maipenrai

I think you meant this reply for Binlid, but I do live in Canada and was just putting in my 2b worth...

In my jurisdiction, I am on the seniors' government "Pharmacare" plan - they will only pay for a maximum of 3 month's worth of meds whether you're going to be going somewhere or not; if you want to take more with you it would be at your expense; needless to say, I make up the shortfall when I am in Thailand or Cambodia, especially the latter as the meds that I take are much cheaper there.

Well, what street having more than a few bars isn't a "splash zone" during Songkhran?

Well, I am amazed that nobody here has mentioned this yet - I saw it on another online source and thought they were trying to pull our legs: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2757426/songkran-splash-sites-to-be-strictly-booze-free One has to wonder what kind of drugs the powers that be are taking to even consider a draconian rule like this - getting boozed up and having fun is what Songkhran is all about to millions of Thais, never mind like-minded farang visitors - how in the hell do they even hope to enforce this in Pattaya, send in the bloody army?? The mind boggles - maybe April Fool's Day has been moved ahead this year.

Surprised to see no reports from Pattaya - coming down pretty heavy in BKK right now and I've seen news reports of flooding in some areas of Chonburi...

Flew to Don Muang from Phnom Penh yesterday and had a funny thing happen when I checked in - the clerk starts nattering about my passport - "What's the problem?", I ask - turns out there is a little chunk missing from the top of one page where a hamfisted immigration officer tore an arrival/departure slip off six years or so going by the adjacent stamps; I say "So what, no info missing" but that's not good enough, she has to go and fetch her superior and together they keep nattering until I persuade them somehow to just forget it and finish the job of checking me in. The flight itself was uneventful and I arrived just before another flight came in so didn't have to wait long to get through Immigration -another few minutes and it would have been a different story - and breezed through with no problems at all. I picked up my bag and hustled down to the cab booking area with only about ten people ahead of me. Then it was my turn and as I walked out to the cab with the driver he grabbed my heavy rolling bag with the handle extended and pulled it right off the curb at an angle, then fought to keep it upright as it started tipping this way and that way as he kept dragging it along - "Careful with that thing, damn it!" Once we got in the cab and got underway, I asked him about the meter - "Oh, you want meter?" "Yes!" whereupon he pulled a cloth off that was hiding the meter and turned it on. We took the freeway which is expensive from DMK, 130b altogether, and the meter fare was 220b with a 50b surcharge so a total of 400b - I'll bet he would have charged me 500 if I hadn't insisted on the meter; I've heard of this BS happening from Suvarnabuhmi but this is the first time I've experienced it from DMK.

I feed my local magpies in the winter, but on a shelf fastened to a tree across my driveway so they can shit all they want....

Oddly enough, the DG is cheaper these days if you book through Agoda, and they seem to prefer it this way - I booked through their site for years but now just use Agoda - I am here at the DG now.

It's usually not too hard getting from Pattaya to Jomtien by baht bus if you get on them at the school where they line up, but getting back can be a hassle sometimes - mind you, I haven't been over there since they made Jomtien Beach Rd one way although somehow I don't think this will change the congestion on the busses coming back...

Now this is more like a proper eggs benedict - Harry's in PP, and about the same price as I paid in BKK but a real meal this time:

In the summer of 1972 I was 16 years old and having a fun time hanging around town with no job, until my Mother suggested that I go fire fighting; in those days they'd grab anybody who was hanging around and could not show proof of employment, usually from the pubs - if you refused to go, they could actually send you to jail. I was dumb enough to volunteer, and it was quite an adventure - out in the middle of nowhere, no bath or shower for two weeks, and pay of $1.75 CDN an hour. I ended up working 197 hours in the two weeks and brought home my first paycheque ever for the grand sum of $272 after taxes.

Just finishing this one off now, very enjoyable like all of Connelly's books - hard to put down once you start:

I got into Ludlum back in the '70s and read several of his books - they're all of the "paranoid thriller" genre and I did enjoy them but eventually the themes became repetitive and I lost interest. They do seem to translate well into successful movies, though.

Good - now I know your schedule, I may bring my copy back in as well.

Well, again - yours looks somewhat better than mine but I still think it needs something else to fill the plate a little....

I thought I'd try something a little bit different for breakfast yesterday morning on Soi Nana so I ordered eggs benedict, and I should have known better; why is it in Thailand that if you order this dish, or an omelet, that is all you get? No hash browns, or toast, or just anything else to fill the plate a little. This small plateful, and I wish I had placed something in the photo for scale, cost me 220b and the muffins are only about 3" in diameter and the ham just a thin slice. I told the waitress when I left "big guy like me pays big money for this small food and goes away hungry."

Sometimes people don't have a clue about proper grammar...

Finally got around to trying the barbecued crocodile they are always flogging in front of Central Festival - usually the stand is so mobbed by Russkies that you can't get near it but late last night saw a respite so I thought I'd give it a try - at 200b for the small sample you see here it isn't cheap, and frankly it just reminded me of pork with a somewhat coarser texture so I don't think I'll repeat the experience at that price:

Is this the Dusit Grand Park? Doesn't even look that far away from Rompho; how long will you stay there?

I was enjoying a cold beverage in the adjacent Wonderful 2 bar the other day when they started cutting the road surface - what a racket, didn't take long to clear out the bar: Looks to be the other way around to me - down Beach Rd and returning through several of the streets connecting Beach with 2nd Rd.

The only short flight I eat on is that of my favourite home regional airline, Air North, which flies me to Vancouver - they have great sandwiches and big, hot cookies as well with no charge. As for the overseas flights, I've never had any problems with the food on EVA or Cathay Pacific in PE and all I ever have to drink is a couple of glasses of wine with my meal.