Motorbike fixes and dog satisfaction

start with something like this, not expensive

my options were to buy something online as a cushion for my motorcycle seat or I could have made something by myself or I could have gone to the city and found someone to make something for me. I decided to make my own.

After taking out some filling duct tape works just fine to seal it up.

The next step is to waterproof it with a recycled garbage bag. Duct tape melds with the garbage bag plastic and cannot be undone.
Place it under the seat cover and voila !

Now for the dogs!

It is nice to see dogs trained to stay in their designated guarding places
Inside the store this dog knows where to sit so he doesn’t activate the door opener sensor
Did I mention pigs? Well this pig has a name but I forgot. He’s wandering around here most days
I like to just take a walk and smell the roses but these flowers are nice to look at as well
Roel, Didier, Jim and I are discussing the price of rice in Timbuktu.
Repeat the name of this school 10 times quickly
ready for a swim

Bocce in Paradise

Playing in the sand

When I was growing up I would often go to the city (San Francisco). Sometimes I will go to fisherman’s wharf area and there was a place where the old Italian men were playing bocce. I didn’t know anything about the game but I was intrigued. Now I’m in Thailand and because of a good friend I am able to play the game several times a week and learn some Italian as well. At the end of this blog you can see a video, explaining how the games played and showing some very good and some very poor players. It’s all in good fun.

Pedro’s overhand throw
Giuseppe’s (professore) precision throw.
Elizabeth’s (the destroyer) stance.
Inspecting the results. the one who is farthest throws next.

Adding to the video below, each person gets 3 bocce balls so the maximum score on each toss is 3 (the closest to the red target ball).

Bush and bin Laden on a rocket ship Chiang Rai

in Chiang Rai there is a temple called the white temple. It was designed not only for religious purposes but also as a collection of Buddhist ideas and symbolism to enchant people visiting the complex. It was designed by a very famous artist in Thailand who even created a painting of George Bush Junior with Osama bin Laden on a rocket going somewhere into outer space so you know this guy has quite a sense of……… Something. I won’t go into detail on that temple itself since that can be better done by a couple links I have here. I want to show you the photos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Rong_Khun

These are tortured souls
Thousands of small medallions
Medallions up close
This is just to prove I was actually there. No, I was not photoshopped in
you can see clearly why they call it the white temple
always adding new sculptures
even the bathrooms are very ornate. I’m sure you don’t believe these are the bathrooms but they are
See!
some symbolism I recognized
my wish was, “I wish I had this wishing well”. It’s a real moneymaker
even the caution markers contain symbolisms

Loy Krathong – the festival of lanterns in Chiang Mai

I will let Wikipedia explain the festival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loy_Krathong

Roy and Cody
Held on the full moon
3 kings memorial
At Tulou Restaurant

Another, another day in paradise

When you get a flat…
You bring out your spare tires
It’s good to have your embroidered name on your cap just so you don’t forget it
My Advanced team
An afternoon treat
Self service gas. Insert coins and get what you need
7 PM is too early for customers
The entertainment bus
Bananas out my window
Coffee from the Local plantation
This hotel is a little rundown due to Covid
Coffee in the jungle
The front of the coffee shop
Starry starry night
Looks like a comedy but it actually happened, big nail
The bungalow owner brought me some fresh shrimp
This pillow seems to make the ride so much softer
A good thing for the buildings below this water tower there are no earthquakes in Thailand
I it’s really a good idea to take your face mask out of your swimming suit before going in the ocean. I should have remembered that

Another day in paradise

A few days ago I was talking to a good friend about our situation in this pandemic whatever it is. They said to me, “do you realize how many people would love to be in your situation, on an island in Southeast Asia where you’re able to travel around and do a lot of interesting things?“ My response was, “how many people are there in the world?“ They responded, “about 7 billion“. I said, “ then I guess there would be about 7 billion people who would love to be in my situation“. Here are some recent photos and situation’s.

Would you drink this?
All of these Duk duk waiting for business to come back to normal.
A small shrine in a cubby hole on the street
The hotel is obviously owned by Chinese Thai
Hey small hotel shrine
And meanwhile, back at the ranch
A good lesson
I doubt the manufactures understand the implications of this brand name
John is waiting around on the beach for some cheese
Very nice menu
Walking in the narrow and dark alleys of Chinatown in Bangkok I was a little concerned about confronting some rats along the way. I did not expect this