Out of Thailand and into the Hustle of Hong Kong

  It is not my real intention to write a travel blog. I do it more to let friends, family, and fans tag along on the exploits. Often these are private musings that spill out onto the page that perhaps shouldn’t have. But then it usually makes a good copy so I leave it. Three months in Chiang Mai rolled past much faster than I thought possible. Inga finished a month long course in Massage Therapy specializing in the Lana Thai method and I got a good solid fifty thousand words completed. The writing is moving along very well and I think I’ve managed to strike a good balance between the styles. I actually enjoyed getting it down to this fourth edit something I didn’t like before. It drives forward and while I yearn to add rich details to every scene I only let myself once in a while. One of my test readers commented positively on the third edit and I tightened it a little more before I received the critique. In short I have been writing and the Sequel is coming! Promise.

I didn’t get to play tour guide for anyone, but Inga, this trip as life, got in the way of the plans for some to jet to South East Asia. I guess that worked out ok as it did allow me to really relax and decompress even further than I thought I could. Things make me laugh more than piss me off anymore. Actions and activities that in the past would have me thinking WTF now just makes me shake my head and think; “leaves fall from trees, why worry.” Not that I have adopted a Buddhist or Zen lifestyle but I have really honed my own attitude towards life. Something that is impossible to do I think unless you get out of your comfort zone and take a hard look in the mirror over several months.

Inga and I got to enjoy Song Kran before we had to focus on leaving. Song Kran is Thai New Year and proves some cultures still allow human sacrifices in religious ceremonies. Now I am not talking about the heart ripping kind of sacrifice made popular by the Incas but death none the less. Many people die each year in this three-day water fight. Sometimes fueled by alcohol sometimes just by misadventure but suffice to say if 10 percent of the numbers happened in one of Canada’s big cities it would be canceled and the people that organized it would be imprisoned. In Thailand, it is a three day free for all and we witnessed nothing but happy fun. We got soaked and had a blast. The owner of Weatherspoons café ordered a truck for his best clients and set us off with a stern warning to be careful. We weren’t but we didn’t get killed either.

We started making plans to leave Chiang Mai and I wanted to fly back for a pair of birthdays that happen around the middle of April. The best flight out of Chiang Mai to Vancouver, Canada operates through Hong Kong. It is a Cathay Pacific flight and I wanted to book it direct but noticed it was a code share. My experiences with code shared flights have been less than positive. Alaska Air and Horizon leap to mind immediately. Alaska Air is a good airline, but Horizon is shit. They have stranded me in Bellingham, more times than they have actually managed to get me to my connecting flight in Seattle. Then they give a voucher for a free flight next time and take three weeks to reimburse the flight they stranded you on acting like they are doing you a favor and showing great customer service. I never use them anymore and will not take an Alaska Air flight with them involved. But I digress. This Cathay Pacific flight left Chiang Mai to Hong Kong and then forty-five minutes later took off to Vancouver, Canada.  One of the problems you encounter traveling are cultural differences I have discussed these in depth in many blogs, but let's be Thai specific. So does the checked luggage check all the way through to Vancouver or do I have to collect it in Hong Kong. Yes, yes no worry no worry. Sorry, Cathay Pacific you need to a little work on this end. Nothing on the website or response to email inquiries to ensure this was the case as I can’t be certain that the eighteen-year-old agent for Lion Air that has never been outside of Thailand looks and says should be fine.  I wanted to see Hong Kong anyway. So I booked the flight with three days in Hong Kong. So as an agent when a client has discussed the luggage in detail, you’d think that you might say something important like if you break the travel you only get one 20KG bag instead of 2!! Nope this is Thailand Man Piin RYE (Relax it all ok)

So it was very lucky we had a great gate attendant who understood the issue and made some calls to let the huge overage onto the code share flight without charge. It wasn’t that the booking agent didn’t care. The country just rolls with the cultural expectation it will work out. Sometimes it does. Just to give credit when due Cathay does meet that flight from CNX and fast tracks the connecting passengers for the onward flight. So book it without worrying about the connection, and luggage transfers, it is all-good.

I booked an industrial conversion hotel in Hong Kong. I had done some research and decided that this place would be cool to stay at and provided the best value. Not cheap but value! It had the distinction of not being in the photograph my father had from 1938 as well. My Dad had this stack of old photographs from the war and I remembered going through them when he died. In that stack was a picture taken from Deep Water Bay and another from Victoria Harbor looking up the peak. No skyscrapers in that old photograph. So I booked a beautiful view suite so I could look towards the past into Deep Water Bay. Saying a silent toast to my Father for his sacrifice so I could have the life I enjoy now.

So enjoying Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a very organized and ordered place. People wait for light signals, the chaos of scooters and general devil may care attitude of life and death gone. We arrived and navigated our pile of bags out to the cab and arrived for the free Happy Hour. Yes, the Ovolo serves drinks and tasty treats to all, no charge. Relaxed Inga and I enjoyed a glass of wine. We decided to stay in and eat at the hotel and I am glad we did as the food was incredible. Savoy London incredible at about a fifth the price. I had beef cheeks, as I had never eaten those before and Inga had a special salad. WOW! I am not sure if it is being in Chiang Mai and dealing with all gone or…? Don’t get me wrong the food in Chiang Mai is great. But it is different and not quite in that same, same kind of way. Often things are “all gone” or “no have today” and that’s ok as it means they keep things fresh. But even at sit down dining style restaurants service standards have to be adapted to a ‘village’ kind of expectation. So it was with incredible shock when they had everything and it arrived in stages hot and not altogether with dessert. Perhaps it was the culture shock seasoning the food but it was better than my dinner at the Savoy a few months ago!

We spent the day doing the walk thing and probably walked twenty miles yesterday. Seeing the sights and savoring the cultural flavor of this hub of Asia. The buildings are impressive and vast; skyscrapers compete with the clouds and again with the stars at night, dressed in neon and spotlights. The feel of the city is very safe and the police are quick to chastise simply parking infractions. Very orderly and diligent yet polite, at least in tone. English is spoken in most places and people are keen to practice. We used the transit system as much as we could and even spent some time on the old Double Decker narrow trolley busses. Designed for the tight streets these pass oncoming busses with inches to spare. The markets had tons of fresh seafood, many in tanks swimming as we wandered by. In the city, you see loads of exotics. Exotic cars are everywhere, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Astons compete with other one of a kind rarities. In the couple of hours, I’ve been sitting and writing I’ve seen ten and I am not counting Porsches as they are as common as BMW’s.

So tomorrow we do the 12-hour flight home. Home to Canada, although to be honest Anapa Russia, is feeling like home too. But fair warning I am back in town!

The first post from the other side of the Ring.

   So life is settling down to the regular pattern of things you have to do, things that you need to do, and things that need doing. Intermixed is the obvious stuff I should be writing. I have a great excuse my very old and most favourite Mac is having issues. I know what is causing it now but making the time to take it offline for a few days to get it fixed is an issue. I upgraded my HD to an SSD and they, whom in the past were awesome, spliced into one of my fan lines for power and so now I overheat and freeze. Makes it difficult to write. Frustration is not something you want during the creative process.

   Married life is treating me well. We are in a state of flux as plans call for a big move and downsizing of non essential stuff. Now downsizing isn't new for me at all. In fact I have downsized a great deal already. But like most things in life there is downsizing and then there is DOWNSIZING. I need to pack my life up into two 25 kilo cubes of very specific measurements. So it is a great deal different than moving from a house to an apartment. But if I am to be honest the experience is very liberating. What is a must keep, should keep, like to keep, and can't live without. Then evaluate and reengineer the space and start again. To say it is a exercise in being frugal is like comparing a Lambo to a Kia. Kind of not on the same planet. But it progresses slowly and this old 17 powerbook will be replaced by a new 13 inch soon and so that drops me x kilos....Daunting!

   Russian New Years. For those readers that are not Russian, suffice to say it happens at a different time but; "when in rome". So this celebration is held on the first like our own. But unlike ours it is most certainly a knock down drag out party. The sense is how you bring in the new year will dictate how your year will be. The better the party the better the year to follow. Follow? Ok so this event has pressure on it from the start. Well, it was an epic event. Full of drinking, dancing, and general wishes for an awesome year. Oddly it was spent meeting new people, with different customs all with the same goal. An accurate reflection of our year to come. It started at 6pm and went till 6am, time spent filled with food, vodka, brandy, friends, dancing, and culture. The only casualty of the evening was my under trained liver. Seems my abstinence of late left me woefully disadvantaged, and when I awoke it let me know it wasn't happy. But the liver is evil and should be punished!

   I got to see a good number of friends over the holidays and miss a great deal more. Time has always been a thief yet as things move quickly along it seems to be more of one. I try to keep up a little bit using the inadequate tools afforded us with social media. But I will endeavor to make more time to see everyone. Going to be a long trip to see anyone next year! So with that promise or perhaps resolution made I will leave you to your own lives.

  Have a great year everyone!

THE GRAND ELOPE

            So, Christmas is only a few days away and it has been an interesting time in my life. December has always been a great month for me. I was born in December and until I was about three always thought people were putting up lights for me. I do remember thinking “why don’t they decorate for the other kids?” I come by my ego naturally!

            I am happy to see that my Post on PTSD got lots of exposure. I think it is important that with the new healthy lifestyle choices a little focus gets turned toward mental health. I was slightly amused that some thought it was a cry for help and sprung into action. I appreciated the calls and if you just posted on Facebook, well that gives me an indication of you concern. I am not really sure how many people saw it on Facebook as I don’t trust their numbers. But suffice to say with over 150000 followers the exposure was large. I have received many private notes and messages from a great deal of people thanking me for having the courage to post such a personal story.

            Facebook. Hmmm, I recently reactivated my personal account for friends only. I had to take it down many months ago as the Facebook police flagged it as a duplicate account. It was right before the IPO, go figure! Anyway I reopened it and hopefully it skates by scrutiny. I don’t post much on it, just things for people that aren’t close by or in touch on a regular basis. I am blessed that most of my friends are in touch regularly and for the most part I see them weekly. I saw a t-shirt that kind of speaks to this. “My wish for you is that one day your life is as good as you say it is on FaceBook”. A more truthful and sad concise statement probably hasn’t been said since the Beatle’s epic “One is the Loneliest Number”. Cluttered life albums with old pictures of partners that don’t matter anymore. I mean sure they were part of your life, so some contextual images that mark a moment, a place, an idea. But single selfy’s? Really? Move the fuck on! Like the shit we buy to impress people we don’t know, and perhaps even dislike, it clutters you. It creates emotional clutter that, forces you to drag it forward. Like the oversized carry on you loaded at the outlet mall, you’re now trying to drag through airport screening! How do you get to Happily ever after, with all the clutter of the “my life sucked” past? Perhaps this is just my perspective. But, I am really at a loss at how to look at it differently. If you’re betting on a game and the team fails to win do you really care what gets said in the locker room after? As the old saying goes “You don’t have a horse in that race.”

            I said this to a friend recently, as we smoked a cigar and talked about life, the universe, and everything. A common topic while herfing (it’s a word) an expensive bit of Cuban Culture. Ever the sensitive sort he put forth a few observations:

“Perhaps it serves as a lesson”

“Perhaps it allows memories of a happier time”

“Perhaps they’re just lazy and don’t edit”

I thought about these while watching the smoke curl and the ashes form. This brought my mind around to a few different thoughts. Does the ash of this cigar serve as a reminder of how good it was previously? I guess in fact it does. However if I don’t leave it in the ashtray it will just drop all over my shirt and make me look like a slob. The lingering smoke, does leave a scent. It is reminiscent of happier times now grown stale with time, and the absence of additional cigars. Smoked cigars left in the ashtray do not grow finer with the passage of time. So the lazy host is condemning his friends to future herfs outdoors in the cold. I guess it is plain to see my mind, once made up is very hard to change. Perhaps a failing, but one thing is very clear with this mindset. I am exactly where I decided to be.

            To other things as we race towards Christmas. Remember even if your friend or partner is not suffering from PTSD or the Christmas Blues Love is the reason for the season. Corny perhaps but when we have the courage to let down our defenses we see the real gifts bestowed on us. Recently I had four friends put their lives on hold, rearrange schedules, and spend time and money to jet to Vegas to be part of my Grand Elope. Considering at this time of year the effort it takes to meet a friend for coffee between mall excursions and the cost with all the gifts to budget for this was quite a demonstration of LOVE. It wasn’t easy for any of them to make this happen and it wouldn’t have been the same event without them. So a public thank-you.

            The Grand Elope. Inga and I wanted to throw a celebration in the city we were introduced in. So we decided to get married in Vegas. Now I know Vegas sounds like a bit of a tacky place to get married and while I am sure it can be it doesn’t have to be. In fact I really believe having done reams of research that it will give you the most bang for your buck and eliminate a mile of headaches. Take limos as an example. Presidential Limousine probably moves more people in a week than a comparable Vancouver company. This gives the client a level of service that is tried and tested and second to none. Restaurants are used to groups and being slammed is not an excuse for poor food or service. To sum up they are set up to do large celebrations. Ours was no exception, it went off as planned and designed without a hitch with most of the arrangements made on the web, or phone text! I planned the whole thing and trust me it was as easy an experience as a wedding could ever be.

• 1400sqft Suite for champane and cake after reception reception
• Chapel, Photogrpaher, video, and officiant.
• Lamborghini (Inga’s fathers “white horse”)
• Limo tours and pick up.
• Reception in the Foundation Room, with the view Inga and I saw on our first date!
• Russian flower arrangements and Cake decorating

All of these projects arranged and completed without actually talking to a single person! This is the digital age.

            So this is life moving forward and MY life moving forward. It has been a challenge of late to complete writing projects and move the sequel along, but it is. Slowly and more tightly this time that will add to your reading pleasure. Some other large changes loom on the horizon and rest assured I will take you all along for the ride.

            Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Best of the season. Enjoy this time with those you love and those that love you. Whatever your faith, beliefs, or delusions, remember Love is why we are all here and without love we will not be!  

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