Andy Chatman’s Thailand Adventure

Well at least the start of my trip is going to be weather-perfect!

Wow, what a trip. I don’t want to bore people with stories about flying, but i’m going to put some of it here anyway so I’ll have a reminder. By the way, I’m 12 hours ahead of EST. It’s midnight here, so it’s about noon there earlier the same day.

I had dinner in NYC last night with my Aunt Aliza to start the celebration of her birthday which is next week. After, I found myself seeking out another major bug in the software that needed to launch before I left. At about 11:30PM I had a breakthrough, and finally buttoned things up by 2AM.

6AM got up and soon left for the airport. My flight was at 9:15. Cathay Pacific shares a Security checkpoint with a number of other international carriers including British Airways, and the lines were enormous. When I got to the Cathay Pacific counter to check in, a worker asked if I was alone, and then took me around a corner to the First Class checkin (even though I was economy). That meant no line to check in, and no line for security! A nice way to start the trip. When I got to the gate there were hundreds of poeple standing in a line to board. Ugh. But I asked the gate attendant if I had to stand in line, and he said no, those were all Chinese Citizens and I could just walk on. Wow!

Our flight was about to leave on time, but had to go back to the terminal before takeoff for a mechanical problem. After repair and deicing, we took off 2 hours late, which didn’t bode well for my 1-1/2 hour layover in Hong Kong. I wondered what I’d do if I missed my connection, since I wasn’t sure if my cell would work in Hong Kong, and I didn’t have my cousin’s contact info anyway! I decided “so what” and just enjoyed the ride, knowing I’d deal with whatever happened. The Boeing 777 was jam packed, with 385 people. 9 Seats across with 2 aisles. I have to say that this is hands down the best service I’ve ever experienced on any flight. Every detail was taken care of. They had slippers and a toothbrush waiting on our seat, the meals were awesome, the wine was free and the entertainment system contained 100 movies (I watched X-Files 2 and also some CIA movie with Leo DiCaprio) and tons of video games (hours of BeJeweled). I slept about 6 hours on the plane as well. I definitely had a language problem. The plane was full of Hong Kong natives returning after the New Year, and none of the people around me spoke English. Whenever I said anything, they just laughed in that way that people do when they can’t understand you. At least I felt as if I was very funny for 16 hours!

We made up time in the air and I made my connection by 10 minutes (my luggage made it too!). The trip from Hong Kong to Bangkok was about 2 hours, and I watched Family Guy and slept. I have to say that the Bose Noice Cancelling Headphones that Kevin lent me are a miracle. The engine noise disappears! It didn’t work too well on crying babies though. I think I’ll wear them to Thirsty’s some night, there’s a lot of background clutter there I’d love to cancel out

My cousin Mike met me when I was standing in the Customs line, and took me with his driver and security detail to a different line that nobody was in. Nice. We drove for about 30 minutes to his apartment where I had 30 minutes to clean up — we were going out to dinner with a bunch of his friends. I met two of his dogs at his apartment: Lucky — a 4 year old (can’t remember the breed — but a very well trained guard dog) and Elvis, a 7-week old Malanois — so cute! He’s in a toothy stage! I got dressed in the only pair of slacks I brought with me and met Mike and Lek in the kitchen. Elvis promptly grabbed my pant leg, and yanked, tearing a pretty nice hole in the pants! I used a piece of tape from the inside to hold them together and we headed out to the Chinese Restaurant at Bangkok’s most famous hotel, the Mandarin Oriental. Mike and Lek’s friends are terrific company, and we had an 8 (yes 8 ) course chinese meal that had everything: fish, shrimp, beef, chicken, tofu, etc. It was awesome. Of course the ladies asked if I was available, and when I said yes they immediately called one of the women’s cousins, Holly, who is apparently very attractive. We’re all getting together tomorrow night to celebrate one of the group’s birthday. Woohoo!

We got back a while ago, and after handling another bit of programming work i’m writing this message and heading to bed. Nothing important to do in the morning so I can sleep in and let my body restore itself. Mike has his own workout setup upstairs so I’ll check that out. He told me that Friday he’s arranged a private tour of the Royal Palace in the morning, then in the afternoon we’ll go to his river house.

I LOVE the comments everyone, it’s a taste of home. Hope you enjoy my posts.

Andy

Downstairs from Mike and Lek’s apartment he has a workshop where he engages in one of his hobbies — custom model r/c airplane construction. Mike doesn’t put together kits. He designs and builds exact replicas of historic aircraft, and flies them every year at the Top Gun competition in Florida. Last year my brother and I went to the competition where Mike’s A-10 Warthog won the design competition and came in 2nd in the flight competition. This year he’s building an F-111. As you can see in the photo below this aircraft has sweeping wings, which are able to change their orientation depending on flight speed. The sophistication of the aircraft design, from the all-composite construction (no wood at all on this model) to the fully-articulated retractable landing gear is amazing. The plane is still at an early stage of fitness, and while it’s airworthy it will ultimately look exactly like the original plane. I’m hoping that my brother and I will go to Florida in May to watch the competition.

We spent several hours in the workshop while Mike and his master aircraft engineer Sho calibrated the wing movement. The shop is a playground, with laser cutting machine, fiberglass construction areas, etc. The jet engines are fabricated at another of his plants.

This morning was an easy one, recovering from a bit of jet lag. Lek’s masseuse showed up but Lek hadn’t done her run yet, so she had the masseuse work out my kinks for an hour. Then I worked out, had some mango, and did a bit of work. Life doesn’t suck!

Having a glass of wine while getting ready for dinner. Tomorrow is the Royal Palace tour, then off to the river house for the weekend.

By the way, I have not gotten my phone to work yet. So if anyone needs to reach me, text and phone will not work. Use my email instead.

F-111 sweepwing in open and closed positions

At one point on my tour we arrived at a large gate where many tourists were peering through. To my happy surprise my guides opened the gate and took me through, and we were on the private grounds of The Grand Palace. There is a serenity here, apart from the many thousands of tourists and visitors, and I felt as though I was suddenly transported to a truly royal seat of power. While the King does not live here any longer, the Royal Guest House is regularly used for State visitors. Across the huge park square I could see Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.

The highlight of the tour was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. Although photos are not allowed inside, I was able to take a long-zoom photo of the Emerald Buddha from just outside the main entrance. You can see it below. After leaving the Temple, I joined in the Buddhist tradition of dipping a white lotus in holy water and dripping it on my head, which will undoubtedly bring me good fortune and make my wishes come true.

My next post will be later this weekend about the river house. It’s simply one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever stayed.

The Emerald Buddha (really made out of jade)

Some of the 112 Garudas protecting the Temple of the Emerald Buddha

In front of the Royal Guest House

On the way back from the river, we stopped directly at Lek’s niece’s birthday party at the 4th floor rec center of their building. After a long and terrific weekend, there was a risk being in the middle of 20 screaming 11 year olds. Here’s my suggestion if you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

1) Mike and Lek gave the girl a malinois puppy from one of the recent litters. I rode home from the river with the pup on my lap and carried it into the party for Lek’s niece. Instant hero to 20 kids.

2) I mentioned to Mike that red wine has given me headaches lately — sulfites. He quickly had a glass of Australian cabernet in my hand — low tannin and low sulfites. No headache.

3) While we were drinking the cabernet, a women showed up behind Mike (at Lek’s direction) and began a shoulder and back massage. Not too long after, a second woman showed up behind me. The next hour was all about red wine and relaxation.

That’s how to survive an 11 year old’s birthday party!

Bert came to town on Friday from the River in advance of our boat trip today. A group went out to La Villa for dinner (Italian), including Dong, Maew, Captain, Holly and Fah. After dinner a bunch of us went out to a couple of clubs. The first was The Monkey Bar at Fallabela. Inside the Monkey bar was western style music while outside in the larger club hundreds of teenagers were listening to live Thai music. After a bottle of champagne, we left for another club, The Met (at the Metropolitan Hotel). The girls and Captain used to come here when it was trendy, but apparently it’s gotten less so. We had some more champagne, and Lek left to head home. The rest of us started dancing and didn’t stop until they closed down at 2AM. I can’t think of a more fun and beautiful group of women to have welcomed Valentines Day with. It was too late to be let in to Mike’s apartment, so I stayed in an extra room in the apartment Bert is using.

It’s Saturday and I’m headed to the gym before our trip to Pattaya. I’ll be offline while there.

Night Out - Dong, Bert, me, Holly, Maew

Today was a walking and shopping day. I got up and after working out, I walked about a mile around Mike’s apartment. The pollution is terrible, the streets are filthy. It’s a very dirty city, without much sense to the layout. A block away from the apartment we came across a guy using a harpoon/gun fishing rod trying to catch something from a road-runoff stream. After the walk we drove to Panthip where there is one of the largest malls I’ve ever seen. Something like 6 stories, mostly electronics, illegal software and DVDs, etc. Nini, one of Lek’s staff, was our chaperone. She is a very pretty 23 year old Filipino, and she calls me Sir Andy. I kind of like that, and I’ve contemplated various quests this week. We spent a while there, and Bert bought both of his children Nintendo DS loaded with 200+ games, for a fraction of the price I would see at home. We met up with Lek for lunch, then went clothes shopping for the women. At one store while the kids were trying on shoes, I took Nini over to the massage chairs. She had never been in anything like that before, and it was fun seeing her reaction to both the chair and the foot massager.

After many hours walking we came back, and I’m having a Chocolatini while writing this entry. Not sure what we’re doing for dinner. I’m off for a day trip tomorrow.

A local uses a harpoon fishing rod a block from Mike's apt.

One of the views from the apartment

The apt. takes up the 20-21st floors, it's the top bulge on the right

Broom and duster cart

Panthip shopping mall. Amazing!!!!

Nini!!!

Last night Lek let the guys crash her monthly party night with the girls. There must have been more than a dozen of her friends over. They had a feast on the terrace under a clear sky and comfortable breeze. There was a karaoke machine set up complete with DJ, and once the ladies got started they didn’t stop. There were plenty of guest appearances by some of the men too, as well as a special one night only performance by Michella and Bert of the Singing Flying Kikkerts. Once again Lek proved to be the fun and charming host, and her friends are absolutely wonderful! I will miss them when I leave but I can keep in touch with Facebook.

Lek gets the party started

Michella of the Singing Flying Kikkerts

Sweet Princess Holly

Claire (c) and Dong (r)

Fah

There was time for salsa and cha cha

Lek closed the show with style!

Yesterday was a restful day. I chose not to join the Flying Kikkerts on their second day of tourist activities and allowed myself to sleep in!! It’s a good thing — When their van reached the floating market they were stopped for having a tour guide in an unauthorized vehicle and they were all arrested and the car impounded. Mike was able to make a phone call and have them released.

Mike and I had lunch and then drove to the Emporium to do some shopping. When we got home, we decided to have a casual dinner at home, and we invited Lek’s friend Holly to join us. After dinner, I mentioned that I had wanted to see the view of the city from Vertigo, a bar at the top of the Banyan Tree Hotel (my friend Mark Frisk had sent me an article about this before my trip) so off I went with Holly, thankfully transported by her driver! The hotel was a block away from the Met where we had been dancing on Friday. 59 elevator floors + 2 climbed flights later, we were at a beautiful open air bar on the roof of the hotel enjoying the view. I hadn’t brought my camera, so I asked the group at the next table if they would take our photo and email it to me. I hope they don’t forget to send it.

We were talking about how my trip was ending in a little over a day and how I wasn’t ready for that, and Holly suggested that if I was enjoying myself I change my flight. Those of you who know me well know that I often don’t consider such major changes in plans, especially when so many others will be affected (I’d be imposing on my cousin for several more days, my brother has been taking care of my dogs, etc.). But the simple fact was that the second she made the suggestion I knew that it was what I was going to do. I got up very early knowing that Mike would be up, and after clearing the extended stay with him I changed my flight home until Monday.

So right now I’m back at the river house until Saturday, getting to know an incredible 8 week old Malinois puppy named Elan (hmmmm), and then Sunday I will enjoy my last day in Bangkok before leaving on Monday.

We got back to Bangkok this afternoon and I spent time in Mike’s shop while they were working on the plane. We came up and had a nice quiet dinner with Lek — more great and interesting food! Lek’s mother showed up in time for dessert. Lek brought in a gift that was left here for me this weekend from Claire and Jeep Chatikavanij. I spent several evenings with them during my stay, they are close friends of Lek and Mike, and they are wonderfully nice and interesting people. Earlier in my stay I had told them of my upcoming adventure in Chang Mai, and in fact they were also going to be in Chang Mai just before me. The gift is a beautiful painting from Claire’s gallery by a Chang Mai artist, and it depicts the spirit of Chang Mai wonderfully. Those who visit my home will be able to see this work of art. I’m humbled by their generosity.

I made plans for my personal tour guide Princess Holly to take me with her to a talk by a famous Buddhist monk/author originally from England, ordained in Thailand and now living in Australia. I hope it’s not in Thai, but if it is, I’ll manage. Holly has read some of his books and apparently he is quite famous in this part of the world. After that, not sure what we’ll do, we’ll play it by ear.

So after dinner I decided to do some packing in case I’m out most of the day tomorrow. Just as I started, the lights went out, not just in our building but in our entire section of the grid. Turns out there was a fire not too far away, and the power was turned off to prevent a short circuit with all the water required. Power is back on now after about an hour.

Mike and Lek leave for Bahrain in the morning so I’ll get up early to say goodbye. I’m not sure how I’ll be able to thank them for their hospitality and generosity the last few weeks.

Once Mike and Lek left for Bahrain, I tried to figure out what “Buddhist-Casual” clothing was and prepared for my day of meditation. At 9AM Holly picked me up and we drove to a Buddhist Spiritual Center near the Emporium where we were going to meditate with Ajahn Brahm, a famous teacher of meditation originally from England, now living in Australia. We got there early and met up with Holly’s friend, Na. Na spoke terrific english, and when i asked why he told me that he was raised in California, and had gone to undergrad school at the U of R! That was quite a surprise. Ajahn Brahm is impressive. although his style of speaking is at times so calm that it can be difficult to keep attention. After an hour and a half lecture, he led the group in a 30 minute meditation session before breaking for lunch. We weren’t keen on the box lunch so we ate Vietnamese food at the food court at the Emporium while deciding whether to go back for the second half of the program. We ultimately decided not to, but when holly and I got back to the car we found ourselves blocked in by 4 vehicles. Fortunately the practice is to leave the cars in neutral so for 10 minutes we moved the cars back and forth until Holly was clear (there was a very nice guy in the garage who helped us out).

The afternoon was spent back at the apartment, where Holly and I relaxed and listened to music. At lunch Na had recommended Arun Residence, a beautiful restaurant on the River near the Royal Palace and Wat Pho, for dinner and had made reservations for Holly and I to have a ringside view of the sun setting over Wat Arun. My attempt to plug the address into her GPS, which is completely in Thai, didn’t go so well, but ultimately her brother (over the phone) got us close. We were able to zero in on the restaurant based on a sketch I made from a map on their website. The view didn’t disappoint. After dinner, we went by Tuk Tuk (a small motorized open-air taxi) to an area not far away known for it’s nightlife — clubs, bars, outdoor bands, it’s a lively place. We ended up at a jazz club where we met up with Y who works in the attached art gallery. From there we collected Holly’s car and drove to the home of another friend, Monika, who was being visited by B. Monika opened up a delicious bottle of Dom Perignon, and after that was gone we headed out to Bed, a nightclub with great dance music and beds instead of tables. After a while we were exhausted and called it a night.

Lek’s driver took me to the airport at 9AM for my flight home. I can’t believe I’ve been here for just about 3 weeks. It feels like I’ve taken several trips in that time period. I was hoping for certain things on this trip and they were all realized and then some! I had wanted to travel to places I had never been and begin to see the world differently. I wanted to get to know my cousin Mike better, since I had only seen him a handful of times in the last 20 years. I was hoping to meet interesting people and make new connections in my life. I wanted to photograph beautiful sites that I had never seen before. I wanted to remind myself that there are such incredible opportunities and possibilities out there that I didn’t need to limit myself to the life I had been living. All of these have been accomplished. Then there were the unexpected things — getting closer to Mike’s wife Lek than I thought I would, creating some real friendships with exciting and interesting people (not the least of which is Bert Kikkert but including Mike and Lek’s great group of friends as well as Holly’s friends), deciding to bring home a puppy from Mike’s kennel, having some wonderful and educational conversations with Mike who has memories of my family’s past that I don’t, and extending my trip to spend time with a wonderful and special person. Mike is a terrific person, with varied interests (many of which overlap mine, such as astronomy, photography and dogs) and a desire to share them with others. While he lives a lifestyle that i will likely never reach myself, he is most happy when allowing friends to share that lifestyle with him. Lek is quite something. She’s interesting, dynamic, and her classy group of lifelong friends are a testament to the type of person she is. The two of them are such gracious hosts and they made this trip into something I could never have imagined. And I have to say something about the dogs. I absolutely fell in love with Lucky the Dutch Shephard. He is a special animal. And the joy of having puppies around wherever we spent our time was a happy unexpected bonus. I’m glad I blogged this trip as events unfolded, I’m afraid that after having experienced so much that there is no way I could have remembered the details and nuances without writing them down. What is most exciting for me is to see what happens next. The only thing I’m sure of is that from here on out nothing will be quite the same. To those of you who have taken time to read my posts and even comment back, I thank you for maintaining my connection to home while I was away.

With Holly along the river overlooking Wat Arun

Traveling by Tuk Tuk

This is Y

At Nightclub Bed

B and Monika at Bed