The land of laziness

The land of smiles eh? More like the land of laziness...I am slowly figuring out that in this country anyone can find someone to do everything for them. Need a driver or a nanny? A maid or a tailor? Girlfriend or wife? All can be had for a small sum.

I went golfing yesterday and it was a very surreal experience. It may have been the heat or the hangover, or both, but it was like nothing I have every experienced. The course was about a 1.5 hour cab ride from my apartment. Upon arrival, there is a caddy waiting to take your bag from the trunk. The caddies are all petite, attractive females covered nearly head to toe (Thai women find "whiteness" more attractive than their natural colour so they try to hide them selves from the sun at all costs) in identical bright pink, canvas pant suits. The green fees and the beer were all very resonable (1450 THB + 300THB to tip the caddy + 250THB for food and drinks). The course was quite nice - lots of water and sand - and out in the country. There were cows grazing in nearby pastures, mosques calling worshippers to prayer over their loud speakers, brush fires causing smoke to engulf a number of holes, local gearheads burning around on dirt bikes, and old men swimming in the water hazards. All this in near spontaneous-combustion-like temperatures. Most of the group went to a sports bar after for food and drink but I had to come straight home for a soak in the pool before an early bedtime. On the cab ride home, our first driver stopped after 11km because (we assumed) she didn't want to drive us all the way into the city. After sitting for 10 minutes on the side of the road (with the meter running of course) she finally flagged down a cab that would take us the final 25km.

In an earlier post I think I mentioned that a friend from school is opening an Italian restaurant and we were supposed to be going for a grand opening on Friday. Well, plans were changed last minute. It turns out that my friend and his partners, who are opening an Italian restaurant, were supposed to be cooking food for a bar nearby the new restaurant. On Wednesday of last week, as the renovations were being completed on the kitchen, one of the employees leaned against the meat slicer and received a fatal electrocution. Needless to say, the deal was canceled, and my friend and his partners got the hell out of dodge. Long story short, we didn't go to the opening on Friday night. Just another example to make you more than a little concerned about the quality (or lack thereof) of anything resembling regulatory bodies in Thailand.

We are into our second week at school. The pace is picking up, deadlines are coming due, etc., etc. It's only the second week into it and I'm already exhausted. And on that note it's early to bed for me.