Timeline Journey

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Surviving Thailand's Tsunami
2005-04-07 19:00:00
Kamala Beach,Phuket,Thailand,April 7,2005Kamala Beach was hit the hardest by the Tsunami on December 26th, 2004. You may remember the 100 day Ceremony in which white balloons were released. That ceremony took place on Kamala Beach. I don't really know how to tell this story because there was so much laughter and so much sadness at the same time. So let me just tell you my day.My two kidnappers from Monday came to my Hotel to pick me up for lunch. Dang is on the far left and her co conspirator, Ooy is on the far right. The other women all work in the same business of rounding up Farangs to see Vacation Club presentations at one of the three Hotels in town that sponsor them. You, my loyal readers, keep asking where I find such beautiful women in Thailand. The real answer is: they find me. I am just a very quiet person and the Thai people appreciate that very much. I asked Dang and Ooy if they would be willing to take me to Kamala beach as my guides. So Dang arranged a Taxi (400 baht ...
More About: Ving , Vivi , Nami

Buddhist Celebration
2005-03-24 04:01:00
Kohn Kaen, Thailand, March 23, 2005Every day seems like a miracle here in Thailand but this day was the most touching.When we left our heroes they had just polished off 4 bottles of whiskey and gone to bed at 1:30am Sunday night.It's 6am and the house is suddenly alive. I get up and have a shower and suddenly I am being whisked into Uncle's Police Pickup Truck to parts unknown. I know we're not going to Khon Kaen because they don't want me to bring my knapsack.We drive for two hours and I have no way to ask where we are going so I just enjoy the ride over bumpy country roads, dodging buffalo and chickens.Suddenly we arrive at a small village where Thai music is blaring out of loudspeakers and a hundred or more people are sitting at round tables full of food.Everyone seems to know everyone and Sit and Nu introduce me to several people. Then out comes the whiskey and Chang beer and a smiling young woman who introduces herself to me as 'Jenny' attends to our table. This is Jenny...
More About: Celebration , Hist , Brat , Buddhist

Khon Kaen Karaoke 2: Women
2005-03-24 03:59:00
Kohn Kaen, Thailand, March 23, 20059:30pm Kara oke Bar: Sit motions me to suddenly get up and before I know it we are heading to another bar down the dirt road. Two minutes later, he stops the Pickup truck and the five of us go into a bar that has a brightly lit stage in Day glow colors and a table of several women in their 20s and 30s all dressed in tight disco outfits that look like something from the 80s. A woman who introduces herself as Nuan comes up to me and asks me: "Do you like breasts?" I shrug and say: "Chai". Nuan gives the nod to the other people with me and we all take our seats. 'Sit' orders our 4th bottle of whiskey for the night and the show begins. The first dancer comes on stage wearing a very tight, K-Mart Blue dress and starts lip sinking to a song as she dances. I keep thinking she is about to begin taking her clothes off but she never does.Sit (pictured here) motions for me to follow him and we head to the dance floor in front of the stage and begin Thai danc...
More About: Women

3 Picture Day: Bars, Brothels and Busses
2005-03-01 13:23:00
My 3 Picture Day starts twelve hours before yours does Melissa because I'm in Bangkok this morning. Picture 1: The Screaming LadyIf you've read the Post: Calgary to Thailand In 4 Minutes, you know that the catalyst for this journey was a woman I was engaged to who had a change of heart. I am very happy this morning because L has written me a very sweet letter to open the door to a new friendship. I am sitting in an open air internet cafe at my Guest House when suddenly I hear a screaming woman. She is ranting and raving and pointing at the bar tender of the bar just behind. She seems to be tripping on drugs and the people around me are laughing at her. She goes on ranting and shaking her fist at the bartender here for at least 4 minutes before she finally walks down the road. As I'm writing L, I mention her because the scene is so intense. I write 'L': "Today is 3 picture day on the Blog, and this is one of those pictures but I just don't have the heart to take it. I don't kn...
More About: Bars , Brothels , Roth , Brot

Contagious Optimism
2005-01-31 07:13:00
I have been visiting with a woman I contacted on the Internet almost four years ago but only met for the first time yesterday. Today I talked with Vivyan and her partner, Dorian, about where they came from and how they met. Vivyan Ackroyd is from a prominent Toronto Family. Her great great Grandfather was Joseph Sheard, the former Mayer of Toronto. Sheard was an architect who became well know for refusing to build a gallows for some men who were hanged during the Fenian rebellion of 1840. He said: “I’ll not put a hand to it, Lount and Matthews have done nothing that I might not have done myself and I’ll never help to build a gallows to hang them”.He risked the gallows himself for refusing, but later became a hero for his courage to speak out for what he believed in. Vivyan's Father was John Wesley 'Big Jack' Ackroyd, who was Toronto's Chief of Police from 1980 to 1984. The picture you see here was taken in 1988 with Vivyan sitting in her father's lap. In June, 1981 Ch...
More About: Opti , Optimism

Meeting Old Friends For The First Time
2005-01-30 13:41:00
I first met Vivyan online in 2000 on a dating site. I wrote about that first contact in the Post, 'The Voice Of The Silence'. But yesterday was the first time I ever actually met her. I took a bus from Kitchener to Etobicoke and Vivyan's partner, Dorian picked me up from the terminal in their white Miata. The Miata is my dream car but this is the first time I ever rode in one. Vivyan and I agree that the ideal color to own is candy apple red though. When I stepped in the door and looked at Vivyan for the first time in person, I found it difficult to get used to hearing her voice and seeing her at the same time. She actually looked very different in person but I don't know why. But as I looked at her and she continued to talk, I found that the image I had in my mind began to meld with the person I was looking at, until my inner picture of her, and the one I saw in front of me, fell into sync. We gave each other a warm hug. We sat down in the living room and drank some very nice ...
More About: Friends , Time , Ends , First Time , Meeting

The Voice Of The Silence
2005-01-28 01:58:00
Twenty years ago, When I lived in Medicine Hat, Alberta, I was eating escargot at a restaurant, when I suddenly started looking at one of the shells and I had a powerful sense of Deja Vu. I knew the shell was important but I didn’t know why. I only knew that I was supposed to find something and that the shell was the key. After several days of carrying the shell in my pocket, I decided to visit a dear friend of mine, Averil. She and I both studied a Spiritual path at that time, called Eckankar. Averil had a great library of esoteric books so she let me look around to see if one would solve the mystery for me. I found a couple of books that I was interested in reading, but none seemed to be what I was after. Then just as I was leaving I happened to peer into her bedroom, and there on her bedside table was a little red book called 'The Voice Of The Silence '. I walked right in and placed my escargot shell over the sketch on the cover. It fit perfectly. Averil said it was her favo...
More About: The V , VOIC

Calgary to Thailand In 2 Minutes
2005-01-17 12:47:00
My whole Life Changed In 2 Minute s .I spent the last three years in Calgary Alberta with Kahlin. She is a gentle loving soul with a sweet nature and a melodic voice. When I found this painting of a faerie under a shimmering waterfall I immediately thought of her. She looks very much like this painting. Living with Kahlin was wonderful. Our life together was balanced and peaceful and very healing for both of us. I looked forward to coming home from work every day just to be with her. I remember thinking that our life was like a Dream I was afraid I would wake up from; And how true that turned out to be. After living together for two and a half years we chose to take the relationship further. On April 1st, (talk about an omen), I proposed to Kahlin on the balcony of 'Lougheed House'; a hundred year old mansion built by the grandfather of Premier Peter Lougheed. I was a lead carpenter on the renovation crew. One day I even met the Premier on the site. When I asked him if I could tak...
More About: Thailand , Gary