Tuesday, January 31, 2006: Living in '82...

I kept waking up this morning only to find I wasn't really in the shower getting ready to go out, but that I wasn't awake at all and it was another dream that I was... Very Phillip K. Dick of me. Anyways eventually I was ACTUALLY awake although I was still rather suspect until the point I on the BTS. I definately knew I was wasn't dreaming when I was halfway through my run.

Today is some big Temple/Lunar New Year related day on the Buddhist Calendar and thus Sandy is at World Trade with Dexa buying more bras or something. I think they are going to the Temple tomorrow.

Tonight I am watching yet enough other transfered from High8 to DVD mystery special. This video dates from Sept 14, 1997. Oh how much simpler life seemed then. Currently the Dreamlogic posse is eating at "The Neon Lobster". Richard F is going on about "grapenuts" which seems to have been a fixation of his at the time.

I have also transfered several old rolls of negatives to CD and was shocked at the contents. Some astounding pre-historic documentation of my first... err... girlfriend circa 1982. Considering the photographic evidence proves my dorkishness during that time I'm amazed I landed such a hot 80's babe.

Huzzah for 1982! (although 1984 was a much better year...)

Before all other letters was J. Here she is in all her 1980s New Wave glory.

For those of the Thomson clan this photo was taken directly in front of 'our' old house in Vancouver. We moved away from there in 1969 but for my siblings this would be the house they would probably think of first in conjunction with the concept of "Mom & Dad & Home". I forget which street it was on now, but I'm sure someone will email me and remind me...

Monday, January 30, 2006: Year of the Dog

Well Lappy is up and running again. I spent a great deal of the weekend reloading all my software. I did have a chance to play music a bit on Saturday when Sandy went over to her Sisters. I soundscaped for about an hour and then just played guitar for a while.

Sunday Sandy and I went over to World Trade and met up with Dexa, Pooh and one other friend of theirs. We went to MK for a big meal. Afterwards they rushed off to catch the Korean period piece/soap-opera/cooking show (soup opera?) that is the craze in Thailand right now. Sandy is not as fanatical about it and there was a sale on underwear so that took priority.

It was Chinese New Year so there were a lot of people out and about. We headed back to the Redoubt by foot, which seemed like a longer walk than normal.

Thursday, January 26, 2006: Major Matt Meltdown

Bah... That problem I had with Lappy back in '05 was clearly a HARDWARE problem not a software one. Today the problem returned and I was forced to make a trip to Pantip to try and recover and repair the situation.

Thankfully I found a shop that could both for a reasonable fee. In the end they managed to retrieve "My Documents" (Christmas photos, ACID PRO projects, rendered video and assorted scribblings) from the wonky drive and reinstall a new one. The nicest part was it only cost 100 bucks. That includes the new hard drive. In Canada it would have been 200 bucks just for the tech to wake up and crawl out of bed at 2:00 pm.

However ... reinstalling iTunes is proving to be a big headache. I have my music files on my Seagate external drive so I haven't lost those but it just doesn't want to reinstall iTunes for some dumbass reason.

Un-happy-mac-nam indeed.

Saturday, January 21, 2006: Thin Amp

Today I went out at around noon in search of some food. Sandy was out last night at a friend’s birthday part and didn’t get in until late so she was still asleep. I walked over to the Siam Center and had some Pho at the Vietnamese place there.

Afterwards I walked over to the new mall next door which is called The Paragon or something. It’s a huge upscale mall that has a Ferrari showroom on the third floor. I searched around for CD Shops or music stores. The place seems kind of empty still as not all the shops are up and running. I did find a music shop but it seemed to have the exact same stock as the place in Siam Discover and the same prices.

Afterwards I walked over to the Siam Discover and went to the music shop there where I bought this “Thin Amp”. The Thin Amp is a small practice amp but has a big sound and some okay built in digital effects. It is about the size of a laptop and is about the same thickness of a closed laptop. I got it, some more patch cords and then walked back towards the Redoubt. I stopped at the Roland music shop near Pantip along the way and looked at this one Godin guitar I would love to have. It has the Roland GK pick-up built in already…

Tonight Sandy met Dexa and her Farang boyfriend Mike for dinner, then after went out with Chris, Joe and some other people from the tour-guide zone Finland Pete’s final send off as he leaves tomorrow. I didn’t feel like going out but did feel like making noise.

Once Sandy had left I soundscaped 5:00 pm until 6:30 pm. It was the first time since 1999. I ran my guitar through the Sherman and into the 12-Second delay which I brought back from Canada after Christmas. After I practiced guitar for a while then went to Fresh Milk for some food. I spend the rest of the evening recording additional tracks on top of some stuff Justin M, Chris C and I had recorded in Toronto in early January.

Monday, January 16, 2006: I Want My Juicy?

I woke up originally at 6:30 am but slipped back to sleep until about 8:00 am. I got up and went to the gym. It is so beautiful out now. I just love being able to walk along in the sun shine listening to music.

The gym was okay. I ran, which was… interesting. I’m still not quite up to where I was but I think in a few weeks I will be. Sit ups were interesting. I can do them but my gut hurts from last time still. Everything else was slightly more difficult than it was before but that will pass with time.

Lunch was MK which I ate alone. I had the big vegetarian plate and ate it all save for the various mushrooms and other odd looking things. It was a good meal.

Today's ridiculous T-Shirt was worn by some lady I saw on the BTS.
It said "I Want My Juicy" in giant letters.

Saturday, January 14, 2006: China Town & Beyond

I am not sure whose time zone my body clock is on but it doesn’t seem to be any better than when I was in Canada. I woke up today at the unlikely hour of 6:30 am and was totally unable to go back to sleep so I got up. Sandy got up at around 11:00 am.

Today we went out to China town for lunch. We haven’t made that trip in a while. I always get a kick out of how the Thai letters are done with that “Chinese food” style lettering there. Lots of blocky characters with serifs for everyone. Our first stop was at a gold dealer as Sandy had to trade a ring that was too small for a chain to put her Buddha on. There was about 20 minutes of indecision over which particular chain to buy.

Afterwards we walked over to the same Sharks Fin soup restaurant that Arnand took me to back in 2002. Sandy wanted duck so we had that with some rice and mixed vegetables as well as some outstanding shrimp wanton soup.

After we had eaten we walked back towards the way we’d came and got a tuk tuk to MBK. It was the most frightening tuk tuk ride I’ve ever had. I was like he thought he was in that Pod race from "Star Wars: Phantom of the Menace". Sandy claims all the tuk tuk drivers from China town are maniacs though. We were both happy to get out when we got to MBK. From there we walked across to the Siam plaza area were Sandy dropped off some jeans to be hemmed. Afterwards we crossed to the Siam Center and waited to meet Finland Pete at Starbucks.

At 7:00 pm we had to walk back across and Sandy picked up her jeans. Then it was on to the Hard Rock Café for some food. Afterwards we went to one of the beer gardens at the World Trade Center and finished the night off at the chicken place near by.

Friday, January 13, 2006: Sunshine Day

I was really really sore today. I did a little running about though having to change some more money to Thai Baht. I started my day off with a trip to Pantip though and did my rounds of the music stores along the way. The goal at Pantip was to get a step down power adaptor for the 12-Second delay. That cost only 200 Baht.

I had lunch at “Fresh Milk” afterwards then took care of a few errands.

It was so beautiful out today that I walked most places just so I could enjoy the sunshine. I feel like I haven’t seen the sun in years. I took a trip over to Bonhommes this afternoon.

Tonight on my way home I picked up some wanton soup from the street vender near Fresh Milk for Sandy and me. We had it and watched a movie. That made me feel like I'm home more than anything so far.

Thursday, January 12, 2006: Back

I woke up early and went over to the gym. I haven’t run in four weeks and thanks to the bounty of Christmas I have packed on some extra pudding. Not a good thing. I’m sure I’ll be in pain tomorrow.

After the gym I walked over to the Times Square building and visited the perpetually empty sports store and bought a new pair of walking around boots. In order to save baggage space I left my others in Canada… with the same pair that I left last year. After I picked those up (and 15% off) I did some shopping then headed over to Siam Center. The new mall next door is now completed but I’ve yet to go there. I got some Vietnamese for lunch and that was great. Then I walked over to Siam Discovery and eventually on to change some money.

Sandy was a lot better today so we went out this evening with Thai tour guide Chris and his wife to a place over near Silom called the Night Bizarre. There is a huge open air beer garden there than unlike most other beer gardens this one isn’t beside a major road. Chris’ friend from Finland named Pete came along and we were eventually joined by Pete’s Scandie pal whose name I have forgotten.

There was live music (cover bands) on the stage which we thankfully were sitting far enough away from and all around the edge of the beer garden were various food venders. I got some broiled chicken with this specific style of rice that is cooked in the chicken broth. Mmmmmm. Thai portions so after the endless eating at Christmas it seemed like a snack. It was so nice to sit OUTSIDE under the moon in the warm summer air and hang out.

We stayed until 11:00 pm by which time everyone but me was tipsy and Pete was totally mangled and making a fool of himself. Sandy and I grabbed a taxi and headed back to the Redoubt.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006: The Flight Back

Jayne drove me out to the airport Monday night at around 7:00 pm. Will and Alexia were sad they couldn’t tag along but they have school tomorrow. Their Auntie Karen came by to baby-sit them as Paul had to go out as well.

We got to the airport in good time and then I got my boarding pass. I sat with Jayne and had a coffee as there was a little time left but at 8:30 pm I said goodbye and went through security. I had my 12-second delay in my new black MEC bag which I was sure would prompt questions but the security guy was more interested in my watch. Once through I went to the Starbucks and hung out there until it was time to board.

I have to say the flight to Anchorage and on to Hong Kong went by quicker than any other trip either way. I am not sure if this is due to my sleeping in four hour fits or because I had the iPod set on “shuffle” with over 6000 songs to chose from. In any event suddenly we were in Alaska to refuel and change air crews, and then it was on to Hong Kong.

During the flight I re-read the Science Fiction classic “Forever War” which I originally had read when I was about 14. I also watched some in-flight video but that was mostly to the soundtrack of the shuffle setting. I kept jumping back and forth between “Dukes of Hazzard” and “The Transporter 2” trying to decide which was stupider. I think “Transporter 2” was the winner. At least “Dukes” was supposed to be funny.

Once in Hong Kong I went through security and up to the departures zone. There was an hour before my flight so I bought Sandy a new watch in the Duty Free area then went to my gate. We boarded almost straight away then it was off to Bangkok. We landed at 10:50 am.

The part of the trip that seemed the longest was standing in line at Passport Control. The Thai Immigration staff seemed few in number and the ones working didn’t seem to be in a big hurry. My iPod’s battery died at this point (20 hours of use!) so there was no sonic refuge from this British woman’s three uncontrollable kids who were shrieking, running around and fighting.

Once through immigration I collected my one checked bag and went out and found Sandy. She’s been ill the last week but came out anyways. We got a taxi then headed back to the Redoubt.

Home again home again jiggity jig.

It’s sunny!!! It’s 30 degrees C!!!

After the grayness and cold of Ontario suddenly I’m in “summer” weather. And Sandy is here with me.