Escaping the heat, flying farang, Beeb revisited

'I am just sitting inside waiting for the electricity men to finish fixing the pole,' a Thai woman said.

My neighbour was chatting on the phone. I heard her conversation through an open window, as I leant out my own window to take a picture.

The young woman was hiding indoors to escape the heat, after the power company yesterday cut our power for five hours.

To get the picture, I held my hand out the window and pointed the camera in the general direction of a group of electricity workers, who had mounted a power pole and were doing things with the wires.

Unfortunately, you can't see the power workers in the picture - I can't have leaned out far enough. They were the whole point of my taking this image, but never mind. Still, you get a good view of the side of our place (I posted the pic here, but I since deleted it accidentally - sorry).

The power men were fixing several poles in a side street. I heard them calling out orders to each other, so they could get the repairs done at speed.

My neighbour Farang C went out to a local eatery to escape the heat. I visited the condo pool, on the 10th floor of the car-parking building. The power cut also cut power to the lifts in the complex, so it was a good day for exercising our feet.

On the way back, I met one of the cleaners.

'Did you walk down?' she asked.

No, dear - I jumped.

We stood outside our condo building, one of many in the complex. The cleaner knows I live on one of the upper floors, almost as high up as the pool on the other building.

'Will you walk up?' she asked.

No, dear - I shall fly.

After my swim, boyfriend Maiyuu and I asked how we might put the day to good use.

Being good Bangkok citizens, we decided to pack a bag and make a day of it: take in a movie, then walk to a park and visit a local temple.

I lie. No, we didn't. We're not that bloody earnest.

Maiyuu's pizza

After my hour or so by the condo pool, I came home to find Maiyuu cooking.

Howzat? I had forgotten about our gas cooker. You can't keep a good cook down, Maiyuu included.

He made Japanese-style pizza, which you can see nearby. The soft base was made with two types of flour, mixed with vegetables.

By lunchtime, the power was back on.

In mid-afternoon, he made a Korean-style pizza with kimchi (pickled vegetable). Last night, I took another one with me to work.

Back from the office, I found Maiyuu had been busy in the kitchen again. He made a wholesome tomato and vegetable soup for my meal before bed.

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Since the True satellite TV service pulled BBC Entertainment, some foreigners who want their daily dose of the Beeb have found inventive ways around the problem.

True's Platinum package included BBC entertainment before the provider axed the channel from its line-up.

Some creative foreigners have now cancelled their Platinum package, but are still watching the BBC, with a little help from technology.

Farang C has a friend from Britain, who, refusing to concede defeat, now watches BBC programmes here via BBC's own iPlayer, which only works in Britain.

He lives in Bangkok, so to get around the problem, rents an IP address in the UK.

He pays for one with a Paypal card, for the equivalent of just B300 a month. The BBC thinks it is sending the programmes to a local IP, even though it is not.

Farang C visited his friend the other day. They watched BBC programmes on his computer which aired in Britain just the night before.

For a small investment, he can buy a cable connection from his computer to his TV, so he can watch the BBC on the big screen instead.

As I understand it, he can download files from the BBC and watch them any time he likes, though downloads (as opposed to live streaming) have a shelf life of just one week.

As I say, BBC's iPlayer only works in the UK, but if you rent a UK-based IP address, then the Beeb doesn't know any different.

I need more information. At the moment, the boyfriend sounds less than enthused. Unless I can watch the shows easily on a TV screen, then I probably won't bother either. I spend enough time in front of a computer as it is.

Powerless in Bangkok

The power company is coming today to replace an electricity pole nearby.

They need to cut power to this condo complex for six hours, starting at 8am. 'Why can't they bring a generator?' Maiyuu grumbled last night.

Our household will be without power all day. That means, no electricity for cooking, watching TV, listening to music, and perhaps most importantly for a tropical climate such as this one, no power for running a fan, either.

I saw signs left on the doors of both buildings as I went to work last night, advising tenants that their power would be cut.

For all I know, all other buildings in the complex are affected, too.

What to do? 'The condo pool might have to be my close friend today,' I told Maiyuu. I might not be able to leave its side much if the weather really does get hot.

Alternatively, we could go to a department store, which has air conditioning - the way oldies like to do.

'What can we do there? We can't walk around a department store all day,' said Maiyuu.

Cutting a basic amenity such as power for a full 12 hours sounds primitive and barbaric.

Autumn leaves, Darth Vader condo

'Don't you want to get up, and function as my handsome boyfriend, or maybe the gay girl of the house?' I asked Maiyuu this morning.

He had left his bedroom some time before I woke, and curled up on the couch in front of the television to sleep some more.

'I'm too old!' he complained.

'Get in line - I'm older, and deserve more sympathy,' I replied.

See, I told you we are both ageing fast.

Here's another old person's (okay, classic) song which I have enjoyed in the last 24 hours: Cole Porter's Every Time We Say Goodbye, which is so painless you don't even know the song has passed until it ends.

More nostalgia? Edith Piaf's Autumn Leaves. Can you believe that when I was a teenager, I bought an album of original Edith Piaf songs?

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Farang C left a glossy brochure for a condo outside my door last night. It's for a new 20-storey, 187-unit condo, the Ivy Residences (awful name) in Pin Khlao.

We know Pin Khlao well, as we used to drink there. 'It makes the place look so attractive, when we know it's not,' he said.

The brochure makes much of the view, but not a single daylight shot appears in any of its eight pages. All pictures are taken at night, when we can't see just how chocked up the traffic gets in that part of town.

Pin Khlao has no skytrain or subway service - it's part of the old Bangkok, which City Hall appears to have forgotten.

The one-bedroom executive suite is tiny - just 40-48 sq m.

The two-bedroom presidential suite is better: 78-90 sq m. The condo's website, which is also cloaked in darkness, is here (link harvested - it died).

On a day like today, we pass the time away...

Boyfriend Maiyuu reckons I am growing old before my time.

'Shall I buy you a walking stick?' he likes to ask.

We all know that (I've said as much before). However, recently he himself has started to feel old.

Some mornings, I see him dragging his haggard frame around the condo, like an old man in search of his glasses, or maybe his mate.

'Now, where did I leave my boyfriend...I know I saw him here a moment ago!'

I opened a post I wrote back in October, called Thai life: Growing old together.

This is popular with readers, even though it deals with the cheery subject of ageing and decrepitude.

The Adsense bot has read the post, and cuts straight to the chase. It has posted an ad on the top left corner offering me help with bed wetting.

I haven't reached that point yet - reversion to childhood - though it may not be far away. When I move, the body creaks. When Maiyuu moves around, he groans.

'Ehhhhhrrrrr.'

I heard him utter that bottom-of-the-bowel groan this morning. It came from deep in his soul somewhere, as old man noises tend to do. Why? Because we're permanently tired!

It could have been the wind in the trees, back in my home country, where they have trees. But it wasn't. It was my old man boyfriend, having an aged person's moment in the kitchen.

As long as two people have each other, who needs to go out? Few places cater to people our age anyway.

'This condo is so comfortable, I can stay in all day,' I told my neighbour farang C. He looked at me askance.

As a single man, he's rarely at home, and can't understand why I don't get out more. But as a married man leading a settled life, I can't see the need to take in the sights of exciting Bangkok, rub shoulders with Thais or whatever.

Just feed me, keep that wheelchair and my adult Pampers close, and we'll be set.

In keeping with my mood, I have been listening to old songs on YouTube.

How about Jack Payne's My Baby Just Cares for Me?

'My baby doesn't care for shows [true, in Maiyuu's case].

My baby doesn't care for clothes [Not true, unfortunately]

My baby just cares for me...'

Or Dionne Warwick, with Burt Bacharach/Hal David's Walk on By?

'If you see me walking down the street,

And I start to cry,

It's only me...'

I loved Burt Bacharach when I was young. It might be my parents' influence, or maybe I was an old man trapped in a young body even back then.

Or Al Bowlly and the Ray Noble Orchestra, with Love is the Sweetest Thing?

Love is the greatest thing

The oldest yet, the latest thing

I only hope that fate may bring

Love's story to you.

More of Al, with Moonlight on the Highway:

A place where roses remember

And folks forget me not

What else is worth dreaming of?

Moonlight on the highway

Please lead me to love...

Let's end on an upbeat note, though I can't promise I won't return to songs from this era. Maybe I lived back then in another life. Here's Lee Morse's Yes Sir, That's My Baby!

Yes, sir,
That's my Baby,
No, sir, don't mean maybe,
Yes sir that's my baby now!

Bonus track: Lee Morse, and her Love Letters in the Sand (1931). On a day like today, we pass the time away, writing love letters in the sand...

Daily radio brainwash...oops, briefing

Chef Maiyuu has whipped up some butternut squash (pumpkin) soup, with chicken shavings on top.

We bought the chicken the day before in Suan Phlu. Maiyuu took the leftovers and fried them, which gave them a pretty golden colour.

The soup was great, but being a person with a large appetite, I had to supplement that with another dish before bed - khao pad kra pao moo (pork with chile and basil leaves), with a fried egg on top, which I bought from a restaurant opposite our condo.

I couldn't ask Maiyuu to whip up anything for me, as his kitchen had closed for the day.

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Fancy a spot of Thai radio?

It's education radio, from the Centre for Educational Technology (ศูนย์เทคโนโลยีทางการศึกษา), which you can find at 92 FM on the dial, or here.

The presenters provide useful daily run-downs of the news in the main Thai papers, which is a highlight for me.

In the afternoons, when old folk like me like to kick back our feet, the station also runs Thai radio plays (Thai dramas or short stories narrated by a single person who adopts different character voices). Remember the old Western radio plays from last century? 

As I write this I am listening to a run-down of today's top stories, including the latest about the baby panda at Chiang Mai zoo.

For the most part, the announcers use every-day language, which makes a change from some broadcast outlets which like to talk down to people.

Listeners do encounter the occasional exception, especially where 'good news' from the government is concerned.

The panda story over, my presenters are now promoting 'serious' computer games developed by some state agency as a healthy alternative to the violent games which today's misspent youth play in internet cafes.

These include games which promote the King's sufficiency economy concept, in an agricultural setting.

Let me 'project': Farmer Sonchai walks on to field, holding a hoe. 'I don't mind being poor! It makes me feel good about life, and you can benefit too!'

Misspent youth - please form an orderly queue at this computer to receive your free copy.

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At my old condo, I listened to 92 FM over the television, as part of our subscription to the True Visions satellite TV service, which offers radio as well.

That was back in the days when we had our own dish. At our new place, we share a dish with other tenants. For some reason we can no longer pick up the station via True, perhaps because the dish is too old.

These days I shut the door of my bedroom and listen to FM 92 via the internet on my computer instead.

The boyfriend doesn't mind. He knows that if I get my daily fill of government propaganda, my personality will become oddly passive, and I will be that much easier to control.