Dinning: Lost in Translation

So the other night we took our Thai friends out for a dinner. This consisted of our Tennis friends Hoi, her husband and their two kids, as well as Piroon, another friend. Since generally we have eaten at Thai places with them we thought we’d try a nice Italian place for a change. The kids love pasta and Syd and I were needed a nice bottle of red. We disguised the event as Barrett’s birthday although it was a few days early. Hoi picked the Italian restaurant as the restaurateur was a tennis acquaintance of hers. He had moved here from Italy ten years ago and married a Thai lady. (A frequent theme around here). His menu, certainly not inexpensive from a Chiang Mai point of view, was by far the most authentic we’ve found here and the atmosphere was very nice. We were excited for a nice meal and occasion.

Syd started by suggesting some red wine. Bad choice. Our friends turned out to be dry and quickly dashed any idea of drinking a nice bottle of red. No matter, the appetizers looked great and I ordered some for the table. The “tar tar” styled beef (can’t remembered what it was called but it was basically raw, acid marinated beef) was a disaster. Turns out our friends don’t eat beef due to their Buddhist religion. Pork, chicken, fish and the others are fine, but no beef. Guess I should have known but I thought that was a Hindu thing. So we were off to a good start. Not! I should note that Piroon did partake in the appetizers. He promptly requested a bottle of Catsup and then preceded to smoother the Kobe beef in it prior to consumption. He nodded in approval.

As I pondered the menu I asked Hoi what she might order. She confided in me that she didn’t like Italian food. I think she used the words; “I hate Italian food” and made a face to make sure I understood. I chucked a little and asked her what kind of foods she did like. She said, “Thai”. Luckily, she knew the owner and was able to order some “custom” dishes. Dishes, not dish (entrée) is the key here. As you might guess at this point, going out for nice dinners wasn’t really something our friends did much. Certainly not Italian.

The Thai style of dinning is really quite different. Somewhat like when you order Chinese, the dish comes to the table, not an individual. Basically, when you order you order with the group in mind. Well this is the concept that they used as they parsed the menu. Before I knew it twice as many entrees were ordered then there were people at the table.

Unlike Chinese, the Thais consider it rude to take more then a spoonful from the communal plate at any one time. However it is not rude to reach in front of someone to help yourself to more. Basically it’s a dinning madhouse.

As the entrees appeared they were quickly passed around and spooned on to the plates. Pasta dishes, Lasagna dishes, seafood pizzas, ect. It was kinda like potluck at a really nice Italian restaurant. Piroon continued with the catsup theme. On his lasagna, on the seafood pizza, complete with mussels, and even the pasta dishes that already had tomato sauce on them. Syd and I had a hard time containing our amusement.

The whole time the kids enjoyed being with teenaged kids, our friends seemed happy if not oblivious, and the night was a great time. The tab, on us, was three times what we’ve paid for any other dinner out. (I think it was a whopping $100.) Regardless, when Syd and I finally made it home, we couldn’t stop laughing as we recounted the evening. Next time we’re going to try to take them to Sushi. We’ll see.

Wine ing

When Syd and I started this extended leave of absence we knew that we'd need to tighten our belts a bit in order to make things work. Buying miscellaneous stuff was the first thing to go from the budget, then new clothes, finally expensive dinners out (in the US anyway) went away. We adjusted to the point that our only remaining vices were Starbucks coffee, good wine and tennis expenses. Eventually, even the wine had to go. We started buying wine in The Dalles for a couple bucks a bottle and ,at the time, we thought we had hit rock bottom. Like most vices, giving them up is just a part-time endeavor. We ran into a wine store the other day and Syd bought a bottle of Phu Ping. A product of Thailand made from mulberries, different, but that's the whole point. We gave it a go. As it turns out Phu Ping (pronounced Poo ping) tasted just like its name: Poo Poo. We should have known.

Our next chance to taste local wines was on our road trip up North. We asked the driver to stop at a fruit stand that was loaded with strawberries, Logan berries and oranges. They also were selling a locally produced wines and juices. With the typical Thai smile, the stand operator suggested that we try a taste of the "wine". Big mistake! It was absolutely awful! It was worse then MadDog 20/20 or Boones Berry Farms. I mean really just nasty. Somewhere between grain alcohol and berry juice gone bad. We smiled and bought some strawberries. They were good.

Finally, we found a Western styled Cheese, Meat and Wine store. We found some decent (not great) wines: mostly French, Italian, Chilean, and Australian. The prices however,were outrageous. I was familiar with a number of the wines, wines that we'd pay $4-12 for. Here they were starting at $30! We've broken down a couple of times and paid the ungodly sum, for the most part however, we are starving for good wine.

Life

Sorry I haven’t written in awhile but we haven’t really been doing much. Our days have been revolving around a simple routine that frequently includes tennis, massage, entertaining the kids and exploration of local restaurants and foods. Life is quite good. While we speak frequently of where we’ll head next, we never seem to get the energy to actually make plans to do so. At this point I think mid March will be our likely departure date to a new destination. (Yes we can change our Visas once again but it’s truly the last time). In the meantime we've decided we really like it here. There is enough around here to keep things new and interesting so we're staying.

Some of you have mentioned that we might not return at all. Well if I have my way that might be true, for a while anyway. I just don’t have any sense that “going home” is something that we should be doing. In fact, the opposite is true. I feel “at home” and want to delve deeper into living abroad. It provides fulfillment and opportunity to live a completely different lifestyle, experience new points of view and interactions. For me variety is truly the spice of life and this type of living experience fulfills that need. I love it and feel blessed to have such an opportunity.

Over the past years, and during this stay in particular, we’ve become so accustomed to being surrounded by foreign languages that we hardy even notice it at times. You learn to communicate through other means and over time the hesitant and somewhat uncomfortable feeling of doing so just disappears. Even the kids use gestures and talk with their hands to get their point across. Most often this occurs when the kids are ordering desert or the roaming ice cream vendor appears.. The ice cream vendor (not a truck but rather a moped and trailer)song has a very different sound here, something like elevator music, but it has the same effect on kids.

Anyway, at some point we’ll be getting on to Vietnam and we’ll have something to write about. After that it’s anyone’s guess. At one point Africa and Kenya were on the short list but I suppose we’ll have to change that plan. We'll let you in on the plans as they develop. We enjoy hearing from you all. Feel free to comment, are just let us know you’re alive. The Ihdes

Mascots

A few weeks ago the Pai Lun (our "knocker", as they are called) invited us to play with him and his friends at a different club. As it turns out his friends include the former ladies singles champ of Thailand , the number 2 and 4 juniors in Thailand and a number of other accomplished players. Pai Lun, was the former number 3 in Thailand. Turns out they practice every Tuesday and Thursday; so we've found some pretty good company to play with. For the life of me I can't figure out why they wanted to play with us? We aren't even as good as the kids they teach, but we welcome the opportunity and haven't missed a practice yet.

Before long they started talking about this tournament that was in Chaing Rai (about 2 hours North) and invited us to come. Syd and I didn't hesitate. Hoi, the club owner and only person who we can actually speak with, said she'd take care of the details. We assumed this meant that she'd sign us up and book the hotel. She did so and also entered us in multiple events with partners we've never met. So it seems as if we were on a team. Syd and I both get a big kick about it all and we call ourselves the Mascots.

The Event

Since the event was held in a relatively small town, near the boarder of Laos , I assumed that it would be a small time deal. I was wrong. Turns out to be a major tennis event for Thailand complete with all the best players, prize money, line judge and ball kids for all 10 courts, catered food, and a six piece classical music ensemble that plays during the evening matches. The event had huge turn-out. The mens singles alone had a complete round of 64. I Guess we should have known from the company we'd been keeping. Now we really felt like mascots and I was a bit unnerved by the whole thing.

So I met my doubles partner as we stepped onto the court to play. (Yes as we stepped onto the court). Here was a 62 year old Thai man who didn't speak a lick of English. He was better then me. I provided the crowd with some good first round entertainment, we managed to get a few games and shared a few laughs but it was obvious that the two men across from us had been playing together for quite awhile. My first event was over.

A few hours later Syd and I got our chance. We lucked out and came up against some other average players and made a match of it. Unfortunately we fell short 8-6 in a super set but felt good about it and had a great time. Afterwords our opponents were curious about how we ended up playing in the tournament as we obviously weren't from the area. He gave me his card ( gourmet corn seed sales) and suggested that we get together and play again.

The people here are incredible friendly and their whole attitude about competition is completely different then in the states. Even though this was a big event, a money event, I didn't witness a single show of frustration during the three days. Really, Not one! In fact it was the opposite, if they weren't playing is silence they were laughing and joking with each other. Even making light of each others shots. (Joking about you opponents shot would never fly in the states). Pai Lun lost his single match in the semis (tie breaker) and his doubles match (tie breaker) in the finals. In both cases he was joking and goofing with his friends and opponents moments afterwords. I asked him if he was bummed and he looked at me as if it was a strange question. He was not, he had and more importantly, was having a great time.

It wasn't just him, it was everybody. It was the entire culture. Hoi won and laughed all the way through her final. Tun (Pai Lun's doubles partner) lost in the singles final (tie breaker), didn't phase him either. For myself, I stew over losses for a couple of days, at least. I hate to lose when I think I shouldn't have (IE: tie breakers). Hoi is now my coach and her biggest emphasis is for me to relax. Imagine that.

(We've met a number of English speaking foreigners here as well but I find myself wanting to hangout with the Thais language barrier and all. Laughing is a good thing).

Road Trip

After the event we found ourselves going to Burma once again. The Thais love to shop there when they have a chance because its so cheap. Why pay $0.60 for a kilo of tangerines when you can pay just $0.40 in Burma. I guess its all relative. Due to Visa entry issues Syd and I were going to stay on the Thailand side but Hoi had connections at the boarder and got us VIP (diplomat) status and across we went. Had a great time shopping for cheap stuff we didn't need. Here are some pictures from the road trip.

Warmonger

This isn’t really a blog about Thailand, but it does have to do with being/living abroad. As most of us know, even the most stanch Republicans, George Bush is not well liked by the world community.

I was at a restaurant the other day and I noticed some anti Bush pictures proudly posted on the walls. Not just one anti Bush picture, but quite a few. This certainly wasn’t the first time I’d seen these types of displays, but it got me thinking about our recent travels.

When people find out we’re Americans frequently they ask about George Bush. Questions like, “Why did the American people elect him”. Or statements like, “I look forward to the Democrats getting back in office”. Or simply, as one taxi driver in Bangkok put it in his best English; “Bush is very bad, Very Bad!” These comments make me feel uncomfortable and are embarrassing. Even know I dislike Bush as much (or more) then they do, I still feel that I'm (we) are being associated with Bush. I’m an American after all, and “we” elected him.

In the past two and a half years we’ve been to four countries in Africa, three countries in South America, and four countries in Asia. (Mexico as well). During that time I have not met a single person who supported George Bush and his administration. Think about it, that’s people from three continents, with multiple viewpoints from various religious and political systems and not one GB supporter. NOT ONE! How is it that HALF the voters of my country elected this guy, while I can’t find a single supported elsewhere?! Amazing! Sure this is an indication of just how out of touch America has become.

I should note that Syd I also traveled often while Bill Clinton was in office. At that time, I never felt this negative association with being American.

(I'm sorry if this post offens my Republican friends but its my observation plan and simple).

Visa Run

The last couple days we toured northern Thailand along the borders of Burma (Myanmar) and Laos. Generally I don’t prefer guided tours, but we needed to leave the country to renew our visas so we decided to let someone else do the driving.

Much of the tour was countryside driving through mountainous jungle, terraced rice fields and smaller towns. Scenic but mundane, especially considering the duration of the drives. We stopped at a number sites of interest, Caves, Monkey Caves, Wats (Temples) and a number of hill-tribe villages.

The main remaining tribes are the Muong, Akha, Karen and Lisu. Accordingly these tribe originated /descended from Mongolian and Tibetan tribes. Like most indigenous cultures we’ve observed during our years of travel, they are barely clinging to their heritage. The younger generations are absorbing (or being absorbed by) the modern world and there looks to be no turning back. What does remain is a sad interaction between tourists wanting to see "indigenous" people and the villagers understanding that tourism offers a way to survive in the new world. The most obvious example was our visit to a Karen Tribal Village. (More famously know as the Long Necks). This particular tribe are refugees from the Burma side of the boarder, where the bulk of their population, perhaps 10 thousand, resides. Under normal circumstances their village would be very remote, truly a hillside site in the dense jungle. However due to the constant trek by tourist over the years foot paths have been replaced by cement walkways complete with handrails. "Tribal" souvenirs are available every step of the way. Believe me there was no feeling that you were on a National Geographic expedition. Our guide assurred us that the villagers wanted our support and were happy to be there, tourist and all. I didn't get that feeling, perhaps it was the article I had just read that referred to the situation as "human zoos". It reminded me of the great Native American Chief Geronimo. After his defeat by the US forces, he toured the US as a side show for circus acts. He survived, but must never have known happiness again.

In order to renew our Visas we crossed into Myanmar for a look around. Unlike the Thais of the North, whom are relatively successful and prosperous, the poverty of Myanmar showed itself immediately. Beggars, including the monks, were everywhere. The sense of desperation was very much in the eyes of the children. Much like our visit to the Karen Tribe, I didn't get a happy feeling about being there. It is interactions like this that in one sense make me feel tremulously lucky and in another, tremendously guilty. You can't help but feel sorrow and pain, along with helplessness. Of course we gave some money away to the kids and monks but in the big picture its nothing. This was a prosperous boarder town, I can't imagine what the more remote interior must be like.

Our next stop was a trip across the Mekong River to Laos. We hope to make a longer visit to this country later during this trip but for this day it was all part of the tour. This three corners area (Thailand, Laos and Burma) is call The Golden Triangle and gained fame for its flourishing Opium trade in years past. (Now its just heroin coming out of Myanmar, but that's another story) . Our guide was a veteran guide and had many stories of Opium treks with foreigners during the seventies and eighties. It almost killed him. The area used to be very dangerous (and still is to some extent) as it was governed by various mafia groups and drug trafficking tribal groups. (Don't worry we only had a small amount of heroin with us so the Mafiosos didn't bother us. kidding). We did however, have the unfortunate encounter with a floating dead body along the Mekong. It was a bit surreal as we motored by, very close, to this body of man whom accordingly, was likely shot by the "police" and dumped into the river for disposal. The kids handled it well. They are certainly getting an education, for better or worse.Our Visas are now good until Feb 25th, when we'll need to leave the country for over a month.

Rylan Playing Tennis

Just wanted to see if I could upload a video.

Check out Rylan's follow through! Wow he really looks like he knows what he doing.

(For you less then Internet savvy types: click the play button, then wait)

Christmas

Hard to beileve that Christmas is right around the corner, not because its been another year already, but because there is just is no sense of the Holiday here. (It's all about Buhhda in Thailand and its warm). Very few decorations, except some in the Western stlye malls. We haven't been exposed to the endless Christmas music. No loss there! It's kinda been nice in fact; a lot less pressure. We do miss our Friends and Family. Happy Holidays to you all.

The mopeds have turned out to be a great choice. We've been able to explore and get around much better then taking taxis everywhere. (The problem with taxis is that you need to know where you're going, which ofcourse, we rarely do). As I mentioned in an earlierpost, it seems as if it would be impossible to get a moving violation (ticket) in this country. Unfortunately, that's not the case with parking. We managed to have out bikes "booted" by the police for illegal parking. 800 Baht and a ride to Police Headquaters later we managed to free them. In light of the traffic situation here we thought it was pretty amusing.

Merry Christmas!

Random Comments 2

It's unfortunate but the karaoke thing is big in Thailand. Well not really Karaoke, just Thai’s singing American songs on stage. They shouldn't’t do it! They can’t pronounce a good portion of the consonants in our Language yet they feel compelled to belt out Elvis, Frank Sinatra and the others . It's embarrassing. Right before this gal (picture) came on, Elvis was there in person. It was something I won't forget anytime soon. I had to bit my lip.

The Thais love their King. Its a sort-of Monarchy/Democracy here. (Although if you ask the Ex-Pats it's more like the King and his Mafia) The King has been in power for the past 60 years, so they don't really know any other leader. Somewhere along the line someone decided that the people should show their support for the King by wearing the same colors (shirts with royal symbol) on each day of the week. Monday is Yellow shirt Day and Wednesday is Pink. (These are the two most popular. There is Green day, Blue Day, White Day etc, as well but yellow and pink are the biggies).

Our first experience of "Yellow Day" was in Bangkok when we went to the Hospital for immunizations. The hospital was crazy busy and at first I thought the staff was wearing yellow uniforms, but quickly realized that the all the people sitting were also wearing yellow as well. Perhaps as many as 80% of the hundreds were in yellow. Really strange. Then a few days later we notice everyone was in Pink. That's when we asked.

I now have a yellow shirt that I proudly wear on Mondays. Pink, I don't think so, but Barrett got one for her Stuff animals.

One sign of Christmas here are the gift baskets available at the grocery stores. At least I think they are for Christmas, I don't really know. Anyway they are the strangest Assembly of foods possible. The gift basket below contains a bottle of Whiskey, a can of coconut milk, coffee, prune juice, corn flakes, crackers and tea. I think I'd rather have the fruit cakeFunny Stuff:

An Elephant walking down the street at night with a (very small) bicycle reflector strapped to its tail.

Chiang Mai

Sorry we haven't posted in a while. Chiang Mai Internet isn't the greatest (IE Dial-Up only) so up loading photos is a laborious job. Recently we figured out that if you sit outside in the hallway reception is much better.

Chaing Mai is really a great town. Not too touristy at all, but enough to provide a great selection of restaurants. Since we don't have a real kitchen this is very important.

We've slowly worked our way into a group of tennis players, some Thai and some Ex-pats, so that has added to the feeling of "home". It's been over a month here and we've made a number of friends/acquaintances so leaving in a few weeks will be tough. In fact we've been invited to play in a tournament with our Thai friends in Chaing Rai, about 2 hours north, along the Burmese (Myanmar) boarder. (You know Bird Flu country). That should be interesting since we don't know a lick of Thai. Syd will play singles, as well as doubles with an instructor we met. The rankings are based on combined age so Syd and Hoi will be playing in the over 90 group. Sounds awful! What's become of us!

Syd and the kids are taking Kung Fu classes a few days a week. Rylan doesn't care for it much, calls it kung poo poo but Barrett enjoys it and has been punching just about everything in sight. So I guess that's a good sign? We thought we were going to take a cooking class but it turns out they are very expensive, catering to the tourist. I guess the locals don't need the classes.
The kids have adapted well. They are great together and busy themselves with all types of games. Great friends. They even play cards with us at night which is kinda of a breakthrough. Dinners out is a nightly event, except when we order the horrid Thai pizzas. We visited a dinner theater the other night and were treated to dances and music of the various local hill tribes. Can't say much for the form of dance here. It was as if the performers were part of a B class movie played in slomotion. We thought it was just going to be the first dance (The Famous Fingernail Dance, I'm sure you've heard of it) but it turned out that they were all very slow. Rylan said "they acted like Barrett in the morning". It was a good time regardless. My son is turning in to a Class A wise ass. Can't figure out where he got those qualities.
Life is good, at this point leaving Thailand at all is going to be tough. We've met plenty of people that came for a visit and either never left or went home sold everything and came directly back. (Especially retired, single, men). It's not hard to see why.

Random Comments

Things to Like about Thailand

The unrelenting Thai politeness. Most Thai's are overwhelmingly polite, not just with words but with actions.


24oz local beers. Order a beer and that's what you get. I guess the 12oz model just isn't enough in this tropical climate.


$2.90 hour long Thai massage. That was the best price I've seen so far, generally we dish out twice that much. It's a daily habit at this point.

200+ item menus! Many restaurants have menus 30 pages long. The only nuisance is that Thai's are so polite, once they hand you the menu, they stand right next to you until you order. Once, I tried telling the waiter to give us a few minutes. He politly agreed and then stayed right there and waited. I'm starting to get used to it.

Where's the Elephant!

While in Bangkok, we were at a nice outdoor restaurant in downtown across from our hotel, when all of a sudden a young elephant walks up right next to us, like within 10-12 feet! (It's really amazing just how quiet they are). Anyway, I noticed it first and said "Hey guys look an elephant". Syd and Barrett notice but Rylan had be looking down at his plate. When he looks up he says "where"!

I said "Right there"!

He stretched his neck so he could see around this big "grey wall" and again says "where's the elephant"? Again I say "right here". It didn't register for Rylan for another few moments, but when it did it was a great reaction of surprise and shock.

I think there is a joke about hiding elephants. Anyway, we laughed about it all night.

Some Funny Stuff:

Two ladies in full burka attire riding a moped. ( I don't know, I guess you just had to see it).

Road Rules:

As I see it the lines painted on the roads are for reference only, perhaps a form of measurement. What we would call two lanes, the Thai's call five; two for cars and 3 for mopeds OR 3 for cars and 2 for mopeds.

At the stoplights mopeds weave through the traffic until they are at the front. It is expected, if you don't the moped behind you will let you know.

Driving the wrong way on a street is okay, as long as you think you can make it. (Sidewalks are fine too).

Turning left on Red is expected even if your in the outside lane. Again only if you think you can make it.

3 persons per moped is fine, just put the baby on the handlebars.

If you see a car nosing in from a side street, expect them to go for it. (If they didn't they'd never get in).

Cell phone use while mopeding in traffic is common, no need to stop. I actually saw three on a moped, two of which were on the phone. I know unbelievable.

In the states we call all this DWA (Driving While Asian). Well we're living it. We rented two mopeds for the month, and today I performed my first left on red. But don't worry Moms, I haven't called anyone yet.

Bangkok turned out to be a very diverse, exciting city. Our hotel Lobby was generally filled with Indians, Arabs and Africans complete with traditional attire. Egyptian influences also seem to be abound in many restaurants, plenty of hookahs. Televisions in International Hotel lobbies and Restaurants are just as likely to be airing Al Jazeera as they are CNN. Women in full burka attire were a relatively common sight, much to the kids curiously. Barrett says she'd "just move if she lived where she had to wear that".

The lifestyle in Bangkok is addicting, things are cheap and the sites are many. I can see why there are so many ex pates here. Syd and I both can see we coming back at some point, maybe even this trip. We head to Chiang Mai now and look forward to making a more permanent base.

Hope to hear from you all.

The Grand Palace

Today we spent the day at the National Museum of Thailand and the Grand Palace, home of the King. As with so many museums the unfortunate overall theme is man's conflict with himself. War seems to be the one defining activity that all regions, worldwide, have in common. Unfortunately, Thai culture/history is no different. On the other hand the traditional architecture here is fabulous. The Grand Palace is a real visual delight. I can't even imagine the time and labor that must have gone into building the site. Whether paying reverence to The Buddha or creating awe for the masses, the Thai people have done a splendid job. The pictures really don't do it justice.

Bad Rap

Bangkok really has a bad rap. Its a much nicer city then I had expected. Sure it's busy, smoggy and full of traffic, but what city in a developing country isn't? Personally, I don't find it any dirtier then Buenos Aires, Beijing, or even parts of NYC for that matter. I've been surprised at how developed the city is. I think the well publicized Red Light District has created the bad rap that Bangkok gets, but we've been cruising the city for 4 days and haven't even run across it. The city really has much to offer.

The food is fantastic and cheap. Entrées at the better restaurants run about $8-12 and are super tasty. There are a ton of musems, shows and theater throughout the city. The nightlife is active, to say the least. The quality of the native crafts (not that I really like crafts) are twice that of what I've seen in China. The people are amazingly polite and helpful, not something you find in many cities.

Syd and I plan to stay a few extra days. Maybe we'll leave Thr or Fri. The kids have started a blog as well. You can find it here: http://rylanandbarrett.blogspot.com/

Medical Check-up

One of te reasons we decided to stay in Bangkok before we head North to Chaing Mai, was to take advantage of the quality and inexpensive medical services. Yesterday I spent the better part of the day at the Brumengard International Hospital getting my "mid-aged" check-up. I hate even sating those words! I wasn't really sure what to expect but when I got their I was very impressed from the get-go. The Hospital was as clean and modern as a 5 star hotel and the staff was extremely efficient. I was there for about 5 hours but within that time I received the following

• Blood Tests (Counts, Blood Sugar)


• Cholesterol Profile


• Gout


• Kidney Function Tests


• Liver Function Tests


• Thyroid Check


• Cancer Markers Tests


• EKG and Stress Test


• Chest X-ray


• Ultrasound of Whole Abdomen


• Eye Exam

All for the uninsured price of about $340. Yes $340.00 dollars, all in half a day. Compare that to the MRI and pain shot that Syd got just before we left. She had to have 5-6 appointments (referral, consultation, MRI, another consultation, then the shot) over 5 weeks (and that was short time frame, because I play tennis with the Doc). The total was over $4,000.00, $2,000.00 after insurance. Not that I'm down on the US medical system, but an MRI here is about $125.00. Syd is at the Hospital today, shes healthly. (Her results came in the same day. My results will be in Monday).

Arrival in Thailand (Bangkok)

Well the day finally came and after two long flights with a short layover in Japan we've made it to Bangkok. We managed to get Business Class seats for the first flight , even though Barrett is only 6 due to Syd's "connections", but we weren't so lucky for the flight from Japan to BKK (Bangkok). Back in the cattle car with the mere mortals was bit uncomfortable but we made it. We arrived just before midnight BKK time, about 20 hours after we left.

We survived the Halloween night taxi ride with a driver who thought we was Mario Andretti and made it to The Ambassador Hotel, somewhere downtown BKK. This hotel was obviously very nice at one time, its just that that time is not now.

So we'll head out today and see whats what. Eric...