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Sunday, December 14th, 2003
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9:36 am
rawrrrr
(plant a seed)
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Saturday, December 13th, 2003
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10:37 pm - "A plan is just a list of things that didn't happen"*
things didn't work out quite the way we had wanted or expected. after much running around, Jodi almost has her research visa. she'll have to go back on the 29th for another signature. mind you the extension we got on our visas expires on the 25th so hopefully that won't complicate things.
the petty bureaucrat that we have to deal with insists that we present a copy of our marriage certificate, certified by the US embassy.
he also seemed to indicate that i would need to leave Thailand and go to another country that has a Thai consulate.
this is all very confusing.
more expensive than we had planned
and disconcerting.
theoretically i could be tossed out of the country in two weeks. i'm trying not to think about that.
and in truth i don't think it's going to happen.
but things are being, uhmm, difficult
in a larger sense this seems to be the effect of P.M. Taksin's basic policy that he is fine with farangs as tourists, but other than that he would like to see the rest of out of the country.
so he has massively raised the fees on all visas and generally made things more complicated/difficult
feh!
well, now that i've gotten that off of my chest maybe i should start back at the beginning of this little adventure.
late wednesday afternoon we left Ashley in the very capable hands of Mark and Dana.
Jodi and i briefly stopped by the talat to get some dinner to eat on the train, knowing that the food on the train is both expensive and bad.
the songtao ride was quick and easy so we arrived at the train station with lots of time to spare. it was very nice to have such a relaxed start to a generally (at least on my part) dread filled errand.
once the train was underway, we ate our dinner, played cards, talked, laughed, flirted, read books, watched the full moon, and overall really enjoyed each other's company... it was nice to just have some jodiallyn time.
we didn't get the best night's sleep, but i didn't expect to either. we were, after all, on a train.
Bangkok (Grungtep)
after a little bit of freshening up in the train station bathrooms we got some mediocre breakfast. after eating we got a map of the city. it didn't take us long to figure out where the immigration office was and how to get there by bus.
so far so good. i was feeling pretty optimistic.
of course that sort of went to hell in a handbasket as i've described above or for a better description check Jodi's post on the trials and tribulations of dealing with Khun Fuckwit
i had mostly kept my cool (jai yen) while we were at immigration, but shortly after we left (around noon) the accumulated stress collapsed me like a (metric?) ton of bricks
most of the rest of the day was spent wandering around Grungtep accomplishing nothing 'cause we didn't have a plan or inspiration.
highlights were...
taking a river taxi (bus?) up and down the chao phraya
a very tasty dinner (khnome jinn)
a couple of very refreshing beers after a very long walk
on the train ride home we were seated across the aisle from a couple of Americans who we had a lovely time talking with for a couple of hours before collapsing into fitful sleep
we arrived back in Chiang Mai yesterday (Friday) morning. came home, took a much needed shower. shortly thereafter, Ashley came home. we did a few tasks around the house and then went to the post office so i could send out a much delayed package
our evening's entertainment was going to see Love, Actually.
it was marvelous and delightful. i highly recommend it.
today was productive. we cleaned the house. got a mattress for the second bed in the guest bedroom and made a list of goals and projected timeline for Ashley's education. the homeschooling project is really starting to take shape. i'm excited about it, Ashley is excited about it and Jodi is excited about it.
hooray!
we decided to have a quiet (and inexpensive) night tonight. the three of us stayed home and played a card game that Ashley taught us.
p.s. my perfectly lovely mood has been spoiled a bit by it taking 40 minutes to make a connection through my ISP
::grumblegrumblegrumble::
*Christopher McQuarrie
current music: Portishead (1 flower | plant a seed)
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Wednesday, December 10th, 2003
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3:50 pm
Jodi and i are leaving for the train station in an hour. we're going to Bangkok to get this visa situation (finally) sorted out. we'll be back in about 36 hours.
here's hoping that this all goes smoothly.
Ashley will be staying with Mark and Dana. Amy and Amanda have also offered to help keep Ashley entertained while we're gone.
hooray for friends
current mood:  busy (1 flower | plant a seed)
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Tuesday, December 9th, 2003
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11:02 pm
that was disappointing
we went to go see Once Upon A Time In Mexico. I had previously very much enjoyed El Mariachi and Desperado.
But this new film,.... well it sucked. So much potential wasted.
alas
p.s. our ISP still really sucks too
p.p.s. yes i'm in a complaining sort of mood
current mood:  disappointed (2 flowers | plant a seed)
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10:51 am
is this the kind of "democracy" that you want?
current mood:  nauseated (8 flowers | plant a seed)
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Monday, December 8th, 2003
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8:57 pm - adding insult to injury
as i was trying to type up my account of today's frustrations, i managed to lock up my computer.
i have no idea how
that never happens. so i restarted it, but of course had lost what i had written.
feh!
current mood:  frustrated (plant a seed)
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7:51 am - heh heh heh
i've made a few new icons for my LJ
current mood:  accomplished
current music: Jodi sleeping (8 flowers | plant a seed)
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Saturday, December 6th, 2003
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4:46 pm - this morning, Ashley and Jodi
current mood: accomplished
current music: Banco de Gaia - I Love Baby Cheesy (8 flowers | plant a seed)
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4:36 pm - review and up to the moment
Sunday afternoon Jodi left for Bangkok, Ashley would be arriving on Wednesday so Jodi went there a couple of days early to get some work/research/meeting people/interviewing done
this left me at home alone
i hate sleeping alone... which means that i stayed up late every night. avoiding going to bed until i was absolutely exhausted. Sunday i went to a late showing of Matrix Revolutions.
Monday i spent the day at the office, mostly fretting about whether everything was really going to work out with getting Ashley here. there had been so many disappointments over the last few months that some part of me was still not sure it was really certain it was going to happen.
Monday night i got together with Mao and Thomas. a wonderful evening in and of itself... and even more welcome 'cause i was desperately it need of distraction.
Tuesday was, as usual, spent at the office. i helped Mark a bit with migrating from Eudora to Mail, and discussing the quickest/easiest way for Amy and Amanda to compile some data for him. in the evening i treated myself to Italian F.
earlier in the day Jodi had asked me to get Ashley's phone refilled with baht since Thursday afternoon Jodi had an interview and i was going to be in Mae Hong Son so Ashley would be by herself at the house. we figured that as likely as not she would take a nap. but just in case an unforeseen emergency came up we wanted her to get a hold of us*. i stopped at one of the many cell phone vendors on Suthep Rd. it took a while to get it all sorted out. i couldn't just get a refill for the phone, the sim card was expired and it took a while for them to figure that out and then to communicate that to me**
after that i figured i was entitled to/had earned a roti..... mmmmm chocolate
i came home and stayed up late once again. first watching Fellowship Of the Ring and then burning a dozen CDs so that Mao and I would have music on our road trip
Wednesday morning i got up early so i could run a couple of errands/make sure everything was ready for Ashley and Jodi's arrival.
Mao picked me up just after 9am, as previously arranged, and we headed north. we stopped occasionally just to enjoy the view. much talking between us. i really enjoyed it. this is the first time that Mao and i have had one on one time. with the exception of her cell phone occasionally ringing (usually in reference to the mission we were on) we had hours for continuing conversation.
we arrived in Bpai around 1pm. had a good lunch (Mao likes som tum as much as i do). and then checked into our guest house, a lovely little right on the river.
we took a walk around town, pretty small place, reminded me of beach towns i've been to in Oregon and California. lots of tourists, it seemed like half of the people there were farangs. the whole economy seemed built around it. but having lived in Chiang Mai for a little while now i saw where there were interactions and commerce strictly between the locals.
i'm becoming more and more convinced that Mao knows just about everyone, or at least a significant portion, of the people in northern Thailand (and probably a fair number in the central portion of the country as well). while we were walking around we stumbled across a small bookstore, recently opened by a friend of hers that she had not seen in a few years.
we made a side trip (by car) out to a nearby hot spring... actually more of a hot stream. i'm sure if we had followed the stream all the way to it's source, we would have found spring, but we didn't hike that far. we found a little place to get in the water. unfortunately Mao had forgotten her swimsuit, so she just sat on the edge of the stream while i got in the water.
after a little while we went back to town. relaxed on the porch of our guest house and continued our conversation... by this point the conversation was getting more and more personal and interesting. Mao is quite different from any other Thai person i've met. she is quite open, and quite curious about topics that most Thais would never broach. which i find very refreshing... i often feel like i don't get to express myself fully here.
social norms are changing, but being a guest in this country i am not inclined to push those limits. so i stay on the conservative side. which means that Jodi and i don't touch when we're in public,... and i miss things like holding hands while we walk down the street. and so of course conversations relating to sex are pretty much taboo. but not so with Mao.
off we went to find something to drink. we had a couple of beers at bar/restaurant and then decided that it was probably not worth the effort of finding some place else for dinner so we got menus and decided to eat there as well.... which turned out to be a good decision. the fish with chilies was excellent.
while we were there we struck up conversation with a farang (Eric) at the next table. the subject of music came up, and the fact that he was a musician and was planning on going to BePop that night. BePop is the bar in town for music... and the same place that Mao and i were planning on going later (also worth noting that Mao also knows the owner... like i said, Mao knows everybody)
we told Eric we would meet him at BePop later, but first Mao and I wanted to go back to our guest house. Mao wanted to get the car and drive instead of walking to BePop. we hung around the guest house for a little while, talking and as part of the conversation i ended up giving her a kiss.
BePop was fun. although a bit trying on Mao initially. shortly after we arrived, Eric approached her. he'd obviously had a couple of drinks at that point and rather clumsily propositioned her... she deftly deflected him, including his follow-up attempt 5 minutes later. we didn't see him again for 15 minutes at which point he came back over and apologized for his behaviour.
working the bar were two long-haired Thai guys and young women who i initially assumed was half Thai... right up until she spoke, in english, with a perfect California accent. she didn't speak Thai at all. her name is Tricia and she's actually of Philippine descent but raised in CA, and most recently had been living in Hawaii. she was spending a few months in Bpai because her sister is involved with the owner of BePop. i had fun flirting with her. i don't get nearly enough opportunities to flirt here (in Thailan)... and flirting is so much fun. she obviously liked flirting just for the sake of it too.
BePop closed at 1am so Mao and i went back to our guest house, we talked a little more and i gave her a little massage before going to bed
Thursday was our "mission" day
the whole point of this trip was to rescue Mao's father's maid from Mae Hong Son. she is Burmese and had gone back to Burma to visit family and now was having troubles getting back to Chiang Mai. she has papers to legally be in Thailand,... or more specifically in Chiang Mai. but her papers do not allow her to travel between districts in Thailand. and since we're relatively close to the Burmese border there are many check-points between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong son with armed guards just waiting to deport and/or incarcerate illegal Burmese immigrants.
Mao's father had made the arrangements with a couple of police officers he knows. his maid would ride with the police officers through the various check points, while Mao and i followed behind.... the reason Mao needed to be there is that the maid was very nervous around about the police,... having been recently (repeatedly) arrested for being in the wrong district without her papers. she was unlikely to get in any car with police unless someone she really trusted, such as Mao, told her it would be okay.
after some breakfast and waiting for the heavy morning fog to burn off, Mao and i drove from Bpai to Mae Hong Son. very mountainous and very beautiful country... i'm very much looking forward to making this trip again, at a more leisurely pace, with Jodi.
we picked up the maid (whose name i can't remember right now) and then went to meet up with the police.
a curious thing happened. on our way back to Chiang Mai there weren't any guards at any of the check points. Mao couldn't say why, although she suspected that some phone calls had been made... maybe they were "encouraged" to all take a long lunch. my impression is that Mao's father has quite a bit of influence/is well connected when he wants to be.
nonetheless, the police didn't want to take any chances on unnecessary stops (and they had driven all through the night to meet us in Mae Hong Son) so we didn't stop for lunch... just drove straight on through Bpai to Chiang Mai. finally arriving about 4:15pm. we dropped the maid off at the family compound and then Mao and i continued on to my house. Mao spent a few minutes with Jodi, Ashley, and I before taking off to her own evening... we'll see her again soon.
Ashley was (understandably) feeling jet-lagged, so we decided to have a low key evening. a leisurely walk to get some pad thai. then back to the house, we curled up on the couch and watched Casablanca.
Friday was a bit more adventurous. after a relaxed morning at home we set off on a walk to Nimmanhamen Rd. we had decided on having Khaosoi for lunch and there is a restaurant there that does it pretty well. and it was also the last day of a street fair on Nimmanhamen Soi #1. we did some shopping there and since it ended pretty much at Mao Dok Mai, they were open for the afternoon (they usually don't open until 6pm. we sat out in the garden, which is lovely, i would love to have a garden/yard like that. big trees that the sunlight gently filtered through. i was delighted to hear that the music that Tai was playing was a CD i had burned for him a couple of months ago. ::grin:: i really enjoy sharing music. anyhoo, we stopped for a brief beverage/respite and introduced Ashley to Tai.
from there we took a songtao to Central to do a little bit of shopping. there were some essentials that Ashley had not brought with her and she wanted to get some more clothes since she is rapidly outgrowing everything she currently owns... she's an amazon. i think she's grown a couple of inches since we saw her in June. by 3pm we were all feeling tired, we had a second lunch and did a little bit of grocery shopping before heading home.
at home we did a couple of small chores around the house before settling in for some reading/email/quiet time. we went out for a little bit of a late supper, came back home to continue our quiet evening. eventually getting to bed about 11pm... which is good, Ashley seems to be adjusting to the new time zone pretty quickly.
today (Saturday)
a trip to the talat to get some groceries for breakfast. up until now we've relied on yogurt, granola, fruit and bread/toast for breakfast... this morning we decided to cook breakfast
now we're at the office. i'm sorting out some stuff to make it easier for Ashley to access her email... and of course typing this up (along with uploading the pictures)
a quick assortment of pictures from the last week
*in this case, us meant Jodi. not only was i a couple hundred km away, but because i was in the mountains, i had no cell reception
**insert flogging of self for not having been more diligent about learning Thai
current mood: busy
current music: Chet Baker - The Best of Chet Baker Sings (1 flower | plant a seed)
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Friday, December 5th, 2003
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7:27 pm
Mail v1.3 makes a fun whooshing sound when it sends an email
i like it!
current mood: amused
current music: Portishead - Dummy (plant a seed)
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6:36 pm
you may have already read this in Jodi's LJ, but just in case you haven't....
Ashley is (finally) here!!
current mood: relieved
current music: Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms (7 flowers | plant a seed)
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Tuesday, December 2nd, 2003
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12:05 pm
yesterday afternoon Mao and i were on the phone discussing the details for the trip to Mae Hong Son. we'll leave Wednesday morning and get back some time on Thursday. hopefully not to long after Jodi and Ashley get into Chiang Mai. Mao asked what my plans were for the evening, i told her i didn't have any. so she invited me along to a gallery opening and dinner... and since the gallery just happened to be a few doors down from Mao Dok Mai, the choice of where to have dinner was made very easy.
another friend that she had just met last night (Mao has a talent for making friends that is close to AGL's) arrived just after we did so he joined us... several hours of eating, drinking and good conversation
tick, tick, tick
current mood: optimistic
current music: VNV Nation - Burning Empires (plant a seed)
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Monday, December 1st, 2003
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11:27 am
obsessive, frantic, nervous?
who? me?!?
countdown
current mood: obsessive frantic nervous
current music: Oysterband - Rise Above (1 flower | plant a seed)
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Sunday, November 30th, 2003
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1:46 pm - woot!
Ashley's ticket is finally confirmed! (with infinite thanks to ![[info]](http://library.vu.edu.pk/cgi-bin/nph-proxy.cgi/000100A/http/web.archive.org/web/20031216003604im_/http:/=2fstat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) danjite)
she is currently at her grandfather's house in Vallejo, and so is her passport and visa, again many thanks to D and especially to his friend T
Jodi will be getting on a train to Bangkok in a couple of hours. she'll spend a couple of days there doing some research related errands
Ashley arrives in Bangkok Wednesday morning. she and Jodi will be on the afternoon train to Chaing Mai. they will arrive here Thursday morning
oymygoddess it's really happening!!
current mood:  ecstatic
current music: Stereo MC's - Deep, Down & Dirty (15 flowers | plant a seed)
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Saturday, November 29th, 2003
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1:19 pm - dangerously close
a visa has been obtained for Ashley and is currently on its way to her grandfathers house where she will meet up with it.
but there has been another small complication. Jodi called the airline to rebook Ashley's flight (we had originally purchased a ticket for her to fly with us in September)
Jodi talked to the Bangkok reservations office on Thursday, they said they could hold a seat for Ashley, but the booking isn't complete because they don't have a fare schedule since this booking was originally done by the SF office, they are the only ones who can tell us how much additional the rebooking is going to cost. and until we have that number we can't pay for it and until it's paid it isn't finalized.
so Jodi called the SF reservation office
.... they're closed for Thanksgiving. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
Ashley is supposed to fly out Monday night. and her ticket is not yet finalized.
i know it's possible for everything to work out. in fact i need to have every faith that it will, 'cause if i don't i'll have to just break down and cry.
but it's all happening at the very last minute
and it's being far more complicated than i feel it needs to be
current mood: nervous wreck (2 flowers | plant a seed)
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