In Hat Yai, Thailand

Yesterday, New Year's Eve, we caught the overnight sleeper train to Penang. The train was freezing (arctic) as usual. Jim wore his nylon jacket and Laura wore her fleece jacket. Around 7am, the train arrived in Hat Yai, Thailand. The train sat, the train moved a hundred yards then sat, the train moved back 100 yards, then sat. After about two hours of the train moving from one track to another in the station, the conductor announced that the train was not going any further. The tracks were flooded. So, all of us in the two cars for Penang, were given a refund on the unused portion of our ticket and set loose. We wondered, in mass, to the nearest travel agent, who explained that not only were the train tracks flooded to Penang, but so were the roads. So, no buses either. At that point we decided to go stay at our Chinese cheapie hotel in Hat Yai, The King's Inn. That is where we are now. This is the hotel where we met Steve the one year we traveled together. He had flown into Bangkok from the U.S., and we had a month earlier flown into Singapore. So, we agreed to meet here because this hotel is central, easy to find, being both on a main road, and close to the train station. The flooding in Thailand has caught up with us.

This is a view of our sleeper car on the train.

This is Jim at the Hat Yai Railway Station checking out our delay and eventual boot.

The train conductor made a hanger for his street clothes with a straight stick and plastic twine. I we should remember how to do this for future trips.

Real Steel

Today we went to the movie, Real Steel. It was quite enjoyable. We also signed up with Skype so we can call any land line or cell phone. It costs about 2 1/2 cents per minute to call any number in the U.S. So, last night, to test it, we called our friends, Roy and Joanna. This was after Laura Skyped with her daughter, Tracy. Quite interesting to be talking to the computer here and having the person on the other end in the U.S. When we first started traveling you would be out of touch unless you could find a phone that made international calls, or waited for the mail. Quite a change.

We are going to miss Bangkok. This is the first time we have stayed here for any length of time. I know, we are repeating ourselves, but we are getting old and can do that. Bangkok, even with all the pollution and congestion is a fun city. And, we haven't even been to Pat-Pong, or any bar.

Sri Mahamariammam Temple & Fortune Tellers

After we picked up our Myanmar visas we were walked around the Indian Hindu Sri Mahamariammam Temple in the Silom area and discovered the streets were lined with fortune tellers. There were not only Indians wanting to know the future, but other Asians, who were probably Buddhists. The fortune tellers were reading large picture cards which were first placed face down then turned face up one at a time to reveal the future. The fortune tellers were aided with incense, braided small white flowers and many yellow marigolds, which are the same flowers that are placed before the gods in a Hindu temple. Some of the fortune tellers also had a photo of a religious leader to make them more credible. Laura was tempted to get her fortune told, but was not sure she wanted to know it, so she passed.

Midge would have been in her element.

Credit Card

The fraud division of our credit card company called our home and sent us an e-mail about possibly fraudulent credit card charges. So, we had to call them back. We discovered that Skype allows free calls to 800 numbers in the U.S., so Jim tried it. And, it worked. We talked with the credit card company and then, being on a roll, Jim called our auto insurance company to reduce our coverage while we are overseas. There we discovered a problem. We couldn't figure out how to press 1, or any other number. Pressing 1 on the computer had no effect on the voice asking you to press 1. So, we just waited until we were switched to a live human. The credit card company was no problem because you could either say or press the number.

Jim feels a little odd talking to the computer, but, it works! And, is free! Now, Jim is kicking himself for not bringing his headset with us.

Burma Visa, Day 2

Today we picked up our visas to Burma (Myanmar). Actually we picked up our passports with the visas placed in them. The embassy opened precisely at 3pm, the time they said to get there. There were no problems getting the visa, other than figuring out which line to stand in. They made an announcement about which line to stand in but it was so garbled, we couldn't even tell in which language the announcement was made. The visa even has our photo in it. Pretty neat. While standing in line we met a couple who said they were from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. They never said "Eh" so we think they were only pretending to be Canadians.

On the way back from picking up our visa Laura had an attack that called for American food, so we stopped at McDonald's. As we were sitting by the window we noticed all the sandbags were still piled up next to the window.

McDonald's had three types of sauces: American Ketchup, Tomato Sauce and Chili Sauce. We chose the ketchup. Jim had the grilled pork burger and Laura had the basic cheeseburger, fries and coke zero. A good American meal, with lots of fat and salt.

From McDonald's we walked to the subway and took the subway part way back to the hotel. When we got above ground from the subway we heard "The Mickey Mouse Club Song" being played.

We listened to them play other songs, but their best song was "The Mickey Mouse Club Song".

The mall where we got off the subway and heard the band playing is where we transfer from the subway to a bus to get to our hotel. So, after getting off the subway we decided to go to the bathroom, and discovered the most unique signs indicating which was men's and which was women's.

Laura managed to Skype with all her kids today, so she is really happy.

JL Bangkok Hotel Musings

So far at our hotel we have only met two visiting professors. Malcolm, from England and a professor from the University of Texas @ Dallas, whose name we have forgotten. Both of these professors teach Information Technology. This is Christmas break so the students, and professors, are gone. this morning we had breakfast with a former Burmese M.D., who now lives in Australia, and concentrates on preventive health. There is also a small group of Philippine Americans who are in Bangkok attending a Peace Conference. They are only here for one night as overflow from their conference hotel.

While having breakfast here we have watched numerous Asians put chili sauce on their fried eggs. Never even thought of fixing them that way. And, they put, not a drop or two, but smother them in the chili sauce.

They have a television in the dining room that is usually on the Thai news during breakfast, from 6:30-10am. We watched a segment about PC Airline, a small carrier based in Bangkok. We then went on the internet to find the story. The story was that PC Air was the first airline in Thailand, and probably the world, to hire transgendered "ladyboy" flight attendants.

Jim has discovered a fondness for green noodles. We think they are made from mung beans. But, whatever they are made from, he really likes them, although the sight of green noodles is a little odd, although not any odder than the sight of green beans, which they resemble.

Jim has also discovered that each year more and more Asians, both men and women, are taller than he is. It's not only the Dutch, but also the Asians that are getting taller.

We found out why there were canvas rabbits all over King Rama 9 Park. They are there to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, 2011. Next year, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon.

While on the bus yesterday we passed the "Anti Dirty 2 Car Wash". We thought that was a great name, and then wondered where was Anti Dirty 1 Car Wash? And, is there Anti Dirty 3 and beyond?

Burma Visa, Day 1

Today we went to the Myanmar (Burma) embassy to get our visa to enter. I took about an hour to get our paperwork processed. We return on Wednesday to pick up our visa. It was not a very impressive looking embassy.

After leaving the embassy we went to the mall and ate at Mos Burger, which is a Japanese chain. The great thing about Mos Burger is that some of the sandwiches are served on pressed rice buns. We each ordered the BBQ pork which was served on such a rice bun.

The highlights of the trip were on the Skytrain platforms. First there was a dog that was casually wearing glasses while everyone was photographing him.

The other was a singing group that was performing. This is their lead singer.

It was a fun day.

Christmas with Woody

We spent Christmas with Woody Allen, or at least with his movie "Midnight in Paris", which was excellent. We saw it in the theater here, even though it is out on DVD in the U.S. We went to the Siam Center to see the movie and the center was busier, on Christmas Day, than we had ever seen it. Looked like Christmas day was the biggest shopping day of the year. We even got caroled in the mall, in english.

It was a very nice Christmas.

King Rama 9 Park

Yesterday we went to the King Rama 9 Park. The park was beautiful and had a wonderful cactus garden. What we didn't expect to find were larger than live sized white canvas rabbits wearing scarves.

They also had a large collection of bromeliads and orchids which Jim went crazy over.

The park is in back of a big mall. The bus dropped us off in front of the mall and as we went in the first thing we saw was an A&W Root Beer restaurant. So, we had to stop so that Jim could get his root beer float, in a real glass mug, unlike in the U.S. where they only give you paper cups. Laura had an iced coffee float.

The mall had an ice skating rink inside of it, where we watched people skating. They also had larger than life sized penguins on the ice to help the little kids learn ice skating. Below is a photo of the center part of the mall. The ice rink was off one wing of the mall.

To get to the park we took a local non-air-conditioned bus for about 50 minutes. What fascinated Laura about the buses were their wooden floors.

What fascinated Jim was going past the local Lamborghini/Lotus dealership and then past the Tesla dealership. When we went past the Lamborghini dealership on the way back they were unloading a Lamborghini from a flat bed tow truck. Jim's only thought was "How much is that repair going to cost?" But, it was a beautiful black Lamborghini.

Arom Chanyan

Thursday we visited Arom Chanyan and her daughter Sitarom in Bangkok. She is a friend of Consti Garay who I worked with at Allen Community College. We had lunch at an excellent restaurant and then she took us to her home for coffee. She has been a professor at the Ramkhamhaeng University for forty years and is retired, although she still teaches. She was a delightful woman with a delightful daughter.

Chilling in Bangkok

We are still in Bangkok and still in the same hotel. Before we left Topeka we talked about staying in Bangkok for a while since we had never done that. Typically for us, Bangkok was a stop on the way to somewhere else. Sometimes we never even stopped in Bangkok, we would go from one bus station to another, or from the train to a bus or plane. This time we are staying here and enjoying it. Mostly doing nothing. Although we did catch another movie yesterday. This time it was "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" which we really enjoyed.

Since we have arrived Laura has gone from one ache and pain to another. Now she has a cold. When we first arrived her shoulder was bad, then she had plantar fasciitis pain in her heel, then her knee, then her ear, and now a cold. Jim is doing fine. Just chilling, and quite content just being here.

We skyped with Jim's daughter Crista yesterday. She is doing well after her surgery. We are really glad the surgery went well. We still find it really amazing to be in our hotel room in Bangkok, seeing and talking with someone in the U.S. Yesterday we bought Thai Sim cards for our cell phones so we can find each other. Figured it was worth the $3 for both sim cards. Now, you can call us in Thailand, Jim's number from the US is 66 853586059, while Laura's is 66 853586712.

We are enjoying the wonderful food here, including the toast that Jim always has at breakfast, which is funny because Jim never eats toast at home. What's even weirder is that the jelly that Jim puts on it is Strawberry, a flavor that Jim will not even touch at home. But, here, it's part of the hotel's breakfast buffet and Jim loves it. The toast and jelly, and the Danishes see to be his favorite foods. Neither of which he eats at home. We also are enjoying the Coke Zero, which we do drink at home.

Chip and Dale

The granddaughter of the hotel's owner is always carrying a doll of Dale which is larger than she is. Now we find out that there is a difference between Chip and Dale. And,the granddaughter, Eve, only likes Dale. Poor Chip is rejected. One day she let go of Dale and Jim grabbed him and held him to his chest and Eve just glared at him, not knowing whether to cry or not because the Farang had her beloved Dale. For those of you, like us, who did not realize there is a difference between Chip and Dale, here is a Disney image.

We have decided to stay at this hotel in Bangkok until until we leave for Penang on New Year's Eve. It is nice just being here. Yesterday we went to see the movie "Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol". Was very good. There is an IMAX version of the movie downtown, but we chose to walk three blocks to a local movie house. Next up is the new Sherlock Holmes movie. We see more movies in Asia than we do in Topeka. Maybe it's the price. The movie was under $3 for each ticket. Think since the last time we were in Asia, in Topeka, we went to one movie in a theater, and that was only because Jim found passes we had won years ago in a drawing.

We are still in Bangkok. Yesterday we booked the overnight sleeper train from here to Penang on New Years Eve. We were finally able to get a lower berth so Laura doesn't have to climb the ladder to get into her berth. Now, only Jim will break his neck.
This morning we are sitting in the hotel's restaurant and Jim is trying to figure out how to use Picasa on his netbook. We think he has finally downloaded all the photos to his computer and maybe he has the figured out how to upload them to the web. After this paragraph there should be a picture of our hotel, the JL Bangkok. This morning as we were in the hotel's restaurant, drinking free coffee and trying to figure out how to use this blog site, when the owner of the hotel sat down with us. This is a Chinese owned hotel which is managed by the owner's son, with the owner living on site. We also have met the manager's wife and their approximately three year old daughter, who also live here. Quite a family business. The owner also has another son who lives in New York.

Weekend Market

Today we went to the Chatuchak weekend market. A true shopping experience. It's 35 acres and 8,000 stalls of "bargains". Laura came back with necklaces and earrings.

Throughout Bangkok we have been seeing sandbags on the sidewalks. They are left over from the floods last month. Today we watched men throwing bags onto trucks in front of the Swissotel. We saw sandbags on nearly every corner in Sukhumvit, and saw them piled in the shape of a Christmas tree in front of the Tesco-Lotus Department store. And, yes, it was as a Christmas tree because it was one of three Christmas trees made of different materials.

Jim finally found a Blueberry Danish in Bangkok. They are sold in every Bakery in Malaysia, and on the last trip he found his favorite one in Indonesia, but none in Bangkok until yesterday. The danish was in the Yamazaki Bakery, which is between Suzuki Coffee and McDonald's in the Tesco-Lotus mall near the Phra Ram 9 MRT subway) station, if you ever have the urge for a blueberry danish, and if you are in Bangkok.

Lost in Bangkok

This morning we set off to find another way to the main tourist part of Bangkok. We set off in a mini van. The reason we decided to do this is that one end of the mini van's line is in front of our hotel. So, we paid our fare to one of the malls, from which we could catch the subway the rest of the way. We missed our mini van stop and only get out when the mini van reached its destination at the other end of the line, which was sort of OK since it ended at another mall. Except, we had no idea where we were. So, like the brave Americans we are, we took refuge in a McDonald's and waited for the mall to open. When the mall opened we went in and looked around and discovered it had the department store called "The Mall" inside it. Which was mainly interesting because near our hotel is a mall with "The Mall" inside it also. Well, after Laura looking at yarn, and threatening to buy the store out of its US $10 per skein yarn, we went to customer service to find out where in Bangkok we were. After we walked up to customer service and asked for help, they called a lady who spoke good English and she explained we were so far off course we weren't even still on our little tourist map of Bangkok. She gave us directions on which bus to catch to connect with the Sky Train, which then connected with the subway to get us back to our original destination. As the bus we were on got on the freeway we began to believe that we had gone quite a way out of our way. Anyway, the bus eventually got us to Monument Circle, where we caught the Sky Train to Siam Square, a new destination which we had decided on for lunch. After lunch, we caught the Sky Train to the Subway, and then to the mall which was our original destination when we set out hours earlier. From the mall we caught a city bus back to our hotel. All this could have been avoided by taking a taxi in the first place, and probably would have ended up being cheaper, but not nearly half the fun.

In Bangkok

We are in Bangkok. Made it at 6am this morning. We were supposed to be here at 10:30pm last night. Tired.

We took the new airport train part way to our hotel then took a taxi from the train stop. So we are now at the JL Bangkok Hotel, which has free wi-fi and a free American breakfast. We got off at the wrong stop for our hotel so had quite a long taxi ride to get here. Cost almost 3 dollars!

We've been sleeping off and on today Mostly venturing forth to find food. Tonight we at in one of the small Sois (streets) that seem to be turned over mostly to food stalls in the evening. A bowl of pork dumpling soup was 40 baht of about $1.33. We love the street food here.

We forgot how heavily polluted Bangkok is. You can taste the pollution. But, it's still a lot more fun than Topeka.

Sherry Skyped us this morning. We are amazed that she can be in San Diego and we can be in our room in Bangkok and we can see and talk with each other. We tried again this evening but the connection was bad so it didn't work. The only downside to Skype was that when Sherrie called Jim had to put on his pants since he was in his undies and she could see us in the room.

The Haneda airport has the most wonderful toilets in the public restrooms, They are called "Shower Toilets". They wash and dry you automatically. All you do is press the buttons on the wall next to the toilet. Press the wash button and a stream of water is aimed at your bottom. Let go and it stops. Then press the button for the warm air and it dries your bottom. A wonderful system.

Also, at the Haneda airport we heard the little golf carts that are used to take disabled or late passengers to their gates. As one went pass, it was playing "Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work we go" to warn people to get out of it's way.

Since we brought the net book computer we can listen to the same radio stations that we do at home. As Jim is typing this we are listening to big band music from KCEA in the San Francisco bay area. Just like at home.

Coming back from dinner we checked out the local movies near us. The closest multiplex is showing "Twilight, Part 4" on four screens, Puss in Boots", "Happy Feet 2" and "Immortals". "Immortals" is being shown in 3D. Think we will pass on the movies right now. None sound good.

We were able to pick up our home phone messages and hear them on the computer. So, no need to call home to see if anybody called us. We just log on.

This morning we saw an advertising sign for HSBC that said "Holland earns more exporting soy sauce than Japan." Never thought of Holland as even making soy sauce let alone being a large exporter. Wonder how that got started?

In Tokyo

Took a longtime to figure out how to post this note. Everything was in Japanese. Apparently Google read my Internet Service Provider as being in Japan and then sent only Japanese characters to me. Finally figured it out. Hope that when we do get to Thailand Google will still be in English.

We are at the Tokyo Haneda airport. An airport we never knew existed until tonight. A quite a nice airport. This mornings flight from Kansas City to Chicago went well, and we arrived on time in Chicago. Then however things started going awry. First the flight to Tokyo was delayed half an hour. Then it was delayed more. Then we boarded and t was delayed more. We left 2 1/2 hours late. Since we only had an hour to make our connecting flight to Bangkok, by the time we arrived in Tokyo, it had left without us, and about twenty other people headed for Bangkok. As we got off the plane we were sent to the customer service tables set up just for our flight to Tokyo. We found the right table and were told that there was a flight leaving in five hours from the Haneda Airport in Downtown Tokyo and a bus would take us there. But, first we had to claim our luggage. So, the bags were claimed and we walked in mass to our waiting bus. After a seventy-five minute bus ride we checked in at the All Nippon counter for our boarding passes. We received them and are now waiting for our after midnight flight. We will be arriving in Bangkok 7 1/2 hours late, making it a 32 hour flight from Kansas City to Bangkok.

The flight from Chicago was bumpy going over Canada. On two separate occasions the pilot announced "Flight Attendants, take your seats" and then we bounced. After Canada, the flight remained calm. The plane was an old one. The televisions were on the top of the cabin. Every other flight we've taken for the past few years had the televisions in the seat backs.

Also, as we were taxiing from the gate in Chicago we noticed a lot of flashing lights at the end of one of the runways. When we looked closer it was the airport fire department and buses. We watched as a commuter plane landed and the parade of fire fighting vehicles moved out, following the small plane.

Packing

Today we packed for our tip. The goal is to have each suitcase weigh 10 kilos (22 pounds) or less since that is the carry-on weight limit for most flights in Asia. We each take one suitcase and then Laura takes the cameras and I take the computer.

It's much easier to pack for SE Asia than for the Arctic since we will mostly be wearing warm weather clothes, and only a light jacket, at the most. We figure we can buy whatever we need over there. Especially since so much of what we buy here is made there.

This will be Jim's first trip without his Rick Steves' "Europe Through The Back Door" bag. He broke down and bought a 21" wheeled suitcase. But, it's convertible and has straps so that he can put it on his back if necessary. Old habits die hard.

A large part of the weight of Jim's suitcase is guide books. We tried downloading a guide book to Laura's Nook, and found it almost impossible to use effectively. The Nook is good for reading from the beginning to the end, but not for jumping around, trying to figure out where to go. So, we are still packing guide books. Jim is also packing some novels to read, which he leaves behind after reading. Here the advantage is to the nook, especially with the free Nook book every Saturday in Asia, Friday in the U.S due to the time zone difference.

We each are within the 10 kilo weight limit.

Furnace, Part 2

The new furnace, air conditioner and water heater are in. Not sure if I will get used to having the vent pipe being made of PVC. The air conditioner will have to recharged in the spring since it's barely above freezing and they like the temperature to be at least 70 degrees when they recharge it.

One of the men installing the new furnace also installed the original one in 1978. He's now retired and works part time for Lower, Inc., the company who installed both the original and the replacement.

Laura is teaching her last classes today. It is getting close to time to leave. Been reading on Myanmar and the more I read the more interesting it sounds. Finding lots of interesting places to go to in a country that's been off the tourist map, and is still off the ATM map. Myanmar has a two price policy where tourists pay more than locals for entrance fees, the train and whatever. There, the "Tourist Tax" is institutionalized by the government. So, it's not the locals trying to overcharge you, it's the government.

Furnace

While we are gone we have two legislators staying in our home. One of the things that we do to get it ready for them to stay and for us to leave is to have the furnace checked and placed under a service contract. Monday morning it was time for the furnace's checkup. It failed! Our 35 year old furnace was rusting and cracking and in need of replacement. But, not a health hazard. So, we weren't going to die of CO2 poisoning. But, what to do?

After gnashing of teeth, saying "why now" "why me" and stressing, we decided to go ahead and replace the furnace. That however, brought up the question of what to do with the old air conditioner, which was followed by the question of what to do with the 13 year old water heater. So, with the furnace people looking like they had won the lottery, we broke down and agreed to replace all of them: the furnace, water heater and air conditioner. They will be installed Wednesday. Hope the legislators enjoy them.

Skype

After writing the last post, I began to wonder why we didn't have Skype and use it. Well, now we do. Laura is lauradalrymple1 and Jim is jamesaharrs1. The first call we made was to Laura's son Rick, who actually answered! It works!

Last night we went to a WWII USO show at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. That got me to thinking about WWII and the Malaysian Peninsula, where the Japanese attacked and invaded several hours before attacking Pearl Harbor. An opportunity lost that cost many lives.The Japanese landed at Kota Bahru, Malaysia, and Pattani and Songkhla, Thailand. Yet no alarm was raised at Pearl Harbor. Kota Bahru has a nice small museum about the invasion and the British troops that were overrun.

Getting Ready

I just set up our home phone number to give us our phone messages over the internet so we can answer our messages, if necessary, while we are in Asia. This got me to thinking about when we went to Africa in 1990 and the only way to stay in touch was either by mail, or go to the airport and use the AT&T phone to call home collect.

Now, as soon as we arrive in a new country, if we are going to stay for a few days, we buy sim cards and put them in our phones and can call anywhere. Sometimes, like in Malaysia, it was cheaper to call the US from Malaysia, 6 cents per minute, than to use our prepaid cells within the US, 10 cents per minute. And, we can call even cheaper with Skype. Sure that I could somehow arrange to have our local calls forwarded to my cell in Asia. But, don't think that would work as most of the calls would come during the night there due to the time difference. Besides, unlike Laura, I hate the telephone.