Been awhile

Hi there, well it has been awhile since I updated you all on things in BKK. Tons of stuff goin down so I may even bust this up into a couple of posts and let you catch up.
Last big news must have been the fact that we moved into the new place. Pictures are posted at the following:
  BKK Photo Albums  just click on this link and it should take you to my Picasa Web Albums.

Now to try and get stuff out there in some sort of chronological order. Fat chance, but here goes.

The apartment is coming together for us. First weekend here we went down to the pool to see how that will work for us as a chill spot during the weekends. Not bad. Only gets 2.5 hours of sun, from 9:30 til noon. Water is very refreshing, not like pools that get 7 or more hours of sun, but it is ours, is not crowded and is very refreshing. Once the sun is gone around the building it is still a nice relaxing spot.
We have started a few of the compulsary walk arounds for the neighbourhood. Like all spots in midtown BKK there are restaurantts galore. We have a little mall on the corner a block and a half away that has three Korean restaurants, so brother Jonas will have to do some research with the inlaws and get the best dishes and pronouncaitions down so we can look like pros when we go over for dinner. There is a Wagyu Australian beef restaurant. Wagyu is supposed to be the competition in the area for Kobe beef from Japan. We aren't big beef eaters in the first place so we have not been tempted to try it out as yet. Of course there are numerous thai restaurants. One called Baan Kanitha is owned by a very famous Thai chef and is right around the corner from us. I believe I am going there for my birthday!!? Wahoo!

Another bonus about our location is a fresh veggie market is held outside our building gate every Friday evening starting at 6 pm. The supply is limited to veggies such as fresh carrots (best I have eaten, very sweet), potatoes, long beans, cucumbers (large and small), garlic, pea eggplant, basil, coriander, tomatoes. Stuff is brought to us in plastic packing crates and you grab a bag and help yourself. When you go over to pay there is a small scale and a guy with a flashlight strapped to his forehead. He watches it get weighed off and scriblles numbers on a piece of paper. After all is done he'll show you a number like 24 Baht. $1.00 for a bag full of fresh veggies to last a week. Amazing.

Flights home are booked, we will be back in the big smoke on Saturday, December 18. Lena arrives the same day only a little later at night. What a reunion that is gonna be. We miss her big time to say the least. Skype and instant messages aside there is nothing like a good hug. Deeds will be in town for two weeks and myself for three. Don't bother trying to get hold of us until the 20th. We want some familly together time, well at least until Lena wants to go to the bar with her buddies anyway, then Deeds and I are looking for some contact with our peeps.

Next on the list was our visitors whcih I blogged about and the walk around that we did in old BKK. Deeds and I followed up with another walk into Chinatown that was OK, but not nearly as great as the first. We kinda got lost looking for the Indian quarter in order to buy some spices and didn't enjoy much of the walk, no great chinese food so all in all not our best effort. We have a deal to go back with a guide from a co-worker at the bank which should be a lot more fruitful. We'll keep notes for visitors.
The next order of business for us was to find a housekeeper. Someone to help keep the place clean, maybe wash some dishes. Dishes are the worst. At our place in Mississauga we had our counter tops in the kitchen raised 1 1/2 inches. The bathroom vanities by 3. Stooping over a sink that is 40 inches of the ground is a killer for me. What do you think it is like in Thailand, where the average person is 5', tall people here are 5' 4". The bloody sink just makes the bottom of my pockets. Ya gotta see me, my legs spread as far apart as possible, like some kinda warrior yoga position trying to get my hands to reach the top of the water in the sink, never mind the bottom! This is painful stuff.
So we interviewed and found a maid who will come in 3 days a week to clean, laundry, iron and as she is a Thai will also do some thai cooking for us. I will be looking over her shoulder to try and get the best cooking tips I can for some awesome food when I return to TO.
Khun Wandee is a delightful lady. Laughing and smiling are her two biggest attributes. What a great addition to our household. In the interview she brought a friend with her to help with translation maybe or so that she wouldn't forget stuff, we weren't really sure. Turns out they were like a comedy duo. Between the two of them trying to remember words and things to ask they were laughing and poking each other and talking to each other in Thai. It had Deeds and I laughing at one point ourselves. We had no idea what was funny but the two of them had us smiling. It was awesome. She was hired right there. Didn't even have to talk about it later. Done! She is here this morning, I just sent her out with our driver to go and buy all the household necessitities she needs to feel comfortable doing her job.
So there ya are caught up on the domestic front. I have to check some emails and stuff and will come back to bring youup to date on my golf adventures.
Sawadee Krup