Sorry for not writing an entry since Friday as the second half of the weekend I was, as they say here, mai sabai – “not healthy”.  I’m going to attribute my illness to my niece, Ava.  She had an ear infection at the end of my stay in Kansas City and as I noticed the first signs of an oncoming ear infection as I was flying home.

I tend to just try to soldier on through illnesses, relying on plenty of rest and drinking lots of water to get me back to health.  Six days later, though, I was feeling much worse.  Sunday morning I caved in and went to Bangkok Hospital to see a doctor. 

After a thorough look at my ears, nose and throat (this was the ear, nose and throat clinic, after all) the doctor confirmed my suspicions: an infection of my left ear and the back of my sinuses.  He prescribed a week’s worth of antibiotics, decongestant, and anti-mucileage medicine.  The cost of the visit plus medicine: about US$80.  Even with the falling dollar, that’s still a deal.

As of Monday morning I am feeling a bit better.

That doesn’t mean that the weekend was a total wash.  In addition to a lot of house-related errands (look at water filters, purchase a fan and additional ceiling lights), we went to watch the Thai musical Banlangmek on Friday evening.

Ratchadalai Theatre at the Esplanade has installed LCD screens on either side of the stage, allowing them to do sub-titles for shows.  This show had them in English, my only complaint being that they kept the letters so dim (presumably so as not to disturb the audience) that they were hard to read from the upper balcony.  And I have good eyesight!

The story comes from a popular novel following the life of one woman as she goes from wealth and privilege to destitution and back again, all the while acting selfishly, using others for what she maintains is the benefit of her children.  It isn’t until her old age, after the suicide of her youngest child whose love life she interfered with, that she finally comes to realize her actions as the selfishness they are and learns that true love comes in accepting others as they are.

There are a few catchy numbers in the show, although I’d be hard pressed to hum any of them right now.  The Thai musical industry is growing in popularity, which is good, but the challenges are two-fold:

The first is that musicals written from original stories don’t find an audience.  Instead, the theatre-going public wants familiar shows.  The result is that most musicals are based on popular novels, and novels have story lines that are too complex for the musical theatre format (Les Miserables aside).  Banlangmek was true to this fault and relied on a Greek chorus of singers to move the story line forward, even to the point of having to explain the conclusion of the story.

The second is that in order to get audiences (and perhaps because the ranks of musical theatre performers are so thin) the stars are often popular television and movie actors.  Sadly, their singing skills are not always up to the demands of the stage.  In this case, there was a direct correlation: the best-known performers were the least-talented singers.  This included the main character, who was only able to hit her notes correctly when performing duets and having someone else to follow.

With the genre becoming more popular (evidenced by the building of the Ratchadalai Theatre, which opened earlier this year as the second stage in Khrungthep able to handle full-scale touring musicals), I’m hopeful that we’ll see more original musicals that emphasize the skills of talented stage performers rather than just pretty faces.

On the way out of the show, walking down the stairs, a young boy walking with his family stepped on the back of my feet several times.  I looked back at him and then told Tawn what he was doing.  The child then said to his mother, in Thai, “I know what the farang said!  He said I was stepping on his feet!”

When we reached the base of the stairs, Tawn turned to the boy and said, in Thai, “Well, if you know what he said, why don’t you apologize to him?”  So the boy, wai’ed me and apologized sheepishly.

This is along the lines with what what Ajarn Yai kept emphasizing with her students: the young people need to learn to be equally polite and respectful to farang, even if they don’t speak their language.

Those of you in more moderate climates might have to stifle a giggle, but the Thai national weather bureau is predicting a “bone-chilling” cool season.  Taken from The Nation newspaper from October 18:

It’s going to be cold in Bangkok

Suparerk Tansriratana-wong, director-general of the Meteorological Department, said yesterday he expects winter to be cooler than last year, particularly from December to January, when the mercury was likely to dip to 16 degrees Celsius.  [61 degrees Fahrenheit]  Just how cold it gets depends on how deep and how long the high-pressure systems from China cover Thailand, he said.

Winter had already come to many part of the country, he said, adding that the average temperature this year would be 1-2 degrees lower than usual, and cold snaps would last longer – at least one week.

Anon Sanitwong na Ayutthaya, director of the Southeast Asia START Regional Centre at Chulalongkorn University, also warned that temperatures would drop below what was seen many years ago after winter sets in next month.  

“This is because the strongest La Nina index in 30 years will cause lower temperatures and a longer winter,” he said.

You may want to pack your bags and head over here.  Outside of the serious issue of people (especially in the more mountainous areas) not having sufficient clothing to protect from the cold temperatures, this should be a very nice winter to visit Thailand.

The picture at the top of the entry is from a Johnnie Walker Red Label television advertisement that played here in Thailand showing Khrungthep under a wintry layer of snow complete with people ice skating on the Chao Phraya River.  Needless to say, there’s not much of a risk of that happening.  The whole video is here:

Yesterday afternoon I took a quick break after lunch to have coffee with Brian.  As we were talking, we realized that our larger social group is missing many people this October-November due to travel abroad:

Tawn and I were gone in the US; Brian was in China, Spain and Taiwan (part of this with Sean); Russ is in Honduras (from what I hear); Todd returned to the US; Vic is back in the US to sell his San Francisco home; Chai and Ken are in Paris and Amsterdam; Markus is away for five weeks on business and Tam has joined him for a week in Sydney; and Kobfa will be off to Japan the second week of November.

No wonder there are no social activities to report.  Nobody’s here!

Monday morning Tawn and I made a trip to the condo to see how the remodel is progressing. 

I had thought that the floor was going to be sanded and finished during our absence, but instead the focus of the work has been on woodwork and trimming. 

Things are really starting to come together and the contractor is confident that his primary work will be done in early November. 

That will still leave quite a bit of furnishing – choosing some light fixtures and pieces of furniture – but we should be able to start moving some of our things over by then.

Right: Wainscoating has been added to the entry way, a very nice touch that will give the area a cosy feel. 

Left: The tiling in the kitchen has been completed, an interesting little pattern that is reminiscent of Moroccan lamps.  Well, I think they look Moroccan.  Tawn sees the design as more Thai in nature.

You can see in this picture that the trim at the bottom of the cabinet door has not been painted.  That’s a result of the doors and the cabinets themselves being shortened when it was discovered that the left side cabinets were built with about 8 cm (3 inches) less clearance between the cabinets and the countertop than the cabinets on the right side, unlike the plans which called for the clearance to be uniform throughout the kitchen.

Above: The windows overlooking the pool have been papered over as the woodwork is being finished.  The sliding pocket doors, one of which you can see here, have been removed to be finished.  Woodwork details around all the door frames and on the ceilings have been completed.

Below: The wood framing on the bedroom wall has been completed.  This will all eventually be painted instead of being left as wood color.

Wednesday afternoon I received a text message that a friend I haven’t seen in a decade – Anita’s former colleague Wai-Kin – was passing through town with his friend James.  We made arrangements to meet them at their hotel, the Siam City, and took them for a nice seafood dinner at T Restaurant on Thanon Ratchaprarop.  Below: Chris, Tawn, Wai-Kin and James.

The night before I left Kansas City, I managed to get locked out of my computer when attempting to switch from my corporate domain name to a local workgroup, in order to upload photos to my brother-in-law’s computer.  This made for a little bit of a tense evening, hoping that I’d be able to get reconnected by my company’s IT department before I left the United States.

My morning flight to Los Angeles was smooth, although the agent at Midwest Airlines said she couldn’t check my bags all the way through to Bangkok because there were two different reservations and the EVA flights didn’t leave until the next day (1:20 am).  This was a minor inconvenience but proved to be no major problem as Curry picked me up in his big SUV and there was plenty of room to schlep around some suitcases.

Before boarding in Kansas City, I received a call from the director of IT support services and the west regional IT manager – a sure sign that my boss’ boss had made some calls and pushed around his influence a bit.  The director and manager confirmed the nature of my problem and assured me that there would be an IT tech waiting for me in the Los Angeles office when I arrived.

Curry, in all his generosity, was more than happy to drive us into downtown LA.  Thankfully, lunch hour was over so traffic was pretty light by Angelino standards.  Below: The drive into Los Angeles.  My company’s office is on the 21st floor of the second building from the left of the picture, the shorter red building.

Sure enough, IT was waiting and in twenty minutes Curry and I were back out of the car park and on our way to Venice Beach for a late, light lunch at Jin Patisserie on Abbot Kinney Street.

Singaporean Kristy Choo left behind her career as a flight attendant to attend the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco.  Jin Patisserie is the result of her considerable talent in creating not only exciting pastries but also tasty savories and a charming ambience.

Below: Zucchini and tomato quiche with green salad; assorted macaroons; chocolate mousse; scones with clotted cream and homemade marmalade.

Curry proved to be the perfect host, waiting patiently as I took too many pictures.

With some time to kill before dinner, Curry took me to an exclusive, behind-the-scenes visit to his Hollywoodland home high in the hills beneath the iconic Hollywood sign.  Here is the link to an interesting NPR story that provides some history into the original California property development.

The view from the roof top deck is fantastic, encompassing the western half of the Los Angeles basin.  Looking up the hill from the deck is the larger than life sign, ensuring you have no doubt where you are.

And now, dear readers, I offer you something that has never been seen before on the internet: a brazen look into the very heart of Curry’s luxurious abode:

Unfortunately, that’s all he’ll let me post!  Maybe if you are as lucky as I, you’ll have the opportunity to see it for yourself!

After being joined by Curry’s friend and budding young doctor, William, we drove down the freeway to Torrance to meet my newly wedded cousins Alex and Bill at their favorite restaurant, Lucille’s BBQ.  While I might be questioned for wanting barbeque as my final meal in the US – and in Los Angeles of all places – it seemed a good opportunity to try some beef tri tip in the correct, California setting.

Portions were too generous, as in so many American restaurants, but the food was tasty.  The tri tip was very tasty and tender although a bit more well-done than I like it, but that was the result of it having been smoked rather than grilled.

Below: The smoked tri tip with the tell-tale pink ring; braised beef spare ribs; and pulled beef brisket.

Above from left: Curry, William, Chris, Bill and Alex at a busy Lucille’s on Friday evening.

Curry handed me off to Bill and Alex and I stopped by to see their Long Beach home and freshen up before being driven in light rain to Los Angeles International for my evening flight.  The trip back to Khrungthep was smooth, with EVA continuing to win my praises for good service and comfort for the money.

Above: The dreary lobby of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX.  Below: Sunrise two hours east of Taipei.

Above: Elite Class (premium economy) on the Boeing 777-300ER.  Below: The Mekong River forms the border between Laos (to the left) and Thailand (to the right).

Above: Approaching Khrungthep during rainy season, you get a clear picture of how much of the central plain of Thailand is composed of rice paddies.  Below: Less than twenty kilometers north of the airport, the metropolitan area’s expansion is impinging on the traditional agrarian way of life.

My flight arrived just after 11:00 am and I was back at the airport Sunday evening to pick up Tawn when his flight landed just after 7:00.  It is good to be home.

After our big day in San Francisco on Monday, Tuesday was much lower-key.  I baked buttermilk biscuits again, but a smaller batch since Brad, Silvia, Kelly, Pat and Carl had already headed home.

Below left: My mother practices a piano piece while my grandfather looks on.  Both were music teachers.  Below right: Tawn prepares to take a bite of one of my buttermilk biscuits.

Mid-morning, Jennifer, Kevin, Tawn, the girls and I headed to the South Bay so Jenn could show Emily and Ava her childhood stomping grounds.  We were born and raised in Sunnyvale, a suburb of San Jose.  In fact, I spent the first 23 years of my life in the same house, which I find rather ironic given how frequently I’ve moved since that time.

We stopped by our old house (above) at the corner of Kennard and Peacock near the Wolfe and Homestead intersection.  It was interesting to see how much and how little things have changed.  The streets in my old neighborhood are actually wider than I remember them but the houses are smaller.  Some have become quite run-down while others are still in very good shape.  We visited briefly with some of the neighbors who are still there, catching up and hearing all about their perception of how things have changed.

One noticeable change, indicative of how the Santa Clara Valley has changed as a whole, is that the neighborhood now has many more Chinese and South Asian families.  When I was attending middle school, that change was just starting to happen and by high school many of my friends and classmates were of Asian heritage.  In fact, the large shopping center up at Wolfe and Homestead – “Vallco Village” – which used to have a Safeway grocery store and dozens of other stores, is now a primarily Chinese shopping center with a Ranch 99 market, dim sum restaurants, and bubble tea shops.  That change happened while I was in university, so it has been a few years, but it really reflects the increasingly diverse demographics in California.

We walked over to Raynor Park, the park where Jenn and I used to play, with the girls.  The playground and the landscaping has undergone a lot of changes and updating, but there are still two concrete dinosaurs in the playground that we used to climb on.

You can never look at things the same way, I suppose, but it was nice to see how things look these days.  It amazed me to find out from one neighbor who is a real estate agent, that my parents’ house would fetch about $800,000 these days – a far cry more than they were able to sell it for in 1994!

In the late afternoon we drove up to Dick and Sandy’s for a final family dinner.  We had a good time and Dick grilled chicken and sausages.  Dick and Sandy have a gift for making get-togethers of friends and family very special – it was so good to visit and to see all these different people.  Below: Dick feeds chocolate ice cream to Ava.

Wednesday morning we packed up, tidied the house, and set out for the airport.  After dropping Tawn and his luggage off at Paul’s, we arrived at SFO in a brief rain shower. 

The flight back started out horribly as both Emily and Ava were crying loudly when we got on the plane: Emily because she wanted to sit next to her mother and Ava because she was set off by Emily.

Thankfully they calmed down in about ten minutes and spent most of the flight sleeping.  It wasn’t until we returned to Kansas City that Emily’s mood lifted a bit.

Right: The girls finally fall asleep, leaving Kevin and me to chat during the flight back to Kansas City.

We arrived about 6:00 and once we got back home we made a quick dinner of pizza and salad and got the girls to bed.

Thursday was a free day for me to complete errands and pack my bags.  One thing on my to-do list was to take a trip to Local Burger, a hamburger restaurant in Lawrence, Kansas (home of the University of Kansas) that specializes in local, sustainably-grown and generally organic and all-natural ingredients.  I had a grass-fed beef burger and Kevin had an elk burger.  Sides included “progressive potatoes”, an organic, trans-fat free version of the traditional French fry; organic peas and carrots; house salad; quinoa–millet pilaf; brown rice with cayenne, apple cider vinegar and garlic; cinnamon applesauce; rainbow slaw; and “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore” sea veggue salad with cucumbers, onions, dijon mustard, tamari and hijiki.

Both were really tasty and followed nicely on my recent reading of The Omnivore’s Dilemma.  Speaking with a manager, it looks like Local Burger will try to open one or two locations in the Kansas City area, provided they can arrange for local suppliers there.

It seems that Tawn’s socks were the highlight of my last entry! 

After five nights in the Bay Area, I’ve returned to Kansas City for a final two nights before heading back to Khrungthep.  Family events were so time-consuming that even waking up at 5 am each morning didn’t give me enough time to do an entry about the post-wedding happenings.

Sunday

Since we didn’t stay at the wedding banquet that late on Saturday, we were all up early Sunday morning.  It was a leisurely morning with lots of coffee, everyone except my grandmother and nieces checking the internet, and Tawn and Emily watching Playhouse Disney together, below.

About 10:00 we piled into the cars and headed to Wat Mongkolwatanaram, the Thai Buddhist temple on Russel Street in Berkeley.  Their Sunday market offers some of the best Thai food in the Bay Area and an interestingly diverse (very Berkeley) crowd. 

Dick, Sandy, Michael, and Sara joined us, making a crowd of about twenty – quite a feat to get everyone fed.  Tawn and I ran around ordering, placing my father and Kevin in line as place holders as we ordered from other counters.

This time, unlike my previous visit in September, my attempts to speak Thai were much more warmly received.  Tawn said that the unfriendly lady wasn’t there, which makes all the difference in the world.

Right: Carl and my father talking in front of the temple.

The most popular dish was the black and white sticky rice with mango.  The curries were well-received and only the minced pork stir-fried with green beans was deemed a little to spicy for some people to handle.  Personally, I thought it was pretty bland.

After lunch we went upstairs to the main sanctuary, where I was hoping the monks would be available to do a blessing for my family.  Unfortunately we were a bit late and they were upstairs eating their final meal of the day.  However, a farang member of the temple – the husband of one of the Thai ladies downstairs – told us a little about the history of the temple and there were small booklets that explained the concepts of nibpan (nirvana) is English.  I had never seen these before but it definitely helps the temple be more visitor friendly in more ways than just serving food.  This is important since the main purpose of the temple is to spread the word about the dhamma to people.

Sunday afternoon we held an open house for friends and family.  A small selection of Italian foods were catered and Bill brought over a roasted pig as a gift from his family – apparently it is a Chinese tradition for the groom’s family to give a roasted pig to the bride’s family after the wedding?  I think Alex is worth a bit more than that, but who am I to quibble?

Left: Tawn poses with the pig, whose head we eventually covered to avoid freaking Emily out.  Right: Bill, a true barbecue man, made quick work with the knife to cut the pig into bite size pieces.

Above: Ryan and Sabrina discover the lemon tree in the backyard, which allows Ryan to display yet another talent which Sabrina never knew he had: juggling!  Below: Albert stopped by later in the afternoon after volunteering at the Haas-Lilienthal house and spending time at Sydney’s birthday in San Francisco.

Above: Anita and Paul both made it to the party.  Tawn’s been staying at Paul’s house while he’s still in SF and Wednesday night the three of them met for dinner.

Sunday evening we just rested at home, too full from too much eating!

Monday

Columbus Day morning traffic was light.  Jenn, Kevin, Emily, Tawn, Kari and my mother loaded into the minivan and I piloted us into San Francisco for a day of doing touristy things.  It is always interesting to revisit your home as a tourist.

Left: Waiting for the F-Market train at Stockton and Third Streets.  Right: Emily and Jennifer watch the sea lions at Pier 39, perhaps the highlight of Emily’s day.  Below: The cousins – Jennifer, Kari, me and Tawn.

Afterwards, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf and ate lunch at the Boudin’s Bakery restaurant – clam chowder in sourdough bread bowls!  Below: Tawn and I with a display of breads including a turtle loaf and an alligator loaf.  (Or is it a crocodile loaf?)

Above: Jenn, Kevin and Kari cross the street in front of the iconic Fisherman’s Wharf sign.

In the afternoon we went to the Hyde Street Pier and then took a break at Aquatic Park so Emily could play on the beach.  This funny series of photos captures Jennifer’s response at her daughter’s slightly-too-big britches:

From Aquatic Park it was an easy next step to ride the cable cars up to Market Street, where we had parked the van.  Emily was beginning to drag at this point, but Tawn, Kari and I had a fun time riding on the sideboard.  I can recall riding the cable car as a young child (about Emily’s age, in fact) with my grandparents and women were not allowed to ride on the sideboard.

We drove back over to Ghirardelli Square (yes, backtracking) including a descent on Lombard Street and some squealing tires as we went up and down some of the steeper blocks in the city, much to Emily’s delight.  We topped off the afternoon with sundaes:

Above left: Me in front of the demonstration of how chocolate is made.  Right: My mother with a butterscotch sundae.  Below: Emily’s day ends with a cherry on top.

It’s Monday morning, a third of our clan has flown home, and there’s a few minutes to blog.

Saturday morning we had several hours at home to prepare breakfast for the whole crowd – 16 people – and put all hands to work.  The menu: homemade buttermilk biscuits with Jimmy Dean sage recipe sausage and gravy, with eggs scrambled with green peppers.

Below: Three generations dance along to the Wiggles’ performance of “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes”:

Above Left: Silvia checks her email, Tawn occupies Emily, and my mother chops peppers.  Right: Pat (my mother’s younger sister) and her husband Carl prepare the sausage and gravy.

We got ourselves dolled up for the wedding and headed out mid-afternoon for the 3:30 ceremony.

Below: Tawn and Emily pose on the front porch of the villa.

Above left: Jenn, Kevin and the girls at the ceremony site.  Right: Emily poses in the wine garden.  Below: Chris and Tawn at the ceremony.

Above left: Brad and his wife Silvia, who visited Thailand a year ago July.  Right: Brad with his mother, Pat.  Left: My mother, Sue.  Below: My sister, Jennifer.

Alexandra is the oldest child of my mother’s younger brother, Dick, and his wife, Sandy.  Alex and Bill have known each other since high school, where they played football (soccer) together.  Bill’s been a regular figure around Dick and Sandy’s house for years and I think for the past three years or so it was a given that they’d marry eventually.

The ceremony was held at a park in Walnut Creek, California with a nice gazebo and enough mid-afternoon shade to keep guests comfortable.  It was a short ceremony and was written by the couple, so it had a lot of meaning for them.  We followed the ceremony with a lion dance and then the tea ceremony. 

Above: Alex and Bill at the ceremony. 

Above left: Chris and Ava, who was a little under the weather in the afternoon.  Right: Ava looks on during the service.  Right: Jackie, Dick and Sandy’s youngest child, stands in front of Patrick, their number two, while Sandy looks on in her Chinese-style top.  Below: Grandma and Grandpa speak with Dick.

Above: During the lion dance, everyone stopped to watch.  Kari, my oldest cousin (Pat and Carl’s oldest child, the oldest grandchild after Jennifer and myself), looks on with Tawn and Sandy. 

Right: Tawn and Ava, who got less and less happy as the afternoon progressed, and started running a fever.  Below: Kelly, Pat and Carl’s middle child, Patrick, my father, and Brad, Pat and Carl’s youngest child.

The tea ceremony was an interesting affair as nobody on Alex’s side of the family was familiar with it.  I arranged the red envelopes for everyone and explained the steps.  Alex and Bill included all of their married cousins, so the ceremony ran a bit longer than expected.

Below left: My grandparents are served tea.  Below right: After the elders were served, Bill and Alex contemporized the service and weren’t kneeling.  But I provided some gentle ribbing that they were not paying us our due and so they brought the pillows back out.  Actually, lots of kudos to them for recognizing us as a couple.  I’m not surprised, of course, as the entire family has been very accepting.  But it might have been a little unusual for Bill’s family.

Following that, we headed to Ten’s Tea House in Walnut Creek for a traditional Chinese banquet.  It was very nice with good food, lots of visiting, and a very cranky niece (Emily) who was unwilling to try anything that was served.  Actually, she did try a bit of abalone.  Very expensive tastes!

Alex is a graphic designer and designed (and made) all of her own invitations, menu lists, programs, and other decorations.  The party favors were fortune cookies with fortunes they wrote themselves, served in take-out boxes with a clever “Wongolian Barbecue” (Bill’s last name is Wong) sticker.

Below: Patrick with Grandma and Grandpa.

Right: Patrick is also quite a skilled baker and made the wedding cake – a cinnamon-carrot cake.  The figures (does that one really look like Bill?) were bobble-heads so when they rolled the cake into the room, they just bobbled along.  Below: Jackie, the budding actress, makes her speech.

Below: Pat and Carl and their children: Kari, Kelly, Silvia and Brad.

Congratulations to Alex and Bill!