A Farang For All Seasons -- Part 7

[JaiGuruDev]

A Farang For All Seasons -- Part 7

 

MikeM33607 and I met for breakfast with the girls in tow. Sip is an 'old hand' at the breakfast buffet by now, and Lady is warming up to the idea. The girls found new and interesting things at the buffet, and did a pretty good job of keeping MikeM and I entertained.

 

When she wasn't acting silly, Sip had a lot questions about visa lottery. We spent almost all our time together so it's hard to believe she was being fed the questions. I think she took what we told her, mulled it over for a while, and would come back with questions from a fresh perspective. I wouldn't mind helping her come over for a couple weeks, but I tried to guide her away from the fiancé visa idea.

 

After breakfast, MikeM and Sip used the lobby computers to do some Internet research on Visas, while Lady and I played the nearby piano. Sip came away satisfied that as a business and homeowner there was a good chance she could obtain a Visitor's Visa, and with the Visa Lottery there was even a chance she could start a new life for her and her nephews. And none of it involved marrying me, which was a good thing.

 

Sip is a nice girl and all, but I don't have any intention of marrying anyone for the next five years. No problem if Sip wanted to stay with me. But marriage? Forget it!

 

We retired to our rooms and packed for the trip back to Bangkok. When we were finished, we relaxed on the bed waiting for the Pattaya Fun Bus to roll up.

 

Sip makes a wonderful pillow. The only problem is that damn mobile phone of hers. First her sister called, and Sip told her about the Visa Lottery. Her sister told two friends and they called. And then they told two friends and they called. And so on. And so on. I'll bet the village tom-toms were busy that night.

 

It was dry when we got in the bus, but once on the road it started to rain a bit. Not enough to ruin a vacation, and it was nowhere near what I expected. It should have been enough rain to slow people on the expressway, yet they didn't slow. Refusing to be bullied by a few raindrops, some poor soul paid for it with a horrific accident.

 

This was the second serious accident I've seen in LOS, and both times the emergency crew seemed to act with indifference. Maybe the victims were already dead so the crew didn't think there was a need to hurry. Who knows? I just hope I never have to rely on those guys.

 

Maybe, just maybe, some people saw the accident and slowed down, but not our driver. He must have thought he needed to make up for time lost and actually sped up. Once in Bangkok, he had no choice but to slow down because the traffic on the expressway was so bad.

 

Like so many of our drivers before him, he thought he could make up for lost time by driving like a nut on Bangkok's surface streets. A block or so ahead I could see a taxi slowly pulling into our lane from a side street.

 

"Yut, yut!! Yut, yut!! Hey, guys? Get ready we're going to crash. I'm not kidding; we're going to crash! Hold on!!"

 

The bus driver locked up the wheels, and hit the taxi we did. The two drivers got out and were yelling at each other, and the taxi passenger got out and was yelling at both of them. If I were the taxi passenger, I would have just grabbed my briefcase and hailed another taxi but he looked liked he was enjoying the shoutfest. So much for the Thai cool-heart. But the six of us were stuck for the time being.

 

The drivers weighed the damage and figured it was safe enough to continue on to the Nana Hotel. At the hotel, we took a look at the damage. Someone should pull the fender a littler farther away from the tire, but I'm sure the bus will be on the road again tomorrow.

 

None of us were hurt but it just goes to show that when something goes wrong, it can get bad quickly.

 

Checking-in to the Nana Hotel I was treated like a VIP. I guess news of the tip to Jaruwan got around.

 

Lady and Sip wanted to sleep. 'Sleep' is Thai for lie around the room and watch TV all afternoon. MikeM and I agreed to meet in the lobby and warm a couple stools at GBB instead.

 

I got to the lobby first, and relaxed in one of the big chairs as I waited. There are a few guys that have been living at the Nana Hotel long before I ever stayed there; two of which I refer to as Lenny and Squiggy. Both of those guys have to be over 80 years old, but that doesn't stop Squiggy from taking a swim every morning and is usually seen at the Nana breakfast buffet or reading the paper during the day. At night; Lenny and Squiggy hit the bars. Lenny and Squiggy are my heroes.

 

It seems a few days ago, Lenny decided to buy a knock-off Rolex from the tout that sharks GBB. The asking price was 2,000 baht, but Lenny talked him down to only 900. At first, Lenny was happy with the deal but he soon found out the watch lost about 15 minuets every hour. Maybe that's why the Thai's are always late. Anyway, Lenny caught up with the tout a day or so later, and the tout replaced the watch with no problems. Gotta be happy with that. Lenny has a new watch, and now he knows what time it is. More or less?

 

At GBB we were greeted with the kind of rain I expected; it was raining so hard that it was difficult to read the signs across the street. I wouldn't have been surprised to see someone building an Ark nearby? Not only was the rain filling up the Soi See, it was starting to flood the sidewalks and threatened the steps of GBB.

 

Although the wind wasn't really blowing, quite a bit of rain was somehow making its way into GBB. We gave up a little ground to stay dry, but had to move farther in only a few minutes later.

 

And if that wasn't enough, the power went out.

 

It sounds like a rough life but the girls took good care of us, and the power outage did little to slow the drinks being served by the bar. Or consumed by the patrons, for that matter.

 

While we were hiding in the bar, I told MikeM the story of Lenny and the Rolex.

 

It's nice to sit on the porch on a Spring's day, and watch the first birds and chipmunks come out after the showers have passed. That's kinda what it was like at GBB; only instead of birds and chipmunks, it was bargirls and touts.

 

"*Will* you go away."

 

"Will *you* go away."

 

"Will you *go* away."

 

"Will you go *away.*"

 

Nothing works with these touts.

 

The seed planted with Lenny's story started to sprout, and MikeM was keeping an eye out for the Rolex man. It doesn't take long for the Rolex man to make his rounds, so he was soon at our table showing his wares. MikeM picked the watch he was interested in, and the haggling began.

 

Like gladiators fighting to the death, they would thrust and parry; offers and counter-offers were thrown back and forth. MikeM's final price was soon revealed, and the tout was left with the choice of either conceding defeat and making the deal, or running away. Victorious, MikeM showed off his new Rolex.

 

It was all fun and nobody got hurt, but I secretly wondered if wearing a knock-off Rolex in the Nana Triangle was a sign that we were susceptible to touts. I needn't have worried, the touts were no better or worse than before.

 

With the sun down and the neon coming to life, it was time to start thinking about what to do this night. We settled on dinner at Cabbages & Condoms but I also had something else to do that night; I had to square up with GoodGirl.

 

The girls were ready in a flash, and we were soon on our way. The food at Cabbages & Condoms is pretty good, and it's impossible for me to leave without feeling stuffed. Ordering too much food, and then mango with sticky-rice for afters; what a way to go?

 

We took a taxi to NEP, and hit Angelwitch for the show. After a round or two, Lady and Sip (it was prolly Sip because that's the kind of girl she is) wanted to go to the disco I never heard of before, so we gave them some baht and told them to be back by midnight.

 

They gamboled off while MikeM and I hit a few more bars. Before long it was time to bite the bullet and visit GoodGirl at Morning/Night.

 

I had written her off in my mind, but for some reason thought it was a good idea to tell her the truth - maybe I just wanted to make myself feel better as I was haunted by the look on her face when I told her I wouldn't take her to Pattaya.

 

We climbed the steps to 'Rock DJ,' and were led to a table by the usual girls. It didn't take long for GoodGirl to come over. We had a little talk, and I told her I didn't take her to Pattaya because I thought she didn't want to go with me so I had invited another girl. GoodGirl didn't flinch, but said she knew I was on vacation and wanted to be with a lady; however, GoodGirl would still like to know me better.

 

I'm torn; should I write GoodGirl off, or not. We'll have to see how it goes.

 

I promised there would be a next trip and if GoodGirl really wanted to know me better that I would arrange what ever she wanted.

 

With that, we checked bin and hit the road. We thought Lady and Sip were across town at a disco, and were surprised to see them sitting in the Nana disco.

 

It was pretty early so there weren't many people in the Nana disco, but the beers were cold and the dancers hot so we enjoyed a round or three before heading up to the room for the night.