Ottawa, May 22, 2017

This is the end of a long weekend here in Canada. It is the date we celebrate the reigning monarchs' birthday, regardless of when it really is. The Queens' actual birth date is April 21, same day as mine, and in my view should be celebrated then. Most Canadians have no idea why they have this holiday.

I see from the statistics for this site that it has been viewed just over 7,200 times. It has been up and running for five years. I thank all from the many countries who continue to follow my experiences in foreign lands. As I have stated before, I log all my flights, and have done so since the third flight I ever made. As a result of my last trip, I now have 2008 hours of flying time. That is the equivalent of 83 days of continuous flying, plus 16 hours. I still enjoy travelling by air as much as always. These hours were accumulated in 67 different types of aircraft....and one balloon.

My next travels will be to Alberta and B.C., probably in August to visit family. Not much excitement there. I have three brothers who have never left the farms, so I will get updated on how all the animals are doing, and in particular, that old sheep that was sick when I was out there two years ago...gee, I can hardly wait.

I just today completed the task of placing all my recent photos in an album. I decided to make prints from all the photos, and then after doing some reductions for similar and duplicates, make one album. I ended up with around 275 keepers. I took 400 to a developer in Bangkok and had copies made at a cent each. They are 17 cents each here in Walmart. The problem is, there was an accident, and all were erased from the disk in Thailand.
 A neat feature with the Cathay Pacific aircraft that I traveled in is the fact they are equipped with a camera in the front of the aircraft, just behind the front nose wheel. I keep my monitor to the flight path, and switch back and forth from that to the nose view. I know some folks could care less, and prefer to watch rerun movies, or cartoons, but I like to know where we are and all such information...like outside temperature at minus 85.  By the way, if anyone would like a nose view of us over lake Ontario, wheels down on approach to Toronto airport, I have them, autographed at just 25 dollars each....limit two to a customer.

Three places that I attended while in Thailand , and which have great photos on the internet are; Wat Doi Suthep, and Wat Phatat  Doi Kam , Royal Gardens Rajapruek, all at Chiang Mai. Included in the gardens which cover many acres is an area with over 1000 varieties of orchids.  
The place is so big that it is easy to stay there all day.
The Wats are Buddhist temples, with fantastic artwork from hundreds of years ago. The first is gold leaf everywhere, and the second is white...unusual. Both are on mountains. Chiang Mai is a former capital city, so has many features not found elsewhere in the country. One of these is a canal, which 1200 years ago was a moat around the city. It is about 2 kilometers square and is a wonderful area for walking with many fountains and special features.

Thailand is still in a somber mood, as their beloved king passed away last October. They have a three day cremation service planned for the end of October this year. Millions are being spent on all the special feature facilities that will be used .  As a result, many places are restricted for tourists, and I did not go there.

By the way, I am kidding about the photos for sale. I do have two, but only a Leafs fan would want one.

I will have an update of a western trip, and what that might entail by the end of May.

Ottawa, Ontario, May 18, 2017

I arrived home at 02;00 on Tuesday, after 30 hours of travel. The flights were late both out of Hongkong, and Toronto. Hongkong is often fogged in, so all flights are given times to start engines, before taxiing out. In our case, we sat in the plane for almost an hour, due heavy inbound traffic. After that, the flight to Toronto, almost direct, south of Japan, Vancouver, Winnipeg, etc was 14 and one half hours. We were given dinner about two hours after departure, then, with all window blinds shut, were in the dark until they let us open blinds two hours out of Toronto, about seven P.M. on Tuesday. I am not complaining because Cathay Pacific Airlines offered a good service, but, I found it very hard to get excited about a breakfast, or dinner, whatever you wanted to call it, of either 24 hour old scrambled eggs and partly (in my view), cooked bacon, or, Mud Carp Congee at seven in the evening!.
I had a grand time in Thailand, as I always do. The only problem I had was the lack of good internet service. The military took over three years ago, walk in to the Prime Ministers office, told her to go home, and, with 721 officers and thousands of men, took charge. (That could not happen in Canada, as the army would never be able to find our prime minister, or anyone else in charge.) A personal view here). The rainy season was arriving as I departed Bangkok, but we only had two days with afternoon showers while I was there.
Now regarding the internet. The Army took over Google Thailand, and controls the speed of the internet, so much so that they can slow it down so one just gives up waiting to get on. I understand they know which are foreign computers by the Internet Protocol address, and many times, I got the notation,"Google Thailand wants to know your location". There were two boxes...Release, and Refuse. If I had refused, I would not get on...at any time. They have, as of this week, taken over Facebook, also because they do not want Thai or anyone else there to say bad things about the government...army. Generals do not like that!!!.
To me, it is sad to see all the fast food chains that are moving into Thailand, and selling products made from wheat. Many streets have bakeries selling bread, cakes and such, even donut shops. The fact is these places are replacing local family outlets which once sold native foods like rice dishes. I noticed that local people do not patronize the fast foods, probably because of the North American pricing. They just cannot afford to shop there.
  I will do another page before the weekend is over. This gets my sarcasm out of the way.

Good Bye From Bangkok May 14, 2016

I will keep this page relatively short, due major internet problems here, and the control on internet by powers that be. I will be departing hotel 0900 in the morning, and on flight at 1210. It will be midnight tomorrow night when I get home.
Dinner 83 floors up was excellent, and only cost about 32 dollars a person. Buffet style, everyone pays the same. A unique feature, is that they give you back five dollars equivalent each if you eat all the food you take....a great idea. I took photos, and they are just ok. The viewing platform is outside, around the building, and rotating one turn every five minutes...the platform is corrugated material, so not firm....that and one shaking from fear of the heights....just so so. I am kidding about the fear of course. Only time that high without an aeroplane for support, although, on second thought, The World Trade Center was 102 floors.
The rainy season is upon us now, some showers each day. I am out of here before the heavy rains come.
So I will do an update with lots of information before next weekend....from Ottawa.

Bangkok, May 1, 2017 DO NOT KNOCK NOK AIR !

I have traveled with many different carriers in my career and travels, but nothing quite like my flight yesterday with Nok Air. As I have spent most of my life around airports and airplanes, I have many different experiences that I can recall.  I will not go there today.

Nok Air is a small and growing Thailand based carrier operating into nearby countries, as well as here in Thailand. They try to be unique, and they are. For example, my flight was on a Boeing 737-800 series aircraft, which in all parts of the world is operated in a central aisle configuration with three seats on each side of the aisle. Same with Nok, but, to look like the big jumbo jets, the first row is number 31. The last row is 61, for a total of 180 seats. The usual A, B, and C configuration is on the left side.Over on the other side of the aisle, the seats are H,J, and K. Water and six miniature cookies were served, coffee and other drinks were available at a fee.  

I am now relaxing and enjoying this great city for the next two weeks. I stayed local to my residence today, but will hop on the skytrain service ,( elevated high speed transit. and see some of the city starting tomorrow.

I will do an update in a week or thereabouts.