Philadelphia
It is cold here. I shiver in the predawn and set a fire.
I sit there silently waiting for the sun to rise on this, my seventh day back in the West. Each morning I sit in the same rocker watching the grey-blue sky yield to pinks in the east while I watch the moon set slowly in the west. In anticipation, I look for the sun to come from the other side of the world. I silently welcome it, remember those who are still there, wonder if they're having dinner, going to meet friends for a quiet Saturday evening or if they, too, are alone remembering. I salute the rising sun with a sunrise yoga pose complete with a respectful wai.
While I was in the south of Thailand that very short time ago, I jotted down several headings in my tablet. They included: People and Quotes to Remember; Things to Remember; and , of course, the 10 Best and Worst things about Bangkok.
So, here goes.
People/Quotes to Remember
( note: this list will be serendipitous meetings,
not my colleagues who I have written about
in past postings ).
1. Chris, the Thai who registered me at the Pimilai for my last three days in Thailand. I had just arrived at the porte chere of this four star resort. The serene entrance had piped in music, a small waterfall surrounded by stunning foliage, and a commanding view of the Andaman Sea. I should add that I arrived on the back of a noisy motorbike with a backpack, and
one small red duffel bag as my luggage. I was wearing my swimsuit, a pair of running shorts, and pink flip flops and a pink baseball cap. As he greeted me with a deep wai, he smiled and inquired: " Tell me, Madam," he asked as he nimbly picked up my backpack. " Have you been here awhile?" I smiled, and answered that I'd been on the island for three days, in SEAsia for two months. " Ah," he added knowingly, " I thought so. You look blended."
2. Laura, a 40ish woman who I literally ran into three times in an hour while I was doing some shopping on Charoen Krung Road near the Oriental one hot afternoon. The third time, I was sitting at a Starbuck's reading my beloved International Herald Tribune. She smiled and said "hi." To which I replied: " Sit down, Laura. Clearly we must have some connection here. Let's talk." And talk we did. She lives about 45 minutes from my place in Pennsylvania. Laura comes to SE Asia three times a year to buy textiles, then returns home to Doylestown and creates clothing for several clients. But she got hooked on the east years ago, and can't get enough of it.
In her own words: " What an inconvenient obsession."
3.Aman, who has been making alms bowls for Bangkok monks for 30 years, who showed me how he welded the 9 pieces of metal together just as it has been done for centuries.
4.Shiva, the tailor in the small village near the Pimilai who agreed to repair my nylon duffel so that I could get my belongings back to Bangkok in one piece. It took three visits to his little tailor shop before he returned from lunch ( must have been two martini lunch because he was gone for three hours ). When he finally returned and mended the bag, I smiled in gratitude. "How much?" I asked. " One thousand bhat," he replied. I stepped back, looked him in the eye, and said incredulously, "What did you say?" ( that's $28 U.S. --I could buy a new bag for that ).
He sat there stonefaced, then tiny bit of a grin began to show on his face: " Just kidding! 100 baht." Very funny, Shiva!
5.The cook at the Rio. She had no quote per se. But I miss her terribly. After the first couple of times I ordered from the menu ( she has wisely put pictures of the finished dish in a binder for those of us who are novices at Thai cuisine ), she would smile when I came into the little restaurant, and point to my favorite dishes which ranged from YumTomSoup with prawns to stirred fired chicken and bok choi. " Not too spicy," she'd add. And off she'd go to make me the best meals I had in Thailand.
So that's today's memories.
The sun is up, the fire only embers, the garden reminding me that I am not in Kansas, or Thailand.
But home.
MC
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