Sunday, December 31, 2006: New Years Eve

I was up until all hours last night talking to Sandy on MSN Messenger. I fell asleep and two hours later I got a text message that “many” bombs had gone off around Bangkok. That woke me up and I was up and trying to find out something on CNN about it. Of course there wasn’t even a mention until nearly two hours later and when the mention came it was almost dismissive.

I took the GO Train into Toronto and went up to Grapefruit Moon this morning. I spent the morning and early afternoon there hanging out and texting Sandy for updates on what was going on. For her New Years Eve was ruined and she spent it alone in the new apartment. Several of the bombs were either near our apartment or in areas we know well. I think she will go up to Khorat as her Mother called many times and was very upset.

Here's a list from Sandy of the first batch of bombs

8. 2 bombs at Central World Plaza (world trade center)
9. Khao San Road

I took the TTC down to Union Station and caught the GO Train back to Clarkson. Paul picked me up and we went back to the house. I lay down for a while to try and catch up on some sleep.

Tonight was the big New Years Eve dinner with Paul’s family and several people from Knox. The food was outstanding as usual and it was a fun evening. About an hour before midnight Jayne came out with my birthday cake and we had some of that. At midnight we toasted in the New Year, I had the kid’s non-alcoholic champagne.

Friday, December 29, 2006: Flying to Ontario

I woke up at 3:45 am today and had a shower. I packed the final bits of my stuff up and by 4:30 am Heather was up as well. Alicia stayed in Edmonton last night with her cousin Natalie so Heather was going to pick her up today as we had Eric, Michelle’s son. Heather packed the kids into the Jeep and we drove over to my Brother George’s where we changed to his bigger vehicle then headed to the Airport. We got there and it thankfully wasn’t as crowded as it had been on Boxing Day. I checked in and went through security then waited for my flight to board. The sun was just coming up as we took off.

The flight was fine. I sort of drifted between sleep and waking all the way, half dreaming and half listening to my iPod.

The flight seemed short and before I knew it we were landing in Toronto. I got my one piece of checked luggage and then walked out the confusing exit part to the terminal and met up with Jayne, Alexia and Will. Then we drove back to Oakville.

Tonight Jayne and Paul went out for dinner with some friends so I stayed with Alexia and Will. We had dinner and then watched the second Pirates of the Caribean movie on DVD.

Thursday, December 28, 2006: Last Day

Today was my final day in Alberta. I head out tomorrow early in the morning. Cousin Andrew came down to Drayton this afternoon so I got a ride into Bruce’s with Rob Preston who’s ancient Falcon Van ran out of gas on the way. Fortunately he had a can of gas in the back.

We saw Carmina with Young Tod on his first horse ride as we headed down towards Bruce’s. Andrew was already there when I arrived. I hung out with him while Preston built a pen for Rob and Val’s new dog so it doesn’t get stepped on by the horses. Later Anne and Carol joined us and Carmina made some stew. We stayed until around 7:00 pm then Andrew gave me a ride back to Heather and Chris’. He stopped by for a bit then headed back to Edmonton.

Now it’s time to prepare for tomorrow’s early flight.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006: Out With George

Today I spent the day with my Brother George. He came by Chris and Heathers’ at around 9:00 am and we went for breakfast at a place in town called Rusty’s. Afterwards we drove out towards Tomahawk to George’s friends Ken and Laurna’s place. Ken had built a little cabin with a wood stove and done it up with all sorts of trapper and period stuff so George wanted me to take a look at it. After we’d checked out the cabin and Ken’s workshop we went in and had some coffee with him and his family.

The Cabin Ken Built...

After our visit we drove into Tomahawk and stopped at the little eatery there. I had a nice piece of pie and a tea. George and I were both coffeed out by that point.

Best Pies Ever...

Afterwards we drove on and over to Bruce’s. Tod was home and later Bruce’s friend Rob Preston showed up. Tod and I went out to one of the sheds on the information that there were some “old” keyboards there. We discovered a Crumar Orchestrator and a Yamaha SY-1 synth. Both are too big for me to take back. We rescued them form the shed however.

The Crumar Orchestrator

The Yamaha SY-1

George and I stayed for dinner then afterwards we drove back to Chris and Heathers.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006: Boxing Day

I woke up today at 5:00 am and went in to the Edmonton Airport with Tod (not my nephew) and Jen as they were taking Jen’s daughter to the airport. It was still dark when we got their and the airport was packed. Tod went in with Rachel and I went with Jen and little Magnum to the “overflow” parking which was way out in a field. We had to take a shuttle bus back from there. We met up with Tod who’d checked Rachel in then he accompanied her through security while Jen, Magnum and I went for a very tasty breakfast at one restaurant in the main part of the airport. Later Tod met up with us in the observation lounge. By that point the sun was up.

Clearing the snow from the over-flow parking area

From the airport we drove into Edmonton as they had to do some shopping. Magnum is 2 years old now and is a lot of fun especially in a shopping cart. We did a tour of a large building store as well as a walk through of a furniture store. That was an eye opener for me as there was a bookshelf similar to what sandy and I paid less than $ 50 going for well over $ 250. It wasn’t as nice as ours either. For lunch we went to the Olive Garden and had a great meal there. Then it was back to Drayton Valley. We got back in around dusk.

Monday, December 25, 2006: Christmas Day

Christmas Morning...

I woke up at around 7:30 am today. Alicia, Joel and Josh were already up and into the cereals when I was out of the shower. They patiently waited for Chris and Heather to emerge and then the unwrapping of presents began. Heather kept finding clues that eventually led to her main present which was a beautiful diamond ring. Chris’s mystery present was packed inside a large square box loaded with wood to disguise the weight; a beautiful 12-string guitar. The kids got lots of goodies of course, the boys scoring the best with a micro-Lego “Pirates of the Caribbean” set that featured both ships from the most recent movie.

The Flying Dutchman

Brenda and Yuki came over around lunch time. Chris and I watched Mission Impossible 3, which after seeing number 2 I have had no interest in however it was surprisingly good and featured the sort of team work and tricks that made the series interesting. Rob came by at around 1:30 pm and then at around 2:00 pm we drove over to the Mohawk gas station and picked up my great nephew Tod who works there. I haven’t seen him since Jon’s wedding in ’97 or when ever that was. From their we drove over to Bruce’s.

This afternoon before dinner we watched the old Alester Sim version of A Christmas Carol. Afterwards Anne, Tod, Carol, Bruce Carmina and I went over to Rob and Val’s for an outstanding Christmas dinner. There was gifts exchanged afterwards. Rob drove me back out to Heather and Chris’ at around 8:00 pm.

No Longer the Ice Station

Sunday, December 24, 2006: Christmas Eve Dinner

Today was the big feast at George and Betty’s. All of George’s kids come with their partners and kids so it is quite the gathering. This year there were a total of 9 kids and full of sugar and eager to unwrap their gifts. I headed over with Chris and Heather and their kids at around 5:00 pm. Dinner was served not too long afterwards.

"Who wants the finger?"

The amount of food involved was unbelievable. I paced myself better this year focusing on the items I can’t get in Thailand such as the perogees that Brenda did up. It was a lot of food.

Afterwards the gifts were opened a process that took some time especially since the kids have such incrediably generous Grand Parents. That is not to say the grow ups didn’t do to badly as there were some outstanding gifts there as well. It was an excellent evening and after the gift exchange portion of the events was complete we had desserts. I was still rather full however Heather’s home made Fruit Loops marsh mellow squares were too good not to eat.

The evening slowly wound down after deserts with people visiting and the boys assembling their various toys while the smaller kids played together with some toy cars and the Alicia and Natalie ran about with my video camera. We called it a night at around 10:00 pm and every one headed out their various ways. I went back to Heather and Chris’. They went to bed and I wrapped some gifts I’d got the kids today.

Saturday, December 23, 2006: Anne Arrives

This morning Chris and I went for a breakfast at the Caesar Hotel in town as it was his first day off for the holidays. It was quite good. We got the standard sort of eggs and bacon breakfast plus a far bit of coffee. Afterwards when we headed back to the house we noticed that the mountains were visible in the distance to the West today. Normally it would be difficult to see them from the spot where we were driving.

The kids and Heather were also off today for the holidays. We did a few shopping related tasks though out the course of the day. Heather’s sister Brenda came in tonight with her two little ones and a Japanese exchange student who has been staying with her named Yuki. That was big excitement for the kids of course. They stayed until 8:30 or so and left just before Rob and Val stopped by to pick me up to drive to the Edmonton Airport to pick up Anne who was flying in from BC.

The drive up to the Airport was fine and Anne’s flight arrived not too long after we got there and had parked. Once Anne had got her luggage we headed back to the car and then drove over to Tim Hortons to get some food before heading back to Drayton. The drive back to Drayton was fun and full of foolishness.

Friday, December 22, 2006: Recording and Eating

This afternoon I went out to Bruce’s with Carmina and her friend and co-worker Michelle. A dinner was planned and Bruce also wanted me to add a bass synth track with the XioSynth on to a song he had recorded with a friend. I brought my keyboard with me so we could do that. The recording went quite well in the end. I had to tweak a bass sound specific for the song which took less time than to learn the bridge changes in the song.

Dinner was outstanding. It was a traditional Swiss affair that features cooking things on this griddle with cheese melts in these little holders beneath it. Your items then can be covered with the cheese. The Swiss tradition focuses on the cheese and potato aspect of it however Carmina had added some other things to the process such as vegetables and meat such as bacon or ham. It was extremely good. We were joined by Rob and Val. Later on Rob drove me back to Chris and Heathers.

Thursday, December 21, 2006: Relaxing & Recording

I got up early and ate a bit with Heather and the kids before they all headed out. Chris was at the gym and apparently went straight to work from there. Once every one was gone I was knackered out enough still that I went back to sleep. I crashed until 1:30 pm. I got up and foraged for food (thank goodness for Chef Boyardee) then worked on further bits to the track I recorded with the XioSynth.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006: To Drayton Valley

I got to sleep pretty late last night, and then was up early this morning. The girls headed off to some fund-raising pancake breakfast, Andrew went to his work at Starbucks and then I went with Debbie and Lee when they drove their youngest daughter Logan to school. Afterwards we went to Denny’s for a proper American style breakfast. It was outstanding. When breakfast was finished we headed over to a mall that had a Chapters book store in it. We did wander the mall briefly but then came back to Chapters. I got a copy of Future Music and then we had a sit down at the Starbucks there. I got my usual Ice Latte which I suppose is strange in a cold climate.

This afternoon at around 2:00 pm once Andrew had got home from work Debbie and Andrew drove me down to Drayton Valley. It was a brilliant day out although it was pretty cold. The ride down was good and we made pretty good time. We went to Bruce and Carmina’s first for a visit. Rob and Val were there as was Carol. Bruce has a nice little digital studio set up in his music room now. Carmina made a meal and we ate that. Someone gave Bruce a bottle of hot sauce called “Mega Death” which claims to be 500 times hotter than any other hot sauce. A small drop is enough to burn your mouth. Andrew tried a bit more than he should have, but the real hilarity began when he emerged from the toilet later on and said “Dude, don’t get that stuff in your eye”. Apparently he’d had some particle of it on his finger and it got into his eye resulting in much discomfort. When he emerged his hair was all slicked back from rinsing his eye with water.

Later Andrew and Debbie drove me back into Drayton Valley proper and I landed on Chris and Heather’s doorstep yet again.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006: Night Flight to Alberta

I was up early today and had breakfast with everyone. I walked Alexia to school but didn’t run afterwards which felt sort of weird. I spent much of the day getting ready for tonight’s flight to Alberta.

Jayne drove me up to the Airport at around 6:00 pm. I checked in my one bag and headed through the security with my others. I brought the XioSynth with me just in case I have time to record with it. The flight went at 7:45 pm and it was the “budget” carrier WestJet. It was still not cheap to fly to Edmonton. Traveling by air within Canada is brutally expensive. I’m amazed anyone does it.

The flight was 4 hours and it wasn’t too bad. We landed in cold snowy Edmonton at 10:00 pm Alberta time and disembarked. My cousin Debbie and her husband Lee were waiting for me when I came out and my one bag came around the luggage thing almost right away. I grabbed it and we drove back to their place. I was pretty tired by the time we got there however I stayed up for a bit, had some food and saw their kids some of which I had met last Christmas season at my Brother Bruce’s.

Monday, December 18, 2006: Last Day in Oakville

I was up early today and did a run after walking Alexia to school. I had another eye specialist appointment at 10:00 am so Jayne took me over to that. That didn’t take much time, I was whisked in and whisked out, and I guess it’s a volume business. Afterwards Jayne and I went to a place called “Sunny’s” for breakfast.

I sort of lazed about through the day not having a lot of energy until 3:00 pm when I walked over to Alexia’s school to meet her and Will. It was nice out again today, although not as warm as yesterday.

Alexia had piano lessons so I went with Jayne and drove her to that. Jayne and I went for hot chocolates at Second Cup while we waited for her to finish, then picked her back up from her teachers. Since tomorrow I go off to Alberta tonight was a special movie night. We wanted to get “Elf” so we went to one video shop to find it. The Video store didn’t have any left to rent or buy but they called another outlet in Oakville and had them put a copy aside for us which we had to drive over and pick up. When we got back to the house Paul did a barbeque then we ate and watched the movie.

Sunday, December 17, 2006: Warm Sunday

I got up early today and headed into Toronto when everyone went to church. I took the GO Train from Oakville and got off at the CNE where I took the street car up Bathurst to the Bathurst TTC Station. From there I caught the bus up two stops to the lights near the Grape Fruit Moon. I had left a message on Justin M’s voice mail that I would be there but I wasn’t sure if he’d got it or not. Even still I was up for a GFM brunch. I wasn’t aware that today was the last day the GFM is open for a week as renovations are being conducted next week and changes made.

I ordered some breakfast thinking Justin M hadn’t got my message but he showed up at around 11:30 am. He had a brunch and I had more bacon. It was sort of like old times, except it wasn’t, which is how things are I suppose. Rebecca came in on shift and joined Ingram, Sandy Moon and the crew in serving the crowds. I had to head back to Oakville so at around 2:00 pm Justin and I walked down Bathurst to the TTC. Sandy Moon had to buy something from Honest Ed’s so she walked down with us. It was a beautiful warm day out with temperatures up to 13 degrees C. I briefly stopped in at the Panzarotti Village Café and said hello to the owner Ralf. Afterwards Justin and I went into the Subway and headed our separate ways. I took the train to Union Station and caught the GO Train back to Clarkson. Paul picked me up from the station and we headed back to the house where I crashed out for an hour or so.

This evening after dinner we headed to the Knox Church for the evening Christmas pageant. Will did and outstanding job singing the opening verse of a song with the choir. The evening featured music and song and various Christmas readings including one from Alexia. After the service there was a big feed of cookies and treats with coffee and tea. I got to say hello to many of the folk I’ve met there over the last couple of Christmas visits. Afterwards I came back with Jayne who had to stay to the end and help clean up the kitchen with some others. All in all it was another excellent day.

Saturday, December 16, 2006: Movie Night

Today I had the day pretty much to myself at the house. Everyone had gone off on various Christmas related errands and so forth. I watched the “Moog” documentary on DVD, ate left over Stoney’s pizza and had few teas while sitting by the fire place.

This evening Alexia and Will went to Alexia’s school for a movie night that went from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm. Jayne and Paul went to a Christmas party so I had to go over and pick the kids up at 9:00 pm and bring them back to the house. They had taken these bean-bag chairs with them so Will and I had to carry those back.

Friday, December 15, 2006: XioSynth

Today after walking Alexia to school I took a run. It was quite nice out again today. It always seems to look like maybe it will snow but in the end it never seems to do it. Jayne and I went into Oakville for some food. Afterwards I gave up fighting the urge and went to the Music store to buy the Novation XioSynth. Yes, it’s not a Little Phatty but this year it is all I can afford. Perhaps next year Santa will bring me a Moog.

Needless to say the afternoon was spent messing with the new machine. I did meet Will and Alexia at Alexia’s school and walk them back then I continued to play with my machine. There are 200 sound on it, of which 60 are professional programmed by some DJ’s or Techo guys I’ve never heard of. Of the 200 sounds, including the 60 pro sounds I think ultimately 10 will survive. The rest will be replaced my own sounds as that is the whole point of a synth with 3 Oscillators.

Tonight was the trimming of the trees. We also watched “A Christmas Story” on DVD which I recommended and was amazed no one had ever seen before or heard of.

Thursday, December 14, 2006: Tropic Disease Clinic

This morning Jayne drove me into Hamilton to the Tropical Disease Clinic. Unfortunately the whole process might prove to be a complete waste of time. The Doctor who saw me was young and rather dismissive of my situation, this even before blood was taken. He seemed to tow the official Thai/WHO line that THERE IS NO MALARIA in Thailand – this despite the fact that there was an outbreak near Pet’s school last year. Of course the no malaria mantra is not too dissimilar to the no bird flu, no SARS mantra they attempted several years ago. In any event I was sent off for blood tests where they took many vials of my red juices then sent me on my way.

I have a good idea how this will play out. As I am not currently sick they will find nothing therefore there is nothing wrong which means I’m not sick, which means no drugs to kill the malaria ovim, which means in two months I’ll get sick again only I can’t take the anti-malaria drugs because my eyeballs with fall out or something.

I now understand two things.

One, I understand why people go to equally useless “alternative” medicine and holistic healer types as I may have gone to see a witch doctor.

Two, with free healthcare you get what you pay for.

We got back to Oakville and then I took the GO Train into Toronto and picked up my passport, complete with a new lovely one year Class B multiple entry Visa.

After getting my visa I changed some USD to Canadian money and did a little shopping. The primary purchase being some Mystery Science Theatre and the documentary “Moog” which was made just before Robert Moog (PBUH) passed away. I called Chris C and walked up to his on College Street. We went out with Robin and a friend of theirs for Thai food. After we’d eaten we went our separate ways and I walked down Queen St towards University Ave stopping at Steve’s Music to try out the new Moog “Little Phatty” synth. They have a Tribute edition for $1800 Canadian. More than I can handle at this point in time. Oh but is it lovely. Such a nice full sound and the lay out and controls are great. If only…

From there I walked back to Union Station and took the GO Train to Oakville. It turned out to be the express which startled me as it wasn’t stopping anywhere and I wasn’t sure if I’d got on the wrong train. I wondered if I’d end up in Burlington or some where. It did stop at Clarkson though so I was there before Jayne was.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006: Visa Ready

The routine seems to be for me to wake up at 6:00 am, go out to the kitchen for some liquids, then sit by the fire place and watch it get light outside. At some point the Coffee machine will automatically switch on, followed by the arrival of Jayne or Paul in the kitchen. Eventually a creature I call “snuggle worm” will arrive followed by an apparition of Marshie the Fluffy Puff Marshmallow.

Today I went for a run after walking Alexia to school. The route is about 3.5 kms give or take and takes me about half an hour to do. There are lots of hills involved so it’s a bit of a struggle at first. The weather continues to be not too cold so the runs feel more like late autumn than winter. My iPod continues to provide the necessary and appropriate sound track.

There was still no word on my Visa so I left a message on the Thai Consulate’s voice mail requesting them to call me about it. I got a call this evening at around 5:00 pm saying it was ready to pick up.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006: Doctor Ramphal

Today I went up to North York to see my Doctor, someone I haven’t seen for about eight years. It was strange to be up in the area of his office which is at Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. I associate that corner with several things including the countless nights between 1986 and 1988 that I stood there with my Chapman Stick after Wise Hammer rehearsals waiting for the Number 7 bus to take me home. The other Association I have is the bout of pneumonia I had in 1990 when I was still with L, and the bout of pneumonia I had in 1995 when I was without L and completely alone.

Dr. Ramphal and his staff saw me and did up the necessary paperwork so that I can go to the Tropical Disease clinic at Macmaster in Hamilton on Thursday. After the visit Jayne and I drove back to Oakville and got a nice bite to eat at Stoney’s Restaurant.

After lunch I checked out the music store across the street from Stoney’s and behold they had a lot of nice keyboard gear including the new Novation synth I’ve read so much about this year, the Novation XioSynth. I messed around with it briefly and I must say that it has all the nice warmth of my old Bass Station plus much more including 3 Oscillators and several types of white noise for much bigger sounds. Must.. resist… buying it… must try… to… resist 3 oscillators…

No word from the Thai consulate on my Visa.

Monday, December 11, 2006: Eye Ball Kid

I did a run this morning after which I had to go to the eye specialist here in Oakville. He poked and peered at my eyeballs and subjected me to various tests. In the end he gave me more drops and sent me on my way. I return to see (on not see) him in a week.

Sunday, December 10, 2006: Sleigh Ride

I went in to Church with Jayne, Paul, Will and Alexia this morning. Afterwards there was some sort of additional administrative meeting for the congregation. Thankfully I was not required to go to this. Instead I was got to take Will and Alexia to a nearby ice cream pallor / café called “Magic Scoops”. They also have a variety of real foods available including a much needed breakfast special which I had.

After we’d had our respective treats Will and Alexia dragged me up and down the main street and into various toy and candy shops. It was a beautiful clear sunny day out and there were lots of people out shopping and so forth. My impression of Oakville when I lived in Toronto was that it was some sort of wasteland however I am learning that it has much of the same charm and excellent shops and restaurants that a place like Bloor West Village would have.

The horses' names are Ozzie and Jimi...

We kept seeing a horse drawn wagon go by with a Santa and some folk in it so we found out where they were giving the “sleigh rides” and headed over. I was expecting to pay however it was free. We climbed aboard and road up and down the main street with Santa. It was a lot of fun. The little kids who rode with their parents were beside themselves at the opportunity to see Santa so close up. That was very cute. The ride wasn’t very long however by kid standards I guess it was. It was certainly better than sitting on Santa’s lap for all of five seconds. Will apparently wants a yacht for Christmas. Eventually we headed back to the church and met up with Jayne and Paul and headed back to their place.

Saturday, December 9, 2006: Grapefruit Moon Day

Cold!

Today I took the early train from Oakville into Toronto and spent the day at the Grapefruit Moon. I got off the GO Train at Exhibition Place and took the streetcar up Bathurst and then walked from Bathurst Station to the Moon. The five minutes that I had to wait for the Street car was a reminder of how cold the wind is off of Lake Ontario at the Exhibition. I got there at around 9:00 am. Sandy and Ingram were still in the prep stages of breakfast, the crowds really didn’t hit until around 11:00 am.

French Toast

Sandy made me an outstanding breakfast with French toast, fresh fruit, and breakfast. One thing I truly miss in Thailand is a proper breakfast worthy of a Saturday morning. The closest thing I can get would be in Phnom Penh at the FCC although some might argue the fry up at the Dubliner would qualify. I tend to associate the Dubliner breakfast with a post gym weekday event. In any event it was difficult to decide which breakfast item I wanted and as in the days of old I resolved it by letting Sandy choose for me.

Andrew Smith dropped by to say hello. I haven’t seen him the summer of 2000 I think. He was on his way to meet his fiancé for some Christmas shopping so he only stayed for a bit. Later on Chris C came by and we were later joined by Robin who had been at a craft show selling the sock monkeys. Andrew Roth stopped by just before I headed back to Oakville.

I think I ate more today than I would usually eat in a week.

Friday, December 8, 2006: My Buggered Eyeballs

Today I had to go to see my eye doctor Kerry Salsberg in North York. Jayne drove me in and Alexia tagged along since she had the day off of school. I have had a variety of problems with my eyes since 2001 and this was the first time Kerry had looked at them since I dropped a speaker on my head in 1999 when I was DJing. He was not pleased at what he saw. It turns out that Chloroquine has some side effects that screw your eyes up. Between that and the Malaria and wearing contacts I have some problems. He gave me drops and is trying to book me with a specialist so I can get some sort of steroid drops for the problem. The drive back to Oakville was a blur thanks to the drops.

Next week I will go to the eye specialist as well as my Doctor, and later in the week I’ll be going to the tropical disease clinic.

Thursday, December 7, 2006: Burlington

Tonight Jayne and I went out to Burlington to have dinner with our Aunt Mona and her family. We met up with them at this small diner or “family restaurant”, the kind that serves that real meat and potatoes food that I often miss overseas. Auntie Mona came with her Husband Bill and our cousins Brenda, Ron and his wife Sharon.

It was a good visit as well as a good meal. I had the hot turkey sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes which hit the spot especially since it was so cold outside. Afterwards just going from the restaurant to the car was like crossing the polar caps.

I was supposed to go into Toronto for Sandy Moon’s open house at her new apartment but I was too knackered by the time we got back from Burlington.

Wednesday, December 6, 2006: Visa Drop Off

I went for my first winter run this morning. Running outside is sort of odd. It didn’t seem so cold though and I had my iPod so it was enjoyable.

Running up that hill...

I took the GO Train into Toronto at around 11:30. I changed some money once I’d picked up the Visa forms for the Thai Consulate then went to a café and filled it out. I always feel like I’m filling it wrong as some the portions are rather vague. In any event once it was done and my wonderful hot chocolate was finished I took it back to the courier who delivers the forms to the Consulate and put them in. Hopefully they will be ready by the end of the week.

With that done I called Chris C and made my way up to his place on College. I hung out with him and Robin for awhile and eventually Chris and I walked up to the Grape Fruit Moon for some food. I ended up hanging out there for a while. Chris had a gig tonight so I stayed at the GFM after he left for that and met up with Sandy Moon for a bit and had a good visit.

At around 8:00 pm I took the TTC down to Union Station and just caught the GO Train back to Oakville. I had a chilly wait for Jayne to pick me up from the Clarkson Station.

COOOOLD...

Tuesday, December 5, 2006: Oakville

I went to bed at around 11:00 pm last night. I slept pretty well not waking up any more times than I normally would. I was up by 5:30 am though and played happy channels on the TV until everyone else was up. I had some breakfast with everyone then Paul headed off to work. Will headed out an hour later and Jayne took Alexia to her school after that.

At around noon Jayne took me to this outstanding restaurant in Oakville called “Stoney’s”. Its set up in what I assume is an old store and has lots of room, high ceilings, plenty of sunlight and amazing food. It was absolutely packed. It was the sort of place I would have associated with Queen Street in the City rather than out in Oakville. I had a really good grilled chicken sandwich that was almost more than I could finish. After Lunch Jayne and I went to the market for vegetables and fruit then on to the grocery store for everything else.

The jet-lag got me around 4:00 pm and I had to crash for about an hour and a half but was up for dinner. Jayne made some very good stew which hit the spot. After dinner I played Risk with Will and Alexia for about half an hour then everyone watched this bizarre stop-motion puppet Christmas special from the sixties or seventies that I don’t really remember growing up. It has Fred Astaire voice as this postman who tells some revised history of “where” Santa came from. This involved some humorless bergermeister who banned toys. It also seemed to feature the Linux penguin as Chris’ original sidekick. Once the show was over the kids went to bed and I called it a day.

Monday, December 4, 2006: Flight

I am currently 2791 miles from “destination”. I think they mean Anchorage as we are only just above the letter “A” in Pacific Ocean next to the tiny map of Japan. So far the trip has been bumpy. Of course we are riding in my least favorite brand on airliner so that I can enjoy the bumps that much more.

Anyways finally I got on board and took my seat. We took off not long afterwards. So here I am past the “N” and at 35,000 feet on my way to the true north strong and freezing.

The flight to Anchorage was pretty bumpy. I would guess this was due to the Typhoon Durian that had just passed over the Philippines. I’m not sure how far these things can stir up the air but this was the most turbulent flight across to Anchorage I’ve been on. I slept as best I could and despite the effort of the air crew to feed me every time we stopped bouncing around for five minutes.

We landed in Anchorage and took an hour to refuel and de-ice the wings while the flight crew was changed. Then it was on to Toronto. I slept for most of the way and sort of came to at around 7:30 pm as we passed into Ontario. That would have been 7:30 am for me. We got in a head of schedule however we circled for half an hour so in the end we landed on time. When we came off we had to pass by the Canada Customs guys and show our passports then walk on to the Customs Counter.

The form they require you to fill out is bizarre. It’s the size of an A4 sheet of paper folded three times. One side in English and one in French of course, but on one of the three folds has anything to fill out. The rest is instructions and tables on how much alcohol, tobacco and other goods you can bring in. As the Canadian government MUST have its pound of flesh. The space for your address is tiny and there is no space for your passport, visa or travel document number. As a non-resident I had to fill out how many days I am staying and my address in Bangkok (which barely fit).

This year I had no problems with the staff though. The fellow looked at it, swiped my passport, asked me if I lived in Thailand then sent me on my way. I had no stowed luggage so I simply walked out. As I exited I had to show my customs card to some other office who was more shocked that I only had a laptop bag and my black MEC bag. She had me keep the card which I assume I have to hand them when I leave.

I walked on and out into the public waiting zone and was greeted by Jayne, Paul, Will and Alexia. Will and Alexia seem to have grown a foot taller since the last time I saw them a year ago. We walked out of the airport and went to the parking and headed out to Oakville. It was snowing as we left. When we pulled into the house it felt like I’d just left last week.

Sunday, December 3, 2006: Last Day 2549

Sandy and I slept in again today. She had to go to the weekend market so while she did that I headed over to Curahee for my last visit of the year. The next time I run it will be in the cold. I met Sandy at the Siam BTS near MK and we went for some food. I am now into my list of “lasts” of the year – last run, last MK meal etc.

After we ate we took the BTS over to Chitlom and I went to check out that fleece again. I was haunting me all last night. We went over to where they were hanging and BEHOLD. There was an XL (size 44 chest) hanging there which was definitely not there yesterday. The sleeves were the right length; it was roomy enough for another sweater underneath. Sandy has no opinion on fleeces or sweaters. Someday she may.

That done we headed back to the apartment and I began the process of preparing for the big trip...

Now its 9:00 pm, I don’t feel even remotely ready and I need a swim. So I will go swim.

It was good...

Saturday, December 2, 2006: Pluk's Birthday

I had some delusions of getting up really early today and running. However for a variety of reasons this did not happen. I had more important things to attend to as time is short before the long journey back to the Soviet Cold. We were almost out of Marks & Spencer’s Extra Strong Tea so I took the BTS over to Central Chitlom. They had a display of wintry fleeces and “jumpers” (sweaters) as the Brits call them. My old blue MEC fleece has served me well but is now getting on in years so I checked out some nice black and grey ones. They only had a large which fit me but the sleeves seemed sort of short. Anyways I didn’t get it and just grabbed the tea. The fleece haunted me all day though and I may go back tomorrow and grab it. It’s only 2500 Baht, which is about 50 bucks. The next thing I had to do is get a hair cut so I took the BTS back towards the apartment and took care of that.

After I got back to the apartment Sandy and I headed out to Pet’s house as today is Pluk’s second Birthday. We took a taxi over as usual but got caught in this rerouting of traffic caused by a big celebration in honor of the King’s Birthday which is on Tuesday December 5th. There were a bunch of gold trimmed howitzers parked on the side of the road with the artillery men in gold dress uniforms milling around. As we proceeded further we saw various other regiments each with a different color of uniform. The uniforms were all old style outfits and the mix of colors sort of made it look like the whole thing was based on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. They were in the process of getting in line and I only managed to get a few blurred photos as we sped by in the taxi.

We got to Pet’s and Sandy and Pet went off to get food while I hung out. Pluk may only be two and still not really talking but he is huge now and runs around like a 3 year old. He’s a jolly little fellow too which is nice. When Sandy and Pet got back we watched a bit of the big honor march for the King. Too fully appreciate how much the Thai’s revere their King consider this. Even at the age of two Pluk puts his hands together and swaadees when he sees the King on TV.

Sandy’s Sister Pooh and her friend from work also came by and we had a good feed of Thai food. Grilled white fish (snake head fish), sticky rice, various veggies, battered shrimp which Pet and I always battle over. After we were sufficiently stuffed Pooh broke out a chocolate cake. I think the flavor was more for me than Pluk who’d be just as happy to eat a bowl of rice with two candles stuck in it.

The cake was outstanding, we ate as much as we could after the big meal then retired to the TV room where some Thai romantic comedy was watched. No subtitles needed.

We headed out at around 8:30 pm and took a taxi back into the city proper. The streets around the palace area and the democracy monument were all lined with gold Christmas lights in honor of the King. We dropped Pooh and her friend off then went back to the Apartment. I took a swim then Sandy and I watched a movie.

Friday, December 1, 2006: Looking A Lot Like Christmas

Here's something you'll never see on the TTC. A lovely promo girl in a Yule tide outfit complete with Santa hat. She was handing out some sort of product samples at the Phrom Prong BTS Station. Of course in Toronto the local Civic Commission of Sourballs would never allow any such display of beauty. Just like Pol Pot, they believe everyone should be equally ugly and miserable.