As expected, Khun Nui loved the biscotti and the cookies.  “Why did he give me so many,” she asked Tawn.  “Because he thinks you’re too skinny!” Tawn responded.  She’s been losing weight recently, which the doctors can’t explain, so I’m hoping some tasty and high-calorie tidbits will put the kilos back on.

Sunday morning Tawn went with his parents to an aunt’s 72nd birthday.  This was a large affair, 100+ people at the Royal Thai Navy Headquarters.  Tawn was a little tweaked that some relatives that he’s seen several times since moving back, asked him “are you still flying for United?”  He was thinking, how many times have I told her this already?  I left United seven years ago!

That’s how it is with extended relatives, I suppose.  He did find out that his cousin Kanita is in town from Indianapolis where she lives with her husband Alex.  Tawn and I have met up with them before when visiting my parents, who live in Indy.  She and Tawn had not been in touch in two years, and he was a little shocked when she asked whether Tawn and I were still together.

His response had an indignant note: “Of course we’re still together.  He lives here now and speaks Thai!”

Which may be a little unfair, considering that the last time they saw each other, both Tawn and I were living in the United States.  Plus, without the protections of marriage, staying together across the oceans is less of a certainty.  I’m glad he was able to tell her that we’re still together, though!

Across the street from us, the top-most part of the superstructure of a new condo complex is being completed.  This metal spire is about 35 stories tall and yesterday I watched construction workers scaling and working on it with no harnesses or other safety provisions.  The guy at the very top was just shimmying along.  OSHA?  I don’t think so!

Right: Perched precariously above Soi Asoke.

Sunday morning, since Tawn was off at his parents, I met up with the usual suspects for brunch down on Thanon Surawongse.  The Tawanna Hotel, formerly the Ramada, offers a good buffet for 450 baht inclusive of beverage, service charge and VAT.  The food selection is wide and the quality is good, but I’m generally not very excited about buffets: they are an invitation to eat so much more than you normally would.

But it is all about self-control.  Right, right, I know.  But the reality is that even with self-control you still wind up eating more than you would simply because you sample so many different things.

The “usual suspects” in this case were Vic, Kobfa, Todd, and Brian.  (Just as a point of clarification for long-time readers, Kobfa is the Thai friend who used to live in San Francisco and met Tawn at the Asian Pacific Islander Wellness Center.  Previously I referred to him by his nickname Tod, but since we have another Todd now, I’m using Kobfa for clarity’s sake.)  Also in attendance were three of Vic’s friends: Fong, visiting from San Francisco; Russ, his classmate from language school who has lived here almost a year from Virginia; and Big, a Thai friend who works as a producer for TV channel 7. 

On the way back to the Skytrain station, I noticed the Delta Airlines building where their ticket office is located.  Based on the age of the signage (decades!) I assumed that it was from a former office, but as I was doing some research online while writing this post, it seems that it might be an active office still.  It really looks like something out of the 70s.

It contrasts significantly with their new branding effort, the logo of which doesn’t look that different but instead uses an orange-rust color.  The aircraft color scheme looks nice, though.

Sunday was the day of free concerts.  Connecting trains at Siam Station, I saw that there was a large concert about to begin in front of Siam Paragon mall.  Then in the evening up at the Esplanade shopping center, also owned by the same group as Paragon, there was some Korean pop star performing a very loud show right in the center courtyard of the mall.