A Blog about the Daily Life on the Tropical Island of Koh Samui
 |
A few Words about Me
 My name is: Olle
I am living in: Lamai Beach, Koh Samui, Suratthani, Thailand
I am originally from: Stockholm, the capital of Sweden
I am doing for Kohsamui.org: Writing a blog about my life on a tropical island
How about my life here: Please read my blog below, my friends |
Almost Done
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Thursday, October 8, 2009
I woke up very tired today. Yesterday I could not sleep and when I first fell asleep it was almost dawn. I tried to get some life in Nui which can be difficult at times and then I went to cut my hair in the bathroom. I ate breakfast and also worked for a while before Nui woke up and stayed that way. Then it was time to go check the shop here in Lamai, which had the stainless steel. Nui thought the price was expensive, she had heard others who have paid considerably less but sometimes they forget to say that they bought it several years ago. We took a trip to Chaweng, I was a bit reluctantly because the shop we were going to had more expensive prices on other things we checked. I said that it certainly will cost a lot more there, and I was right so we just turned back to Lamai. Tomorrow the sidecar will be all done, at least the most important things. It is only signs and maybe some other things that we have not thought of yet.
When we got home I remembered that I needed a card reader for the Mac computer and went down to the Tesco area to see what they had. I found one that looked good and I was happy, until I got home. It could only read the card for about 5 seconds then it shut down and then on again. This way I kept playing with me and I down and changed it, but the new one behaved the same way as the first one. I brought the memory card to the store and tried on their computer and it was the same thing. After a lot of testing it turned out that I had a virus on the camera memory card. I was really surprised, I never had a virus before and I do also have a anti-virus software on the PC that I have used the card with in the past. The only thing I can think of was a while ago, when the computer had so much trouble, I downloaded a decompression program that was a freeware because I did not want to install the regular that I used before, it was on another hard drive. The program did not work and now I think that it might have been the evil one. The virus program did not say anything and it is usually over sensitive. This was a further proof of all the crap that the PC world may bring. I reformatted the memory card so everything disappeared, and then it worked fine. However, now I need to transfer the pictures again so today no picture is uploaded.
Tomorrow it will be exciting to see how everything on the sidecar looks. There has been a lot of time to organize things, not least in recent days. Nui is also keen to get started. We have had quite a long time to arrange things and also with the sudden move from Phuket. It feels like it is only when this bit is over that we can proceed with the next step, whatever it may be.
The weather today has been a bit strange, the sky was bright and also had blue spots but anyway it has been falling some very gentle rain on a few occasions. Still, it is as if something is waiting around the corner because it has still not fallen any rain worth mentioning.
Another Day In Maenam
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The day was mostly spent in Maenam because when we came to the workshop the sidecar was not really finished. We took a trip and bought a frying plate from one of the places we visited yesterday. We got it for a very good price and other people who asked what we paid for it did not hide that they thought it was a bargain. We also went up in the mountains behind Maenam and it felt like it was just some weeks ago since I was there. I found all the small roads that I wanted to find and showed Nui some extreme houses that looks almost as palaces and appears to be luxury hotel areas. The hills around this area are very steep and fun to drive in. The view is tremendous and we looked out over the sea and all the way to Koh Phangan. In the same area it is a small hotel which is completely deserted and also was two years ago. Strange that it is left like that. For those who enjoy hillside hotels, one could make it incredibly nice at this place. Personally I think that hillside areas can have a nice view, but otherwise I do not think they are very attractive. It usually feels as if the surroundings do not offer anything when it is mostly steep slopes all around making the resident area sloping a lot as well. I prefer to be able to take walks across the open areas and also have the ocean in a somewhat close distance, but it is for sure a nice sight.
Now the sidecar is standing on our driveway, and it is only the bench that needs to be covered in stainless steel and then we are set. It felt very strange to drive a sidecar, the handlebar was shaking a lot more, not least while accelerating and breaking because the built side does not have a driving or braking wheel. It is only one thing on the car that has to be rebuilt, the part that holds the gas tube. It was built so that it just to hangs onto the back of the car which is great but it is made so that you can not fit the gas inside, it is covered by the steel frame just a few cm. The backup job will have to be done by someone else so that we do not have to drive all the way to Maenam just for that sake. We checked with a shop in Bophut about the stainless steel but the man who would build it had never before constructed such thing for a side car only for real kitchens and got standing for himself for so long that we said it might be better if we find someone in Lamai to make it, also because it is closer to our home. He seemed almost relieved and said it was probably better to do that. Unfortunately, the clock had been so much when we got back to Lamai that the shop had closed for the evening so tomorrow we will arrange that thing. Everyday I think that the things we need to do will take less time than it really takes. This is because I do not really know the plan but somewhat just tags along. When we stopped at the gas station on the way back home the guys at the station were very curious, it is not usual for a farang to drive a sidecar of this kind. They wondered what I sold and I said I was selling cable TV. They did not react at all, one guy leaped up at the seat and pretended to drive while another filled up the tank and some others laughed, I do not think they understood the irony. Irony is not something that is so very common here.
A Busy Day
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Tuesday, October 6, 2009
In the late morning we drove up to Maenam to talk to sidecar craftsman. The sidecar looked really good and after having measured some things to make it easier to know in what height he should build the table part at we took the sidecar on a ride. We drove west just a short distance to another shop to put plastic on the roof. We first thought of having a red roof but we were told that the red color gets bleached very quickly there for we chose a darker yellow color instead. When we got back to the other shop he told us that he had a friend who had a frying big plate that he wanted to sell but it would take a couple of hours until he came so we took a trip to the Big C and fixed some other things. Once there the hunger was setting in and I ate a meal at the food court. The purse at the food course was a lady that I had run into several times in the past at Big C but 2 years ago. She immediately recognized me and she seemed quite surprised to see me again.
When we got back to the shop the friend had already left the frying plate which turned out to be a couple of sizes too big plus that it was meant for electricity and not gas. Suddenly the craftsman started to yell at a guy on a sidecar who was just passing by on the street, the guy was selling pancakes and he wanted to ask him where he bought his frying plate. The pancake guy was a guy that I had bought a pancake from on one occasion two years ago and also chatted with while he made my pancake. Really fun to see the same guy again. This guy is from Pakistan and when we talked last time he was on his way home to take care of his little brother because their parents are dead since many years. Now his little brother also lived here in Samui during their stays. We drove off to see if we could find any store that could make us a suitable plate and now we have a few options to consider.
Just when we were about to head back home dark clouds were rolling in over the island and it began to rain. We were sitting outside one of the stores while the worst of the rain fell. We also took a little walk down to the beach in Maenam, which was just further down the street. I have not been on that beach since I left Samui, it was nicer than I could remember. When the worst rain had fallen we went home. It was horrible cold and it was a good reminder that cold weather is not at all nice, which I sometimes fool myself that it is. I also got a receipt that I gotten far too pale, despite the clouds my arms got a slight blush.
Almost the entire was spent driving around, but we got things done, so that was great. During the short rainfall the way in the northern Chaweng had bee flooded because it leans away from the well systems. This at a part where they have not been doing any roadwork but hopefully they will make this section as well since this part of the road is very easily flooded.
Know Your Hairdresser
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Monday, October 5, 2009
A new Monday and along with that comes also a new week. The weekend flew by with a lot of work but also a long-awaited tennis game and some other things. We have not yet got the sidecar and I wonder when it is time to pick it up. This is how most things are here, it takes longer than what is being said. Tomorrow we head up to Maenam and leave some stuff that should be in the car so that the craftsman can measure and make sure things are being done the best way. Today, he would paint everything black so I guess that there is not so much left to do. When he is ready we will have to fix the plastic roof and some other things so I do not know when everything is ready.
Yesterday, we had fantastic weather. The sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. I had thought that we would go and swim but Nui felt a bit tired and ill and fell asleep so I did not want to wake her up. When she woke up again it had just become dark and she came walking towards me and looked almost frightened that she slept a few hours. She wanted to go swimming too and wondered why I did not wake her up.
Today was the first time that we got to feel how good it is to have a large store close by. Nui went shopping while I was working and we saved a lot of time in that way. When we had eaten I went to the gym and Nui went to the hairdresser. She had no idea what hairdresser she would go to since this was the first time she went to cut her hair at Samui. She was not very happy when she came by the gym and picked me up. The girl who cut her hair did not know what she was doing and a lot of hair was longer than others even though Nui said that she had to cut it better. I just keep getting amazed by things. I do not know if it has to do with smaller communities but it seems that some open businesses without having any knowledge. I was myself and cut my hair not very long ago and got quite shocked by the way she worked. We can only laugh and go to another store next time or as I did, bought a clipper and cut my own hair instead. We fixed Nui's hair ourselves at home and Nui will for sure not plan on getting a more advanced haircut before she know that there are a qualified hairdresser.
At least I got a great hours at the gym and I have now become a few kilos heavier and have much better power and stamina, although it is still an incredibly long way to go.
I hope that it will be something entertaining on TV this evening. In recent days the TV signal has been lost in the middle of the show or movie we are watching and we found ourselves sitting as fools waiting for the signal to return which it did not do for a very long time so today I hope to see the end of what ever we are watching.
Previous weeks: Week 40 | Week 39 | Week 38 | Week 37 | Week 36 | Week 35 | Week 34 | Week 33
More: 2010
|
|
|
Tip of the top » This blog about the daily life in Koh Samui is updated several times a week. Please come back regularly
KohSamui.org has been online since February 1999 and has had more than 5 million unique visitors.
