Tuesday, October 31, 2006: Macau
"We taken a speedy moto boat?"
Today I took the “Turbo Jet” boat to Macau. That is an hour ride across the water to what is basically the Portuguese version of Hong Kong. It was a colony up until the late 1990s when it was handed back to China. Like it’s former British counterpart it remains a “special administrative district”, which means although the Peoples Republic now owns it and gets a piece of the action it is for all purposes its own country. The big draw on Macau at this point is the Casinos. Gambling is legal here so there are large Casinos and apparently the Las Vegas folk are now staking a claim here. Other than that Macau is much like what Hong Kong would have been like 30 years ago. Somewhat run down and gritty and cheap.
The hotel was cheaper than Hong Kong and not too bad. But it did lack many of the things one comes to expect in this modern day, such as in room internet. Anyways I settled in then went out for an exploration of the city.
Shopping Zone
I managed to get to this one touristy shopping zone that was quite nice There were lots of old colonial buildings that were renovated and lost of small European style lanes full of little shops and so forth.
The Ruins of St. Paul's
I found my way up to the ruins of this old Church that is a major land mark as well as a fortress that was from the Portuguese days. That was a climb and walk to get up to but it gave a good view of the whole city and the harbor.
The Fortress
I had dinner at a small Portuguese restaurant were I had some outstanding soup and a steak. Then it was back to the Hotel. Later tonight I wandered around the Casino area. There were a lot of mainland Chinese men changing unbelievable amounts of cash at the money changers then wandering off to the various Casinos.
The Grand Diamond Holiday Inn - classy no?
This area lacked the charm of the old Portuguese area. It was a cross between your standard Chinatown filth and the gaudiness of Niagara Falls. There were Russian girls a plenty sitting at laneway cafes waiting for the Chinese, Indian and Arab fellows take them up on their obvious offerings.
The Laneways
At 10:30 I took a 10 Macau dollar taxi ride back to the hotel (which I later figured out would have been a 2 minute walk) and called it a night.
Tomorrow its back to Hong Kong.
Sunday, October 29, 2006: Deep Hurting!
"Today's experiment is a little stinker called Domino..."
Last night Sandy and I watched the Tony Scott (Ridley’s younger brother) movie “Domino” which Sandy picked up on DVD for about 49 Baht. The movie is loosely based on the life of a model turned bounty hunter and is very possibly the movie that Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank were searching for all those years as I am certain that not even Joel Robinson and the Bots would have survived this one. I give it the distinguished prize as THE WORST MOVIE I’VE EVER SEEN, knocking “Water World” out of the number one spot.
“Domino” should have been called “Domino: The Movie That Tried Too Hard”. It is one of those shoot em up “road movies” in the Tarintino tradition. That however is a horse that was beaten to death in slow motion a long time ago and as much as this hunk of pooh tries to be hip, clever, alternative and ground breaking it ends up being dated, stupid, contrived and clichéd,
Visually it is an assault on the eye balls. The shaky-cam camera work is as watchable as Christmas videos shot when the nephews and nieces get a hold of the camcorder. It looks like it was edited together by an attention-deficit film student with a meth problem. Editing? Sorry, that would suggest TAKING OUT THE BITS YOU DON’T NEED. Instead this does the opposite including repeated bits of dialog and sticking in captions.
"Cowbells... It needs more cowbells..."
Plot? Script? Anyone seen those around? Apparently they got lost. I’ve had dreams this week that had more coherent plots including that one about the cat vomiting egg. This is one of those movies where I don’t really care about anyone in it beyond the hopes that the actors were paid well to be in such an embarrassing train wreck. Oh there is a sub-plot about a sick kid who needs an operation or something but it’s stuck into the movie like a piece of leftover ABC’s “After School Special” and after two hours of ultra-violence and unsteady-cam stupidity who cares? Just make it end PLEASE!
There are some big name actors in this, who I guess were hoping for some kind of “Pulp Fiction” moment but alas not even Tom Waits as a highway wandering Pentecostal Preacher can heal this stink fest of a film.
"Don't go into that barn!"
Sandy’s review: “That hurt my head”.
Honey, that movie hurt everybody’s head.
Monday, October 23, 2006: The South
Phone bomb rips through group of monks in Thailand
AP, BANGKOK
Monday, Oct 23, 2006, Page 1
Advertising A bomb in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand ripped through a column of Buddhist monks as they were begging for alms yesterday, killing a Marine and injuring a dozen other people, police said.
The attack came a day after Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said he would use Indonesia's peace process with separatist rebels in Aceh Province as an example in trying to solve the Muslim insurgency in southern Thailand. More than 1,700 people have died in the south since early 2004.
Police Lieutenant Narong Buakong said a mobile telephone-triggered bomb went off early yesterday outside an electronics shop in the city of Narathiwat as the monks were passing by to collect food offerings.
The bomb killed one Marine and injured four other Marines who were escorting the monks, five of whom were injured, he said. Three civilians standing nearby were also wounded.
Sunday, October 15, 2006: Back from Korat
I woke up at about 5:00 am this morning when every creature great and small began crowing, chirping, squawking, and barking simultaneously. Then on top of the animal insect jamboree the Buddhist monks at what ever nearby Temple began banging out gamelan patterns on their whoseville ting-tinglers. In my more romantic youth I might have found this exotic and poetry inspiring. Not today. All that it inspired was for me to grunt to Sandy to “make them stop!”
Somehow I actually fell back to sleep. Sandy was up and out to the Temple as it was her Birthday yesterday. I don’t really recall her going very clearly. She did wake me up when she came back with a cup of tea.
The day (for me) was spent relaxing under the cool of the house. I did wander the grounds a bit as the mud was dry and it was quite sunny out. Sandy and Pooh went off with their Mom to collect various fruits, herbs and vegetables to bring back to the city. There were plenty of mangos to pick.
Sandy's VERY Traditional Mother
We headed out at around 1:30 pm. The drive back was nice and scenic. We stopped once at this roadside lawn ornament and idol vender. It had a large collection of truly bizarre lawn items ranging from the racist Sambo and Sambette to Ultraman to standard Buddhist and Hindu deities and sub-deities to what was either Hobbits or Irish characters. It turns out Sandy felt the need to buy too “heavenly” Lions to “guard” our apartment via the balcony as the road comes directly towards it and some how that is bad luck.
Lawn and Garden Gnomes
For the Curio Extravaganza we drove for awhile until we came to this roadside stop that seemed to be connected some how to a Western style ranch. There were various shops that sold real ice cream, milk, cowboy memorabilia and pastries. It turned out that this was the place Sandy always gets these amazing pineapple tarts that she brings home whenever she visits Korat. I bought some Orange sherbet and Sandy stocked up on fresh milk and pastries.
Milk Zone
It was sort of bizarre as the place was absolutely packed with people who’d pulled off of the highway or unloaded themselves from buses. The Western style of the place was also odd to see from a Farang perspective. It would be like driving towards Calgary and suddenly hitting a some kind of rice farm with water buffalo and shops with also sorts of “Asia” stuff in it.
We were there for about half an hour then we headed on to take Min back to her place. We got in to Mike and Dangs at around dusk. The water leaves in that area are quite high and some of the older crossings were flooded out. We got to their place no problem then Ree and Tum left to go to Pet’s. Sandy and I were too beat to join them so we took a taxi back to the City at around 7:00 pm.
It is nice to be home.
Saturday, October 14, 2006: Korat City
I have no idea what time it is. It could be 8:00 pm but it feels like midnight. I’m at Sandy’s Parents house in Korat. ~ Right now I’m all smoked out from Pooh’s attempts at fire starting that basically filled the front part of the house with smoke. My eyes are stinging from it too ~
We got up at 6:30 am today. That wasn’t easy. Once I was up I packed a few things then at 7:30 am or so we headed out by taxi to this rest-stop area by the highway. We met Pooh and eventually Sandy’s older sister Ree and her husband Tum (who own the watch shop for those keeping track at home) they had Sandy’s niece Min with them. From there we all got into the watch shop pick up truck and headed to Korat. It was about a three hour drive. I sort of dozed off until the first rest stop then I was pretty much awake after that.
The Monument
The country up near Korat is a lot like the Fraser Valley. We stopped by this lake to see some monument/shrine to some girl who helped defend Korat from the Burmese. The area around the lake reminded me so much of Hope, or Harrison Hot Springs or that Agassi area across the bridge from Rosedale.
Bizarre.
The road to Sandy's Parents
We drove another half an hour or so to Sandy’s Parents house. It is very Thai. The standard wooden house on stilts and very little furniture. It’s actually quite big inside and is divided into several empty seeming rooms. There are lots of photos, particularly from Pooh graduating from University and getting her diploma from the Prince Regent. The kitchen is on the balcony area next to what is seems to be the dining room. Of course it being Thai style there are no tables or chairs. I had to eat dinner sitting my Farang Butt on this wooden floor. It felt for all the world like something from the Klondike gold rush were the furniture has been all used for firewood to survive the winter snow.
The Jungle Outpost
~ anyways ~
The afternoon was spent sitting in the cool under the house. It was pissing rain when we arrived but that didn’t last long. I explored the grounds around the house and got my boots covered in the red clay that serves as dirt here. It cleared up as we ate some lunch and afterwards Sandy, Pooh, Min, Ree and Tum took me to “the water falls”. Again the landscape on the way to this place could have passed as the Fraser Valley if there wasn’t the occasional coconut tree. Over all the vegetation here is more scrub than ‘jungle’.
The Waterfall
The “waterfall” was what would qualify as a large creek with lots of rapids. There was one bit that I wouldn’t want to fall over into but it really reminded me of the creek near the old Pentecostal Holiness Church Camp in Columbia Valley near Cultas Lake. The trees around it were this white birch like things and being there totally took me back to my youth. All that was missing was Jon or Keith to fall in and cut their knees open for the full effect. ~
Could this be Canada?
We drove back to the house and hung around more. Sandy’s Dad has these two crazy little fury black dogs named Pepsi and Cola. No one seems to know which is which though = not that it matters as they are always together. I watched them run around and dig holes etc until it came time to go into town to the market.
The Market
That was an experience. This place isn’t somewhere tourists or even back packers come to. Everyone was friendly though. More so that in Bangkok. One shop owner was even happy to speak English to me. I saw Sandy’s old school which I guess was her High school although I’m not sure if they break up the grades the same way we do. Shopping was done then we headed back to the House.
Traffic Jam
Sandy bought these donut-like things which you can only get here. Perhaps it’s a good thing. They were sort of like “Tim Bits” or “Donut Holes”, small round doughy and deep-fried except that they were slightly salty and were about 1000 times better tasting than any donut I’ve had in my life. They were also still warm. If we’d had them in BC growing up Jon and I would have lived on them. ~
Again … the whole time we drove I was reminded of BC. Being in a pick up might have been part of it ~
We got back and I sat under the house and played guitar. Min seems to be able to see as when it was sunny she could navigate around the yard quite well. Only when dusk fell did she start to walk into stuff. She can though, given enough light, see shapes and colors. A definite improvement from before and I can’t help remember her in the Hospital in 2002. I was sure she’d never make it. ~
NOW ~ it is night.
Smoke. They are cooking rice with coconut wrapped in some sort of palm leaves in a big caldron over a fire. Sandy and I brought tea and condensed milk which was a wise move on our part.
SO IT GOES…
I can’t help but think of what a great rehearsal space this house would make!
~
Tuesday, October 10, 2006: Flood
This evening a big storm blew in. I came in from the North and was very apocalyptic in its arrival with lots of biblical thundering and lightening and a “let my people go” darkness that came just before all the rain. I managed to get back to the New Apartment just before it let loose and I got a few photos of it’s arrival.
Sandy however didn’t make it back and was stuck for quite some time at one BTS Station while the waters rose and the streets and sidewalks disappeared. I could actually see cars leaving boat like wakes behind them from our place. Sandy had a much closer view of the flood though. She eventually walked back to the New Apartment and got some photos along the way.
This would be the worst flood I’ve seen here since 2001 however their has been massive flooding everywhere outside of the city for a while due to all these storms from the East. The water was 30 cm deep near us and in some parts of the city it was 70 cms.
We stayed in and watched some TV and the flood waters took about 4 hours to fall back.
Saturday, October 7, 2006: The New Airport
Bangkok has a new Airport. This was one of the former PM Thaskin’s little pet projects and has been a source of controversy since it began. It opened up on the 28th of September under a great deal of fanfare and even more moaning and complaining. I had my first opportunity to use it today and I was expecting the absolute worst. However I must say I had no trouble at all with the new Airport. In fact I think it’s possibly the best Airport I’ve ever used.
I headed out leaving myself plenty of extra time as one concern I had with it was its location. It is really far from the old airport and I wasn’t sure about whether the new expressways would get me there promptly. The drive though was only 35 minutes from the new apartment and that is during the rain and related traffic. Once at the airport I walked in, easily found my check in counter and checked in. Then I went through Passport Control and I was in the Duty Free shopping heaven that put the Hong Kong Airport to shame. The process of going from my apartment to my arrival in duty free took less than an hour. Unbelievable!
The new Bangkok Airport my have some bugs to work out but over all its brilliant. The design is like something from “the future” and the selection of food and shops in the Duty Free zone is unmatched.
There was some rumor that the place lacked toilets but I saw no evidence of that; quite the opposite in fact. Each departure gate even had its own dedicated toilet which is a vast improvement over the old airport.
Once I was at my gate it was an easy matter of boarding and away we went. Brilliant. I had so many misgivings about flying from here but now I must say that it is an outstanding place. I don't think I realized how much I disliked the old airport before.
Wednesday, October 4, 2006: Big Clouds
The mornings are nice but the clouds roll in by about 10:30 am and then by evening its been coming down pretty hard. No flooding here yet though.
Monday, October 2, 2006: Big Rain a Comin'
The dregs of the typhoon that came over from the Philippines and has lashed Vietnam hard are beginning to hit. We are too far inland to get any of the winds but the rain carries over. There are big fears of flooding in the city although and many of the areas to the north and east are already well flooded.
Sunday, October 1, 2006: Sun Set
The soldiers around MBK and at the various intersections have been sent back to their camps and things are pretty much back to normal. A new PM has been selected and now they begin the task of rewriting the constitution so there isn't the electoral problems they had back in the spring.
