Off to Thailand Today

[thongd4me 69]

my Issan family was singing...doing the dead relative worship service. 4 family members are going into the monastery; pretty cool.

Just describe the dish and I'll have my fiancee name it. I have no memory except for my absolute favorites.

I agree; Thai food is second to none! I thought Pad Thai was some complicated dish...we make it here all the time now!

Thanks for the offer to name the dishes but I can easily get a name here as I'll be here until Halloween.

No guarantee I'll remember it

It was very arduous trying to upload a pic but I did it and this is from yesterday's funeral in Rayong.

The day before the funeral there is a wake at the house of the deceased.

The entranceway/garage is ornately decorated and the casket is on display.

A traditional Thai music band plays music that sounds like a cat getting strangled.

All the relatives & neighbors come to pay their respects.

The monks (dressed in chrimson) have a place of honor at the front.

On the day of the cremation the casket is taken to the wat (temple) in a pickup truck

with the cars of relatives & neighbors following behind.

When it arrives at the crematorium a procession circles the crematorium 3 times (counterclockwise)

before mounting the steps to be on display for one last time (the pics I enclosed are at the

crematorium).

Then follows several hours where maybe 20 or thirty monks come up one by one to pay their respects.

There is a lot of chanting and an MC as well to give a speech in Thai (unending speech) over a loudspeaker.

Towards the end a couple of kids set off firecrackers.

They hand out paper/origami roses and everyone gets to go up to the crematorium platform and

throw in their rose to get burned along with the body.

This is only the sketchiest detail as I don't know all of the customs & their significance.

Edited October 11, 2009 by thongd4me

[HYENA 4]

I had to try to quell my laugh...cat strangled music!

And how would you know what that sounds like?

SOunds like you're getting some good culture there.

I was just reviewing my fiancees forms... asking myself what our culture is missing out on? Doing immigration work for visa, her official government documents state she was born the year of the rabbit, corresponding Saturday of the waxing moon (month and day?)

I''m sure our culture is missing out on something huge; I just can't figure out what it is yet)!

I think my month is the embarrassed, exposed moon; year of the katoey hyena

Edited October 11, 2009 by HYENA

[thongd4me 69]

I had to try to quell my laugh...cat strangled music!

And how would you know what that sounds like?

SOunds like you're getting some good culture there.

I was just reviewing my fiancees forms... asking myself what our culture is missing out on? Doing immigration work for visa, her official government documents state she was born the year of the rabbit, corresponding Saturday of the waxing moon (month and day?)

I''m sure our culture is missing out on something huge; I just can't figure out what it is yet)!

I think my month is the embarrassed, exposed moon; year of the katoey hyena

Hyena Men of Harar

Over 35 years ago I was a smallpox cowboy in Harar (semi-desert in southern Ethiopia).

I was Peace Corps working for the World Health Organization.

The biggest tourist attraction there was the hyena man who I paid a visit to one night.

Apparently the trade was passed on from father to son as the guy I saw is probably long gone.

What got you was the 20-30 pairs of eyes reflecting his flashlight as he tossed meat to them.

That was one of my "Lion King" moments...

[thongd4me 69]

This morning at Hua Hin (Thailand) we got the news by email notification!

I got up earlier to take some pics of fishing boats at low tide.

We are in a beautiful little AC hotel, only 800 TB a night,

thanks to my sweetheart's keen eye for a bargain.

We have the best room in the whole place, the only one

overlooking the sea. Had a great seaside dinner with her

two girlfriends who drove us here from Phetchaburi

last night (and then returned the same night to Phetchaburi).

We are blessed!

The last processing action taken on your case

Receipt Number: EAC0999999999

Application Type: I129F , PETITION FOR FIANCE(E)

Current Status: Approval notice sent.

On October 14, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I129F PETITION FOR FIANCE(E). Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service at 1-800-375-5283.

If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.

[lindal24 1]

YEA!! Congrats on getting approved by NVC...will you stay for the interview?? Goodluck in all your endeavors!

[b_weeks 6]

CONGRATS

[thongd4me 69]

YEA!! Congrats on getting approved by NVC...will you stay for the interview?? Goodluck in all your endeavors!

Staying for the interview would be great but we only have 2 weeks left in Thailand together (31 October).

We'll just take it one step at a time. The pics we got since my arrival on 6 October are just great.

All her relatives, co-workers, friends, even a group of Ministry of Education officials.

We didn't save many receipts from my 4 previous month-long trips, but we are keeping every single one now,

especially hotel bills with BOTH our names on them. The timing of this trip couldn't be better.

Good luck in your VJ.

[thongd4me 69]

Nothing like "Thai Style"

Last night (the day following my NOA2 notification in Thailand) we went for a walk down the beach in Hua Hin.

I wanted to go a little further (just around the next bend) but she started to feel like going back to the hotel.

We compromised (walked a little further).

We came to a nice little restaurant and it turned out that it was owned by the same family (cousins) of

the hotel we were staying at. While we were having Pad Thai & some noodles in a bowl, the owner of our

hotel comes up in a motorbike. She offers to lend it to us on the spot (I'm sure she'll get a ride back to

the hotel from her cousin). We took it for a spin into town & got some stuff at 7-11 and then gassed it

up and returned it the same evening.

[thongd4me 69]

Nothing like "Thai Style"

Last night (the day following my NOA2 notification in Thailand) we went for a walk down the beach in Hua Hin.

I wanted to go a little further (just around the next bend) but she started to feel like going back to the hotel.

We compromised (walked a little further).

We came to a nice little restaurant and it turned out that it was owned by the same family (cousins) of

the hotel we were staying at. While we were having Pad Thai & some noodles in a bowl, the owner of our

hotel comes up in a motorbike. She offers to lend it to us on the spot (I'm sure she'll get a ride back to

the hotel from her cousin). We took it for a spin into town & got some stuff at 7-11 and then gassed it

up and returned it the same evening.

By the way, the "cute little charm" on the keychain for the motorbike was a brass peni$.

Thai women. Gotta love 'em.

[thongd4me 69]

Taken morning of 18 October 2009

One in a million shot: caught with a simple point & shoot (Nikon). Fishermen with half of their catch (very impressive).

I tagged along to see what they had tangled up in their nets and it was simply amazing.

This guy was trying to put on his pants while his mate waited for him as he fumbled (but he made it).

The fishermen in Huah Hin stay out all night and these two came on to the beach with their catch just

after daybreak. You can see the boats about 1km offshore at night arrayed in a line, each one with a

simple light for safety.

Kids & Barracuda -

I didn't expect to see this as a catch at Hua Hin but I've learned to expect the undexpected

in Thailand!

Edited October 18, 2009 by thongd4me

[thongd4me 69]

Sanook University: 1st Year Thai University Students jump into ocean for fast change antics.

Hua Hin is no longer a sleepy fishing village!

Party Central with bongo music and 3-legged races!

How to impress the girls: wear your underwear on the outside after changing in the ocean!

[thongd4me 69]

Yesterday (Wednesday 28 Oct) - we did the police report.

The staff at the police center were all friendly and courteous.

Today (29 Oct) we did the medical exam at Bumrungrad Hospital.

What an experience. It was more like a 5-star hotel than a hospital.

Everything was wired/automated, the staff (clerical staff as well as

housekeeping, nurses & doctors) wore uniforms. They have a BIG

business in serving our Arab friends; they were the most numerous

among the non-European/American farangs. All of the announcements

(for example at the cashier's) were in English, Thai, Japanese & Arabic.

They even had Arabic-speaking staff to communicate with Arab patients.

The process was painless (I wasn't getting any injections!) as was the

payment (3858 TB, paid with my credit card).

One VJ friend suggested we ask for 2 original copies of the vaccination report,

as they will take one from us and not return it when she goes for the interview,

so I heard. The doctor flatly refused this request, saying they don't work for

the US government, or some bull$hit like that, but for the hospital. At least

she tried. I don't know if anyone else had this experience (the consulate

takes the vaccination record), because my VJ friend said we needed

another record for the AOS stage. I don't know if a photocopy will do for that,

or that means she will have to go through another array of injections....!!!

[Matt_Stevens 5]

Wow, what a jerk. Some people are amazing.

[thongd4me 69]

Wow, what a jerk. Some people are amazing.

I guess he was just doing his job, but what I'd like here is some confirmation

of whether the consulate has taken the original vaccination record of other

applicants and refused to return it. That's what to me seems strange.

He didn't need to embellish his refusal but that's his problem not mine.

[lindal24 1]

Wow, what a jerk. Some people are amazing.

I guess he was just doing his job, but what I'd like here is some confirmation

of whether the consulate has taken the original vaccination record of other

applicants and refused to return it. That's what to me seems strange.

He didn't need to embellish his refusal but that's his problem not mine.

In VN, I believe they put it in the brown sealed envelope. As far as I'm aware, the guy at the POE checks it and keeps it. I would believe the process is the same for the Philipines. You should go back after you get your copy and request a copy of the vaccination record--they won't require her to get additional shots (or shouldn't anyways...).