Where the nation meets its nation

After yesterday's exhilarating run along the beach in relatively warm sunshine, and mastering the washing machine technology, I felt I was gaining control again and wanted to go and explore Hong Kong. I was somewhat blase in my thoughts about catching public transport and in hindsight I judged everything in terms of Singapore. Hence I purchased a single shuttle bus ticket to Tsuen Wan MTR and felt content in my bubble as we trundled along the highway. The suspension bridges linking the New Territories to Lantau are a spectacular engineering achievement, with the cars, buses and trucks pailing into insignificance in the magnitude of the structure which can be public transport infrastructure and art and engineering all at once. Staring in amazement at this sight only succeeded in making my bubble more secure and comfortable. We soon arrived at Tsuen Wan and I left the confines of the shuttle bus to enter the mayhem of Hong Kong. I suddenly realised I had to be sure where to catch the return bus but in the midst of the masses and concrete I thought I would be lucky to remember. I ventured into the local malls and lost myself amongst the rich variety of everything this frenetic life has to offer; restringing tennis racquet's, music tuition, hair cuts, dodgy food, clothes, shoes, trinkets, Buddhist relics, pets, more hair cuts, mobile phones, and on and on. I settled for a hair cut and was treated to a wonderful display of multi tasking as my 'stylist' (sic) attempted to tend to four customers at the same time. Naturally as the foreigner I was last in line but with the least hair!
Outside the atmosphere of the Chinese markets was more intense and walking along the pavements and dodging the traffic was at first entertaining but soon I decided to catch the MTR to Mon Kok and walk down Nathan Road. I was entering a kind of twilight zone where the railway line was a tentacle of some big slimy monster inviting me to come inside and travel to a world where the promise was greater than the reality of the experience. The train was full all the way and soon we arrived at Mon Kok. Leaving the train there was a seemingly constant mass of humanity travelling out of the station balanced by a equal mass of people coming into the station. This was shoulder to shoulder crowd swarming, or in my case shoulder to elbow because Chinese people are at least 20 centimetres smaller than me. My naive plan to walk down Nathan Road was looking ambitious but I persevered for all of ten minutes and then just turned around and was sucked back into the MTR station in the same unceremonious manner I was spat out. Plan aborted!
In the sanctity of my apartment I looked up the population density of Mon Kok: 417,680 people per square mile and to give you idea of the scale of proportion, the density in Kensington and Chelsea is 34,565 people per square mile. Twelve times more people, and I thought London was crowded! (http://www.demographia.com/db-dense-nhd.htm)
It has to be experienced to be believed and now that I have I will deposit it into the category of 'been there, done that' and concentrate on exploring the open spaces of the hills and mountains. And that is the contradiction of Hong Kong because outside the intense cauldron of humanity which promises so much but has so little, there are beautiful islands to explore where there are traditions and gentle pace of life with landscapes that seemingly promise so little to the uninitiated town dweller but have a far greater reward to those of us who are adventurous .

The Loneliness of the Long Distant Project Manager

After spending most of my time in the last few months in the company of family and friends, and especially the last seven weeks with Khamma, it feels very strange to be totally alone in a new country. I miss Singapore with its spotless roads and palm trees, its warmth and surroundings that gave a sense of familiarity. But most of all I miss the families in England and Thamuang.

When I have spoken to them throughout the week there has been something going on all the time, something I could join in with if I was there, laughter, spontaneity, bonding. I can tell my family in England accept that I do what I have to do, but I know they would prefer it if I was back home. A few English domestic admin problems have also pre-occupied me this week and meant that I had to selfishly rely on family when I should have dealt with the problems myself.

Now that Khamma is back in the village, and her sister has returned from France as well, she sounds very happy with all her family around her. They had the annual 'fishing in the rice field' day this week and big sister and big brother arrived at Owerrrouse to enjoy a family re-union in the special way that Thai families do. When I spoke to Khamma the party was in full swing with only one absentee.

Working in a foreign country isn't always as glamourous as it sounds and this week has been the lowest spot for a long time. My memory was cast back to the time I arrived in Denmark at the start of a two year contract in 1997. I thought then I had made a wrong decision. The Denmark I knew had sunny warm days, was fresh and Kodachrome bright with vivid sharp colours; but when I arrived it was raining and cold and dark and deserted. Nobody told me Denmark closes down between October and April!

Hong Kong is a little bit like that too. It has been very cold this week and as I look out over the yacht club harbour and the glistening and bobbing boats towards the clear sea in one direction and the majestic mountainous coastline the only thing that is missing are the people. Yet in the city it will be madness and mayhem.

Of course it isn't only people that make for a sense of belonging, it is the culture and I am sure that must out there somewhere beyond this high rise complex and snooty yacht club. Also having your own possessions and belongings around you help to tease memories and remind you of loved ones. These will arrive one day sometime but the logistics of transporting things around from Singapore to Thamuang to England to Hong Kong means that at the moment nothing seems to be in right place.

One of the distractions to the 'loneliness of the long distant project manager' is to have an interesting and challenging project to manage. I hope I can muster the spirit we had in Singapore, but I hate the word 'hope' in projects as it conjures up an image of failing expectations. I can't even assume we will get the spirit we had in Singapore, because in projects assumption is the mother of all cock ups! Time to get positive me thinks!

So it's time to snap out of this mood and get out there. This morning I will continue with my running, do a bit of grocery shopping, try and make sense of the washing machine, and this afternoon go into the city for a wander. Tonight there is wall to wall Premiership football and squeaky bum time as the Reds aim to go on top, where they belong. Wow I feel better all ready!

Hong Kong - It's Flippin Freezin

Thankfully Khamma was discharged from hospital after five days and everything seems to be ok now. For the remainder of our holiday we visited friends and family and ended our holiday in the same pub as we started in; the Tunnel End in Marsden.

Our flights back to Bangkok soon passed and we spent our last night relaxing at the convenient Convenient Resort Hotel close to Bangkok airport. Sadly next morning Khamma and I went our different ways and she returned to Thamuang and I carried on to Hong Kong.

Having a good break made us relaxed, even though there were plenty of traumas to distract us. It was good to meet up with everybody and difficult to say 'tarrah'. There has been all sorts of emotions in the last few days, but the abiding memories are family and friends, and the pleasure of introducing Khamma to them. All too suddenly it ended and thinking about it now this is the first time I have been alone since last August and it takes some adjusting to. Ah well!

I am sorry Khamma's introduction to England was marred by the burglary and having to stay in hospital, but it hasn't put her off from wanting to come back in the summer.

So this is Hong Kong. My apartment is more modern than Singapore and doesn't have 'landlord's furniture' i.e. everybody else's cast offs. It is a two bedroom cosy pad with excellent views over the harbour at the Gold Coast Yacht Club. When I get a camera I can show the view, but take my word that the sunset is excellent!

The only problem is the cold, and it is flippin freezin! Apparently everybody endures this discomfort, or torture, because winter only lasts for a few weeks, but on Sunday afternoon it was actually warmer outside than in. I am sleeping under two duvets with two T shirts and a thermal running vest and tracksters. I even keep my socks on. There is no heating apart from the heat generated from my laptop, which is on my lap as I write. My legs are ok but my feet are blocks of ice. Even in the office it is cold and I sit with a fleece jacket on until the sun works its way round to my side of the building. There is no frost or snow just cold air streaming in from mainland China and lingering like an unwanted guest at a party.

On the other hand Khamma has spent the last two days cleaning the house, not that Yo and Pel wrecked it whilst she was away, just that she enjoys doing it. It is a little bit cold there and windy too. Although my guess is that it is a damned sight warmer than here.

Well that's the latest until I can go exploring at the weekend. It looks like there is a lot scope for walking on the mountains and a bit of island hoping, but not before I get a camera and warm coat, gloves, hat and warm boots.

Another problem

It is a well used cliche; 'it never rains but it pours!' As I write this blog Khamma and I should be sat on our return flight to Bangkok after a restful holiday. I should be thinking ahead to the next project in Hong Kong airport which commences on Monday and Khamma should be looking forward to meeting the family and sharing her stories of England. We should be reflecting that over the last six weeks we have been in Singapore, Thamuang and England. We have had a great time and enjoyed being together, but we are having a bad run of luck!

We were burgled on Monday morning and still dealing with the admin, but even worse is the news that yesterday Khamma was admitted into hospital with a severe kidney infection. She was quite ill but we did not expect we would have to delay our return to Asia. The important thing is Khamma is slowly getting better and we have taken a flyer that she will be fit to travel next Thursday. This is not the ideal ending to the holiday we had planned for, but thankfully we did not ignore her symptoms otherwise she could have been in severe pain 11,000 metres above Iran or somewhere.

I am looking on the bright side but can't really see any lights on at the moment. I am relying on my naturally optimistic outlook and calling on the reserves of patience. But I suppose it could be worse, I could be a Manchester City fan (City 0 Notts Forest 3). Ouch!

Culture differences - UK's poor performance

One of the reasons for my blog is to record differences between the British culture and those of Thailand and Singapore. I didn't realise that coming back to the UK would actually highlight more of these differences than going away, although the unforeseen burglary has been responsible for most of these findings. Now I don't want to sound like a grumpy old man, but.....

Khamma was understandably upset by the burglary and wanted to know why the culprits could not be brought to justice by parading them in front of the whole village to face the victims and forcing them to do something useful for the community as part of their punishment. After this humiliation the leader of the village would then formally ban them from ever coming back and if they were unfortunate enough to be a resident he would invite them to leave the village for good. No such policy in the UK has been suggested to my knowledge, but isn't this an eminently sensible idea?

GOAL: UK 0 Thailand 1

One thing has worked out well in this episode is the way the insurance company activated the repairs. Within six hours the door had been boarded up by an enthusiastic engineer armed with a power screw driver and a box of three inch screws. Somehow I think in Thamuang it could have been done a bit quicker, but there isn't much in the way of insurance formality to comply with. Nevertheless Khamma was bemused that I had to go through a series of phone calls to get somebody to come out, but imagine her surprise when we found out it will take about two weeks to make the new frame when it took four days to make and fit two big windows, made from similar materials, for Owerrrouse. In the UK there are building standards where doors, windows and so on are supposed to be the certain size to maximise production runs and make it easy to replace according to fashion or whim? The UK team have used this so called progressive formation for many years but today the Thai side have managed to break the plan down with swift action to score a splendid goal against the run of play. The Thai players are over the moon and the UK side look beaten already.

GOAL: UK 0 Thailand 2

The same enthusiastic engineer fitted a new front door lock and all seemed to be ok, although I didn't test it because I assumed he would. I learned a long time ago that assumption is the 'mother of all cock ups' and this latest assumption from me was no exception. Late the following day I tested the lock just before we went out and found it could be locked and opened from inside the house but could only be locked from the outside. You've guessed it we locked ourselves out!!!! Luckily there was someone still in the house so another drama was averted, but now inconvenience is being piled on top of inconvenience. After several pointless attempts to produce the result I really wanted, i.e. the lock to open, I phoned the company the enthusiastic engineer worked for to request him to revisit to make the lock work in the way it was designed. This is the point where British bureaucracy triumphed and left Khamma bewildered and open mouthed. The man at the other end of the phone could not authorise the revisit because his computer said 'no' (in the tone of Matt Lucas in Little Britain!). He needed permission from the insurance company and it was my job to phone them so that they could phone him and he could tell his, by now less than enthusiastic, engineer to come back and put the job right. So I phoned the insurance company and the girl at the end of the phone agreed she would tell her computer to get in touch with his computer and then he could phone me to arrange a time to put the job right. Twenty four hours later we are still waiting for the phone call. In Thamuang the job would be have been sorted out in ten minutes. This common sense approach by the Thai team has resulted in a spectacular and well desrved goal and the underdogs go into half time with an unasailable lead of three goals to nil. The UK is beaten. The players heads have gone down and the manager looks as though he is getting ready for the sack. The crowd looks like a company of sick parrots and some are leaving the ground already.

GOAL: UK 0 Thailand 3 - HT

Today we visited the Tesco superstore in Stockport and for an unknown and strange reason we decided to sample the food in the cafe. We left after not being able to find a clean table and noting that the hot food counter was a battlefield of dead chips, dried and hard peas and crusty burnt round the edges pies, and that was just the appetising food!! This may be me being a bit grumpy but I still have the memories of the Thailand's and Singapore's restaurants and hawker centres fresh in my mind with the fresh food cooked to order, smiling service and good value. I apologised to Khamma for the very poor representation of the English culinary experience. The UK team are defeated and the Thai players are content to play the ball around knowing that victory is assured. This surprising last goal is not celebrated by the Thai players out of respect for the humiliation already piled on to the UK team. The UK team have a lot to learn and their complacency is something to be addressed. It is clear that their false and self acclaimed superiority has been borne out of a systematised approach to finding the most complicated solution to the simplest of tasks. This premise has been the UK game plan for many years and the new teams from Asia are focusing on this vulnerable aspect of the UK game. The UK is a broken team with no leader to help them rebuild.

GOAL: UK O Thailand 4

Full time: UK 0 Thailand 4 = Game over!

Merry Christmas? No not really thanks to burglers and 1car1 car hire

In my last post I was happy that Christmas was going well for Khamma, me and my family. It was probably the best Christmas I have had for a long time - until today. Last night we were burgled and quite a lot of damage has been made to the patio doors. I had my camera stolen, but not the pictures because I had downloaded everything up to yesterday. The hire car was stolen though, and throughout the day this added more distress and anger to the situation, but more about this later.

We were in the house as these low lives forced the door and then came upstairs to take the car and house keys. It is a bit mind blowing to realise people are in the house, at night, without you knowing. There are lessons to be learned and I urge you to make sure that a few common sense actions can make a difference:

1. Don't ever think 'it can't happen to me'.
2. Don't leave anything of value lying around - cameras and keys in particular.
3. Make sure you replace the faulty bulb in the security lights around your property.
4. Make sure you have security lights because not even the most stupid burglar will work in full view under bright lights.
5. Check your patio doors for security bolts and fit them - now!
6. Back up your photos regularly and keep the back up separate from your pc. (The thieves didn't take the laptop, but the external hard drive was with it!)

Simple common sense might have deterred the scum that visited last night.

Within half an I had informed the police and the car hire company and we started to come to terms with the night's events. Overall the police have been very good with a prompt visit followed by the SOCI (Scene of Crime Investigation - see how I pick up the jargon?) and a visit from the Community policewoman who was very sympathetic and reassuring.

Khamma couldn't understand why these 'people no good' could do such things, and the whole experience was new to her and a bit upsetting. This sort of thing doesn't happen in Thamuang. I felt annoyed that my country, my village, my people had done this to tarnish the image for her. It has also caused a serious change in plan to the holiday because of sorting out boarding up the door, changing the locks, phoning the insurance. Inconvenience (and costly).

But all of this has been far worse by the attitude of the car hire company 1car1. That is 1CAR1.com They have left me high and dry by refusing to provide a replacement car. They quote that company policy does not allow a customer to be provided with a replacement car if the original car has been stolen, until a full police report has been received. Is this the same with all car hire companies? So despite the fact the police spoke with the 'stolen car department' at 1car1 the un-named 'Operations Director' confirmed that a replacement car would not be provided and that I cannot take out a new hire contract with them until the police report has been received.

Where does that leave me? Well car less for a start, which is a bit inconvenient in Diggle at the best of times, but we need to get a few things sorted out like food and additional security. Their attitude is unbelievable and leaves me, the poor old customer, feeling like a suspect in the crime. I think they could have done themselves much more good if they had been sympathetic and replaced the car, after all it's down to insurance now - isn't it? Instead all that they have succeeded in doing is fobbing me off with an excuse of 'company policy' and blaming the operations director and at the same time protecting him by not allowing me to speak to him. These actions do nothing to promote the farang culture to Khamma who has for the most part of the day remained bemused and confused. I have tried to explain we are the victims of a crime but in England you are treated as the criminal.

Of course everything could be worse and we have a lot to be thankful for - meeting somebody half way down the stairs could have ended up in a serious situation. Thankfully nobody is hurt, but impressions have been made; Good ones; the police cannot be faulted, the insurance company (Nat West) has been efficient, and Bad ones; 1car1 are appalling. I do not recommend this company to anyone. They maybe cheaper but their claim that 'the price you see is what you pay' is not true. It's like everything else you do not how good anything is until it breaks. In this time of goodwill to all men, commercial survival is a premium 1car1 could have made a great name for themselves today, but instead they created a dis-satisfied customer who is doing his best to share the experience with everybody.

Time to move on.

Back in England

Cold?

After our short visit to Thamuang Khamma and I arrived in Bangkok last Thursday to catch our flight back to England. We had a bit of time to kill in Bangkok so we visited the Siam Paragon shopping centre to buy those last minute gifts. The truth is we got a bit weary after about six hours and even though we enjoyed the excellent Christmas atmosphere we ran out of steam and headed back to the airport and the sanctuary of the KLM business lounge. At last I could take advantage of my gold card and snaffle a few free sandwiches and drinks. After all this excess spending it was a welcome relief!

Unfortunately the flight was delayed and consequently we arrived in the UK late. Khamma had a few questions to answer for the immigration officer but otherwise we had well and truly arrived.

Meeting up with Dave and Richard on Friday night for a beer at the Heights in Delph meant that at last I had a taste of some decent ale after months of Tiger beer. The weather was atrocious with 60 mph wind and driving rain and a stark contrast to what we had just left in Thailand.

On Saturday we had a drive round the drab, misty and rather dark Peak District dales in the hope that I could show off some the finest scenery in England. However Khamma was suitably impressed especially with the horses wearing T shirts (everything from a vest to an overcoat is described by Khamma as a T shirt!). She also picked up a taste for fish and chips as we stopped at the village chippy in Tideswell. The same cannot be said for Bakewell Pudding however, which meant I had to finish off the delicacy myself; a task that I eagerly accepted responsibility for. Meeting Stuart and Charlotte in the excellent Tunnel End Inn at Marsden was the end to a good day. (http://www.tunnelendinn.com/index.html).

On Sunday we spent time with Mum and Dad and Clare. It was good to be with them again and Khamma took everything in her stride. I have missed their company and their easy going outlook on life, but it felt like we hadn't been away at all.

Christmas day was spent in Diggle with Mum and Dad arriving just before lunch. We had a traditional Farang Christmas dinner this time with all the trimmings (Cranberry sauce, bread sauce, parsnips, roast potatoes - well you know the score) and Khamma was impressed, in fact she hardly had any Thai food all day save for the chicken and rice for breakfast!

Boxing Day was the Thai food day and after breakfast of rice and fried egg we waited for Clare to arrive before preparing various dishes of shrimps, pork and fish. A splendid compliment to the previous menu.

Khamma's first Christmas outside Thailand must have been somewhat daunting but she has genuinely enjoyed meeting up with friends and colleagues and mixing in with patience in the conversations that are inevitably hard to follow and completely uninteresting as far as she is concerned. It has been a big culture jump for her but one she has relished. It was very similar for me as I was living with her family in the those first weeks last year.

It feels like our cultures have been brought together from both sides and our understanding is very much greater. What is interesting is that as we have completed drawing the circles that have joined our cultures together we have grown very strong as a couple. For me she is still the bundle of smiles and laughs with a heart of gold. For her I am still a man of good heart. We have found what we have been looking for.

Farang Christmas

The first Thamuang Christmas - Farang style

This time last year on the forum at Geoff and Amy's website which is dedicated to farang Thai relationships I submitted a question asking what my fellow forum members would be doing to celebrate Christmas with their partner. I remember I was totally under whelmed with the responses and decided then that if I got the chance I would make a real effort to bring Christmas to life in the village just as Thai traditions are brought to life for me.

So I announced that we were going to have the first ever Christmas party farang style in Thamuang. The guests were limited to family but the festivities would be as close to the real thing as I could organise. What could be more difficult to preparing a meal of chicken, seasonal vegetables with stuffing and red currant jelly? Read on and you will find out!

The plan was simple. Go to Big C and buy ready cooked BBQ chickens from the meat stall and potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots from the vegetable department. Hats, decorations and lights and a present for everyone and wrapping paper could be bought from various stores in the town. This latter was easily dealt with and in no time at all the dining room was resplendent with flashing LED coloured lights and silvery 'seasons greetings' posters.

However Paxo stuffing and cranberry jelly do not exist in Ubon so I had to improvise with Campbell's condensed chicken and sweet corn soup to brighten up the food. But overall everything was going OK including a last minute addition of a starter consisting of fish balls and chili sauce. I know this isn't a traditional Christmas offering but at least it would keep the guests quiet whilst the main course was being prepared.

I thought the secret ingredient would be good resources and I had an abundance of expert cooks and countless pots and pans to cook with. Sadly I failed to realise that the cooks had a shortage of experience preparing farang food, particularly peeling and cutting up and timing everything to finish at the same time. I read the signs that progress was going to be inhibited when Pel asked how to cut up the broccoli, so I did my Gordon Ramsey impression and ordered everybody out of the kitchen except Khamma. Although harsh it was a smart move and we soon had pans of boiling water ready for the potatoes and veg and the micro wave on standby for heating up the chickens. Towards the end I was dismayed that the carrots had been sitting next to the pan of boling water for about ten minutes after I had requested they be put in it, but it could have been worse.

Eventually we plated up the food and served our guests to a mixed reception of disbelief from the more 'picky' relatives to the starving hungry appetite of the young tigers Yo and Tao. A glass of Thai red wine encouraged the reluctant and a couple of bowls of chili dip assisted the Thai traditionalists. The chicken was devoured but the veg was picked over because it was presumably too bland. However the overall response was favourable and I was pleased that whilst the presentation was not perfect the atmosphere created was 'Christmasy' and different from the usual Thai supper.

Following the meal I gave a small present to each guest and was gratified that I had judged it right with perfume for the ladies, games for the boys and a bottle of Thai whiskey for Khamma's brother. I then followed this with a series of games starting with the hilarious passing the ping pong ball from spoon to spoon, which is held in the mouth, without dropping the ball. Everyone joined in and were soon laughing and queuing for another turn. We then played 'pin the tail on the donkey' to more hoots of laughter. The final game was the famous levitation trick. If you don't know this follow this link and give it go.

http://www.castleofspirits.com/levitation.html

The result was brilliant with everyone open mouthed and amazed at the farang's supernatural powers.

Tao and Ging with the ping pong game

Mama aiming to pin the tail on the donkey

A good time was had by all and the first Thamuang Farang Christmas party - ever - came to an end. It was very refreshing to be in the company of people who really enjoyed the simple games and had fun and went home happy.

What a great evening this was and I was so pleased that with a bit of effort I had brought a new experience for Sroikham family. After the hype of the premier league of commercial Christmas shopping in Singapore and the relatively low key Yuletide marketing effort in Ubon, I felt that the humbug had not been allowed to enter Thamuang and the spirit was alive and well.

Merry Christmas to everybody - wherever you are.

On yer bike!

I am by nature a restless sort of a person and even though I enjoy lolling about in the sunshine I eventually have to do something constructive or physical. The former activity usually involves walking around the outside of the house inwardly cursing that nobody seems to want to keep the place tidy, or that it doesn't matter that weeds, or are they exotic flowers, are flourishing vertically and horizontally. So without announcing my intentions I set about pulling up the weeds. I hadn't really noticed that there was a strong(ish) breeze, and even if I had I'm sure it wouldn't have registered on the Diggle version of the Beaufort scale where the wind blows hard everyday. However Khamma thought the wind strong enough to stop my activity because the soil would be blown about the garden and most of it would end up on the road. Even though I couldn't see the logic I could sense that she didn't really want me pull up the chili plants and the water melons she was trying to grow!

With this gentle subtle hint I decided I should expend my excess energy by going for a spin on Yo's mountain bike. After the tyres had been pumped up I jumped on and pedalled at a cadence that would have astounded Lance Armstrong had he been witness. The gear cable was broken resulting in a high 'fixed gear' and left the rider pedalling fast and getting nowhere at the same time. Undaunted by this latest set back I set off down the road matching my pedalling to the rhythm of the back brake rubbing on the sidewall of the tyre. When I tried to stop and realised I couldn't because neither the front nor the back brakes worked. My mind wondered whether I should be concerned for Yo's safety or whether this was just the way things are around Thamuang. You will be pleased to know that I settled for the latter theory basically because I doubt that Yo can actually get enough speed going that required him stop that quickly!

Scrunched up in the popular 'knees under the chin' position I made slow progress and attracted the attention of several locals who I am sure added this new sighting of Khamma's farang to their growing list of daft things that farangs do. I cannot resist my curiosity of seeing where paths lead to and soon found myself exploring a new area. There was a still calm and I could see herons and other small birds sitting on the backs of the water buffaloes. At a cross roads I found a road leading to a temple which was nestled in the middle of a small wood. Nobody was around but the paths had been freshly swept clean and the open temple was spotless. As I walked around I was followed by a very tame bird which I'm sure would have chatted to me if I was fluent enough in Thai. Eventually my peaceful and tranquil mood was interrupted when I came eyeball to eyeball with a large dog and decided that whatever else Buddha was doing to make this a welcoming place he hadn't quite got round to informing this mutt of his intentions. So I did what I always do and backed off with the hairs on the back on my neck bristling.

Peace and Tranquility

'Following me' bird

Back at the main temple I could have sworn somebody was chatting in the distance and as the dog had lost interest in me by now I walked towards where the conversation was coming from. Right in front of me was a cage with a beautiful bird chatting away in Thai. 'Sawat dee krap, sawat dee krap' or hello hello in English. Maybe Buddha was getting round to all the animals after all!

Suddenly the big dog reappeared with his mates and in an instant I decided I had enough and remounted the bike, put my knees under my chin and quickly reached maximum cadence in the style of Lance Armstrong. I will never get used to dogs.

Back on the trail I passed through many rice fields and in the distance could the see Owerrrouse again. Inspired by the mixed fortunes of the temple I called into the village temple to see what progress had been made on the area being constructed by the river for people and monks to relax and and contemplate 'Life in Asia and Thamuang'. I was warmly greeted by the senior monk who was fiddling around with some electrical works which contrasted with his deep orange robes and dark tanned body.

So after the spiritual and physical cleansing of my bike ride I returned to Owerrrouse refreshed and ready for a beer. The weeds are doing a great job in the garden and the wind has settled down so the soil won't blow away, at least for now. Ah, rural peace has broken out again in Thamuang.

Talking bird video

Floating restaurants and Big C supermarket

After almost one year of visiting Thamuang I have started to get an understanding of how the place and the people, not least the family, 'tick'. The expectation is that I provide a few goodies like small gifts and trips out to a restaurant. I don't mind doing either especially as everybody has a good time and it is a joy to see smiling faces of genuine happiness.

Khamma and I decided to go back to the floating restaurant in Ubon with Mama, Pel and Yo and her brother and family. This was made significantly easier because we had the use of Khamma's sister's car whilst she is away. So with six squeezed into the Honda and two on the motorbike we set off to shrieks of delight as they experienced the farang driving. I enjoyed driving for the first time in six months and I wasn't going to do anything silly and attract the unwanted attention of the Thai traffic police who, I am led believe, take delight in stopping Johnny Foreigner.

The meal was excellent, probably better than the first time, with BBQ Snapper, Chicken in different dishes, King Prawns, three bowls of Tom Yan, Yam seafood, salad and rice. The cost including drinks was 1,300 baht, which is about £25 - for 8 people! In idyllic surroundings and under a hot sun. Needless to say that everyone was happy and it was gratifying to see a family so much together without so much as cross word, a stroppy mood or a miserable face. Thai families are good at this.

After the meal we had to stop at Big C supermarket and somehow everybody ended up with something they needed or had forgotten to get before. Where all this stuff goes to I don't know, but all I ended up with was the till roll listing everything in Thai and every time I asked 'What's this?' the answer came back 'Never mind, lets go home'. Nutmegged again!

The end to the day was sipping a glass of Thai red wine in the evening sun. Later in the evening the full moon was shining brightly over the fields. I had only been back just over a day but already I was mellowing and chilling amongst genuinely happy people in a cosy corner of north east Thailand.