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Interlude in Bangkok

Friday, June 10th, 2011

With the Checker sold, mother’s affairs wrapped up (hopefully) & income tax filed  (some rebates due), a friend drove me to Pearson 01:40 flight on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, with a connection that arrived in Bangkok at 10:35 a day later.

Same price would have gotten me a flight on AeroSvit with a mid afternoon departure, transiting through Kiev but arriving BKK at 03:00.

Think I made the right choice as I not only saved an extra night in a motel but Cathy Pacific’s service was excellent with 2 free meals + 2 snacks of better than normal airline food. Also there was no issue with a one way ticket, either with CX or Thai immigration.

Flew with carryon only which made for hassle free check in, security clearance & leaving the airport. Immigration line  was long, especially as it is low season but only took about 1/2 an hour.

Rail link to the BTS is an amazing, cheap & quick way into town with very few travelers using it. Guess most prefer paying a fortune to taxis & limos to sit in traffic & sniff exhaust fumes! Personally I liked the idea of a few minutes into the city center then a change to the BTS, 5 stops later arriving at the Nana station right on Sukhumvit in the heart of things, Nana Recreation Complex 10 minutes one way & Soi Cowboy 10 minutes the other.

Of course the area is touristy & expensive but for 3 or 4 days a great reintroduction to the delights of Bangkok, the most amazing city in the world! IMHO

Spent the remainder of Wednesday resting from the flight. Thursday went to the tailors, ordered 5 shirts + 1 pants for 6000 Baht (a tad less than $200), fitting today & will be ready Saturday at 5pm. How’s that for price & service!

Out for a few beer with a TEFL classmate last night at Nana & tonight with another to Soi Cowboy, recuperate tomorrow then catch a bus to Phnom Penh Sunday.

Bangkok just gets better & better with each visit, this one makes 6 along with 2 months living here, almost a second home LOL 🙂

The End of an Era!

Sunday, June 5th, 2011

Fate works in mysterious ways, especially since I set out on my quest for paradise, 3 years ago. The way I ended up with my TEFL certificate on mothers 90th birthday, then the screwing by Qantas that resulted in my buying the casa in El Salvador.

Now the scam on eBay resulting in my putting the Checker in Roger’s terminating business sale, that resulted in my spending an extra couple weeks in Ontario.

During those 3 weeks in purgatory there were about 3 days of decent weather, however I ran into most of the people that I associated with during my time here. Experienced how much things have changed, for the worse, since I sold out & started traveling.

A few have passed on, like the owners of 2 local wrecking yards I used to patronize. There are no more small school bus operators in the area. Actually Roger’s tire shop was the last of the small business’s, I dealt with over the years left.

Anyone that I cared about seeing was at the sale, the auctioneer I have known since I arrived in the area & of course I found Roger’s tire shop soon after arriving in Bowmanville

St Stephens High School, which started me off in the school charter business was located across the road until their new school was built & Great Lakes College, whom I did charters & summer camps for 11 years, bought the property.

With sale of the Checker in these circumstances has brought closure to my time in Ontario, there is nothing left for me here any longer, kids are grown & can come to SV. One more quick trip to pickup the Scout & that’s all she wrote about that chapter of my life!