It has been a nice week. We have been out with Gil a few times. Over the weekend I had quite a bit of work to do over the internet but wouldn't you know the connection was up and down all weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day so we decided to go out for a drive. We ended up at the north of the island. We did a nature walk around a mangrove forest and then found a nice spot by the beach right next to Sarasin Bridge. We ate somtam and drank beer while the kids played. It was lovely.
Yesterday, despite my dodgy internet connection, I managed to get through all my work.
Last night Gil and I went to Patong to watch the football. Spurs ground out a 1-1 draw at Bolton. Normally this would be a decent result but in the current situation it is not enough and the crisis deepens. Gil was a bit happier as Man U beat Chelsea 2-0.
Huwy has been in Pattaya for a week. As with most things that Huwy does, the trip turned into a bit of a drama. It is all much too complicated for me to go into here. He got back to Phuket last night.
It looks like Gil will be going back to Nigeria next week. Gil was convinced he had left for good but circumstances have changed. His boss had a heart attack after Gil left and they are desperate for Gil to help them out. I think Gil feels a bit obligated after working so long there so despite himself he will be going.
Monday, 24 September 2007
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Weener the Dog
It has been a busy if uneventful week. England got another good result winning 3-0 against Russia. Tonight I endure more Spurs torture as we face another grilling from Arsenal.
Huwy and family have gone to Pattaya for a few days so we have his dog weener. Ben and Jenny are pleased. It is an energetic little sausage dog and they have been chasing it all over the house all morning. Needless to say the dog was exhausted long before they were.
Gil's entire family are in Phuket for a week. They were greeted with a tsunami warnng at the start of the week although it proved to be a false alarm. I may join him and his brothers for a few beers tonight but we will see how the football goes first.
Huwy and family have gone to Pattaya for a few days so we have his dog weener. Ben and Jenny are pleased. It is an energetic little sausage dog and they have been chasing it all over the house all morning. Needless to say the dog was exhausted long before they were.
Gil's entire family are in Phuket for a week. They were greeted with a tsunami warnng at the start of the week although it proved to be a false alarm. I may join him and his brothers for a few beers tonight but we will see how the football goes first.
Monday, 10 September 2007
A Good Result
So Huwyy and I ended up watching the England-Israel game around Gil's house. Pon went as well as she is good friends with Daeng. The game went well for us with a comfortable 3-0 win. Gil took it well - as much as he supports Israel he still saves his most passionate ranting for Man U games. So up to this point a few beers and a bit of wine had been drunk and everything was to pan.
Then Huwy suggested we try a bar he had heard about not far from Gil's house so off we go. It turned out to be a small farang bar and nice enough so we settled in for a few more beers. Somehow the ante was upped and we started doing a few shots and B52's. Now I just know it is a mistake to start on the shots but somehow at the time it always seems a good idea.
By the time we staggered out of the bar everything is a little hazy. What we do know is that Huwy decided to do a quick shadow box with a statue but in his befuddled state he mistimed the punch and actually hit the statue knocking it down. The bar owner was not happy and started threatening to call the cops. Not that that would have worked so it was a pretty empty threat. We mumbled our apologies, made a feeble attempt at picking the statue up and stumbled out. I don't remember much more of the night. Huwy had cut his hand open in three places. Fortunately Pon was there to drive us home.
Then Huwy suggested we try a bar he had heard about not far from Gil's house so off we go. It turned out to be a small farang bar and nice enough so we settled in for a few more beers. Somehow the ante was upped and we started doing a few shots and B52's. Now I just know it is a mistake to start on the shots but somehow at the time it always seems a good idea.
By the time we staggered out of the bar everything is a little hazy. What we do know is that Huwy decided to do a quick shadow box with a statue but in his befuddled state he mistimed the punch and actually hit the statue knocking it down. The bar owner was not happy and started threatening to call the cops. Not that that would have worked so it was a pretty empty threat. We mumbled our apologies, made a feeble attempt at picking the statue up and stumbled out. I don't remember much more of the night. Huwy had cut his hand open in three places. Fortunately Pon was there to drive us home.
Friday, 7 September 2007
Ben and Jenny in Good Form
Ben and Jenny are both in great form at the moment. They are so full of life and charm. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be able to say this is where I want to stop time. Just stay where we are now because everything is so good. The pair of them can leave me quite exhausted by the end of the day but I wouldn't have it any other way because they are so much fun.
Ben seems to be doing fine at school. He does not like going but not many kids do like school. His Thai, colouring and drawing have all greatly improved. My efforst to teach him English reading are also bearing some fruit. I try to find 10 or 15 miutes a day to do a bit of ABC with him. He can now identify most of the letters of the alphabet and read the first few pages of Peter and Jane. We have only been doing it for a month so I think that is good progress. My thinking is that if it takes a year before he can read books on his own then that will be good going.
Jenny is just full of character. She laughs and plays so easily. Her English has noticably improved over the last couple of months with her stringing little sentences together and making up her own phrases. She seems bright as a button and loves looking at books. If Pon and I haven't got time for her she will happily grab a picture book and start flicking through the pages.
Gil has been back since Saturday so we have met up for a couple of quiet nights out. We had a few drinks in Phuket Town last Sunday and last night we had a meal and went to the movies (Invasion - not bad but I think remakes always struggle to make the impact of the original). Tomorrow England play Israel at football. Gil is from Israel so it is an opportunity for a bit of friendly rivalry. We are going around his house for a little party to watch the game. It will be a change for Huwy and me to be on the same side against Gil.
Ben seems to be doing fine at school. He does not like going but not many kids do like school. His Thai, colouring and drawing have all greatly improved. My efforst to teach him English reading are also bearing some fruit. I try to find 10 or 15 miutes a day to do a bit of ABC with him. He can now identify most of the letters of the alphabet and read the first few pages of Peter and Jane. We have only been doing it for a month so I think that is good progress. My thinking is that if it takes a year before he can read books on his own then that will be good going.
Jenny is just full of character. She laughs and plays so easily. Her English has noticably improved over the last couple of months with her stringing little sentences together and making up her own phrases. She seems bright as a button and loves looking at books. If Pon and I haven't got time for her she will happily grab a picture book and start flicking through the pages.
Gil has been back since Saturday so we have met up for a couple of quiet nights out. We had a few drinks in Phuket Town last Sunday and last night we had a meal and went to the movies (Invasion - not bad but I think remakes always struggle to make the impact of the original). Tomorrow England play Israel at football. Gil is from Israel so it is an opportunity for a bit of friendly rivalry. We are going around his house for a little party to watch the game. It will be a change for Huwy and me to be on the same side against Gil.
Sunday, 2 September 2007
Spurs Torture
Spurs continue to asolutely torture me. Last night they totally dominated the game against Fulham, took a 2-0 and then a 3-1 lead and then contrived to throw it away to another last minute goal for a 3-3 draw. It is just incredible that they do not learn. We make the same two mistakes every time we get in a good position. First we get all cocky, look at us, we're so good and go into cruise mode. Then the other team take advantage of the cruise mode to get back into the game and then Spurs get all scared, go into their shells and invite an end of game siege that invariably leads to a goal.
I still support Martin Jol as manager but I have to say he has got to sort this out because it is destroying us. If he does not learn his lesson this time and insist that the team keep pushing until the end of the game then he will start to lose the support of the fans as well as the board.
Gil got back from Nigeria yesterday so I expect we will be out for a few beers in Patong tonight. He at least will be in a good mood as Man U sneaked a 1-0 in over Sunderland yesterday after sneaking a 1-0 win over us last week. It will be good to see him again. He has finally quit his job in Nigeria so he can chill for a while before looking for a job closer to home that will give him a better lifestyle.
I still support Martin Jol as manager but I have to say he has got to sort this out because it is destroying us. If he does not learn his lesson this time and insist that the team keep pushing until the end of the game then he will start to lose the support of the fans as well as the board.
Gil got back from Nigeria yesterday so I expect we will be out for a few beers in Patong tonight. He at least will be in a good mood as Man U sneaked a 1-0 in over Sunderland yesterday after sneaking a 1-0 win over us last week. It will be good to see him again. He has finally quit his job in Nigeria so he can chill for a while before looking for a job closer to home that will give him a better lifestyle.
Friday, 31 August 2007
Night Out in Phuket Town
Pon and I went for a night out in Phuket Town last night. We do these nights out together occassionally. I really think it is good for the relationship to go and get pissed together sometimes. Get away from the kids and other friends and just spend a night together. Pon is always good company for these trips.
We started at Timber Hut. It is the most popular bar in Phuket Town with a live band and always lots of customers. It is actually the bar where we first met. We moved on to Jammin which used to be the next most popular bar in town but the last couple of times we have been it was very quiet. Last night we discovered it had closed. We went on to a Thai Country music bar on Sakdidet Road and then the bar in the Thavorn Hotel. At 1:00 am most bars close but we found a nice place on the way home that stays open until two and finished the night there.
A night out in Phuket Town makes a nice change to Patong. You often find yourself the only westerner in some of these bars so you always get a bit of attention but it is always friendly and well intentioned.
We started at Timber Hut. It is the most popular bar in Phuket Town with a live band and always lots of customers. It is actually the bar where we first met. We moved on to Jammin which used to be the next most popular bar in town but the last couple of times we have been it was very quiet. Last night we discovered it had closed. We went on to a Thai Country music bar on Sakdidet Road and then the bar in the Thavorn Hotel. At 1:00 am most bars close but we found a nice place on the way home that stays open until two and finished the night there.
A night out in Phuket Town makes a nice change to Patong. You often find yourself the only westerner in some of these bars so you always get a bit of attention but it is always friendly and well intentioned.
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Renew Driving License
I am just about calming down after Spurs' weekend game against Man U. As is normal in this game we were stitched by the referee. Having played well and restricted Man U to a handful of chances we had two clear penalty shouts turned down. How the referee missed the first one when Vidic literally threw himself into Berbatov is beyond me. The second one was a clear handball but possibly difficult for the ref to see - although I don't think so as I saw it first time on TV and everyone else around it saw it.
As if that was not bad enough Man U go up the other end and score just a few minutes later. And although it was a good strike it still only went in because of a lucky deflection. So once again a game against Man U leaves me seething at the sheer injustice of it all. It is crazy that a game of football can do this to grown adults but I was in a bad temper for a couple of days.
So today I renewed my Thai driving license. I got my first license last year to finally make myself legal on the roads here but the first one is only for 1 year. So yesteday and today I faced up to the hassle of dealing with thai bureaucracy again. Armed with a conformation of address letter from immigration, a health certificate from the doctor, photocopies of all relevant pages of my passport, photos of myself and my old license - I went down the local transport office in Phuket. once I finally had all the documents sorted out it remarkable only took 15 minutes to get the new license. And the new one is valid for 5 years.
As if that was not bad enough Man U go up the other end and score just a few minutes later. And although it was a good strike it still only went in because of a lucky deflection. So once again a game against Man U leaves me seething at the sheer injustice of it all. It is crazy that a game of football can do this to grown adults but I was in a bad temper for a couple of days.
So today I renewed my Thai driving license. I got my first license last year to finally make myself legal on the roads here but the first one is only for 1 year. So yesteday and today I faced up to the hassle of dealing with thai bureaucracy again. Armed with a conformation of address letter from immigration, a health certificate from the doctor, photocopies of all relevant pages of my passport, photos of myself and my old license - I went down the local transport office in Phuket. once I finally had all the documents sorted out it remarkable only took 15 minutes to get the new license. And the new one is valid for 5 years.
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