So here I am in BKK, thousands of miles away from my family..... and all the friends that they are partying with. Who thinks that's fair?
But I suppose...no pain no gain. I will get both Jerry AND Lena back the first week of August...so I will complain no more.
Jer was so looking forward to spending evenings in our yard....and I think that he is getting all he hoped for. He has had many wonderful dinner invitations, a few rounds of golf with friends, will have a big Brooks family BBQ next weekend, spending quiet evenings on Johnathan Dr....and oh yeah, having some great Lena time.
And my 'gain' is two-fold...or maybe more like many-fold. In addition to Jer & Lena returning and the many much-welcomed guests we have still to come.....my Mom, sister Lynda and niece Nikki are coming for 2 weeks the end of August. Yippeee! I just could not be more excited to share this experience with them. And also just recently found out that nephew Kyle and Lindsay will be coming in early December.
So we welcome all of them...plus Edie & Rita, and Bob & Jane, and the Vertkas family!....and anyone else that dares to jump on that plane!
Integration work is going well....just as busy as you might imagine. But I'm not feeling out of control...and for me that is a very good measuring stick. We will integrate these two banks....16,000 staff....640 branches....2,400 ATM's .....on Sept 30th. So still some very hectic days ahead for me.
But as of October 15th (all things going well), I'm going back to working 4 days a week. And man, I can't wait for that! This will provide me with a chance to breath again, and lots of opportunity for many long weekend trips for us, around Thailand and other nearby countries.
So my friends, it was very nice to spend some time with you this lovely Friday night, while I enjoyed a glass (ok....two) of wine. Lots of love, Diane
Friday, July 22, 2011
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Home for the Holidays
Yes, summer holidays. Man what great weather we are having here in Canada. Awesome hot days and very relaxin cool evenings. Windows open, fresh breezes blowing.
Quiet. You cannot believe the difference between my little corner of the world here in Miss versus what goes on in BKK. This is truly heaven.
You can here people talking as they walk down the street in the evening out for a stroll.
No hawkers, no motor bikes, no garbage collectors hooting their air horns at 5:45 in the morning. Just quiet.
It is a dream.
There are a few changes in the burb so we will come home to a little bit of a different place next spring.
I am open to a round of golf or two if there are any followers out there who want to play. Drop a note or call let's see if we can set something up.
Got a game at Lakeview tomorrow with my backyard neighbour Al. Haven't played there in a couple of years so should be fun. I like that course more than most I have played in the GTA, always fun.
So there's an update.
I spoke on Skype to Deeds this morning, she is at the place in Pattaya for a little down time. The project is starting to ramp towards the go live October 1, so she should be charging her batteries.
You should see the colour this girl has attained, especially her back, you wouldn't recognize her!!
Enjoy folks
Catch you later
Quiet. You cannot believe the difference between my little corner of the world here in Miss versus what goes on in BKK. This is truly heaven.
You can here people talking as they walk down the street in the evening out for a stroll.
No hawkers, no motor bikes, no garbage collectors hooting their air horns at 5:45 in the morning. Just quiet.
It is a dream.
There are a few changes in the burb so we will come home to a little bit of a different place next spring.
I am open to a round of golf or two if there are any followers out there who want to play. Drop a note or call let's see if we can set something up.
Got a game at Lakeview tomorrow with my backyard neighbour Al. Haven't played there in a couple of years so should be fun. I like that course more than most I have played in the GTA, always fun.
So there's an update.
I spoke on Skype to Deeds this morning, she is at the place in Pattaya for a little down time. The project is starting to ramp towards the go live October 1, so she should be charging her batteries.
You should see the colour this girl has attained, especially her back, you wouldn't recognize her!!
Enjoy folks
Catch you later
Friday, July 1, 2011
Mega Bridge
That new picture you see is of a bridge at the south end of the city. Far away from the glory of the downtown lights and frequent tour boats and dinner cruises. I of course have shown you the beautiful pics of Rama VIII bridge. Single pier with glowing ribbons coming down on one side. That bridge was dedicated by the current king to his brother who was king previous to King Bhumibol Adulyadej who is Rama IX.
A pic of Rama VIII bridge in case you forgot.
So the VIII bridge is beautiful for sure. But take a look at the bridge in the header here. It was titled the Mega Bridge when under construction. It opened in 2006. Thai tradition has it that any bridge that crosses the Chao Phraya River is named after a member of the royal family, in this case the King himself, and therefore The Bhumibol Bridges 1 and 2.
This bridge is not to be confused with another bridge called Rama IX, which is located just a little west of the mega bridge. Rama IX was built and opened for the King's 60th birthday in 1987. At the time it was the second longest cable-stayed span in the world. To the right is a picture of the Rama IX bridge crossing the river of kings.
But back to the mega bridge. This bridge is huge. Crosses the Chao Phraya river twice, has a little curly cue in the middle, like no other bridge I have ever seen. Live, we haven't done yet, or in pictures. We have had the opportunity to see both of these bridges in daytime from a building and they both look like they are one bridge because from this location you are looking down the river at both of them. At night the Bhumibol bridge is fantastic.
It has mulit coloured lights changning up and down the spires, kinda like the CN tower does. Is it still called th cn tower?
There are numerous good pics of this bridge available but you have to understand why they called this the Mega Bridge.The Bhumibol Bridge, part of the Industrial Ring Road that connects Rama III Road to Poochao Samingphrai Road and Suksawat Road, was initiated by HM the King in 1995 with the aim of reducing traffic snarls in the area. A common Bangkok problem.
It crosses the river twice -- in the middle there is an interchange -- and has two cable-stayed spans of 702 meters and 582 meters. Bhumibol Bridge is supported by two majestic diamond-shaped pylons that are 173 meters and 164 meters high. Take a look at this aerial photo and you get an idea of the scale of these bridges! The interchange is huge, and the King decided to build an additional canal just beside the bridge to also help transportation of goods on the river.
Unfortunately, due to its scale and the nature of the industrial traffic, there is no pedestrian path on the bridge so crossing on foot or bicycle is prohibited. But that's okay, as the best views are gained from the ground.
So there are two bridges aptly named Bhumibol 1 and 2 (pronounced Poo-mi-poan, yeah I waited to the end to give ya that cause I know you were all saying bee-humee-ball, ahahahaha :-) now you have to go back and read it again!!)
Because the Chao Phraya river is the river of kings you get to see some majestic bridges crossing over.
Hope you enjoyed the latest installment of living in Bangkok.
Sawasdee Krup
A pic of Rama VIII bridge in case you forgot.
So the VIII bridge is beautiful for sure. But take a look at the bridge in the header here. It was titled the Mega Bridge when under construction. It opened in 2006. Thai tradition has it that any bridge that crosses the Chao Phraya River is named after a member of the royal family, in this case the King himself, and therefore The Bhumibol Bridges 1 and 2.
This bridge is not to be confused with another bridge called Rama IX, which is located just a little west of the mega bridge. Rama IX was built and opened for the King's 60th birthday in 1987. At the time it was the second longest cable-stayed span in the world. To the right is a picture of the Rama IX bridge crossing the river of kings.
But back to the mega bridge. This bridge is huge. Crosses the Chao Phraya river twice, has a little curly cue in the middle, like no other bridge I have ever seen. Live, we haven't done yet, or in pictures. We have had the opportunity to see both of these bridges in daytime from a building and they both look like they are one bridge because from this location you are looking down the river at both of them. At night the Bhumibol bridge is fantastic.
It has mulit coloured lights changning up and down the spires, kinda like the CN tower does. Is it still called th cn tower?
There are numerous good pics of this bridge available but you have to understand why they called this the Mega Bridge.The Bhumibol Bridge, part of the Industrial Ring Road that connects Rama III Road to Poochao Samingphrai Road and Suksawat Road, was initiated by HM the King in 1995 with the aim of reducing traffic snarls in the area. A common Bangkok problem.
It crosses the river twice -- in the middle there is an interchange -- and has two cable-stayed spans of 702 meters and 582 meters. Bhumibol Bridge is supported by two majestic diamond-shaped pylons that are 173 meters and 164 meters high. Take a look at this aerial photo and you get an idea of the scale of these bridges! The interchange is huge, and the King decided to build an additional canal just beside the bridge to also help transportation of goods on the river.
Unfortunately, due to its scale and the nature of the industrial traffic, there is no pedestrian path on the bridge so crossing on foot or bicycle is prohibited. But that's okay, as the best views are gained from the ground.
So there are two bridges aptly named Bhumibol 1 and 2 (pronounced Poo-mi-poan, yeah I waited to the end to give ya that cause I know you were all saying bee-humee-ball, ahahahaha :-) now you have to go back and read it again!!)
Because the Chao Phraya river is the river of kings you get to see some majestic bridges crossing over.
Hope you enjoyed the latest installment of living in Bangkok.
Sawasdee Krup
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