Feng shui bed distraction

Loyal reader BODYholic asked if ordinary Thais consult a Chinese astrologer's almanac before contemplating big steps such as moving to a new condo.

I am sure they do: even Thai politicians think nothing of consulting fortune tellers before taking decisions which affect the nation.

We have not consulted astrologers before our big move, which should hopefully take place on Sunday.

I am just happy if boyfriend Maiyuu can focus on packing his household belongings on time. We can leave the rest to chance.

He chose Sunday as the day for our move, not because the almanac says it might be an auspicious occasion, but simply because the traffic is lighter that day.

We might get to the new place quicker than if we left it to a weekday, when the roads are busier.

How pleasingly pragmatic! Imagine my surprise then, when Maiyuu calmly announced today that he was paying a visit to the new condo - his first in two days - to allay superstitions about the position of his bed.

When he lies on his bed, his feet are pointing at the door. According to feng shui principles, this is bad luck, so he's visiting the condo to move the bed in his room to a different position.

That's the only job he has to do while at the condo.

It's a 40-minute bus ride to the new place, but he is sufficiently worried about the bad luck which could follow from sleeping in that position that he is prepared to take the trip.

He has asked me to buy more packing boxes while he is away, as we have now run out.

You're welcome, sir. Once we have dealt with the feng shui distraction, maybe we can get back to work!

Moving date fixed

Boyfriend Maiyuu reckons we will move to our new condo by Sunday.

In the market, he has spoken to a man with a truck and crew for hire. They will take our boxes from the condo, pack them on their six-wheel truck, then move them our condo in town.

For the five men, we will pay a fee of B300 each. On top of that, we pay B1500 for the hire of the truck. The total price is B3000.

Can they fit it all on their truck? I hope so.

Last night, Maiyuu packed a few boxes of items which live under the stereo and TV. He has yet to start on his kitchen and cooking ware, which will need another two or three boxes.

I am relieved that we finally have a moving date. Yesterday I spent a couple of hours packing things in my room. That's on top of the two or three hours in put in last week.

Why did I think moving would be a simple job?

It's been nine years since I last moved. The last time I packed up my life was shortly before my journey here.

I had to move my things out of my last home before selling it. Some things, I sold; others, I gave to my partner; still others I stored at my parents' house.

Parents end up storing the relics of their children's lives. We park our belongings with Mum and Dad because we are too pre-occupied at the time to sell them.

We are often at a turning point of their lives - about to move cities, start new jobs, embark on overseas adventures.

My parents must have at least a dozen boxes stored under the house belonging to my brother, sisters and me. They sit there in the damp, years after year.

Some go back a long time. The last time I ventured down there, I found university books; clothes which I had forgotten, books I never want to read again, music (LPs, cassettes) which I loved back then but would not contemplate playing now.

What happens when Mum and Dad want to move? They have a big job.

Once, my father called to ask if he could throw out the school notes and books which I had stacked on their shelves of their previous home.

I was overseas, but said Yes. I would never read them again. What was the point?

Here, in the room around me, I have piled unwanted clothes into three large rubbish bags, and unwanted books into a large box.

If no one wants them, I shall throw them all out after Sunday.

It's time to start collecting again. Who knows how many more years will pass before we move again.

I am sure we will have memories to toss out on that occasion, too.

Godless town

Boyfriend Maiyuu says he has finished tiling the floor of the new condo. Today, he says, we can start packing our household in boxes, ready for the big move.

When I dropped in on him yesterday, half the floor was done, but he had already started on a new project, lining a window in one bedroom with tiles made of plastic film. They are covered in blue designs, a bit like mosaic tiles.

The purpose is purely decorative. I might have to take pictures of the new place once we have settled in, and post them here, so readers get a better idea of what I mean. I have never seen the things before.

When I turned up, Maiyuu was sitting on the floor in his underwear, cutting out the window tiles. He had lit candles in the bathroom and bedrooms, to improve the ambiance.

He might have to put aesthetic considerations to one side while we move. It will get messy for a day, maybe two. But move we must, as time is running out.

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While Maiyuu toiled on the floor, farang C, a work friend who lives next door to our new place, took me out for a beer.

About five minutes' drive from the condo is a gay district. We visited two lousy bars patronised mainly by farang tourists.

As the sun set, I watched several Thai-farang couples pass on the street. The farang were middle-aged, the Thais in their early 20s...nothing unusual there.

One Thai in his early 20s with Thai-Chinese looks walked with his arm around his farang friend's shoulders. The Thai guy was dressed in sports gear...maybe he had just been to the gym.

He did not look self-conscious, or embarrassed. In public, most Thai couples keep their hands to themselves.

Later, we visited a restaurant serving Latin cuisine. The waiter flirted. He asked me where I came from.

I told him the name of the country, and he said he was wearing underwear from the same place.

'Look!' he said, as he pulled up the band of his white underpants to show me the logo, which indeed tells the world where they were made.

'Have you been there?' I asked.

'No, I bought them in Singapore,' he said.

We were the only diners there, so the owner, a young woman in her early 30s, entertained us.

'He wants to get drunk with you guys,' she announced, referring to her waiter, who took me by the hand before we left.

'Please come back tomorrow,' he said.

Another time, perhaps.

I will have to watch myself. I don't want to end up in trouble in my own backyard.

I want to find sleaze-free places close to home.

The bars I can do without...restaurants might be more fun. Or perhaps I should avoid the gay district altogether, and take my custom to straight places instead.

Farang C, who is straight, sent me a text message before bed.

'We live in a godless town,' he said.

'The only god is money,' I replied.

Mr Interior Decorator

Boyfriend Maiyuu is at home, though his stay will be brief. He has spent the last two days at our new condo in town, cleaning and laying one floor with rubber floor tiles.

The floor-tile design looks like light-coloured timber. The dimensions of the tiles exactly match the ceramic tiles in the main room, where he is laying them.

He lays the rubber tiles on top - they are coated with some adhesive substance on the back, so no glue is needed.

He wants a timber look in that room, as the two bedrooms adjoining the main room are laid with real timber floorboards, so we will get the same look throughout.

Today he is also expecting a visit from the hi-speed internet man, I am told.

At home, there is not much more I can do to help along our move. I have packed my belongings in boxes.

I dare not touch Maiyuu's stuff, or any household items in common use, as I am bound to do something wrong (throwing out items which he wants to keep, for example), so I shall have to await his guidance.

So, the furniture still sits here, as do the packing boxes. Barely anything has moved, or changed.

At the new place, Maiyuu has also fitted a new shower curtain, and bought a new head for the shower, so there is progress over there, though it is slow.

I did not realise when we took this new place that the boyfriend would go into interior decorator mode, by insisting on laying a new floor and making other changes to the fixtures...I thought we'd just move in.

But as he is doing most of the work and making the decisions, I can do little but watch and wait.

I have offered to dismantle the built-up furniture in this place, but he has forbidden it. 'How can we sell it if it is in pieces?' he asks.

Maiyuu wants to sell our furniture to a second-hand dealer. He will inspect it here at home.

Maiyuu will call him in to take a look at the furniture and give us a price, though judging by the slow pace of progress at the new place, that could be days away yet.

Valentine's Day apart

What are you doing for Valentine's Day?

As I write this blog post, Maiyuu has gone to our new condo in town for a second day of pre-move cleaning.

'I am in a hurry to move condos,' he announced this morning, as he checked his clothes in the mirror.

He spent just 20 minutes fussing over his appearance today, which is less indulgent than yesterday's half-hour effort, so he really must be serious.

When we met the owner of our new place the other day, the condo looked clean. However, it takes a gay eye, I suspect, to really know whether a place is up to scratch or not.

According to Maiyuu, who spent a full day cleaning the place yesterday, the place was full of long strands of black hair (yuck!).

Small progress report? He has spoken to the True telephone company about putting in high-speed internet, which I need for my work.

We will have to put in a new telephone line, as the old number is disconnected.

The last occupant was a foreigner (with a liking for Thai women with long black hair, presumably), who worked in design.

The technician will arrive next week. Maiyuu has also spoken to the satellite TV people, who will install a new dish about the same time.

After inspecting the place, Maiyuu decided he would like to lay a new floor in what will be my bedroom.

He has also decided to keep more of our furniture than he had planned, as it is in better condition than the couches, tables, and chairs which the owner has provided.

That is the problem with renting furnished places: the fittings are invariably old and used. We did not want a furnished place, as we have everything we need already.

However, most places for rent in town are furnished. The owners appear to expect that tenants will be newcomers to the city, arriving with nothing, not long-term residents such as us, moving to town from the sticks with their own household goods.

In the end, we had to opt for a furnished place, as there are more of them on the market.

We have asked the owner to store some of her stuff. We will move some of ours to her place, and try to sell the rest.

I probably won't see Maiyuu for the rest of today, so our Valentine's Day won't amount to anything much.

Last night, when I saw him after work, he was exhausted. 'Do you want anything?' he asked in a tiny voice.

'No...just you,' I said.