A Muddled Mind

Songkran 2010

2010-04-20T01:53:00.003+07:00

Songkran (Thai New Year, April 13 - 15), celebrated with a free-for-all water war, is something westerners living in Thailand either love or hate. I've always loved it, celebrating in Chiang Mai, which descends into wet mayhem for the week. In 2008, however, I was in ICU at Songkran. In 2009, I holed up in the safety of my condo. The video below illustrates just what I might be reluctant to wade into in my current gimpy and half-blind state.

This year, cane and water-proof camera in hand, I ventured forth to see what Songkran might be like in Sukhumvit Soi 19. To my surprise, I found a Goldilocks Songkran celebration (not too big, not too small, but JUST right) for my reduced circumstances right here in my own front yard.

Celebrants were set up at three locations (see map): 1) Silq Hotel, 2) Family Mart and 3) outside Yaek 2. I hung around chatting, taking photos, and sipping beer most of the day. Next year, however, I'll be ready with a super soaker.

Tuk-Tuk Warbird: Armed and Dangerous!

What was Madame thinking? The blond woman, who has somehow made as far as Soi Family Mart relatively dry, pleads with a water warrior not to empty the bucket of ice water over her head. She got away with a polite splash.

Largest Model Railway - Hamburg

2010-04-19T03:45:00.001+07:00

Map - Sukhumwit Soi 19

2010-04-19T02:21:00.000+07:00

OK, so I'm a map nerd. Have been since I was a kid; can't help it; don't want to.

For my Dad's edification (I came by the map nerd gene honestly), I added detail to this Google satellite image of the commercial part of our soi (side street off a main road). Dad finds it useful for getting a handle on our neighborhood, and perhaps you will too. If some things seem cryptic (e.g. [K], [C], [J]), I'll clarify them in subsequent posts when I link back to this map. You can click the image to enlarge it.

Party: Pack's 42nd Birthday

2010-04-18T02:59:00.005+07:00

On April 13, we celebrated my minder Pack's 42nd birthday (he still looks 25 because years spent in the bathroom don't count) with a small party at the condo. April 13 is also Thai New Year (Songkran), so joint festivities ensued. Dad and Ro, and Cindy couldn't attend, but kindly video-skyped in their birthday greetings.

Pretty Flowers

Food and Drink

Pack, Maria and I

Some of us are concerned that Pack's rabies shots just don't seem to be taking:

Maria and Chalalai very thoughtfully brought a panda-themed birthday cake, much of which ended up on - rather than in - Pack's face:

The birthday boy made out like a bandit.

Thieving Octopus

2010-04-18T01:39:00.002+07:00

From Laughing Squid.com: While Victor Huang was trying out his shiny new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT2 in Wahine Memorial, Wellington, New Zealand, he attempted to get video of a large wild octopus. The octopus snatched the camera from his hands and swam away with it while still recording — subsequently filming a chase for the camera that lasted several minutes.

Red in Sukhumvit

2010-03-18T13:48:00.004+07:00

At noon yesterday, I walked down to Sukhumvit to photograph the red shirts. The feeling was more homecoming parade than political protest. While I sympathize with the goal of empowering Thailand’s poor, I loathe their corrupt, self-serving little hero.

I suspect the red shirts came to Sukhumvit to escort Khunying Potjaman (Taksin’s wife) to Emporium (a pricey shopping center) to get her (A380-sized) hair done.

On the way back home, I stopped by Olé (the fruit vendor) at Soi Family Mart and at Khun Patcharin's travel agency office for quick photo ops.

About Water Monitor Lizards

2010-03-17T19:19:00.010+07:00

The a/c unit in my bedroom is dripping water; that’s gonna cost me. My blood pressure has been atypically high and resistant to medication the last couple of days. My minder Pack has to get a series of tetanus shots after a run-in with a rusty garbage chute; (this, as he completes his series of rabies shots after last week's attack by the Killer Poodle). Since today seems already to be all-round ill-omened, let’s look bad luck and misfortune in its yellow, reptilian eye and talk water monitors.

From Wikipedia: In Thailand, the word water monitor (local word 'เหี้ย' = hîa) is used as an insulting word for bad and evil things or persons. Its name alone is considered enough to bring bad luck, so some people prefer to call them 'ตัวเงินตัวทอง' ('silver and gold animal') to avoid the jinx. The origin of this belief can be traced back to a time when more people lived in rural areas in close proximity to monitor lizards. Traditionally, Thai villagers lived in 2-story houses; the top floor was for human occupation while the ground floor provided space for domestic animals such as pigs, chickens, and dogs. Water monitors would enter the ground floor and eat or maim the domestic animals, hence its other name 'ตัวกินไก่' (dtua gin gài = animal eat chicken). More from Wikipedia

The beleif that water monitors are bad luck is probably very good luck for the lizards. It's one of the few animals I've never seen roasted on a stick or minced with herbs and chilis and stir-fried.

Lumpini Park, Bangkok’s central green oasis, is crowded with picnickers, weight lifters, joggers, Tai Chi practitioners, jazzercise enthusiasts, and food vendors, but its lakes and canals are full of water monitors. They waddle ashore to patrol the park’s pathways like prehistoric monsters. As they are considered bad luck, Thais sensibly ignore them. Only white guys of limited intelligence follow them around snapping photos with their mobile phones.

Note: As of this posting, no water monitors have yet bitten Pack.

BNE in your town?

2010-03-10T00:58:00.006+07:00

I’m no longer sure when I first noticed that my Bangkok neighborhood was being plastered with BNE stickers. Once noticed, I began to see them everywhere. What’s the significance of BNE? OK, BNE is the airport code for Brisbane, Australia, but that's not a very likely graffito.

I asked young, hip Thais (that I would expect to be in the know) about BNE, and was met with blank looks and shrugged shoulders. Since some of the stickers contain Japanese characters, I assumed it was some fetishistic Japanese thing. Google returned little but unanswered questions and unsupported speculation.

My curiosity was aroused anew when I spotted BNE in Chiang Mai. Hmmm… it’s not a strictly Bangkok phenomena. Back to Google.

Lo and behold, the mayor of San Francisco offered a reward for info leading to the arrest of BNE. BNE has stickered and/or tagged New York, Tokyo, Prague, Kuala Lumpur, even squeaky clean Singapore. There is a BNE Wikipedia page. Hundreds of posts on dozens of forums ask, “Who/what is BNE?”

Finally, a few months back, a NY Times article shed some light. Alas, BNE is just another twit that wants to be famous. Something about his schtik, though - maybe just his geographical reach - has elevated him above the level of the usual freeway overpass tagger.

So how about it? Has BNE been to your town?

Barking Dogs Don’t Bite หมาเห่าไม่กัด

2010-03-07T02:28:00.007+07:00

My minder Pack was minding his own business, walking along the street, when a poodle ran out of a karaoke bar and bit him on the calf. (My theory: the poodle was driven insane by people who mistakenly believe that they can sing really well, if only their voice is sufficiently amplified. Karaoke: the Asian curse.)

The woman who owns the poodle (and the karaoke bar) is uncooperative, says the poodle has been vaccinated but can’t provide the paperwork, is 'away on business' when Pack pursues her. For safety's sake, Pack has to endure a series of expensive and painful rabies injections.

Meanwhile, the BIG QUESTION may not be answered until the next full moon: will feckless Pack morph into... THE WERE-POODLE!

My Stroke of Insight – Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

2010-02-09T17:44:00.003+07:00

My dear friend Cindy, ever the resourceful researcher, sent me this link and bought me this book, shortly after I returned home from the hospital. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor (at right) is a neuro-anatomist who (eight years ago) suffered a stroke.

Unlike Dr. Taylor, my cerebral hemorrhage was in the right hemisphere of the brain rather than the left. Hence my experience was not exactly like the one she describes.

Nevertheless, there are enough similarities that I am moved every time I watch this video. Her intelligence, her ability to articulate amorphous ideas and feelings, her charm and generosity of spirit are captivating. I think you will enjoy her, too.

Video (19 mins): My Stroke of Insight - Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor

Hell O'Kitty Linkage

2010-02-08T20:43:00.009+07:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day!

Don't miss Kittyhell.com, the amusing website that puts the Hell in Hello Kitty.

Now on offer: the Hello Kitty Chainsaw. Also, a wide and sordid range of real, imagined and wildly inappropriate Hello Kitty-branded products and artifacts. Definitely worth a look!

Krazy Krissy's Daffy-nitions

2010-01-24T23:13:00.002+07:00

งานศพ – งานที่เจ้าตัวไม่เคยออกมาต้อนรับแขกเลย

Wake - a party at which the guest of honor never comes out to welcome the guests.

Minor Health Foibles and Fun

2010-01-22T18:54:00.012+07:00

Sorry for taking a break from posting, but it’s been a weird week health-wise:

14-15 Jan: unexplained fever.
16-17 Jan: sleeplessness, night sweats.
17-19 Jan: blood pressure more volatile than usual for no apparent reason.
19-21 Jan: discomfort of a more personal nature.

Spent the afternoon of the 22nd at Samitivej Hospital. Walked out many tests and $100 later with reassurances, antibiotics and an appointment for a follow-up visit next week.

I had planned to visit Jochem at the beach on the 15th. Steven flew down from Chiang Mai to join me, but I no-showed due to the feverishness. Steven and Jochem came up to Bangkok just as I was finishing up my sleepless period.

Despite my annoying health churn, we still managed to find time for some fun. 20 Jan: Drinks at Jochem’s BKK condo (always an excuse to indulge my skyline-o-mania from his balconies).

Click any image to expand

Jochem's condo lies in a lazy loop of the Chao Praya River. If you expand the pano below, you’ll see the upstream segment of the river on the far right, and the downstream segment (its last few km before reaching the Gulf of Siam) on the far right.

When the lights come out in the city, the view springs to life.

Later that evening, Jochem introduced us to Harmonique, a pleasantly funky Thai restaurant on Charoen Grung Soi 34, an old quarter of the city near the river.

Steven and Jochem performing dessert due diligence.

In Praise of Words

2010-01-07T17:37:00.020+07:00

Logophile - pronounced law-guh-fahyl – noun meaning a word lover or word buff. From Greek logos meaning speech + -phile meaning friend, lover.

Recently, a Muddled Mind reader offered the constructive criticism that I should lay off the big words. It’s a valid concern – especially since a lot of my friends and readers are not native English speakers. But it ain’t happening, and here’s why:

1) Therapeutic benefit: This blog abets my rehabilitation, i.e. I get more benefit from posting here than just an additional avenue for communicating with friends and family. I suspect the discipline of finding and using the right words sharpens and re-grooves my Muddled Mind.

2) Non-commercial: Since I’m not selling anything, I don’t have to worry about using language that reaches a target audience.

3) Selfish pleasure: Why not indulge my logophilia? I like words. It's fun to string them together in novel, amusing, or harmonious ways. Also, using words that may not be familiar to everyone gives me an excuse to put word-nerdy Google Gadgets on my page like Dictionary.com (at right) and Nicetranslator.com (below).

4) Finally and most importantly: Our beloved 11th grade English Comp teacher Nell’Ann Walters is kind enough to follow this blog. Even 40 years later, I can’t help but apple-polish shamelessly and covet her approval. As I type, I imagine her blue pencil hovering over my text ready to scrawl ‘Trite!’ or ‘Choose another word.’

The reader didn’t specify, but I suspect what triggered the ‘lay off the big words’ advice was my use of the word ‘disambiguation’. It wasn’t quite love at first sight, but ‘disambiguation’ and I kept bumping into each other on Wikipedia and eventually (hey, this is a little embarrassing!) I became… infatuated. Like a schoolboy crush.

Soon I found myself actively seeking things requiring disambiguation. At first, I only disambiguated at home when no one was around. Later, I began disambiguating in the company of close friends. I hope my readers appreciate that openly disambiguating on the blog was a big step.

dis – when something disappears, it vanishes.

ambiguous – uncertain, open to multiple interpretations.
tion – suffix indicating an action or process.

Thus, disambiguation is the act of making uncertainty regarding interpretation vanish. Sexy stuff, huh?

Mister Daeng

2010-01-07T16:51:00.034+07:00

An interesting rule of thumb for measuring the extent of traumatic brain injury is the Rancho Los Amigos Scale – Revised Levels of Cognitive Functioning. The reality of brain damage is rarely as tidy as a 1 -10 scale, but it’s a useful tool nonetheless. When I returned home from the hospital, I was probably functioning at a Level VII. Now I’m at Level IX to X.

Meet Mister Daeng and his minder, also (conveniently enough) named Daeng. Mister Daeng is a 70 year old Thai-Chinese businessman who suffered a stroke several years ago. Were I in the diagnosis business, I’d diagnose Daeng at a Level VI.

Most days, I meet them sitting in the condo lobby when I go to exercise. Khun Daeng stares into the middle distance; his minder gabs without pause on her mobile phone. When he sees me, Daeng claps and summons me ("Hallo, hallo, hallo.") to come to him. On every occasion, we have the following exchange:

Me: How are you today, Khun Daeng?
Daeng: Go to the golf course?
Me: Not today, Khun Daeng. I have to exercise to get stronger.
Daeng looks away, no longer interested.

It surprises me to have complex feelings about a relationship based on a single exchange repeated ad infinitum. But our interactions haven’t always been so routinized. In fact, the first time I saw Khun Daeng sitting in the lobby I approached him and ran my fingertips over his face. (Inability to recognize inappropriate social interaction behavior is characteristic of Level VII.) He didn’t flinch. I think we recognized each other as fellow sufferers.

I like to think I’ve maintained a fairly sunny disposition despite my indisposition, something Daeng either has not done or cannot express. I used to tease him about his good judgment having a pretty girl to take care of him, while I only had little gangsters looking after me. “She’s not a pretty girl,” he explained once. “She’s a Burmese girl.” (She’s Karen actually, not Burmese.)

In a moment of mischief, I once threatened to steal Daeng's wheelchair to use as a noodle soup wagon on the street. “OK,” he said unsmiling and unruffled. “It doesn’t matter.”

My emotional cocktail on seeing Daeng:

Pity: he can’t walk and doesn't speak clearly; he has no humor; he is totally dependent, can’t even have a piddle on his own.
Hubris: but my condition is improving.
Kinship: a fellow sufferer.
Compassion: a desire to brighten his day.
Annoyance: he’s pushy, self-centered, distracting.
Distress: when he becomes agitated.
Relief: that I’m not is his condition.
Guilt: that I don’t pile him into a taxi and take him to the bloody golf course.
Humility: there but for the skill of the doctors go I.

Madame Saranair with Cindy

2010-01-03T17:17:00.011+07:00

Cindy is back in Bangkok after a month at Club Meditate. The ascetic routine, as she reports it: awake at 3am, eat twice a day (nothing after noon), asleep at 8pm. I'm not 100% sure I'm buying it, Cindy. I suspect you've spent the last month chowing on seafood buffets, downing fruity rum drinks, dancing in conga lines, and stealing kisses in the moonlight.

We had a foot massage in Soi 19, then went for dinner at Madame Saranair, Big Mama's new Thai offspring. Big Mama's is our neighborhood's wildly popular pizzeria and possibly the best Thai-Isreali thin crust pizza in Bangkok. Big Mama's owners recently opened Madame Saranair next door, with the same winning combo of inventive food (Thai this time, instead of Italian) and friendly service, dished up in a colorful, agreeable atmosphere at reasonable prices.

Saranair, spelt in English, is a play on words in Thai. If spelt สะระแหน่ in Thai (pronounced sà-rá-nàe), it means mint or peppermint. If spelt สาระแน (pronounced săh-rá nae), it means gossipy, impudent, or meddlesome.

Max oversees both kitchens and his eclectic acrylic paintings hang on all eight walls.

Click to expand. Kitty is worth a closer look.

He just took up painting a couple of years ago, but must be a natural artist. Israeli manager Alon pursuaded him to come out of the kitchen to take a bow.

In addtion to flair for form and color, Max has a clever comic sense when it comes to subject matter. His tongue-in-cheek twist on this traditional Thai domestic theme: the women preparing food appear to be Swedish.

Reindeer in Bangkok? Moo!

2009-12-28T19:00:00.025+07:00

Berkeley Farms Dairies had a long-running ad in the San Francisco Bay Area with the silly tag-line "Cows in Berkeley?' answered by an emphatic 'Mooooo!' I chuckle about 'Cows in Berkeley?' whenever I stumble across one of the reindeer that have lately overrun the sidewalks of Bangkok.

Thais are a pragmatic folk, who never let the fact that the population is 95% Buddhist get in the way of a holiday. Especially not if the holiday involves stringing colored lights onto anything too slow or stupid to run away. All the better if you can sing silly songs, drink and go shopping. The 'Festive Season' here begins with the King's Birthday (which is also Father's Day) on Dec 5, and lasts through Christmas and New Year into mid-January.

Click to expand

Last night, we went to Bangkok's shopping nexus, Siam / Ratchaprasong, to take pictures of the holiday displays. The festivities include entertainment on multiple stages and acres of beer gardens. Although it's officially 'cool season', the evening was hot. There's irony in dripping sweat to the Muzak refrain of Frosty the Snowman.

Here I am, panting like a hound dog on an August afternoon.

May Your New Year Be Happy, Healthy and Prosperous,

and Your Air Be Always Comfortably Conditioned!

Muay Thai

2009-12-28T17:02:00.007+07:00

On Katy's last night in Thailand, her father (Alex the Bagman) treated us to pricey ring-side seats at Lumpini Boxing Stadium. I'm still fooling with the video shot by personal videographer and executive director Liz; maybe I can add video to the post later. Exciting and lots of fun! Thanks, Alex.

Click to expand

Sure It's Tinkerbell on Acid... But Is It Art?

2009-12-28T03:55:00.004+07:00

Curious holiday display at the Peninsula Hotel: I can't determine its relevance to any holiday in any religion, unless there is a Church of PeptoBismology (which, I guess, wouldn't really surprise me that much). Let me know if any of you amateur theosophists out there have insights.

At the Pharmacy

2009-12-21T18:02:00.017+07:00

At the pharmacy today, I couldn't help but notice this new product on prominent display.

I asked the pharmacist, who is a smart, funny guy, if he could be more specific about the Specific Area indicated on the packaging. He assured me that if I needed the product, I would know the Specific Area its makers and marketers had in mind.

Today's Thai phrase is actually an American phrase translated into Thai: 'Better Living Through Chemistry', a DuPont Corp advertising tagline for many years. For some reason, the phrase springs to mind whenever I go to the pharmacy to drop a few thousand baht on blood pressure and cholesterol meds.

In Thai: ชีวิตดีๆ ด้วยสารเคมี pronounced Chee-wít dee-dee, Dûay săhn-kay-mee

Up on the Roof

2009-12-19T20:26:00.030+07:00

Photos from the Rooftop Garden of the BKK Condo.

Rooftop Panorama - click to expand.

English-like

2009-12-15T17:36:00.005+07:00

Billboard: Take two common English words (home and kitchen), combine them in a way that is pleasing to the non-native speaker's ear, and name your shop. 'Homey Kitsch', however, sounds like a doily-knitting gangsta to this native speaker.

Things I Love About Thailand # 345

2009-12-14T19:14:00.007+07:00

I've always enjoyed the wooden village on the grounds of the Tobacco Factory. It's like an upcountry village in the very shadows of the towers of Sukhumwit.

Hot and thirsty after our long walk along the canal from Lumpini Park, Paul and I stopped in the wooden village for a drink. We joined Ubol (shirtless), Bang and Chang (the massage doctor) at a streetside picnic table. They rolled out the red carpet, we shared jokes and snacks and rice whisky, and everyone got a good story to tell when they got home that night.

Karrot-top K-Bags Takes Bangkok by Storm

2009-12-14T16:57:00.015+07:00

Back in Bangkok, Katy Bagerman and Liz Fouksman had returned from Cambodia. Liz was coy about the scholarship she'd successfully pursued, but Katy let the cat out of the bag: it's a Rhodes scholarship and Liz starts at Oxford next fall. Uncle Bo is lucky to have pretty, smart young women to keep him company in his dotage.

These kinds of things must be celebrated! Out with the gang (Pack, Paul, Jochem, Pepe) to Vientienne Kitchen.

Next a nightcap at Nest. Katy likes her martinis dirty, like her mother. (Disambiguation: Katy's mother is not dirty! Katy's mother likes dirty martinis.)

Those born with the 'No' gene called it a night (i.e. Liz and I walked back to the condo), while the others went dancing in Silom. There's a none-too-clear story that Paul and Katy became separated, each straggled home in the wee hours, and Paul found Katy in the chair at our front door chowing on a cheeseburger from the open-all-night McDonalds.

Chiang Mai Frenz Frenzy

2009-12-14T02:47:00.014+07:00

- Henning: Just how big was it, Henning?
- Tina: Ever the rose among thorns.
- Tony Kee Boney: ('Kee Bon' means 'prone to complaining' in Thai. He complains when I call him Tony Kee Boney.) / Sam: Sabai dee.
- Sakchai: This was the 'good photo' of Sakchai and me. Editorial perquisite: I cropped myself out.
- Christian: Maybe more Beverage than Food on this evening.
- Xiah: Current 'Meet the Beatles' Fab Four haircut.
- John / Steven: Stripes much? Did they plan this?

Chiang Mai - Gan Tuktuk

2009-12-13T23:08:00.009+07:00

Standing by Thapae Road one evening, Pack haggling with a tuktuk driver about the price of a trip across town. The driver and I got a look at each other and - eureka! It's Gan Iguana E Na Glua (อีน่ากลัว), an old friend. No more haggling: we got a fair price and Gan got a customer for the rest of the week.

Gallery - Kamphaeng Din Road, Chiang Mai

2009-12-10T23:01:00.008+07:00

At Nong Flook

2009-12-10T22:51:00.007+07:00

Back from Chiang Mai a week already, but still getting caught up on photos.

L to R: Bartley, Pack (wishing he were elsewhere), Toon, Lawng (talking to his imaginary friend), Wit (self-amused; lunatic).

SOS: Snap-to-Grid Feature Turned Off

2009-12-01T03:27:00.022+07:00

Back in a city (Chiang Mai) that I knew intimately after navigating it by motorbike for five years, I've gotten new insights into my broken sense of spatial orientation. Last Thursday night, I went for foot massage at the 'Little Hammer Boys' (where they pound your feet with rubber mallets after an hour's reflexology massage. Mid-massage, two Aussie women stopped in, asking directions to the Night Bazaar. As the only English-speaker present, it was incumbent on me to answer.

Insights gained:

Good news: the big picture is NOT lost. I could point them in the general direction of the Night Bazaar. Alas, the pieces of the puzzle no longer snap into place. I couldn't provide specific directions, as I previously would have done.

My mental map of the area before:

My mental map now:

When they roto-rooterered my head, they accidentally turned off the 'Snap-to-Grid' feature. As a result, I'm almost a Spatial Orientation Buffalo, whereas before I was a near Spatial Orientation Einstein. The SOS:

That same evening, I checked out the route 'From Here' (Little Hammer Boys Foot Massage Shop) 'To Here' (Night Bazaar), and mentally recorded the pieces of the puzzle. Next time, I hope to be better prepared to provide directions.

Chiang Mai Shortcut

2009-11-30T00:25:00.012+07:00

Pre-stroke (when I spent more time in Chiang Mai than in BKK), this pretty little temple was a convenient shortcut from my rented room to the market. I cut thru last night as the sun was setting and the monks chanting. A sublime moment. Fortunately, camera and mobile phone were on hand to capture it.

Wat Saen Fang - Chiang Mai

Too Much Wasabi, Wise Guy

2009-11-27T16:40:00.022+07:00

The cheap outdoor sushi place on Huay Kaew Road near the University has moved indoors. Some things don't change, however: Wit is still a wise guy.

Which brings us to our Thai Phrase of the Day: สมน้ำหน้า pronounced sŏm náhm nâh meaning Serves you right!

Baby Saemee

2009-11-27T16:23:00.011+07:00

Pack and I flew up to Chiang Mai on Wednesday (25 Nov) evening. The weather up here is perfect, cloudless blue sky and neither hot nor cold. It's always great to be back in Chiang Mai and catch up with my many friends here.

It's a small, easy-going city. Even if I can't see well enough to ride a motorbike any more, at least I can ride shotgun.

Thursday, Pet and Goy Saemee (aka 'The Beverly Hill Tribe') brought Pet Junior down from the mountain to meet Uncle Bo. He's a cute little guy with an agreable disposition. Wit calls him Dim Sum, not an inappropriate name for a chubby, little dumpling. Like his dad, he sleeps and throws up a lot.

Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Home Team

2009-11-24T17:56:00.003+07:00

Despite my firm conviction that frozen substances are dangerous once released from the friendly confines of a beverage container (leading inevitably to broken hips, that ammoniac old lady smell, bedsores and finally death), I've been reading up on the Winter Olympics so that I can follow my friend Chris's son on the Canadian ski jump team.

Assuming you don't have a home team to root for, keep an eye out for Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes. (Lucky devil looks a lot like his mom!)

The 2010 Winter Olympics are being held in Vancouver, BC, so times below are PST.

Fri, 02-12 10:00-11:05 Individual Normal Hill Qualification

Sat, 02-13 09:45-11:25 Individual Normal Hill Final

Fri, 02-19 10:00-11:05 Individual Large Hill Qualification

Sat, 02-20 11:30-13:10 Individual Large Hill Final

Mon, 02-22 10:00-11:55 Team Large Hill Qualification / Final

Thai Phrase of the Day

2009-11-23T16:25:00.001+07:00

ภาษาไทยวันละวลี pah-săh thai wan lá wá-lee

รสนิยมต่างกัน pronounced rót-sà-ní-yom dtàhng-gan

English: Tastes differ; There's no accounting for taste.

Dutch: Smaken verschillen.

-----------------------------

รสนิยม pronounced rót-sà-ní-yom, means taste, liking, preference. ต่างกัน pronounced dtàhng-gan means to differ.

Bake-a-thon 2009

2009-11-23T02:53:00.004+07:00

Since I'm the only person Maria (aka the Cookie Monster) knows with an oven (something of an anachronism in Thailand), our kitchen was selected as the venue for a two-day bake-fest.

Maria ran the kitchen like a Cookie Drill Sargeant. Lucky Chalalai played the Cookie Recruit.

The cookies are Maria's Holiday Hoorah in Thailand, as her university is closed most of December and she'll be going back to the States for Christmas.

Chalalai learned the hard way that an American Christmas is all about stress, excess, and unrealistic expectations. Sometime during the late afternoon of Day 2, she suggested sweetly, 'I don't think baking is my thing.'

The girls overcame an unfamiliar kitchen, improvised ingredients, my general bah-humbug-iness, a balky oven that wanted to broil rather than bake, and an all-out assault by sugar-crazed ants to acheive the showy and tasty results seen below.

Muddled Vision: a Graphic Illustration

2009-11-22T17:59:00.005+07:00

So that friends better understand just how my vision is restricted since the exploding cabeza episode of March 2008: this is the living room in our Bangkok condo as I saw it before...

... and this is what I see now.

No need to feel sorry. I can still see well enough to walk, read, type, all the important stuff. I'm gradually getting pretty used to my new circumstances.

On the other hand, please don't 'blind side' me. Anything that comes at me from the left appears quite suddenly and invariably feels like a sneak attack and an unpleasant surprise.

Thai Phrase of the Day

2009-11-22T00:24:00.001+07:00

ภาษาไทยวันละวลี pah-săh thai wan lá wá-lee
Our sweet, goofy maid Auntie Mot, when asked if she kisses her husband on the lips, replies with a giggle that she does not because... she is afraid of losing her false teeth in his mouth. Consequently, our default silly sayonara around the condo these days is:
รักๆ จูบๆ pronounced rák-rák, jòòp-jòòp meaning love, love, kiss, kiss

La Belle Berg in Bangkok

2009-11-21T23:09:00.002+07:00

It was wonderful having Pia Berg visit BKK for a few days. She stopped off Wednesday on her way back to Sweden from a business trip in Viet Nam.

Wednesday evening, we walked thru Benjagitti Park to Klong Toey Metro Station, then took the train to Silom for drinks and dinner. Finally we taxied back to Beer Garden for a nightcap.

Thursday night we stopped by Zeist for tapas. We were the only customers for much of the evening: our private club and rooftop perch. I hope they make it, as food, service and atmosphere are great. They were successful on Soi Ekkamai, so maybe it's just a matter of their old customers finding their new location.

Pack appeared magically as soon as a shrimp dish was ordered. He's gifted that way.

At Soi 19 Beer Garden, Ae remembered Pia and Dan from their last BKK trip, and gave her a couple of Singha beer mugs as a keepsake. We loaded her into a taxi to the airport Friday night, and this morning she text-messaged her safe arrival back in Stockholm.