Tuesday, July 25, 2006: South Same Same

Thai teacher shot dead in front of class

Thirty of those shot dead have been teachers.

The brave warriors for Allah strike again. When it comes to a stand up fight they are totally useless so instead they go around murdering tree sappers, Buddhist monks, and school teachers.

Have I ever mentioned my contempt for them?

Monday, July 24, 2006: Gurgles Visits Again

I got to Curahee quite early today. The Miss Universe Pageant was on TV so all of the staff including the cleaning ladies were fixated on that. Thai’s love beauty contests. I did my usual and had my run then was overwhelmed by nausea once again. I got to the showers okay but still had to make a collect call to Gurgles the Vomit Clown before I could leave.

I had a bad motorcycle taxi experience afterwards. The guy started off with giving me all sorts of attitude as my Farang ass wasn’t worthy of riding on his stupid little Russian trained Circus Bear scooter. He of course went the long way to where I was headed. Then I had to watch Bonhomme EAT breakfast which was some sort of omelet with ham affair which he put ketchup all over. I almost honked again just from the idea. The rest of the day was running about and silliness by the end of which I had a splitting headache.

Now I have had five pieces of grilled chicken and I feel more at ease.

Sunday, July 23, 2006: Sunday at Siam Paragon

Today Sandy and I went over for a MK brunch. The wait for a seat in the 3 floor restaurant near Siam Square was about 15 minutes. We had our usual vegetarian platter. Sandy always gets various pork bits including heart parts and liver and I wait until she’s done to throw in some sliced beef. The only problem with MK is that even though you end up being stuffed to the gills the total calories for the whole meal will be 500 or some silly amount. Which is fine for Sandy but I am usually starving again an hour later.

We went over to Siam Paragon to see a small exhibition of Her Royal Highness the Princess’ photographs. There were also a number of photos by students take during the King’s 60th Jubilee. It was quite good and interesting to see inside the Palace grounds near Siam Centre which is walled off from view.

Afterwards we went to a few clothing stores as there was some big "up to 70 percent off sale" on that demanded Sandy go into every store on the second floor. Then we went down to Starbucks and hung out there for awhile. They have a Subway open across from the Starbucks and it was packed with Farang travelers all desperate for some “normal” food.

Afterwards we went back to the Redoubt by way of the BTS.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006: Fry Up & Throw Up

I had an unfortunate incident after running and gyming today. I went to the Dubliner which opens very early for a nice Irish breakfast about an hour after I was done at Curahee. I had felt sort of off while running but it passed once I was all showered and powdered. I had an excellent fry up that I thoroughly enjoyed and then once I had finished it all I had to run up the three flights of stairs to the toilet where I projectiled it into the white porcelain telephone. I felt fine after except that I had to go back down and pay for the breakfast I was not allowed to keep.

Saturday, July 15, 2006: EH LPB 2ube

Today I did my Saturday rounds. Sandy was off at Pet’s house so I made a trip to the Siam Center then moved eventually ending up at Pantip. I bought a few small things including a new mouse for Sandy’s computer as the one she has is acting up. I checked out the various music stores there but there was little of interest. One thing I have noticed in Bangkok is the abundance of Roland Sound Canvas boxes. It is as if a freighter full of these things sank in the harbor and they off loaded them to every store in the city. You can walk into any store that has used gear and find a stack of these midi boxes all on sale for what I would assume is close to their original cost. As the Roland MC-303 Groove Box has one built into it for its PCM sound generator I have never been remotely interested in buying one. Judging by the abundance of them no one else has either.

Today’s frivolous purchase was an Electro-Harmonix LPB 2ube tube pre-amp. Not a cheap item but something I have wanted since I got the new Zoom digital machine. Normally I wouldn’t be interested in something that can’t serve as a sound mangling device but I have wanted something to add a bit of punch and or warmth to the chain. The LPB 2ube is basically a dual tube, dual channel line level preamp. It has some limited over drive functions and can be routed with a short batch cord so that you can run the two channels in serial to get a Hendrix style tube distortion. It can be used as a channel splitter (mono in, left right out) as well.

When ever I go into Lucky Music where they sell the EH gear they all jump up and rush over to serve me. I’ve bought a few things there including the EH Octave Multiplexer. I don’t think they sell that many EH boxes and the bulk of their business seems to be piano and guitar lessons. The Electro-Harmonix gear is pretty high end stuff for this part of the world as it is made in the U.S.A. and priced accordingly. The EH LPB 2ube cost me 12,000 Baht (must hide receipt from Sandy) which is only 2000 Baht ($ 50 USD) less than my digital 8 track cost me. It is almost as big too.

Sandy went to Karaoke after Pet’s so she wasn’t back until late late. That gave me the whole evening to mess with machines and I had lots of fun putting my new bass through the 2ube. The difference was noticeable although I am a little at a loss as how to describe it. I also ran my Korg ER-1 beat box through it and messed with the over drive function. The results of that experiment were great. The ER-1 sounded older, bigger and hairier than ever. One thing about the 2ube is that it produces ZERO line noise or hum. So when I used it in clean mode with the bass it was totally transparent. When I used it in the dirty mode with the ER-1 it was dirty but with out any annoying line hum as I would get from the Chinese distortion pedal. I think that my digital analog modeling keyboards like the Micro Korg or my sample based Emu Vintage Keys box will benefit greatly from this pre-amp. I think that in the future all my stuff will pass through the tubes before reaching the digital.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006: New New DVD Player

Sandy and I decided to ditch the “new” DVD player and replace it with a no-name brand. The reason for this is that the no-name brands will play ANY DVD you slap in them, including home burned ones. The name brand machines all seem to be tweaked in a way that they refuse to play any thing that isn’t brand spanking new in order to discourage people from playing “pirate” DVDs.

I have noticed that my older store bought music DVDs such as my King Crimson Live DVDs cack up or crash because of this. The whole business of “pirate” DVDs could be addressed by the name brands if the movie industry would stop trying to sell mass produced (ie: costs them 2 cents a disc) DVDs for what amounts to the same price as a cheap DVD player. When the average rent for the average Thai is about 4000 Baht it is unlikely that the same person is going to spend 1500 Baht on a “real” DVD. As for me I can afford to pay more for a read DVD but I resent the name brands sneaky form of imposed enforcement. The ultimate result of this policy is that in this market no-name brands like A.J. out sell the name brands ten to one.

We sold our machine to Sandy’s sister (who only plays VCDs which are immune to all this anti-piracy nonsense) for 2000 Baht and bought an A.J. machine from Big C for 4000 Baht.

Sunday, July 9, 2006: Back to Bangkok

Last night at around 11:30 pm Rene and I went off to the EDSA complex in search of the live Lebanese band. I didn’t realize how many “Arab” go-go bars where in that place. We would go from one to another asking the staff if they remembered the place that was on the first floor and whether the band was still around somewhere. Each place would say yes, and then send us to the next place which would in turn send us to another place. Arab disco music is truly a weird item. First of all it seems to be in either 5/4 or 7/8 opposed to the Western 4/4 beat. The second odd thing about it is that no matter how good or modern the production values are the strings always sound like they are being blared out of the single speaker on a small 1972 TV set.

Eventually at about 3:30 am we found the Lebanese band. I was shocked they actually remembered us. The band was only a trio however, consisting of the jolly little bald vocalist, the thin Ud player and a percussionist. We stayed at watched them play for a few hours. The bar had a few Arab guys in it who were dancing around like lunatics and stuffing peso notes into the garb of the belly dancers. Rene and I ordered in a Pizza and enjoyed the show.

I managed to roll out of bed at around 9:00 am and it wasn’t easy. I only had about 2 three hours sleep. I think if I’d been drinking I would still be there. I had a morning swim then went for breakfast in Café Uno. Afterwards I sorted out my stuff, packed and got ready to go. I checked out at 11:30 am and Rene picked me up in the Peninsula Mercedes and took me to the Airport.

Note to travelers. Never stand in a line with anyone who isn’t Japanese or Chinese. I have learned this from my several years of travel here. One reason is that officials outside of the West aren’t burdened with things like political correctness and they will hassle anyone they deem worthy of it. This means everyone except well dressed Europeans, Japanese or Chinese.

Once I’d been processed through immigration I bought Sandy some perfume from Duty Free and headed on to my Gate. My flight was at 3:30 and was pretty full. Most of the passengers seemed to be Japanese. The plane was a Boeing 777 which was a pleasure to fly in. Even though I was seated in the rear of the plane and the first hour was bumpy the 777 didn’t rattle and shake like it was passing through a worm-hole as those crappy Airbus’ do. Our landing was a bit of a shocker though. The weather was clear in Bangkok but it must have been windy as when we came down with a thunk it was as if we were lifted again or bounced over to the left. There was a collective gasp from everyone on the entire plane as we came down with another thud and rolled to a stop as per usual. I really thought we were going to go off the runway when it happened and I am not easily spooked during air travel.

There was almost no one in Immigration so I was through that in about five minutes, a process that in the past has taken over an hour. Sandy was waiting for me out in the reception area and we took a taxi back to the Redoubt after.

Home again home again jiggity jig, as my Father would have said.

Saturday, July 8, 2006: No Taal

Last night I met up with Steamer and we hung out for about two hours. He came buy the Mandarin and met up with me in the Café Uno. We headed out to a few places after and ended up on P. Burgos. Rene met up with us there and afterwards Rene and I headed out in the Red Car to the old post-M recovery zone of The Firehouse. The bar with the live Lebanese band is no longer there but apparently they are playing somewhere near by although we never found them. Anyways it was just like old times except I was sober. Sandy called me from Bangkok while we were there which was funny as she was out with Pooh and friends and NOT sober.

On the way back to the Mandarin from the Firehouse we saw these guys hanging off the back of a transport truck pulling a buggy of some sort with their legs. I took a bunch of photos but they were a bit dark.

I got up this morning at 8:30 am. Rene and I had planned to go to the Taal Volcano near Tagatay today. I had a swim which was out standing. I also had a sandwich for breakfast while sitting beside the pool which was nice. That is something I couldn’t really afford to do much of back in 2001.

After I ate I headed back to my room and got ready to go to Taal. Rene picked me up at 10:30 am and we headed toward Tagatay. It started raining as we got out of Manila. We stopped at the Starbucks in rest stop that we used to stop at and had a coffee there. It really began to come down hard while we were there but backed off a bit when we headed out again.

The drive to Tagatay didn’t seem nearly as long as I remember it being. I am not sure why this is. Perhaps it is because I am used to Bangkok traffic now, where a trip from one end of the city to the other can take two hours or if it’s because of all those long drives to Cambodia on visa runs.

The Taal Volcano is located on an island in the Taal Lake. This lake is quite big and from looking at from the cliffs of Tagatay you would think it’s actually an inlet from the ocean. When we arrived in Tagatay we went to the restaurant on the side of the cliffs that we used to frequent for a big bowl of beef soup called bulaloo. The restaurant was packed full of people including many Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese tourists. There was still a live band that would wander from table to table with acoustic guitars and a stand up bass serenading people while they ate. Rene ordered food and we ate. The bulaloo was outstanding. It was odd to have a beef based soup as the Thais don’t really eat much beef and if they are from the country like Sandy is they consider it in absolute bad form the same way that Westerners view eating dog.

The band serenaded me with a Beatles song before we left. I think that 200 years from now people will still sing Beatles songs they way they sing folk songs now. At least in the Philippines anyways. As we were walking back to the Red Car we could see a black sky approaching at it was clear there was no way we were going to get across to the Volcano. The storm hit us about two minutes after we were driving at it rendered visibility to zero. We drove up this high point and into a small market area. I made a dash for the toilet while Rene bought some fresh pineapple, a whole pile of it for 50 pesos. Afterwards we drove down towards Tagatay and then out back towards Manila.

On our way back to Manila we stopped in the area where Rene has bought a small house. His Mother lives there although she wasn’t home when we arrived and Rene couldn’t find her around nearby. Apparently she was getting her hair done. We hung out there for about half an hour then drove back to Manila. Again I was shocked at how quickly we got back to the Mandarin. I was quite disappointed we didn’t get to go up the Volcano again. I’ll have to come back in the fall to give it another go.

I was back at the Hotel at around 6:30 pm and I decided to go up to the spa and have a 90 minute massage. It was amazing. When it was over I was shocked to see it was 9:00 pm. I thought the whole thing was over rather quickly until I put my watch on. Afterwards I went back to my room and texted Commando as we’d talked about going to Persian Kabob for some food. I met her over there (it was a five minute stroll from the Hotel) at 9:30 pm. We had an outstanding meal with the exception of a dodgy lamb kabob. After we’d finished eating I walked with her back to her building. That was a strange walk as it was down past Crown Tower and along my old route to work. She’s in a building they were only putting up when I lived here.

Friday, July 7, 2006: Back in Makati

Yesterday afternoon I flew out of Bangkok to Manila. Sandy came with me to the airport. The flight went at 3:30 pm and I sat for a while at the same gate I flew to Laos from which was sort of weird, although I’m not sure why exactly.

This group of young western tourists came and sat near by, three girls and a guy. They planted themselves near me and it was sort of horrifying. I realize that being an old geezer makes me unworthy to render opinions on what sort of trendy things the youth of today wears but I have enough life experience to be horrified when confronted with the likes of this. The young ladies were all a bit plump. Not overly so, in fact if they weren’t dressed like Russian hookers one might not have noticed. They all had attractive faces but they were all wearing low-rider jeans that were far too tight for their body size. The most attractive of the three had the fellow in tow. The pants she was wearing may have fit around her hips but they caused all the flesh above them to form a strange tube above the belt line. She faced her rump towards me while she fiddled with her carry on bag and I was confronted with a “belly” hanging over her butt. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a back-belly before. To top it all off she had the word JUICY emblazoned across her ass. During the boarding process I noticed they all proclaimed a JUICY ass including the guy. The term “juicy” in regards to one’s hindquarters doesn’t inspire the most pleasant image in my mind. It just doesn’t sound very healthy to me. Fortunately the Juicy Fruits sat far from me on the flight.

The flight was okay. I have noticed that Thai Airways have reinstated the metal cutlery however I have also notice that over the last year their food quality has taken a nose dive. The approach in to Manila was a bit bumpy but we landed okay and before long I was walking down towards the customs booths. It was sort of strange walking through the airport. I was deserted and it reminded me so much of the first time I walked through that hallway in 2000. I went through and got my passport stamped then walked out to the taxi area. They have added a Hotel pick up area that consists of several glassed in waiting rooms. I went to the Peninsula Hotel room and waited for Rene to pick me up. I had forgotten how friendly the Philippinos are to foreigners. The Thais hold “Farang” with a degree of contempt. It was nice to be greeted differently.

Rene showed up and off we went in the Mercedes. I seem to remember the drive to Makati from the airport being longer but before I knew it we were there. I picked up a sim card for my phone from Glorietta Mall then Rene drove me to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel where I am staying. I checked in and went up to my room which is quite nice. It is certainly a step up from that awful place I was at in Singapore during my April Visa run.

I met up with Commando last night. She lives nearby down my old street so she walked over and we took a taxi to Greenbelt and had some excellent nachos at Chillis. It occurs to me now that the last time I was in that restaurant was on September 11, 2001 and it was where we watched the events unfold on CNN.

We ate and talked until 11:30 pm or so then took a taxi back up to the Mandarin. It was raining a little bit but not too much.

Today I got up at around 8:30 am. I was starved so I headed out in search of breakfast. I had planned to eat breakfast at the hotel but I sort of wanted to walk down to Greenbelt, past my old stomping grounds. I walked down past the Makati Stock Exchange tower and on to Greenbelt. It was funny how familiar it all seemed. It was shocking actually to look up and see a building I had once lived in. It was in some ways as if nothing had changed in six years. Changes were more evident as I got to Greenbelt. The mall has been renovated and expanded. I found a small place and had an excellent meal. Then I headed back to the Hotel.

Later this afternoon I went out again and walked down to the music store I bought my Korg ER-1 from in 2000. That was a strange walk because it took me past my old apartment building “Crown Tower” where my bedroom alone was as big as my current apartment. The music store was disappointing though. Prices were outrageous compared to Bangkok and the selection wasn’t as good as it was back in 2000. After I had looked around there I headed up towards Makati Ave again and went to the internet place I used to frequent back in the dark days of 2001. That was also sort of a bizarre “nothing has changed” experience. I checked my email there and then walked back to the Mandarin and went for a swim.

The pool has changed slightly. The difference is now it is accessed from the second floor not from the gym in the basement. Apparently the gym is being moved to the second floor as well. I was surprised at how much sitting by that pool felt like a home coming. I spent many hours their of course in 2000 as we had our Karate classes beside it, and in 2001 it was my refuge from things as well as being part of the reason for joining the Mandarin gym. For dinner tonight I had spaghetti at the Mandarin. It was outstanding. The portions here certainly dwarf the tiny portions one gets in Thailand.

Monday, July 3, 2006: New DVD Player

We have had a variety of devices die or malfunction all with in a short period of time. The most annoying thing to die was the DVD player. Or maybe that was the most expensive. The last movie that was played on it was “Chasing Amy” which might be part of the reason the device took after Mr. Bo Jangles’ dog and “up and died”. What ever the case today was the exciting day to travel to Big C and buy a new one.

I was Johnny Grumpasaurous today because, much to Sandy’s annoyance, when she’s not around I often forget to eat. This is especially true if I am busy with my music machines. So I hadn’t eaten last night and suddenly it was 24 hours since I’d had any food. We went to the MK in Big C and had a much needed feast. Afterwards we went down to the electronics department and started the great search. There were a lot of unknown brands that would probably be prone to electrical fires. The only familiar brands were Phillips and Pioneer. The staff pushed the Pioneer which was the same price as the other due to the fact it was manufactured in Thailand not China. We ended up going with that one.

When we got outside it was clear that a big rain was coming. The sky to the west was a dark blue and moving towards us. We had to scramble to find a taxi and even then we had to pay 100 baht off the meter to get him to take us. This bothered Sandy but I agreed to it as $ 2.50 is a small price to pay to avoid getting totally soaked. It started coming down about two minutes later and the visibility was zero. We made our way back to the Redoubt and had to hop out and run to the cover of the entrance.

Saturday, July 1, 2006: Shopping Day

Sandy went over to Pet’s today. I had some things I needed to take care of so I didn’t go along. My hair hadn’t been cut in a month so I was beginning to get these “Space 1999” sideburns.

I went over to MBK where the first order of business was to get a new supply of contacts. After I had picked those up I walked around a bit looking at clothes but didn’t find anything I wanted to buy. I crossed over to Siam Discovery and picked up a copy of “Future Music” and then went to the Siam Center were I had Vietnamese food for lunch.

Siam Center had hundreds of teens milling around outside of this Radio Station DJ Booth that is located right next to the Vietnamese Restaurant. I have no idea who was there, whether it was a Thai Pop Star or some Korean lip-syncing sensation but I had to make this big detour to bypass the crowd.

After I had eaten I made a stop at Starbucks and read there for a while as it was raining. I headed back across through Siam Discovery then went and got my hair cut. On my way back to the Redoubt I stopped at the Music Shop in Cocowalk and saw what they had in… NOT that I am going to buy anything… They did have a GR-20 Guitar synth. I’m not as interested in it though as the GR-30 is keeping me busy enough. (The GR-20 is the latest Roland Guitar synth. I don’t think its sound engine is much more advanced that the older GR-30)

I got home just before a big rain hit. Sandy got home at around 10:00 pm and I was warbling away on my gear so I didn't hear her knocking at the door.

Sandy and I watched the Football Match between England and Portugal which Portugal won. I was surprised to see that the English team's uniform lacked a proper St. George’s Cross on it. The only indication of the flag was this altered red cross on the players shoulders the tips of which taper to a point as if to make it less cross like. I’m not sure whether this was intended to be less offensive to religious fanatics who are still upset about a war that happened 1100 years ago but it was a stupid design. If England is that ashamed of its own flag it doesn’t deserve to win anything.