Happy St. Patrick's Day-Green Day & Red Shirts

In many Christian areas of the world, St. Patrick's Day is being observed today. In Thailand about 97 percent of the population is Buddhist so there is not much green beer around today.

Because I'm an invited guest here in Thailand I try to say pretty low key about the politics.

Now, Green and Red are complimentary colors so let me write a little about the "Red Shirts". They are demonstrating in Bangkok, almost 400 miles south of us in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai.

I am sure you have seen the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) commonly called the "Red Shirts" as they usually ware red shirts.

They seem to have three goals: dissolve parliament, return the 1997 Constitution and keep the Privy Council out of politics.

No, that is not me in the center with the sun glasses!

He is just one of the estimated 100,000 demonstrators.

So far it has been pretty peaceful but they have thrown some of their own blood. To read more on Forbes.com just CLICK HERE.

I have learned something else about Thai politics. About 60 percent of the Thai population are farmers. The farmer believe is is a privilege and a duty to vote. On election day, they go vote. Then they go back to work in the rice patties or the tea and coffee plantations.

Who ever they vote for win the elections. Now the 40 percent that live in the cities don't like that so they demonstrate and hurt the Thai economy. The elected officials then resign to let the process go forward.

They have another elections and the farmers elect who they want, again. The folks in the cities don't like that so they demonstrate and the process goes on and on.............

Personally, we think it weakens the Thai economy. To us that means we can buy more Thai money (Baht) with United States Dollars.

We're not judging, we're just saying!

Smoke in Mae Sai, Thailand

Life is very quiet here in Mae Sai, on the Myanmar (Burma) Border. The jungle is on fire so it is very smokey. That will change with the next heavy rain.

That is the sun setting in the smoke over the Temple on the Mountain.

I will never forget our spring of 2007 plane trip from Bangkok to Chiang Rai here in Northern Thailand. We had been in the air about an hour and were on the landing decent. I started to smell smoke.

Now, I don't know about other people but when I smell smoke on an airplane something must be wrong. I looked around and everyone else seemed to be calm. I did push the button for the flight attendant. When the attendant came to my seat I told her I smell smoke.

She just smiled and said everything was okay. The smoke was coming from the jungle as it was on fire. She continued to say that this happens every year.

Some years it comes right up to the road so you can see the flames. So far no flames can be seen from this little town of Mae Sai.

This is a picture we took last year about this time on the road to Ban AYO.

We are going up into the mountains later in the week and we'll let you know how the fires are in that area.

There should be 400-500 kids at this Camp Out that we will be attending. We will take lots of pictures.

We made it to the Myanmar (Burma) Border

It is a nice cool day here in Mae Sai, Thailand. Mae Sai is as far north as you can go in Thailand. It is up in the mountain area in the Golden Triangle.

The nice part about that is it is about 10-20 degrees cooler here than in the Bangkok area. As an example, it is about 75 degrees F right now at 4:00 PM. In Bangkok it is 91 degrees and today is a pretty cool day.

We are expecting it to go down to 60 degrees here tonight.

Our trip from Pattaya yesterday was a good trip. Everything went smooth. The car driver picked us up right on time from our hotel. It sprinkled a little on the way so there were many motor bike accidents on the road.

It had not rained for some time so the little rain we had floated all the oil that was in the pavement and made the roadway super slippery.

When we arrived at the airport we just checked in with Air Asia. Our bags weighted just under what we had paid for on this trip. We paid 800 THB ($24 USD) for two bags weighing up to 20 kilograms each. Daeng's bag weighed 18 Kg and mine was 17 Kg.

Our trip through security went smooth and the plane, a 727, was right on time. From the plane we called Sai, the driver that was to pick us up in Chiang Rai, to tell him we were on time.

An hour and fifteen minutes later and we landed at the Chiang Rai Airport, got our bags and Sai was waiting for us. About 45 minutes later we arrived at the Yeesun Hotel which will be our home base for the next two months.

If you would like to see where we are in relationship to the Myanmar (Burma) border we are "h9" in the map on this link: CLICK HERE

They even had the room we like, #201, ready for us. This is a nice little family run hotel of about 20 rooms. It is only a few years old and in very good condition. They charge us 8000 THB ($240 USD) a month. They have everything you could want; refrigerator, air conditioing, hot water, western style bathroom and some English TV. They even have free wireless Internet.

We checked in and Daeng packed up the gifts we brought for the family and she went to see them. I was tired so I showered and had dinner by the hotel. I ordered , in my broken Thai, fried pork and a small amount of rice. When my order came to the table it was fried rice and vegetables. It's a good thing I like all kinds of food or I had better study my Thai speaking more.

I called Daeng and told her I was going to bed and she should stay with the family and have fun.

We got up early this morning and took our laundry to Tun's, Daeng's brother, laundry. Then we went to the morning market and eat "baht-ta-go" and had coffee. Baht-ta-go" is a sweet, fried doe or what I call a the Thai donut.

We then went to the Mae Sai Immigrations Office. No line, no numbers to take and everyone asking if they can help. The Immigrations Officer told us the letter from the bank had to be no older than seven days but he checked everything else and made a list of the pages in my passport that he needed copies of.

We jumped on the motorbike and went to Bangkok Bank up the street. They wrote a letter for immigration and made the copies of my passport and we were on our way back to immigrations. The bank did charge us 100 THB ($3 USD). We think that is still a deal.

When we arrived back we walked up to the same Immigrations Officer who had me sign everything and filled our the "multiple entry" form so I could do that at the same time. I paid the 5700 THB ($171 USD) and thanked him.

He smiled and gave me back my passport all stamped and we were on our way before 11:00 AM. What a wonderful difference from the trip to immigrations in Jomtien Beach last week.

The only thing I was wrong about was I thought it was 1900 THB for Visa and 1900 THB for the "multiple entry" but the "multiple entry" was 3800 THB.

Paradise is still a deal!

We stopped at the post office and got our mail. There was a 2010 calender from Susann, our Amish friend in Pennsylvania. Their printing company does the printing. The calender also had a newsletter type story of their family events that happened in 2009.

There was also a Christmas card and a Thanksgiving card from Bob and his wife Gloria post marked Santa Ana, California.

It is always nice to receive mail. It makes us feel loved!

Then on to a hair cut and shave by the local barber for 60 THB ($1.80 USD) including the tip. Speaking of tipping; not much tipping is done here in Thailand except in the tourist areas. You only "tip" if someone does something special, above and beyond their normal job.

Onward to the large department store "Tesco Lotus" to but milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, ham and mustard for sandwiches. Most Thai people don't eat those items so we have to go to a big market to find them.

Daeng will have her brother, Tun, pick up the four containers we stored at Daeng's Mother's home when we left in November. The storage containers have the toaster, cup, plates, coffee pot, etc. in them along with more clothes.
We plan on taking it easy for a few days without any plans to do anything special.

If you would like to see a video of the area we live in just "CLICK HERE". We live about 300 meters from where this video was shot.

Our First 10 days in the "Land of Smiles".

Thursday, February 25, 2010
It was a sunny day in Southern California. Our friend, Terry, picked us up at home. We loaded our bags in the car. We are only carrying one large bag each along with a back pack, Daeng’s big purse and my CPAP machine bag.

The 45 minute trip to the airport was without event. Traffic was light and Terry had her car bearing fixed so we did not have to listen to the noise that worried us so much the last time she gave us a ride.

It took us about 45 minutes in line at China Airlines ticket counter. Everything went smooth once we reached the ticket agent as we had E-Checked in before we left the house.

Now, going through security was a little different. I was carrying a CPAP machine, sometimes referred to as a sleeping machine. It is a machine that puts a small amount of air pressure on your breathing passages.

That keeps them open so you don’t snore and sleep well. I think CPAP stands for Controlled Positive Air Pressure.

The agent wanted to open the bag and test for explosives. I ask him to please re-glove as the things he was going to handle went on my face. He was very nice and said he understood.

He handled everything very carefully during his testing. The testing amounted to whipping down the machine with a cloth pad and then putting the pad in a machine to analyze it. After that, he started to put everything in a bin to have it x-rayed, again.

The bin was a bin that a man had just taken his shoes out of it. I baulked here and explained that putting my face mask and CPAP machine in a bin that someone had just taken their shoes out of was not acceptable.

He proceeds to tell me that he had to do it to let me pass but would give me some alcohol to wipe off things after. I could tell at that point I had no choice so I said okay.

After everything was approved, I thanked him for working to keep us all safe but stated there should be a more sanitary way to follow their procedures.

We put everything back together and proceeded to gate 103 for the wait before boarding. It was about 50 minutes as the boarding was late by over a half hour.

We are in the air now after a nice take-off. Refreshments are being served although it is a little bumpy.

I'll tell you more a little later in trip.

We are now on our second leg of the journey.

Well, on the last flight, I watched three movies, took a little nap, had two meals on the plane and landed in Taipei. Since our plane was a hour late, by the time we made the walk and changed terminals on the little electric shuttle we got right on our plane to Bangkok.

We watched another movie, eat another meal and we’ll land in Bangkok at about 1:00 in the morning. It is now Friday, February 27th. We lost a whole day when we crossed the International Date Line.

When we land we will process through immigrations, get our two checked bags and take a taxi to Modelink Guest House on Soi 4 in the Sukhamvit area of Bangkok.

We'll write more when we get settled in Bangkok.

Monday, March 01, 2010 4:20 AM
Wow, we’ve been sleeping forever. We arrived okay at Bangkok airport, breezed through customs and got our bags. Daeng called Modelink Guest House to be told that they are full.

I called another number for the guess house as sometimes a farang (non-Thai tourist) will get special treatment as they figure we will spend more money than a Thai traveler. I got the same answer which I was glad to get as it told me that they are on the up-n-up. They have always been straight with us.

We did not have a back up plan so we called Nana Hotel and were told they have standard rooms. We took a metered taxi (350 TB with airport fee and tip) to Nana Hotel.

We’ll, just like they have done to us in the past, when we arrived, we were told they only have the better room for 400 TB more, 1690 TB or about $51 USD.

It’s not so much the money as the principal or the deal. Nana Hotel is in the center of one of the tourist areas of Bangkok. It has okay rooms, a sparkly swimming pool and a killer buffet breakfast for two included. Each breakfast is 200 TB or $6 USD for non-guests.

After we checked in we walked across Sukhamvit to Soi 5 and had a bowl of soup, then came back to hotel for some rest.

Daeng got up about 9:00 AM after resting about 4 hours. She told me she was going shopping at one of the largest shopping areas in Thailand. She knows I don’t like to shop so she let me sleep more.

She came back around 1:30 PM with a big bag of clothes she had bought for family members in Mae Sai. She also told me she had arranged a room at Modelink in the back on the second floor.

We packed up, checked out and walked the 400 meters up the street to the guest house. Business has been good so they had raised the room rent to 800 TB ($24 USD) a night. I love success stories and have watched this family owned guest house start up about four years ago.

We both went back to bed. Jet lag is a bitch sometimes. I slept thru until Sunday night, waking only to eat, use the rest room and have Daeng tell me she was going shopping, again.

My dear friend Michael called me from Wasco, California to tell me that Charlotte was in the hospital. He also ask me to see if I could find some “Siang’s Saffron Oil for his sister.

I woke about 11:00 PM Sunday night and could not go back to sleep. I showered, through on some clothes and walked down to the 7-11 about 200 meters down the street.

I got a cup of coffee and went across the street to the Internet cafe to read and answer some emails.

I read most of the 97 emails in about two hour. I was hungry so I walked across Sukhamvit to Soi 5 and had an American Breakfast at “Food Land”. An American Breakfast is two eggs, bacon or ham, toast, juice and coffee or tea.

Just as I was ordering the food, Daeng called me to see where I was. She could not sleep anymore either. She met me just about the time I was finishing my coffee.

She had a bowl of wonton soup and we walked back to our room. It’s now about 5:00 AM.

Our plan today is to take a taxi to the beautiful city of Pattaya Beach. We will stay there for a week or two and then head north to Mae Sai on the Myanmar (Burma) Border.

The taxi driver we usually use hurt his back so we have to find another reasonably priced taxi driver to make the trip today. Normal price is around 1500 TB plus the tolls of around 90 TB. Our driver usually charges us 1200 TB.

We'll write more from Pattaya

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Yesterday morning Daeng when down to the area across the street from Nana Hotel and talked to a man named “Moo”. He agreed to set up a car and driver to take us to Pattaya Beach for 1100 THB ($33 USD) including the highway tolls. That is a great deal.

The driver picked us up at about 9:30 AM and we arrived at the Honey Lodge Hotel at around 11:30 AM. The lady at the desk had a big smile when we arrived. I had called to be sure we had a room before we left but I don’t think she knew it was us.

She checked us in without even showing my passport and gave us a nice room on the quiet side of the hotel on the second floor. She didn’t even ask for a deposit on the room.

This is an old hotel but clean with good bed, refrigerator, English TV, hot water, western style bathroom, air conditioning and a fresh water swimming pool.

The hotel is 200 feet from the beach and right in the entertainment area named Walking Street. The name comes because at night they close the street to vehicle traffic. All the above, in this great spot at the beach, for 600 THB ($18 USD) a night.

Our room was being made up so we dropped off our bags, put our passports and valuables in a safe deposit box and took a walk. We walked us Beach Road about a half a mile to the Bangkok Bank.

I am here in Thailand as a guest with a one year renewable retirement visa. In order to renew it I have to fill out a form each year at the immigrations office along with a letter from the bank stating I have at least 800,000 Thai Baht in a Thai bank account for at least three months.

We walked into the bank, updated our bank books and they wrote the letter for us. They charged 100 THB for the letter and we went on our way.

My visa expires on Friday so we’ll take a little bus to the next beach area, Jomtien Beach, and file for renewal. It is an easy trip for the cost of 20 THB each.

I am told this immigration office is very friendly as there are many expats living in this area. The renewal with multiple entrees will be 3900 THB for the year.
We walked to the chicken soup shop we like and had a bowl of chicken soup. Then we hopped on what is called a Baht Bus back to the hotel.

A Baht Bus is a small pick-up truck with a body in the back that folks can ride on. They travel in a circle here in Pattaya between Beach Road and Second Road for 10 THB a ride.

We showered when we got back to the hotel as it is around 95 degrees during the day. Then we took a little nap.

I woke up around 11:30 PM a little hungry. I got dressed and went around the corner for a chicken Kabob. I then stopped at the Internet Café across the street and answered most of my emails.

My hip was a little sore so I got an hour massage which did make it feel better. An hour Thai massage here in Pattaya is 200 THB ($6 USD). An oil massage is 300 THB plus tip, of course.

This is a 24 hour town.

They even serve beer at McDonald's

I went back to our room around 5:00 AM and Daeng woke up as I came in. We hung out eating pineapple and having coffee. I also got my laptop to work WiFi on Starbuck's wireless network, next door from our hotel room.

At about 7:30 AM we walked up to the market area and had breakfast at this little place we like to eat at. It’s a nice friendly Thai family place with great food.

We bought two large, cut up pineapple on our way back for 20 THB. If you mind still can’t do the money conversion that is 60 cents for two large pineapple. We pay $3.00 USD each when they are on sale in California.

Nap time, again.

Well, I watched Television for a while and then the TV watched me. Daeng went out and got chicken soup for lunch.

We hung out in the room until around 5:00 PM. Then we got dressed and walked to the corner. Daeng went across Second Road up to the Temple Massage and I hopped on a Baht Bus to go to a meeting.

It was a meeting of English speaking folks helping each other stay away from the addictive vices here in this adult fun city.

After the meeting I jumped back on a Baht Bus to return to the hotel area. The Baht Bus stopped at the Dolphin Circle where they come back down Beach Road. The driver asks where I was going and I told him “Walking Street”. He told me to get on another bus but to pay him. I said: “No.” He shrugged his shoulders and said go.

I hopped on another Baht Bus and got off at “Mr. Kabab’s” and had a chicken Kabob. "Mr. Kabab" had broken his left leg in a motor bike accident but was still working and saying: "Hello Kabob".

I think it is an other reminder or message to me to be careful of motor bikes!

Note: Kabob can be spelled a couple differant ways.

After, I called Daeng to see if she was back in the room I joined her. Nightly, night.

We got up in the morning and took a Baht bus to breakfast at the market area. We had a good breakfast then bought two pineapple and some vegetables in market.

Here is a coin operated, gasoline vending machine.

We walked back to hotel and made arrangements to try their new wireless Internet service for my notebook. It is 200 THB for two weeks.

I logged in and it works well although slower than my broadband in California. Sometimes I lose the connection between the DNS, whatever that means. Remember, I’m a plumber born before broadcast television.

We hung out in our room until noon and then went over to the movie theater by Second Road and Soi 13. We bought tickets for our seats to see the Australian made movie “Daybreakers”. It was in English without subtitles but Daeng is getting pretty good at understanding English.

Popcorn and a soda and we went into the theater. The two thing that are a little different here from theaters in California are you get tickets for the exact seats in the theater and the biggest popcorn here is the size of the smallest size in America.

We had no idea of that the movie was about when we bought the tickets and were surprised to find out it was a vampire movie. I love vampire movies and this was the best one I have seen.

If you love blood, lots of action and bad guys getting killed this movie is a must see. It is not for the squeamish, stomached folks.

After the movie we walked down to the beach to get a little sun. We have not been into the ocean yet as Daeng did not wear socks in her new tennis shoes when she went on her big shopping trip in Bangkok. She got some big blisters in her toes but they are almost healed.

We got back to our room around 6:30 PM and went to bed. We are almost over jet-lag. That has taken a week, exactly. Yes, we have been in Thailand exactly one week tomorrow morning.

Friday, March 5, 2010 6:15 AM
Today, we are going to have some breakfast at the market area and take a Baht Bus a few kilometers to the immigrations office on Soi 5 in Jomtien Beach. My yearly visa expires today. It should be fun trip.

Friday evening, March 5, 2010

We’ll things did not go well at immigrations today. We arrived and filled out all the paperwork, got a number and took a seat. Our number was 608. We watched the numbers and they climbed to 613 on the lighted board without our number showing up.

I asked the information person and he said to go to the #6 desk and show my number. When we did that the lady said we needed to get another number.

We went back to the information desk and told the gentleman she said we need a new number. He shrugged his shoulders and gave us a new number. We took a seat again and waited.

About a half an hour later our number came up and we went to desk number six, again. The lady started processing all our papers. I ask if she could do multiple entry Visa also and do I need another for. She said she was too busy today could only do renewal of my present Visa and I would have to come back on Wednesday.

I paid her the 1900 THB ($57 USD) and after doing about half of the paperwork she looked at the address in Mae Sai (Northern Thailand) and she said she could not do the renewal here. I explained we were on a holiday and my visa expired today.

She said we had to go back to Mae Sai to renew as that is where we lived. I asked what we could do and she said I could see the man in one of the front desk and ask for a seven (7) day extension. She gave us back the 1900 THB and told us to go on!

My personal feelings are she just saw a way to not do the work as “she was so busy today!”

Telling us we have to go to Mae Sai immigrations to do this is like saying we have to go from San Diego to San Francisco or from Washington, D. C. to New York City to do it. We will also have to pay another 1900 THB there to renew my Visa.

I will admit that is a small price to pay to live in paradise.

We spoke to the man at the information desk; he shrugged his shoulders again and took us in front of the other folks to desk number 2. That man stamped all our papers and passport with a seven day extension and changed us 1900 THB. He told us to wait until another lady could record everything.

We waited about a half hour and they called my name. I picked up my Passport and we left. I have to renew my Visa again within seven more days.

Daeng and talked about it. We both agreed that the way it happened was not right but we have no choice. I think that is part of the “Serenity Prayer”.

We stopped at an Internet Café on the way back and bought tickets to fly from Bangkok to Mae Sai mid-day on March 10th. The tickets were 4200 THB ($126 USD) which included two bags, up to 20 kilograms each, for 800 THB ($24 USD).

I just thought that this picture of Jack &

Daeng would lighten up things a little.

We also arranged for a taxi to take us from our hotel to the Bangkok airport on Wednesday morning. A cost of 800 THB plus 70 THB in highway tolls is a very good value. In the past it has been a private car and not a taxi.

A private car is much nicer for us as most Taxi's are really beat up and the private car drivers are usually more carful in their driving.

When we got back to our room in hotel I took a shower and a nap as I was emotionally drained. I slept until 2:00 AM the next morning.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

I woke up at about 2:00 AM. I had been sleeping for about 14 hours as I was drained by the immigrations experience. I now understand why folks get bad feeling about visiting immigrations.

My past experiences with Thailand immigrations have always been very positive. The immigrations office in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai has always been very helpful in all our dealing.

I had a cup of coffee and checked my emails using my new notebook and the wireless internet system here in the hotel. The system is a little slow but does work okay.

I had an email from Air Asia telling me that the Chase Visa card I had used was declined and to please log into their site again with another card or call by telephone during normal business hours.

When I had called the bank about three weeks ago to let them know I would be traveling in Asia I did not feel good about the other person on the telephone even though she told me she would note the file and everything would work okay.

I like this Visa card as they do not charge a fee to exchange money in the country you use it to United States Dollars. Most ATM cards and credit cards charge three (3%) percent of the transaction.

I called the number for Chase Bank that is on the back of the card and after being transferred to four different departments I was disconnected.

I called again and asked the lady I was talking to on this call if she would “Please Help Me?” I explained everything to her and she said she would help me and put me on hold. Well, nineteen minutes later, on hold, I ran out of prepaid phone time and was disconnected by the phone system.

Because I am using a wireless Internet connection for my notebook, I got dressed and walked across the street to us the Internet Café.

I logged into AirAsia.com and use another credit card to pay for the plane trip on Wednesday. This credit card will charge me about $4.00 additional to make the transaction.

I also emailed Chase Bank, through their secure site, asking what happened.

I went back to the room and Daeng was awake. I felt pretty good physically this morning so I asked her if she wanted to go for a brisk walk to exercise this morning. She said: “Good!”

At 68 years old, my body is holding up pretty good except I’m over weight, about 265 pounds and my knees and hips hurt a little, sometimes. I did have my right knee operated on last year and that knee is doing well.

We took a nice long walk down Beach Road, up around Soi 5 and back Second Road, through the Temple to the market area for breakfast. I figure we walked about three miles.

We had a big breakfast at the market area. We bought four small, cut up pineapples and some instant 3 in 1 coffee packets and headed back to room.

We showered and hung out watching television until about 1:00 PM. I had seen a restaurant named “Gooses Fish & Chips” advertized on television. I told Daeng I would like to try it. We dressed again and hopped on a Baht Bus getting off between Soi 7 and Soi 8 on Second Road.

We had lunch of typical English fish and chips for me and a seafood salad for Daeng. The food was good and at a fair price of 370 THB ($11 USD).

I talked to the owner regarding his television exposure. He said it was working very good and was going to continue it for at least another month. His restaurant is only about six months old.

We took a Baht Bus back to hotel. I changed my shirt and went to a meeting with about 30 English speaking folks that that live here in Pattaya and try to help each other in their lives.

It was only an hour meeting and I walked to “Mr. Kabab” and had a chicken and beef Kabob.

We turned in early as we had done a lot of walking today.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

We got up early, about 5:30 AM, had coffee and got dresses in our swim suits. We walked to the 100 kilometers to the beach. About 20 large double outboard speed boats were backed up to the beach at this high tide being fueled.

The fueling was all being done with 4-5 gallon containers being carried from pick-up trucks to the boats by hand.

We walked a little farther down the beach to swim. The water was very clean and the sun was just coming up. We had a nice swim!

We walked back to the hotel and showered off at the pool. We then took a swim in the sparkly, fresh water pool at our hotel. It was different swimming in the ocean and then in the fresh water pool.

We then dressed in our room after another shower. We should be really clean now.

We walked up to the market area and ate in a different restaurant as our usual eating spot is closed on Sunday.

The rest of the day we just hung out loving each other's companionship.

Life is GOOD.

Monday, March 8, 2010
We have been in Thailand now for 10 days as of 1:00 AM this morning. We are back in the swing of things here in the "Land of Smiles".

We took a long walk south of our hotel this morning. It was nice to see the street cleaning crews scrubing the 'Walking Street" area by hand using soap, brushes and water trucks.

We walked about 3 miles in a circle up to the market area and had breakfast at our favorite eating spot.

We bought four pineapples, cut up, for 40 THB and back to the room, shower and a little rest. We plan on going to the movies this afternoon to see the movie "Book of Eli".

We did take a picture of this little kid kissing the ice cream charactor on "Walking Street". Pattaya is trying to make this Adult Town into a family town, too.

We will write more when we get to Mae Sai, Thailand, at the Myanmar (Burma) border later in the week.
Love to ALL,
Plumber & Little Thai Girl

Winter 2009-2010

We had a good winter in California but we're getting ready to have a little vacation in Thailand, again.

We spent most of the winter fixing heating systems although it really wasn't very cold this year.

Here is one of the dirtiest filters I have ever seen.

December was a mild month for Southern California so that gave us time to spend with Mom.

Daeng also enjoyed cooking over the holidays with my sister, Diane.

We had a nice Christmas although most of us just got rocks as presents.

Santa told me coal was to expensive for us.

We enjoyed getting together with some of our friends over a cup of coffee and a "Yum-Yum" donut.

Daeng had fun with Christmas. She played Santa's helper most of the season.

We also got some pictures of the kids at Christmas in Mae Sai, Thailand.

We'll be glad to see them, again.

In January we visited "Medieval Times" for a medieval feast and some entertainment.

Our friends Robin & Carol joined us.

I was thinking about buying a new dress to exchange with my pink one. How do I look in this color?

To see me in my pink dress just "CLICK HERE".

Daeng & I went to see Disney's "Holiday on Ice" at the Honda Center.

We recommend that show to all the kids under 70 years old.

We helped Courtney Ca get the "Comedy in Recovery" show up and running again at "Club Changes" in Anaheim.

It is a free show where comedians come to try out new routines and jokes. If you would like more information CLICK HERE!

It really is a fun place and you never know who will come by or what will happen.

Thailand is a warm, no hot, climate. That means NO SNOW.

To show Daeng what snow was about we took a little trip to Big Bear so she could touch the cold, white stuff. We had fun!

Another tip to help the economy: "BUY AMERICAN"!

Remember to always have fun because if you don't you probably won't stick around very long.

We will write more when we get to the "Land of Smiles"!

Love always,

Terry & Daeng

YouTube Removed Video

Below is the notice I received from YouTube.

I guess they did not want me to report what is happening in the rest of the world.

What ever happened to free speech?

Part II of the video is still on the sight. Here is the link for the story: http://terrysstories.blogspot.com/2009/11/sunday-cock-fights.html

Your account is not in good standing.
Your account has received the following Community Guidelines warning strikes, which will expire in six months. Additional violations may result in the temporary disabling of your ability to post content to YouTube and/or the termination of your account.
For your reference, a copy of each warning message has also been emailed to the address associated with this account.
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Cock fight on the Burma border Part I - (funnyplumber)
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May God bless us all!

Good-bye Pattaya - Hello California

Pattaya is a beautiful place to hang out with the warm ocean, great sunsets, delicious food, friendly people and just about anything you could want on a holiday.

To see more of Pattaya just CLICK HERE.

In Thailand, Pattaya is the second most visited city by tourists with Bangkok being first.

Pattaya is about 120 km south of Bangkok. It is very easy to reach and has thousands of hotel and guest rooms starting as low as 300-400 TB ($9.00-$12.00 USD) a night. Mid-range rooms starts around 1000 TB ($30.00). After that the sky is the limit, so to say.

You can find almost everything you could want in Pattaya with the beach, sun, food, fishing, diving, boating , dancing, shows, movies, shopping and entertainment of all types.

I also would say that if you are a single male, Pattaya is a "Must DO". I don't want to spend a lot of words about the "Girls of Pattaya" or "Boys of Pattaya" but there are thousands of ladies in Pattaya to entertain the single male. For more information about the working ladies in Thailand CLICK HERE.

Remember, the best looking girls are probably boys!

We are going to spend the day resting as tomorrow we check out of the small hotel we are staying in. then we take a taxi to the new Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok.

Our plane leaves at 5:50 PM and we arrive in Los Angeles about one hour later. That always messes with my mind and of course causes "jet-lag".

Over the last two months Daeng and I had a wonderful trip and will be back in California Monday night.