First Blog from Bangkok

TravelWhine – Feb. 28/12
Ontario to Bangkok: We left Nova Scotia on Feb. 16 heading to Ontario to see Alexander, our brand-new grandson, along with his “big brother” Nate. Car trips for us usually involve collecting things. I tend to collect speeding tickets and Betty tries to collect every pothole along the way. This time I had a rare strike out, but Betty hit a winner just outside Montreal. Three of the tires survived.
Life on Grove Avenue in Ottawa is definitely not dull; what with a new-born, a three-year old, a new addition on the back of the house that is only partially completed, and a construction crew in the basement jackhammering away in order to lower the floor by two feet. As it was February break last week at Carleton, Matt had a few days to work on his house. He and I managed to dig out the old cast iron sewer pipe and replace it with ABS. We also tiled two floors and one shower as well as worked on duplicating antique window casings. Unfortunately there is lots left to do, but Betty and I needed to get to Toronto to catch a plane.
In driving to Toronto to visit our other two grandsons we hit a major storm on the 401. At this point I had had the three remaining (see above) snow tires removed and four summer tires installed. We made it, nonetheless, without incident and had a nice but short visit with Sam and Thomas. Peter drove us to Pearson early Sunday morning (to catch our 1:30 a.m. flight to Hong Kong.) After a 15.5 hour sit in steerage we had a 3- hour layover before catching a three- hour flight to Bangkok.
First Day in Bangkok: After arriving somewhat exhausted we stood in line for a full hour at immigration before being admitted to Thailand. It was 1:00 p.m. Monday when we got to our hotel and we were told that the 32 degree temperature represented a cold day for Bangkok. Since we hadn’t really slept since Friday night we felt that we should try and stay out of bed until at least evening, in order to adjust to the 11-hour time difference. After a quick shower we decided to go shopping for a made-to-measure suit for Ron (the last time I bought a suit was before I retired from StFX). Those of you who have been watching my horizontal growth spurt know that none of my jacket buttons are ever buttoned.
Suit shopping in Bangkok is an experience as there are hundreds of places that do made-to-measure. The place that came highly recommended was happy to send a car to pick us up at the hotel. Once at the shop we were provided with cold beers while being shown samples of silk and cashmere fabrics. In my exhausted state I was unable to resist much of anything. I suppose one of suits can be something in which I can be buried, but what about the rest of the stuff? Perhaps dinner parties on Wedgewood Drive will become more formal affairs.
Bangkok, a city of canals and golden Buddhas, teems with 10 million people and after being driven back to our hotel we decided to try some touring in this very interesting place. For about $ 1.30 each we purchased all day passes to the Skye Train system. Mayor Ford of Toronto should be forced to visit Bangkok to see a workable public transportation system, but I digress. We rode to the Centro district where the streets were jammed with shoppers and people buying their suppers from the many sidewalk cookeries. Anyone with agoraphobia would be immediately reduced to a snivelling wreck. After a period of jostling we found ourselves on a side street and picked a restaurant that looked authentic. For $ 50 we had three very good courses and, to my surprise, an excellent bottle of shiraz/malbec from the lengthy wine list.
Another Skye Train ride took us to the famous Patphong district (known for selling brand name knock-offs). There are lots of things to see in this also crowded area, including many sex shops. It was interesting as whenever I wandered slightly ahead of Betty I would be accosted by a huckster trying to entice me into his den of inequity. As Betty caught up the huckster would politely apologize for hitting on someone clearly not in the market.
We left Patphong and took yet another Skye train back to the hotel in time for a scheduled a second fitting with “my” tailor. We were awakened by the desk phoning (at 11:00 p.m.) to tell us to come down and escort two tailors up the elevator. The partially completed jackets, pants, and shirts would perhaps not look so good on an Italian model, but they did mold to me as perfectly as the skin of a fresh pear and I must admit that my body does resemble that particular fruit. My complete order is to be delivered to the ship by 5:00 this afternoon. Just maybe I’ll dress for dinner.