We thoroughly enjoyed Thailand. Virtually everything went to plan, and, often, our expectations were exceeded.

After falling on our feet at the Golden Triangle, we caught the plane to Bangkok, and then hired a taxi to Cha-Am, ostensibly AU$70 and one hour south. However, the trip took nearly two and a half hours. The Holiday Inn was really nice, but seemed to be in the middle of nowhere - there was no sign of the village that seemed to show up on Google Earth, when we booked on the internet.

After an excellent breakfast and the first morning spent lying around the pool, we went to catch the only shuttle bus to Cha Am town, 7km to the north. We baulked at paying for what we felt should have been part of the service, and trekked out to the road and caught a local bus.

We had thought about catching the train back to Bangkok, so we walked down to the station. The good news was that the fare was only AU$1. The bad news was that it was third class, and took more than five hours, and the only train through went at 2.30pm each day. We decided to hire a vehicle.

Two motorcyclists took us down to Cha Am beach, which was interesting. It is obviously popular with the Bangkok lower middle class, who all seem to own twin-cab utes (pick ups for non-Antipodeans). There were a few reasonable restaurants, and a lot of cheap accommodation. The markets had nothing of interest, so we had lunch, walked around, and then realised that there seemed to be no taxis. We eventually found a bloke with a van, whom we also hired to take us to Bangkok in a couple of days' time.

I went for a walk out to the main road early on the second morning, and turned south for a couple of clicks. There was a road leading back into the beach, and here I found the missing village, 200m south of the hotel. It had the usual proliferation of cheap restaurants, "massage" places and Nepalese tailors. Over dinner that night Helen and I discussed the reasons why men with partners frequently seem to come to Thailand, without the afore-mentioned partners - a newly-found interest in Buddhism, perhaps?

The four days at the Holiday Inn were very relaxing, and, thanks to the hotel itself, some beachfront restaurants and the village, there were plenty of places to eat and drink.

Our van took far less time to make the trip back to Bangkok, unless you count the 45-minute queue for autogas at, apparently, the cheapest such facility in Thailand. The Centrepoint serviced apartments were wonderful, although there was a small problem with the smell of cigarettes in the room - even though smoking is prohibited inside Bangkok restaurants and bars, the hotel had no non-smoking rooms. Everything else (facilities, service, location) were excellent.

Most of our time was spent somewhere up Silom Rd. We perused the markets up to Patpong in the evenings. Two streets along, parallel to Patpong, we found a side street with really nice restaurants. After we had settled in, the first evening, Helen realised that we were one of the very, very few heterosexual couples in the area. The food and drinks were good. Both nights, we cruised the Patpong markets, and the second night, we had a drink at one of the bars that have sprung up around the sex shows.
 
One "gem" that we found was right beside the adjoining Shangri La Hotel. I realised that the street up to it must end at the river, and there seemed to be some sort of shop there. We found that there was a public jetty, and an entrepreneur had set up a small bar was perfect for watching the sunset over the river.

Even though we have been to Thailand several times, it seems that, this visit, we realised what a truly excellent holiday destination it is.

We decided to have a go at a Chinese lunch. We managed to order a hot pot and some tofu, and something green that tasted very much like grass clippings. There were bits of shallots, chicken and crab in the hot pot. The pieces of crab must have been for flavour, or decoration, because it was impossible to get any flesh out of them. We enjoyed the meal, and it cost us about AU$12.

Monday was much more promising, weather-wise. We went to Yuexiu Park, which was very nice. There was work going on everywhere, for an upcoming landscape exhibition, but the flowers and plants were beautiful. We will be back again in spring.

 

Late Monday night, we caught the plane to Bangkok. We were met by the Thong Tat hotel bus, which whisked us to the hotel. We had about 6 hours' sleep, an edible breakfast, and bussed back to the airport for the plane to Chiang Rai - not bad for AU$25!

The taxi out of the airport turned right, instead of left, to Chiang Rai. I'd obviously not read the fine print, on the internet, about the Serene Hotel being in Chiang Rai district, but 60km from Chiang Rai town. However, the universe shifted into place and we found ourselves staying, for the fourth time, in the fourth country, on the Mekong. Not only that, but staying in the best-located hotel in the Golden Triangle area, with views to Laos and Myanmar.
 
The associated town was okay, with a wonderful large Buddha, and an interesting opium museum. In the photo below, the golden Buddha is in Thailand, the brown roof is in Myanmar and the golden dome is in Laos. The Ruak river goes off to the left, behind the Buddha.

  

On Wednesday morning, we went for a walk around the small town. We found ourselves at a lookout over Myanmar, and the Golden Triangle. There was an old, crumbling wat on the top of the hill, and wound our way down through two others.

After breakfast, we set out, on foot, for Chiang Saen. After reaching a signpost, which informed us that we had walked 4km, and had 5km to go, we hailed a songthauw. Chiang Saen is a fairly generic Asian town. We saw a line of labourers unloading a truck full of Red Bull and loading it on to a Chinese barge. (China is 300km up river.) We had coffee and cake in a nice little shop, and then returned to our hotel by boat. On the way, we passed the Chinese-owned casino, in Laos, and had a look at the Burmese casino upstream a bit. Having already been to both Laos and Myanmar, we did not avail ourselves of the opportunity to visit them again.

 

In the late afternoon we had a drink at a riverside restaurant, followed by a pad thai at another restaurant. Today, after a cycle around town, we will head into Chiang Rai for a look.

I don't want to labour the point too much, but Helen and I cannot understand how anyone could not like living in Guangzhou. I've just spent a week in Hong Kong, and the average expat there loves it as much as Bali addicts love Bali, but I was looking forward to being back in a more open city. Each to their own, I suppose. We really liked Surabaya too, unlike many expats (and Surabayans, for that matter.) Like anything in life, where you live, is what you make it.

Still, Guangzhou has more than enough to make liking it easy. Yesterday we hit our favourite shopping area, Haizu Square. Helen cruised the shoe markets and I went to the toy market, which is more the remote-control-helicopter-and-car market. We met up at 1920 restaurant on the river for lunch. As it is a German restaurant, even the "snacks" are large.

Helen wanted to go to Wende Lu (Street), which is supposed to be an "art" street. It was lined each side with framing shops, which also sold reproductions. Helen was also looking for a stand for her growing collection of calligraphy brushes. We found a market, and wandered around. One painting, of old Guangzhou, took our interest. The young woman wanted more than we were prepared to pay for it, so we asked about others. She then uttered the classic Guangzhou statement - "We have more upstairs".

 

Being Ubud fans, we are well used to rows of shops selling reproductions of paintings. Like everything, China takes it to a new level. The shop upstairs had a room in which thousands of canvases were laid out in piles, each with its own piece of plastic wrap for protection. It smelt like they had very recently been knocked up out the back somewhere.

 

We chose a nice (to us) old-Guangzhou scene, then went to another shop, downstairs, to have it framed. All up, it cost us about AU$60 for the framed painting.

The trip home was a different story. Chinese New Year entails an increased demand for less taxis. We'd had trouble getting one from 1920 to Wende Lu, but we'd left it too late this time. (It seems that, between 4.30pm and 7pm everyone is in "shift-change" mode. Transport workers have their meal at exactly the same time that everyone else needs them to go home.) After a fruitless hour of hailng taxis, which brought us to the famous Beijing Lu shopping street, we gave up. We'd elbowed the crowd out of the way to grab one taxi as its customers alighted, only for the "out of service" sign to be displayed. The taxis dried up, so we trudged another 700m to the far end of Beijing Lu where there is a metro station. However, once we got there, the first taxi stopped and took us home!

We had planned a restaurant meal in the city in the evening, but gave it up in favour of nibbles and a bottle of sparkly at home. Hopefully, the transport dilemma will sort itself out after Chinese New Year. In any case, by June, we are supposed to have a metro station down in the village, for the Asian Games, so we will be far less dependent on taxis. We are also exploring the purchase of a small car

Unlike Indonesia, where we mainly drove ourselves, we rely on taxis and buses - taxi to School and bus home, taxis to town and back. We have a "taxi book", which lists most of the places frequented by foreigners in English and Chinese. Currently, our Chinese is limited to about 20 words, if that. So, it was a bit of a surprise this evening, when we got in the taxi, in town,  and said "Baiyun Bao" (the Chinese name of our estate), "Bayun Dadao" (the main road to it) and "Yong Tai" (the adjoining village) to hear the taxi driver ask, in English, "Do you speak Chinese?" We did not have the language to say "No. that's pretty much it." At least he understood the accent.

We spent five hours on a bus on Saturday, on a return journey to a hot spring area. A colleague plans great trips for groups from school, and this was one of the day trips. We weren't sure what to expect, but it wasn't the huge, modern complex that awaited us, up in the hills. We entered the hotel-like foyer, and then the genders parted ways to different change rooms and entries to the hot pools area.

Outside, there were beautiful, landscaped gardens, with small pools everywhere. The 40 - 42℃ pools were lovely, but the 43 - 45℃ one we tried felt like the skin was being removed. A few of the party tried the women-only volcanic mud treatment, and Helen had a very enjoyable massage on a heated stone slab.

We wandered from pool to pool, and were very pleased to find that we could partake of the (ordinary) buffet lunch in our swimming costumes. This meant a few more pools after lunch.

I got changed and went for a wander around the surrounding area, which didn't take long. There were some quaint little places, but, as is mainly the case in China, they are surrounded by construction and/or rubbish. However, we had a lovely day, and will make more of an effort to get out and about.

I cat sat until we woke Helen just before 9am. I think I had one beer too many at Hooleys last night. Everyone had a great night, and, while we were a bit rough with a few songs, the "Rocking Teachers" (definitely not my suggestion) had the joint jumping. A few colleagues, and other patrons, had been at the Australia Day function, then then Westin, finishing at Hooleys. Needless to say, there were a few people who were three sheets to the wind by midnight.

We decided to look for a path up the nearby "mountain". The gateway that I had spotted from the expressway was well and truly out of bounds, so we changed plan, and headed south to the shops near a university, a 7km round trip, on foot. In stark contrast to the last few preceding weekends, we were quite hot.

We stopped at a street market, where Helen bought some bulbs. We'll have to wait until they grow a bit before finding out what they are. There was a woman selling dried snakes, scorpions and other wee beasties in bottles of alcohol. I assume (and hope) it is for external application.

At the end of the street, where it joins the main artery into town, we'd previously seen people dining outside the restaurants. Today, the spaces were filled with street vendors and cars - maybe al fresco is only in the warm months? We tried one likely-looking establishment for lunch, but everything had meat in it. We ended up at a little place run by two Muslim blokes, who could be twins. They had pictures of the meals on the wall, and one of the clientele helped us out with some English. I had a tasty fried rice, and Helen had noodles with tomatoes and eggs.

We ambled back, stopping at the Yong Tai wet markets for fruit and veggies. I bought three different styles of tofu, enough for three meals, for less than AU$1! Our whole week's fruit and vegetables rarely exceeds AU$10, although the grocery bill at the supermarkets in town is closer to Australian prices.

China continues to be amazing. Last Saturday, at Helen's instigation, we hired a van to take us to nearby Foshan, which is described as a "pottery village". Helen obviously hasn't been in Guangzhou long enough, because she had some mental image of an actual village. I, however, was not surprised that the only thing to differentiate the urban sprawl of GZ from that of Foshan was the "Welcome to Foshan" sign over the 4-lane road and the appearance of motorcycles.

The intention was to visit a 1000-year-old kiln and its surroundings. We struck trouble when the paperwork that Helen had garnered did not mention the word "kiln" in English, let alone Mandarin, and the Chinese friend we rang had never heard of it. However, a couple of brown tourist signs appeared, which led us to a delightful little area housing the kiln and rows of shops, made to look like ancient China.

We had a lovely walk around the area and found that there were two kilns side-by-side that had been churning out ceramics for millenia.

 

The specialty of the area seemed to be tacky little figures, particularly of old men fishing. Helen bought a few pots, and I bought a figurine, as an engagement present, of a man searching his wife's hair for nits.

There was supposed to be a nearby area that had antiques and handcrafts for sale, buts its location eluded us. We seemed to be in the same sort of area as central GZ (shopping mall and designer shops), except that the locals were not quite as well dressed, and there were motorcycles parked on the footpath. (And, driving the wrong way down them, as well.)

After lunch at the Golden Arches (which must have doubled overnight, in the number of stores, by entering China), we wandered around. Helen ended up paying too much for a slab of halva from an elderly chap in a Muslim hat.

On Thursday afternoon it was less cold enough to wander down into the village. By means of drawings, mimes and careful scrutiny of goods in a hardware store I manged to procure my shopping list of 5 items. I cheated a bit with the purchase of super glue by going to a shop where I knew one of the women spoke a little bit of English. "Glue" is more difficult to mime than I thought.

Last night, we celebrated a colleague's birthday at Hooley's Irish pub, doing a number of theatre sports-style games. It was a lot of fun. The band practised, because we are actually playing there tonight. The first time was very rough, but, after a couple of beers, the second set was much better.

Today is a big one, but, hopefully, not too gruelling. The sun is out, and we are off to an early Australia Day function, in town, complete with Aussie Rules match. After that, there is a "knees up" at the Westin Hotel, and back at Hooley's for a 10pm start. I think I'm too old to be a rock star.

It looks like this year is starting a fair bit better than 2009. We began last year with no jobs lined up after June, and I, inexplicably, lost the hearing in my right ear, by Day 3. 2010 begins with us working in a new country, with plenty of challenges and opportunities. We're both in pretty good health for our age, particularly Helen, and have set ourselves up pretty well in Guangzhou. We are in the position of being able to make choices in our lives, which puts us way ahead of many people on the planet.

Coming back to Australia for the holidays reminds us that it really is The Lucky Country. Yes, there are a lot of Australians who aren't going as well as they should be and we are becoming one of the fattest countries around, but it is still possible to see the qualities that make Australians who they are, in most people.  By this I mean the ability to help each other in adversity, and to do what needs doing. Common sense is part of the culture, even if the media dwells on those who don't always show it. Australians can see the humour in almost any situation, and can bounce back as a consequence. We know how to play hard, and most of us still know how to work hard.

Despite the growing club culture and the (according to the mass media) rising alcohol-fuelled violence, New Year's Eve celebrations indicate that people don't need to be drunk to have a good time. Helen and I ended up having a very quiet one - a picnic in a park, the early fireworks on TV and a fairly early night. Consequently, we could get out for some exercise this morning. Maybe we are getting too old, but late nights wipe us out, so we choose them carefully.

The only negatives I could ascertain in our fleeting trip home is how low the media set the bar. Free-to-air television is appalling, in the main, and the radio shock jocks still rate well. An example is the so-called "current affairs" programs in the early evening. The headlines proclaim all sorts of controversies, but, in the main, even after the producers spin the stories, it seems that most items are about people who have done something stupid and/or dishonest. Green Day sing about the "age of paranoia", but I think it is also the "age of irresponsibility". Most people seem to want to blame someone else for their situation in life, rather than take the proverbial good, hard look at themselves.

The tragic death of a little boy, before Christmas, killed by a car in his own front yard, brings home the reality that we cannot predict our own futures. We can make plans and set goals, we can speculate about how society might change, but we really can't see what is around the next corner. All we can do is our best and hope that those of us who get the opportunity to make choices make wise ones that benefit others as well as ourselves. As the Dalai Lama has said, "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions". I think I'm getting a bit better at this, but I still have a bit to learn. Maybe it will all fall into place this year.

'Tis the season to be very busy. Everyone in the Western world, and quite a few others in the rest of it, is flat out at this time of the year, but teachers are especially busy. At UIS, we had the Festival of Lights, which encompasses all the religions and cultures in the School community. It went pretty well, considering we had to go to "Plan B" because of rain. I did the sound for the band stage with a mate, and it was a lot easier doing it in the canteen area than it would have been in the open air, as originally planned. The students performed very well, and it was good to be able to help them sound their best. The bulk of the audience was at the other stage, watching the primary acts but we had a good quota.

Friday night was the 6th annual Guangzhou Santa Carol Crawl. More than 150 Santas, and a sprinkling of other Christmas icons, gathered at an Irish pub to drink Tiger beer and sing carols. From there, we bussed to a night club for more Tiger, with vodka shots, and ended up at the Westin hotel for even more Tiger, wine and rum shots, with food. It was a great night. Helen, with her Christmas market fairy costume, won the best-dressed woman, which entitles us to a slap-up meal at the Hyatt when we return from holidays.
 
 
Yesterday, we were back in town, shopping at the computer markets for gifts. We were just in one building, and it was mind-boggling. We got a few neat things, and then walked to the DVD shop, where we spent more than AU$100 on mainly TV series, for us and loved ones. From there, we were back in Tian He at friends' apartment for Christmas drinks. We were home in the early evening.

Tonight, four of us make our "professional" debut as a band. We've played twice at School, and we are doing a couple of hours for a function in town. I hope we are ready.

I forced myself to go to the gym this morning, and, while I will probably regret it tomorrow, it felt quite good. We only have to motivate ourselves to walk up the substantial hill to where the tennis, badminton and basketball courts, the gym and a sort of club area are. "Only" is a bit difficult when the weather is cold and you don't have a lot of daylight. Helen is much better at it than me, particularly in the afternoons.

Yesterday, we were back at the clothing market, for more Christmas shopping. We were there before 10am, which seemed to be a bit early for many of the clothing vendors. However, there were plenty of street vendors, particularly those selling breakfast to passersby. As usual, Helen and I went our separate ways, then met for lunch. I returned to Castle Hill with both lots of shopping, while Helen stayed a few more hours to further deplete the family finances.

We had planned on a quiet night at home, but, as I was about to start the evening meal preparations, the phone rang, and we ended up at the barbecue restaurants on the far side of the main road with a few friends. The food was cheap and tasty, and the proprietors assured us, through the Chinese member of our party, that they did not use MSG. It was a not too cold to enjoy the walk there and back. There is always something to see, and the citizens of Yong Tai seem to operate on the "late to bed, late to rise" maxim.

Friday night saw us at The Paddy Field for the staff Christmas party. It was a really good night, and the organiser had put a lot of thought and energy into it. The different cultural groups were required to do an à capella Christmas song. So, we had Australian, British, Chinese, New Zealand, North American, Korean, Japanese, French and even a Rumanian recitation. Two of the Kiwi men even stripped off their shirts for an impromptu hakka.
 
Over the years, I've learned to appreciate the different ways that people see the world. It is really interesting, particularly at school, how similar, and yet so different, are our diverse cultural backgrounds. Age is a factor as well - I can't get over some of my younger Australian and English colleagues, not having heard of the Goons, and how could anyone in the English-speaking world not know what a Dalek is, or had not listened to AC/DC? Likewise, I have never heard of some of the music that my two English colleagues in our School band come up with, which may be a good thing.

We've had a health scare - Machiato was off her feed, and not leaving anything in her dirt tray. A bit of olive oil and more wet food seems to have done the trick. however, she is now back to her usual self, which means "playing" with us incessently when we are trying to do something. She is cute though.

It was a pretty good end to the week and a great weekend. Friday was the last day of Indian Cultural Week at School, with a fashion parade and Bollywood dancing. After the buses left with the customers, a few of us gathered at the canteen, by the lake, for our last Friday staff gathering before Christmas. I played two brackets with three colleagues. There were some great moments, but we need to practice a bit.The bus had us home not long after 7pm. Helen had baked a birthday cake, and we had it with a bottle of sparkling rose, and Machi, out in the garden.

On Saturday morning, we went to Haizu Square to do some Christmas shopping. First, we went to the Christmas market for costumes for an up-coming event - apparently more than 100 people, dressed as Santa and other Christmas icons, do a pub crawl around town, singing carols. I bought a full Santa suit for less than AU$20 and Helen's fairy costume was a dollar or two more. Next, we hit One Link, which is six, or so, floors of small shops selling all sorts or knick knacks. I got very little, because it became a bit much. I think there are a couple of other markets I need to get to in the next two weeks.

In the evening, we were back in town for another dance performance. We went to the nearby Irish pub for tea, and met up with a few colleagues, who were also going. The performance had a few good bits, but the troupe of 5 couldn't sustain the quality for the whole performance. We moved on to a nearby club, which we had not been to. It was pretty good, with an indoor and outdoor area. Helen and I, mindful of a big day on Sunday, had one drink, and then came home.

We headed out on our bicycles by 7.30am on Sunday morning. We crossed the highway via the overpass, and rode east. We found a great road for "opening up", and then came back to the highway at another overpass, more than a kilometre south. After crossing the highway, we rode further south, along a back road, which curved around to meet the highway. We ended up in an area full of restaurants and shops that warrants further exploration.

Back at home, we showered, changed and caught a taxi to the Westin Hotel, for the champagne brunch, on the 40th floor. It was expensive (by local standards), but wonderful. We had more than our fair share of Verve Cliquot, and the food was delicious, with excellent variety. We felt like there would be no need to eat for a couple of days.

After the mandatory lie down at home, we wandered down to the village, to buy Helen's weekly flowers. As always, it was interesting. A bloke was dismembering a goat for a small audience beside the flower seller. I saw some stairs that I had not previously noticed. At the top, there was a place with several full-size snooker tables. As far as I could gather, the price of a game was about AU$1.70 an hour, so I'll see if any of my colleagues, who live nearby, are keen for an occasional game.