Sleeplessness

Over in darkest North Wales, Lord Gray of Trelawnyd recently reported a sleepless night. It must be catching. Waking at 3am, I tossed and turned for an hour but the tunnel of nocturnal unconsciousness would not let me back. Lying there, in the 3am darkness, I thought of a song from way back in 1967. It appeared on an Incredible String band album called "The 5000 Spirits or The Layers of an Onion" and was written by the quirky one-off poet, harpist, songwriter, bandleader, professional hippy, dreamer and humanitarian - Robin Williamson - who appeared at Woodstock in 1969. The song is called "No Sleep Blues". It's pretty long but these are the opening lyrics:-

Cracks rack the windows, howls hold the floor

Rains rot the rafters and do you just have to snore?

It's a most inclement climate, for the season of the night

Is that mouse playing football, oh, I thought they didn't like the light?

And the dawn comes sneaking up when it thinks I'm not looking

I am starting to grieve, man, I used to know but now I believe, man

They tell me sleep is a gas and if I want to lay down

But I'm sorry I woke you, I mean I've got the no sleep blues

And here's the song. I must warn you that the ISB were very much an acquired taste. You were in "the club" or you weren't. Back then, I was very much in it:-

Bright young things

The ladies event at the junior world championships this year may be more competitive than the same event at senior worlds. As always in a post olympic year our attention shifts to the skaters that are setting their sites on the next olympics.

Here are some of those young ladies who will be facing off at Jr worlds in Korea.

Top row (L-R)- Adelina Sotnikova (RUS), Agnes Zawadski (USA), Elizaveta Tuktamisheva (RUS)

Bottom Row- Christina Gao (USA), Risa Shoji (JPN) and Courtney Hicks (USA)

Adelina Sotnikova (Russia, 14 years old)
Coach- Elena Buianova, CSKA Moskow
Choreographer - Tatiana Tarasova
Qualifications - 2 time Russian Champion, JGP champion
Top Skills - Triple Lutz-Triple Loop combination
Personal Best (ISU) 178.97 - JGP Austia 2010

Agnes Zawadski (USA, 16 years old)
Coach - Tom Zakrajsek, Broadmoor SC, Colorado Springs
Choreographer - Lori Nichol
Qualifications - 4th at US nationals, Jr World silver medallist
Top Skills - Triple Toe-Triple Toe combination
Personal Best (ISU) - 154.35 - Skate Canada 2010

Elizaveta Tuktamisheva (Russia, 14 years old)
Coach - Alexei Mishin, St Petersburg
Choreographer - Georgi Kovtun
Qualifications 3 time Russian Sr medallist, JGP Silver
Top Skills - Triple-triple, Triple Axel (at least in practice!)
Personal Best (ISU) - 172.78 - JGP Dresden 2010

Christina Gao (USA, 16 years old)
Coach - Brian Orser, Toronto Cricket Club
Choreographer - David Wilson
Qualifications - 5th US Nationals, JGP Bronze
Top Skills - Triple flip-triple toe
Personal Best (ISU) - 167.14 - JGP Austia 2010

Risa Shoji (Japan, 14 years old)
Coach - Naoki Shigematsu
Choreographer - Kenji Miyamoto (SP), Naoki Shigematsu (FS)
Qualifications - 5th Japan Nationals, JGP final - 4th
Top Skills - Triples, Double axel-triple toe
Personal best (ISU) - 155.23 - JGP Czech Republic 2010

Courtney Hicks (USA, 14 years old)
Coach - John Nicks, All Year FSC, California
Choreographer - Philllip Mills
Qualifications - US Junior champion 2011
Top Skills - Triple Flip-Triple toe
Personal Best - 173.22 (at US nationals)

Who would you pick for gold?

Re: Lets on

The random rambling turn more rambler as i type these words on the hostel computer, pretending its existence inside the resource center ( a not so slang term for cyber cafe).

And since i am bored and with absolutely no readership, this is my 3rd post in a row which deals with nothingness of the blog and deteroiration of my so called blogging skills that never existed in the first place. 

BTW u can kill me 

A Snake Charmer.

A Poor Fisherman Lost His Family & House And Was Very Much Depressed, Sad And Was Just Staring At The Destroyed Houses & Many Corpses. Though Few of The Images Were Blur Because of Tears Filled Eyes, His Heart Had Saved The Afraid Voices of Many Souls Who Were Screaming Helplessly & He Could Neither Help Nor Save Anybody.Lost Everything Because of The Flood.

He Started His Journey To Start His New Life. As He Was Exhausted, Entered A Temple Premises & Sat There. The Priest, Offered Him A Sweet Dish And A Glass of Water. When Questioned About His Situation, The Fisherman Narrated To The Priest And The  Priest Was Deeply Hurt & Touched By Knowing What All Happened With Him. Priest Consoled Him And Asked Him To Pray Almighty. This Man, Slept In The Temple Premises Itself. 

The Very Next Early Morning, Few Kids Came Running & Said, A Snake Was Suffering As A Thorn Was Pierced In Its Tail. He Just Went To Check Out. The Serpent Was In Deep Pain And Was Very Restlessly Moving And Crawling To Get Freed From The Pain. He Just Prayed Almighty. Holding The Snake Tail, He Slowly Removed The Thorn, And Applied The Tulsi Paste And Asked Kids To Bring Some Milk. After Feeding Milk To The Serpent, He Was On His Way Back To Temple. But The Serpent Started Crawling Behind His Steps. 

The Priest Helped This Man, By Giving The Pungi [A Kind of Instrument Used To Entertain Serpents] & Blessed Him Saying, From Here Onwards, Your Family Is This Serpent. Take Him Along With You. Lead Your Life With This Affectionate Serpent :) 

Finally, Fisherman Got Back His Life As A Snake Charmer Because of The Serpent!!

Written For, 

Thursday Tales.

#48

Image Source :- Here.

PS :- Dear Bloggers, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For The Previous Post, "A Strange Proposal".

56

A few comments and thoughts for a Monday afternoon:

• I knew it was going to be tough this time round but job seeking is proving to be harder than I thought. There just doesn't seem to be be many suitable positions out there but I try to remain positive.

• The government is considering an increase to the motorway speed limit to 80mph (about 130kph). Having attended a speed awareness course recently I'm not sure I can agree.

• Some readers will know I have an interest in tracing my family history. It's proving to be a whole lot of fun and quite informative. No connections yet to anyone famous or notorious mind you. I doubt there will be.

• The Royals just about kept their promotions hopes alive on Saturday with a 3-all draw away at Crystal Palace.

• Commercial television in the UK has got it's way and from today product placement will be permitted during certain programmes, together with an increase in the number of adverts per hour. Apparently this is in response to falling advertising revenue. Here's a thought- make better programmes. Audiences figures will rise and then you can charge more for advertisement spots.

• Apparently attempts to move the UK permanently to Central European Time have been shelved. Would have made for lighter evenings but much darker mornings. Oddly reports suggest Spain is now considering moving back an hour to GMT.

• My doctor told me this month I have a "lung age" of 56. Back on the meds for me. :-(

English Gymnastics - Junior Results

Liverpool's Rebecca Tunney won the junior ladies all-around title at the English championships today. Tunney, who competed for the GB team at the Junior Europeans in Birmingham last year is still not age eligible for senior competition this year but is making a strong case to be a 4th Liverpool gymnast on the team for London 2012 (she trains alongside Beth Tweddle, Hannah Whelan and Jennifer Pinches). Her strong overall score of 53.850 was well ahead of the field, aided by an impressive 14.100 on vault.

Russia: beam and floor finals

The final day of event finals wrapped up in Penza today.

Beam
1. Anna Dementyeva 15.500
2. Marya Dunayev 15.100
3. Julia Belokobylskaya 14.750
(4. Viktoria Komova 14.075)

Floor
1. Julia Belokobylskaya 14.575
2. Anna Dementyeva 14.375
3. Julia Inshina 14.100

Please forgive any spelling errors due to me or google translate!

The WOGA legacy

Aunt Joyce has posted a link to a short video documentary on WOGA gymnast and 6-time world medallist Rebecca Bross. The documentary by Trans World Sport draws paralells on her journey with that of Nastia Liukin and Carly Patterson heading into London 2012. There aren't many surprises in this video profile but they give an insight into the training of this focused athlete. Nastia gives her own praise of Rebecca as a training partner.

You can also view Trans World Sports documentaries on Nastia herself from 2006 and 2009.

Hangover

Oh, woe is me! Today I have been experiencing the first hangover I have had in many's the long year. Of course, it's my own stupid fault.

Yesterday began well. A lie in and then down to the residence's little tropical garden where I had breakfast by the pool whilst reading "The Bangkok Post". The owner of the place - "Staborn" - speaks English better than any other Thai I have met - probably because he spent years working abroad for the national tourist board. We chatted for a while. Later I hailed a taxi bound for Chatuchak Weekend Market - a vast, sprawling market with hundreds of stalls selling just about everything under the sun. I bought three things - a bag for my laundry, lunch and a model tuk-tuk made from a Singha beer can. The young woman who made these ornaments told me it took around three hours to make one and watching her work, I could well believe this. My little tuk tuk cost me just over £3.

I wandered through nearby Chatuchak Park and managed to capture this image of a Finlayson's or Variable squirrel - unique to South East Asia:-

Bangkokians were relaxing by the lake:-

Then I wandered through Union Mall with its throng of young shoppers pursuing their unfathomable clothes hunting hobby and onwards to my appointment at the dentist's torture chamber which I left after an hour minus the root of my previously crowned front tooth and about £100 which I had to pay for a brand new dental plate. Fingers crossed, it feels very comfortable.

Back at my room I contacted Jon's wife - Denise - to check on arrangements for the evening. We caught a cab together, then the Skytrain, finally arriving at an English pub called "The Bull's Head" - filled with ex-pats. I had my first beer at 8pm. At midnight I was watching the England v France rugby international live from Twickenham and fool that I am, I know I should have made my way home straight after the final whistle. But there was more beer and then a short walk to a late night bar where I played pool exceedingly badly. Finally, at 4am, I decided I had just had enough. With help from one of the other teachers at my school, I caught a taxi back to north Bangkok and remember, very vaguely, staggering homewards across a footbridge, putting my key in the lock and collapsing into bed.

Never again. Today has been a bit of a write off with the keyword being "recovery"...

Russian Championships- Vault & Bars finals

Tatiana Nabieva won both event finals today at the Russian nationals in Penza.

Vault:
1. Tatiana Nabieva - 14.475
2. Anna Pavlova - 14.413
3. Alena Polyan – 13.850

Uneven Bars:
1. Tatiana Nabieva - 15.600
2. Anna Dementyeva – 14.725
3. Viktoria Komova - 14.525

Link - Between the Olympics

Angelica Bengtsson - pole vaulter

English Gymnastics - Senior results

 Hannah Whelan added the English all-around title to her British title from last summer. The teen from Liverpool, who will compete at the American Cup next week scored an impressive 56.600 all-around total. Her Liverpool teammate Jennifer Pinches was close behind. Danusia Francis of Heathrow gymnastics was 3rd despite fighting injuries.  Beth Tweddle competed an impressive bar routine to score 15.750 but managed a weak 13.900 on floor. Nicole Hibbert (who will also compete at the American cup) competed on 3 events.

A Strange Proposal!!

A Gentle Morning Breeze

Melodious Chirping of Birds

Regular Joggers Jogging

Some Exercising, But

THEY Just Brisk Walk In Opposite Direction!

Every Saturday Morning, Was A Special Day To Him & Her. He Used To Have Earphone All The Time TO Hear The Songs From His MP3 Player. But, She Used To Listen To Birds Chirp And Proceed Her 1Hour Brisk Walk, 30Mins Breathing Exercises....

They Met By Chance, But Didn't Know About Their Choice & Destiny. Both Used To Smile At Each Other As They Were Regular Visitors To The Park. One Fine Day, Her Friends Came Surprisingly To The Park, Wished Her, Happy Birthday Sonu! He Heard Their Chores & Joined Them, Just By A Hand Shake. 

Her Friends Started Their Interrogation Process. Then, She Started Thinking of Him. He Was Always Scared To Approach Her. But, The Occasion of Her Birthday, Gave Him A Chance To Hear Her Beautiful Voice ! 

From Then On, They Both Spent 15Minutes To Chat After Their Regular Workouts. It Was Their Special Bench, Sitting At Certain Distance Used To Share And Discuss On Various Matters. Even, The Old People, Wanted Them To Be A Couple. But, Didn't Know What Would Happen. 

As Days Flew By,  He Thought of Finally Proposing Her. It Was Almost A Year. It Was The Day Which Successfully Completed 12Months of Their Best Strong Friendship. He Planned To Surprise Her With A Bouquet. With Atmost Faith And Boundless Happiness He Entered The Park & Saw Her Sparkling Face. Taking Few Steps, Sat On Their Regular Stone Bench. His Hands Were Shaking. Lips Were Frozen.

She Bravely Wished Him, Happy Friendship Day! We Met By Chance & Became Friends By Choice. Then, He Felt Relaxed. Wished Her Back, Gave The Bouquet And Proposed Her Sitting On His Knees.

She Was Silent. Didn't Even Uttered A Word.Chirping of Birds Was No More. As If, Even The Nature Knew Their Friendship Cannot Be Converted Into Life Time Commitment To Be Partners.

After, Few Minutes, When He Asked In Shaking Tone, She Said That, She Has Got An Opportunity To Fly To US From Her MNC. This Was A Breaking News To A Tender Colored Heart! Now, Whether They Commit Or Not Is The Question, Which Has Remained Unanswered From Past Few Years!! 

There Are Many More Unanswered Questions :- 

1. Can Friends Be Life Partners ??

2. Was It A Pure Friendship ??

3. Did Any of Her Words or The Gesture Or The Posture Made Him Feel Should Propose Her ??

4. Did He Really Saw Her As A Best Friend ?? 

Dear Bloggers, Think Over & Share In The Comments Page :)

Images Courtesy :- Google. 

PS :- Dear Bloggers, This Is Totally A Fiction! A Cooked Story of Creativity. Was Inspired To Write This, Because of Images. 

PPS :- Dear Bloggers, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For The Previous Post, "Life In A Train".

Russian Championships - Team results

Rewriting Russian Gymnastics posted the results of the women's team competition at Russian Nationals.

1   Central  (Komova, Pavlova, Inishina, Dementieva, Kruglikova, Stepanova)  174.95
2   Moscow  (Mustafina, Komova, Myzdrikova, Novikova, Syrinkova, Chibiskova) 171.132
3   PFO (Volga Federal District?)  (Dementieva, Telitsina, Skorodumova, Polyan, Lavrushina, Smirnova)  164.4
4  St Petersburg  (Sazonova, Nabieva, Sapronova, Terenteva, Krylova, Zemskova (did not compete)) 162.6

English Gymnastics: Tinkler wins espoir title.

Amy Tinkler of South Durham gymnastics won the espoir title at the English gymnastics championships in Stoke on Trent today. The results here go a long way toward the selection of  young talent to the National team. The seniors compete tomorrow afternoon and the juniors on Sunday. Results at British Gymnastics

Patriotism

Every morning, just before eight o' clock, the whole school gathers in lines in front of the Thai flag and the national anthem is played over the tannoy as children of the infant school sing the song. It is quite catchy and I could easily make up new words for it. But this is the literal translation:-

Thailand is the unity of Thai blood and body,

The whole country belongs to the Thai people,

Maintaining thus far for the Thai,

All Thais intend to unite together,

Thais love peace, but do not fear to fight,

They will never let anyone threaten their independence,

They will sacrifice every drop of their blood to contribute to the nation,

Will serve their country with pride and prestige-full of victory.

Chai Yo (Cheers)

When the anthem is finished, the children turn sideways or turn around to acknowledge their schoolmates with the traditional Thai greeting - palms together and head bowed. And of course I know you would love to here the anthem in Thai so here it is:-

4 Brits headed to American Cup

 With several last minute withdrawals the line-up for the American Cup (taking place March 5) has been shuffled around a bit, with the upside (at least from my point of view) of now including 2 british men and 2 british ladies.

The 16 gymnast field is now made up of:

Men

• USA: Jonathan Horton, Houston
• France: Cyril Tommasone
• Germany: Philipp Boy
• Great Britain: Samuel Hunter
• Great Britain: Daniel Purvis
• Japan: Koji Uematsu
• Russia: Sergey Khorokhordin
• Ukraine: Mykola Kuksenkov

Women

• USA: Alexandra Raisman
• Australia: Lauren Mitchell
• China: Huang Quishuang
• Great Britain: Nicole Hibbert
• Great Britain: Hannah Whelan
• Russia: Aliya Mustafina
• Switzerland: Ariella Kaeslin
• Venezuela: Jessica Lopez

Also keeping british gymnasts busy, the 2011 English Championships take place this weekend in Stoke-on-Trent. Beth Tweddle is due to compete. Going for Gold will have results up as soon as possible.

Denney & Barrett split

2010 US pairs skating champions and olympians Caydee Denney & Jeremy Barrett have announced the end of their partnership.

26 year old Barrett plans to retire from competitive skating and move on to coaching and shows.

17 year old Denney plans to find a new partner ready for next season.

Any suggestions for her new man??

Lena Berntsson - Swedish athlete

she has competed internationally in both weightlifting and track and field

Jessica Ennis - British athlete

Anna Battke

Dementyeva wins Russian Championships

Rewriting Russian Gymnastics has posted a link to podium training images of the Russian Championships, taking place in Penza, 21-27 February.

According to the (allbeit translated) results, 2011 world team member Anna Dementyeva won the all-around (score: 58.050) ahead of 2-time olympian Anna Pavlova (score: 56.200) . Young star Viktoria Komova competed on 3 events, missing vault but posting a collossal 16.700 on bars (how??)

Of other famous names, Tatiana Nabieva competed vault and bars only. Aliya Mustafina and Anastasia Grishina were not in the line-up.

The event continues with a team event and individual apparatus finals later this week.

Click here to view the event website in English (via google translate) or in the original Russian. 

Joy

As I was sitting at the computer in my air-conditioned classroom at 7.30am this very morning a smiling student knocked on my door and came in solely to give me a sweet. Later, I announced to my Year 9 class (fourteen year olds) that I wanted their exercise books in, their copies of "Rice Without Rain" by the Thai writer Mingfong Ho and that they were to put their chairs under their desks tidily. Moments later, after they had gone, I looked across the room and saw that all chairs had indeed been put under the desks and on the front tables there were two neat piles - exercise books and novels. I didn't have to try. It just happened.

In contrast, I remember two horrid fifteen year old boys I taught in my last full year of secondary school teaching in north Sheffield. Martin and Louis were always late for lessons. Every time I challenged them they became surly and obstreperous, snarling back: "Nobody else bothers if we're late" or "What ye going on abaht?" or "We're only five minutes late - ger over it!". Louis never had a pen to write with. Getting work out of him was like getting blood out of a stone and his arrogant chum Martin was not much better. Their body language spoke volumes - rocking on their chairs, failing to sustain polite eye contact. I wrote to their parents, kept them back for detentions, reported them to the Senior Learning Mentor - all to no avail. Both of these boys had plenty of latent ability but they had chosen not to nourish it.

I'm not saying that all secondary school children in working class urban areas of Britain are like Louis and Martin. Many youngsters remain polite, focussed, willing and grateful of the help you give them. But there is a boorish and influential core of reluctant, argumentative and downright lazy kids who seem to do their best to turn education into drudgery. It should be happy, enlightening, pleasant. Being in Thailand reminds me that it really can be that way - adults and young people working together in an atmosphere of mutual respect, feeling a sense of joy about the very human business of learning.

Farewell Brigadier

The actor, and Doctor Who fan-favourite, Nicholas Courtney died yesterday aged 81 due- I believe- to a cancer related illness.

His first Doctor Who appearance was in 1965 opposite the original lead, William Hartnell. However the role he is perhaps best remembered was that of leader of the fictional United Nations Intelligence Task-force (UNIT), a role Courtney played from 1967 opposite Patrick Troughton. He then appeared regularly throughout the original "classic" tv run working with the first 7 Doctors, with the exception of Colin Baker.

Although mentioned a few times in the reborn Doctor Who, he did not get to appear in the new series and Courtney's final tv appearance as the (retired) Brigadier was guest starring in 2008 in a two part story for The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart.













My own lasting memories of the character are tied with "my Doctor," the one I grew up with, Jon Pertwee and the Earth based UNIT stories of the 1970's. You might even argue it was a vital part of my childhood: The Doctor, Sarah Jane Smith and The Brigadier, fighting (weekly) alien invasions of the English country-side and the odd chalk quarry. Happy days.

U. K. Tourism stills

Mixed

Recent results for The Royals has been somewhat variable:

4 Feb Reading 0 - 1 QPR
12 Feb Norwich 2 - 1 Reading
15 Feb Sheffield United 1 -1 Reading
19 Feb Reading 1 -1 Watford
22 Feb Reading 2 - 1 Millwall

Reading crawl back to 9th in the Championship on 47 points, some 7 points below the teams currently in the play-off zone.

2011 Grand Prix Final- Quebec City

Today Skate Canada announced that Quebec City will host the 2011 Grand Prix Final. The city hosted the Skate Canada international in 2007 (incidentally the first major ice skating competition I ever attended).

"It’s very exciting for Skate Canada to be holding another ISU event. The ISU Grand Prix Final draws from the best in the world and with significant prize money at stake we can expect the competition to be fierce," said William Thompson, Skate Canada CEO. "Quebec City is a beautiful location with a vibrant culture and I know the international skating community will be welcomed with open arms."

When Skate Canada was held in Quebec in '07 the skaters were treated to a 5 star stay at the iconic Chateau Frontenac hotel. Skaters this time around will likely also look forward to a special competition experience.

As in recent years, the Junior Grand Prix Final will also be taking place. In total, there will be 56 entries and 84 skaters taking part in the event. Canada’s Patrick Chan is the current men’s champion, winning the ISU Grand Prix Final title in Beijing, China in December 2010.

Life In A Train !!!!!!!

One Fine Sunny Day Me & My Friends Visited Fashion Street And On Our Way Back Home Boarded Borivilli Local. We Wanted Few Earrings, But Didn't Find Suitable One's In Fashion Street. 

Luckily A Young Girl  Boarded The Same Train And Was Selling Beautiful Earrings. We All Purchased Selected Earrings Which Was Rs.5/- For Each. 

After Purchasing Few Hangings, My Friend Asked, Whether She Has Few More Collections.....Then, She Said How She Leads Her Life Being An Orphan. Here Is Her Real Life Story :- 

I'm Reshma. I Am Also A Young Girl Like You All. I Am Just 20Years Old. I Am Orphan. I Don't Have Anybody To Take care of Me. I Lead My Life By Selling Hangings, Studs, Mobile Covers, And Many More Matching's. How Much Ever Goods I Sell, I Buy Only Those Many Goods & Re-sell Them. With Great Difficulty I Get One Time Food. I Sleep On Railway Platforms. Regular Local Train Travelers Give Me Clothes And Sometimes Even Food To Eat. I Get Very Less Amount To Save As Pocket Money. But, I'm Happy With What I Have. And God Is There To Take care of Me. He Has Given Me Enough Difficulties To Withstand Myself And He Has Given Enough Strength To Lead MY Life All Alone. Though I'm Illiterate, He Has Given Me Skills To Buy & Sell These Earrings. We Noticed Unbearable Tears In Her Eyes. 

I Kept Observing Her Skills Of Selling, Her Movements, Interactions Attracted Many Customers. I Prayed God Let Her Life Be Blessed With Colors of Joy, Happiness And Let Her See The Real Success of Her Hard work. 

Let's Just Imagine Leading A Life In This City, Where The Life Is Fast....Sleepless Life, Joyless Days & Nights....Trains Start At 4am And Ends By 2am. Just 2hrs Gap For Motormen. Though, There Are Rotational Shifts, How Difficult It Is To Keep Handling The Same Technical Operations ? If The Office Opens At 9am, People Leave Their House By 6.30am. To Catch A Bus From Their Area To Reach Local Railway Station And From That Station To Another Station, A Local Train And Again Getting Down And Boarding A Bus To Reach The Office. Have To Use All Types of Transport Facilities. Rickshaws, Buses, Trains, Taxis. 

So My Thought Was, When Many of Us Keep Complaining of Getting Tired With All The Comfortably Leading Life, How Will This Young Girl of 20yrs of Age, Manage Herself On The Railway Platform ?? Its Really Toughest & Amazing. At last She Said, This Train Is My Native! Its Really Painful To Hear Her History. May God Bless This Young Girl. I Had Met This Girl In 2009. Hats off To Reshma.

A Journey of Life In The Carriages of  Train!!

Written For,

Thursday Tales.

#47

Image Courtesy :- Vitaly (Zimaz)

PS :- Dear Bloggers, Thanks A Lot For All Your Cherishable Compliments For The Previous Post, "Pure Love".  

PPS :- I Had Shared About Reshma's Life In Another Blog of Mine On The Day I Met Her. The Link To That Post In Exhibiting Hidden Talents Blog Is Here. 

Tooth

When I was fourteen, I was keeping wicket during a school cricket match. The bowler was a natural athlete called John Hawley who later went on to play football professionally for Hull City, Leeds, Arsenal and Bradford City. Anyway, the batsman moved across the line of the advancing ball which must have hit a divot and therefore rose at an unexpected trajectory. My gloves were too low and the ball hit me square in the mouth. My front teeth were broken and my cricket whites were bloodied.

The legacy of that moment has been with me my whole life through. One of the teeth that was saved had lost its nerve and as years passed it darkened so that I became quite self-conscious about my smile, often consciously hiding my teeth. Anyway, about three years ago, a Polish dentist who I would gladly pay to have hunted down by hired hitmen, persuaded me to have the darkening tooth crowned. Foolishly, I trusted in her professional expertise.

She made a pig's ear of it so that a few months ago my new NHS dentist said that the "crown" she had fitted would have to go and an attempt would be made to fit a new one. But this new one kept coming out. I returned to the dentist several times to have it re-cemented. In the end a third crown was made and fitted just before I came to Thailand. However, last week, probably while snorkelling, the third crown loosened and I ended up marching in to a Thai dental surgery.

Amazingly I got an appointment that very day. The Thai dentist a Dr Chalermpong Tungvijtsakun DDS (Chiangmai University) investigated my dilemma and deduced that the crown was not going to work out as the receiving root was fractured. I would need a false tooth adding to my front plate and the remaining root would have to be extracted. In the meantime, he temporarily glued the old crown back in and told me to be careful with it when eating. A new appointment was fixed for this Saturday.

On Monday lunchtime - my first full teaching day at the international school - the damned tooth came out again. I popped it back in in the men's lavatory. I had a class in the afternoon - twenty one bright fourteen year olds. My first announcement to them was that I was having a problem with a front tooth and they were not to be too surprised if it dropped out. On cue, the thing came out again. The children giggled but it was not in a mocking, nasty, uncaring teenage manner. They were very kind and forgiving about it and I was able to continue straightaway with the lesson I had planned. Later I thanked them for their kindness and respect.

By the way, reflecting once again on bizarre Thai nicknames, there are two boys who sit next to each other in this class - the first is called Two and his deskmate is Ply. I kid you not. Another boy is called simply "P". Their kind reaction to my front tooth issue gave me the confidence to march to school today with a toothy gap that I didn't give a damn about. It probably gives me Tysonesque street cred. Grrr!

Forray

I guess that most "tourists" in Bangkok will rush around to see as many sights as they can in the short time they have here. Luckily, I don't have to rush. In my four month sojourn, I can make several leisurely visits into the centre of this great metropolis and explore it at my own pace.

This morning I struck out alone. Taxi to the nearest MRT (Metro) station and then I was swished onwards to Hualamphong in a sleek carriage where I was the only visible westerner. Emerging into the heat, I wandered down to the Chao Phraya River and boarded a ferry bound for Tha Tien. After buying a drinking coconut, I found my way to the Wat Po temple complex. The main attraction here is the famous Reclining Buddha but the grounds of the complex are also quite wonderful to behold.

I read that the temple was famous for providing a professional Thai massage service. I paid £5 for half an hour of being squeezed and bent but no**, this massage did not have the "happy ending" that sleazier establishments might provide! **I had already guessed what some of my readers might be thinking! John Gray, Mr Parrots etc..

After some money grabbing git had scribbled with a ballpoint pen on my pristine map of Bangkok, I wandered into the chaotic ambience of Chinatown with a million merchants plying their wares down cramped alleyways and sweaty side streets. How the hell they all make a living, I have no idea. On one particular street I saw numerous women sitting in deckchairs, their faces creamed white as "beauticians" threaded away unwanted facial hair. In another street there were florists after florists - dozens of them. Nobody was pushy, pouncing on you just for stopping to look.

Again the only westerner in a vast commercial floorspace with Chinese tea shops and eateries, I managed to find the humble Peking Restaurant with its promised English menu and ordered, with some difficulty, a beef and spinach noodle soup with steamed "lice" on the side. Delicious and healthy too. For dessert in the street I bought a plastic cup crammed with big, juicy black cherries.

All this me-time ends tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn when five weeks of teaching proper commence. Some photos from today's rambling:-