Elephants And Things ช้างและสิ่งของ

Music Or Whatever

2012-02-02T10:51:00.003+07:00

I've been taking some guitar lessons as I mentioned earlier. (Christmas Gladstone Guitar School Music extravaganza). One of the web sites I subscribe to just included the following :-

"The impulse to do something else instead of guitar is the signal to start playing NOW. You've got the rest of your life to tend to everything else -- and let's be honest, everything else is just details."

And sitting here at work, it made me think of a lot of my friends and guys I know who have other interests. So substitute the work Guitar for your 'thing', be it Golf, Camping, Fishing, playing pool or whatever and the above makes for a good statement.

Have a good day wherever you are, and whatever you are doing.

Helicopter Trip

2012-02-01T09:07:00.005+07:00

Just been on a helicopter work trip to look at our project. We go every month to take some ariel views and measure progress. This time I took the opportunity to take a few shots of the town and even a shot of where we are staying. It has been a clouded day so poor quality photos. But at least it gives you some idea of the place. The red ship shows the open hatched of a coal ship. These ships are the big boys carrying over 100,000 tonnes of coal per load to various places around the world.
Gladstone as you can see is small with lots of satellite estates, a marina and lots of commercial shipping berths. All good. Nothing special to show just general shots to let you see the place and give you some idea of what’s here.

Australia Day. 26th January 2012.

2012-01-30T05:44:00.002+07:00

Australia day is a time when the Aussies celebrate being Australian... .. Not sure how that works exactly compared to anyother day but still it's their country. Also it is a very noticeable and special day for immigrants who have taken the plunge to naturalize. So all in all it seems a day which has nothing to do with me.
I went to work in the morning and got home about 3.00pm. Only then did we decide to join in the fun and that was by going round to a friend’s house to play pool. Great afternoon playing pool and having a few beers all topped off with a fantastic garlic prawns and rice dish. At the back of the house, set in a quiet neighbourhood was a small garden which had about 7 resident Kookaburras. Lovely birds who eat meat. ‘Blue’ the guy who owned the house feeds them every day. He gave us a quick demonstration of how friendly they are. Eating out of his hands.

Evening By The Sea

2012-01-25T07:07:00.003+07:00

Decided to get out of the house the other evening and have a cold beer by the beach. Nothing special but it does make you realise that Gladstone has a lot of good things going for it. So easy to complain about the place but we rearly seem to take in the good sides. Well the other evening we did. Unfortunatley the rains have just arrived and we will not be going camping this weekend. Other things I'm sure will be available to us in Happy Rock during the coming weeks.

Lazy Weekend With Some Fishing

2012-01-16T04:45:00.004+07:00

Lazy weekend. We did some fishing and relaxed. Beautiful local spot, a sea water discharge for the local power station. Does not sound like much but it is on the edge of a big river. Lots of hot water comes through it which attracts the fish. It is also a good wild life place with several different species of birds. And the area has been prepared for fisherman and even comes equiped with shades and tables so you can enjoy a full afternoon or evening there. But we were unlucky as we did not catch anything today. One got off last time, and it was a big one... Honest!

Later we downloaded a couple of films. ‘Drive’ has got to be one of the worst ‘B’ movie I have watched for ages. The other 'Killer Elite' started Jason Strathan, Robert De Nero and 'someone?'Owen and it was excellent viewing, that is if you like thrillers with people getting shot and lots of fighting. Ideal for a Sunday evening viewing. I had earler in the week watched the 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. One of the best films in the sense that it followed the book almost exactly and did not loose anything from it. And the book was good! But before settleing into movies we had of course first to get the Bar B Q going, steak and sausages and potatoes. No wonder I am putting on weight in Oz.

And to top it all off back to reality and work on Monday morning.

Sydney

2012-01-13T09:41:00.006+07:00

We had a wonderful time in Thailand catching up with all old friends etc. Owen and On really looked after us and again long suffering Owen put up with big Brothers antics!! Enough said in that department.

We finally departed for Sydney. Not without a lot of effort. Having got to the airport with Owen and On driving us up at 05.00am we then qued for 2 hours at Thai International Terminal to get on a flight. Their computer was down so they could not issue any boarding passes. Due it seems to the fact that I had an electronic visa and they had no way of checking it existed. I was fortunately not the only one. So our 07.45am flight finally departed 09.45 am. No problem except we got into Sydney very late. About 11.30 pm. We had booked a centrally located hotel. Excellent choice. The area was heaving with Friday night revellers, great atmosphere. So we ended up walking around and finally getting to bed about 2.00am.

Saturday morning came round very quickly and it saw us catch up with Greg and V. Greg is an old friend and we had not see each other for about 10 year so lots to catch up on. Had a trip round Sydney from south at 'The Gap', Chinatown for lunch, over the bridge to Manley. They we separated and we took the Manley Ferry back to the quays near our hotel. We caught up later for a Bar B Q at Greg's place. Hadyn joined us and it was another excellent evening. It was also the best Kangaroo meat I had ever eaten. Got some tips on how to do it next time.

On the Manley ferry we both fell asleep. I left our Ipod on the seat and only when we got back to the hotel did I realise it was missing. My fault of course as you can imagine. That was that or so I thought. Monday morning sitting in the departure lounge in Brisbane and Wanna is checking her emails. A chap called Simon emailed us saying he had found our Ipod. What was the best way to get it back to us. I enjoyed Sydney but this was the icing on the cake. What are the chances of this happening? I doubt Simon will ever read this nor in all probability will we ever meet but a big thank you. What a fantastic memory of Sydney.

Seeing Out 2011 And Seeing in 2012

2012-01-13T09:25:00.005+07:00

We decided to stay at home for New Years eve. Sensible idea given the number of road accidents on Thailand. Someone had told there were over 250,000 deaths on Thai roads in the last 10 years. And that's the recordable ones so I can only begin to guess the real number. But even if you use the published figures that's about 8 persons per day. And the figures about New year and Songkan are through the roof. So as I started out by saying we stayed home for the evening.

What to do? We decided to have a Bar B Q pig. First we had to buy a pig. No easy task, Yah, Wanna's brother was given the job of sourcing a pig then all the family got involved in its preparation. First it had to be slaughtered and cleaned. This was done in a quick and painless manner. Once cleaned the work began getting him onto the Bar B Q and cooked ready for the evening. He was about 17 kilos enough of us all. As you can see everyone enjoyed themselves. Wanna's Dad turned up and decided to sit and watch the activities. All in all a good night. I might add that Tiger must have thought something very special was going on. He kept being fed bone after bone after bone. And still he kept eating....Loved it.

Ban Muang Before 2012

2012-01-13T09:24:00.001+07:00

Nearly The End Of The Year....

2012-01-13T09:13:00.004+07:00

Between Christmas and New Year I had time to take several walks round our garden/farm. The place looked really good. Lots growing and it just felt good to be back and relaxing etc. Suffice to say it did not take me long to realise that I would soon be having to quite my farm walks and sitting around as in a few more days I’d return back to work!!! Before the dreaded day I know I have some good times ahead. New Years Eve, then Chang Mai, Pattaya to catch up with Owen and On, followed by a trip to Sydney and only then the flight into Gladstone (Happy Rock) as it is known locally. This followed by returning to the office, which I might add does not in any way resemble its TV’s namesake.

To give you some idea of our garden it is best to just upload a few photos. I’ve shown the main gate, the access road and some views across the rice fields.

Now I’ve done this upload I’m back to some more resting.

(Note:- Can't seem to upload my movie so sending through muy email account.)

Frogs And Things

2011-12-30T10:32:00.000+07:00

Been sitting around relaxing fora few days. Imagine if I told you I shared my house with a frog. You'd start thinking of all those old fairy tales of princesses and things. Well I was looking at our dining room table and noticed the side 'support' had sagged. There was a slight bump in it which I decided to examing. It's a frog. It had remained there for about three days. It was last seen up on the Buddha shelf. How it moved around I do not know but can only assume it keeps the mosquitoes away!

Christmas In Ban Muang

2011-12-27T11:22:00.005+07:00

Rushed posting. Thought I would just upload these photos of our arriving home and finding a Christmas tree, outside fairy lights and the house ready for us. Meals did not include a turkey but we had a super bar b q and grilled pork so all in all a couple of very good evenings.
Our dog Tiger was very happy to see us come back. Mem, Wanna's sister had been looking after him. Looking after him to well I can see as he is much too over weight. But he was excited to see us and has settled down and appears to have stopped running after our neighbours chickens, which you can imagine did not go down to well with them.
We plan to go up to Chang Mai tomorrow for a couple of days then down to Pattaya and Bangkok. All a bit hectic but we do seem to have a lot of people to get to see.

Tonight we take the Kids to the Khon Kaen night market for dinner and ice creams. Should be fun with plenty of activity and lots to see going on.

But for now I must leave posting Blogs and get back to my fishing....

A Few Fast Weeks

2011-12-21T07:26:00.006+07:00

Been a busy few weeks. I went to Houston last week for a business trip. Was lucky enough to be there for an Office Team night. We all got to go and have an evening doing/undertaking a cooking course. We cooked (with help from three chefs) a three course meal. Was excellent, leak and salmon soup, stir fried prawns and then a beautiful poached fish and potato dish topped off with caramelised pears and sauce. No complaints about Houston...

Wanna meanwhile went off to a couple of staff parties of her own and judging by her photos seems to have had a really great time. Tells the ‘slight’ hangover added to the story to assure her it was worth the effort.

Finally after all that we bottled out first home brew beer last night. Neither of us are drinking much at all but the few times we have a beer it is normally at home. Drinking and driving is not worth the risk in Australia. Added to which it’s expensive and makes getting up in a morning hard work. Both hassles I can do without.

So possibly this is my last post before Christmas. Off to Thailand on Friday. Might add something while I’m over there. We’ll see time goes.
Have a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to you joining me on my journeys next year.

2011-12-04T06:53:00.003+07:00

Big event for me last night. First public guitar performance. One song. I had chosen "Sunshine of your love' by the Cream. A 1968 track, and still one of my favourites. Went down well. The slide show attached to this post shows about you that 50 people turned up for the annual Gladstone Guitar School event. Its a showcase from the school to the students and an opportunity where we all get to play a song. Some students were very good. I was surprised some were still students...

Acoustic and electric guitars and some were singing. The Teacher is part of a Rock Band so we were lucky to have the bank along as our very own 'backing group'. And they were very patient! All in all a good night. Yes, I was nervous. You play every day at home and have no real idea if you are improving or not. Me, I now think another 12 months and I'll fell confident to stand up and play a few numbers. Trick now is to learn the songs properly and remember them... Not easy as you get older....

Slide show. Thats me in an orange 'T" shirt all hunched up over a guitar.

Another Lazy Weekend In Gladstone

2011-11-28T05:48:00.001+07:00

It’s beginning to warm up and today should reach 31^o Deg and climbing. Grass is brown and everywhere hot and dry. Having spent my youth in UK I can be forgiven for thinking Christmas time should be cold with everyone discussing the possibilities of a white Christmas. Well not here for sure, unless of course you are going to spent it inside a fridge!!! So imagine our surprise where we saw the real Father Christmas passing us by in a bright red fire truck. We chased after him and managed to get a photo. Still seems a strange setting!!!! But at least after all these years I can confirm he is alive and well and living in Gladstone, Central Queensland. And I’ve got the picture to prove it.

Thai Flood Relief Dinner

2011-11-15T09:37:00.005+07:00

I was a bit fast with the earlier posting. Just found out the local Newspaper 'The Observer' did an article on it which came out yesterday. So here it is. Again great evening and of course for those of you who read my earlier blog you are ahead of the game. My blog beat the local Newspaper by a day with a "World Premier Scoop". Watch this space....

Flooding in Bangkok

2011-11-14T08:55:00.007+07:00

You might well ask why I am mentioning the flooding in Thailand. Well the local Thai community organised a fund raising event. Actually a dinner dance complete with a good array of Thai food, Authentic Thai dancing and a band to supply dancing music. I estimate about 200 people turned up and a good time was had by all. It was so good I treated myself to a couple of beers. no excesses but it did indeed add to the spirit of it all.

The food as I say was excellent. The three local Thai restaurants had got together and supplied what can only be described as a fantastic spread. Chicken, curry, pork, savouries and both steamed and sticky rice. We went with about 10 friends and it made for a great atmosphere. Most surprisingly to me was that over 50 Thais turned up. Gladstone with a population of about 50,000 means this is about 0.1%. That struck me as a big percentage. It was a fun evening. My only regret was I have my phone camera not a proper camera so crap photos. Sorry............. :( Hence my only adding one to this post......

To top off a really great evening we raised over AUD$ 7,000 for the Flood Relief effort in Thailand. A good effort by all. And I would like to say that AUD$ 300 came from Wanna's employers, Barney Beach Caravan Park. What a wonderful appreciation of her by them and what an amazing kindness. Someone in Thailand does not know how fortunate they are.

Kookaburras

2011-11-12T14:34:00.004+07:00

Beautiful. We have been tempting these little fella's for ages to join us in the garden. Well today them finally decided our food was good enough. Some pork we had cooked up on the Bar B Q a few days back.

TGIF We Got The Fish..sort of

2011-11-12T07:41:00.005+07:00

We did get to the fishing site. Met a couple of other anglers who gave us advice on how to tie the line, cast etc. We watched them bring in a 5 kilo Barramundi. And yes we to caught one. But it got away. I know the usual excuse but its true. I took a picture of the one the other guy caught. We'll be going back there in the next few days for sure.

After fishing, thirsty work as you know we stopped at the bottle shop for a few beers. Went to the beach and amazingly watched the moon come up. Beautify orange orb. My phone camera could not do it justice. Wanna pointed out he rabbit on the moon. If you look closely its sort of there. But I asked her 'How can a rabbit live on the moon if its made of cheese?". "What cheese?'. At that it was time to head home before we got even move stupid!

Flying Foxes

2011-11-11T12:24:00.002+07:00

Gladstone has its fair share of flying foxes. They live just opposite the Gladstone yacht Club. In the day they just hang around in complete open view to every one. They stink..... And at night they are everywhere. Amazingly no one eats them In Seychelles Flying Fox is a delicacy and I've managed to have some. It tastes like pigeon. Very bony but in a curry I suppose I could be forgiven if the taste was somewhat over powered by curry powder and chillies!!!

Anyway here I'm told they carry disease and cannot be eaten. Strange but that is the way it is. Pity looking at all this protein just hanging there waiting to be 'plucked' from the branches....

Friday Night Fishing

2011-11-11T11:33:00.004+07:00

Decided I'll go fishing this evening. Think I got the inspiration this afternoon whilst driving through the marina area. Saw a sign over the fishing tackle shop and thought. "I've not been fishing for ages". So maybe after work I should make the effort. I'll pick up Wanna and take her along to spot I've located just north of Gladstone. There is an outlet to the power station cooling water system which is accessible to the public. And I've been advised people are catching 1.5 meter long Barramundi. So tonight's the night!!!! Photos of super big fish to follow. Maybe tomorrow. Just hope I manage to get a good shot of the one that got away before it slips of the hook......

Real Men Use Real Bar B Qs

2011-11-09T10:11:00.003+07:00

As I've mentioned several times I won't discuss work in my daily (now seeming to be more like weekly) musings. However this I could not resist. Walking round the site this morning I came across a super Bar B Q. I ask you 'What more could a boy want but a trailer with a double Bar B Q on it with plenty of room for a couple of Eskies full of ice and beer ? Wonderful. Unfortunately for all the tradies there in a strict no alcohol policy on the site. Still think positively, it is nearly the weekend. All we'll need to do it hook up the trailer and off we go. Lovely.

And Work Just Keeps Getting In The Way

2011-11-03T11:00:00.003+07:00

I see this bike parked up on one of our job sites nearly every day. One day I'm not going tobe able to stop myself jumping on it and going for a ride. Just a lovely old Harley. And summer's coming.....

Bettings Aussie Stlye

2011-11-01T11:58:00.002+07:00

I was going to do a short note on the past weekends events. We along with 4 other families went to 1770 and Agnes Waters for a camping trip. Great fun, good weather and a generally fun time. But, come Monday morning we got back at work and lost on the office lottery. Seem to be making a regular habit of that. Hence writign about camping, again.

However the next betting event was for the Melbourne Cup. Normally I do not bet but office sweeps etc are fair go. Of course you ask.........................I came first.

Dunaden win in Melbourne Cup

2011 Emirates Melbourne Cup at Flemington race course., Race 7, 3200 metres. Winner No 3 Dunaden ridden by Christophe Lemaire by a short nose to Red Cadeaux ridden by Michael Rodd. Picture: George Salpigtidis Source: Herald Sun

IN ONE of the closest photo-finishes in Melbourne Cup history French stayer Dunaden took out the Melbourne Cup by a short half head over Red Cadeaux.

Source...http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/superracing/french-joy-with-dunaden-win-in-melbourne-cup/story-fn67siys-1226182710882

Camping 1770

2011-10-30T05:33:00.001+07:00

Long overdue so a backdated posting.

Garden Snakes

2011-10-18T04:25:00.000+07:00

Well never expected to see a snake in my garden. I know everyone says they are common around etc but even so. In my garden. Its walled in and not so big. Kept clean and the grass cut every few weeks so...

Anyway there it was. Wanna shooed it away with the end of the broom stick while I got the camera... I’ve had it identified. It is a Black Whip snake. Potentially dangerous to humans but it left us along....

Want to know more about eh little chap. www.wildlifeqld.com.au/Lesser_Black_Whip_snake.html

The Big Weekend

2011-10-15T10:32:00.001+07:00

Been a long week since I got back from Uk. Tired everyday due to jet lag. I think possibly the worst case I've had. Slept at 4.00pm Monday 6.00pm Tuesday and now Saturday I'm almost back to normal. And need to keep awake for the match Les Blues againist the Boys in Red. So this evening my entertainment is sorted....

UK In October

2011-10-12T12:46:00.010+07:00

Its been a hectic few weeks, actually its been months since I last posted. Been spending the time as you know in Australia working to earn a crust and then just now had 10 days in Uk. Seemed I spent most of it on a plane. I went on a Thursday to UK and got there Friday night then back took 2 days via Dubai and changed planes in Singapore and Brisbane. Add up all the ‘real travel time I lost 3-4 days in transits.

Still it was worth it. Caught up with Sarah and Vivi along with Fed. Then also dad, Mother and Owen as well as Charlie and Jane. So well worth the trip.

Started off with a couple of days in London. Had dinner with the girls and Graham and other friends. Some small place in Camden. The following day spent going round Tottenham Court Road area to the design building and coffee shops. Even managed to look as some guitars...Also spotted one of those ‘Smart Cars’. They really are great. Cute more like. Not sure what Jeremy Clarkson from Top gear would say about them. Don’t think I want to know as it will surely disappoint me..Then we walked down one street and came across a food seller. Chatted away with him in Thai. He has been in Uk a few years but happy to chat away in Thai. Amazing.

Stayed in a hotel off Bayswater road so well positioned. Colette booked it. So thanks. Worked out well.

Then up to Thetford and catch up with the rest of the family. Dinner with Dad, Gulshen and my cousin Cary and husband Jasper. All good fun. Charlie and Lynnie joined us. Fantastic weather for a Bar B Q. Trip in the country and saw some pig farms. My favourite animals and they looked happy in the sun.

Day out with Mother to Diss. Auction was on but did not buy anything. No point how would I get it back here?....

Then back to Australia. I had planned to get across to Ireland and see my cousin Mary but Mother did not feel up to the flight and I was not going on my own so next time..

Dinner at Charlie and Lynnies. He had to show me his model Thai Boat with food on it. We ahd a good Thia dinner. All good, complete with chillies..
All good fun. Now back to work and I plan to enjoy Gladstone. Just need to let you all know what we’re up to.

Sure I've missed out lots of stuff to write about but just keen to get back on line. See you all soon.

Camping Outside Gladstone

2011-08-08T10:08:00.001+07:00

Another week and ... well been camping last weekend. Couple of 'phone' photos which show poor light for cooking using torches etc. Added a new dimemsion to evening 'Alfresco'! But it was good fun. Believe me. Some of the adjacent campers were well above our budget but that did not detract from our night out.

I went with some friends as Wanna is away in Thailand. They brough along their kids and of course, this upset a lot of the older campers trying to get an early nights sleep. I'm talking 8.00pm. These kids were running around shining lights into all the tents, highlighting people walking to the communical toilets etc etc. You get the picture. Beautiful spot. Will go again and next time be better oganised.

Silence Is Golden

2011-07-28T10:21:00.008+07:00

Seems ages since I last posted. In fact it is ages. Over a month. Why I don’t know except laziness and there always seems to be tomorrow when I’ll get round to it. Also life seems to have settled down into a daily routine of work eat and sleep. Something like real ‘Ground Hog’ days.
Well tomorrow has arrived. Time to write something.
We’ve been busy socialising and going out and about for dinners etc.

Spotted an old tractor frame on our job site. Interesting to see something over 100 years old.

Managed to add in a trip to a Country Music evening which was fun. Not the usual guitar and lonesome cowboy routine but complete with a full 17 man orchestra.

Then great excitement, we bought a new tent and fishing rod. So this weekend we are off to the mountains and of course taking our Bar B Q and doing a spot of camping. The tent shown here is in our garden. We had a practice night yesterday. Still a bit cold....

What else. We bought a Toyota Corolla. Lovely little run around.

Went to the Camel racing. Yes, Gladstone has a fully fledged horse racing track. Holds about 12 meetings a year. Last one was special, an addition called camel racing. We went along but...No camel were raced. Just a few walk outs by camels and happy riders. Seemed main purpose of the day was to just have fun, i.e. copious amounts of grog and good cheer. Not sure how everyone managed to drink so much as the queue to the bar was constantly 8 persons deep along the full length of the place time!!! You had bookies so bets could be taken on all Australian races, there was even a fashion show etc so all in all everyone had a great time.

Oh yeah. Hydroponics going well.

Then and only then can I start writing again.... God I’m lazy these days. Need to improve !

Calliope Market

2011-07-28T09:04:00.001+07:00

Great Sunday morning out and about. The day started with a couple of hot coffees and then out to Calliope Market.

Its a small craft type market selling the usual wood turning stuff, cloths, toys and various food staffs from fish and chips, through hamburgers, ice cream etc. You get the picture. Throw in a few old building and some more stalls selling ‘Tat’ and I think you get the general picture. It’s located in few fields outside of Calliope which in itself is a small place 35 kilometres inland from Gladstone with little special on offer. The market is built up around and in an historical village. That’s an imported collection of building including homesteads, old settlers homes, a lodge and even a jail. Add in an old railway station, trains and carriages and it does take on a sort of old world charm all of its own. It certainly attracts some interesting looking characters.

View Gladstone to Caliope Market in a larger map

Gardening.....

2011-06-22T11:09:00.001+07:00

All been very quiet. Been working and time has just flown by. Here in Gladstone going to work early and getting back late does not leave much time to do much else.
However this coming weekend is the Mr Larcom Annual Agricultural Show. Going on Sunday. Should be good. So excitement over last few days is to report on our hydroponic system. All going well and things are growing fast....Plenty of Lettuce, Rocket and some herbs, thyme etc and a few Thai ones who’s names escape me.

Pool Night, Gladstone

2011-06-16T07:19:00.008+07:00

Last night we decided to vist the local 'Young Australian Hotel' a popular watering hole. Reason for going there was to see Jack Halligian a famous Australian pool player who was giving an exhibition display. He showed amonst others, one really good trick. Layed out a deck of cards and then let someone choose from a seperate deck. He then split the 'frame' and under the black ball was the selected card. Yet to figure how he did it.

Jack Halligan

He seemed to be enjoying himself taking on all comers. I did not get there early enough to get my name on the board. However I did fancy my chances againest some of the opposition. Main advantage I appeared to have over them was we arrived late, and most of the lads appeared to have been on the juice for a good few hours already....

Jack came over to have a chat with us and signed the back of Wannas shirt. not the front!!!! He seemed a really good bloke. Lots of fun.

being there made me realise, I miss my weekly pool nights back in the Chill Bar at Nam Phab Whan. All good fun.

Dinners

2011-06-13T07:05:00.005+07:00

Always interesting how things come together. The other night we had been invited out to dinner. It was a bit like the United Nations. There were a couple from South Africa, Canadian married to a South Korean, Australians, Brits and Thai. All sitting down to a Korean cook up followed by some good old fashioned homemade caked and double cream.... All in all a very good way to spend an evening.

Difficult to follow in terms of a dinner. Last night we have a small Bar B Q of our own. Wanna got stuck into the prawns.
Now its back to work...

Sunday Bar B Q And The Prime Minister

2011-06-06T05:01:00.012+07:00

I mentioned last posting about the Prime Minister being on our Construction site. Well l’ve located the photos. She’s the little on with ginger hair!!!! Unfortunately my photo shows her looking away. But believe me it was her!

Last Sunday we went to an old dilapidated garden and collected oranges. Followed by a picnic. Excellent.

Yesterday more food. We had been out buying a few small plants and then last night settled in for a Bar B Q using our new toy. Great way to cook. It uses any old wood we can find. And living next to a forest makes it a very simple job.

Also we seem to have been adopted by a large black and white bird. I’ll check the name this evening. He flies in and stays around. In fact I nipped home the other lunch time and he was about. He did not seem to mind me walking close to him and he was in no hurry to fly off.

During The Month Of May

2011-05-27T11:30:00.006+07:00

There has been a lot going on recently. And as an end to the month having Jillian Guillard the Australian Prime Minister visit our site has got to rank up these as an important event.

We’ve moved house and sort of settled in doing all the usual things. Sorting out where to put stuff,

Bought a new Bar B Q and have checked it out several times. Prawns on the Barbi were fantastic. Tried some Kangaroo steaks. Turned out OK but Wanna was not so keen on the smell. And I had to agree it had a sort of rabbit come unpleasant smell. Difficult to explain but once you’ve had some then you would know it the next time. Roo meat is devoid of any fat. The secret is to marinate it, and next time I’ll use some herbs to offset the smell, but this time I used red wine, olive oil with some garlic and salt and pepper. So taste wise good but herbs needed for the smell. Perhaps mint would be a good one.

We’ve been up to Rockhampton (Rocki) collected our hydroponics kit and started with seedlings for numerous herbs and veggies. The seeds started to emerge over the last few days. So thats it no more going to the market we’ll live on home grown.

We did also manage to catch up with a guy called Andrew who has a small aquaponics set up in Gladstone. I’d actually come across his name while searching for fish tanks. He was moving house so wanted to sell it but we declined. All a bit to much to take on at this time. I did not take photos but now see on his web page that he is going to dispose of it.

I managed to get some Black Orchids from our work site. This was before the area was cleared. Hope they grow in our back garden.

The HMS Endevour replica visited Gladstone on a Australia wide tour this last week. Its about 98 feet long and the original had a crew of nearly 100.

Visit to mountains. Great rip into the hills. Saw a Kangaroo jumping across the road., Way to fast for us to get the camera out and take a shot. We did see some lovely horses in a small river/creek. Carys if you're reading this you would have loved the sight. We also have a lot of wild horses on Curtis Island where I work. More to follow. If I don't get this Blog back up to regular and frequent postings I'll forget what I did only a week past!!!

Music

2011-05-09T11:34:00.005+07:00

Went to watch my guitar teacher in her 'Rock On' band last Sudnday. Lots of people sitting around enjoying 70's type stuff. By the way she is the little one on the left side!!!!

Beginning Of May

2011-05-04T11:47:00.004+07:00

Been a busy start to May. There were loads of holidays for Easter then May the 1^st. And next month we have the Queen’s Birthday. So how did this impact on work. Well, I’ve been working my way through all of this. Just went in every day but did to be honest come home earlier than normal. But with even all that ‘work’ commitment we managed an evening with Bo Jenkins, a local blues singer, a trip out to the country, some fishing and day time music. Oh yes and we have been as usual cooking, Wanna doing some good stuff and me following along with a few ‘muffins’ and soggy cakes etc. So busy time s but unfortunately a bad start. Gol’ old ‘Bo’ did not really live up to his expectations. In fact I was very disappointed. I’ve added in a small clip to this Blog for safe keeping sake rather than advertising him. Please listen as you might disagree with me. Pity about him as I had been looking forward to his arrival in Gladstone and hearing some good music. We did make up for it when listening last Sunday to my Music Teacher who was performing at the Gladstone Marine Park. Nothing special, just good ‘pop’ songs but it was fun and relaxing.

Few other things.

We met up at the main town outlook a localretired guy called Steven. Insisted having his photo taken.

Took photos at the out look post. Aulkland Point.

Attended a presentation by Anna Blythe, Queensland Premier.

Looked over a pile of Calcium Carbonate as used in toothpaste....

Picture of our appartments from Goondoon street

2011-04-27T10:47:00.003+07:00

Strange with Wanna arriving I though I'd find lots to write about. And indeed there is but...

I collected her from the airport and then a few days going round to see stuff! We covered a lot of ground. Gladstone, surrounding towns and coast lines and yesterday even added in Rockhampton which is 110 kilometers up the coast.

Her arrival also coincided with the last few days of the Gladstone Festival, so a trip on the ghost train, then ANZAC day on Monday so parades etc. So for this entry I decided to just 'cut and paste' some of Wanna's photos and not get involved with lots of descriptions. So this is what she saw!!!

Bridge Up

2011-04-26T07:23:00.004+07:00

More for me that you. Outside our Condo at the river there is a road bridge. It has a lifting centre section at allow passage of boats. Not sure how the timing of this works but I happened to have a chance to see it today. Impressive to say the least.

Busy Few Days Museums And Races

2011-04-23T14:11:00.001+07:00

Its the Easter weekend and the work is closed down for Friday through Tuesday inclusive. What to do? Wanna is arriving on Saturday evening but between Thursday evening and then Bob and I decided to follow up on a few things. We both had concluded we had some work to complete and that's best done in the quiet of an empty office so that took care of a lot of our time. Then we visited the local Maritime Museum which turned out to be a lot better than we had expected. I had envisages a dusty old shed complete with a few 'old salts' who would bash on about the good old days. But no. it was run by, yes 'old salts' but they did not bash on, but covered some interesting stuff with a lot of local interest and knowledge. Us coming here to work also provided them with some questions for us as well. Good two way stuff. The LNG terminal we are building had received a mixed reception here in Gladstone. Some think it is a potentially dangerous industry and others worry about the short and longer term changes it is bringing to the community. Long term is probably OK but short term influx of workers maybe not such a good sight!!!! But all then discussion was good natured and for us a chance to meet and chat with locals. Lots of stuff including boats, flags, memorabellia and model boats. One chap was busy making them. My photos do not do justice to the place. I do need to go back again.

Easter Weekend in Gladstone is famous for its Festival. Music, dancing, eating, and of course bumper cars, ghost rides etc. Highlight being fire work displays and a parade. ( I covered this in my last Blog. I had a quick look round one evening but decided to wait till Wanna arrived and enjopy it with her.

Apart from that we, Bob and I, managed to get in our shopping. Not so easy over this weekend as everywhere wanted to close for Easter!!! That said we managed and followed it up by going to the Gladstone horse racing. We watched a couple of races. (No camera!!!). I lot my money on 2 straight races. The favourite did not do well enough. There is always next time.

Anyway that was than and so Saturday afternoon arrived and I went to meet Wanna at the airport.

2011-04-19T17:02:00.006+07:00

Festival weekend in Gladstone. The Gladstone Harbour Festival is the biggest annual event to hit Gladstone. It had a yacht race from Brisbane to Gladstone with over 90 participants, various fates, music and talent shows and a street parade. Add in fire work displays and it is a fun and action packed week.

All this is available to me looking out from my Condo balcony. Makes me very lazy. But come Saturday I will get down to the music stage and listen into all the sounds!!!!!

Mr Gladstone

2011-04-14T17:00:00.004+07:00

Went back to the Museum last week. Finally got round to taking a picture of Mr Gladstone. Quite a status which is kept inside for safe keeping, not from vandalism but for environmental reasons. Sort of good to follow on the history of the place. They also had a photographic display taken of 100 prominent women in the town. Think I mentioned this a few posts back. Bob and I had another look and were still impressed with the quality of the shots. Seemed somehow to capture their personalities , so much so that after looking at one for a few minutes you felt that should you meet her in the street you could just start a conversation as if you had know them for ages.

So Gladstone, it does so remind me of Thetford and my time of growing up there as a young boy. There we had Thomas Paine as a status and here Gladstone. Similarities and extreme views on how things should be done. One Royalist and one a Republican.

All Happening In Gladstone

2011-04-12T16:58:00.001+07:00

Watched a large load go by the house with police escort. Looking out from my place it is easy to forget you are in an industrial town. Lovely views of the river and greenery all round. So to suddenly see a large silo passing by on a load loader comes with a bit of a jolt. Makes you think about where you are and why!!

Cooking, Sea Gulls And Ironing...........

2011-04-10T16:49:00.000+07:00

Been a busy time, what with cooking, sight seeing and then coffee shops followed by generally just driving around the area. Last weekend started with me doing some shopping and then sitting on a small beach. Saa gulls seemed very friendly especially when seeing me sitting alone eating what appeared to be bread or similar goodies. They all had to come and have a look and hope they got lucky. All this domestic stuff is getting to me. But today I saw in the Guardian newspaper a great article. Extreme Sports. What’s the connection to shopping and domestic stuff.... Well the extreme sport is Ironing, yes Ironing. Check out www.Extremeironing.com Really cool site!!!!!!

Gladstone Proper What's In A Name ?

2011-03-26T11:22:00.009+07:00

Was meaning to mention right after first arriving in Gladstone. The name 'Gladstone' comes from William Ewart Gladstone. Apparently he was 4 times the Prime Minister in UK. I did not know that.Gladstone town was originally called Port Curtis and had been ear marked to be a new town for development made up of a mixture of new arrivals from England and 'expired' convicts from Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). That was back in the 1830's. It all come to nothing but later the Governor Fitzroy announced in 1853 that the town officially be know as "Gladstone'.So there you have it. This fact might, I say might with a small 'm', come in useful if you attend lots of Pub Quiz nights and they have run out of questions or have decided to concentrating on a 'University Challenge' type thing based on what you know about Gladstone, QLD. Otherwise not much use is it!?.......

Where did I get all this useless information. See attached prints!!!!

Goondoon Street

2011-03-26T11:03:00.006+07:00

Lovely day which I had not expected as it is a Saturday. I think I mentioned that for the last few weekends it has been horrible. Just rain so today was a welcome change. Saying that I still went to work for a few hours and then popped into the library for a couple of books. The library was after work and after a 4-5 kilometer detour to the Harley Bike shop!!!

The shop had some beauties and I was sorely tempted but my wallet told me to slow down... Later. Let me just settle down a bit first.

Library is good. Its free and had a surprisingly good collection of books, cassettes and new range of DVD's. Borrowed a couple of cook books. Also noticed a 'dummies guide to electronics'. But that can wait I'm not taking on any more new projects this year.

After the library I stopped on the main Goondoon street, (Aboriginal for Water Bag!!!) and took a few shots. All very typical of a small Australian town with some colonial buildings intermixed with more modern stuff. As expected in a small town on a sunny Saturday afternoon not many people around. All gone to sailing or fishing. No doubt followed by a BBQ!!!

The photo with the green entrance is a 'bottle shop'. Its a drive in boozer!!! Yes that's right drive in and stop. Don't even have to get out of the car. Just order you beers and flip the boot. They drop it in for you and after parting with some cash off you go. Now what could be easier that that!!! Have a good weekend.

Gladstone...........

2011-03-23T18:07:00.006+07:00

Gladstone 22 Cooking

2011-03-22T16:28:00.004+07:00

Decided not to write about Gladstone. Don't know why but soon. So in the meantime I can tell you I did my first puff pastry's! Good turnout. I had expected something flat and boring but I was verb pleased! So for the record..... Puff Pastry chillies meat pies. Excellent even if i say so myself.

Gladstone Day 21 - 2011 03 21

2011-03-21T16:29:00.009+07:00

The day started off well. Beautiful sunshine and the view form my room was excellent. I had an early morning cup of tea and watch a very large cargo carrier arriving.Earlier last week I had looked on the web of photos of Gladstone. I found one showing the main street clock tower. Taken about 100 years ago. The tower is still there.

Gladstone Days 1 to 20

2011-03-20T17:23:00.003+07:00

View Gladstone in a larger map

Been in Gladstone for just under 20 days. That includes 3 weekends if you count today Saturday 19^th March. The last two weekends it rained both times. So any exploring has been through the windscreen wipers while driving around. Kid you not! 26mm of rain over this last weekend.

Had a lovely few days in Thailand before jumping on a plane to sunny Brisbane. And I think I have finally got over the bike accident. Leg still badly covered in scrap marks but they are going down and I’ve finally stopped hobbling around. So all in all time is a good and possibly the best healer. It certainly did not create the best of impressions arriving the first morning to work hobbling in covered with a lot of injuries. Still all that is in the past.

Initial impressions of Gladstone. Lovely spot. Much better than I imagined. I cannot think why the guy at Brisbane airport was so utterly dismissive. Its a small place with a population of about 30,000 people. It is a country town but the industry is heavy engineering, coal export etc. But that really does give the wrong impression as the Environment Control are very strict leading to a clean place.

It took quite a trip to get here. Starting off in Khon Kaen to Bangkok and then changing planes on to Brisbane and up to Gladstone. The total flight time is probably only 11 hours but add in changing planes and the waiting between flights and I was looking at more like 24 hours. I was met at Gladstone airport by Nicole our Office Manager. She was excellent, warhaving organised a first class apartment and had even though to but a ‘welcome’ kit of bread, miles etc. And of course Vegemite!!!!! Where would Australia be without Vegemite.....

http://thewell.santos.com/C4/More%20Stories/2011%20Stories/GLNG%20takes%20new%20ferry%20for%20a%20spin.aspx?PageView=Shared

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StateLibQld_1_390437_Goondoon_Street,_Gladstone,_1904.jpg

I’ve done a bit of cooking. Bought some puff pastry and made my first lot of chicken pies. Very good if I say so myself. And today I bought a new guitar amplifier so the neighbours will know all about it this evening!!!

Pictures of Gladstone? Lots to follow. I am planning a trip out tomorrow and will start including a small map. We expect to be here for a few years so I am going to use this forum to keep my diary and let you all know what we are doing. I did earlier say I world add a photo most days. Well no more excuses...

I did read recently that Blogs were not as popular as before. People moving over to Facebook etc. I’m staying here.

Ruwais To Thailand And Onwards To Gladstone

2011-03-03T15:03:00.006+07:00

Finished in Ruwais and returned to Thailand. Spend a few days in Khon Kaen and then down to see Owen in Pattaya. He is totally immersed in golf. Which for him is good but would drive me nuts. Anyway back up north and time disappeared. Quicker than Ruwais. I think I was packed and on a plane before I knew what had happened. Well not quite true. I nearly did not make the plane as we had an hour before leaving Ban Muang decided to call in and see Terry and Steve, Terry was not in and so round to Steves. Well a bloody dog came out onto the road and started running wild. In fact there were about 4 dogs. Needless to say we hit one of them. He died and we went flying across the tarmac. Wanna suffered a sore hip, scratches on her arm and the rest was luck. I also went sprawling and ended up with a bump on the head and scratches on the leg and chest. No problem except I had a plane to catch! Needed to be at the

Airport within an hour. So rushed back to the house, bike still worked. Thank God. Had a quick shower and smothered my cuts with local herb oil, which I use for everything!!!!

On the way to the airport we stopped at the doctors. He is actually on the way, with no diversion. We stopped outside his office and were seated in front of him within 2 minutes. Fantastic service. He checked us both. Cleaned up the cuts and added some bandage. Then on to the airport. Fortunately I was travelling business class so plenty of room to spread out and relax.

So with all this we still made it to Khon Kaen Airport. Booked in and started my trip. Khon Kaen on to Bangkok and then another plane onto Brisbane. Which is where I am writing this blog waiting the final trip up to Gladstone.

First impressions of Oz. It is about 3 years since I was last here. I came for an afternoon to Brisbane whilst working in Karachi. Had a quick interview and then back on a plane. So not really sure that qualifies as having been here. I did however spend 9 months in Perth about 10 years ago.

So memories through 'rose coloured spectacles fell off on arrival this time. Everyone very friendly but also dreadfully efficient! If you appeared to jump the que someone told you!!! Bit of a shock after Thailand. But good to be here.

I've added a few photos of our garden orchids just as a memory. Plenty of Gladstone stuff to follow.

One last thing. Just before sitting down to wait on boarding I had to go through yet another security check. Then one chap asked my if I would do a 'random' explosives test. Sure.... Chatted.

He asked me where I was going?

Gladstone. You know it?

Know it! I come from there.

What's it like?

It's a shit hole...

Well there you have it. He clearly did not work for the Gladstone Tourist Board. So you knows whats up there. I'll make my own mind up. But let me tell you that I have already decided that irrespective of how it is, shit hole or not, I've already decided I'll enjoy it.

So more to follow.

================

He was wrong. Gladstone is a lovely little place and I am sure we are going to enjoy it immensely!!!

Just Leaving UAE

2011-02-21T01:41:00.004+07:00

Hi, I finished in Ruwais this morning. Now getting ready to go to Australia. The start of another journey. So now I'm in Dubai Airport just about to get on the plane... Back to Thailand. I've just done this quick video on my apple macbook pro, using the onboard web cam. Felt a bit self concious, so am pleased at how it has come out. And clearly no editing!!! Pretty simply really. I had tried with Final Cut to make a few videos but could not get it together.

Lazy Homemade Bar B Q - Ruwais Camp

2011-02-11T20:59:00.007+07:00

Forget work. Yes forget it for a few days. We had a busy time of it yesterday. Priority was to forget the main works and concentrate on more important matter, making a new bar b q complete with a stand up frame. Wonderful job they did to.

One of our quality Inspectors, Ronald spent half the day supervising!!!! Whats so difficult and involved in making a Bar B Q you ask? So read below see if it is the way to go, maybe you just prefer to buy a small one in the local DIY shop at I am sure a minimal cost.

But we did it our way.......

Our Method and approach was simple, but perhaps, just perhaps, a bit over the top...

Well first take

one international Korean Contractor, preferable not to far from our camp,

two specialist welders,

high quality steel plate cut and bent to required shape,

special (expensive) welding rods,

essential of course to have full time Health andSafety personnel on standby watching proceeding,

additional inspections by senior management from the Contractor,

and approval and acceptance inspections by the Supervising Clients Engineers and,

then and only then, have it delivered preferable in a decent 4x4 (looks better than arriving in the back of a pickup) and then have it set up by yet more workers!!!!

This approach whilst you might consider it a bit excessive does 100% for sure result in a working fit for purpose Bar B Q.

We did get what we wanted. But cost...... Don't ask!!! As the joke goes it was free, but for everything else there is Master Card!!!!

So having had it made and delivered to our camp we decided to give it a christening this lunchtime. Ronald again took charge of the cooking while the rest of us mucked in with the supply of beer, soft drinks and generally getting things set up. We also seemed to be constantly in the way of the cooking!

What did we have? Fresh fish, Bonito and some snapper. Also squid and a couple of pork dishes and of course the old standby favourites of Chicken and Sausagges. All washed down with a few cold beers. It was quite a collection of people as well. Filipino, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Brits and all enjoying. No ladies which was a pity as they always bring an added something to such events. But not to be. So I can tell you all the salads and extras came from the canteen!!!!!

The highlight for me was the abundant supply of proper chilies. To date, all we've had in the canteen are large chillies that really have no taste but just look the part. So for me a good start to the meal. Ronald, Arnold and Roderick are Filipino

and were keen to strut their stuff and impressed us by producing some excellent 'home' foods. We had some Sisi, which is best described as being basically ground pork with spices. Very tasty. There was also a stew which was good but not dissimilar to something I might have cooked. Basically a not so hot pork stew without lots of Filipino spices. Stuffed squid and several sauces.

I was really enjoying myself but a little uncomfortable. Almost like I was there under false pretence. Unknown to all the others sitting with me, and indeed to you as a reader!!! I had, earlier in the week given my notice and plan to be gone before next weekend. Therefore it was a bit strange to be sitting amongst everyone talking about the next Bar Ba Q.

I'd decided to leave this place and my current employment. Basically I have a chance to go to Australia and take Wanna with me. So really not much of a choice.

I just said, I gave notice a few days back. Can you believe I only have to give one weeks notice. I think it was considered from the company as a good idea so they could get rid of 'undesirables' at short notice. They have used this approach to their advantage on several occasions already, two guys that I know off. So I also realize it works both ways. Now its my turn to go, and within 7 days! But then having tendered my resignation they ask me to stay on for a few days extra! Seems a bit illogical to me. Still whats few days if it helps out, promotes good will and I get paid....

What next you ask? Well I'll be adding a couple of additional blogs in UAE before I go. Then a lot of new ones covering life back in Thailand for a week or so before onwards to Australia. Just reading over this I realize there are probably a lot of Bar B Q stories to follow from the land of Oz!!!

Chinese New year? When where How. Well I missed it!

2011-02-05T20:17:00.017+07:00

Chinese New year? When where How. Well I missed it!

All the Koreans from our Construction Companies had a day off and the site slowed down. I think they went off to Abu Dhabi to play golf and have a few glasses of rice wine and Korean food.

We, that's Deepak and he's one of our engineers.

We went off to the Al Ain Air Show.

MOVIE TO BE ADDED

As shows go it was OK. About 8,000 spectators turned up and it seemed the united nations were there and every nation you could mention had a presence. Very impressive. It also added to the atmosphere of the whole thing. There were some beautiful looking ladies mingling with the 'guiness bottles', you know the Arab ladies wearing the all covering long black cloth. That's how I describe them anyway! But everybody mixed in and the feeling of general harmony and sense of we're here to enjoy was palatable and indeed quite exceptional.

View Al Ain Air Show in a larger map

But all that said and done. and to be absolutely honest: one aeroplane looks very much like any other to me. I know some are jets and some are run using other stuff but you get my drift...So what to do reporting of such an event. I took some footage and this afternoon looked over it. So much blue sky and smoke! So I decided to attach one clip without to much editing. Its got the running commentary from the show. The pilot is without doubt a very very capable guy.

There were side attractions including simulated formula 1 racing cars, microlites, go karting, and believe it or not there was a Starbucks. Imagine an event with such a stall. Seems a bit strange, not having some local merchant doing the selling.

Fortunately it was a warm day , bit windy which I suspect helped to keep us from baking in the sun. Mind you it did not help those buying ice cream,

getting stuck in the que to return to the stadium. Tends to melt all over you!

Then you look at the security. The were Lady police. They to must have been hot. Strange sight to start with. All of them without exception tended to on the 'bulky' almost like it was part of the entry requirements. They also did not look the type of person to be messing with!!

We gave up at about 4.30pm. Well I did and went into Abu Dhabi for a quick look round. Quite busy with plenty of crazy driving. But that's a topic for another time.

Friday The Err.......well just another Friday.

2011-01-29T14:06:00.006+07:00

Been a quiet week with little to write home about. Fridays really do seem to follow each other at an amazing rate. They go quicker than real holidays. Speaking of which I am on leave in 5 weeks. Hope the Fridays fly by...If only the real holidays would slow down...

Today was a lazy one. Late breakfast and another walk along the beach. Interesting how quickly the weather is changing and along with it the surrounding. 6 weeks ago when I arrived in Ruwais it was cold in evening through to mid morning. Not any more. Now its 16'ish at night rising to 31 Deg C in the midday sun. And its still January... A lot more heat to follow.

The walk was fine, clear blue skies. I took a few shots of some shrub land. Not much else as the beach vistas I did last walk. The sand is dry, all signs of the rains of the last few weeks have disappeared. So only the most hardy of plants can survive such an environment. Came across one particular plant. Resembles a red cactus. Strange thing growing in bunches. Not so many of them around. They might be something that got prompted to grow as a result of the earlier rains. You know, they flourish for a few days and die down again till the next seasons rains come round.

Clearly we were not the only visitors this morning. Someone had been along with a mountain bike and also there were foot prints where some birds had been walking along.

Strike Out - Shopping Abu Dhabi

2011-01-22T19:27:00.007+07:00

Friday came round again. Very quickly. But it came along with lots of rain and wet roads. So a miserable day.

We left Ruwais for Abu Dhabi about 7.30am. The early warning signs for a crap day were already apparent for all to see but we did not read the signs. The rain and then watching the resulting traffic accidents along the way.

I had earlier during the week though it a good idea to get to the shops good and early, give myself a day out and a bit of a treat maybe buy a toy or new guitar. Silly of me! On Fridays they do not open till mid day and even then

most open between 2-4 pm. So having discovered this only on arrival I concluded a fairly wasted trip. I had planned to look at a couple of toy shops for model planes and helicopters, then a quick look at what Abu Dhabi had to offer in the way of musical instruments specifically guitars.

First off was ‘My Hobbies’. Located near La Meridian Hotel… Well how near, close, was it to Le Meridian? We eventually tacked it down, so not so close. And it was shut! Well not exactly shut, just empty, so either they had relocated or closed down. No relocation address on the window so strike one!

Second was the music shop. Closed. We were way too early. Looking through the window it all looked as if they had some good stuff. Strike 2.

Follow this by going to Toy ‘R’ Us.

And indeed as the name states, full of toys but all except some fabulous bar-b-q’s, the rest were toys for real kids. You know babies and youngsters, and not adult toys. And I don’t mean sex toys! Those are not allowed in Abu Dhabi. Again a wasted journey.

So one more time to another set of shops to see if we get lucky. Went to Marine Mall. Lovely for shopping.

However again to early. It has an Apple shop with some good software but closed. Strike 3.

What else... Saw a lovely Hummer pickup truck. Fancied one of those!!!Bet the Hummer shop is closed on Fridays!!! And driving round we looked up at some of the buildings. The towers in the picture really are curved and wonderful shapes. Not down to my photography, it’s how they are.However good old reliable Carrefour was open.

So my trip to Abu Dhabi in the rain,

on a Friday was almost a complete waste of time. I went to places which, except the last, were all closed. I came back with some deodorant from Carrefour!!!! Some trip…

Liwa, There And Back.

2011-01-15T19:58:00.013+07:00

Liwa is a small cluster of villages set in the oasis in the southern quarter of the United Arab Emirates. We were told there is not much there. Wrong!

View Ruwais to Liwa in a larger map

Getting there is easy. Early start about 7.00am. (I know you ask why early, when you know it is my one day off in the week….). It needs to be a worthwhile trip. Khamal my driver picked me up, so for me I know, an easy day ahead. I had high hopes it was going to be a good day.

Liwa's got history and some things to see. The history side is simple enough. (Formal details below). It has water and therefore was a place for human habitat to develop and thrive over the years. Thousands of years in fact. It is also the historical ancestral home of the ruling Abu Dhabi family. So as would be expected, there are now good roads and infrastructure. Not so many people around but enough to make the rich soils work. There are a couple of good hotels catering for tourists. The locals coming up for the camel racing and the visitors more for buggy riding over the dunes and sight seeing. We missed a major camel racing event. Happened a few weeks back. Isn't it always the way...? So for sure Liwa has plenty enough going for it to have a fun weekend. Just pick the right weekend.

So after I left my NCC camp, first stop was to pick up my colleague Mr Kim. We proceeded straight inland. Dual carriage roads the whole way. First town we reached was Ghaythai. It’s a small ‘one horse’ town type place. Actually, to be fair to it, there is a school, decent houses, shops etc. No idea how many people live here but I would guess at over 5-10,000. It as a brand new petrol stations complete with a shop and small restaurant. Bit like UK with Little Chefs etc. So we stopped there for our morning coffee and biscuits. All staff are from India or Pakistan. No Emiraties to be seen, unless you include those pulling in to fill up their cars with fuel!

After coffee it was back in the car and we headed south. All this was made much easier by having our driver Khamal with us. He had been before and also spoke the local language. I say local, but most of the people we come across are imported labour from Indian or Pakistan, so language is either Urdu or Hindi. Mr Kim has English and Korean, and with me backing up with English and err…. well enough said.

Continuing south the landscape changes. It was like leaving everything behind. Fantastic to see the rolling sand dunes. They seems to open up to us and at the same time give us a sense of vastness and of being never ending. What made it so special was the timing. Early morning with the sun rising, made for stunning shadows appearing on the dunes. As we travelled along and the sun rose the shadows changed. Seemed to bring the dunes alive. Interestingly the dunes stay off the road. I think the winds take the sand completely across the road and do not allow for any built up. The fencing which goes all along the road side, we assumed is to stop camels and antelope crossing the roads. We did see 3 antelope, but they had gone by the time I got the camera out. So just believe me when I tell you we did see some!

Liwa, well we think we got to Liwa but there were signs for Mezairria. We followed this. In fact having carried on and on southwards we came to a roundabout. Three point roundabout. The road we were on and two more exits. Simple choice: left or right? Right looked to be going nowhere and was a smaller road. So turn left it was. I mentioned earlier that Khamal spoke the language. He did at this time call a friend to check we were on the right road, I mean left road.....

Within 2-3 kilometers of turning left, the area transformed in an all lush green with date palms everywhere. Unfortunately they were not in season. Still well worth driving along and seeing all the agriculture.

We continued along the road and came across a camel racing track. Loads of camels being trained and exercised. Seemed strange, a fully fledged track in the middle of an area surrounded only by sand. Good photo opportunity.

We had by now travelled about 350 kilometers. Time for lunch. Only place we could find open was the Liwa Hotel. Imagine you travel all this was in the sand to come across a 5 star hotel complete with swimming pool. I mentioned earlier about dune buggys. Well it seems this was one of the places people stayed while enjoying driving up and down sand dunes.

Lunch as you can imagine for a 5 star hotel, was excellent, with an amazing array of mouthwatering Arabic and European dishes.

Then, back to the NCC camp, but another route via Madinet Zayed. Its another small town with a slightly better range of shops and more quality housing. Again we tried for fresh date. Again told out of season!

Then home, but not before buying some packaged dates from the local supermarket… ~~Home ‘James’~~. I mean home Khamal ! Great day.

All in all, we covered about 700 kilometers. All on first class dual carriageway roads. Probably take weeks on a camel, and give you sore feet. Food for thought.

Ruwais again

2011-01-07T14:43:00.006+07:00

Before coming to Ruwais I bought an Apple MacBook Pro thinking it was time I tried out an Apple computer. I did have an Apple 2 about 30 years ago but time has moved on since then. This one comes complete with some basic software a bit like Windows but you still need to buy the decent programmes. Why am I mentioning this here? Well... I've been spending some time, a lot of time struggling and learning the basic stuff and believe you me it does take a bit of learning. They do things differently at Apple and its hard work to 'mind' swap over from my old Dell. What it means to me is the additional time and effort to edit photos and actually manage to do a video. Hard stuff indeed.

Today another working working week has passed. And passed very quickly. It is amazing how fast. Friday having arrived I had no plans. We, David and I went for a walk on the beach in the morning. I plan to spend the afternoon doing one of my Lego Robot toys. Some sort of colour sorter. You'll know about it soon enough! (If it works...).

The walk was enjoyable. David started by collecting lots of 'floats' which had been washed up from old fishing nets. There were lots. Every few meters as we went along the shore we kept coming across more and more. Very quickly he had himself a sizable collection. We even ended up searching for some string with which to tie them together as he could only carry so many in his hands!!!!!

I asked him his plans for this seemingly strange and rapidly growing collection of floats. “I'll taken them back to Thailand on my next leave.” David lives about 300 kilometers from the nearest shore line?....

“err... OK” I responded.

We continued walking. He did not say much for a few minutes, must have been reflecting on his last answer for he suddenly announced “You know... I think I'll just leave these on the beach” At which point he promptly dropped the floats on the beach where he was standing and proceed to march on. One less thing for Thai Customs to worry about!!!!

Good walk and now time for lunch. The days half gone already. Work tomorrow...

Wednesday

2011-01-05T18:47:00.007+07:00

It's Wednesday. Nearly the weekend. I have yet to get used to the idea of Friday being 'La Weekend'. It has advantages. Working Saturday and Sunday is not such a big deal and before you know it Friday has arrived. And time is flying by here. I have not had a chance to do much exploring since I posted on Saturday, but hope this weekend (Friday) to do someting and look round. Next weekend I think it will be a trip to the interior. There is a place called Liwa and another called Al Ain. They are both about 200 kilometers inland. Big beach!!! I went to Al Ain in 1978. Suspect it has changed beyond recognition, not that I remember all that much anyway... So first inland trip this time is Liwa.

Memories of it, Al Ain, all are vague at best. I do recall lots of sand, sand and more sand. But not entirely the full picture. Al Ain itself was quite beautiful. A small oasis town set in the foot hills of the mountains seperating UAE from Oman. My memories do include some fabulous scenery, sun burnt mountains and golden and 'red' sand. For some reason the red sand I recall as we walked through it for a few hundrew meters. Sure it was there..? Hope I can capture some of the 'feeling' of it all on my little camera. Will do my best. For now I am still near the shore. So I'm attaching a nautical photo, I came across, scan actually but that does not really matter. It shows a local dhow plying the waves. They have annual competitions and I'll be attending for sure. Another event to look forward to.

2011 New Years Day

2011-01-01T17:14:00.015+07:00

We, that's David, Ronald and Roderick, and me of course. We had a walk down to the shore this morning. Hardly to clear out any cobwebs as everyone had an early night !!! That's a side bennifit of being in Ruwais to celebrate New Years Eve.

The Bay. Its a lovely little bay with a few fishing boats tied up above the water line. A working ferry that goes back and forth to a neighbouring island called Sir Bani Yas. Not sure whats on the island. Looking at google earth it seems oil tank farms anf also some nature reserves. Will get over there on day.

Here this little harbour/jetty area sort of place seems very quiet, just a few people doing some fishing from the shore. Have not seen anything being caught.

But the quietness, I put it down to being a public holiday. I somehow suspect however that it is quiet most days, except for some activilty when the fishermen are putting out to sea in the mornings and bringing in their catch at night. I did visit the Ruwais Housing Complex last week, where there were plenty of shops, one selling fresh fish so maybe, just maybe, they come from here.

We walked from our camp up a small road and along the length of the jetty then up the adjacent hill. Looking down at the sea, it was very calm, beautiful clear blue water. The bay had obviously sometime ago been dredged and small landing stages erected. I would guess the dredging was carried out several years ago, maybe 5 -10 years past. The small landing platforms are all rusted and in rapid decline. Sad to see but you will know as well as me that the salt water will corrode anything. Add in the effects of warm sunshine and things just rot away almost before your eyes.

Some improvements are underway. It does however bring back memories and remind me of my first times in Qatar when things were not so developed. That was 1978! Back then in similar places there were lots of small jetties and shore structures dotted along the shorelines. They disappeared during my time there to be replaced by 'bigger and better' and more modern structures. Sure the same thing will happen here and it will change here, possibly even in the period of my short stay.

Anyway enough writing about the decline and gloom of an old jetty area. It's Jan 1^st 2011 and a new year. Sun shining etc etc. Happy times ahead for sure.

New Years Eve And All That

2011-01-01T11:27:00.002+07:00

Firstly HAPPY NEW YEAR.

The thing that appears to be sticking out of my head is not from me. It is the top of my guitar resting on the settee behind me. Bad self photo.

2011 has arrived and with it lots of new ideas and plans for the future. Last night was a quiet one. Chatted on the phone with friends and family and then had an evening in. Since I stopped drinking, yes still going strong in that department, the idea of going out to celebrate new year seems less important.

Wanna was at home in Ban Muang, and she with some of the family had a dinner and drinks together. I managed to chat and video away with her on Skype for a while. Really amazing when you think of it. Sitting in Abu Dhabi and using a simple laptop talk to the rest of the world. really.

But back to New Years Eve, I had dinner in our 'camp' usual stuff of meat and 2 veg, at least thats whats I think it was... then back to my room. I have my Lego Mindstormer robotics kit out here with me so decided to get back into some building and programming. I really enjoy it and need to move way from following the simple assembly instructions and be more creative. It will come.

Today will be a walk down the beach complete with a backup set of photos. Our camp is situated only a kilometer from the sea so plenty of boats and shore line. We'll have a few hours wallking along and see what we see!!! Will let you know how it goes.

Boxing Day

2010-12-26T19:27:00.004+07:00

Yes I know Christmas has passed and is over for another year. All over that is till 25th Dec 2011. And that’s not a long way off. Only 364 shopping days left. Sounds a lot but really 2010 has flown by. Why do I sound so cynical ?
I spent my Christmas in Abu Dhabi, well Ruwais actually, on a construction site. It was a working day like any other day here. Started on site at 07.00 and finished at 18.00 hrs. Same as the day before. Need to keep some perspective and remain honest in my descriptions! Actually Friday was our weekly day off!!! And I can assure you that as well was not much fun. And I still got up at 5.30am. What to do? Why was I doing it? Well they were good questions I asked myself many times throughout the day. I have no idea why I got up so early or why I got up at all. Should have just relaxed in bed all day.
But last night before sleeping I did relax in bed and gave myself some time to reflect.

Me, spending Christmas day working in the desert living in a workers camp.
My wife in Thailand.
My daughters in Seychelles.
My parents and brother in UK.
And then the meaning of life. No I won't go there.

This reflection really did make me wonder why exactly I was so far away from them all. I could have gone and flown off in almost any direction and I would have been with some of them. I should have taken a couple of days off to join them. Life after all is not a dress rehearsal and I should make the most of it.
2011 is on the way. Lets enjoy it and look forward. Only looking backwards to learn from our experiences. Smile and make someones day.

Ruwais And Desert Camp Life

2010-12-19T13:18:00.013+07:00

Where? Yes, but where exactly is it?....

Click this link Ruwais for more info on the place. its a technical link about Oil and Gas development in the area.etc. Below I've added a few sort of made an arrival events diary really for me to remember the sequences and let my colleagues know the deal. And Its easy to cut and paste into here!!

Email sent to colleagues....

Short review of steps to be taken on arrival in Abu Dhabi.

I arrived late Saturday evening. Its about an 11 hour flight from Seoul. On arrival follow the crowd!! Go to the visa on arrival desk. Its just to the right of the immigration desks. Go to the counter and hand over the photo copy of your visa/employemnt/sponsorship forms. (Its the Pink form with your photo on it.). They then hand over the original. You may need to sit and wait a bit. I did. 20 minutes. They hand you the original then you go for an eye scan. After which you do immigration and go to baggage collection. Hotel driver should be waiting outside. (I think you can buy duty free on the way in. Shops are open in baggage area? or was it before, not sure. Where ever if you want to buy some booze buy where you see it available! Not sure the limti but no one appears to check you coming in anyway)).

Hotel is on Hamdan street. About 30 minutes from airport. Its situated almost directly opposite the office. I was given a room on the 17th floor. 'Club' rooms. So good rooms, cable TV etc. Fridge full of booze which was very expensive. The hotel does breakfast etc and also has a pub in the ground floor/basement. Looks good. Only down side is they are renovating lobby area so entrance is a bit strange and difficult to navigate. Need to take a lift to the lobby then you need to change to get up stairs. Not really an issue.

Walk to the office is less than 5 minutes. 7th floor of Al Ghaith Tower on Hamdan Street. Office hours are 7'ish till ....??... don't know I never stayed long!!! Suggest you use the proper provided road crossing, at least initially

On arrival ask for Kristine, Sharon or Abigail. All very helpful. They will organise you a mobile phone and park you at a desk. It has internet access. Once there they will organise for you to have a Motts email etc. Any problems on this and the IT guy will help. The girls will also show you the coffee area etc.

I also made a curtsy call on Hisham Managing Director, and had a coffee with him in his office!)

Next up they will organise you for the medical. Medical requires you to take a form (from Kristine) to the medical centre. (Motts driver Ibraheem) wil take you and lead you through the process. Suggest you go early morning otherwise you sit in a big que. It is very simple.Examination by Doctor. He does not touch you just asked if you are OK? Then a blood smaple followed by an X ray. Once in the processit is all over in 5 minutes. Ibraheem will pay for all this so you do not need cash. He will need to go back the next afternoon to collect the paper work. You do not need to accompany him.

They will also have some one from HSBC visit the Motts office so you can open an acocunt. This account is only activated once you get your work permit. But itshould be in place within days meaning your salary gets credited into it!! HSBC offer you a choice of accounts and additional insurances should you be interested..

PPE. Again Ibraheem helps out. he will take you to the Motts prefered PPE shop. See Red Wings! They have all the PPE except ear mufflers and life jackets. Do this purchasing trip when you want.

Tuesday. After that it is a waiting process. Me, I've come in the office to check emails etc and catch up on some private correspondence!!! Not staying all day. Just been told my security pass available. So off to site this afternoon.

End of email....................

Well I'm now in Ruwais. See the attached map and photos of my accommodation. I'm here for some time to come and that could be days, weeks, months or even up to a couple of years. Time will tell!

So far OK. I'm in a small camp with adequate accommodation and fed and watered 3 times a day. Since I've only been here a week it is difficult to comment on the food except to say it is OK. However I must reserve judgement as after a few more weeks of the same, same, same my opinion might change. Will let you know.

Now being here is not Thailand. Obvious statement but I am seeing lots of different things on a day to day basis which are new and worth recording. However day by day I am on a construction site where taking photos for some strange reason only known to the Owner is forbidden.

So what to do. How to record activities. Probably end up doing stuff on the Fridays which is our weekly day off. So I can cover some things. I needed some inspiration on this.

I was looking through some of my youtube links and watching someones Vlog. He was chatting away about things to do in 2011 and he made a couple of good suggestions. He was going to pick a theme for 2011 for his youtube videos and commentaries. He was thinking along the line of herbs. Yes medicinal herbs. This got me thinking. What a clever idea not the herbs so much as the idea of developing some themes and I now need to take this idea and develop something for myself. Obviously not the herbs, but give myself a set of objectives while here in Ruwais.

First throughs are that I should visit the area and just get to know it. See if there are any interesting things, boats, old houses, sand dunes etc as a start. Also already I've noticed a lot of bird life. Mainly due to the dredging activities which churned up a lot of stuff for them to eat. So that's a start. Give me a few days to think this one over. But herbs it won't be.

Abu Dhabi Arrival

2010-12-12T17:53:00.002+07:00

Got to Abu Dhabi late last night. It was difficult to know quite what time it was. Add in the extra time I had for completion of my immigration formalities, got dropped at hotel and finally reached my room I was even more uncertain! I had however remembered to ask hotel reception for a 7.30am wake up call. Not necessary as it happens.
We are 5 hours behind Seoul so I was still quite awake during the course of this morning. Beginning to flag now and I think early to bed this evening is looking very attractive.
Went to the office about 08.00am and started the process of meeting the new team etc then onto work permits, including more form filling. Seems never ending.
Opened my emails only to get a very sad message that a very close friend Clarence in Sacramento had died. So a sad start to the day. But not much unfortunately that I can do about to help apart from say a few prayers for him it.
Popped out for lunch at a small sandwich place recommended by one of the girls in the office. Initial impression of my first 5minutes in Abu Dhabi streets is that every one seems gentle and very polite. Also on the way back to the office I called into what appeared to be a local grocery/supermarket. Full, I mean busting at the seams type full of everything you could want. Fruits, meats, breads spices and nuts. Loads of nuts and dates. All combining to produce a beautiful smell.
Now this afternoon I am off to get a medical, necessary to be able to complete the Work Visa. Going to be tested for AIDS, HIV, TB etc. Could be some interesting results! Watch this space. They always say they are testing for TB. Well I had TB as a kid yet no one ever picks that up in a medical. I did crack some ribs a few weeks back coming off a motor bike. After the x-ray I might ask the Doctor about that. Then again why bother just get it all over and done with?
Tomorrow is no more exciting. HSBC are sending someone round to open a new bank account for me. The rule is if you work here you must be paid here. Simple enough so the banks are very keen to sign me up. I’m not so sure they will be keen when they realise just how small my monthly savings are going to be!!! This event will be followed by buying some site personnel safety kit. Plastic hat, safety goggles and steel toed hard boots. So shortly I’ll be all set to hit the work site running. Well I plan to do it as more of a quick walk!!!
Abu Dhabi. Well that’s going to have to wait till after all the above is done. Then I am free to roam until the work permits are all sorted. Already decided I will do some walking. Weather is good and I’ll get a chance to look round and see what’s what. I was last here in 1978’ish so it is all completely new. Photos and comments, observations and views to follow.

Dinner And The Trip Home

2010-12-09T07:14:00.026+07:00

Wonderful staff Christmas Dinner last night. Good company, good food and plenty of good wine. Recipe for success. It was at a Chinese restaurant somewhere in Seoul. Don't ask where! All I can say is that it was good. Everyone enjoyed and a few are suffering this morning. Office is very quiet!

This dinner was followed by a tube trip home. Simple enough. The system seems to run 24/7. In fact the system is very impressive. Clean, fast, digital signs and voice messages in the carrages and on the station platforms to tell you exactly where you are etc.It's hard if not impossible to get lost on the Seoul tube system. However and unfortunately for someone before us, he/she had been ill in the carrage, but no worries, as amazingly it was all cleaned up in an instant! It must have happened only a few stops before us. Not the best of subjects to write about but the effeciency of the clean up was very impressive. three people were there with buckets and mops etc, and the job was done between station stops. They were on, cleaned up the place and were gone within 5 minutes! Truely amazing.
We got off at our stop about 10 stops further on. From our stop it is only about 300 meters to our Condo. Normally a 5 minute walk right? Took us about 40 minutes as Wanna wanted photos in the snow!!! There was not so much snow left but enough for a few shots!!!! All goes to making happy memories of our time in Seoul.

Getting Close To Me Departing Seoul For Abu Dhabi.

2010-12-08T13:09:00.007+07:00

Cabbages

Thoughts on Seoul. Seoul has been an interesting place. People, Shops, streets, Football Stadium etc etc. Amazingly ‘High Tech’ situation everywhere. The subway is possibly the best I’ve ever seen. Complete with full info on train arrival, departures, adverts and more adverts, news programmes and more. Also so noticeable it is spotlessly clean, that’s the city as well as the subways. Makes Singapore look scruffy!!!! And that is saying something.

But I’m in no rush to come back. Why not? The main reason is the cold, so a summer visit might change my opinion. In fact I ma sure it will. Beautiful places to see with lots of smiling faces etc. The current walking 35 -45 minutes to and from work every morning and evening in -3 deg C with a lazy wind going straight through me is not my idea of fun. So can only come back in summer!!!!

Only real negative is, for me abnyway, the food. Must be I get too much good food from Wanna at home.... I find the food is not particularly spicy in a 'Thai' way nor full of good indian curry flavours. Must be gettign set in my ways... I mean don't get me wrong, its more than editable but, not something I would write home about. Great if you like Kimchi and more Kimchi. (Pickled spicy cabbage). Apart from that everything seems to work well.

But there is always an exception. Yesterday I asked one of our Secretaries to organize posting a small parcel to Seychelles. Simple enough using EMS. Excellent they, EMS even come to the office, collect the package and you pay there and then. Easy right? Well not so. I prior to their arrival had packed the parcel which was OK. However they, EMS then needed to know contents. I told them Soap. How many packages inside? 7. OK so far so good. Then I was asked where’s it going to? Seychelles. Where?....

Seychelles was not on the postman’s list of countries. So they could not send!!! As I said as long as it’s part of the system all is OK if not…… Dream on. I’m off to the local post office this afternoon to see if I can do any better. Will complete this posting after the visit. Second thoughts best to post in Thailand.

It’s snowing!!!!! First time since we have been here. Great… Sure won’t be getting this next week in Abu Dhabi. I understand it’s in the 20’s there already. Will be going out tonight, company dinner at an upmarket Chinese place so photos to follow.

FC Seoul And Jeju

2010-12-06T15:52:00.010+07:00

Saturday was spend again going round the centre of town. Spotted a guy on the wall absailing!! Well not a real guy. Also another floor plaque telling us the directions to various places. Wanna got in a bit of shopping and all in all we saw quite a few different bits and pieces. Including a Temple. Spotted a few monks walking around. Also caught up with some famous Korean Singers.

Saw people playing Checkers, some shopping attracted by some colourful displays of materials. Not sure what half of them were!!

Sunday. Another fun day in Seoul. We went to watch a football match. Never thought I would enjoy a football game. But…. It was the final between FC Seoul and JeJu football Club. What made it such a successful event was the fact that it was held in the Seoul World Cup Stadium and not only that, but it was filled almost to capacity so the atmosphere was amazing. Capacity is 77,000 and we had 57,000 so close to being full.

Wanna along with Peter and Jamie had a couple of beers and really got into the mood. Jamie was so excited to be able to have a beer at a match and I'm sure he could have enjoyed a few more. Told us several times he would sending a photo to his mates in Scotland!!!! Me I had a big plastic horn which seemed to annoy most people within a 10 meter radius. The whole thing had a very American air to it all. Cheer leaders and lots of flares and loud music. Big family event. When a goal was scored the sound system kicked in with full Wattage. It was a great day.

Got a load of photos to follow of various building and sights. Thats for next time.

Seoul At Christmas Time

2010-12-01T15:06:00.006+07:00

Bit of self promotion here. We had yet another walk round Seoul areas. Found a ‘Christmas Setting’ which was obviously for all passersby. Lovely photo opportunity. I suppose with the weather getting colder and snow expected in a few days time the place is taking on a Christmas feel.

With all the Christmas feeling it seemed strange to still be selling all this wonderful sea food. Just look at the octopus and squid. A real treat.

I started by saying self promotion. I did not really expect to see a shop called LLOYDs. And selling quality stuff to boot!!

Seoul Weekend

2010-11-29T13:33:00.006+07:00

View Seoul in a larger map

One thing for sure Seoul is a cold place. I see UK is cold but I had forgotten what it was like. Here is a very clear reminder!! Saturday and Sunday we went out having decided we would have a good look round. Well we did. We walked about 10 -15 kilometres over the weekend. Top loop on the map was BunChon Village which is a collection of old style houses. Some are old but a lot seem to have been restored and are now a major tourist attraction. Great fun just walking round it all. This was followed by again looking at street vendors and sampling numerous kebabs and sea foods all cooked on gas or charcoal. Spotted a Harley which Wanna took a shine to. Must say makes the thought of working for a few months in Abu Dhabi easier knowing I might buy one afterwards!!!! There is a big Harley shop in Seoul which I am going to track down next weekend. One thing we did see was vagrants who seem allowed to sleep in the subways. It seems as long as they do not annoy anyone they are left alone. Very civilized solution. I was taken aback however when I gave one old chap a few coins and he answered me in English saying thank you. The coins are quite attractive. No idea who the guy on the face is!!!! Bit old for sure.

Another thing that surprises me in the flower arrangements scattered about the town. Beautiful colours. Look closely and you will see they are cabbages. Yes cabbage seems to be the staple diet here. All a bit strange. Add in hearing Carol singing in Korea this early before Christmas all seemed surreal…We also had a look in a music store. It has guitars, pianos, wind instruments and every type of amp and speakers you could imaging. Amazing place.

We spend Sunday going round Namsam Mountain, well a hill really, which has the N Seoul tower on the top. Good walk followed by a very good lunch. The walk had a lot to do with making the meal seem so good. Peter from work has acted as guide and a good guide he was too. We had a chance to see some beautiful views and learn All followed by a subway trip home and an early night. I’ve added in a load of photos and short video which give a lot better idea than me writing much more…

Another Day In Seoul

2010-11-26T09:35:00.009+07:00

Did not get out yesterday but Wanna arrived here from Thailand yesterday morning. She managed to take a few photos on her way in on the bus from the airport. That’s after being held up at the airport for an hour by immigration. Seems Thai Citizens have the right to enter Korea as an ASEAN member but… they asked why she was coming and kept asking her for one hour. She went to 5 different interview rooms and still they could not understand she was coming in as a tourist to be with me… Unbelievable in this modern age.Anyway she did, after escaping the immigration, manage to shoot off a few shots and these are included below. The palace looks impressive and also the carrying style of local motor bikes is a biat different to Thailand. Noticeably there are few bikes around. I reckon the cold has a lot to do with that. But I did see a Harley this morning whilst walking to work and a Royal Enfield a few days back. Need to get out the camera… but the cold….

Last night Wanna and I had a walk down the same area I had seen a few nights back. It was just as cold as the last time. We had a good walk round, bought some woolly boots and ended up in a little noodle shop for evening meal. Than back home for a hot bath. Lovely.

We've got big plans of tonight and the weekend. Try and get to see as much as possible in a few day light hours. I am sure if we stayed here we would get used to the weather but we will only be here for a few weeks. So enjoy while we can.

Seoul The Beginning

2010-11-25T10:21:00.000+07:00

Firstly I should mention that all the newspaper stuff on the North and South Korea shootings does not seem to have any impact on daily life. I had a walk round the streets last night and everyone was going about their business as usual.

Major drama after work yesterday. I got lost going home on the subway last night. We missed our stop and had to mess about with route maps etc. Difficult when everything is in Korean. Instead of a 25 minute trip we ended up doing a 1 hour journey. What really annoyed me about it all was that it only takes 30 minutes to walk it. But walking it…. does mean exposure to the wind and cold!!!!

I keep trying to figure out how to describe this place. Different, easy, very clean, very busy, nobody talks on the subway, on the streets everyone spends their walking time on their phones – not talking but watching videos as they walk along… the rest are busy standing around drinking coffee from small Styrofoam cups or smoking. Lots of smoking…..Strange. Pretty useless description I know but it is difficult to add more at this time believe me. Oh yes and everyone looks Korean. Again this is something very clear as foreigners are few and far between in this area. I am told there are some very good foreign restaurants and entertainment areas in the Itaewon area. It’s a few kilometres away so taxi or subway. Will be checking that out over the weekend.

Like in Uk and other places there are lots of free newspapers and flyers given away at the entrance to the subways. Once on the trains there are a group of people busy collecting all the discarded freebies. They collect them up but moving in and out of the commuters, and bag them then and there. Nobody seems to notice as they continue watching their videos. Add in the very noticeable fact that nobody eats or drinks on the train. All very clean.

So this lunchtime I’ve decided I’ll take a walk around and try to capture a few shots showing ‘down town’ life in the central business area of Seoul.

Seoul Korea

2010-11-23T19:01:00.005+07:00

Just arrived in Seoul. Amazing place. I have no idea how to describe it. Firstly I arrived late on Sunday nigh. (now Tuesday evening).So Monday straight to work. Finished at 6.00pm and walked back to the hotel. Its cold. About +1Deg C. After Thailand thats very very cold. Anyway first evening had to have a quick walk near my Condo just to see a little of the place. Found a few small streets selling local crafts and plenty of restaurants and coffee shops. Took a few quick shots of the shop fronts. The top one os of a restaurant with spectacular windows. I could have clicked away all evening except for the cold!!!!

The two guys in the photo were selling some local sweets. I bough a box. Tasted good. Lots of sugar! Learnt to say thanks "Hamza Hamidah" or something like that.

Everyone very friendly and all seem to love speaking to me in english. So again easy life. This afternoon the news was full of the shooting going on between North and South Korea. But no one in the office mentioned it?... I am so looking forward to Saturday and Sunday. Wanna coming over and a chance to do some sight seeing. Just hope I do not freeze to death.

A Good Day Out

2010-11-22T18:46:00.000+07:00

Finally back on the mend and decided to have a day out at the lake/Dam with Hans and Pook. There is a very large resevoir about 55 kilometers out of Khon Kaen. A day visit is enough. This was followed the next day by Wanna and I having a lunch in a little really quaint local restaurant. Some of the best noodles I've eaten for ages.
Not much of a Blog entry but It's getting me back in the swing so to speak, I mean so to write. I'm off to Seoul in Korea in a few days and that should be interesting. So check back.

Posting?.....

2010-11-19T11:30:00.004+07:00

Two months and no postings. Why. No reason, just lazy and I have been on the move. Been over in UK to see my parents and look up my cousin Cary and family. Had not seen them for years. In fact many years about 15 or so.

During the visit Mother had a tree cut down in her garden. It was a large red wood which had died and was in danger of falling on her house. The video was taken by her friend Liz and it really is fantastic. Could not have done such a good video even if I tried for months and months. It really is worth looking at so please follow the link and after viewing leave a comment for Liz on Utube.

Requiem Tree

Absolutely brilliant video....

Visiting is fun and never long enough with many things not completed or wishing I did more. Still now back in Thailand.

One main reason for no postings is…..

I have been on Disulfrim. Look it up!!! It's to stop you drinking and 'boy' it works!!!!! I have been on it for quite some time. Except one evening after I returned I decided to have a small beer. Well that seemed OK so I assumed the tables were probably placebo type stuff. So having convinced myself all was all OK I decided to have a few and make up for me earlier abstinence!!! Big mistake. I started at 7.30 pm and drank a lot of local rice wine. Rough stuff that does give a good hit but burns your throat a little (a lot) on the way done. Bit like vodka I suppose but rougher... Well I wet to bed at 9.30 pm having had a bottle of the stuff followed by my usual glass of mike. 10.00 pm I was up. The tablets kicked in. Made me ill like I have never been ever, in life before. I finally stopped at 4.00.pm next afternoon. A day later I booked my self into hospital. I was in so much pain. I was put on drips, pain killers and loads of drugs. Burnt throat and stomach from being so ill. Mind you I did consume a whole bottle of grog at 40% proof.!! I dropped from 91 kilos to 83 kilos in 48 hours!!!! So that’s my excuse for not writing. Finished my last antibiotic etc yesterday. So please accept the apology but no sympathy.....

I start my new job on Sunday. Traveling to Seoul for 4 weeks followed by Abu Dhabi for a couple of years. New jetty construction.

So back to Blogging in next few days. Next posting from Seoul. Bye…..

Satellite dish.

2010-09-25T17:53:00.002+07:00

Big day today. I had been telling you all that I’ve been sitting round doing very little of late. Well today I added to that by getting a satellite dish installed. Means I can still sit around and do little but in so doing watch more TV channels!!
Installation was easy. Took them about 2 hours and most of this time was taken up by the need to pull the cables through our ceiling.
All in all a good mornings work. Now got over 300 channels nearly all in languages I do not understand!!!!!

So I think I'll be settling down to a bit more TV this evening....

Fishing.

2010-09-24T14:32:00.002+07:00

Having told you about how little I’ve been doing, up here in Ban Muang, I did find time for some more fishing…

Sitting by the pond and we, that’s Steve and I caught, well he caught them all, cat fish, Pla Chong (a favourite of Wanna’s), Pla Jalamet, (a sort of piranha) as we would call them.) . Vicious teeth that can cut through ordinary nylon line. Steve added in some braded line which made the difference between landing them and us telling stories about the ones that got away!!! h

The cat fish is about the biggest we have caught so very pleased. We will leave it in some fresh water for a few days to ‘cleanse’ then on the Bar B Q!!!!

While waiting on this process the next major job/activity is, yes you got it.. waiting again. This time on the satellite man to come and install the local signals dish. Picks up about 60 stations. Once installed the service is free. Can’t be a bad thing. So off to sit and do nothing for a while. Will record all about it here when I’ve finished!!!!!

Pook And Her Magic Cups

2010-09-22T14:23:00.001+07:00

Our friend Pook has started another aspect to her business. Making prints on cups, T shirts etc. Complements the Internet Cafe very well.

Silence

2010-09-18T14:21:00.000+07:00

You know as well as I do my Blogging has again gone quiet! Surprising to me and I write them! And really as I am not working at this time, so should have plenty of activities to report on and keep memories for the future.
You know it all sounds so easy. However every retired person I meet in Pattaya tells me they do not know where their time goes. Before when working I used to think this was ridiculous but now I’m convinced they are right!!!

Came back to Pattaya from Khon Kaen on Monday.

2010-09-09T10:53:00.001+07:00

Long journey about 7 hours. Normally takes 5-6 but this time we decided to go slow and stop off along the way to look at some of the sights.

The trip in basically north south crossing a low range of mountains. Up in the mountains it is easy to buy fresh vegetables, and being off the beaten tourist path prices are very reasonable. As usual it was one of those days where I did not have my camera. Used the phone camera which does not do such a good job.

We stopped up in the mountains and bought some veggies, also stopped at a coffee shop which had unusual seating! The local coffee was excellent.

Also spotted one of the long tailed rowing bots used in various competitions. These things can have a crew of up to 56 people. I know as I counted one time before! Well it was being transported by pickup and trailer. No big deal in Thailand but can you imagine the difficulties of towing a 50 foot boat on the English roads. The permissions and regulations alone would be frightening.

All in all a comfortable journey. Think next time we might stay over night up in the hills.

Rice Polishing

2010-09-03T12:31:00.003+07:00

I mentioned in my last post that the Land Spirits were now living in the rice hut and that we needed to buy a Spirit House for them. Well today we had need to open the rice hut. Wanna’s parents needed some rice so she filled up 4 sacks of rice. We took them up to one of the local rice polishers. They charge ?... How much per sack? I hear you asking. Nothing… That’s how much. But you know nothing is free in Thailand…. I’ve stated so often in the past. So what does ‘no charge.. nothing’ really mean? Where is the catch? Well the deal is simple. You bring in the rice and they dehusk the grains and polish them. You get back the polished rice. The remained they keep for animal food and other uses. Fair deal for all as far as I can tell.

Interestingly I do not see any quality control in all of this operation. Basic monitoring to ensure all works OK but apart from that nothing. When I say quality I am of course referring to the percentage of good grains as opposed to cracked grains. Commercailly they have very different values. But here in the village I suppose it makes little difference.
So we loaded up the ‘saling’ with 4 sacks, after Wanna had filled them full of rice from the store. Drove all of 500 meters to the polisher. Unloaded the sacks and left them there. Seems everyone adopts this approach. We went back in the afternoon to collect our freshly polished rice. Looks good and read for cooking.

House Blessings

2010-09-03T09:46:00.001+07:00

We seem to have had our fill of house blessing recently as you will have read. Today was one more but a bit different. Wanna had only a few days back, been to see the local religious man who is also something of a ‘Fortune Teller’. He provided some advice and fixed a time for a follow up prayer session and extra blessing at the house. That was all happening today.
Basically there were prayers, candles being lit, water bowls filled, cotton string pulled out etc, and then at one stage he went outside into the garden and walked around the plot, even buried a large rock in a hole adjacent to the house and placed some nails ( metal) in several corner locations. This was accompanied by prayers at the different locations around the garden then back into the house to bless the family.
It was a brief ceremony with only Mum, Dad, a couple of cousins and us.
During it all I was conscious of my trying to take photos. Difficult in these situations. Not sure if it shows some sign of disrespect or whatever. That said I did manage to get a half reasonable photo of ‘Dad’ and a side view of Mum. The others were even worse shots!!! Again as you can see problems with my ‘flash’ with the strong shadows in the background.
The Fortune Teller advised us on the reorientation of the Buddha’s in the prayer room and suggested we made some offerings to the ‘Land Spirits’. (now done).
He also advised we purchase a Spirit House for them as a permanent home. We should set it up in the garden, probably near the existing rice storage hut. No doubt it will be prudent to have him back then to let us know best location etc. Might do that next week. See how time goes.
I say he, but there were two of them. One older guy and the other a sort of apprentice as you can see in the photo. Anyway I hope some good comes of it all. Even if nothing comes of it, no harm was done and it was a relaxing experience. However I do wonder in a positive way, if there is something in all this prayer and the ability of ‘forward looking’…for want of a better description, as a few comments he had made last week to Wanna on some things have already come to pass. I’ll wait a bit longer and see what transpires in the next week or so. If it turns out as he has predicted well I’ll let you know. If not I’ll conveniently forget to mention it again!!!

The Visitor

2010-09-03T08:13:00.004+07:00

We were just sitting having a light dinner with some friends when we had an unexpected visitor from some where in the garden. He’s big so I can only assume he has been around for some time. A scorpion. First one I’ve ever seen in the flesh so to speak. Seen them on TV etc but not in real life and not in my back yard only a few meters from where I was eating!!!
Amazing creature. We managed to get a couple of shots of it but with poor lighting and direct flash meant we were not going to get not such a glamorous photo. No David Baily stuff here, for those of you who would remember him!!! Famous contemporary photographer mainly in the 80-90’s but more recently had his work reviewed and he was interviewed in the Guardian. Enough of David.
It was most definitely and interesting diversion from our dinner conversation!!! Not sure I really need or want a repeat.

Cock Fighting...

2010-08-31T16:28:00.001+07:00

Went for lunch at the local restaurant today. It is a very local spot where numerous people come in for sit down meals and take away's. We go about once a week when here. Well today was different. One chap came in with a baby carrier over his shoulder but no baby. Instead he was carrying his fighting cock. He treated just as a woman would a baby. Stroking it and making sure it was not in anyway frightened. He, the fighting cock in fact seemed very much at ease and not at all nervous. I am not keen on chickens, except to eat them that is. So I was even more impressed with all this. Add in the fact that no one, absolutely no one took any notice of this guy and his friend!

Where to buy a Guitar in Khon Kean ♪♫

2010-08-31T16:26:00.001+07:00

I've been on various web sites trying to find the location of a guitar shop in Khon Kaen. Easy enough I thought especially using www. Thaivisa.com which generally seems to be a good source of information for such stuff. Not to be.

So I mentioned to Wanna that I could not find an address for a guitar shop in Khon Kaen. "Why did you not ask me first? My last job was in a shop opposite the local guitar shop!!!" Enough said!

Well off we went. Bough a Yamaha 310 with an electric attachment which means I can plug and drive the neighbours mad while I learn my first few chords.

After buying the guitar of course I found more shops selling guitars….One only 50 meters from the first.

Now been to both and I would choose NUMSIL as a first choice for next purchase. Details below for you the reader and me to be able to find for next time!!!!♪♫

Washing Machines

2010-08-26T14:44:00.007+07:00

A friend in the village runs a small coin operated washing machine business. He’s been at it for a few years operating from his garage at home. Last week he rented a small lockup. Its one of about 6 along the main village road. Others are internet games room, motorbike repair, and electronics repair shop. So he’s just moved all his stuff yesterday and so I went along to have a look.
About 10 washing machines staked up. Tells me he has about 80 of these things on the go. They are scattered around several neighbouring villages. They all are coin operated and he charges a fixed amount per wash Seems to be dong quite well. Not going to make millions but enough to keep him and family in a reasonable life style.

Interesting on my visit today as a couple of guys came by to install the coin operating system on the new machines. To do this they have to take the machines half to bits. Then install a few wires and connections then bolt on the coin slot machine ‘thingy’ to one side and that’s it. Ready for use. So without delay out go the machines to their new home and to make more money for its owner… Enough to buy some more machines. The cycle goes on…..

Typical Thai Roadside Restaurant

2010-08-26T14:31:00.005+07:00

Stopped at a road side restaurant the other day. Nothing special but in its own way quite interesting. Not only was it a restaurant it was also the house, kindergarten, open storage area and general living area complete with a sleeping dog!
I shot a short video while there. Essentially to try and capture the essence of the place. I’ve left it basically unedited but it does give a very clear idea of a typical roadside restaurant. Well there is no ‘A’ typical restaurant in Thailand. Each one is so distinctive in its own way. But this will give you some idea of at least one!!!!

Musings From The Farm

2010-08-26T10:30:00.001+07:00

Rained all night. And again this morning. Makes getting anything done in the garden just hard work and somewhat unpleasant. The good thing is the drainage system we installed round the new house is doing well. I had envisaged a load of erosion but it seems the drainage did its job and so prevented any real damage.

We had planned today on laying/placing some grass seed to also combat erosion but the seeds will only get washed away.

Similarly, our pond which is now completely full from the rains needs our attention. The overflow pipe requires to have a reduction to the opening. Having filled up so well with the rain I do not want to see it a drain out again in the next few weeks. But sorting that out is not an enjoyable job in the rain. It will have to wait.

What to do? Done some fishing and interestingly it is very easy to find worms at this time. Just dig up around the banana plants. Got lots. Followed by catching 2 fish. About 500 grams each. In addition I lost 2 hooks which were taken. So for sure some big ones out there. All this fishing done between down pours.

We do need to get into Khon Kaen and sort out some things. Got a couple of 200 litre plastic drums for sale, and a buyer. (They are left over surplus to the aquaponics system). Get Baht 800 for the 2. So selling them pays for the trip up. Not sure what we're selling for the return trip!!!

Also I want to look at some music shops and check out prices of guitars.

Add in some time on the internet and the day will have passed, even if it continues to rain. And that's the prediction. Then come evening it will be time to fix another Bar B Q. And that's a ood job, one ot look forward to.

Quick look at Ban Muang

2010-08-24T11:05:00.004+07:00

Finally after running around for the last few days, I have managed to take a few shots. Much better ones to follow. One thing I could not do was get a good photo of a beautiful bird that was sitting around on a bamboo stick near out pond. Just could not get the focus or the right aspect. What I have got should however be enough to let you see it was quite special.
The quick set of shots are poor more of me being in a rush just to get something onto my Blog. So for you followers better stuff to follow soon enough.

Up to Ban Muang

2010-08-24T10:28:00.003+07:00

All was going well in Pattaya but late on the Friday night we had a call. We needed to come up quickly to Ban Muang on family business, so in a mad rush we packed the truck and made our way up. So laden were we that we had to drive slowly. We had not been planning on coming up for a week or two but it was very necessary.
Packed up the truck bring with us our aquaponics system (well bit by bit) along with other bits from Owens house will eventually be required to come up and give him some space. This included Buddha Head figurine about 1 meter tall. (We had bought him a few days ago and decided to place him in Wanna’s parents house in the prayer room. First he has to ‘have his eyes opened’ by the Monks at the Wat. That’s a job for Monday or Tuesday….Need first to attend to family matters. So up we came. Got stopped on the way by the police. Not for speeding!!!! No you were not going fast at all. But new rule. Your truck should be covered carrying so much loose stuff. Fine is Baht 400!!!! We discussed this. Fine was reduced based on our pleading our innocence and lack of understanding etc etc, It was reduced to Baht 200 and an official receipt. So all above board so to speak!!!! But what was really good about it. As we got back in our truck the policeman stopped me from departing, offered me a bottle of cold coffee and wished me a safe trip!!!
8 hours it took us door to door. On arrival we were greeted by Moi. She had been waiting and had saved us some dinner !!!!
Its been a couple of weeks since we were last up here. It has been raining hard for the whole period and so it was with some trepidation that I wanted to see just how well the garden had done. That will have to wait till tomorrow. Night!!!!

Pigs Head,

2010-08-19T18:10:00.003+07:00

Well imagine my surprise, our friend Tao called earlier to ask if we would like a pigs head? Well?.... err Yes why not. “Good See you in 5”.

Well 45 minutes later Tao arrives armed with,…. a…… yes you got it a whole Pigs Head already cooked. Amazing how much meat there is on it must weigh in at 5 kilos at least. So I can for see a lot of meals ahead all containing pork of some description. When all done I also for see a lot of pork soups coming up!!! Truth be known my favourite meat is pork so no worries on that score.

Shopping.

2010-08-18T17:44:00.004+07:00

We were out and about earlier today and stopped to buy some beer and odds and ends for the evening Bar B Q. Usual stuff, beer, charcoal and an assortment of crisps and nuts etc.
However it was a particularly interesting local village shop, At first glance it looked like any other road side places selling mundane stuff. But once inside there was so much more. It seemed to be more of a Thai Deli as the assortments of rice and fresh goods was so much more. There were about 30 different types of rice. I am no expert but I have had some of it explained. Different types and then different quality based on the amount of breakage 5% 10% etc. The differences in size and shape are also quite something. Good stop. Now back home for a dinner…..

Note:- pictures not so clear. Taken on my mobile phone!!!!

Local Area And Self Dicipline

2010-08-17T13:09:00.005+07:00

I remember thinking yesterday that I should observe more of what is going on around me and add it to my Blog. Well today as I'm not working I had decided to stay in!!! I know so difficult to photo much. But a quick visit to my friends house made me look round. Only 200 metres from our house is a beautiful Wat. I stopped for all of one minute just to capture one of the building against the tropical forest backdrop. It is not the most ornate or beautiful Wat but it does have an air of serenity and peace as I've found most Wats seem to have.
All that done I must now get down to some work and get myself back into some form of self discipline. It is so easy to tell myself "Oh that, I'll do it tomorrow". Very lazy. So now I have set myself some goals. As I said earlier. I must learn Thai and I also want to learn the guitar and play with my Lego. I know sounds so easy but really sorting out the self discipline is actually very hard. Watch this space..... Might even add in a few Thai words in a month or two!!!
I know I covered these thoughts a few posts back but I will be keeping a close watch on my performance and try and measure how I step up to my aims. So here is one start. 2 Blog postings in 2 days.....

Food and Dogs

2010-08-16T15:59:00.003+07:00

After posting this morning that I should be doing more.... Went into town with the specific aim of buying some Rice Bran oil. Yes Rice Bran Oil. (Used for making mayonnaise) well it is in my recipe.

While stopped I took a quick shot of a typical street restaurant and to my surprise the next shop was a "Doggy Beauty Parlour".

The model dogs were a bit different as well!!!!

Updates

2010-08-16T11:30:00.006+07:00

Hi, Seems time has flown by again and continues too. As you know I stopped work at the end of June and since then have even less time to write and it seems even less time to do anything!!! Where has the time gone? Well looking back the house did take a lot of time and effort. Now with a few days break and some travel, I need to get myself into some form of routine.
I've started some guitar lessons (well following a book actually but that is still lessons right?). Its not so hard but for the training of the fingers to actually go where they are supposed to and in the time frame required. It all looks so simple watching Led Zepplin and Hendrix. Now having had a first try I am so much more impressed.
So where was I. Oh yes time. I am going to try and split my time between getting fitter, guitar lessons, Lego Robotics and as much as I keep putting it off, getting back into my Thai lessons. I'm not inherently lazy (honestly) but when I am not keen on doing something there always seems to be a reason for not doing it!! But right now as I'm not working I really am out of excuses...
Furthermore I am going to try and post every couple of day. Not always stuff about me but try and cover a lot more of what is happening around me as well. You know, things I see, and should really record.
One immediate example was last Saturday night. Pattaya City put on a fantastic fireworks display. The Navy or at least I think it was the Navy who supplied 3 big barges and moored them out in the bay. Loaded them up with fireworks and in front of a capacity crown, yes the beach and beach road were packed with people, proceeded to give us one of the best displays I have ever seen. This all synchronises to music coming from hundreds of speakers placed along the whole lenght of the beach. Needless to say I did not have my camera! I forgot it in the rush to leave the house. Goes back to being so busy when not working... Check out Pattaya Daily News International Fireworks Festival They did a very good report on it.
Today is Monday and already I am energized to move forward. Photos to follow.

Final House Photos

2010-08-05T09:02:00.004+07:00

Final House Photos Promise. We completed the canopy and drainage yesterday. Only need to add grass to make the place look really green and established. Then back to more of my old Blogging. Goes well withour place. Pity I cannot make hte pond look blue.

End of July

2010-07-31T15:07:00.000+07:00

End of July and soon back to work. We’ve had a busy month not working. Finishing Wanna’s parent’s house. Moving all our stuff in storage. Mainly hydroponics equipment, mushroom kits and loads of shop shelving etc from out time in Jontiem. Little in the way of real personal stuff. So it was a good feeling this morning to wake up and think. There is nothing I have to do. House finished. Moving competed.
So I finally got out of bed and had a cup of tea. Wanna cooked up some Breakfast. ‘Nam Tok Moo”.

Simple pork dish make with ‘pork!!!’ lime, fish sauce, coriander and spring onions, dreid chilies dried and ground roasted sticky, all served up on steamed rice. Excellent start to the day. I really should get my videos of Issan cooking underway. With so much free time I cannot seem to get anything done. Work that out!!!

However I do have time to write all this up and then… relax, again. I’m writing this while listening to Bob Dylan. Time for another cup of tea.

House Construction The End...

2010-07-23T13:22:00.004+07:00

That's right... my last video on house construction, that is until we start another one...

Its been a hectic time and taken a lot of effort. Most of which was carried out by Wanna not me I should add!!!!

Stats:-

House is 11 metres x 9 metres. Near enough 100 sq meters.
Total cost of approximately 630,000Baht. That makes it 6,300 Baht per square meter. Just under 200 USD.

Not bad going when I think our Condo in Bangkok is selling at 80,000 per square meter!!!

House Warming

2010-07-21T14:48:00.003+07:00

21st July was an auspicious day for a House Warming. We had not completed everything but we were running out of time as the next auspicious day was some months ahead.

The House warming can be undertaken in several ways. Either by inviting the local Monks to come and pray and bless the house, land spirits and wish for good luck to the new occupants. Or have a close relation or religious family friend come round. We chose the latter which apparently is more traditional in Issan. And so it was. First we visited our neighbours who also were having a house warming. That was at 07.30 am. We arrived to join the procession which walks round the house three times. People carrying ‘house’ gifts such as food, local pillows, bowls etc. Also a standard requirement are photos of the King and Queen as well and Buddha Images and various assorted regigious items. This is followed by the new occupants being greeted on entering, complete with foot wash etc. All very organized and everyone seems to know what to do. That is except for the ‘Falangs’ like me who had no idea and just followed the crowd. Once all this is completed then we all go in for a feed. Beer at 07.30 am makes you very drowsy.

Our ceremony was scheduled for 5.30 pm. First through was the preparation, mainly getting the house ready and of course preparing the food. The preparation is a major social event and everyone joins in. Well all the ladies anyway!!! All went well with the three rounds of the house. Followed by all of Wanna’s family and close friends turning up to enjoy and give best wishes. Great day. I did do a lot of video but could not really see a way to record it in a sufficiently compact size to upload to a Blog. Hope you enjoy the photos and that they give you some idea of what happened.

Lego Humanoids

2010-07-10T15:47:00.000+07:00

So its started. My first real Robot. I've made it completely following the instructions on the software that comes with the package. So far so good and without to much mental hard work! However the problem is with the software controls from my laptop to the Robot. Why you ask? Well the design of the Robot does not allow the connection of the cable between the laptop and the robot. The location is such that I would have to remove the left hand and shoulder every time I needed to make a change. It has blue tooth and I'll try this again or its on with the next model.

House Construction Part VI

2010-07-07T15:09:00.002+07:00

Progress is going well. Should have everything completed by next week. Opening ceremony on 21st so two more vids to follow!!!!