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Well, it's Jing-Joe's birthday, so that means getting up at 6.30am to go and find a monk and give him some presents.
In Australia it's the other way around, YOU get the presents if it's your birthday, but here, we give to the monk first!
Of course, getting someone aged 3 and 15 minutes out of bed is not easy. Only the promise of seeing "Buddha" (as she calls monks), and then seeing an elephant does the little one get out of bed.
Everyone washes face, cleans teeth, slap clothes over PJ's and heads down stairs.
There we discover that the monks in Bangkok are slow risers, so we have to wait till 7.30am!
I go in search of newspapers and a stray monk reportedly sighted a block away. I am sure I see him; we all race after him, but a false trail.
I do find papers, so, with the wife, kid, lottery salesman, village idiot (nice guy, in his 40's, directs traffic as a hobby, 24x7 hours) and the cobbler, (personal friend of the baby's).
Finally the monk comes; we give him his box of medicine, nice choice JJ! Rice, flowers and the cobbler gives JJ 20 baht to give to him as well.
Very nice, I snap photos, and it's off to bed.
"NO!"
"Elephant!"
"I see Elephant NOW!"
Kid has a memory of an elephant!
Of course not many around, so I volunteer to go upstairs and get the car keys, we'll drive past the zoo and see one, come home, shit, shower and shave, and get ready for the party.
EXCEPT, Jing-Joe has switched the OLD keys with the new front door keys.
We are locked out. Building owner is sound asleep.
SO.
Of we go to Starbucks, leaving wife next door hunting the old-dog lady who is the building manager.
Jing-Joe and I find Starbucks, rarely go there, so today we go.
Large coffee for me, chocolate for her.
She makes "Chocolate Som Tam - Mai Pet" for all the staff, never seen a cake so abused!
Then off to look for "Baby" the baby we often share a coffee with at the 94 degrees coffee shop beside Villa.
No baby, but as we have bought Koa Neo and chicken on the way, Jing-Joe wants to eat that in the 2nd coffee shop, 2nd coffee for me!
I leave her with the staff, go shopping for Glad wrap. (Now that's another story!)
Come back.
Read about a crie writer I love who has the 75th anniversary of his book "Maltese Falcon".
Go home on two motorbikes, one each.
Get home, wife is beating the shit out of the door with a Som Tam pummel.
Smashing the lock.
"WHAT?" I scream.
"Old lady not wake up, so I open door."
My wife is so SUBTLE!
I find the owner's daughter, and get the spare key, shoo away the crowd watching DarLek beat up a door knob, come inside.
Sigh, it's only 9am!
18 hours left!
Jimmie Blonde
© Jimmie Blonde. All rights reserved by the author.
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