Bangkok

I had a lot of apprehension going to Bangkok. For Christy and I, it wasn't just a trip for pleasure. There were personal reasons for us going there. The kids didn't go with us. Instead, they stayed back in Taiwan with their grandma. Under normal circumstances, the grandma would not want to be left with two kids to watch by herself. But these were not really normal circumstances.

We spent four nights in Bangkok, and I insisted that Christy and I travel as lightly as possible. Just one suitcase or backpack each, so we could always keep an eye on our belongings. Perhaps I had just seen too many movies, but the idea of someone sticking drugs into our suitcase was never far from my mind. If I ever were to leave my backpack unattended in the hotel room, or with the bellboy, I would always check it again when I came back. Ok, call me paranoid, but I've learned a little about Thailand prisons (more on that later), and it's somewhere I don't want to go.

For the most part, though, everything went pretty smoothly. Bangkok is a crazy, crowded, dirty, sleazy city. You can get pretty much anything you want for a very low price. I almost bought a Rolex watch for about US $30, but decided against it. Yeah, obviously it was a fake, although it looked quite real. I'm not a Rolex kind of person anyway. I'm quite content with my $80 Seiko Solar watch (although I did buy a $3 pair of Birkenstock sandals, probably also fake.)

We juggled most of our time between sightseeing and personal business (again, more on that story later.) We saw the famous "Reclining Buddha" (Wat Pho), the Grand Palace, and numerous temples along the Chao Phraya river. As Thailand is famous for its massage parlors, we had three different types of massages while we were there: the foot massage, the full body oil massage, and the traditional Thai massage (I recommend the first two.)

Our hotel was located in what is probably one of the most crowded streets in Bagkok, "Surawong." It was right across the street from the "Patpong Night Market", which Christy and I quickly dubbed the "Ping Pong Night Market." Every time we walked out of our hotel, numerous people would walk up to us and say "Ping Pong show?" I already knew what the Ping Pong show was, but Christy didn't. I think she felt I would be disappointed if we didn't see the famous Ping Pong show, so we saved it for our last night there.

A guy who seemed a bit mentally ill informed us that we could see the "Ping Pong Show" for 100 Baht a piece (a hundred baht is about US $3). His little flyer said "No Cover Charge", so we figured we check it out. We walked upstairs into a bar with loud music and naked girls dancing on a stage. The girls however, were hideous, which explained why the place was empty. There was only one other couple in the entire bar. We stayed for less than ten minutes, then decided to leave. Before we left, though, the waitress gives us a bill for 2,600 Baht. Christy and I naturally flipped out. As this was our last night, we didn't even have that much money left. I proceeded to give the waitress 200 Baht and then headed for the door. At this point, a bunch of burly Thai guys locked the door and blocked our exit, demanding that we pay for the show because we "looked."

"No fucking way." I told these dudes "The guy told us 200 Baht, and that was all. I'll tell the police."

These Thai dudes didn't seem to care about my warning. I'm sure the police are all in on the scam anyway. Then Christy started shouting at them as well. She got them to renegotiate their price, and we ended up paying them 420 Baht instead of 200. I guess we were lucky, as I would later find out that most of these places are owned by the Thai mafia.

So, for the most part it was a fairly nice trip, but for a place known for its "happy endings", our ending in Bangkok wasn't all that happy.

Back to Taiwan

I just got back from a two week trip to Taiwan and Thailand. It was pretty memorable, to say the least, particularly in Bangkok. I'll have more stories and pictures to post in the days ahead. These are just a few from Taiwan, where Kyle and Sara were finally able to meet their Taiwanese cousins.

A Few Pics from California

A couple of weeks ago, I took Sara to visit my mom in California. It wasn't a trip meant for fun or tourism, but simply some time for Sara to see her grandmother. Our family had recently received some pretty bad medical news about my mom, and we wanted to see her while we still had a chance.

After spending most of the day with my mom, I would take Sara to see some of the local beaches, which she loved. Living in Texas, the closest beach to us (I think) is the one in Galveston, which is about a 3 hour drive.

Sara was also able to see her cousin Karli for the first time since 2008, just before the big fallout with my brother.

(Pictures: 1. Sara and grandma. 2 & 3. Sara in Long Beach. 4. Sara & Grandma again. 5. Sara with her cousin, Karli)

Video - Sara and Grandma

Just a quick post - this is Sara and my mom, taken at her nursing home in California on 6/22/11. The activity for that day was "Sing with Rex." This was Rex singing the ABC song to them.

Praise From a Snake

"I worship the ground Paul Ryan walks on. I hope he doesn't run for president because that would ruin a good man who has a lot of work to do." -Dick Cheney, May 2011.

Hopefully this endorsement from snake-oil salesman Dick Cheney will be the final death knell for Ryan and his budget proposal to reduce taxes on the rich while at the same time eliminating Medicare. The recent congressional election in New York, in which a Democrat won for the first time in decades, could be a sign that the tide is definitely turning. If Republicans are going to continue pushing this Medicare-killing agenda, expect them to be completely decimated in the 2012 election.

I wonder how Cheney would feel if he weren't a federal employee, receiving free, taxpayer subsidized health insurance. In the days before "Obamacare", would he even be able to get health insurance? Normally, once you've already had five heart attacks, insurance companies won't even go near you with a ten-foot pole. After all his heart attacks, the guy would either be bankrupt or drowning in debt. If the guy had a heart (which he doesn't), he would realize that Ryan's proposal (giving insurance vouchers to seniors), is preposterous, and would leave the frailest members of society without care.

I'm not even sure you can call the GOP a party of "conservatives" anymore. This is a party of radicals. Extreme, right-wing radicals. A party that attacks teachers, education, unions, the elderly, the poor, and the environment (to name but a mere few.) They are anti-civilization, and need to be stopped.

Ramblings #10

Ooops, wrong again!

It seems that Harold Camping's prediction that Doomsday would come last Saturday didn't come to pass. As 6pm approached on Saturday, we were at Costco. Surprisingly, it wasn't very busy in the store. It's usually always busy whenever we go, but this time it only seemed to be at 50% of its normal capacity.

I thought to myself: This is not a holiday weekend. Why is this store so dead today? Could people really be that stupid that they think The Rapture is really going to happen at 6pm??

I really hope that wasn't the reason. I always thought that Austinites are a bit smarter than that.

So anyway, now the guy says that October 21st will be the end of the world. Jeez, dude, give it a break. It didn't happen on May 21st, and it's not going to happen on October 21st. If anybody out there really believes this, then please write me a check and post-date it for October 22nd. You have nothing to lose, right?

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The hardcore liberals out there are going a bit too far over the Osama Bin Laden execution. There seems to be some anger directed towards Obama for killing an apparently unarmed man. As a liberal myself, I have no problem with with the Seal team did. Sure, it would have been nice to bring Osama back here for a trial, which would have undoubtedly lead to his execution anyway. But this way saved us time and money, not to mention all the fanatics that would be kidnapping Americans demanding Osama's release. Obama made the right choice. Osama Bin Laden is now just becoming a small footnote in history.

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As an update to my ACL post, it seems like we'll be going after all. Christy informed me, too my surprise, that she is a Stevie Wonder fan, and wants to see him Saturday night at the festival. It seems that Stevie Wonder is very popular in Taiwan. I never knew this, nor did I realize she liked him. Oh well, you learn something every day. So, with Coldplay on Friday night (a band that I actually like), and Stevie on Saturday, it seems the show won't be a total washout.

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Christy also found a new job last week. A job where she can finally utilize her Mandarin abilities. I always felt her previous job was a bit beneath what she was capable of. So now she will finally be making a decent salary. With China pretty much owning the United States these days, I think knowing how to speak Mandarin will be pretty essential in the future.

Doomsday is Here!!! (tomorrow)

I was planning to write this tomorrow, on the actual "Doomsday" that everyone is talking about, but figured I better do it now. I don't think I will have time tomorrow, as I will most likely be running for my life, trying to escape from being dragged into the pits of hell.

I really love all these doomsday prophecies, just to get the reactions from the people who actually believe it when it doesn't happen.

A famous fortune teller in Taiwan predicted a major earthquake on May 11th with a magnitude of 14.0 on the Richter scale. Taiwanese people ran out and bought expensive earthquake shelters. Obviously it didn't happen, and the fortune teller later said "Ah...I was just drunk when I made that prediction."

This time, some evangelical Christian broadcaster (and nutjob) named Harold Camping has got everyone stirred up about the supposed upcoming apocalypse on May 21st. I even read a story about some fool who spent his entire life savings of $140,000 to place advertisements all over town, warning people about "Judgment Day." The guy could have just gave me that money, and I could have placed his warning on my blog!

Camping has made this prediction before, claiming the end of the world would be in 1994. When that didn't happen, he said his "calculations were wrong." So, what will he say this time? I guess they will just keep pushing it back, like the Jehovah's Witnesses keep doing with their Armageddon predictions. I think the Jehovah's Witnesses have the lead on the number of failed predictions, as they mention specific dates in 1875, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, and 1975. I guess they finally gave up their prophecies when they realized how ridiculous they looked.

As for me, being an agnostic, I don't believe any of it. I believe that the world as we know it will end eventually, but not because of God's "Judgment Day." It will be because of what man has done to this planet. The drilling, the cutting down of the trees and rainforests, the pollutants going into the air every day, our overpopulation. All of these are contributing to global warming, and will someday cause a major catastrophe. Maybe not in my lifetime, or even my children's lifetime, but it can't go on like this forever.

So...let's say that wacky ol' Harold Camping is correct, and tomorrow is indeed our last day on earth. How will I spend it? Thankfully, it's a Saturday, and I'll be at home with my family. It would suck to be stuck at work when the world ends.