Avi Wald is 64 - My Dad's Birthday

Better than focusing on the memorial day for his death, I'd rather be happy at my father's birthday which is today. As the story goes, my father's father was notified of my father's birth and said something along the lines of "Don't fool me, it's not April fools anymore". Well, it wasn't, it was April 2nd, 1949. My father was born into a completely different world than I was, no doubt about it.

I still miss my father and frequently think about him. His death has been a great loss to me and our family. But life goes on and as our death is imminent, we might as well use the little time we do have to celebrate what we've got.

Here in Bangkok now, I've been very happy to meet two of my brothers and half of my nephews. The youngest is called Aviv and when saying Aviv Wald (the W sounds like a V), it sounds the same as Avi Wald, my late father. Aviv means spring in Hebrew while Avi is the shortened version of Abraham (Avraham in Hebrew).

Here are some picture fragments from the past

My father with his parents. All now buried in the same cemetery.

My mom organized a trip for my father's last living birthday, hiring a whole bus and a guide.

So yes, my father could still smile beautifully while knowing his death his near

 

Purim family picture with my parents and brothers.

My birthday at the kindergarten. Center out: me, my parents, my older brothers, my grandmothers and then my father's father. The rightmost woman is.... hmmm.... have no idea...

Avi Wald with all of children in the swimming pool. The last days here in Thailand, Ofer spent a lot of pool time with his kids. Another generation getting soaked and happy :)

My parents at my brother's wedding, or some briss, or somewhere where you gotta wear a suit.

So happy 64th birthday dad! You're in my heart and mind :)

You may wanna see previous blog posts about my father's death and his tombstone. His Colnect collector profile is still publicly accessible though he hasn't used it in a while.

Making the Inevitable Joyous - Surfing in Bangkok and Macau - CatchingUp pt12

Time to close this "catching up" series. This post is about the few days in Bangkok and then Macau at the end of February. In Macau I started the catching up, about a month ago. So here the catching up stops.

Both Bangkok and Macau had something in common: I didn't really want to spend any time in them. However, as transportation routes go, we're sucked into specific places, whether we like it or not. Bangkok is really such a place and it's extremely hard to avoid it when moving around Thailand. As I've personally grown to dislike Bangkok but had booked my flight from there, I decided that instead of trying to spend as little time there as possible and risk missing my flight, I should make it fun.

How fun? CouchSurfing fun! So I looked up hosts hoping to avoid the Kaho San area and its density. Seems my CS karma is doing well as I keep getting positive replies from the first person I send to and I meet really good people I enjoy spending time with.

Beer towers - how groups of people enjoy alcohol induced happiness together

Wine and beer tasting with my cool host in Bangkok

Smoking bubbles - yeah!

I was Alison's first guest and she's been a fantastic host, trying to always make sure I'm comfortable. We did end up in Kaho San road one evening. Guess you can't run away from fate :p

Another evening in Bangkok I was walking around an area with vile sewage smell and more mosquitoes and cockroaches than I ever witnessed in an urban area. So yes, I still dislike staying in Bangkok but any place can be fun as long as you're spending it with people whose company you enjoy.

Bye bye Bangkok

And now.... Macau. Nowadays famous for its casinos, Macau is a lovely one or two day trip for people passing by who don't desire losing all their money gambling. For me, it's been really good because of the cool Indonesian host I had, Intan. With an Israeli passport, I still cannot visit Indonesia so I'll have to know only the traveling ones. With Intan I've seen a different and very relaxed side of Macau and was very happy for that.

Rikshaw is a tourist form of transportation

Cool bus and I can do a V

Dogs in Macau know how to read

Chinese New Year boobs-for-nose figure

"Be tolerant towards others - mutual respect means a happier life" says the caption. I say: be nice to others or these guys will kick your ass!

The Chinese New Year is long gone but maybe they'll keep the decorations till next year

Chinese vegetarian restaurants have a habit of making dishes that look like meat and have meaty names. Suspicion...

Romantic Macau all lit up for you to gamble your money away

The romance does appeal to some

Am I the only person thinking this creature who's a part of the Chinese new year's decorations has a nose that look like boobs? Something's fishy here and it's not bcz we're near the sea

Rocking the boat and off to Hong Kong

Classical music in the shopping mall. Hong Kong is all about contrasts.

OK. Too much text here. Can't believe you read all the way through. There was a little girl dancing at some point near this trio. Everybody loves little girls dancing. No musical sense whatsoever but kids are so cute. So why don't grown ups go out and dance whenever they feel like it? Well, I do!

Goodbye India, Welcome Thailand

Meeting my lovely brother in Bangkok

As annoying, overbearing and hard as India was on our last day there, as comfortable, easy and indulging Thailand has been. Although I've visited both countries in my previous travel, it was almost a year and 8 countries apart. This time the change was so sharp.

Thais like their Buddhas gilded

In India people often stare at you as you walk around. Foreigners are so interesting and it's way too frequent that one curious guy would walk to you saying "you country!" or "come from!" or, the scholarly version, "what is your native place?". It's amusing, adorable, helps strike a random conversation and sometimes so misplaced, especially if you were just in a middle of a conversation with your friends or just in the middle of singing and playing the guitar. Privacy isn't an issue as it's existence in India is fictional. Thailand feels more like back home: almost nobody gives you a second look and cares about you when you're in the street.

Culinary superiority. As much as two vegans can appreciate vegetarian food in India, the food we've had in the Kaho San road on our first days was so much tastier, healthier and cleaner than what we usually managed to come by in India. Many people often drool on Indian cuisine but our taste buds welcomed tofu, noodles, great fruits and freshly cut vegetables with much delight. The coconuts in Thailand taste SO MUCH better than in India. They often put them on ice and each coconut feels like a treat.

Easy to fatten up in Thailand :)

Cleanliness. Hard to compare even. Thailand's dirtiest places are on par with India's cleanest. The air, the ground, the people, the animals. Everything seems cleaner and healthier. In both countries one has to take of his shoes going to holier or private places. In India the floor is almost always dirty on the "clean" side as well. In Thailand, the "clean" side is vigorously kept clean.

Buddha seems relaxed, so why shouldn't we be relaxed?

Smiles. That's where India always wins. Being a guy, you can look into anyone's eyes and smile and you're very likely to get a good smile back. Add a head wobble and you'll receive one as well. It's not as good to try that being a girl since they'll assume flirtatious behavior.

Remembering the days of phone cards

Prices. Thailand is surely more expensive but the feeling is that often you get your money's worth.

Bangkok from the river looks quite different

Transportation: there is so much extra space on Thai buses that, coming from India, I kept thinking we can put 3 times more people in the bus and still feel more comfortable than on Indian buses. The roads are often better than the ones in Israel and you often get a smooth ride rather than an almost off-road experience you often get in India.

Free cola on a local bus in Bangkok, it was a Sikh holiday.

Working on Colnect while on the road, seems Thailand is a much better option than India. Visa issues are simpler with India though, although on the long run Thailand might win on that as well.

Gilded Frognector fan near Pattaya

To summarize, it's not hard to understand why many westerns base themselves in Thailand which offers all western comforts in eastern prices. India has it's appeal as well but it's surely a different one and won't fit many people who are addicted to comforts. India is more challenging and has it's peaks and lows.