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.