B-Care HOSPITAL

B-CARE HOSPITAL is providing their nurses with English classes. As the US dollar is sliding into oblivion, and since my pay is cursedly locked into the US dollar, I have been forced to look around for some extra work.(thanks King George for killing the greenback)

I must say, teaching conversation to the nurses of B-Care has been a lot of fun. They try hard and truly want to learn. The experience has been very rewarding just to see them smiling when the words come out right or laughing when the words come out wrong.

Teaching nights means, as the 3 or 4 of you who read this may have noticed, I'm doing a lot less writing of blogs and my fiction. I am truly sad about that, but as they say "Whatcha gonna do, you can't eat your dreams."

Thai Spa Spirit

I spent my summer working for Thai Spa Spirit. I was editor and wrote most of the stories. It was an interesting challenge which allowed me to meet some really unique and vibrant people. The magazine is a giveaway and is located in restaurants, hotels, airports, spas, coffee shops, and embassys.

If you live in Bangkok you'll have many opportunities to see it. If you take a look, please let me know what you thought of the stories. I already know the photography is top notch!

A CLOSE SHAVE

I have often enjoyed getting my hair cut in the nation of Thailand. Here old-school barber shops are on nearly every corner. What I like the best is the amazing price that these guys are willing to ask for their services. Usually this is between 40 and 100 baht, depending on location. So between 1 and 3 dollars. I go to a place with no air conditioning, and sometimes not even any power. I was once getting my hair cut when a heavy rain began to fall. The power went out and cast the shack-like room into darkness. The sun had just set because of the rain clouds it was a near impenetrable darkness. After a few uncomfortable minutes, mostly because the barber had cut the left side of my head and not yet the right, my barber explained that he would be right back. Shortly he returned with a box of candles and a friend of his from around the corner.

He finished my cut by candle light. His friend, smiling at the oddness of the situation and from the two or three beers he'd just drank, was very careful to keep the candle out of range of my hair while close enough that the barber could see.

When I arrived at a party later that night, most people complemented my haircut. When I told them it had been done by candlelight I believe they thought I was being humorous. No, I don't joke when it comes to getting my hair done, but I also don't want to spend more than a dollar fifty.

Click on the title for MORE videos.

SPRING BRINGS THE BIRD DANCE OF LOVE

The number one requested video on the Sim productions video page is THE BIRD DANCE OF LOVE. Since in the frigged west it has finally melted and become spring, I would like to dedicate this video to all of those in search of LOVE or just some good LOVIN'. If nothing else is working in your pursuit of affection, try the Bird Dance of LOVE.
To See other videos click on the title for my link to the SIM PRODUCTIONS VIDEO PAGE.

Thailand Poll Comes to an End

The results are in. Why do people love Thailand? The odd thing was it was what Thailand didn't have which seemed to attract most of the voters. 68% of the people who took the poll reported that they liked Thailand mostly because George Bush was NOT the president. 16% enjoyed the recreational activities. 8% found Thai people and their friendly nature their favorite reason to live or visit the Kingdom of Smiles. 4% enjoyed the warm weather. 4% appreciated the beauty of the people. Thanks a lot to all of those who took the time to VOTE.

Please check out our new poll on TRAVEL along the SIDE BAR.

NOTES FROM MANHATTAN GIVE AWAY

Thanks Mike for this clip.

11 years ago I took a stab at publishing with this little book, NOTES FROM MANHATTAN. It is no literary art piece; however, if you enjoy a character whose dreams are crashing down around him, but he still can laugh, you'll enjoy this read.

When the book went out of print some 2 years ago, the publisher gave me the remaining books. I have about 2 boxes of them, but am not sure how many that actually is. My new book ECHO POOL, which is being published by Bangkok Book House, finally has a publication date in August of this year. This book I do feel is a literary piece of art--perhaps not art that everyone will appreciate, but it is written in literary style and is a novel I am extremely proud of.

So to sort of clean out the old, and in truth there can't be that many of the old left, I would like to give away copies of NOTES FROM MANHATTAN to anyone who makes ANY AMOUNT of donation to THAIXPATWRITER. Please consider that if I have to ship the book to you this will cost me a few dollars from either my Mom's home in the states or my home here in Thailand.

So once you have made your donation, send me an email at jonathon@siminoe.com and give me your mailing address. If you have any trouble making a donation contact me.

TO GO TO THE DONATION PAGE, PLEASE CLICK ON THE TITLE.

Boys will be boys and boys will be Girls?

While sauntering down the hall of Central Lat Plao mall the other day, sipping on a mocha frappe' and minding my own business. My friends and I were nearly run over by a rather attractive young person dressed entirely in pink. One of my friends said: "Wow she was pretty."

I responded, "Yeah, pretty mannish..."

An argument ensued about the gender of this young person and was split 2 to 2. I must admit at first glance this young lady looked attractive; however, there was something about her walk that struck me as odd. We followed and started a conversation with her/him. It wasn't until he said, in an octave two bellow my own, "can I help you." That we knew for sure she was a man!

Point of all this? Drink too much in this country, a land where a sex change costs less than a Mercedes, and you could find yourself in bed with an odd bedfellow--key word fellow.

The Ghost Tree

River Side of SukoThai.

In the ancient Thai city of SukoThai many of the people dreamed that the spirit or ghost which inhabits a giant Takean tree is calling to them. The ghost is tired of living under the water and is ready to be brought up from the cool murky depths of the river. They all agreed where in the river the tree would be found. The monks in the temple then organize a raising of the Takean tree. The odd part of this legend is that the tree is of a particularly hard wood which is very heavy and not at all buoyant, so how it moves within the river is a big mystery. It is also odd that the city is ancient, but this event happened in April of 2007.

The events was a bizarre happening to observe. We were driving down the street when we saw people flocking to the river. This was something strange considering it was a Tuesday in the middle of the day, but work came to a halt, and legend took the day's stage. At the river we witnessed a bit of ancient blending with the modern. Cranes and rescue crews were brought out to assist the monks in retrieving the ghost. Hard to believe? Not in Thailand where people believe in ghosts and spirits existing among us. Buddhists, to which 97% of Thai people consider themselves, have mystic roots and tend to focus on the idea that we shouldn't doubt things, but rather learn to accept them. If you ask a Buddhist if they believe in God, most will tell you they do. Why not? If God exists it doesn't phase their belief that we need to find our own enlightenment; if that comes through God or through meditation, through study or through faith, that is not important. It is the finding of it.

This video will show you a bit of what we saw. It ends with a bit of a surprise as the dreams seem to have come true.

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Sim Productions in association with Siminator Films

Left we see a truck which has just landed upon this street from some sort of a time portal. The distorted back end clearly shows the actual bending of time.

Want to see some even wilder videos. Click on the title above and visit the Sim Productions page. We are in Beta, or actually more like Alpha mode in our video production, but if we could raise a little cash for a better camera and editing equipment, LOOK OUT!

Amateur and Immature VIDEO on Sim Productions

Left we see a woman rubbing a glowing dragon egg in the north of Thailand, considered good luck to all, unless of course the egg hatches and if this occurs the baby dragon will eat the rubber as its first meal.

Video on a budget. Interested in a low quality video clips produced by Jonathon Siminoe, A.K.A. Sim or A.K.A. the Siminator X. Well simply click on the title above and venture to the Sim Productions site. Many more shorts are in the works, but for now enjoy: Our Work Day and The Bird Dance.

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More Things Added on April 22nd Page

Nan, who comes from a long line of weepers, held up the family tradition and cried through out the ceremony. One guest, who should remain nameless but goes by YEAR, had this to say, "If she's in so much pain marrying Sim, why is she doing it?"

Okay, some added video visions of the wedding. Please click on the link above if you'd like to see some video images of our wedding.

Again thanks to those of you sending me shots from the big event. We both really appreciate all the help and support.

Chiang Dao Fishing

Chiang Dao Thailand a woman fishes for food.

It's like watching a dance as this northern Thai fishing woman scoops from river bottom in search of morsels for dinner. Western folks wouldn't find what she is scooping up all that appetizing--it's nothing but bugs and an occasional frog or tadpole--but for her its a nice little catch which she can trade for her dinner for that night. Most of the local restaurants use bugs, protein rich, to garnish their fish dishes. They fry them mostly and sometimes baste them with a nice sauce.

This woman, probably about 45 years old, smiled for me as I asked her what she was catching and waded over to show me her basket of writhing worms and water bugs. I tried hard not to shutter and look shocked. I had been expecting her to be catching small fish, which she told me on spring days was very easy, but during the heat of the summer the little guys just weren't around.

ATM CRAZY THAILAND

Thailand does not mess around when it comes to commerce. One thing I noticed a few years ago was Thai banks go to amazing lengths in this country to provide CASH for their clients. ATM machines are everywhere. ATM machines, almost without exception, accept every other banks cards, for a small fee (and it is actually small like a few pennys). CASH is so easy to access here in the Kingdom that its just not necessary to carry a lot of money.

Now even traveling cash machines have come to help in any possible gaps the banks might have. This one was located at a new mall outside of the city. The full time machines hadn't been put in yet, so to the rescue comes the CASH van!

Yes the look on my face is not shock, but a look of, "how hard would it be to jump in this van and ROLL?"

HMMMMM... Oh well, I'm not ready for a life of crime just yet. I am curious just how long it will take someone to try it. I'm also curious just how much cash is in the CASH VAN?