Beach and River

 Today, I rode the motorcycle to the beach where we stayed with Mum back in October, Canbana Beach. Although hot, it was quite stunning and I took the slow road back to town along the coast. Almost deserted and winding from cove to cove. It was great fun. I eventually found myself back in town, acquired some gin, limes, ice and soda water. There is still no tonic here from the floods two years ago which destroyed the factory.

 On the way home I stopped to observe an enormous tree. It stood by a river, so I suggested we take Grace there in the evening. She had cut her knee the previous day in the naff swimming pool on the estate. This, however, was a wonderful alternative. Before too long she was in the water collecting snails and shrimps. Oi knew all the species and which ones you could eat.

 There is a rather fun suspension bridge across the river which wobbles and can take a motorcycle. As you can see there is a great area for paddling and swimming.

 The giant tree is indeed special and has ribbons tied around it. It looks pretty old. I would say between 200-300 years old. The roots are enormous.

A great evening and another great place to hang out, and a 2 minute ride from home.

Kon Tiki

 

This Norwegian movie from 2012 is first class.Oi and I watched it last night and were enthralled. The photography and pace are excellent and the realism of the shark and whale encounters make new CGI movies look lame. Highly recommended and a rare treat.

Back Online

Phew!

An enormous move! Oi did a great job of organising everyone and with help from her 2 brothers we packed 2 trucks and left Hat Yai behind us. It was a good ride up and everything went without a hitch. Obviously, it was very tiring it is only now, a week later, that we are starting to feel relaxed again. Oi signed her job and Grace is enrolled to start in Kindergarten year 1 in May. I found a job at one of the main schools in town teaching 14-15 year olds, again starting in May. There is a 50 meter pool at my school which I get to use for free. I also checked out a couple of private teaching places and put my name down for some extra work.

The new house is in an estate. It is rather pleasant and there is a basic playground, a naff pool, a shop and a hairdressers all within the estate grounds. It makes for an easy life.

I have been studying Google Earth to get my bearings and I took a trip to the coast to see the sea. It is quite fantastic, though the weather is incredibly hot right now which prevents any major excursions.

Internet just got connected and we are nearly at 100%. Just a blocked drain to fix and the water just suddenly stopped, a regular thing in Thailand.

People here seem friendly and there is not a lot of traffic on the roads. So glad, as Hat Yai traffic was making me seriously unhappy. It's very rural here and riding around the country lanes among the farmland is great fun.

More later...

The Last Supper

Last night had a fun dinner with Sudarat (boss of Smart English) and folks. It was fun and quite sad. I'm glad Gee and I patched things up after my near breakdown at private classes with her a few years ago. She is a treasure, as are they all in their own ways.

Today, Oi's brothers Om and Ot are coming down in a truck and tomorrow we will move. I am packing glass and sorted through all my junk. Oi is out the back washing down the kitchen stuff.

Grace is hiding under the table on the porch outside and playing Hay Day on the ipad, which she somehow managed to install herself?!#%

I have beeen studying Chum Phon on Google Earth and various tourist websites. It seems there is a ton of stuff to do there with great nearby islands and bungalows to stay in, rafting, national parks, waterfall and caves. I can't wait to get exploring.

Brief Return to Hat Yai

It's Tuesday and we are waiting until Friday for the actual move to Chum Phon.

I'm sick with a cold. My eye started up with some infection the kids had up in Chum Phon. Seems like I got sick from them. I have been trying to take it easy and not do to much and have a chance to recover before Friday's big push. It's going to be hectic.

Oi has been great packing things up and Grace has been busy rummaging around all the boxes.

We have to start cancelling Internet and stuff like that.

Tom left for Koh Phang Nang today with Patrick on their motorbikes. It's quite a hike and I hope it goes smoothly for him. I probably won't see Tom for a few months now. There is little chance of me getting to his island with all the stuff we have to do.

I have watched all available episodes of Enlighted, which was great fun.

A new Tomb Raider game has been released -am downloading.

For gaming enthusiasts, a game I used to have in UK, Space Hulk is to be released for the ipad which sounds like fun.

Got a great radio app, RSS Radio, which automatically downloads all my subscribed radio shows for me. In Our Time, Material World, Any Questions all stream onto the ipad without me even knowing about it. I always try to listen to at least one show when I go to bed.

There are a few small errands to do this week as we wait for our final departure. It's good to have some downtime between finding the new house and the move.

It's boiling hot here now!

Finding a House

Oi's new school.

Back to the farm to find a new house in Chum Phon. I got horribly sick with the flu shortly after arrival which dampened any fun I would have on the grueling search for a new abode.

After two days of fruitless searching and a couple of red herrings we were pretty exhausted and in despair.

As we were heading home we spotted a falang going into a shop. Oi said, "Go and ask him." I jumped out the car and somewhat awkwardly approached the chap and inquired rather sheepishly of any vacant properties he may know of. In a manner not unlike Micheal Caine he replied, "You met the right man on the right day!" He asked us to follow him on his motorcycle and led us to the house we are now in possession of! What a relief! What a joy! Just as we were giving up hope Lady Luck comes waltzing in.

Oi confirmed and signed a contract for her new job and every day after our work was done we rested at the farm. It was blazing hot, of course and I was feeling lousy with a thick head full of cold, but at least we had somewhere to relax. I read part of a Star Wars novel I picked up (the story follows immediately after The Return of the Jedi) as is storming fun actually. I played a lot of games on the ipad and sunk a few cans on a couple of nights.

Grace had a whale of a time with her cousin Ot on the farm. There was a poor puppy and a terrified cat which were tormented beyond despair during the visit. In fact, there was the constant din of crying children and plenty of pee and vomit. The hot nights were spent in a tiny room under a mosquito net. When the toilet summoned, one had to crawl out and fumble around in the dark for the hole in the floor loo. I was reminded of the brochure of my Iceland trip back in 1997 which read, "Guests will not expect comfort." That wasn't too bad, but this tested even my neanderthal facilities. Lucky I had done a ton of swimming prior to the trip thus I was feeling fairly limber. 

So now we are back in Hat Yai having arrived on a Sunday morning to stupefying traffic jams which only serve to remind me of why it is good to leave here. We have to pack, make some final farewells and get the Hey out of here.

Chum Pon offers fantastic recreation and a more social and fun life for us, with the family close by. There are beaches, islands, caves  waterfalls all waiting to be explored.

The only main outstanding thing for me to do is to get a job. But that's a different story.

The Long Wait

Apparently, all work commitments have now been met and we can literally forget about work and concentrate solely on The Move. No small words. I am acutely aware that it is among the three worst things a human bean can experience. The others? Death and divorce, in case you are ignorant of this fabled fable.

For me, an idiot, brings with it a host of demons to plague my darkest thoughts. What if I can't get a job? How miserable can I be during the move?

Stress is already showing on both sides and we are visibly attempting to control thoughts of madness at the upheaval. I must keep myself stocked with coffee and Guinness at all times. I managed to squeeze in a 1km swim today as I went to the hospital on a documents errand following Gracie's feline encounter. I announced I would swim again tomorrow, albeit, the only resistance coming from my pitiful self.

The new horizon bears much promise. I am sure Oi's brothers are going to be great to hang out with. I can see my good self instructing them on great Keef Richards reefs and demon Jimmy Hendrix. I wonder how corrupt they are...

Once established, I plan to go all cannibal on the vegetable and exercise front. I plan a future of heavy vegetable juices and long bouts of enforced swim regimes. It's easy and I can do it. And, for an added life achieved secret...it is the key to great health and good feeling. Enriched with concentrated high energy fresh vegetable juices flowing through you, cleaning away and ugly, fat deposits, swimming megathons tone you and give every muscle in your puny body a thorough massage. Yea, I feel elated that at long last I have discovered the perfect diet and exercise for me.

Grace is full time at home now, slightly sick and fairly demanding. It's, "Daddy. Come on. Come on, daddy. DADDY!!! COME ON!!!" Oh the joys! Swimming really helps when kneeling down constantly.

The house is a tad bare these days as things are packed into handy, giant carry bags Thais have mastered.

Got Bowie's new one. The first track sounded like....Bowie, and off it came. I will come back to it, though I was quick to pick up a Black Keyes album. I am sure Tom was offering praise the other night.


Attempting to watch "Taken" which looks highly exciting by watching movies isn't happening with family at present. Grace is hopping about all day and at night I am asleep before she is.

The World? Can I be so blunt? If you listen to a lot of scientists, I am afraid the future is bleak. Though I understand many still disagree. As James Lovelock stated, "Enjoy it while you can." which is what I tend to do. Nothing is more wonderful a task as to serve children, and living in a country as beautiful and diverse as Thailand is a blessed experience, though I don't think I'll be taking anything with me.