AOB - April-June

Three days of golf in a row. The old bones are a bit sore today. Saturday and Sunday were spent at the Soi Dao highlands, some 4 hours east of Bangkok. A lovely setting and a tough golf course ! A visit in November is recommended - the leaves change colour and it begins to look more like Canada's Muskokas !

24 June 2004

There is even a web site to buy cheese online - www.cheese.com

With 30 types of Brie, 49 types of blue cheese and even 6 Mexican cheeses this a site that I wish oozed smell !

22 June 2004

On the flight today I finished reading Mark Haddon's novel "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time."

This is a gem of a book. Believable, terrifying , funny, and in the end strangely optimistic.

19 June 2004

One of the perils of traveling is that I ignore my website.

It is strange to be back in Toronto after 10 years away. So much is familiar. But the city's personality has changed. The city has grown dramatically. Canada's Wonderland, once in the wilderness, is not surrounded by development.

It is a big, big city with big city problems such as worsening pollution and crime. And it is less Toronto the good, and more the Toronto with attitude. People are more aggressive. Downtown is more like New York; but without its style. Yonge Street looks like Broadway before they cleaned up Broadway.

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I saw the movie "The Stepford Wives" last night. Had to sit through 30 minutes of advertisements and previews first. And it is a long and slow movie; neither comedy nor horror. And simply dull.

9 June 2004

A visit to my local TOPS supermarket is always interesting; I buy far more than I intend to; I have no idea what most labels say; and I have never seen so much canned tuna in one place !

As for shoppers with trolleys; generally trolleys are driven like cars; as though they are the only user on the road or in the aisle !

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For a look into North Korea try this link to "North Korea zone." One of the site's authors is Rebecca MacKinnon, previously Beijing bureau chief for CNN.

Thailand plays a world cup qualifying football match against the North Koreans later this evening. I bet the Koreans wont be out celebrating in Patpong !

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Some bright spark has installed small televisions in our office elevators to broadcast an endless loop of noisy tv adverts. Not even anything useful like the news headlines or a reminder to go back and get your umbrella. So that we can see these miserable screens half the elevator lights have been turned off so we can stand there being deafened in semi darkness.

7 June 2004

Great golfing bargains: for the low season - head to Green Valley/St Andrews 2000 in Rayong. As much golf as you want on Mondays and Tuesdays for Baht 500 at Green Valley and Baht 800 at St Andrews 2000. Add Baht 250 for the caddy fee and Baht 600 for a compulsory and very necessary cart at St. Andrews.

St. Andrews is a stunning course - it is hard, really hard. 7,700 yards off the Championship Tees, 7,000 off the official tees and 6,500 off the men's. Play the official tees for a good test. The fourth is an 838 yard par 6. It is a great design in the best condition !

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Ronnie Reagan died on Saturday. He was always a cheerful optimist. He gave conservatism a human face. And he told Americans that after Vietnam and Watergate it really was OK to feel good about themselves and their country.

How much responsibility he can claim for the collapse of the soviet bloc is open to question. But he did create communication and trust that allowed it to happen.

For the last ten years he has fought Alzheimer's Disease. He could not remember family of friends; or his own legacy. It is only fair that others remember with fondness one of the most colourful of modern American Presidents.

28 May 2004

Nasser Hussain retired from international cricket yesterday after 96 test matches. He quit while on a high. Not a classic batsman by any means he was a great scrapper and many of his best innings were in the hardest of circumstances, including his farewell hundred on Monday at Lords. A winning unbeaten hundred at Lords in your last test innings; that is a great way to retire. A career in broadcasting/media will follow.

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I did not mention that I watched "The Pianist" on vcd the other day. Riveting, terrifying. Polanski's Holocaust movie tells the true story of a Polish Jew, Wladyslaw Szpilman, a classical musician, who survived the Holocaust through stoicism and good luck and help from an unlikely source.

27 May 2004

Its my birthday - it is also 4.00am.

Birthdays are odd. I get so defensive about mine. I tell people it is no big deal; that they shouldn't be doing anything special. But then I guess I like it when people do remember !

I vividly remember my big birthdays - 21 and 30 and 40. My 21st was an all night party at the house I shared with friends while at University in Canterbury. My 30th was a wonderful sunny weekend barbeque at my house in West London. My 40th was a surprise dinner at TOTTs restaurant in Hong Kong. Yet I am no longer in contact with any of my friends who were there that night. Strange.

But I cannot tell you what I did for my birthday last year !

For this year - I am going to start the day with a few hours sleep.

22 May 2004

This tells you a lot about England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. He gave Ruud van Nistelrooy man of the match in the FA Cup final. Sure he scored twice including a penalty. But he did nothing else all game. Ronaldo meanwhile was in a class of his own, lit up the game and scored the crucial first goal.

21 May 2004

It is time to vote for a no CARB diet -

No Cheney; no Ashcroft; no Rumsfeld and no Bush.

And while we are at it - no Rice either.

20 May 2004

There is a great headline from Associated Press today - FTC required labels on sexually explicit spam.

They cannot be shopping the same supermarkets as me ! Is it the shape of the can ?? Spam, spam, spam, spam......

17 May 2004

So much in my head this week. Sometimes I think I should write it down but it is too personal and this is simply too public ! Thirty hours in Hong Kong over the weekend.

12 May 2004

Sorry; I am not neglecting this page. This is just a horribly busy week.

Imagine if you will the British government investing in an Aussie Rules football team in order to improve the image of Britain in Australia. That is basically what is being proposed with the potential Thai investment in Liverpool FC.

Money runs the game now. And Liverpool need all they can get to build a team that can challenge for something important. But I do miss the days when it was true fans who owned the club such as Elton John and Watford.

Maybe I am just sour that PM Thaksin is not investing heavily in Vicarage Road.

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Could someone please tell the management on U Chu Liang building on Rama IV that the road way around their building is not the Le Man race track. The speed bumps are more like speed pimples; and cars fly around the building in the morning as people try to walk into the building.

As is usual in Thailand; no one will care until someone is killed; and then it will all be someone else's fault.

5 May 2004

The wet season must have officially started this morning ! Grey, stormy and very miserable.

Yesterday was Star Wars Day - "May the Fourth be with you." I guess it was funny the first time I heard it about 20 years ago!

3 May 2004

Almost five and a half hours to drive to Hua Hin on Saturday as everyone fled Bangkok for the labour day weekend and for what would normally be a two and a half hour drive. And it is a pretty dire time to be away. Hot, hot, hot. The road to Hua Hin is in pretty poor condition at least as far as Cha-am. Maybe that's one way of keeping the crowds away.

28 April 2004

70 said killed in Thailand gun battles. This is today's AP headline. Not good for tourism. The concern must be that the fighting escalates and moves North.

I have been sick as a dog for two days. Where does that expression come from.

Big storm this morning; the first of the summer. Traffic of course was miserable. Most startling of all; the temperature is 80F instead of 100F. Much more pleasant.

26 April 2004

Yesterday was a day for reflection. The dawn ceremony in Hellfire Pass at Kanchanaburi was moving. It was better attended (about 550 people) than it has been for years which says much about the current state of the world. In fact it was almost too many people as we all crammed into the Pass for a 5.30am start with many people unable to see or really properly participate in the ceremony. But with everyone just glad to be there and to reflect.

23 April 2004

A big fire in Bangkok this afternoon; which is still smouldering away after 3 hours.

From our office I could see large plumes of black smoke and flames from the Tungmahamek shanty town, near the Sathorn Road business district. This area is just south of the Banyan Tree and Sukhothai hotels and next to my favourite driving range at Mahamek..

I hope there are no serious casualties.

21 April 2004

One of my friends thought I should have taken more car pictures at the Bangkok Motor Show. My efforts were however pale by comparison to Colin Dunjohn whose site can be found here:

www.pbase.com/colind/bangkok_motor_show

20 April 2004

Happy 7th Birthday Alex. You are truly the sunshine in my life!

19 April 2004

I was back in HKG yesterday - basically just for the day; the sun was shining; it was about 28C in mid afternoon and I was sitting at the beach thinking how much I miss the place.

One year after SARS the city appears to be in one of its property driven booms. With one extra observation; the city is simply so much cleaner now than pre-SARS.This really has been for the long lasting good.

13 April 2004

Making e-commerce work - Thai Airways just does not get it. I need to go to HKG next weekend. Thai Airway's online e-commerce site offers me a round trip fare including taxes of Baht 12,645 for the lowest available fare in EY. Meanwhile Emirates has a fare of Baht 6,980. Same route; similar timing; better entertainment.

Even worse, this was the best available from Cathay Pacific: Baht 20,645, as there was no available restricted economy fares.

The sooner Air Asia starts to fly this route the better !

If I went to a travel agent they would offer me Thai for about Baht 7,500. Why is it that their web does not offer these fares?

12 April 2004

A big hurrah for Phil Mickelson - out in 38 and back in 31 with a birdie on the 18th to win the Masters. His 43rd major championship; and a major at last. This may be the first of a few. Great golf, a great finish and by all accounts a really decent guy.

11 April 2004

Places to avoid - Rydges Resort in Phuket. Awful - truly awful food; shockingly grumpy staff with an honourable exception of the Kids' Club; rooms that look terribly dated; over-priced transport; and watch out for extra charges on your bill; if they can think of anything else for you to pay for rest assured that it will be there; this is a package tour resort that hopes to keep its guests captive and then extract every possible baht from them. Pity - it has a nice beach front location at the south end of Bang Tao beach. This resort was acquired by Rydges of Australia in 2000 and renovated in December 2000. It needs work urgently.

In fact I am not a great fan of Phuket. After Bangkok, Phuket is expensive and over-rated. Good food is hard to find and prices for anything are inflated for a tourist driven economy.

4 April 2004

The Bangkok motor show is a fine place to take your camera. Four wheeled and two legged models. Some pictures can be found here.

Escape from the crowds with the buffet lunch at Pacific Rim.

1 April 2004

A day out to Singapore yesterday. Well 26 hours to be precise. Air Asia flew me there and back very comfortably for Baht 998 (US$25). The airport taxes and insurance cost more than the air fare at Baht 1,157 in total.

Arrived late on Tuesday night. Spent Wednesday walking and walking. Visited the bookshops on Orchard Road; they are quiet in the morning - Borders and Kinokuniya.

Took the cable car to Sentosa which is under massive renovation. Walked around the Singapore River ad had a nice dinner at Indochine by the Asian Civilizations Museum.

Singapore gets ever more affluent. New private apartments are everywhere. New bars, new restaurants. New campaigns to keep everyone in order; a speak better english campaign and a kindness campaign.

The return flight left at midnight which allows time for dinner before heading out.

One health warning. The Robertson Quay Hotel is ropey. Small rooms, not well cleaned and a bed where the springs had been too well tested. Pay the extra dollars and be comfortable.