Friday, April 21, 2017

Ko and Yoko's Visit - April 2017

Please forgive my spelling and punctuation; I'm a plumber and not English major. Just read and have fun.
You can click on any of the pictures and they become larger. 
Our friend Ko and Yoko came to visit us for five days.  It was wonderful to see them.  I met Ko around 1983, when we were starting the International Franchise of DIAL ONE. He came to California from Japan to learn about it. 

It was wonderful to meet Yoko for the first time. She is my age, 75 and was born in Nagasaki, Japan. Yes, she was about 4 years old on August 9, 1945 when the USA bombed her city. 

She was very forgiving as she laughed about thanking the USA as now she has free, lifetime medical because of that bombing.  If you would like to know more about the bombing just CLICK HERE

We made arrangements to pick them up at the Chiang Rai Airport on April 14th. 

We made a little sign so they would feel important. 

I think they were glad to see us.



We are going to stop for a little bit of supper on the way home. 

They serve only organic vegetables grown on the property. 

Daeng also fixed us some of her special papaya salad.

We're home and ready to call it a night. More fun tomorrow. 

April 15th, After a little breakfast and coffee it's off to check on the opium. 

After all, this is the Golden Triangle. 

The Hall of Opium is very educational. CLICK HERE for more details. 

The landscape around it is beautiful and so are the ladies. 

We had a little surprize for them, also. 

When you are eating on the Mekong River you need "Dancing Shrimp". 


Of course there was lots of throwing of water on our trip to the Mekong River as we are in the middle of the Holiday of Songkran

Here is a picture of the Big Buddha from the Mekong River. 

We ate at a table just left of the picture edge.

We picked the place because we knew they had Dancing Shrimp.

Then, after lunch it's a visit to her friend Peg.

Peg speaks Japanese so she, Yoko and Ko could talk.

The little girl is Peg's granddaughter and was afraid of me, understandable.

April 16th, Daeng took Ko and Yoko to the casino in Burma. 

Ko won so he bought us a big Chinese dinner.

April 17th, Today Daeng helped with the flowers for a friend's funeral.

She did some beautiful arrangements.

Ko, Yoko and I went on a little sightseeing adventure yesterday. 

We visited the Scorpion Temple, on the hill overlooking Burma, bought a new coffee maker, stopped to see Daeng's Mother's house up on the hill, visited the Monkey Temple at the caves and had a late lunch at Kentucky Fried Chicken.



They told me they don't call it Kentucky Fried Chicken anymore, they call it just KFC.

It was a nice day, even with a little rain.

April 18th, I needed to work on my knee as I haven't been doing much except walking.

Before Ko and Yoko got up, I rode my bicycle to the morning market for a cup, should say glass, of coffee.

It was very quiet this morning. 

Today, Ko, Yoko, Daeng and I went to the Queen Mother's Garden.

It was nice to say "Hello" to Mom, too.

She is in the garden.

If we have time, we will probably stop in Ban AYO on the way back.

CLICK HERE for a story from 2015 that has both the garden and Ban AYO in it. 

 








We had a great day but were too tired to go to Ban AYO. 


April 19th, We laughed as here is a video titled "Holiday at Doi Tung". 

Doi Tung is where the Queen Mother's Garden is.

We renamed the song "White Boy Can't Dance". When you watch it, you will understand.  Just CLICK HERE

It is sung in "AKHA". That is Daeng's native language. 

Since it was Ko and Yoko's last night with us, we had a little barbeque.

Everyone eat too much but was happy. 

It was great to have Ko and Yoko visit us.

We talked about many things, like what we what to be when we grow up. 

We hope to see them both again, very soon. 

April 19th, For their flight to Bangkok, I took Ko and Yoko to the airport in Chiang Rai (CEI).

As long as I'm there, I am going to meet up with some English speaking friend of Jimmy K at 5:30 PM.

It's also hard to turn down apple pie. 

Friday, November 18, 2016

Thailand - Fall 2016

We are having fun in Thailand.  To read about us currently just click on our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FunnyPlumber

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Holy City of Pattaya - Fall 2016

Please forgive my spelling and punctuation; I'm a plumber and not a English major. Just read and have fun.
You can click on any of the pictures and they become larger.
September 27th - We made it. First plane leg was way tooooo long, 12 hours and 59 minutes. We slept a little and watched a bunch of movies like X-Men: Apocalypse, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Money Monster, Tarzan and Demolition.


We just made the connection for the plane from Taipei to Bangkok as we only had about 50 minutes to do it.

That leg was only 3 hours and 5 minutes. We had a meal, China Airlines has okay food. We also watched the movie Angry Birds. It was a cool animated movie.

We breezed through Immigrations, picked up our bags and walked through the " Nothing to Declare" line at customs.

Daeng and I kissed, said: "See you tomorrow." She took a taxi to see her brother in the Bangkok Hilton.

Jon, our trusted driver, took me and all the bags to Pattaya, 2 hours south of Bangkok.

It's going to be a shower and bed for me. It was a good trip.

September 28th - I slept from 2 PM yesterday until 8 AM this morning. 

I shower, rented a motorbike for the week, had a massage with Thai (That is her name, Thai, so it's a real Thai massage.), had breakfast and went shopping for distilled water for my CPAP machine and cookies.

Daeng called from Bangkok and said she saw her brother and may come to Pattaya later today.

I think I'm doing to take a nap and maybe visit some friends later today.

September 29th - Daeng made it from Bangkok last night.

We got up this morning at 6:00 and had breakfast at our favorite neighborhood eating spot.

Maybe we can say goodbye to jet-lag.

After breakfast I went to a meeting with some English friends in Pattaya.

Then I drove over the hill to Jomtien Beach, meet with some more friends, checked out the beach and a hotel that Jon, our driver told us about.

It is nice for 900 THB (about $26 USD) a night.

On the way back to the room I had some comfort food at McDonald's.

It's time for a nap.

September 30th - At 8:00 AM, I'm starting my day with a western breakfast.

I am going to meet with friends in 3 meetings today. With a massage and a nap, it will be a full day.

It's Friday, with big sales, so Daeng is going shopping. 

October 1st - Revelation, I forgot my phone in the charger at our room last night when I went to a meeting in Jomtien Beach and DID NOT MISS IT!

We bought the plane tickets home on Bangkok Airways this morning. 

We travel north on October 6th at 7:35 AM.

We land south of our home at 8:55 AM, so with the ride 60 km north, we should be home by 11:00 AM on Thursday. 

For lunch, we walked across the street into the largest, oceanfront shopping center in Asia, Central Festival.

I had chicken noodle soup and Daeng had Papaya salad. 

October 2nd - Great Sunday morning, massage and met our friend BoonMa for an Expat Club Meeting.

We are just going to hang out, get some sun and have some fun. 

October 3rd - Not much happening today but tonight we are going to go to 'Walking Street".

They close down the end of Beach Road around 6:00 PM and reopen it to vehicles around 2:00 AM. 

It is what a lot of folks call the "Fun zone" but I feel all of Pattaya City is a fun zone. 

October 4th - We did have fun on Walking Street.  

Daeng told me: "No more pictures!" I love her. 

October 5th - Today we visited the Sanctuary of Truth.  

It is an amazing place and all carved out of wood.

It is a work in progress and Daeng even helped a little. 

That is why we had to wear hardhats. 

I was proud of myself, walked down the 67 steps, around the complete grounds and back up again.

We spent a good part of the day there. 

If you get to Pattaya, do yourself a favor and go see it. 

Also, it's nice to be treated like the King. 

You can see more pictures on our Facebook page by CLICKING HERE

October 6th -  We returned motorbike, packed and checked out of Dobler House at 4:30 AM.

We just stopped to fill up with propane for the 125 km to airport in Bangkok.

It is raining!

It was a smooth trip to the Bangkok Airport, an easy check in at Bangkok Airways.

Besides being 800 THB (about $24.00 USD) lower in plane fare and not charging extra for the 8 km over in luggage weight, they feed us, also

They have a wonderful passenger lounge with great food and coffee.

Plane took off on time.

When we arrived in Chiang Rai, they even had some music to welcome us.

Our driver, guy, picked us up and took us to Mae Sai.

We are unpacked, luggage is put away, pickup truck and both motorbikes started, tire pressures checked on motorbikes and bicycles.

Our bed is calling: "Nap time, nap time." 

It was a good trip with our stay in Pattaya but it is nice to be home in Mae Sai.