Episode number nine Bangkok Days and Nights

After another Lebanese feast we watched a few episodes of Seinfeld and then ‘The Constant Gardner’. Adam was not all that keen but as a concession to the ladies he ‘went along’ with the choice.
The general view was that it is a ‘good’ movie but somewhat disturbing when one fears that it possibly reflects the reality. I stated that “the second half was a lot better than the first half” Adam replied “yes I agree, I have never seen the second half before.”
It appeared that Adam had seen part of it before, on some flight some time and had not seen all of it then as he had turned it off part way through the first half.
I mentioned that I had heard on the radio that the cast and crew of the film had contributed part of their fees to a foundation that was set up to help the people in the shanty town in Kenya where a lot of the filming was done. We had various conversations about the morality issues surrounding the key issues in the film so I guess it was successful if that was part of the aim of making the film.
Sheila and I went to bed while Adam and Rosalind watched a few more episodes of ‘Seinfeld’.
3rd July 2006
I arose a little later than my usual time to find that Adam had gone to work long before, and Sheila was just finishing her eggs ‘Benedict.’
After breakfast Sheila and I walked to ‘Tops’ to get some fruit, yoghurt and a couple of other things as well as my paper.
On the way I talked to the soi dogs and emptied a bag of broken dog biscuits onto the pavement. They are still not overly impressed and when Sheila approached them they starting barking and bailed her up. We retreated and when we were half way down the soi they started to snuffle the biscuit pieces, although when we returned there was still a pile of crumbs untouched, little buggers.
Sheila also investigated the possibilities of a pedicure in a ‘nail’ place on the next level up from the supermarket. It looked very clean and well run and Sheila could not get an appointment that day but booked in for the next day.
While I brought the journal up-to-date Sheila watched ‘Brokeback Mountain’ while having a rest before her appointment with the Pilates perpetrators late this afternoon. I resolved to go along and have a swim and help with the directions to the taxi driver if needed. We think that the secret might be to try and pronounce some of the words down one’s nose (like an Australian drawl) to get the tonal quality correct. I will report on the success of this ploy.
Nah still did not work, but we got there ok and Sheila had a ‘good’ Pilates session on the ‘Reformer’ machine, I think that they have a nod towards the ‘Inquisition’ rather than the ‘Reformation’. while I did sixty lengths of the pool. (20 metre only). As I waited for Sheila to get changed Adam turned up for his personal training session and suggested that we get Khun Boon Chuay to drive us home and then return for Adam later. It was very convenient and we did not have to worry about being understood by the taxi driver.
Nearly forgot to add the jury’s verdict on ‘Brokeback Mountain’. In a word CRAP, no saving graces, dialogue pathetic especially since we could only understand about 50% of what was grunted by Heath Ledger and the other cast members. The scenery was supposed a high-light for some, well perhaps it was a better part of the film, but still left us bemused as to why it got any awards.
I did have a good laugh when I spotted the fact that in one scene towards the end the chap with a moustache (at times) one minute he had a moustache and was wearing one type of coat and then a few seconds later when he was back in view he had on a different coat and a moustache. This very sloppy continuity was just another glitch I a very forgettable movie that I am glad we did not pay to see in the cinema.
By way of contrast ‘An unfinished Life’ starring Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez is a very good movie that we all enjoyed. It is also set in Wyoming, but a vastly better movie.
Dinner was an excellent beef stir fry made by Rosalind earlier in the afternoon. Rosalind mentioned to me that I might like to warm it up a little. Sage advice I thought and I put it into the micro-wave for twenty five seconds. Khun Noy was watching me and decided to ‘help’, Khun Noy must have thought that I did not know how to work the micro-wave and wound the time on to 95 seconds and cooked the heck out of my beef stir-fry until it was more like ‘beef jerky’. Still it all went down ok, Rosalind explained over dinner that Khun Noy is very suspicious of any ‘pink’ meat and given the smallest opportunity will microwave any beef borne bacteria to hell. Lamb is another story as Khun Noy thinks that anyone who will eat cute fluffy baby sheep is barbaric, and as bad in her books as eating dogs.
Before I forget Rosalind was also telling us another story about meanings being lost in translation, her parents had been on one of their many trips to Greece and her father was practising his Greek language ‘skills’. His opening remark to their taxi driver when translated meant “what colour are your children?” This caused some consternation, but was forgiven as the taxi driver asked if Rosalind’s father had any children. The reply when translated said “yes I have four daughters and a cucumber”. The phrase ‘fruits of one’s loins’ took on a whole new meaning and also nearly caused a major accident.
4th July
Adam left bright and early for work while I was still having deep and meaningful conversations with my pillow.
Sheila said that she had very sore muscles from her Pilates class, and I explained that it was the build up of lactic acid in her muscles and she needed to do some more light exercise to dissipate the lactic acid. Sounded plausible to me and must have seemed the same to Sheila as she convinced me to go down to the pool and watch her do a few laps to wash the lactic acid out of her muscles. Well it seemed to work.
Sheila had a 1400 appointment for her pedicure and I delivered her to the nail studio to ensure that she got across the road ok. On the way I fed the dogs their crushed up biscuits, but a couple are still very picky.
After leaving Sheila I bought a paper near the supermarket and promised the young lady who served me that I would give her the 2 baht I was short “proong nee” (tomorrow).
The video shop was next to return four videos and when I was asked for the fourth one I just said “proong nee” again and was rewarded with a smile and “proong nee ok”. My useful phrase for the day. I picked up another VCD called ‘Shall we dance’ starring Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez. And I was glad that it is on a week hire basis as the World Cup Football is on again tonight or I should say at 0200 on Wednesday morning so film viewing may be delayed.
I wandered back via the ‘wet-market’ as usual and got to the nail studio about 1546 with still 30 minutes to wait for Sheila to be finished. The staff were happy for me to sit and read my paper, providing me with a glass of cold water on a tray decorated with a beautiful fresh orchid. Sheila was thrilled with her pedicure and also the colour of the nail polish and their very skilled application. We went into the supermarket to get a few things to take home, and as we left the building I discharged my two baht debt with the young lady from whom I had bought the paper.
It started to rain on the way home but both of us enjoyed the warm shower, but pleased that we had got back home before the heavy rain started.
Sheila enjoyed a siesta while Rosalind went to the gym and I worked on ‘e-mails’ etc.
In fact it took Adam nearly three hours to get home by car, a trip that sometimes takes ten minutes. Adam was a trifle cross with the traffic, but the delay gave us the chance to watch the movie ‘Shall We Dance’. It was okay, but was a poor attempt at copying the Japanese movie of the same name. Jennifer Lopez tried to make it more raunchy, and that was part of this version’s downfall, it is not meant to be a raunchy story and the American version lacked the subtlety and grace that was a virtue of the Japanese film. ‘Lacking subtlety and grace’ just about sums up the American way, (George Bush’s America anyway).
We had a short talk about whether or not we might stay up for the Italy vs. Germany match, but sanity prevailed, I think, and we went to bed about 2359.
Apparently Sheila could not sleep all that well, blaming the American 4th of July fireworks and a Karaoke bar, Sheila watched the first ten minutes of the game and then came back to bed. I was thrilled to get Sheila’s analysis of the game at 0216 and her assessment that Germany were playing better than Italy.
5th July
I got up early, well I should say earlier that usual for me and the kitchen was deserted and in darkness. Khun Noy was ironing some sheets in preparation for a bed linen change when she got the opportunity. Sheila and I try to ensure that we make our own bed before Khun Noy can, but it is a battle of wits and wills as she tries to out manoeuvre us and make our bed while we are having breakfast. Khun Noy will not enter our bedroom if the door is shut, to protect our privacy, but if we neglect to shut the door when we leave the room Khun Noy rushes in with the vacuum cleaner, mop and sundry other cleaning aids so that it is spotless when we wander back to the bedroom. I am wondering if I could train Sheila in the same ways. Nah don’t think so!
Adam had watched the television in their bedroom until about 0230 when he finally admitted defeat and went to sleep, it was no wonder that he was a little tardy in the morning. I checked the score of the match on the computer and was pleased to see that Italy had scored twice, noting that it was towards the end of extra time, and so I was doubly pleased that I had not tried to stay up for the match.
My plan for today was to try and find a shop near the Oriental Hotel, that sold fossils, not sold to fossils. I had been thinking that Sheila and I could never give Adam and Rosalind a gift that they could not easily buy for themselves of a much better quality so the idea of a fossil occurred to me. A couple of things spurred me to this conclusion; one being my work as a volunteer at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum in Bathurst and a book of Adam’s that I have been reading for the last few days.
The book written by Simon Winchester is called ‘The Map That Changed The World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology’. On many of the pages are drawings of Jurassic ammonites and as Adam had mentioned how much he had enjoyed the book I thought that if I were able to get him an ammonite it might be an acceptable gift. The Jurassic period is defined in the Oxford dictionary as ‘relating to or denoting the second period of the Mesozoic era about 208 to 146 million years ago’. Our use of terms like 208 million years ago lacks the lyrical quality of a Korean measure that Simon Winchester cites in his book. I could not find it again after a quick search, but the gist of it is:
‘Imagine a mountain of solid granite one mile high, every thousand years an angel descends from heaven and brushes the mountain lightly with her wing tip as she passes by, the time taken to wear that mountain away is a very long time’. Yup agree with that, and a lot more poetical than our mA, millions of years.
My thought was to get a taxi to the ‘Chong Nonsi’ Sky-train station, take the train to ‘Saphan Taksin’ and then walk from there in a northerly direction. I have forgotten to mention that my thoughts of the location of the shop were based on a vague recollection of a mention on a map in a book that we had left at home. Ah well ‘a faint heart never won a fair lady’.
Rosalind persuaded me to modify my ideas to the extent that I would get a taxi from the end of the road straight to Saphan Taksin station when I would get out of the taxi and walk from there. When I walked to the end of the soi there was a taxi just about to move off from the ‘restaurant’ and I responded to the affirmative when he ‘questioned if I needed a taxi.
“Saphan Taksin” I said with confidence.
“Saphan Taksin?” he replied with a sort of questioning tonal quality at the end.
“Saphan Taksin chi krup”, I affirmed displaying my complete confidence in my control of events.
I noted with some growing satisfaction a number of my expected landmarks as we proceeded. At this juncture I should mention that my desired destination was ‘Saphan Taksin’ station which is sited just next to the Chao Phraya river. Just beyond the station is a bridge that goes by two names, one name is the ‘Sathorn’ bridge, but it is also known by some others as the ‘Taksin’ bridge, saphan being the Thai word for bridge. So on reflection where I wanted to go was ‘Saphan Taksin’ sky-train station. I had forgotten to ask for the words that meant sky-train station. As we approached the Chao Phraya river the taxi driver again asked “Saphan Taksin?”
“Chi krup” I affirmed again adding emphasis with doing sort of diving motions with my hands to indicate that ‘yes I did know what a bridge was’. The driver shrugged his shoulders and proceeded over the bridge, to an area called ‘Phasi Charoen’, no where near where I thought I wanted to be, needed to be! “Oh bother, what a fine mess you have got us into again Stanley”, I thought. I quickly racked my brains for any Thai words that would extract me from my predicament. I pointed over my shoulder, put on my most worried expression and squealed “Oriental, oriental hotel!”
“Loriental, loriental” he asked with amazement.
“Yes yes loriental” I stuttered eagerly all my Thai vocabulary forgotten.
I am not sure what was said on the way to the Oriental hotel, but I think the meaning was close to something like: ‘You idiot why didn’t you say you wanted to go to the Oriental hotel in the first place, instead of trying to be smart.’.
I tried to make amends by pointing my index finger to my temple a few times and pretending to blow my brains out. The second performance seemed to do the job and he just laughed and shook his head, a lot!
The reason that I had nominated the Oriental hotel was that I knew it was on the correct side of the river, and I thought, very close to the shop I was seeking.
I slid smoothly past the many meeting and greeting staff at the front door of the Oriental hotel, with their very fine Thai costumes and quickly located the ‘concierge’ desk The desk is staffed by three very elegant and beautiful Thai ladies who speak English very well and exuded extreme confidence that they knew where the ‘fossil’ shop is located and quickly drew a little map on a card for me.
Armed with my map I once more strode forth with confidence, skipping across the major roads with aplomb. The map was very clear about the location of the shop, it was probably worth remembering at that stage that Asian people generally do not like to say no to anyone as this is considered rude. So many times we have been given advice or answers to questions that are always in the positive, and it is only careful close questioning that might elicit the more accurate, shamefaced, answer “no can do”.
I walked further and further past the corner shop that had been indicated on the map. That shop was a silversmith and jeweller and the next thirty of so shops were of the same type or close to it. On the opposite side of the road was a very large post-office that I think must be Bangkok’s General Post office and I noted this as a reference point if I needed it in the future. I decided that I would go into a shop and ask if they might know of the shop I was looking for. It was another jewellers and I was thrilled when, first the young lady understood what I was saying and secondly when she indicated that it was the next door down. In my enthusiasm I grabbed the door handle and jerked it towards me. This caused some consternation as the whole door frame rattled, but the door did not open. It was a jewellers and it had been electronically locked when I had entered. I guess a security measure to stop anyone ‘nicking the gems’ and running. The young lady flicked a switch just above the door frame and ushered me out of the door and pushed me gently in the direction of the shop next door; I got the message.
The first young lady did not have a clue what I was saying when I asked to see some fossils, but the owner at the back of the shop indicated a box at the top of a cabinet ,near the front counter. In the box were about fifteen ammonites all about the same size but of variable quality, many having bits missing. I took them all out of the box arranging them in a line that I hoped would give me that appearance of a ‘knowledgeable and perceptive’ customer. To be candid the staff and owner did not seem to care a fig and when I asked the price of the two ‘best’ and paid it I found myself outside the shop with the two ammonites wondering why I thought this expedition was going to be any sort of challenge.
I retraced my steps to the Oriental hotel and gave the amended card/map back to the concierge ladies telling them that I was pleased that I was able to show the exactly where the shop was located. On the way out I bought my ‘Bangkok Post’ and at the exit of the hotel took a taxi all the way directly back to the apartment in time to make myself some lunch.
Rosalind and Sheila and gone on a hunt for some special smelly candles that Sheila had found on a web-site, and which they had checked-out in a store the other day. The retail price was A$100 per candle. I asked if they were ten feet tall, but when I was told that they were not, I thought the idea of going to the factory was a good idea.
After the candle hunt Rosalind returned home for a lesson with her Thai teacher and she kept going with her retail therapy, that I was so sad to have missed out on.