Daily
Notes (Occasional ramblings of Tom)
Sunday
August 10. Started my walk at 0550 and headed towards
Nia Harn, turning near the head of the laggon to cross
the small headland to Ya Nui. A few motorbikes, cars and
some dogs and a few people were the only life I saw until
climbing the incline across the headland. There on some
powerlines I spotted a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo [Dicrurus
paradiseus (Linné, 1766)]. This bird can be easily
recognized by its very long tail feathers that end is
a racket-shape. It sat on the wire very calmly as I approached
and didn’t fly off until a pair of bicyclists and
their accompanying van came up the hill. Wasn’t
sure what the bird I saw was – on returning home
I grabbed my “Birds of South Vietnam” by Wildash
and for some reason it fell open right to the page showing
a drawing of the Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo and a “Google”
search gave me many photos of the species I had seen.
Also
saw three small puppies hiding in the roadside jungle;
obviously strays whose mother had birthed them here in
the “wilderness”. Just what we need are more
stray dogs, though I must say the ones around here all
appear well fed and healthy.
I
was surprised that once I had crossed the hill between
Rawai Beach and Siuan area I could hear the ocean surf
hitting the beach at Nai Harn. When I walk the route from
the house to Ya Nui I do not hear the surf at all until
just a few hundred meters from the beach itself. Today
I was almost 1 km away when I heard the surf – maybe
the shape of the surrounding hills cause the sound to
carry further here than on the other side of the headland.
Today
is bright and sunny and temperature in the usual mid 80°F
range. This afternoon the last two of four new parakeet
babies left the nest for the first time, From the original
three we now have ten! Plus two cockateils, two Seven-color
Australian Finches, two Sun Conures (native to Brasil)
and a local Myna (who can speak a few words of Thai –
sort of like me!). All the birds spend the days outdoors
and all but the Myna are brought inside for the night.
We recently learned that the birds like Sweet Basil and
so they get some twice a day and devour it quickly.
Monday
August 11th. Up at 0515. Did the walk to the pier and
back. While there talked to Kuhn Day (member of Municipal
Council) who said a large group would be cleaning Rawai
Beach this morning starting at 10. So when I did the “garbage”
I did the road, walkway and benches area and then returned
along the driftline. The people at 10 will not be “doing”
the street or walkway, just the beach, and likely with
the incoming tide the area of the beach I “did”
will be underwater when they clean.
Had
50 more copies of the “Catalog of Dealers’
Prices” printed and picked them up this afternoon.
On the way the car was “acting funny” and
we found that a small rubber plug had sprung a leak, causing
water loss and overheating. So on way to printer stopped
at Ong’s uncle’s garage where a young mechanic
obtained a new plug and installed it. While he was doing
that Ong and I went next door to his (Ong’s) aunties
shop and had two plates each of noodles with Massaman
curry (plus ice tea and I also had a hard-cooked egg)
– total for lunch for the two of us was Baht 39
(just over $1!). Ong’s aunt’s place was featured
in an article in The Phuket Gazatte a while back –
she’s kept here price-per-plate of Baht 6 for the
past dozen or more years! You get the curry on a small
plate of noodles and can then add several types of cooked
and chopped veggies, or some shredded and pickled pappaya
(I used some of this – very tasty). There are three
different curries available, mild, little spicy and spicy
– mine was the mild which was just the right picant
flavor for me (usually the “little spicey”
is what I get, but this time that would have been a bit
too “hot” for me).
Picked
up the Catalogs and stopped at DHL to ship 42 copies to
Bob Janowsky (Mal De Mer Enterprises) in Florida. By sending
them on Monday he’ll have them in hand likely on
Thursday.
Tuesday
August 12. Today is public holiday, the Queen’s
Birthday – and Mother’s Day – so lots
of Thai families at the beach. The local municipality
had a beach cleanup yesterday with a hundred+ school kids
and adults raking the beach and trashbagging the garbage.
Likely after all the families have their beach picnics
today the beach will be nearly as trashy as it was yesterday.
I pick up trash every-other-day (days when I do the long
Promtheap Cape walk are days I pass on garbage pick up)
and whenever there’s a holiday or on Mondays there
is double the “normal” amount of trash left
on the street and beach.
As
I made my way, on my morning walk, up the extremely steep
incline from Ya Nui Beach to Promtheap Cape, I heard someone
approaching me from behind. I turned to look and saw three
Thai jogging (!!) up the hill. I recognized one lady as
I had seen her doing this before, there was another lady
and one of the boatmen who keeps his craft on the beach
opposite my home. Here I was, short of breath and planning
to stop in a moment to let my heartbeat slow a bit, and
they were jogging up that darned road! Well, maybe it
had something to do with the fact that I am probably thirty
years older than them ?(!) At least I’ll use that
as an excuse since I definitely have no plans to start
jogging!
Some
excitement as I got back from my walk to Cape Promtheap.
Saw an ambulance parked just 100 yards from my place,
towards town. Later learned one of the local bar girls
had decided to end her life and friends called for help.
This happens awhole lot more often in Patong, but of course
there are several hundred bars there versus our dozen
here at Rawai Beach.
Lunch
today was purchased from a small roadside stand near the
Temple. Not sure what it is called, but is small pieces
of pork (many with fat – wonder why Thais and Filipinos
like pork fat so much?) in a soy based “soup”
(not really a soup but more watery than a “sauce”)
and with a hardcooked egg or two. You eat it with rice
and it is quite good. Dinner is a frozen entrée
from 7-11 (gads!) – Korean Style Chicken with rice.
A little spicy and I eat it with sliced cucumber that
I’ve marinated in vinegar, sugar, onions and chilis.
A dinner that tastes good and costs about $1.25.
Wednesday
August 13. Well, I was correct. There was a lot of trash
to pick up this morning. Still can not understand how
someone can bring food, drink, etc for a beach picnic
(obviously in a bag), eat their food and leave the remains
either on the bench along the walkway or thrown over onto
the beach – why not put the garbage back into the
bag you brought the food in and take it home to dispose
of – or even simplier there are garbage receptacles
along the beach, either on the walkway or across on the
other side of the street. So often the biggest messes
(beer bottles, etc) are within a few meters walk from
one of these containers. I have to laugh (just a tiny
bit, as it’s really sad rather than funny) when
I find an empty “energy drink” bottle, empty,
laying within a meter of a trash receptacle – if
they give one energy why not use a bit of that energy
to deposit the trash bottle properly!
Thursday
August 14. Another beautiful sunny day. Although it is
the middle of the rainy season we have not had even a
quick shower in a week. Have to start watering the plants.
Had to make a run for more bird food – those little
critters really gobble it up! They actually waste quite
a lot too, though the neighborhood rooster hangs around
to pick up whatever gets as far as the ground (and I do
toss him the corn cobs, etc. after my birds have eaten
what they can from them). Got up to 33°C (91°F)
this afternoon so closed the windows and doors and turned
the air conditioner on – abouth the fourth time
I’ve had it on in the past three months; cools it
down from 91° to 84° in about 15 minutes and then
turn it off. If the temperature rises again towards 89°
the air con is turned on again. Today it went on twice.
Have
discovered a refreshing drink. Green tea is everywhere
(even white, black and barley teas are available in most
stores). And while I understand that green tea is very
good for the body, I do not like its taste at all! Two
weeks ago I found, in Tesco/Lotus (one of our large “superstores”)
bottles of green tea / pomegranate juice combo (pomegranate
juice is also supposedly an exceedingly healthy drink).
Bought two to try. Went back next day for ten and now
I go to the Super Cheal Store (that’s its name)
and buy it by the case. Each afternoon around three I
will take a chilled bottle, a mug of ice, and whatever
book or magazine I am reading at the time and sit either
on the porch or in the sala, enjoying the quiet, the tasty
drink and some reading.
Friday
August 15. The calendar says today is a public holiday
(don’t read Thai so can’t tell you what the
occasion is we’re celebrating), but noticed the
kids were heading to school as usual while I was walking
to the Sea Gypsy village and back. Ong says Chinese holiday.
Electricity
turmed off 0930 back on 1400.
Saturday
August 16. Quiet day. Did my walk in calm clear weather.
Sometimes on Saturday night I go to Don’s Café
in Sihuan (about 6 minutes away by car) for the Texas
BarBQue. It’s all you can eat (Baht 240) and includes
salad, potatoes done several ways (i.e. mashed, German
Potato Salad, baked potato, etc), baby-back ribs, brisket,
“steak” (thin, sometimes touch, but flavorful)
and all the fixings for tacos (I usually do the salad,
rib, potatoe thing and then go back for rice with taco
toppings since I don’t like crisp tortillas); for
desert there is a type of cake or pie (sometimes apple
or pineapple pies) done sheet-cake style, plus icecream.
Drinks are an extra charge. Don’s regular menue
is a mixture of Thai, European, American and Mexican.
He was raised in Alabama, worked on the first American
manned spacecraft rockets, retired and then came to Thailand
to work for an American engineering company in Bangkok.
For a vacation home he bought a small home in the middle
of southern Phuket Island. He liked to barbeque and had
a grill set up in front of the house. Passersby would
stop to ask if what he was cooking was for sale. He decided
the “ratrace” in Bangkok was a bit much and
moved permanently to Phuket and started serving barbeque
on a few tables in his front yard. The first time I ate
there was about 1997. Soon as the area grew Don decided
to expand and built “Don’s Mall” which
includes a much larger dining area, covered but open to
the breeze. Also at the mall are a small grocery of things
not usually found in Thai stores (imports from the U.S.,
Australia, New Zealand and Europe), there is also a European
style meat market. And since demand was so great a bakery
was established as was a cheese factory. Don now spends
most of his time in northern Thailand near Chng Mai and
is the largest grower of Jalapeño peppers in SE
Asia (and produces many kinds of jalipeño based
salsas, etc.). Now in his 80’s Don gets back to
his Phuket mall every two months or so and loves to stop
and chat with his customers,
Another
Saturday “tradition” is buying the weekly
Phuket Gazette, our English language newspaper associated
with The Nation in Bangkok). If interested you can read
a bit of Phuket’s news at the paper’s website:
www.phuketgazette.com
Sunday
August 17. Mixed weather today, one minute cloudy, the
next sunny and then reverso.
A lazy day. I read issues of Newsweek a friend sends from
the U.S. with my other mail that comes to the P.O. Box
in Port Gamble. He is kind enough to do this about every
two or three weeks. And by mailing it via Global Priority
Mail I get it in about ten days. The rate is now $11 per
sending (up to 4 lbs, though to get that weight into the
envelope the Post Office provides you’d have to
be sending lead!).
Watch
a little of the Olympics on TV. Was impressed by the opening
ceremonies (though was sad to learn that the little girl
doing the main song near the end was lip-synking [organizers
decided the original little girl singer wasn’t photogenic
enough! – shades of Marne Nixon). I have mentioned
before watching the news on Australian and German network
stations as well as BBC on our cable here. I also get
satellite TV and thus get a huge variety of choices in
some 100+ channels – Japanese, Chinese, Arabian,
South African, India, Korean, Italian, French, Al Jazeera,
BBC Entertainment and a slew of Thai channels as well
as Star World and about six channels devoted to movies
(from Turner Classic and MGM channels to Thai and Chinese
language films). I am amazed to see episodes of The A
Team, Sanford and Son, the Golden Girls, Baywatch, etc.
The Australian ABC network carries many documentaries
from PBS in the U.S. (as I write this I am watching a
program on an ancient civilization in the northwest of
Peru – the Mochee civilization). During the recent
earthquake in SE China I could watch continuous TV coverage
on the Chinese channels, but of course the narratives
were in Chinese. Many programs on the Korean-language
channel aresubtitled in English. There are also a number
of music video channels – we did get Thai MTV, but
the cale company switched to Malaysian MTV and then to
Chinese MTV and now none at all. We do have Chanel V Thailand
and Channel V Malaysia, plus several Thai music channels
some featuring classical Thai songs, others modern rock,
etc. Nearly all these channels broadcast 24/7. i.e. I
can watch a bit of “Ellen” when I get yup
at 5 AM before I head out on my walk – but the particular
shows were broadcast in the U.S. nearly a year before.
One
interesting thing with TV here are the commercials. We
get ads urging us to vacation in Goa, for instance. And
some I would definitely nominate for a “World Funniest
TV Ads” program. One clever on shows a handsome
young Thai man walking down a street and two young ladies
are walking towards him, obviously (by the looks on their
faces) thinking he’s very good looking. Just then
a passing car runs thru a puddle of water and the water
splashes the young man, drenching his t-shirt which he
removes – the girls are staring more intently –
then he takes a drink from his bottle of water (the sponsor
of the ad). Suddenly another vehicle passes and this time
the splashed water soaks his jeans – switch to the
girls and you can see that they are hoping that he will
next remove his jeans, but the commercial ends. It’s
also interesting to see a commercial for a product we
see advertised in the U.S., here on Thai TV with everything
except the products name done in the Thai language.
August
18 -21. There will be times when the days are not noteworthy
or I’m just too darned lazy to write anything. Such
as these past 4 days.
Friday
August 22. Finally some rain. Got up at 0500 and looked
into the darkness outside (the street light was out so
it was especially dark) and it was raining steadily. Then
it started to pour and I thought, “I don’t
want to walk in this.” So I went back to bed. The
rain and some wind continued all day and while the wind
blew I kept the birds inside; taking them out after the
wind subsided into a gentler breeze. Have finally found
a source for raw peanuts which the conures just love –
all the peanuts we see in the stores and outdoor markets
are roasted and salted-in-the-shell. We found a stall
at the public market in Phuket City which had large bags
of raw peanuts so we’re supplied for quite some
time. Working on the website – added some more photos
of Northeast Pacific Mollusks. Rained all day. Bar near
me was supposed to have live band for birthday party,
guess is was cancelled because of the wind and rain. They
advertise live band every Friday night from 10:30 PM until
2:00 AM – of course with that noise I don’t
get any sleep (usually in bed by 10 PM and read for an
hour), but still wake up before 0500. The past three Fridays
there has been no music, I think they did not attract
enough extra customers to cover the cost of the band;
so maybe they’ll cancel the whole idea (I hope!).
There are way too many bars in Rawai Beach and several
have live music on Friday and/or Saturday nights and so
competition for customers is fierce, especially since
this is the “low” season.
Saturday
August 23. Beautiful morning. Did my walk to the pier
and Tin and his mom later stopped by to get my recyclable
cans and plastic (I seem to fill a small garbage bag each
week).
Sunday
August 24. Looked like it might rain, but held off until
after I had completed my walk thru Nai Harn to Ya Nui
and back home. Hoped I might see a Drango again, but nothing
much visible – perhaps because where I had seen
it, and a Variable Squirrel last Sunday (the squirrel
was tightrope-walking on a telephone line), a man with
four dogs was walking a hundred meters ahead of me and
I am sure any “wild” animals would have disappeared
upon spotting the dogs.
This
evening watched the spectacular closing ceremonies of
the Olympics – on a New Zealand channel on our cable.
Nice to have commentators who don’t try to continually
talk and who let the spectacle speak for itself.
Monday August 25. Strange situation here in Phuket. Travellers
are getting stranded trying to get here from Bangkok on
vacation as two airlines (Nok Air and One-To-Go) have
ceased their flights from Bangkok to Phuket. I am fortunate
that I was able to book online for next months Phuket/Bangkok
and return (going to U.S. 9 to 24 Sept.) on Thai Air Asia.
Unfortunately my flight out of Bangkok leaves at 6 A.M.
and the last flight the previous evening from Phuket to
Bangkok is 11:30 P.M., so after the 1 hour and fifteen
minute flight and getting baggage I’ll be waiting
about 4½ hours for my flight to Japan and on to
Seattle. Not too bad, though, since airlines want you
at the airport 3 hours before departure (even though the
check-in counters don’t open until 2 hours prior
to departure). On the return from the U.S. I will arrive
in Bangkok at midnight and the first flight back to Phuket
is at 7:00 A.M., so likely I’ll get a hotel and
have booked a flight at around 11:00 A.M. Total flying
time one way Phuket to Seattle is seventeen hours (3 flights)
– Seattle to Phuket flying time is twenty hours
(flights use the jetstream eastbound and the flight from
Tokyo to Seattle is 2 hours shorter than the Seattle to
Tokyo flight! Wester bound Tokyo/Bangkok is about 40 minutes
longer than the Bangkok/Tokyo flight).
Tuesday
August 26. Had to get some food for the birds (and a bit
for myself) so Ong and I went to my favorite birdshop
and then on the way back home stopped at the new Tesco/Lotus
Express on Chou Fa East Road (they’re building an
identical one just 3 km from the house and it should be
open when I get back from the U.S.). Tesco/Lotus is affiliated
with Tesco U.K. and one of the largest and busiest of
the “super” stores on the island. Raining
again. This T/L is quite small, but carries most of what
I would usually have to go to town to buy at the larger
megastore. Fresh vegetables, meat, etc. Now we’re
likely to go all the way into town only once a month for
things they don’t carry. There is a store on the
far side of Phuket City called Supercheap – when
I first went there, six or seven years ago, t was a quonset-hut
type store, very crowded, hot, but good prices –
and we heard one day a man had been bitten by a cobra
just behing the shore. Now it’s more modern, new
building with huge selections of everyting from fresh
fish, cooked foods, to furniture and clothing. You sometimes
have to buy 3 items of one kind as this store caters to
those owning small shops wlsewhere on the island. The
bar soap section must contain more than 100 variations
– those scented with hersb, fruits, flowers, etc
are very popular it seems. The store still has no air-con,
but the very high roof lets the hot air rise and we try
to go in the morning. The French chain (2nd in the world
to Walmart) Carfour built a store in Patong two years
ago and now, it is rumored, are constructing one in Chalong
(Patong is 15 km away, Chalong 4 km) which will be handy.
When I first came here it was hard to find many items,
especially food items. Now many of the bigger stores carry
Kellogs, Schmuckers, Jiff, Quaker Oats, etc., etc. I used
to bring a dozen things I couldn’t get here –
that’s now down to three.
Wednesday
August 27. Seems we’re getting alternating weather
each day. Yesterday it rained all day and today the sun
was beaming most of the time. Sometimes the morning is
gorgeous while I’m on my walk. I’ll get back
home and put the birds outside. An hour later I’ll
see banks of clouds coming over the headland of Promtheap
Cape, then hear some distant thunder followed by rain
which starts softly but can soon turn into the stereotype
tropical downpour and I’ll have rushed out back
to position the birds’ cages so that they are out
of the rain. When I got the house one of the first things
I added was a canopy at the back under which I planned
to be able to clean shells without worrying about the
weather (heavy rain or beating sun). That was a good idea.
I haven’t done too much shell cleaning, but the
canopy protects the birds.
Thursday
August 28. Someone counted the bars in the Rawai area
and came up with a figure of more than four dozen! Most
are quite small. And it seems as if at least one of the
bars is celebrating someone’s birthday or anniversary
nearly every night. Ballons are strung, a sign will advertise
a free bar-b-que (usually small wooden sticks with pork
or chicken which is grilled over charcoal). I knew a lady
one year who hardly ever had to buy a dinner – she
knew where all these parties were and got a free meal
(for the price of a beer or coke) nearly every evening.
Tonight two of the bars along the beach (we have about
a dozen+) had celebrations with live bands and fireworks.
Friday
August 29. Today is the alternate day of rain –
all day. We used to go into town nearly every third day.
Now with the price of gas (with my poor abilities at conversion
I have figured the price here is near $4.50 U.S. per gallon
– prices here are in Baht and per liter) and the
availability of most of what we used to have to go into
the city for now available nearby, we go once a week (if
that often) and so a tank full of gas lasts about a month.
Speaking of gasolene – we had a gas station in Rawai
Beach, then last year it was torn down and two buildings
constructed in its place; recently completed they have
yet to be occupied. With their small gas tanks, motorbikes
need gasolene more frequently than cars and so there are
small stands in from of some shops and homes offering
gas. These were handy before when the gas station closed
at dusk. This gas is more expensive that that at the gas
stations, but now the nearest station is 3 km away. Then
along comes an entrepaneur with a bright idea. Self-service
mini gas pumps. The first appeared about 18 months ago
and now you see them every five km or so. Gasolene from
them is more than from the gas stations, but less than
the stands (at the stands you get 750ml while the new
pumps give a full ltr [1,000 ml) and the convenience makes
them quite popular. They accept coins or paper currency.
Another item that has proliferated in the past few years
are ATM’s
(automatic teller machines – as if you didn’t
know). When I first moved here it was difficult to find
one outside the city. Then 7-11 came and the local minimart
sprouted one. Now the closest 7-11 has two (each from
a different bank, but all accept Visa, Mastercard, Cirus,
etc,) . Not sure if this is a good or bad trend.
Saturday
August 30. Sun, then some rain (not much) and then sun
the rest of the day. In the afternoon I smile at a sight
that occurs whenever we have a low tide late in the afternoon.
Along Rawai Beach there are dozens and dozens of small
boats available for rent in ordeer to travel to nearby
islands. Most are traditional longtails, but there are
more than a dozen speedboats as well. The most popular
destination from Rawai Beach is Hey (or Coral) Island.
“The” spot on Coral Island is called Banana
Beach. A longtail will get you there in about 30 minutes,
a speedboat about half that time (at two or three times
the cost). At Banana Beach you rent a beach chair (50
Baht) and RELAXE. There is a small restaurant, a drink
stand and a place to rent snorkleand mask. You can get
a ride on the Banana Boat (an inflatable that does look
a bit like a banana – at least it’s bright
yellow) towed behind a speedboat. Or you just wade into
the water, knee-deep, and are surrounded by a dozen varieties
of fish hoping you brought some bread to feed them. Last
time I was there we saw a group of five or six large Hornbills
in the trees just above the beach. Anyway, back to the
“sight”. When there is a low tide we have
a huge amount of beach and reef exposed in front of Rawai
Beach. So, when the people who went to Coral Island in
the morning return in the late afternoon, there is no
way the boat can reach the upper beach, so we see them
stop as much as 150 meters offshore and the passengers
then wade the rest of the way in to the upper shore where
they can catch transportation back to their hotels, etc.
The walk is easy and the boatmen steer them towards a
path to the upper beach that is only sand and not corals,
sea urchins, etc.
Sunday
August 31. You’ve probably seen on the news the
protests in Bangkok demanding the prime minister to step
down. Here on Phuket these things seem so far away usually.
But this time local demonstrators closed down the Airport
for twodays. Friend Jom was to fly to Bangkok to compete
in the TV show (Hero of the Year) again – he won
his initial competitions both last year and this –
and had to go by bus instead (a trip of 10-12 hours, versus
just over 1 hour by plane). All is back to normal now
here on Phuket, but the demonstrators gave occupied government
offices in Bangkok.
September
1-7. Nothing much going on, busy getting ready for annual
trip back to the U.S.
Tuesday
September 8. My flight to Bangkok is late in the evening
(23:30) with Thai Air Asia. The flight will reach Bangkok
on Wednesday September 9 and by the time I get my baggage
and over to Northwest Airlines it will be only a couple
of hours before their counters open for th 6 A.M. departure
to Tokyo. Bought my Air Asia tickets via the Internet.
Saw their kiosk at the mall with a big sign advetising
a 699 Baht fare for Phuket to Bangok, but when taxes etc
were added the actual fare was closer to Baht 1,700! They
have a 50 Baht charge per piece of luggage and a weight
limit of 15 kgs. Took my two bags to the older 7-11 where
there is a scale that will accommodate suitcases and costs
1 Baht. One of my suitcases was 16 kgs (close enough,
I hope to the 15 kg limit) and the other 19 kgs. (I am
allowed 50 lbs for each of two bags on NW.)
Anyway at the ceckin I am told the expected “There
will be an over weight baggage charge.” Then the
figure for the 19 kg bag came to Baht 1,800! The fare
for myself and the 16 kg bag was Baht 1,600 – which
I mentioned to the clerk and she said “You must
have got the special promo fare.”
Wednesday
September 9. Nice flight (just iver 1 hour) and am at
the Suwanabumi Airport in Groum Thep (Bangkok). I locate
the check-in counters for Northwest after getting my baggage
off the carousel (up one floor, with a nice escelator
that will carry the baggage cart) and sit down to read
my book while waiting. Now NWA has always asked their
customers to be 3 hours early for this flight and always
before the checkin counter has never opened earlier than
2 hours before departure. Today they open at 3 A.M., three
hours ahead. So I’m amongst the first to checkin
and I ask for aisle seats for both the Bangkok/Tokyo and
Tokyo/Seattle flights. Sorry, no aisle seats available
to Tokyo, but Tokyo to Seattle is available, Go to the
boarding gate area and an hour or so before boarding begins
am called to the counter and given a new boarding pass
wth an aisle seat for the Bangkok/Tokyo portion of my
trip. After everyone is aboard and we’re ready to
take off I find that in my row (on an Airbus 330 the seats
in economy are a two four two combination per row) I have
an aisle seat and in the row of four only the other aisle
seat is occupied. The flight takes off on time and I’m
on my way.
At
Narita Airport (Tokyo) one disembarks from your flight
and if connecting to another NWA flight it’s a short
walk to another gate thru another inspection of your carry-on.
In Bangkok the person screening my carryon signaled that
I should step aside so they could look inside. All they
did was put the tiny (under 3 ounces, as per regulation)
cologne, shaving cream salve tubes into a clear plastic
zip-loc bag and back they went into the carry-on. In Tokyo
it was a repeat, except this time the attendant was surprised
to see that my liquids/gels were already bagged.
The
flight from Tokyo to Seattle was full and I was lucky
to have two Japanese University students next to me –
on their way to the Pacific Northwest to study English
at the U of W.
The flight from Tokyo to Seattle is eight+ hours, while
the return from Seattle to Tokyo is nearly 11 hours. The
jet stream which goes from west to east makes the difference
in time.
Both
flights today were smooth. The seat rows on the Airbus
330 had more than sufficient leg room (a pleasant surprise)
and each seat had a TV screen imbedded in the back of
the seat in front of you and you could watch a movie,
listen to music or play various video games. I read. And
tried to sleep. So 17 hours after leaving Bangkok our
flight landed at Seattle Tacoma International Airport.
I
had been in email contact with a highschool classmate,
Bonnie Myrvik Greenfield, and after quickly clearing U.S.
Immigration and Customs I waited a few minutes and Bonnie
arrived to take me the 80 miles to Port Gamble (she had
made arranges to meet another classmate for lunch after
dropping me off). Bonnie hadn’t driven to the airport
since the early 1990’s and so it took her a little
while to navigate from the parking garage to the load
only zone where I waited with my luggage. Soon we were
off, reminising about many things which made the miles
fly by.
My
reason for coming back was not only to see friends and
relatives, but to pack up anything I wanted to keep that
was in the storage area of the third floor of the building
that houses the Of Sea and Shore Museum (and the Port
Gamble General Store). The “company” (Olympic
Resource Management) wants the area cleared so they can
eventually proceed with refurbishing that floor. I know
I had a daunting task. I hae a lare storage unit at a
nearby commercial facility and hoped to be able to clear
that out as well, giving away things to various other
museums, the shell club, and friends. The two weeks I
had for this task went my much too quickly and
surprisingly most things were quickly divided into various
categories. I also made shell packs and individual shells
packaged for sale by the General Store. Of course it helpedthat
I was able to sleep on the 3rd floor. working until midnight,
sleeping until 5 or 6 AM and then back at it again.
I am still emailing several friends to search for some
things I remember wanting, but neglecting to
put into the storage unit pile. A series of 1960-70’s
slide programs (Shellectures) made by Crawford and Jean
Cate have been donated to the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum
on Sanibel Island, Florida – as well as several
boxes of recent issues of my magazine (a total of more
than 20 shipping boxes!).
A
great part of this trip was a family reunion on the 13th.
Around 40 people attended and enjoyed a gorgeous day,
great conversations and fantastic food. One cousin is
a chef at The Space Needle in Seattle and cooked up salmon,
littleneck clams and oysters. Another pair of brother
cousins have a professional band and provided music during
the afternoon. The event started around noon and at then
end my two brothers, one of their wives and myself were
left enjoying the beach bonfire at 2:00 A.M.! Two of the
original five Rice brothers, and their wives, were in
attendance – all four in their late eighties. A
memorable day!
Thursday
September 25. Back home to Phuket. This time Thai Air
Asia assessed me an overweight (for baggage!) charge of
Baht 2,900. Had a lot of “things” I wanted
to bring back with me from the U.S. – wall hangings,
small statuary, video tapes, etc. Guess the word “pooped”
fit me. Flights of 11 hours, 7 hours, a night in Bangkok
where I managed 3 hours of sleep and then 1¼ hours
to Phuket. First time “jet lag” has hit me
on an east to west flight, it always seems to do that
on the reverse west to east travels.
Uneventful
weekend. Getting back into the morning walks routine.
Got lots of “welcome back” from those who
I see most mornings during my treks. Seems it will take
a few days to get accustomed to the heat again.
Chinese
Buddist temples are celebrating vegetarian food at the
annual “Vegetarian Festival” all over the
island. Banners, food booths, firecrackers and the really
devout who parade around with their bodies pierces with
huge needles, etc. You’ve probably seen them on
TV. The festival lasts for 10 days.
