Round 2 - The Pretirement

A year ago I rode down to Thai Town in Hollywood to celebrate the Thai New Year. This year I decided to do it a bit bigger, and go to Thai Country far from Hollywood. So, after nearly three years, I once again sit in Bangkok for a few days before heading up north to explore the mountains by motorcycle, and to explore retirement options for when that opportunity arises.

The plane ride over was supposed to be shorter than last time, but due to a delayed connection in Tokyo, the trip from my driveway to my hotel was only an hour shorter at 29 hours. Too much travel time, which makes me long for the "perfect speed" enjoyed by Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

After making contact with a couple of friends, I took a jet lag nap and then went across the street to a huge shopping center to see about activating my cell phone for use in Thailand and Laos. I had to spend $2 for another sim card, but now my phone has a new number. Prepaid time is only 10 cents a minute, not a bad bargain.

On my first day here in '05, I discovered the coffee float at McDonald's. On my first day here this time I discovered an awsome jelly donut at the Dunkin' Donuts in the mammoth mall. It had two separate compartments for two separate shots of jelly, one guava and one lychee. Hands down the best jelly donut I've ever had. And the coffee is good Thai coffee, much better than the popular New England DD variety. You can bet I'll be back.

The evening plan was to go to my old boss's house in another part of town. He gave me complex directions over the phone, involving a train ride, a bus ride, a labyrinthian trek, and finally a motorcycle taxi. I got as far as the motorcycle taxi stand without a problem, but the taxi drivers (riders) were asking so much money to continue that I knew there was a flaw in my directions. I tried to continue on foot but failed to find his house. I found the restaurant where we planned to eat quite easily, though, and waited for him and his wife there for about an hour, hoping they had figured out I had gotten lost and went to Plan B. I finally gave up and came back to my hotel. Three hours gone. When I failed to show up he had actually considered making the short walk to the restaurant, but then couldn't find his wallet. A comedy of errors perpetrated by a couple of aging ol' coots. We'll try again this evening, though we'll probably meet at the restaurant. He and I will probably meet up again in Laos in a couple weeks.

A donut, a phone, and negotiating a maze of traffic in a huge over-crowded city is not much of an accomplishment. Certainly nothing to write home about. But my only real goal for the day was to not work.

Mission accomplished.