The connecting flight from Seoul Incheon to Khrungthep was delayed two hours because of “aircraft connection”, whatever that may mean.  I think it means that the aircraft arrived late.  Thus, my arrival in the Big Mango was at 1:55 am Saturday morning. 

Right: Our delayed plane finally pulls up to gate 49 at Incheon airport.

Our aircraft was an Airbus A330, which was maybe at 40% capacity.  Everyone spread out, with many taking a row of four seats to themselves and having a bed.  I had a pair of the seats on the side of the plane, so had some room to spread out and recline. 

The bright side of my early (late?) arrival is that immigration and the baggage claim are not very crowded at that late hour.  After sleeping for several hours, Tawn very kindly woke up and drove out to the airport to pick me up.

Getting back into the groove wasn’t too difficult.  We were up by 9:00 and out running errands by 11:00.  The first stop, since we had no milk in the refrigerator, was breakfast at Au Bon Pain.  The location at the J Avenue shopping center (a three-story strip mall on Soi Thong Lor) is right around the corner from our new condo and it is turning into quite the social hub for us.

On our last visit there we ran into Fluck, Tawn’s university friend to whom he has lost contact, and Bobby, his Singaporean boyfriend.  Then Saturday we ran into Pim, Tawn’s high school friend who lives in our new neighborhood, who was traveling with her three-year old daughter, Tara.

Tara always plays a little shy at first but warms up quickly, so we had breakfast with her and her mom.  Below: Uncle Tawn and Tara play patty-cake.  You can’t see this in the picture, but Tara has her fingernails painted pink.  She told us that her toenails were pink, too.

The next stop was the new condo: electrical work is being done now, so the most noticeable difference is the many holes in the ceiling and walls where new lines are being drawn.  Given that the walls are concrete rather than built with studs and drywall, it is strange to see some of the trenches that are dug into the concrete to hide new conduit.  Below: new wiring is installed along the exterior wall overlooking the pool.

The wood floor is almost completely installed except for parts of the bathroom and the kitchen.  The marble bench, shelf and floor has been installed in the bathroom and plumbing is complete.

Left: Tawn in the new bathroom.  The tiles are completed.  Behind Tawn will be a vanity and marble countertop. 

Above that will be a framed mirror on the wall with a sconce on either side.  To the right of Tawn will be the toilet area, with a wood cabinet hung on the wall above the tile.  This will be for toiletry storage. 

You can just see the marble bench in the shower, on the right side of the picture.  The plan is to have a floating glass wall separating the shower from the rest of the room, to minimize the visual barriers.

The floor is covered with protective paper, but the marble floor tiles have already been installed.  Just behind Tawn’s legs you can see where the herringbone wood floor will continue in from the bedroom, forming a “dry area” just a step above the rest of the bathroom floor.

Right: In the kitchen, the cabinets have been removed and new cabinets have already been completed at Khun Guang’s factory. 

After visiting the condo, we went to an electrical fixtures store on Soi Thong Lor to look at ceiling lights.  The distance between the concrete ceiling and the framed dry wall is only 6 cm, so we need a very shallow fixture.  We’ve purchased one sample, a recessed “eyeball” fixture that uses a halogen bulb.  Unfortunately, none of the florescent fixtures will work in this narrow ceiling.

We also went to Emporium and purchased our kitchen appliances: SMEG induction stove top, hood, and oven.  We have continued to reevaluate whether an induction stove top is necessary, but have concluded with the amount of cooking and entertaining we like to do (especially given how much our current kitchen has constrained us on both accounts), we want to be well-equiped rather than regret having inadequate appliances.

A refrigerator will have to be purchased, too, but we’re still debating what size to get.  There is a three-drawer Mitsubishi model that looks like a good use of the space.

So as to not let the socializing wait too long, Tawn and I met up with some friends for dinner at Thon Krueng on Soi Thong Lor.  The food is quite good and the prices reasonable there, plus there is a fun gelato shop just a few doors down, making for a pleasant dessert option.  Above: Roka, Todd, Tawn, Justin, Vic and me.  Ken is taking the picture.

And what to do on Sunday?  Well, Paul is in town as is Bill, so there are visitors to see today.  It is good to be home.