Your State Republican Party Hard At Work

Reality crazy is so much more fun than fiction crazy.

Utah County Republicans ended their convention on Saturday by debating Satan's influence on illegal immigrants.

Don Larsen, chairman of legislative District 65 for the Utah County Republican Party, had submitted a resolution warning that Satan's minions want to eliminate national borders and do away with sovereignty.

In a speech at the convention, Larsen told those gathered that illegal immigrants "hate American people" and "are determined to destroy this country, and there is nothing they won't do."

Illegal aliens are in control of the media, and working in tandem with Democrats, are trying to "destroy Christian America" and replace it with "a godless new world order -- and that is not extremism, that is fact," Larsen said.

Republican officials then allowed speakers to defend and refute the resolution. One speaker, who was identified as "Joe," said illegal immigrants were Marxist and under the influence of the devil. Another, who declined to give her name to the Daily Herald, said illegal immigrants should not be allowed because "they are not going to become Republicans..."

Senator Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, spoke against the resolution, saying Larsen, whom he called a "true patriot and a close friend," was embarrassing the Republican Party.

"I agree with 95 percent of this resolution but it has some language that is divisive and not inspiring other people to its vision," he said. "This only gives fodder to the liberal media to give negative attention to the Republican Party."

Bingo.

Pattaya City News Throwing Snark Bombs

Snark: Combination of "snide" and "remark". Sarcastic comments.

I hate to bite the hand that feeds me so many news articles that I comment on here at J.I.P., but this article by Pattaya City News on the Thai Navy's test-firing of an exocet missle is just brimming with snide and bitchy comments.

Maybe they hired a new writer?

I'm not criticizing the sarcastic comments themselves... after all, pretty much every post on J.I.P which links to Pattaya City News contains the same thing. However, I have made it my job to find the humor, the perplexing and illogical aspects of the news and offer my opinion on it. Pattaya City News — to the best of my knowledge — has not (at least not on such an otherwise mundane and un-noteworthy story as this).

Well, it's your gig, P.C.N. If you want to report the news with some added scornful spice and snooty swagger, be my guest.

Monday Vinnie Blogging: Birthday Special

Yesterday, Vinnie had his 1st birthday. Congratulations to Vinnie on making it this far, and congratulations to him for a great year of providing entertaining and adorable photos for M.V.B. at J.I.P. Birthday photos will come in a future installment of Monday Vinnie Blogging.

Daily Report: Enjoying Winners And Losers

It was out to the all-you-can-eat Beni Hana Sunday Brunch with Franky, Vinnie, Geordan, and Kim. We stuffed ourselves stupid on sushi, steak, lobster, and the all-you-can-drink 1,100-baht-per-couple (Geordan was my date) deal. We sat, drank and ate from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

After that, it was off to Bookazine where I bought a couple of sci-fi-fantasy novels for my upcoming trip, and then back home where I spent the afternoon relaxing.

In the evening it was off to Lennies (without Pui... as she had spent the day at Stan's house with Mem helping with chores) for Bob's tacos. I hung out with Stan, Eric, Bob, Alan, and Dr. Jeff. After that, it was off to TQ2 with Stan, Alf and Bob.

The Coyotee Sexy Body dance contest was tonight at Coyotee-A-GoGo... starting at 11:00 p.m. I tried to talk Kung into participating, but she was too shy. So, in order to generate some interest for the next contest, I paid Kung's barfine, and took her along to Coyotee as my play date. It was a blast at Coyotee, as Kung and I sat in the VIP section with Alf from TQ2, Father Tommie of Nanapong fame, the fellow from Pattaya Addicts (sorry, I can't remember your name), along with Niels from Pattaya People TV. (Another guy I know with no friends or money had to settle with sitting alone drinking bottled water. Heh: Totally and exactly what I expected. Had to stop one of the guys from the Pattaya Secrets board from starting a fight with him.)

The mammasan from Coyotee took an immediate shine to Kung, and with her urging, my own monetary incentive, and no small amount of alcohol, Kung volunteered herself for the contest. She eventually danced her way into the finals... but (much to everyone's surprise) didn't win. Still though, she had a blast, and was just a-twitter with enjoyment and excitement.

After that — at about 2:00 a.m. — it was back to TQ2 for a final round, and then home. That is an official record for my latest night out since last September, if my memory serves correctly. Ugh.

Oh... by the way: From one of my brunch partners today is an interesting tidbit of information. The salary of Pattaya's Chief of Police is 100 million baht per year ($2.8 million), with a 15 million baht annual fee paid directly to his superior in Chonburi in order to renew his employment contract. It is, of course, assumed that similar fees are received by the C.O.P. in Pattaya from his subordinates. Just the way things are done in Thailand.

Beni Hana Sunday Brunch Restaurant Review

First off, regardless of the price, there is nothing better than an all-you-can-drink buffet... even if your choices are limited to vodka drinks or wine. Hell: Take away the fresh sushi, the exotic little amuse bouches, the seared steak fillets, the fresh desserts; take away the Absolut, the Finlandia, the Grey Goose vodka and stick with just well-level vodka... For 1,100 baht (1400 after all is added in), to be able to sit down and drink as much as you want for 4 hours... that ain't bad. There isn't a bar in town that can beat that, I don't think.

But let's get back to the restaurant and the food. There were six of us for brunch, and we had our own private room (being joined by two rotund jovial Belgian fellows who filled out the final two places at the 8-top table) with it's own private chef and grill. We sat down at the 11:00 a.m. opening, got our drink orders in (screwdrivers all around), and then hit the buffets. I stuck mostly with sushi, but our personal chef, George — with all of that silly flourish of spinning knives, flying spice shakers, and clattering spatulas (hangover sufferers beware) — served up grilled steak, marinated grilled chicken, vegetables, and kept us entertained with little practical jokes and wisecracks... all the while serving up little bits of food on our plates.

The food, of course, was excellent. The staff were more than competent, and the decor and presentation were very very good.

Anyway, at 3:00 in the afternoon... 4 hours and about 10 screwdrivers each after sitting down, we paid our bill (service charge included, although we tipped George extra), and rolled ourselves home for a much-needed nap.

So, if you are a big eater and a big drinker, and you can manage to climb out of bed on a Sunday before noontime... go on down to the Beni Hana Sunday all-you-can-eat, all-you-can-drink 1,100 baht Brunch. It's as good a meal deal as you can find in Pattaya.

Gorgeous Old Photos Of Pattaya

Check out these beautiful old photos of Pattaya taken by a fellow in the Air Force who was stationed at U-Tapao in 1968. Everyone who has been to Pattaya recognizes this familiar bend coming down off Pratumnak hill.

If I remember correctly, the tree in the middle of the road that you will see in one of the other photos is now the intersection of Beach Road and Pattaya Central Roads.

Hat tip: Pattaya Secrets. Photo credit: SCL901.

Uh... Oh... I... Uh... Not that I... I mean... Er...

Thailand's safe sex senator urges condoms for pre-schoolers.


Senator Meecha Vira-
vaidya's main goal in
life is stopping AIDSYou'll have to excuse me... perhaps my mind was in the gutter or something, but when I started reading this article's first paragraph...

Aids-prevention advocate Meechai Viravaidya yesterday revealed an outside-the-box idea — finger condoms for pre-school children so that they can get used to them.

... it was quite obvious: Finger condoms? The plastic things that doctors wear on their fingers to keep from smudging microscope slides? Little miniature child-sized condoms? Obviously there's only one (rather disturbing, morally questionable) place to put those: On little miniature child-sized weenies... right?

Meechai said he had received a good result after he put the mini-condoms on his one-year-old grandsons' fingers, as the kids were interested and found it fun. "We must be brave and think outside the box like this, so that attempts at Aids prevention will yield success," he said.

Oh. Sorry.

Boy, is my face red.

(All I could think of was Pui coming up all excited and saying, "Look at this: We're supposed to teach Pot how to use a condom!" And then her handing me a little finger condom and saying, "OK... take Pot upstairs and get his pants off and show him what to do.")

If you stay in Thailand long enough, you start to believe that anything is possible... and come to expect it almost unflinchingly and unquestioningly.

Tourist Police Nab Cambodian Fishermen

I'm really not sure of all the socioeconomic realities that go on between Thailand and its much-poorer neighbors regarding illegal-immigrant labor. I'm not sure if Thai fishing companies are hurting for laborers, are simply choosing cheaper Cambodians over Thai people, or whether or not there is any exploitation going on.

All I know is that about once a month, the Thai authorities go down the coast and nab several hundred Cambodian fishermen working in Thailand illegally, and take them back to Cambodia, so that they have to walk back to Ban Saray all over again. It's good exercise for the Cambodians: that 100-mile walk, but it probably gets annoying after a while... which is likely the whole point.

I do have to wonder what the tourist police were doing handling this case though. It's like reading an article where New York City transit cops raid a New Jersey sweat shop. It's not their job... and not even their jurisdiction as far as I know.

Oh well. Regardless, the Eastern Seaboard is now safe from the evil Cambodian fisherman.

Daily Report: Cafe New Orleans Restaurant Review

The best steak in Pattaya.


Cafe New Orleans on Soi
Pattayaland 2 is definitely
a great restaurant.Cafe New Orleans is Pattaya's official cajun/creole restaurant, located on the corner where Soi Pattayaland 3 intersects with Soi Pattayaland 2. It's a lovely little restaurant that I would put somewhere in the lower end of the high-end restaurants: The prices aren't expensive (but not cheap by any means), the staff is competent (but not astoundingly so), the decor is very nice (but not over-the-top fancy), and the food is original, of very high quality, and prepared well.

It was just Stan and I for dinner tonight. I have eaten at Cafe New Orleans before, and can tell you that the crab cakes are the best you can get in Pattaya... if not all of Thailand.


The jambalaya, which is a cajun
African recipe from Louisiana.Tonight, since I was in a cajun restaurant, and planning on writing a review, I decided to try the jambalaya. For those of you who don't know, jambalaya is at least 2 meats, usually one being a chorizo sausage; celery, onion, and green peppers; a tomato base sauce; served on a bed of seasoned rice. I had the chicken, pork, and chorizo jambalaya for 295 baht, which was served in its own skillet. I liked it just fine, though being a bit of an experiment (I've only had the dish once prior), I couldn't really tell you jambalaya afficionados out there whether it was a great jambalaya or not.


The steak at Cafe New Orleans
wins the coveted "Best Steak
In Pattaya" award from Stan.Stan had the steak, ordered with the "extra thick" option for 750 baht. Stan — after doing the same thing at The Balcony just 2 weeks ago — declared the steak to be the best steak in Pattaya... beating out both The Balcony and The Longhorn Steakhouse. So, that's that, as far as Stan is concerned: If you want steak in Pattaya, go to Cafe New Orleans.

So all in all, a very good meal at Cafe New Orleans, with a nice price range: I had the jambalaya and a vodka and got out for less than 500 baht; Stan had the steak and 2 glasses of wine for 1,200 baht. Enjoyable and definitely recommended.

(After dinner, it was off with Stan to TQ2 to meet up with Alf, Franky Of The Comments Section, Patrick formerly of Angelwitch, Wood, and my TQ2 girlfriends Ahm and Kung.)

Friday Cat Blogging

With the hotter weather these days, I've taken to closing my office window and using the air conditioning instead of relying on a breeze. This has caused poor Poopy Cat (who likes to go out my window and onto the roof to sit in the sun) to jump up and have some unfortunate head-on, face-first encounters with a closed window.

She's leared her lesson though: Now she looks before she leaps.

Quotacious

"Earlier today, President Bush met with the president of Peru. When the Peruvian president invited Bush to visit Machu Picchu, Bush said, 'Great, I love Pokemon.'"

— Conan O'Brien

Homeless Foreigner In Pattaya Gets Help

I've heard stories before about homeless farangs wandering the streets of Bangkok and begging. I've seen a couple of stories before about foreigners running out of money in Pattaya and either going off the deep end, going off the top floor balcony, or some other sad solution.

I'm still surprised to see this though. This Swedish guy must be one grade-A unlikeable fellow, because the Pattaya expatriate communities (with the Scandanavian guys topping the list) are a very tight-knit group of folks who help each other out... especially in a situation such as this. To be homeless and peniless and hopeless in Pattaya means that you've already burned through an entire community of people who would otherwise find you a place, find you a meal, and find you a way out of your predicament somehow.

Well anyway, the Swedish embassy has been contacted and they're looking into this. I'm sure this guy will find his way back to Sweden, where he can — as so many of us do after Pattaya — start from scratch.

Daily Report: Photo Argument

Da, Sara, and RickPretty much the same work day as yesterday. Subway delivery for lunch.

In the evening, it was out to Rick's bar with Mike and Riza. Rick's wife, Da, arrived fromVientienne today with baby Sara, and this was their only night in town as they are going on vacation to Chiang Mai tomorrow.

I have been deleting the photos from the new digital camera's memory card after I put them on my computer. Pui's Songkran photos from Petchabun (almost all 240 of them) have been gone for a while, but she didn't realize it until tonight when she went to show them to Da by flipping through them on the camera's video screen. She was absolutely furious and we wound up getting into a big fight about it. She was angry because I "deleted" her family photos, and I was angry because she refused to accept my fourth, fifth, and sixth apologies. (I was also angry because I had kept 5 or 6 of the best photos, along with 5 or 6 other photos I liked of Pui, but that wasn't enough — she wanted all 240 photos on the camera.)

Oh well. You can't stick together as a couple without coming across a couple of rough patches to work through.

Daily Report: 79 Baht Well-Spent

Not a very good day of work... but not the absolute worst. I had spaghetti for lunch, and a salad.

In the late afternoon, it was back to the pool for another dip in the bath-like water. It's funny, but when I was a kid, I would have just loved a pool with water as warm as that. Now, as an adult, I'm looking to cool off, and don't enjoy it.

In the evening, it was out with Go, Mike, and Riza (Pui was out with friends) to the 79-baht all-you-can-eat Thai bar-be-que on Soi Nerm Pleubwan (the street that is almost directly across from Pattaya Central Road. When you see this big sign on your right, pull in and drive all the way to the back.

The restaurant was originally a 99-baht all-you-can-eat joint, and had what was probably the best selection of meats and veggies and noodles in Pattaya. However, the owners of the restaurant found that this was not profitable enough, and raised their prices to 129 baht.

When nobody came to their restaurant anymore because of the increased prices, they realized their mistake. So, they took off about half the meats (mainly the jellyfish and lizard tails), and most of the vegetables (carrots and imported zucchini, et cetera), and dropped their price from 129 to 79 baht. Then they raised the prices of their beer by 20 baht per bottle, and — presto — they started making money hand over fist.

Anyway, since it is only a few miles from my house, I go there to eat. If you are a person for whom saving 20 baht on a meal is a priority, well... you are more than welcome to stop by, of course. Otherwise, the place is pretty much the same as the other 20 or 30 all-you-can-eat Thai bar-be-que joints in Pattaya.

After dinner, Mike and I sat and watched TV. We watched a program on a crane collapse in San Franciso and Mike, a mechanical engineer and old QA fellow, was absolutely outraged about the conclusions and findings. Man: I thought I was a hardcore Discovery Channel watcher. Mike puts in 90 minutes, and he's like a soap opera addict watching his leading lady have a love affair with the villain.

But fortunately, after that came CSI, which Mike had never seen before, and he thought it was some of the best TV he had ever watched. So thusly mollified, Mike called it a night, and I came upstairs to type this before going to bed.

Spiders On Drugs

Now that we have YouTube back on in Thailand, I'll lead off with this fascinating little video on a study that gave spiders various types of drugs, and the effect that it had on their web-making habits. You'll be amazed.

A Dedicated Bar Owner

With Steve's passing, TQ2 co-owner Alf has picked up the reins and is doing everything he can to keep the old place as happy and welcoming and accommodating as it has always been.

Alf is so focused on customer satisfaction that he is even sending out on-line beckonings to some of his distant brothers in an effort to bring them back to the fold. Offering himself up as an enticement to Ray's longings for companionship is merely one way that Alf lets us know: TQ2 is a bit of special.

So, if you are on Walking Street close to Soi BJ, and for some reason you happen to be looking for something other than pretty Thai girls... stop by and talk with Alf at TQ2. He'll fix you up. (Oh... and if you are looking for pretty Thai girls, TQ2 has more than a couple of those as well... although they aren't as cheap or all roly-poly as Alf.)

One Of Thailand's Great Minds States The Obvious

A fine product of the Thai university system.

Actually, you can learn so much about Thailand by reading this single paragraph. It is a microcosm of Thai thought and process.

Global warming is not likely to cause the sea level in the Gulf of Thailand to rise because the body of water is too far from melting glaciers, a leading Thai hydrologist claimed on Monday. Recent forecasts by the United Nations' Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which predict a 40 centimetre rise in sea levels by the end of the century will cause flooding for up to 94 million Asians living in coastal areas, may not apply to the Gulf of Thailand, according to Suphat Vongvisessomjai, a former professor in water resources engineering at Bangkok's Asia Institute of Technology. [emphasis added]

Heheh... "Former professor", which indicates that this is probably not the first time that he has opened his mouth.

(By the way... I'm really holding out hope that (1) Professor Suphat is actually fairly intelligent, and (2) whatever point he was trying to make probably had some validity and was either lost in translation, or misunderstood and reported as above.)

Poking Fun At Unintelligent Conservatives

Because I'm bored, it's easy, and these are some funny photos.

J.I.P. Wants Barack Obama For President

I would put my own reasons together, but I stumbled across this paragraph by Andrew Sullivan that echos exactly what I have been thinking for a while now:

But this much we can already say: Obama brings something no one else does to this moment. By replacing one of the most globally despised and domestically divisive presidents in American history with a young leader half-Kansan and half-Kenyan, America would be saying something to the world: Bush-Cheney is not who we are. America is not what it has come to appear to be. This country is among the most culturally and racially and religiously diverse on the planet. America has long been a powerful and vital beacon for human rights — not, as recently, the avatar of torture, rendition and executive tyranny. The simple existence of Obama as a new president in a new century would in itself enhance America's soft power immeasurably, just as a clear decision to leave Iraq would provide much greater leverage for diplomacy and military force in a whole variety of new ways. Obama would mean the rebranding of America, after a disastrous eight years. His international heritage, his racial journey, his middle name: these are assets for this country, not liabilities.

Daily Report: Hot Water Is No Relief

Today at work was a slight improvement over yesterday... but still not up to the goals I've set. I had Fuji for lunch, grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.

In the late afternoon, I joined Pui, Riza, and Go for a dip in the pool, which was nice. However, like the ocean on Sunday, the pool has been heated by the hot Thai April sun to the temperature of bath water... and while it was nice to bathe, it wasn't too refreshing of a swim.

That's okay though. We drank black currant juice, and talked about stuff, and had a good time.

In the evening, I got a little more work done and then watched a little television before turning in.

Tuesday Thai Tutorial #3

Daily Verb"To go"ไป þai

 "To stay"อยู่yuŭ

Daily Noun"House"บ้านbaàn

 "Hotel"โรงแรมrohng raaem

Daily Adjective"Black"สีดำseé dahm

 "Red"สีแดงseé daaeng

Daily "?" Word"Where?"ไหนhnaí

 "Where at?"ที่ไหนtheè hnaí

 "Where to?"ตรงไหนđrohng hnaí

Daily Other Word"here"ที่นี่theè neè

 "there"ที่นั่นtheè nàn

 "over there"ที่โน่นtheè nòhn

Daily Qualifier"Dwelling"หลังhláng

Daily Thainglish"Apartment"อพาร์ตเมนท์ă phaád maehn

 "Flat"แฟลตflaaèt

The letters for today are the letter BP... or þ (ป), the letter B (บ... just like the BP, but the right arm doesn't go up as high), and the vowel Ai (ไ- which is written before the verb it modifies). There are several kinds of "P", so we'll skip those for now.

Also, I've made a little of a change to the phoenetic spelling system we are going to use in these lessons. If you remember back to Lesson #1, sometimes an "ห" (an "H") appears in front of certain consonants which indicates that you to hold the consonant a bit longer. I'm now putting this in, so if you see, for example, "hnaí", that is a visual cue to say "nnnaí".

So the verbs for today are "yuŭ" (to stay) and "þai" (to go). If you are at home, then "อยู่ บ้าน" (yuŭ baàn). If you are going to the hotel, then "ไป โรงแรม" (þai rohng raaem). The R in front of rohng and raaem is not the hard, "English R", created on the lips, that you are familiar with. Instead, this is an R that is created by trilling your R... by bouncing your tongue off the roof of your mouth. For all words beginning with R, you never use the "English R" (such as rôt (car) from last week).

The adjectives for today are the colors red (seé daaeng) and black (seé dahm). The word "seé" is simply the word for "color". However, most Thai colors are "descriptive" words instead of actual colors... with red being an exception. So the word for black is "the submerged color". If you leave out the "seé", it can be confusing. As before, color adjectives follow the noun they modify. Therefore "red house" is "บ้าน สีแดง" (baàn seé daaeng).

The question words for today are "hnaí", "theè hnaí", and "đrohng hnaí". (The new consonant "đ" is a sound that is halfway between a D and a T.) The question words are all ways of asking where, but each one expects a different answer. The simplest one, "hnaí", is the general "where" in English. The second, "theè hnaí", indicates a wish to know the location of something, and the third, "đrohng hnaí", is a request for directions. So, if you want to ask where somebody is going, you would say, "þai hnaí". If you want to ask where a person's house is located, you would say, "baàn yuŭ theè hnaí". If you want to ask how to go to somebody's apartment, you would say "þai ă phaád maehn đrohng hnaí".

The other words for the day are the words for here and there. The saying "theè neè" is very common. The word "neè" is the word for here, but the "theè" part stays with it. However, you can say "yuŭ neè" to say "I'm here". As above, the "theè" gives a little more specificity to your statement. (However, that explanation is not what it does gramatically, so don't try applying "theè" to other words.)

The two words for "there" are "theè nàn" and "theè nòhn". The difference between these is relative. You use "theè nàn" when you can basically see what it is you are referring to. If you are referring to something that is not in sight, "theè nòhn" is the phrase you would use.

The qualifier for the week is "hláng", and is used in conjunction with dwellings, homes, and buildings. Therefore, "I have 2 flats" is "มี แฟลต สอง หลัง" ("mee flaaèt saáwng hláng").

Quotacious

"After weeks of mock testimony, there you have it. Alberto Gonzales doesn't know what happened, but he assures you, what he doesn't remember was handled properly."

— John Stewart

Daily Report #1787

Not a very auspicious start to the pay period today unfortunately. I hope tomorrow will improve somewhat.

I spent the afternoon listening to some of the CDs that my old college friend from America mailed to me. If you're reading, Siu, thanks again.

The most exciting thing I did today was go downstairs and have a beer with Pui before calling it a day.

And that's about it.

Counterfeit Police Bust Several Vendors At Mike's

While busting counterfeiters, and confiscating counterfeit goods is what I consider "a necessary evil", I had to laugh when I read this article:

This raid took place after complaints of sub-standard items being sold at the location along with allegations of shop vendors deceiving tourists who thought they were buying real branded items when in fact they were buying counterfeit goods.

Who goes to the scuzzy booths on the beach side of Mike's Shopping Mall, and sees a $750 Luis Vuitton shoulder bag selling for $10, and thinks that it might be real? Are people really that dumb? Do they think that Dolce Gabbana tops sell for $3... even if off-season, discounted, and cut label? And then to "complain about the quality"? Give me a break.

You know, it is entirely possible that if there was ever a contest among the vacation destinations of the world to find out which place attracts the dumbest tourists, Pattaya really could win.

Stupid Tourist Contest

Everybody pays The Stupid Tax... some more than others.

We're going to introduce a new breed of stupid tourist today at J.I.P., and that would be the tourist who believes that his hotel is a citadel of security, and that his Thai lover is a paragon of virtue.

OK: Listen carefully. If you are a farang who leaves valuable stuff in your hotel room, and your Thai partner is aware of that fact, then that officially means that your Thai partner's friends are aware of the fact, and the hotel staff is aware of the fact as well. In fact, it is safe to assume that everybody knows exactly what you have in your room because you let a strange Thai person in there to look around. Understand?

If you leave a 800,000 baht worth of valuables in your hotel room, your Thai boyfriend or girlfriend is going to promise the hotel staff a few months' salaries to leave your spare key out where your Thai boyfriend's or girlfriend's cousin or older brother can find it while you are out partying.

This isn't really a post about evil, thieving Thai people, because a substantial portion of humanity — if given the chance to steal enough money from a hotel room to take 3 years off from work, or go back home and buy a house — without the slightest hesitation, would take everything you own.

Oh... and going to the police department and whining about your lost goods only accomplishes one thing: It lets everybody else on the planet know that you were really, really, really stupid.

Monday Vinnie Blogging

Daily Report: An All-Day Party

Today, it was off to the beach with Pui and Go, where we met up with Rick, Fim, and two of Rick's students for this month, Danny and Jessie (both nice ladies from America).

We ate a ton of food while there. Danny had "chicken lap", a Thai dish (like ceviche) for the first time, and Jessie had her first try at papaya salad. Rick and I each had our obligatory kilogram of steamed crab, and lots of beer.

The tide was out, so it was about a 500-meter hike through ankle-deep water until we reached water that was up to our necks. Even then, it was a bit of a let down, since there was nothing remotely "cool" (or perhaps that should be without quotes) about the water — it was warm and hardly refreshing.

In the evening, Pui went out to Stan and Mem's house for dinner while Stan and I met up at TQ2. I entertained two of my three TQ2 girlfriends, Poo and Kung (crab and shrimp... the seafood combination) with lady drinks, and hung out with Alf, Stan, Geordan, and Bob.

Later on, Pui and Maid Go showed up at TQ2, fresh from a makeup session with Mem. (Thai ladies, like 12-year-old American girls, often sit around and do each others' makeup.) So I went from buying three (me + 2 TQ2 girlfriends) to buying five drinks every 15 minutes or so.

Nights like this get expensive rather quickly.

Anyway, at about 11:00 I decided to head home while Pui and Go wanted to do a little Walking Street Fling instead. (We did have separate motorcycles) so I gave the girls some money and sent them on their way. I checked my bin and headed off to Burger King for a burger, and then home to write this entry at shortly after midnight.

(By the way... although it isn't Friday, I will add that Poopy Cat and Pridi Kitty are both — for some reason — all wound up, and between then have totally destroyed a roll of toilet paper, have attacked and killed a plastic shopping bag, and have now taken to stalking each other under my bed. An entertaining end to an entertaining day.)