Flight of the Gibbons

Last weekend we had an extra day of holiday so it was a three day weekend.  We all wanted to make the best of our time so we booked a bus and went to Ko Samet which is one of the nearer decent beaches to Bangkok. It is not too far from the Cambodian border and is a teardrop of an island hanging half a. mile off the mainland.  It is a 2 ½.  hour drive and then a speed boat to the island.  Since we arrived in the dark the speedboat journey is an experience by itself.  However after about twenty minutes the engines slow and the boat swings into a bay lined with twinkling lights and jugglers throwing blazing sticks into the air. You collect your luggage and step off the back of the boat into a warm sea, with fine white sand crunching under your toes at every step.  Soon you.  have settled into your room and are sitting out in the open, under the night sky eating your Mussaman curry. You enjoy a beer and a bit of chat with your friends then set off to bed. Then the blood party animals start and the bass grinds on until 4.00 in the morning.  By which time I was climbing up the wall.  At one point I was out of bed and on my way to the disco to ask them to 'turn the bloody music down.  Don't you know people are trying to sleep 'then I realised that I sounded just like Victor Meldrew and went and sat on a beach lounger instead. Then the sun came up.  Everyone talks about it as if it is paradise, but we weren't that impressed (and it wasn't our age, the others had mixed views too!). The island is meant to be a National Nature Reserve but it has become very. degraded with litter and rubbish everywhere, especially behind the coastal stretch.

But there were highlights. The first was to get out of Bangkok as we live and work in the same place - our living room overlooks the school and I hadn't realised how claustrophobic it was until I saw countryside and the sea. Secondly we didn. 't have to get up at 5.30am and be in at work for 6.30am then work til 5.30pm, quick tea and then bed! Thirdly we went snorkelling. Neither of us had done this before but nearly everyone else had. We (14. of us) hired a speed boat for 3 hours and were taken out to coral reefs. I put on the mask and nearly freaked out as my nose was covered and I couldn't breathe. I think being asthmatic this was too much for me. But dad talked me through it and eventually I controlled the panic, breathed through my mouth and finally put my heasd underwater. Well I was just entranced - the life below water was fascinating - the colours and shapes of fish and coral and other sea life. So I snorkelled twice at 2 different spots and would do it again!

On Thursday we went out with Dad's workmates. He is really happy now - loves his work - in fact he feels that he is not doing enough to earn his money. He works with pupils and has always enjoyed building their self esteem so now that is. what he does all day and finishes and doesn't have to bring anything home including worries. And he gets paid more than me! So things are really looking up - he's not tired or stressed and looking relaxed.

So to today and to the Flight of the Gibbons.  It was quite fantastic. It was provided by the secondary school as a team building opportunity for the new staff.  However I was allowed to take Eunice along as my partner.  We set off at 6.15 this morning in the relative cool of the early morning.  The sun was just rising and it was already 28degrees. It was a one hour journey down to Khoao Khieo near to Chonburi and it was great to get out of Bangkok city once again and drive past horizons of steep wooded hills framed by palm trees and scrub land.  When we entered the park, the buses were directed up steep, rutted tracks that wound into the hills. 

We finally came to a halt in a heavily wooded area with the exotic calls of Hornbills and Laughing Thrush to complete the atmosphere of a tropical rainforest.  We nervously collected together in an open-sided wooden hut and were introduced to our guides.  The harnesses were then strapped round our bodies and we set off into the forest, climbing a steep narrow path that wove through the dense undergrowth.  At one point one of our guides.  shot out his hand like lightening and when he opened it he revelled a lizard trapped between his finger and thumb.  One of the other guides whispered to me 'He comes from the north.  They are very poor up there.  They eat anything! '.  The other guide, aware of our western sensibilities released the lizard which scuttled off comically, head raised and legs akimbo to live another day.  Finally the undergrowth thinned and we stood at the base of towering rainforest giant.  Spiralling up around the side of the tree was a staircase.  It was like something from Tarzan.   Eagerly we mounted the steps and climbed upwards until we reached the foliage of the canopy. A narrow platform was constructed around the trunk.  We collected together and waited apprehensively, chatting nervously about what was to come.  A zip wire was strung out across the abyss to the next tree.  I glanced down to the foliage far below us.  These really are tall trees. The view in front of us was breathtaking, treetops extending far into the distance before they climbed.  a steep ridge and disappeared from sight.  An eagle circled lazily along the ridge, riding the thermals of the sweltering heat.  Cicadas buzzed and swifts swept past us, hawking for insects amongst the upper branches.

  

One of our two guides launched himself into space and swept across the void to a similar platform 50 metres away.  Eunice was up first.  Our guide clipped her safety wire to the zip wire and she nervously shuffled to the edge, her toes hanging over the platform.  The guide repeated the safety instructions and Eunice carefully positioned her hands in the correct manner.  She glanced back at me nervously at which point the guide gave her a shove and she was off.  Feet dangling, adrenaline pumping and wind whistling, she sped across the chasm to arrive safely at the other side.  When I joined her a few minutes later her eyes were still shining with excitement and the sense of achievement.

'Do you remember the time we went to the Tivoli Gardens on the Ferris Wheel?' She asked.  I nodded remembering how as the wheel had slowly rotated she had clung to me as if her life depended on it.

'I never thought I would be doing this.  It is fantastic.  I wouldn't have missed this for the world. '.

Twenty three zip wires, 2 aerial bridges and two plunging abseils of 30 metres and nothing had changed our sense of achievement or exhilaration.  As we both commented to each other on the trip back, new experiences, it's what we came to Thailand for and it isn't disappointing.

       

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Today we tried to by an Advantage card for the Novotel. It took 2 hours and a walk along a Bangkok motorway to an ATM before we finally secured a temporary card. Sometimes things are so frustrating out here but we smile and everyone smiles back. Not. a bad way to be really.   

12th September 2010

Time flies! The main news is that Neil is working!! He was approached by the school because a new learning support teacher just did not turn up when the rest of us did in August. It must have been a bit of a shock for the school but they approached Neil and when they found out that he had a lot of special needs knowledge they took him on. I can hear Phil sighing! But Neil is loving it - he works in SECONDARY and is in classes supporting the children which has always been his interest

‘Up every morning at 5, it’s a wonder that we keep alive tired and yawning, upon this cold morning’, only it isn’t cold and I really enjoy going in to work. I support pupils throughout Secondary both in classes and on a one to one basis. It is a real privilege being a part of the lessons and watching the different staff teach. My days whizz by and they pay me as well. It’s great to be working in a different age group and I am learning masses. I’m in science with Years 7 and 8, geography with years 7, 8 and 9 and English with years 7 and 11. I am doing work reviews with year 11 students and have responsibility for Learning Support in Year 10. Hopefully it will give us enough money to buy a car fairly soon so we can start exploring the fabulous nature reserves not too far away.

Next week, as part of a secondary team building event, Eunice and I (Eunice as my dependant!) will go to beautiful pristine forest to do something called Flight of the Gibbons. I’ll tell you more once I’ve been but I know it involves flying through the treetops on ropes!

Last weekend Neil decided to give me a treat and took me, on Sunday, by taxi to the Skytrain then to the river. We waited (I was worried we were going to the snake farm!) and then a boat came that looked like a house on water and ferried us to the Marriott Hotel half a mile down river. There then followed a truly decadent day. From 11.30am to 3pm we were wined and dined for brunch. It was nothing like I have experienced before. The food was incredible with everything from traditional breakfast to BBQ meat and fish; from oysters, crab and lobster to every cold meat you can think of; from smoked fish (lots of salmon) to hummus, olives and salads; from the biggest chocolate fountain to a table groaning with desserts and from dim sum to a wonderful cheese table. Our wine glasses were constantly filled and we could have got sozzled on cocktails, etc, etc. We were inside an oak panelled room so there was air conditioning but we also went (half way through the meal) (did I just write 'meal'? More like a food safari!) outside to sit in the lush, tropical grounds in a Salle under the palm trees, just to have a break before we started again. We really had to pace ourselves otherwise we would have been ill! Finally, 3 o’clock arrived and we boarded the boat ride back, gazing at the amazing Bangkok skyline of modern skyscrapers on a backdrop of towering cumulus clouds. The monsoon is never far away at this time of year.

We are now settling into the life style. Meals out every night, BBQs round the pool and we have increased the housekeeper’s hours to come twice a week now I’m a working man. She cleans, washes, irons, folds even my underpants. (Maurice, who lives next door, claims his maid makes origami figures out of his undies. Hence the expression ‘is that a rearing stallion in your trousers or just a piece of origami!’). Back to Khun Sia, she also does most of our shopping and sews buttons on my trousers. Talking of which, I am rather compromised because when I came out to Bangkok, I had no intentions of working so as a result I have only two pairs of trousers and a few shirts. So, on the recommendation of Eunice’s Head of Year we set off on the Skytrain to Nana on Sukumvit Road. It is a notorious red light area and lots of butt ugly farang try to re-kindle their youth by cruising this road. It turns your stomach a bit. But the street is vibrant and full of tailors, hence our visit there. We made our way to Marty’s the tailor. You walk into the air conditioned shop to be greeted on both sides by rows and rows of fabrics in a dazzling range of colours. The shop is run by an Indian family who speak excellent English and pamper you with drinks whilst they take every measurement conceivable. I told them I would like a white shirt and twenty different shades of white in a range of textures were laid in front of me. Did I want two breast pockets or one, how did I want my collar, was it to be slim fit, the choice was bewildering. I selected three pairs of trousers, seven shirts and a range of ties which I will collect next week. It makes you feel so special! After we left the tailors we went two hundred metres down Sukumvit and to a superb restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms. A percentage of your money is donated to birth control charities. It was night time and you walk through a romantic garden with soft lighting to show you the way. It was Eunice who pointed out that the lampshades were all crafted out of condoms. We then sat in a room festooned with fairy lights hanging amongst the creepers that dangle from the roof and had yet another superb meal. Eunice had noticed on the menu that for an extra 60 baht you could have an invigorating foot massage and we both willingly went to the adjoining room full of anticipation. More on that next time.

We had a busy day yesterday visiting the best hospital in Bangkok. No, not because we over-ate last week. It is like a huge international hotel - super clean and efficient - but it also hosts a huge ex-pat fair which we visited to look at crafts and go to stalls about wine, daily British newspaper to order, (which Eunice is engrossed in at this very moment but true to form did not arrive until half way through Sunday afternoon) The British Club(!), learning to dive, where to send my 'maid' to learn how to cook for me, holidays once a month for Bangkokians (not tourists of-course!), how to get any meal I fancy delivered to the apartment within an hour of me ordering it and so on and so on! Gordon Bennett! Some people live an amazing lifestyle - and I think ours is great! Too many! in this writing I'll have to have a word with myself; I think I only allowed 2 in each piece of year 6 writing.

Well I must finish as there is an amazingly huge thunder storm on the way and all the electricity may fail.

For those who are interested in birds

Short walk out this morning around school grounds:


brown shrike

olive-backed sunbird

paddyfield pipit

yellow-vented bulbul

streak-eared bulbul

indian roller

common myna

white-vented myna

tree sparrow

pied fantail

coppersmith barbet

zebra dove

red-collared dove

spotted dove

scarlet-backed flowerpecker

asian palm swift

barn swallow

black bittern

chinese pond heron

common iora

large-billed crow

Yesterday I was offered a job at Patana School working as a Learning Support teacher in KS 3 and 4.  I am really looking forward to starting tomorrow at 8.30 when I meet the rest of the team.  Today I had my medical inspection.  I was whisked off to the local hospital in one of the school's minibuses and within five minutes was pulling up outside a modern, well kept building which could easily have been a bank apart form the odd wheelchair coming out of the sliding doors.  A doorman in a crisp white and gold uniform opened the door and saluted me as he welcomed me to the hospital.  I arrived at reception where there where no queues and was ushered into the lift and onto the second floor.  There was some problem with the paper work but a young woman in a smart working suit came to translate.  Quickly the problems were resolved and I took a seat.  Within three minutes a nurse came and asked me to stand against the wall whilst she took my height and weight. then I sat down in front of the waiting room and had my blood pressure taken. 'No problems' the nurse announced to the assembled room.  Thank God for that I thought because the whole room would know if I had. Again, I was asked to take a seat then after only a few minutes was ushered into a small anteroom and blood was taken just to check if I had syphalis.  I think I passed!  It is standard Thai practice for all their foreign teachers if yoiu want a work permit. As I sat for the last part of my medical, I watched the main reception desk with interest.  There were six young girls standing there, each with a specific role.  One would receive the file or report, another would collate it and a third would put it for filing or send it on to another department.  Two nearby would stand and chat and the last would set off for the next report.  Everything was calm and tranquility.  The shops are the same with huge numbers of staff standing ready to serve you.  At times there are more staff than customers.
My medical over, I was directed over to the most important section, the accounts section where I had to sign a chit to say i had had the work done.  You could tell it was an important section because all the staff were displayed with their photographs on a notice board unlike any of the nursing departments.  I signed and was then shown out.  Once more the doorman in his immaculate white uniform called my driver, opened the door for me before closing it once I was safely seated and then we set off back to school.  Just like Barnsley Hospital...not, I thought.

Monday mornings are one of my pleasures because that is when Khun Sia, our maid, comes to tidy the flat, wash the floors, do all the ironing and generally make the apartment spotless.  She speaks very little English and I speak very little Thai.  She is trying hard to improve my understanding of the local language but much of our communicationis done by hand waving and something that looks a bit like charades.  Imagine trying to get your house cleaned, ironing at the right heat, washing at correct temperatures and then organising payday by mime alone.  I'm shattered by the end but she is so willing and we talk about all sorts.  Its bit like Eric Morcombe 'I'm saying the right words but not necessarily in the right language.'  I have bored her with pictures of the family and she is fantastic because she answers all the test questions I give her based on last weeks lesson and still seems to be enthusiastic.  Whoever pays the piper calls the tune. But I will persevere until she knows at least all the present gereration of our family and can answer without error!
Today we have naming of parts, well going shopping, yet another task I have added onto her steadily increasing list.  I have learned the Thai word for bananas and she knows I want milk but how in God's name do you mime semi skimmed.  Anyway, I think we have managed that one and now we are onto natural yogart.  I tried to give her a taste by dipping the spoon into the pot but she pulled a most disgusted face as if |I was poisioning her and said she would do without the tasting.  Next week I can't wait to see what turns up in the fridge, if anything.  

In a previous blog, I told you how I had met this super Thai birder called Gum. Last Wednesday, on his day off, Gum organised a birding trip for me along the northern shores of the Gulf of Thailand. He arranged to pick me up at Big C, a local equivalent of Wilkinsons, and then we set off for Samut Sakhon. There are some well documented birdwatching sites along this stretch of coast incluyding Khok Kham. It is a reliable site for small numbers of the endangered Spoon-billed Sandpiper. However, it was still too early for them to arrive but it was full of waders with loads of Black-tailed Godwits and Sandplover.

The sun beat down with very little cover as I scanned the thousands of waders stretched out in front of me albeit at some distance. A party of Indian ecologists arrived. who were part of a convention touring Thailand looking at conservation projects. They assumed that, since I had a telescope, I was part of the convention and.started talking to me about the success of the mangrove regen.eration project. Their English was very good but despite me explaining that I knew nothing about mangroves, coming as I did from Sheffield where we didn't have much call for mangrove regeneration, they continued to pump me with questions and seemed slightly disappointed when I didn't provide them with enlightenment. Gum and I made a number of excuses and made our way back to the car leaving them scatching their heads. We then went on for lunch in a bamboo hut on the beach.over-looking the sea. 'Aloy' the owner kept saying to me which means delicious and I kept nodding my head as it was truely aloy.  Another great day.

26th August

Earlier this week we went down to Lumpini night market.  It seemed rather subdued and many stalls were closed which was a result, we were told of the troubles earlier this year.  Business is only just starting up again and many folk are still staying away or at least the farang who spend the money ( it means foreigner but is the same as the word for guava)  The market is composed of brightly lit, covered alleyways selling many items of Thai culture including every branded lable you can think of at bargin prices.  Bargining is the norm and is something which takes some time to adjust to since things seem pretty cheap anyway.  Still it doesn't do not to take part and one quickly slips into saying to each other 'that was steep.  Lets go somewhere else'  Although busy the market was not full and over half the stalls were closed.  we walked round for an hour or so and bought nothing.  Not because there wasn't anything to buy.  There was some lovely stuff.  We just have two years in which to sellect exactly what we want so why rush.  We left a house full of things and have no desire to fill up another except with things that are really special.  Most of the most important things aren't for sale anyway.