A New Hope

Yesterday, was my 33rd Birthday. Things have changed drastically over the last year. No need to go in too much details, but plans that were drawn didn’t lead to anywhere and I am now facing an open sea with only the horizon as the limit.

I am waiting for Court judgment and will legally be part of the 50% population divorced-club! Not fun, I know, but the sooner you find out the better.

So I haven’t wrote in a while. Didn’t know how to present, didn’t know what to say. Being in limbo, finding where you want to go and turn the page didn’t come naturally. You say to yourself, you should, you will.

And now, I do.

As a friend of mine said, that past is part of your life. It built you the way you are. It defines you.

So here I am, writing on this good old blog again. Rediscovering the open sea again. Where will this lead me? I have no clues… just trying to make this a fun journey.

I would like to write at least once a week. I think that’s a reasonable start. I used to write a lot to speak out my mind. Actually, I get it now, as my typing is slower than my thinking it gives me the chance to think about my thought more closely… Hmmm, now I understand why i like writing!

 

Ok, have a great one,

Cheers,

Jean

A few more words on WLW and Blogspot

Well, it seems to be working fine now.

Let’s just put here a few random pictures from Thailand. A nice to have plugin would be an auto-resize, auto-compression factor for JPEG images. You could just take a 4MB photo, drag and drop here and it would resize, recompress as per settings.

I know Picassa permits you to do a lot of these automation tasks but I haven’t seen a good interface to Blogspot yet. Seems to be more for Web Albums mostly.

Oh, look at this. THERE IS a feature for resizing pictures. You can also do a few manipulations and tweaking… Not bad, not bad.

More testing required!

Let’s try this new Live Writer for BlogSpot

 

Ok, not bad, I just dragged and dropped a picture from my mom’s garden here.. It even resized it for me.

[hmmm, the image won’t load… Error 403 forbidden…]

 

I haven’t tried the version of Picassa that I absolutely like. Apprently there is something there to update your blog…

Let’s try posting this…

See you soon,

Jean

Sunday afternoons at my uncle's

I just got sad news from my sister Julie. My uncle has passed away. Not a lot of details so far. We only know that he was on a trip to Toronto. The news didn't strike me at first. Yes, of course I was sad. But we have barely been in touch with him lately. Actually, I think I saw him once or twice over the last ten years. He was a great uncle...

The next email I had was from my Australian Super provider guy. Basically, the ATO doesn't know what is the status of my application and I won't make the cut of April's 1st where the taxation rate go from 30% to 35%, even if I submitted my claim at the very beginning of March. So I was pretty mad at the situation since there was really nothing I could do. So Australian government is going to be richer of my 5% because there is no way my claim can go through the backlog of ATO and the backlog of AXA before the deadline. It is not the date on which the application is submitted, it is on which date it is processed. And the ATO is taking a pretty aggressive demarch in this area too now, asking all super providers to send back the money to the government for Temporary residents who have left Australia more than 6 months ago. That money will be sitting in governement pockets and no interests can be earned. There was not much I could do.

And that's when it struck me.

I was all upset about how ATO could do such thing instead of thinking of my late Uncle. I mean yes, what ATO is doing is pretty aggressive and nasty. It's very annoying but it's going to be a difference of maybe 500$. What's more important, 500$ or my uncle?

I was really sad about my thinking. What have I become to bleed ice this way?

I realized that my problem with ATO are very pale compared to what my uncle's wife and daughter should be feeling right now. Ashamed I was. I tried to remember what my uncle brought to my life... Because, really, I don't know what I brought to his. when our families were still seeing each other a lot, I was always happy to go his place. Usually on Sunday afternoons. His daughter was so lucky with all the books and gadgets at their place. He had the entire collection of Asterix Le Gaulois, Tintin, many more and even some Dan Cooper! Sometimes he would even let me play on his computer. He was the first one in our family to really start playing with technology. He had a Tandy at one time. I remember playing Battle chess with the strange and slow so cool animation when a piece is taken by a player. I remember his Rubik cube that we never solved. I was never ever bored when visiting my uncle. I remember him always very happy and very generous of his time. He certainly contributed to my thirst of knowledge and was gave me a first insight to computers.

Death puts everything back in perspective. Pretty obvious that when you're not here anymore, not much matters. But the worst, for me, is to go without leaving an heritage, to leave void, as if nobody was upset by your departure. And in the case of my uncle, I have nothing but great memories of my childhood. He definitely influenced me in a very good way and for that, I say thank you.

And I think that I should have been more in touch with him. I will probably send an email to my extendend family soon. After all, some of them probably don't know where I am at all...

News for March

Well, when you think you are going to have time, you don't. It's all about really wanting to do something and to commit to take the time to do it. So I guess I didn't feel the urgency to update my blog, not that exciting things didn't happen, but the feeling wasn't right for the cute writing and sharing. Bink and I had our share of stressing events as well with some complications and annoyance with immigration Canada for Bink's permanent resident visa. We also have problems with my shipment to Quebec with Canadian customs. And I have problems with my Australian super as well, trying to retrieve it! And I started to look for jobs as well, but that's not so bad there.

So in other words, the couple of months that I wanted to spend to find "Happiness and peace of mind about Life in general", well, it's not happening so much! Not alot of big things, but many little messy things that grab your mind. And wow, it's so hot and humid here. The electrical system of the house where I live can't handlle another AC system!!

So let's go with the most recent news.

Yesterday, I drove in Bangkok. It was an old manual transmission car. Ahh, the car didn't have seatbells but the AC was quite good! We headed in the city, near the Old Siam plaza. Let's simply say that it was quite an experience. Bink's mother was my copilot, and well, as I had no clues where I was going, she was very helpful. I didn't run over any motorcycles, almost hit a bus but let the colorful taxi alones. The Took-took were untouched as well! We went to Putthamonthon park after where I took a few shots of a pretty big Buddha next to a lake.

Today, I bought my airplane tickets to Canada. Unfortunately, I will leave her all alone in Bankok for a few months so that I can prepare to welcome her to Canada later this year. I will also be able to clear some of the problems mentionned above. As we want to buy a house in Canada and Bangkok, I need to start looking for a job too! :-)

So you'll see me next month in Montreal!

Hmmm, is it the beginning of the Raining season already? There is a huge tropical thunderstorm hitting Bangkok right now and I am affraid our room is going to be flooded. It rained pretty hard last night too.

Cheers for now!
Jean

Facts about Bangkok

A few facts about Bangkok
- Population: 8,160,522 registered residents (July 2007)
- Real population: About 15 millions
- Founded on 21 April 1782
- City Name:

The full ceremonial name of the city given by King Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke, and later edited by King Mongkut, is:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Yuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

It translates to "The city of angels, the great city, the eternal jewel city, the impregnable city of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukam".

- Weather: 3 seasons (Rainy, Hot, and Way Too hot)
- Temperature today: Forecasted 36C

- Wiki always useful!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangkok

First Impression of Thailand

We are nearing the end of February and I haven't written any words about Thailand yet. Today you will read about my first impressions when arriving in Thailand. Remember, under my Asian face, I actually never set foot to Vietnam or any Asian soil. I was also going to meet and stay with the family of my wife Sriwan for the first time. Stressing…

We left Australia and arrived in Bangkok on the 11 Dec 2009 after a flight of about 6 hours (I don’t recall exactly). On aircraft approach, I saw Bangkok region from the sky. It seemed quite big, long highways, some green, some grey, some tall buildings far away and very cloudy due to the pollution. Bangkok airport was very quiet following the recent protests of the “Yellow shirts” that closed down the airport and we proceeded swiftly through customs and met up with her mother and auntie. I hesitantly had my first Thai dialogues with my mother in law. Sanook maak!

The Thailand transportation infrastructure is very developed and well maintained. Yes, they have toll stations too. I found out that the Suvarnabhumi airport is located almost 100 km outside of Bangkok. Oh, locals say Krung Thep instead of Bangkok and Suvanaphum airport instead of Suvarnabhumi airport (it’s not as long!).

I met up with most of Sriwan’s family and wife in the first weeks in Thailand. They all welcomed me warmly although we had limited discussions. Don’t worry though. I can communicate with members of her family of friends who speak English fluently. I want to write another entry about the Thai language, and will leave that subject for another time.

I see two main faces of Bangkok. One is the young, rich, modern, fashion-driven, taking the Skytrain BTS professional group with its numerous big big big shopping complexes and entertainment centers. That is the Siam Paragon, Siam Center, Siam Discovery, MBK, Emporium and many more. And I mean real big and real nice! If you like shopping like my younger sister, this is Paradise! Good quality, very good service, and low prices. This is the face of the modern Bangkok, students, who all speak English, become accountants, work for several international companies in the city and live in a condominium near the city.

The other face of Bangkok is a more conservative one where Buddhism, family values, honesty and the “simple life” are the main drivers. That is the “Mai Pen Rai” (Don’t worry) and the “Sanook” (Life should be fun) ideas. The majestic Wats (temples) scattered in Krung Thep are more than relics of an old idea. They are living and breathing buildings. The several “open-(hot)-air” markets along the Phraya River or narrow dark streets in the old City are quite far from the modern Thailand.

Something that is shared amongst all Thais is probably the joy of having a good meal. Therefore, one good image of Bangkok is a street-side noodle shop where you will see sitting at the same table a motorcycle-taxi driver with his orange shirt and a businessman in suit, both enjoying a spicy papaya salad or noodle soup for 35 Baths (about 1.25 $CAD)!

A melting-pot of pictures below!

Leaving Australia

So before I forget, a few last words on Australia. Just before we left, Bink and I found some more cool beach spots. The first one is just North of Bundeena Bay. That is Mainabar. The beach doesn't have a striking beauty but if you like nice long lagoon with a lot of sand and water to your hips for miles then this is your place. Beware of jellyfish though, I saw some in the middle of the bay and ran back to the shore where Bink was waiting for me. The second spot is Wattamolla in the Royal National Park. A river runs all the way out to the ocean with nice sand shores. A very nice place. Have a go if you have the chance.




I officially quit CAE on the 30 November. I had a lot to do to leave the country; the car, the unit, all our stuff, the utilities, the bond, super, the tax return for this year. the accounts and alot more. In the end, we managed and we left Australia on the 11 of December 2008. I still have some pending issues but everything is under control.

So after several farewell dinners, lunchs get-together with my friends and collegues, it was time to say goodbye to Australia. As I mentionned, Australia will always be top-ranked in the places I have been to which is afterall, the place where I first met Bink and where we got married.

Farewell to all my Aussies friends for now! It's a small planet afterall.
Cheers!
Jean