Bright Lights, Big City

Friday arrived at last, and I packed my bags for a weekend in Bangkok.  Mick and I drove to the airport to collect Tim from his travels.  Along the road I saw a pickup truck with high, fenced sides carrying a huge load of pineapples.  I've seen trucks piled high with pineapples before, but this truck had the pineapples lined up in perfect little rows.  I tried to get a picture, but traffic was moving too fast.  I thought to myself, "I bet this guy would be really good at Tetris."

We had about a twenty-five minute wait, and Mick stopped the car right in front and walked over to the other side of the road to talk on his cell.  Then he came and said he was running in to use the toilet.  You know how antsy security is at Detroit Metro Airport if you sit in front of the building more than a minute or two?  I was a bit anxious about what I might do if security came and told me I had to move, since I don't have a Thai driver's license.  When a guard stepped up to the front of the car and was inspecting our Ford sticker, I quickly used my Google Translate app to figure out how to say "driver toilet."  Luckily, I didn't have to use it (phew).  I did enjoy looking at the images of the King across the front of the terminal - so cute as a little boy!

Mick, and then Tim, finally came out and we headed for the hotel.  I could tell Mick was not too comfortable driving in Bangkok, although to me the traffic is just as crazy in Pattaya.  The greater Bangkok metropolitan area, though, has a population of over eight million people!  Mick said once several years ago he was trying to find his way out of Bangkok for three or four hours.

Our hotel, The Pathumwan Princess Hotel, was right in the center of the city, and adjacent to Chulalongkorn University ("the Harvard of Thailand"), where our friend, Steve, is teaching a five-week course.  We got a lovely room on the twenty-eighth floor, overlooking the athletic fields and pools.

A nice young man with excellent English brought our bags to our room, and gave us lots of details about what we might want to do in the area.  The hotel is attached to the biggest shopping mall, Mahboonkrong, or MBK.  We were told this multi-story mall is quite legendary.  We decided to check it out tomorrow.  

Went to Cafe Bistro in the hotel for our complimentary dinner - what a spread.  The host took us on a tour of the all-you-can-eat buffet with all kinds of Asian and western delights. The host asked us what kind of fish we liked by the section that had raw fillets out on platters.  I said I liked salmon, and Tim said tuna.  I was half-thinking he would take our choices to be grilled up for us, but he came to our table with two plates heaped with the raw fish that had been cut into bit-sized pieces.  It was pretty good, especially with the wasabi and soy sauce, but it was way more than we would have taken for ourselves.  We muscled down what we could.  Also had something called "roti," which is a round of dough that is cooked on a griddle.  The gentleman who prepared it for me said that in Sri Lanka, where he is from, they traditionally have their roti with cooked vegetables or curries; but the Thai people prefer theirs sweet.  I had mine with chocolate, of course.  Here's a video of a Thai street vendor making roti: Street vendor making roti

The next day we spent a few hours wandering the MBK, as Steve was teaching until 4:30.  We picked up a few items, including a Manchester United jersey our driver has been wanting, and some DVDs that we had to order, then come back in half an hour when they were ready.  Also found an inexpensive replacement for Tim's IPhone charger, and a drawstring bag for me, so I could finally dump the the promotional freebie I'd picked up in the states, and had been wearing on my back for the last few months.  (I can finally use the word "few" when I talk about the months we've been here).

there's the King again...

no caption necessary :)

We wound our way back to the hotel, which has pretty tight security.  There are guards at all the entrances with wands to check your bags for weapons, and a metal detector to walk through.  We didn't see that at our hotel in Pattaya.  It does make one feel safe.  Explored the hotel a bit - it has a pretty big athletic complex, with lots of machines, free weights, classes, squash and tennis courts, boxing bags, etc., and a lovely poolside cafe.  An employee was juggling in a courtyard as we passed - thought of Ron and the Johnsons.

Will meet Steve at six... time for a quick nap...

The Heart of the Matter

One night last week, while Tim was in India, I was up quite late.  We frequently go out on the deck and just gaze out at the bay, as I stepped out this night for a late night view.  It was a very eerie sight - the tide was out, and my eyes were drawn to four or five lights near the water's edge.  As my eyes adjusted, I realized that someone was wading in the shallows with flashlights, perhaps hunting for some kind of crustaceans?  They were all spread out and about knee-deep in the water, and a few were carrying nets.  Time and again one of them would reach down, pick up something from the water, and deposit it into one of the nets.  I would love to know what it was they were collecting.  It was quite a surreal picture.  Then I looked to my right, and the Sanctuary of Truth was bathed in backlights or spotlights of some kind.  It looked so ethereal and otherworldly - I was sorry Tim was not there to see it.

Had a nice get-together with the "Ford Ladies" on Tuesday.  I had left my purse at Deb's house, the scene of the epic ping pong battle on Saturday, so Deb said she would bring it along to lunch.  Our driver was getting something fixed on the car, so Deb was kind enough to have her driver come all the way over to our condo to fetch me for lunch.  (Unfortunately she forgot my purse ~_~)  I invited Deb and Darlene, another Ford wife, up to see our condo, and we took a little stroll down to the beach.  I realized they were our first guests to our new home!

We went to a little place called "Loaf," between central and south Pattaya roads.  It was nice, but very tiny.  We had a party of six expected, but a little spot for three was the only spot available for us, the first three to arrive.  As other tables cleared, the waitresses sweetly cleared them and let us move.  We were on our third "upgrade" when the rest of the group finally arrived, and we had just enough room for everyone.  Loaf is a good example of a common restaurant style here that seems to cater to the farangs - a kind of coffee and sweets emphasis, but with a decent menu of other food as well. They seem to be following the Starbucks playbook - a cozy boutique vibe.  (On Thursday I met Mika at "Bake 'n Brew," a very similar feel to this place as well.  We found a little table tucked away on the side and enjoyed good food and conversation.)

After lunch, Deb's driver was a real trooper, driving Deb and Darlene back to their subdivision so I could grab my purse, then driving me all the way back to the condo, then heading out to pick up Deb's husband from work.  This was all done with the typical Thai smiles and good will.  I think I might have been grumbling if I had to do all that extra running around.

Found my favorite Thai English term for the week - Jay Leno would have appreciated this one:

Anyone looking to hire a good interrupter??

When the staff at the condo had their staff party a few weeks back, they invited some of the residents to join them.  In fact, there was a table in the office stacked with presents that said "donations for staff party."  (Not too subtle, eh?)  Tim and I had originally forgotten about the party and made reservations at Royal Thai Gardens for dinner - they are supposed to have a very good all-you-can-eat buffet for just around ten dollars, with a different theme every night of the week, and a strolling Filipino band.  So we cancelled our reservation, and dragged our driver into the party with us.  One of the security guards led us down with a flashlight.  It was really a lovely little setup in a grassy area beside the beach.  They had two long tables set up with table cloths, china plates, wine glasses and bottles of wine, and a third table full of homemade dishes that I assume were made by the staff.  A stage was set up at the front with a singer on a mic (a little too loud for good conversation).  

We were immediately greeted by the office manager and introduced to some of the other residents.  We met a young man whose grandfather owned the land on which the condo was built, and several other expats - a family from Denmark, a Chinese family from New Zealand, a british couple, and even a guy from Rhode Island.  An older Thai gentleman introduced himself as the Chairman of the Condo - he is a semi-retired orthopedic surgeon who has lived at Garden Cliff for thirty-three years!   He sounds like quite the Renaissance Man - he paints, plays piano (has one in his condo that he offered to let me use), sings, reads, writes a column on classical music, etc.  His wife was so charming and sweet and we discovered our mutual love of reading.  When they heard I'd worked in a library, they started rattling off their favorite English authors, and the wife admitted that she loved reading Harry Potter!  She has a great sense of humor, and joked that her husband's books are dirty and hers are clean - then she qualified it by saying that he likes to write all over his books, and she keeps her books nice and neat!  When I agreed with her about not writing in books, she happily claimed me as an ally.

The next day the wife was at our door with a book for me - a friend had given her a book in English and she was having trouble getting through it.  She asked if I would read it and then tell her about it - how cool is that?  Luckily, I was just finishing up my last book, and started right in. (I was still in my pajamas when she came, so Tim answered the door and relayed the information. I went and knocked on their door later to thank her, but there was no answer). 

What I'm Reading:  Just finished my neighbor's book, "The Heart of the Matter," a classic by Graham Greene.  It is beautifully crafted but one can see how it would be difficult for an ESL (English as a Second Language) reader, as Greene employs unusual, creative turns of phrases - I had to re-read a lot of passages myself to really digest what was written.  I was thinking about how to explain this, and decided it was something like comparing a photograph to a Picasso painting.  Picasso sometimes chose the color blue for human skin, much like the way Greene chose unexpected words or phrases to illustrate an idea.  A lovely example:  "...The moonlight lay on the dressing table like coolness and fit the bottles of lotion, the little pots of cream, the edge of a photograph frame."  I love the use of the word "fit" here. 

Above All Things

Last Thursday I went to meet two friends for lunch at Central Festival mall.  I had recommended The Hippopotamus, because Tim and I enjoyed our meal there - especially the view of Beach Road.  I was the last to arrive, and found my friends standing outside of the closed restaurant.  There was a sign on the door that said, "closed for one day."  What are the odds?  Anyway, we wandered past a few other places no one was enthusiastic about.  We could see a deck on the opposite side of the mall, also facing Beach Road, and realized it must be part of the Hilton Hotel, which is attached to the south side.

It was one of those "you can't get there from here" kind of deals.  We had to go back down six flights to the ground floor to be able to cross over to the hotel.  We found an elevator that said "restaurant sixth floor," and rode it up.  When you first exit the elevator, you almost feel like you've emerged into an area you shouldn't have - no one around, and corridors heading in different directions.  I laughed so hard when Mika said it was like a "ninja house" - awesome comparison!  She seemed to know the way, however, and we soon found ourselves in a beautiful entryway of white marble, soft lighting and modern furnishings.  But the best was yet to come - we stepped out onto an outside, roof-top cafe that was quite breathtaking.  Lovely pools with walkways between, and a spectacular view of the bay. Kudos to the designers - this place is gorgeous.   Actual chairs were outnumbered by more of those round, bed-like seats like we saw on the movie porch a few weeks back.  Luckily, we were able to locate two chairs and a smaller, bench-like "pod" in the corner.  The menu was limited, but the food was good - I had the chicken satay with peanut sauce, and my companions had burgers.  Really quite a lovely experience, and definitely a place to come back to.

This picture really doesn't do it justice

Tim has been on the lookout for a right-sized suitcase for his week-long travels, so on Saturday we headed over to the "Outlet Mall" in south Pattaya.  There are lots of name brand stores here, and not really outlet prices.  We scoured both floors of the main building, then every shop in the secondary strip.  We'd all but given up, when we decided to check a sporting goods store - the last store on the strip.  Finally we found what he'd been looking for, or something close enough.  Good thing, because he was leaving for India on Monday, and the bag he used last time just didn't cut it.

Saturday night we joined three other families for a lovely dinner on the beach.  I say "families" because everyone brought their kids with them.  Their ages range from five-years-old to fifteen, and all of us are Ford families new to Thailand (although two families just relocated here from an assignment in China).  Imagine what a different experience it must be to move a whole family across the world.  On top of all the logistics of our move, they had to worry about school, leaving friends and activities behind, and orienting their kids to an extremely different culture.  The kids all seemed to be adjusting well, however.  They all live in a little subdivision directly outside the international school, so it's an easy walk to school for them, and they have a sense of community there.  I think most people in their sub have English as their first language.  Makes for an easier adjustment, but I'm glad we are in a more diverse location.

The restaurant is called "Bacco Beach," and it is one of several restaurants in that area that sit right at the edge of Jomtien Beach, just south of Pattaya.  It is a brand-new restaurant, having just opened in December.  We sat at a long table outside under the lights with the beach just behind us - really a lovely setting.  The food was quite good - Tim had a risotto and I got ravioli.  The western fare is quite plentiful in this area; yet it seems that every menu has at least one page of Thai dishes as well.  They definitely know how to cater to the tourists, and I kind of feel like we are permanent tourists here.  At the end of our meal, a balloon seller happened by and grabbed the young ones' attention.  Tim decided to play Daddy Warbucks and told the balloon seller he would buy all the balloons he had left.  Tim was suddenly surrounded by children, and not just the children in our party.  They seemed to come out of nowhere!  So he sent many children plus one balloon seller home happy :)

Afterward we stopped in at the lovely home of one of the families for some killer ping pong (I just watched and tried to stay out of the way - the sweat was flying!)  Tim was happy to finally be able to pull his prized ping pong paddles out of their case and give them a little exercise.  It was a fun evening.

Chill Factor

I am afraid this girl's hearty Midwestern blood has already thinned - I am chilly today!  The temperature is in the upper 70s, but that sea breeze is back and blowing fiercely through the condo. The men are back at work in the bathroom, and tend to leave the front door open while they're here.  With that door opened, the wind howls in from the deck doors and actually makes me chilly.  We have been snickering at the locals who pull out their jackets when the temperature dips below 80°. For the first time since we've been here, I have pulled my long-sleeve shirt out of the drawer, and I am wearing socks.  We normally have to go barefoot in the condo - not just because the owner requested no shoes, but because the wood floors are so slippery that wearing socks becomes a safety issue!  Of course Tim has to wear socks and shoes to work, and when he gets home, he slips around the condo in his "killer" socks.

almost finished!

The men working on the bathroom appear to not speak English, so we greet each other in Thai when they arrive, then not another word is spoken between us.  They quietly go in and out throughout the day, and I never quite know for sure when they are finished.  I'm sure they just don't want to bother me.  They never indicate to me that they're done, they just leave and don't come back. And they never indicate to me whether I should stay off the floor or what.  Today, they finished reseating the toilet, but the floor doesn't have the final coats on it.  I happen to catch one of them when I walked into the back room, and he said something to me in Thai.  I have no idea what he said, but he was pointing to the toilet and shaking his head, while using a gesture similar to an umpire's "safe."  I think I got the picture!

(Next day) The weather is beautiful today - still very windy, but not chilly, and the sun is shining.  We do have our fair share of overcast days, when the harbor across the bay is completely obscured.  Today is not one of those days.

Finished! (Just realized an
awful lot of my pictures are
potty-related.  Hmmm.)

One workman appeared unannounced at the door today just after nine o'clock.  (Luckily, I had already showered and dressed!  Every other time they've come, the condo office has called me to let me know.)  As you can see in the picture above, there are significant gaps between the boards - these exist throughout the condo, and are filled in with some kind of tar-looking caulk.  Having never been on a yacht, I assume this is how the floors are traditionally done, as the interior of our condo is modeled after a yacht or cruise ship.  In this tropical climate, I think the gaps allow for the expansion and contraction of the wood.  So the workman was back today to begin filling in the gaps, as well as adding a finishing coat.  Again he was in the condo, then gone from the condo, then back in the condo.  I had a lunch date, so when he was gone from the condo, I locked the door and headed out.  When I got back, I found all his equipment sitting outside the door.  And about two minutes after walking in the door, he was back in the condo again - he must have been "lurking about."  (I'd called the office downstairs and explained that I was leaving - they said they would let him in while I was gone, but apparently this didn't happen).  When he left for the day, he said, "Not finish."  Then pointed at his watch to indicate what time he would be back tomorrow to finish the job.  Near as I could figure, it's gonna be either nine or ten o'clock :)  (Day 3)  Doorbell rang at 10:02, and the floor is finally done - huzzah!  Of course, we have to wait "about maybe 4, 5 day" before we can use the room.

 The watch thing brings up an interesting point - in Thailand, although people use the same 24-hour military system to talk about time in official capacities, Thais use  their own complicated system of telling time in more casual settings.  They divide the day into six roughly four-hour blocks.  From one to five a.m., the number is preceded by the word "dtee."  From six to eleven a.m., the number is followed by  "mohng."  They use "baai" for early afternoon, and "yen" for late afternoon, then in the evening, they switch to "tum." As you might expect, the "noons" and "midnights" have their own special names.  So glad they use the military times as well - just having two different year designations (2015 and 2558) is enough for me.  (2558 - Does that mean Buck Rogers has already come and gone??)

Favorite Thai English of the day - at the Dairy Queen (yes, they have those here), Tim got a "banana sprit."  I dunno - you figure it out...

Islands in the Stream

One of the tourist attractions listed in the Pattaya guidebooks is the Floating Market ("Tha lak nam" in Thai).  My friends and I were looking for something to do, so we decided to give this a look.  Our driver warned us that it is "very expensive" and has "many Chinese tour buses."  I told him we were just going for "sanook" (for fun).

I expected a floating market to be out in the bay somewhere, but it isn't.  It is actually inland, in a man-made "lake" of muddy water with rows and rows of shops up on stilts.  There were some vendors in boats alongside the walkways as well. Luckily, there were no big tour buses when we arrived, so the market was pleasantly uncrowded.  (There was a cute little "chang" (elephant) out front).  My friend, Mika, had been here a few weeks earlier, and told us it was free to get in.  So we confidently walked past the ticket counter to the turnstiles, only to be turned back.  You see, there are two entrances - one for Thai and one for foreigners.  Thais get in free, foreigners have to pay 200 baht (about seven dollars).  I guess they thought Mika was Thai when she came last time - she doesn't look Thai, but I guess she could have blended in better than us two white girls.  We blew her cover big time!

The market is vaguely set up in four regions, supposedly representing the four regions of Thailand.  But in reality, we saw basically the same kinds of things being sold everywhere we went.  Perhaps the food selections might have been regional - didn't sample anything.  I was tempted to try one of the fried crickets from the insect vendor, but not on an empty stomach ;)
You should have the seen the size of some of those bugs!

Just inside the entrance is a little Buddhist temple.  Mika walked in, so we followed, removing our shoes as is the custom.  Ladies were selling items to offer up to Buddha, and Mika jumped right in.  She said she'd never done it before, but wanted to see what it was about.  They gave her a cup of red and a cup of white liquid, a chain of flowers, and some sticks of incense.  They showed her how to circle the Buddha, then place the liquid offerings in front of the statue.  Then they instructed her to kneel and pray in front of the Buddha after lighting the incense, holding the incense in between her praying hands.  Lastly, she was to place the flowers in a container in front.  I must say she was quite a sport through the whole thing, and I appreciated seeing how it worked.

Next we haphazardly followed the winding paths with little idea where we were heading or where we should be heading.  (Those of you who know me know how difficult this is for me - I like to know where I am and frequently have to be the one carrying the map).  There was supposed to be entertainment, but I had no idea where to find it.

Enjoyed the graphic nature of this sign :)

  At one point we came upon a little area where people could feed the goats with little baby bottles of milk - just like in the States, right?  Well, then it got weird.  Next to the "feed the goats" booth, was a "feed the koi" booth.  Not weird, you say, we have "feed the fish" places, too.  However, this particular booth seemed to be feeding the fish the same way they were feeding the goats - with baby bottles of milk.  I kid you not!  This was mind-boggling - these are not mammals, so how is this even possible???  People are given a "baby bottle on a stick," which they hold down to the surface of the water, and the fish drink from the bottle!  I could not look away - my friends had to drag me away.  Just when you think you've seen it all...

We sat down for a beverage at one point, and the other Ford wife, Jen, told us about how their house was broken into while they were away for the holidays.  (A story for another blog).  We eventually drifted back to the front of the market, retracing our steps as our collective recognition of landmarks guided us.  The ladies wanted to go elsewhere for lunch, somewhere that Mika had been before and recommended to us.  

The restaurant was called "Livv," and I think the owner was Scandinavian.  It was full of farang women just like us, so we fit right in (a little too perfectly for me).  The food was tasty, the decor was pretty and new, and the conversation was good.  (My two companions had not met before today and had a lot in common - both mothers of toddlers, "trailing spouses," as spouses of internationally-relocated employees are referred, and both looking for social connections here in a new country - I was glad to have introduced them).

Our driver was kind enough to pick them both up so we could ride together.  Mika lives just behind Foodland, so we both ran in to pick up a few quick things.  In my continuing quest for tortilla chips, I read about using corn tortillas, and I was able to find a package of those at Foodland.  (Haven't tried making them yet.)  Then Mick had to zip me back home and head out to collect Tim from work.

We received a wonderfully mysterious package in the mail, with a return address from Greece!  With great difficulty, I waited for Tim to get home before opening it.  It was a beautiful, hand-made backgammon set - a Christmas present from the other Tim.  He knew we had been looking for a replacement for the one we lost to the flood last year, and this one is a beauty.  We enjoyed our inaugural "best of seven" match on the deck (ain't sayin' who won).  Thanks, Tim!!

Our game as reflected in the deck doors

Who's winning??

What I'm reading:  Just finished "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman.  An absolutely fantastic book, so well-written and mind-expanding.  It tells the true story of a Hmong child with epilepsy and the struggles of trying to blend Hmong beliefs with western medicine.  The greatest accomplishment of this author is her completely balanced and unbiased, but still enthralling narrative.  Excellent study on the value of accepting cultural differences.  Everyone should read it.

Silent Night

All work comes to a standstill when the holidays are upon us. This is especially true if you are interested in having work done at your place of residence. When we took occupancy of our condo, Tim noted a squishy spot in the floor of the master bathroom. We notified the powers that be, who had us cease the use of the master bathroom in order to determine the source of the problem. The floor dried up, but the squishiness quickly returned when the water to the toilet was turned back on. A squishy floor can be a big problem – more so here, as our entire condo has beautiful wide-plank teak (I think) floors, even in the bathrooms. Once the source was determined, the work was arranged – after the holidays.

Yesterday was the first work day of the New Year, and the Danish owner (our landlord) and his Thai wife arrived from Bangkok with their trusty handyman to check the issue personally. The owner was kind enough to bring us a bottle of bubbly in apology for the inconvenience. Now here we are, two days into the new work week, and the condo is teeming with workmen. Not only did the workmen show up to dismantle the floor in the bathroom, but the "air con" (as it is called here) repairmen came to clean the smelly air conditioner unit in the master. Along with the building manager and the housekeeper, a total of seven people were in my bedroom! It's days like this that make me happy to be a renter – the bill will be going to the owner :) I must say, they are carrying an awful lot of rotted wood out of there...

Kill two birds with
one stone?

We also inquired about getting our own internet line shortly after we moved in, as the wifi here is very unreliable. (I am currently writing this in Writer (Word) because I can't access the blog). It was back in early December when we asked; we were told then it would have to wait until after the holidays. Now I know this isn't all that unusual – people put off having work done during the holidays back home, too. But here it seems to be much more of a given – don't even think about it! And the problem with getting our own internet line is that we don't know if it will be any more reliable than what we already have. Is it a condo issue, or an infrastructure issue? I asked the building manager if she could have some of the other tenants who have their own internet lines get in contact with us so we could ask them. As good as her English is, communication is still an issue - don't think I got my point across. Guess I will have to try to catch them in passing. (Although not a lot of passing happens here – it is, thankfully, a very quiet place.)

The "cool" temperatures of the last three weeks, along with the driving winds, have fled.  While the weather was in the upper 70's and  low 80's, and the Thais were bundling up in their jackets, we forwent the air con in favor of some wonderful fresh air.  Two big sliding glass doors that open to the sea breeze provided us with a steady rush of air that howled through the windows and made the front door hard to open and tricky to close without slamming.  I had one of our big, empty, five-gallon water bottles sitting near the front door one day, and when I opened the door, the bottle went airborne and nearly took out the person who'd knocked.  I'm talkin' windy!  We enjoyed the constant roar of the waves as our natural "sound machine," and my laundry dried very quickly on the drying rack (no electric clothes dryer here).

But alas, the cool season here is very short indeed.  The forecast is the same every day for the next week.  Right now my weather app says 30°C with a real feel of 37°C (that's 98.6°F).  Please don't think I'm complaining - I'm well aware of what my Michigan brethren are dealing with right now :(  

But here in Thailand, "all is calm, all is bright."

Taken from the deck around
5:30 a.m.

moon sequence courtesy of Tim

Unexpected Blessings

The New Year is a big deal in Thailand, and I think in all of Asia.  Much of south and southeast Asia celebrates their traditional New Year on April 13-15 ("Songkran" in Thailand).  But they also celebrate the modern New Year here in Thailand on December 31st and January 1st, like we do in the west.  And, like every other holiday here, it's one big party.  "Pattaya Countdown 2015" started the day after Christmas, with nightly events under the Hollywood-style "Pattaya City" sign at Bali Hai Pier.  The city has been full of tourists and party-goers, and the traffic is ridiculous.

mega-tour bus traversing the roundabout

Tuesday evening, Tim went to check out the chess games at a German restaurant on Second Rd., so I went along for the ride and hung out at the Central Festival mall, just a block away.  We haven't been able to find nacho chips anywhere (besides the Mexican restaurant), so I decided to try making some from scratch.  But I needed a rolling pin, and none of the stores I tried carried them.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to check the stores at the mall for this elusive item (this kills me, because I have two perfectly good rolling pins in my kitchen in Michigan!)  Well, as luck would have it, I was finally able to find a rolling pin at the Central Festival store (kind of like the anchor store of the mall, similar to Hudson's or Macy's).  I've also been looking for a nice, cloth tablecloth, but apparently they don't do tablecloths here, except for the vinyl ones.  When I asked at the Central Festival store, they showed me big rolls of vinyl that could be cut to your table's specifications (this also kills me, as I have the perfect tablecloth in my cabinet in Michigan).  Tim was just getting started with a good game of chess by the time I'd finished shopping, so Mick took me home then went back for Khun Tim.  The traffic was ridiculous, like I said.  This should really have been a 20-minute drive, but it took us over 40 minutes to get home.  Much of the traffic is dominated by huge tour buses - they amaze us how they can maneuver through tiny streets and alleys, but they sure clog things up and slow things down.

We stayed in for our own New Year's Eve celebration - it would be just a little too crazy out there, and our driver had a party he could go to if we didn't need him.  It was easy to tell when it was midnight without Ryan Seacrest on the TV - fireworks started going off everywhere. I told Tim it was a nice change of pace from the usual gunshots back home!  We were able to watch a great show of fireworks from the comfort of our own deck - we could see five or six different shows at various distances from our place, and one that was right next door.  Great views, and we didn't have to fight traffic and the drunk drivers afterward.  Pretty sweet.

images from the TV

There was no Ryan Seacrest countdown, but there were several stations televising words of wisdom from holy men.  The New Year is a special time for Buddhists, and it is a time when many monks are out in public seeking donations.  You know how Wal-Mart has the little shops at the front of the store?   Tesco-Lotus has the same thing, although it's more gold jewelry and pharmaceuticals, and less Soft Pretzels and vision centers.  Well, for the New Year, a very old monk was sitting on a raised platform in one of these little shops.  He had to be at least 80-years-old, and was sitting absolutely still in the lotus position.  We thought he was a statue at first, and had to watch very closely to see him breathing.  And he stayed in this position for an amazingly long time, with all the hubbub of the store going on around him.  I don't think I could sit like that for more than a minute or two without having to adjust.  He was clearly in a deep, meditative state.  There was a collection box next to him for donations - I guess this is one way to do it.  He was there when we came in, and still there when we left nearly an hour later - fascinating.  (It didn't feel right to take a picture.)  It's funny that I feel respectful to the monks here, but didn't have much patience for the ones (mostly Hare Krishna) soliciting in the US.  Maybe it's easier to be more accepting of someone's differences when you are in their "house"? Wonder what the psychologists have to say about it...

I also saw many people praying on TV with strings touching their heads.  I was curious to find out what that was about.  What I learned is that the strings are attached to the Buddha, then strung up to the ceiling and down to the individuals praying in the temple.  This is done for special occasions, like the New Year, and are physical, symbolic representations of the blessings coming directly from Buddha to the individual.  Their head is the most sacred part of their body, which is why the string goes there. (My apologies if I have misrepresented anything here - it is the best interpretation I could find.)

The weather was lovely here in Thailand for the first day of the New Year.  For the first time in his life, Tim went golfing on New Years Day.  Hope you all have a great 2015 - ours is proving to be exceptional so far!