Baby Alert (not mine) - Welcome Benjamin White

Many of my friends also know Brian White thus this post.

My good friend Brian White who is visiting just gave me permission to update my blog with the wonderful news that on April 4, 2012 at 1:36 p.m., Benjamin White was born to Vansiy Tue and Brian White in Bangkok, Thailand. Both the baby and Brian's lovely girlfriend Vansiy are doing fine.

House Boat Trip to Kanchanaburi

My dear friend Rhonda kidded me about my "New Year's resolution" to update my blog more frequently.  As usual, she was right so here we go.

Since returning to Thailand, my time has been  focused on practicing my practical Thai language skills, waiting for the land I purchased in Prachinburi, Thailand to be cleared so construction on a small house and garden can begin and a few trips throughout the region.

"Apparently", I have been told, the land should be cleared by the Thai Songkran holiday next week.  The notions of "Thai Time" and "Mai Pen Rai" (or No Problem) have tested my patience a little bit but I am excited to see the progress when I visit Prachinburi for the Thai holiday which is best characterized by people throwing as much water on as many people possible throughout the three-day holiday.

In February, I went with Porn and her friend Mai who is from Prachinburi and about fifteen of her Prachinburi friends for a two-day house-boating trip in Kanchanburi, a rural, mountainous area about 3 hours from Bangkok.

I figured it would be a good chance to meet some of the locals from the town where I will build and was I ever right!  Thirty-six hours of chatting (in Thai), swimming, listening to Thai music and eating non-stop.  The boat rental included a dedicated cook, a kind woman skilled in the art of cooking Thai food for large groups of people.  Honestly, she cooked almost the entire time bringing out more dishes about every 15 minutes.

Catching Up and Making New Year's Resolutions

Long time, No Hear....  :-)

My resolution for 2012 is to make this a more common occurrence.  Having just returned back to Bangkok after a three week visit to the States, I heard repeated comments asking me "Why did you stop updating your blog?"

Since my last post in 2011, much has happened to me and, on the advice of my friend Garrett, I will just post a quick summary of those events.

Hmm...May 2011 was my last post, so here I go.  On June 2, I celebrated my birthday.  Thanks to my lovely friend, Joy, I enjoyed a great dinner in a riverside restaurant with a surprise birthday cake!  Thank you, Joy.

Travels since that time have included:

• the beautiful region of Thailand called Krabi with unbelievable limestone rock formations sprouting out of the clear blue/green water

• A week in Vietnam and Cambodia with my good friend Brian White which included the making of a short video of Brian crossing the street in Vietnam which surprisingly has amassed over 1.4 million YouTube hits. Watch here:  B Dub Vietnam
• A week on the island of Koh Samui with my friend Hsan Htein and his brother-in-law Sonny

• A trip with my girlfriend Porn to her hometown in the Issan region of northeastern Thailand which has the best food I have ever eaten;

• A vist to Ban Phe to visit my teacher friend Paul and his charming Thai wife Tay, and Koh Samed (actually many trips to Koh Samed, a small island three hours by bus and boat south of Bangkok)

In my spare time, I have developed a very successful English tutoring business.  My students are primarily high school and college students who reside with their families in my condo building.  This has been fun and rewarding and I look forward to another successful year of teaching others my native language.

The holidays here were a bit of a disappointment.  It's this time of the year that I get the most homesick and, as such, decided to book a trip home in January.

San Francisco was fun, seeing old friends, eating good food, enjoying the lovely scenery and not sweating profusely every walking moment.  A short trip home to Boston was awesome. My whole family is doing well and I miss them more with each passing day.  Renting a car back in California and driving the state was relaxing and tiring.  Six days and 1,600 miles later, I had visited Long Beach, Los Angeles, Chico,  Sacramento, Pacifica and Monterey before settling back in my friend Marc's San Francisco apartment for my last few days of watching the NFL Playoffs and saying my goodbyes.

Upon my return, I visited the town of Prachin Buri, next to the Kaow Yai National Park and purchased four acres of land on which I hope to build a home with a guest bungalow or two when my friends and blog followers come to visit this lovely country.  See Prachin Buri here:  Prachin Buri, Thailand

My truest wishes to you all for a wonderful 2012 filled with friends, laughter and good health!