could walk around.

We wound up at the Paseo Mall, a two-story, open-air mall with a strange, eclectic mix of cowboys and Christmas decorations.  We wandered around the shops, saw some kind of music show, and some Thai clowns making balloon animals for the kiddies.

We sat outside for a while, but the mosquitoes were being mean, so we headed inside Starbucks to while away our last precious minutes with our boys.  I'm afraid it was a bit of an anticlimactic ending to their visit, but we appreciated having them near for just a while longer.

At the airport, Tim went inside with the guys to make sure they could get their guitars taken care of, and I waited in the car with Mick.  His comment to me after the boys had gone - "Your sons look very same Kuhn Tim.  If I see them alone, I know they Kuhn Tim sons!"  Ah, yep.

Love you, boys - thanks for making the trip <3

& Sons (Part 2)

(Sorry for the long break between posts - moving took more time than I expected!)

Tuesday morning, we grabbed some breakfast then packed our bags for a little trip to Koh Samet, one of the many islands dotting the seascape of Thailand.  We have never visited any of the islands here, although many acquaintances have told us we "have to go."  The drive east to Baan Phe was just over an hour, and it didn't take us too long to find the correct pier with the ferry that would take us across (there are seven different piers).  Several hotels from the island share a property at the Seree Pier. It provides their guests with a quick and efficient check-in, and collects their bags for transport to the ferry.  We bid our driver adieu, and with a little time to kill before our ferry ride, crossed the street to a little cafe, The Black Pearl, for some lunch.  This was a very basic establishment, with what appeared to be family members lounging, playing on their phones, and knitting.  It felt a bit like we walked into their house!  The server spoke very little English, but we managed to communicate well enough, and we were served some tasty soup and sandwiches.  I had a delicious Thai milk tea, one of my new favorites.

at the pier

We ate quickly, then hustled back across the street at the appointed time, hopping on a tram that drove us down the pier to our ferry.  The two-level ferry had seating for perhaps 75 people, and we climbed the stairs to the upper level and staked out our seats.  We shared the ride with several Chinese tourists, and a smattering of other nationalities.  The ride across was a lovely, breezy 40-minute cruise, and was included in the cost of the hotel.

our ferry

looking back at the mainland

Once we arrived, a baht bus collected us and our luggage, and drove us to the entrance of our hotel, the Sai Kaew Beach Resort.  We were pleasantly greeted and served a tasty little tropical juice, then taken on a golf cart to our little cottage.  Each cottage is divided into two units, with Tim and I in one, and Tim Jr and Mike in the other.  The accommodations were basic and a little dated, but would serve nicely.  Shortly after we entered, a sweet little Thai lady stopped by to make sure everything was okay, and reminded us to keep the doors and windows closed at sunset because of the many mosquitoes.  Then we noticed the gaps in the windows that wouldn't do much to keep the mosquitoes out.  I took the tie-backs from the curtains and stuffed them into the cracks as best as I could.

After settling in, I wandered out to scope out the place while Tim grabbed some much-needed Zs.  The grounds are an interesting mix of quaint and modern.  The area we stayed in was quaint and quiet, with the "Quiet Beach" just a short walk away.  It actually reminded me a lot of Houghton Lake with it's little grassy expanse and shady trees next to the rocky shore.  I ran into Tim and Mike here, and grabbed a shot of our mutually sandy and easily identifiable feet.

Next we walked through the tropical gardens, past the check-in counter, and on to the Main Beach, which is a wide curved bay of white sand that extends along the fronts of several hotels and restaurants.  The water was beautifully clear and invitingly warm, and the occasional vendor politely accepted our regrets.  This beach had a lot more people, but didn't feel at all crowded.

We made our way back to the cottages and made plans to meet up for dinner.  We headed back to the Main Beach in search of a meal.  A Thai friend told me about a fire show that happens at a certain place on the beach each night, and recommended that we arrive early to get a seat.  Well, we didn't make it far enough down the beach to find the place she mentioned, instead stopping at a place called "Buddy's" that had tables and chairs set up right on the sand.

We had a nice, basic and tasty meal here as the sun disappeared and the mosquitoes appeared.  The hotel provides repellent wipes, and I didn't have a single bite; unfortunately my companions could not say the same.  We wanted to enjoy the atmosphere anyway, and Tim just happened to have our trusty Chinese Checkers set in his pack.  A great battle ensued.

As we played, signs of swirling fire appeared down the beach.  As we lingered, it became obvious that the fire show was actually a traveling attraction, and made it's way down the beach to perform directly in front of us.  These young men were talented and fearless jugglers of fire, with an amazing show of skill.  The tricks grew more and more fantastic; I was most-impressed with a boy of perhaps ten who spun around his waist a hula hoop with multiple torches.  Unbelievable!

Finally, we conceded our spot and made our way back to the cottage, where we had a mean game of Euchre before retiring for the night.

Next morning we got a message from Tim and Mike that they were heading down to breakfast, so we joined them "tout de suite."  The included breakfast was a bountiful buffet with a lovely view of the Main Beach.  We enjoyed a leisurely meal, including a lovely slice of watermelon bread; I'd never seen this before, but others had.  I was duly impressed.

watermelon bread

We took another stroll along the beach, then headed back to get our suits on.  The water was deliciously clean, warm and "wavy."  I could have stayed out there for hours, if my western-European skin would have allowed it.  We did stay for quite some time, taking respite from the sun under a beach umbrella.  A stray dog joined us for some shade at one point.  I couldn't wait to get my hands into the sand and see what I might build.  A gecko soon formed, and was almost as quickly washed away as the tide came in.  We were quite entertained by the Chinese tourists, who seemed to put a lot of effort into documenting their holiday.

A Chinese tourist knelt down beside
me and pretended to help while
her companion took a picture of her (!)

enthusiastic Chinese tourists

portable dock let's people board the boat
without getting wet

Later, we headed into town to look for sunglasses and hats, then found a great little cafe called Red Ginger.  Had some of the most delicious, fresh salads and fruity drinks, along with some enjoyable conversation with our server/chef, a young Cambodian woman who spoke excellent English.  The jazz soundtrack playing in the background was icing on the cake.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g641720-d2027289-Reviews-Red_Ginger-Ko_Samet_Rayong_Province.html

After lunch, we were ready for kickin' back, so we headed for the Quiet Beach with our reading material, and enjoyed doing nothing.  We saw a groundskeeper walking toward the water with a myna bird on his head (!), then realized he must feed them regularly, because several followed him around quite adoringly.  This made the birds unafraid of humans, and one came quite near to us.

bird man of Samet

Mike, Tim Sr. and I went back to the Main Beach for some more swimming, but found some kind of tiny particles or organisms everywhere in the water.  We couldn't see them, but could definitely feel them when we drew our hands through the water.  Wonder what it was?  It must have been the time of day (nearly sunset), since we didn't experience this at all earlier in the day.  A sign had warned us to be on the lookout for jellyfish, but thankfully we didn't run into any of those.  We squeezed in some more sand sculpting as it got dark.

MICHIGAN! (Guess who made this?)

It's a three-headed naga snake, of course

For dinner, we walked back into town to a place that had some favorable reviews on the internet, Funky Monkey.  This little place was run by an Aussie, and his specialty was pizza.  There is a standing offer of a free pizza to anyone who can consume an entire 21" pizza by themselves in ten minutes, or something to that effect.  Well, without really thinking about how much pizza that might be, we ordered two for the four of us.  Holy smokes, it was a lot of pizza!  Needless to say, we were unable to finish...although Mike gave it the old college try...

In the morning, a leisurely breakfast with some excellent jazz to make the morning even more mellow, a quick game of Chinese checkers on the beach, then back to pack up and head to the front office to catch our baht bus back to the pier.  The cute little Thai woman who welcomed us was there to see us off.  When she heard we were American, she proudly named the capitals of Massachusetts, Texas and California.  We added our Lansing to her repertoire.

The ferry back to the mainland was full of loud Americans, boasting about how they were still drunk and couldn't remember the night before, and passing around a bottle - real classy.  I was a bit embarrassed by my fellow countrymen, but just focused on enjoying the scenery.  Mick was waiting for us when we came off the ferry, and we drowsed in the car on the way back to Pattaya.

We took Mike and Tim to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Mike's Mexican, for dinner.  I could not believe it when we walked in and found the very same loud Americans eating there!  Of all the gin joints in all the towns...