The Life and Times of Jim! Paul!

Back Home, but Not Updated Much!

A Joke On Jim:
Near the hotel is a little bake shop, and in the mornings they have these beautiful pastries in the showcase. They look beautiful and flaky, and they must be delicious, filled with apple, or berry, or peach.
I bought two of them, one that looked like apple, another filled with maybe peach but I couldn't really tell (my second choice or maybe third, but sweet stuff all the same). I walked back to the hotel, full of anticipation of the wonderful fruitiness of the flaky pastries.
It turns out, the "apple" was curried potato (imagine my surprise), and the other (of unknown but fruity filling) was actually filled with tuna (Oh, for crying out loud).
You know, I will miss The Young Lady terribly once I leave here, but I really do look forward to food I recognize on sight.

I found a LBS (Local Bike Shop)!
Right across the street from the nearby grocery store, I found a place calling itself Siam Bike & Parts! I was able to glance inside (I was riding a taxi back to the hotel), they looked like a legitimate bike shop! So the next time I come here, I know where to get a couple of bikes for Jat and myself. Colorful things, too! Not shy about the garish paint jobs! Perfect for me (providing they come big enough)!

While at this grocery store, I was looking for snacks to take on the plane back home. It seems you can get roasted almonds with anchovies (Blue Diamond brand, I'm not kidding). Imported from California. Hmm...No, Thank You. I just got some M&Ms and REGULAR mixed nuts WITHOUT the dried fish, thank you.
With my squeamish stomach, I wonder how Jat can imagine spending her life with such a gastronomic wimp.

The weather changes here are interesting. All today, it has been sunny and hot. Now, about 6:00 PM local time, it has been clouding up, and it is very dark. I think it will rain very hard, very soon. Jat and I are planning to watch a movie tonight, I wonder how traffic will fare. I didn't bring an umbrella in favor of My Wonderful Hat, so I hope Jat has an umbrella to keep dry. I do like the style of weather changes here, with the sudden rain, but it can sometimes be inconvenient.

I adore this weather! In the time of about 1 hour, the sky has gone from hot, clear and sunny to completely black and about to rain. It is beautiful!

It rained most of the night, leaving the air this morning humid enough for swimming. I predict it will be very uncomfortable today, but who can tell? I still don't know the way weather works here. The way the sky looked, I would not have been surprised by hail or even tornado warnings. I guess such excitement is unheard of here.

The Plan For Today:
Since Jat likes whiskers, but not TOO long whiskers, I will get a shave today (Wednesday). I will be continuing the experiment by Mark Twain in "Innocents Abroad" in finding a barber with a sharp razor (I found one in Italy). I predict I will be successful.
After shaving, I will walk (or if Jat likes, we will take a taxi) to the bike shop I found yesterday. I want to know how expensive these bikes are, and if the paint schemes are really the way I saw them from the taxi. To be smart about it, I should have a top price in mind, and be ready to pack my own bike next time I come here.
I have the TV on in the background, just some noise and a moving picture...the language is still completely strange to me, I know nothing about this language. I really need to learn enough to get along here, english is not as common as one might think, especially with shop keepers in this part of town. How much is "enough?" We will see. I need to know enough to be polite, and to get the gist of conversations. I think knowing so little of the language is a problem, since I cannot understand anything that is said around me. For example, what if the people around me are looking at the serial killer behind me with a knife about to stab me? Or maybe they are shouting "FIRE!" and I think maybe they are excited about a movie star? I need to know some of the language.

I walked to the bike shop, looking into every barber along the way, pleading for a shave. No shaving, only hair cutting. At least I got a nice cold can of coffee at a 7-11, and it was a nice stroll in the sauna weather, and yes those WERE raindrops falling on me (okay, it was not so pleasant an experience). I got to the bike shop, and they were CLOSED as in completely barred and barricaded (like every shop has here, a metal screen across the windows). And even the Milk Bar (I have no idea, but will check it out) was still not yet open. See what a lucky guy I am? The imminent rain is more and more imminent, implying a deluge as I am standing at the corner wondering what the heck to do now. I do not even know what time it is. It could be noon for all I know (but the traffic doesn't reflect this). So. Taxi back to the hotel, ask at the front desk about WHERE to get a shave and what about that bike shop. It seems the hair salon I got my (not quite even because the girl was nervous about A Huge American in her shop) haircut will also shave, and the bike shop will be most busy and open about 3:00 PM. Oh. And the bike shop opens at 10:00, and know what time it is when I get back to the hotel? 10:00.
Another Bangkok Adventure!
Hey. If I wanted normal things, I shouldn't have left Dallas.

It took going to the front desk and asking them (incorrect directions), but I found a barber who would give me a shave!
The front desk said go to the barber next to the 7-11 (the same one who gave me a fair haircut). I went there, they wouldn't shave, but in halting (okay, crashingly halting) english they told me Soi 38, about 1 kilometre down. I went about 1 kilometre, tried the first barber (no shave), and continued a hundred yards to the barber pole with the vertical stripes and triangles in the middle! 40 Baht for a very good shave! So now I have a clean face and can go home without shame. Remember, it's the one with the vertical stripes and triangles in the middle, NOT the one with counter-rotating spiral stripes, past that one. I'm a Happy Camper.

Last night (Wednesday), we finally went out to see a movie and eat dinner. We went to the wealthier part of town to a theater there, and it is a different sort of place than in the US. There are shops inside the building, restaurants, and even photo booths supervised by real, live people. We saw War of the Worlds (which was much better than I expected, and even followed the original story well enough), ate dinner at a place that has hot plates at each table so you can cook your own food (a very good idea that might do well in the US), and had our pictures taken and printed. Quite a fun night! This morning (Thursday), I think we will go walking in a park. A few days ago I saw some people walking and biking in what looked like a greenway. This was what gave me the idea of buying a bike here in the first place, that it would be relatively safe to ride here.

We did go to the bike shop yesterday, pricing bikes, and I discovered they are a fair price here. Not the much cheaper price I was hoping for. The next time I come here, I will buy Jat a bike, but I will pack my own. I know my bike, and it would be more convenient to pack than to find a bike of my size and fit it to me. Oh...About the bike shop..It was a normal shop, with normal mountain bikes (only a very few road bikes in evidence), and normal brands and other gear.

This is nowhere near completely up to date.
As I get time, I will put the rest of the trip here.
Oh, One More Thing: I don't know yet how to get pictures onto this log, so I can email pictures if you like.

posted by Jim @ 7/05/2005 05:05:00 PM