Once again I am here near the border with Laos, at Sophisai, Thailand where we arrived late Wednesday evening....about eleven. One of the family members was moving back to Sophisai after a number of years in Bangkok, so a family member living south of Bangkok at Pattaya did the move on Wednesday. I helped with the loading, then rode with six family members in a two seater pickup truck for the eleven hours here. We stopped several times for refreshments, and made about half the trip in the darkness.
The driver decided to do a short cut, so we went right up to Kong Kaen, which is across the Mekong River from Vientiane, Laos, then south east to Sophisai..about two hours longer than the usual route. I do not ask questions when I am getting a free ride. I would like to point out also, that place names have different spellings...so beware...different map makers use their own way of naming places.
Last evening, after the truck was unloaded and we had assembled the furniture, we went to a water festival about 30 kilometers away. It was dark, and most of the water gun/spraying etc was over for the day. This is a Thai way of celebrating, and "making merit"....where they look at the good things life has to offer, and be happy. The use of a pickup truck to carry passengers is perfectly legal here, and even those in the back seat do not need to use seat belts. We had 18 in the truck...two seats up front with six, and about 12 in the back,,,on old mattresses, etc. It is 30 degrees, so no worry about the weather.
When we returned to this town, we went to a buffet BBQ, of the fish variety. We were seated at a long table, about nine to a side, and a briquette BBQ at each end, and four down the middle of the table. The idea is you go to the buffet, get what you want from crab to shrimp, squid, and all imaginable things, and cook it yourself...live music playing in the back ground. A great way to end the festival activities. We have it hard here!. All kidding aside, it is a hard life anyplace in Asia where rice is grown. Today, we went down to the farm, about four kilometers from the family home in the town. 12 ladies out in the hot sun, bent over and harvesting the rice crop....for about 12 dollars a day.and 12 hour days. Because this farm has no irrigation, they have one rice crop a year. Planting will begin in May, the wet season. Where irrigation is available, they get three crops of rice a year.
I will have more in about a week. Thank you all for the interest.
Friday 23 November 2018
Saturday 17 November 2018
Bangkok Thailand Sunday, November 18, 2018
Here I am, seven days into a four week vacation, and reading reports of all that snow back in Ontario. Just got away in time.
Everything here is going great. Because of the rough trip here, the kids and all, I took one extra day to get fully on schedule with the 12 hour time change. BY Wednesday, I was up at the usual six, and out exploring this changing city. I had my Dental work completed as scheduled on Thursday morning...all done in one long session. As I have stated in another blog some time ago, here, you get a Dentist and an assistant for your full appointment...none of that having three or four on the go at one time, with dentist wearing running shoes and working on those patients, all on same time schedule. The staff never leave until finished. Oh, and the cost....less than one hundred Canadian dollars.
For something different, I would suggest that you go to Google, and see Mahanakhon Tower, or Skywalk. Many of you have seen my photos of this building that looks like it has lost big pieces of the sides. Well, on Friday, they opened to the public, a glass floored skywalk...great view of Bangkok. It was in news on TV and in all local papers, so I have held off going for the weekend, but will go with my Thai friends in the coming week. Should have some great photos, depending on sun or clouds that day. My friends get back here tonight from visiting family in Japan. We have some business to conduct over the next several days, then I will go with some of them to their farm in Sophisai, up near the border with Laos.
That is about all for this posting. I will try and update again next Sunday. The contact number to date is 8200. Have a great day, where ever you may be.
Everything here is going great. Because of the rough trip here, the kids and all, I took one extra day to get fully on schedule with the 12 hour time change. BY Wednesday, I was up at the usual six, and out exploring this changing city. I had my Dental work completed as scheduled on Thursday morning...all done in one long session. As I have stated in another blog some time ago, here, you get a Dentist and an assistant for your full appointment...none of that having three or four on the go at one time, with dentist wearing running shoes and working on those patients, all on same time schedule. The staff never leave until finished. Oh, and the cost....less than one hundred Canadian dollars.
For something different, I would suggest that you go to Google, and see Mahanakhon Tower, or Skywalk. Many of you have seen my photos of this building that looks like it has lost big pieces of the sides. Well, on Friday, they opened to the public, a glass floored skywalk...great view of Bangkok. It was in news on TV and in all local papers, so I have held off going for the weekend, but will go with my Thai friends in the coming week. Should have some great photos, depending on sun or clouds that day. My friends get back here tonight from visiting family in Japan. We have some business to conduct over the next several days, then I will go with some of them to their farm in Sophisai, up near the border with Laos.
That is about all for this posting. I will try and update again next Sunday. The contact number to date is 8200. Have a great day, where ever you may be.
Tuesday 13 November 2018
Bangkok, 13 November, page 2
With huge crowds, Shanghai was one lineup after another. I had to wait in line to run my checked bag thru the scanner, lineup again to have it checked in, then again because they wanted a second scan. I finally got that done and waited at the departure lounge until flight time. I went for a bite to eat, but...did not like the BBQ eel on rice, nor the several items that could not be reasonably identified. I did however see another little girl running wild, with no parental control. I was sure that the same thing could not happen twice on the same trip. How wrong I was. I am in seat 5A, window, and in 5D, E, and F, is the little one and three adults. It was the same crying for the next four hours to Bangkok. I swear that I saw more crying on these flights, than all the crying and acting up I have seen in my life...including when I was young.( I dont do that anymore), but may have once or twice when I was small.
Some words about the route here from Montreal. We departed and headed north, in a direct line to the North Pole, passing along the west coast of Greenland, and continued north over the Russian arctic. We then headed south east, down over central Russia. Eventually, we were over lake Bakal, and on to near Beijing, but not over it. We seemed to go westward and around all the major cities until Shanghai....with its massive airport. From Shanghai, we went over Da Nang, vietnam and into Bangkok. That is about all for now. I will try and do an update about once a week, unless something very exciting happens that is noteworthy. By the way, here we are having 30 degree days, and no snow in the forecast for the next month!!!.
Some words about the route here from Montreal. We departed and headed north, in a direct line to the North Pole, passing along the west coast of Greenland, and continued north over the Russian arctic. We then headed south east, down over central Russia. Eventually, we were over lake Bakal, and on to near Beijing, but not over it. We seemed to go westward and around all the major cities until Shanghai....with its massive airport. From Shanghai, we went over Da Nang, vietnam and into Bangkok. That is about all for now. I will try and do an update about once a week, unless something very exciting happens that is noteworthy. By the way, here we are having 30 degree days, and no snow in the forecast for the next month!!!.
Monday 12 November 2018
Bangkok, Thailand 13 November 13, 2018.
Hello All; I arrived here a few minutes early, at 01;00 BKK time,, which would have been one in the afternoon, Monday back in Ottawa. All flights departed on time, and arrived early. The Air Canada flight from Montreal to Shanghai provided the Adventure, for what was to be just a venture. I expect the unexpected with them, and they NEVER fail to do just that. It all started at the Ottawa airport at check in. I went to the check in machine...no people check in these days, just an ATM type machine, no personal contact. I put my passport in, face up, touch Air Canada, then answer two questions, while passport in machine...first name, flight route is displayed, then number of checked bags...one for me...two allowed.
Out comes the three boarding passes for the full route, and the tags for the luggage. BUT, the baggage tag is good only to Shanghai, while I get the boarding passes all the way to Bangkok. With all other companies, I would not see my checked luggage until destination. I know about a thousand airport codes, so no doubt about this tag. I question an airline representative, and am told that there is no baggage arrangements for automatic transfer at Shanghai with that airline. Anyone not knowing the code would probably have missed this. Ok, look forward to a surprise at Shanghai. Flight to Montreal is short, 20 minutes. Arrival and departure gates very close, so no problem there. I notice a young girl, about two, running rampant in the waiting area, and she shrieks and whines when her parents stop her. I pray that she is in the back of the plane to Shanghai. On Board, my worst fears are realized...I am in row 35, seat 35A, a window seat on left, (port) side of aircraft, and guess who is in 34A....the seat directly in front of me. For over 13 hours of the 14 hour flight, she did a rant about every five minutes, until we landed in Shanghai and she fell asleep as we taxied to the terminal.
Shanghai airport is huge, and thousands of travelers at any one time, half looking for directions.
Since I was in transit, with no plan to leave the airport, I did not require a visa, but did require a landing/departure card. All onward passengers, about 20 on our flight, were directed to a special check in.... for customs and immigration to fill out the cards and be finger printed, photographed, etc. This took over one hour for me, as only one counter open, and half the group were behind me.
After that, I had to try and find my checked luggage, as the conveyer belt had finished unloading.
That process took another hour, and my luggage was with a lot of other baggage that was left because people did not know they had o claim and rebook their bags...from my flight.
I will do another page of this saga later today.
Out comes the three boarding passes for the full route, and the tags for the luggage. BUT, the baggage tag is good only to Shanghai, while I get the boarding passes all the way to Bangkok. With all other companies, I would not see my checked luggage until destination. I know about a thousand airport codes, so no doubt about this tag. I question an airline representative, and am told that there is no baggage arrangements for automatic transfer at Shanghai with that airline. Anyone not knowing the code would probably have missed this. Ok, look forward to a surprise at Shanghai. Flight to Montreal is short, 20 minutes. Arrival and departure gates very close, so no problem there. I notice a young girl, about two, running rampant in the waiting area, and she shrieks and whines when her parents stop her. I pray that she is in the back of the plane to Shanghai. On Board, my worst fears are realized...I am in row 35, seat 35A, a window seat on left, (port) side of aircraft, and guess who is in 34A....the seat directly in front of me. For over 13 hours of the 14 hour flight, she did a rant about every five minutes, until we landed in Shanghai and she fell asleep as we taxied to the terminal.
Shanghai airport is huge, and thousands of travelers at any one time, half looking for directions.
Since I was in transit, with no plan to leave the airport, I did not require a visa, but did require a landing/departure card. All onward passengers, about 20 on our flight, were directed to a special check in.... for customs and immigration to fill out the cards and be finger printed, photographed, etc. This took over one hour for me, as only one counter open, and half the group were behind me.
After that, I had to try and find my checked luggage, as the conveyer belt had finished unloading.
That process took another hour, and my luggage was with a lot of other baggage that was left because people did not know they had o claim and rebook their bags...from my flight.
I will do another page of this saga later today.
Thursday 1 November 2018
Update November 01, 2018
What a difference a day makes. I went for my laser Retina work on October 15, and everything went very well. In fact, it was better than I had expected. While the doctor was going over the work he was to do that day, he asked if we could do the lens brushing that was scheduled, (with another doctor), for January 31. I was only too happy to agree. After the deep laser work on the Retina, with a bright green laser, we went into the next room, where there was a a different laser machine. Once I was settled in to the chair and adjustments for height, etc, the doctor used a very low power laser and cleared the film from the lens in both eyes in a procedure that in total was about one minute. What a difference. With the gradual deterioration of the eyes, one does not realize what they are missing until the problem becomes very noticeable. I had a follow up check on 29 October, and everything is now back to normal. As A result, I can fly again, and intend to do so very soon.
I will be departing Ottawa on November 11 at nine in the morning, with Air Canada to Montreal, then, after a change of planes, etc, off to Bangkok, with a three hour stop over in Shanghai China.
I will get to Bangkok at one in the morning of November 13 their time, one in the afternoon of November 12 here....27 hours. The flight to Shanghai is 14 hours.
I have some business matters to finish up, and also will be having dental work done while there. In fact,I have just received confirmation of first dental at ten on morning of 15th. I will be busy in Bangkok for about ten days before going to see family friends in the northern part of the country.
I return to Ottawa on December 12, departing Bangkok at 11:40 in the evening of December 11, and, travelling via Seoul, (Inchon), South Korea, and Toronto, should arrive about 10:15 in the evening.
I have found a computer techie who will show me how to post photos on this site when I return. I will plan to display some of those after returning home. My next update will be an arrival report from Bangkok about November 14. Thank you all....now 8109 contacts to this site.
I will be departing Ottawa on November 11 at nine in the morning, with Air Canada to Montreal, then, after a change of planes, etc, off to Bangkok, with a three hour stop over in Shanghai China.
I will get to Bangkok at one in the morning of November 13 their time, one in the afternoon of November 12 here....27 hours. The flight to Shanghai is 14 hours.
I have some business matters to finish up, and also will be having dental work done while there. In fact,I have just received confirmation of first dental at ten on morning of 15th. I will be busy in Bangkok for about ten days before going to see family friends in the northern part of the country.
I return to Ottawa on December 12, departing Bangkok at 11:40 in the evening of December 11, and, travelling via Seoul, (Inchon), South Korea, and Toronto, should arrive about 10:15 in the evening.
I have found a computer techie who will show me how to post photos on this site when I return. I will plan to display some of those after returning home. My next update will be an arrival report from Bangkok about November 14. Thank you all....now 8109 contacts to this site.
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