Summertime

Well, it's the middle of the summer. The late spring and early summer have been unusual here on the San Diego coast. The weather has been generally fantastic. Typically we have the May Grey and the June Gloom as clouds (the "marine layer") hang along the coastal beaches until mid-summer. But this year the ocean water has been warmer resulting in blue skies and warmer temperatures with slightly higher humidity.

It's been lazy for me since the 1st of June with not much planned after several trips in late spring. I went to the usual Cancer Camp 2 weeks ago...this one for the siblings of the cancer patients. I volunteered for a week as a counselor for the 14-16 year olds. It was held up in the local mountains near Julian at about 4000ft altitude at a methodist camp. It was hot and a bit humid with thundershowers on 2 days. It was very tiring for me, traipsing up and down the hills, herding teenagers, strange bed, no TV. It took a few days to recover when I returned home. After 23 years of volunteering for these cancer camps, I think I have figured out that I am too old for this. So this probably was my last.
I think I will go to Montreal for 5 days next month instead of volunteer for the week of Camp with the actual cancer patients. Why not? I've never been there before.

I started a part-time job last week. I am babysitting at a MRI Center 2 days a week for $60/hr.
The state law requires an MD to be present on site when a contrast media is injected in case of an allergic reaction. So my friend who runs a conglomerate of 7 centers around the county asked me to help. It keeps me occupied and I earn extra cash for a few trips. We'll see how it goes.

Kauai's North Shore

Kauai has very different climates on the north and south side of this small island because of the constant direction of the trade winds and the mountain ranges that split the island.
The north is the wet side and the south is the dry side. The rain forest and the famous Napali Coast with its small isolated beaches are on the north. Yeaterday I took a drive up to the north side of the island.


This picture shows how the lush rain forest extends right up to the beach.







The picture below is the end of the paved road...beyond is an 11 mile trail up and down the Napali Coast that can be quite treacherous because of the wetness.


Today I will play golf again and tomorrow afternoon. I leave for my return to San Diego

Golf Course

Today, I was able to play golf again and I took my camera along as the setting is spectacular and the weather turned olut to be great. The last 4 holes are set at the edge of the cliffs above the ocean. The surf is crashing and spraying in the wind and the colors are magnificent...blue-green ocean, blue sky, clouds, black lava cliffs and Kauai red dirt:










And a little bird make fun of me on the course:

A few more photos....

Today looks a cloudy with a few showers predicted so I don't know if I can play golf.
But here a few pics from yesterday at the beach in front of the condo:

Kauai

Hi everybody! I didn't write about 2 short trips to Las Vegas and Palm Springs but this island is quite beautiful so deserved a blurb and a few photos.
I traded the timeshare week I own at Marriott Newport Coast for a week at Marriott Waiohai Beach Club at Poipu Beach on the southwest shore of the Garden Isle of Kauai. It is on a nice friendly beach that can be surfed, snorkeled and swum. It is a mile down the road from the famous Poipu Beach Bay Golf Course that is on the cliffs above the Pacific. I played there yesterday in 25-30 mph winds.
The winds are gusty and warm with temps around 80.

This is the view from my condo balcony:
I will probably have another post with pictures later this week.
Hang Loose, dudes!

Snowbird, Utah

The picture above is the view from the balcony of my timeshare condo in the Utah mountains….nice, eh?

Well, it is mid-week of my annual ski trip to my timeshare at Iron Blosam Lodge, Snowbird Utah. It is the 28^th consecutive year for this sojourn into the Utah mountains during the 5^th week of the year. I spend less time on the hill than I used to because of advancing age, but the beauty of the mountains is always uplifting. Going out to ski at about 11am and returning to the lodge by 2:30-3pm is enough for me.…quality not quantity of the ski experience is what counts these days.

It’s been a good season for skiing in the mountains here. So far this winter there have been 337” of snow fall here—that’s 28feet! The total depth of the snow is 129” at mid-mountain this morning. The skiing is very good.

Below is a photo of me taken 2 years ago after 2 days of glorious snow—43” in the previous 48 hours. Perfect!

Since I got back from Thailand, it has been a typical winter here in San Diego. The days have been short with the sun going down by 5pm and cool nites. We have had only minimal rain here and this is our "rainy season." About 1 inch of rain so far...a normal season will be about 10 inches. Last year was the 3rd highest amount of rain in 150 years...almost 30 inches.
This year my cousin Anita combined the annual Chanukah party with a New year's Eve party. I did my usual slaving away over hot, spattering grease cooking the potato latkes. And I got the usual raving compliments so that I would return next year and do it again. It was fun as always, attended by Steve and Maru as well as Britt and Liz visited from West Virginia. Maru's mother and sister were up from Mexico City and the the Weinman's were there. It broke up before midnite and us old folks were home sleeping before the new year rang in.
The first weekend of the new yearI met my brother Mark in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show. He was about 6 weeks out from extensive neck surgery but looked to be doing quite well now after a rough few weeks. We met my nephew Jeff and his working colleagues for dinner one evening there.
My next highlight will be my annual ski week at my time share in Snowbird for a week in the mountains early in February.

Home

I got home just as scheduled Friday evening after about 33 hours from Bangkok hotel to Del Mar home. A quiet weekend sleeping and awaking at odd times.
This morning I am right back on schedule awaking at 0730. I did 4 loads of laundry yesterday. Today I must go to the grocery and reload with supplies. And there are several movies that are now playing that I must go see. I hope to be back in my usual routine by the end of the week.
This should be the last blog entry for a while.

On the Way Home

Friday , 23 December, 10am Seoul Korea

I am on the way back. I left Thailand at 0150hr Bangkok time.
I have 10 hours here in the Seoul airport leaving at 1930 local time.
I should arrive LAX at 1330 PST and should be in San Diego at 1630.

Last nite I met my cousin Jean again for dinner accompanied by her grandson Avedon (my 2nd cousin twice removed) and Avi's friend. We ate at a restaurant called "Cabbages and Condoms."
It is part of the PDA...the Population Community and Development Association...a non-governmental organization founded in 1974 to deal with population problems in Thailand. It evolved into dealing with the HIV/AIDS problems here. The founder thinks that condoms should be as easily available as cabbages are...thus the name for it's 4 restaurants and 3 resorts throughout Thailand.
The food was very good and reasonably priced. Excellent Thai food. And the company was interesting.

The Grand Palace area

Thursday, 22 December 10am

Yesterday, I successfully made it to the Grand Palace and the associated temple complexes. I used the SkyTrain to the River and then the boat up river to the Grand Palace...it took about 55 minutes. Much more reliable than a taxi ride and much cheaper.
The main temple building houses the Emerald Buddha which is the most sacred item in Thai buddhism...fought over and moved several times around southeast asia over the last 400 years.
It has rested in it's present spot for about 200 years. Of course since it is not allowed to be photographed, I have no photo of it.






The detail and intricacy of the exterior and interior wall designs is spectacular. This is a series of buildings and temple complexes that were built over the past 200 years by the Kings of the Chakra Dynasty as each tried to out-do the other. Not much order to the overall area but overwhelming in it's detail.

Today is my last day here in Thailand as my flight leaves at 1am tomorrow morning. Well, at least the traffic to the Airport will be light at that hour.

A Post for Relatives...mostly

Wednesday Morning 21 December

Last evening I had dinner with 2nd cousin (her grandmother and my grandfather were brother and sister) Jean Wolfe Walzer. What an interesting woman! I hadn't seen her in 40 years, but she was easily recognizable as a Wolfe. She was a wine expert in San Francisco. Wrote about, judged, reviewed, set up wine lists for restaurants. Then lived in New Mexico on a ranch for 4 years. Then she moved to Cambodia, to China and for the last 6 years in Bangkok to teach English writing at a local university. We dined at a local Thai restaurant which was very good.

Today I will try to make it to the Grand Palace and the Emerald Buddha at Wat Phra Kaew.

A Better Beach

Monday, 5pm 19 December


I got to this beach by taking one of the "taxi/bus" vehicles that ply the streets of this resort area. They are pick-up trucks with a row of benches on each side. They cost 10 Baht (25 cents) a ride.

I found a better, more restful beach today. It is about a 3km ride south of the main beach.

It has a broader sand beach, a wide brick walkway and no road behind it. It has many palm trees.









With beach chairs placed under a protective array of beach umbrellas. There are vendors of food and massages wondering the area.
I had a 90 minute massage then read a book before going back to the hotel.

You can easily avoid the sun on these beaches with the way they array the umbrellas. If you want sun...take a front chair

Tomorrow morning, I will return to Bangkok for 2+ days before returning to San Diego. I talked to a 2nd cousin who I found out has lived in Bangkok for the last 6 years. I will meet her for dinner tomorrow evening

Along the Beach

Sunday afternoon, 18 December

Each hotel here in Thailand has a small pagoda called a "spirit house".....to keep away bad spirits and safeguard the place. You can find these outside homes and businesses. There usually is one or several small buddhas inside with various decorations. This is the one in front of the Pattaya Marriott.

This is a look north at Pattaya Beach. It is a thin patch of beach that is filled with beach chairs, backed by Beach Rd filled with cars, trucks and motorbikes. Across the road are an assortment of shops, bars, restaurants and hotels. There are salespeople winding thru the beach chairs offering items for lunch and drinks...and massages. Jet skis and boat rides are available. Not very serene. There are other beaches in Thailand that are quiet and very beautiful....not bad clones of Miami Beach in the '60's.


This is Ronald McDonald giving the traditional Thai greeting with palms together and a small head nod. It is a sign of respect and thanks. It is called a "wai".

Saturday, 17 December

This morning I walked up and down the beach...it was very pleasant. I got a seat in one area and had 2 boys give me a foot and head massage for 30+ minutes...it cost $10.
I went to a movie this afternoon at the shopping mall attached to the hotel...King Kong...with ticket and popcorn and drink it cost $4.50 !!
This is an inexpensive place to retire! A usa retiree in Chiang Mai told me it cost him and his wife about $20,000/yr to live !!

Holiday Season

9am, Saturday, 17 December

The December holiday season is a universal exercise in commerce. Two days after the King's Birthday holiday, the King's pictures came down and the "Christmas" lights came up.... Decorating hotels, markets, etc. In a country that is 95% Buddhist and does not celebrate the birth of Christ, the opportunity to promote commercial interests is not missed. Shopping malls and markets are festive with sales. People talk about gifts and parties. Of course some of this is for New Years Day, but the New Year does not start until February in most asian cultures...a lunar calendar.
Let Festivus Reign!!

Travel from North to the South

Friday, 16 December, 7pm

Today I left Chiang Mai and flew south to the Bangkok airport and hired a car to drive me 2 1/2 hours to Pattaya, a beach resort. I will rest and relax for 3+ days. This is appropriate because this place was a small fishing village until the late '60's when the USA armed forces came here for R & R during the Vietnam adventure. Now it is the largest beach resort in SouthEast Asia. A bustling, often sleazy town with lots of visitors. Today walking around a bit I heard many different languages and accents, of course Thai, Japanese, French, American, Aussie, British, various east European, Arabic, Indian...very international.
The weather has cooled down. In Chiang Mai it was pleasant and breezy and very clear yesterday and today. Here it is very breezy and temps seem to be in the high 70's..."cold" the hotel staff is saying. I will go out later and visit and observe the sleaze.

This is a 600 year old chedi in the ancient capital of Chiang Rai province or the old Lanna Kingdom.


















This is a foto of a couple of monks browsing for digital cameras at a consumer electronics mall in Chiang Mai.

Every male in Thailand serves some time as a monk..be it for a couple of weeks or a lifetime. It is expected that this time of service and spiritual cleansing be done. The time averages out to about 4-6 months.

The 2 pics above were taken at Hilltribe Villages.

The woman with the knife was at a Yao village.

The 2 girls are Longneck Karens. They start wearing those brass coils at about age 6-7 years. The brass coil weighs up to 10-12 pounds on an adult. So the shoulders and upper ribs are pushed down but the neck bones are normal on x-ray. So the lowered shoulders and upper chest give the appearance/illusion of a long neck. Legend has it that this tradition started when 2 girls were killed by a tiger that bit them in the neck. So the tribal elders decreed that they should wear these coils for protection.

The last pic is of an area above the Mae Khong River at the confluence of the Thai, Burmese, Laotian borders.

More pictures

The forest near one of the Hilltribe villages

At the end of a long-tailed boat ride in the river near the Burma border

Some pics at the Elephant Training Camp....lots of fun!

Pictures from the North

At the Orchid farm

A group of Hilltribe kids dressed up for the tourists

The next 2 pics are at the Night Market Chiang Mai..some kids that are camera shy
and everyone deserves a Thai foot massage

Pics soon ...I hope

13 December...10:30 pm

Back in Chiang Mai after visits to Burmese border, Golden Triangle aand drive back.
I think I will be able to post pictures tomorrow as I think I have figured out how to copy them to a CD-RW and then take it to an internet cafe and access them so I can post them.
Tonite I went to a neat Thai restaurant on a wooden deck on the banks of the Ping River with live Thai folk music. I went there with a local guy that I had met on the internet a couple of months ago.

Near the Golden Triangle

Tonite (8:30pm Monday 12 December in Thailand) I am sitting in an internet cafe in a nice hotel in Chiang Rai in the extreme north, near the Golden Triangle. Very interesting day...visited an orchid farm, a teakwood furniture factory, a place where they make paper products from elephant dung (really!), an elephant training camp, an hour ride on an elephant into the thick forest, a boat ride on the Mae Kok River and visited 3 hilltribe villages. Tomorrow we go to the Burmese border and explore the Golden Triangle and then return to Chiang Mai. I hope to be able to post some pictures on Friday when I get back to a Marriott in the beach resort of Pattaya....or sooner if I can find an internet cafe that can read the CD that I backed up my pictures to.

Cooking School

December 11, 1pm, Chiang Mai

Yesterday I had a local guide show me around the local market where absolutely everthing was for sale except actual human persons. Among the foods was a variety of stir fried insects; which are apparently popular snacks here. We saw a few temples, one of which had the largest Buddha that is carved from teakwood.
Last nite an add on to my tour was announced... a visit to a Thai cooking school where I would be taught to cook a dish and then allowed to eat it...it was coconut soup with chicken and assorted vegetables. But the interesting thing was that me and 10 other westerners were on stage as part of an exhibit at the Chiang Mai Food Exposition. We were the only tourists there, everyone else was a local. Sort of like a couunty fair atmosphere. And we were a source of great amusement as we prepared our dish. All in good fun; the Thais have fun at whatever they do. After I ate my food, I looked around at the amazing variety of foods there......sticky rice sausage, assorted vegetables and meats, noodles, rice, etc. I stopped at the booth of a local Italian restaurant and had a nice lasagna to fill me up after my coconut milk chicken soup. At the end of the evening we received a graduation certificate from the Director of the School in a grand ceremony.
This morning my official 3 day tour of the North started, with a temple at the top of a local mountain and a visit to a teakwood furniture factory and a silk shop.
Tomorrow, an elephant training camp visit is part of the day.

I am in Chiang Mai

Saturday, 10 am
For the next 5-6 days I will be at a hotel that does not have broadband internet access, so it will be hard to upload photos. Chiang Mai is the major city of the North, but only has 200,00o people. They had their local Mardi Gras here in the Nite Bazaar area...it was wild....pictures to follow.

Trip to Ayutthaya

Thursday, I took a daylong tour to visit the ancient Thai capital that is 50 miles up river from Bangkok. A bus drive up there with a stop at the Summer Palace, Bang Pa-In, and a return by large boat with buffet lunch. It was a nice day, excellent weather and pleasant company.
This was the capital from 1380 to 1767 when the Burmese captured and ransacked Ayutthaya and the capital was moved to Bangkok.
Today, I fly up north to Chiang Mai.