On the Road to Asia

Noah and Sophia debating politics as we await the arrival.
Anne arrives - we're a long way from Springfield, Mo!
My Dad travels in style.

No time to rest! Off to Chinatown.
Checking for trinkets....plenty of time for that!
The Patriarch and the young heir.
Good looking tourists.

Looking good after 24 hours on the plane.
First Hindu temple visit.
Opening dinner of Singapore's favorite - Chicken Rice lah.
Old hand Noah - almost a local, is it.
Rested up for Sunday morning in Little India.

Breakfast of Bryani, murtabak, roti pratas, mango lassis and teh tarik.
Later, a foot massage. So far every visitor has had one here.
Needed the happy feet for the Night Safari.
Everyone loves Myrna.
The family votes to adopt Myrna.

On the Cable Car to Sentosa. My office building in the background. Seen this thing every day for two years and finally riding it.Underwater World was a nice. Building the new casino/hotel/Universal Studios complex.
The Port of Singapore with the skyline behind.
A sunset visit to Boat Quay.

The Three Amigos
Now arriving in Bangkok - Sawadee Kah
Dad trying get accustomed his new camera.
Arrival at the Shangri-La - Flowers for all.
Dinner at my favorite local place - I've blogged it before. Still tasty and fun.

Noah arrives a little later.
View of Friday rush hour from our room.
Looking up river.
Friday boat tour. Our driver.
Weather is great, water is fine - Let's go!

FMG flashes a smile.
Our private limo boat.
Anne takes in the sights as our floating drink seller paddles away.
Noah saving up for this pad.
Or this one.....

Big yellow Buddha
Old sign for a snake farm
A stop at Wat Chalor. Roosters avoiding the soup pot.
Sophia and Noah strolling up the lane.
Fresh fried fish

So many Buddhas...
Closing in on that happy place.
The temple shaped like a Royal Barge.
FMG and Anne negotiating for some religious amulets.
The majestic head of the temple.

Two lovely ladies.
Colorful detail work.
Every nook....
....and cranny....
breath Namaste.....

A startled Monk.
Like father, like son.
Back onto the boat.
Next stop - the big gold Buddha
Each of us makes an offering...

Not sure what the green guy symbolizes.
Sophia says her peace.
And puts her incense into the sand.

Anne getting spiritual.

The Barge museum.
One of the Royal conveyances.
and another....
This is the newest one.
Hard to sit like that for a long trip.

Approaching Wat Arun.
Catfish feeding frenzy.
Anne and the King of Siam.
Details still impress.

Noah on top the tower.
FMG makes it to level 2.
Sophia stays at level 1.
After 4 visits I finally make it to the top.
This dude turned into stone.

Steep!
The Wizard of Oz guys holding up the top of the tower.
We say this and immediatly put out or beer torches.
After the boat, lunch at the Queen of Curry. Noah and the Queen.
No real Bangkok trip is complete without seeing the Jim Thompson house.

Back to the Sky Train.
Riding the elevated rails.

Chatichuck - shopping nirvana.
We made the trek from end to end - twice.
Some of the loot.
Some of the available loot.
FMG makes a purchase for the folks back home.

Trinkets?
Frank and Anne purchase an antique buddha.
Always nice to see the Thai Bluegrass guys.
A fruit shake and a chat with a fellow American.
Back to the train.

View from the hotel garden.
Two hot dudes catching some rays.

Showered, shaved and ready for cocktails.
Above the city at the Dome. The happy family all in one shot. Too bad the other siblings are not in attendance.
Noah and Anne at the Sky Bar. 64 floors up - open air.
Paparazzi shots at the bar.

FMG back at the table at Sirocco. http://bangkok.lebua.com/fooddrink-en.html#mainText0
Anne and Sophia Tuk Tuk back to out hotel.
Riverside Yoga
Daytime view up to where we dined the night before.
Another Wat - more elephants.

Ready for the last boat ride.

At the airport.
Saying goodbye to BKK!!!!!!!

Cats!

Twinkie and Mocha, happy together outside the kitchen door.
Mocha Toes waiting for dinner.

Twinkie thinking up his next stunt.
A catnap in the sun, former street cats now leading the soft domestic life.
"You found me!"
Jungle patrol.
"Sure, I might break this vase..."

By Tod Gimbel

One thing for certain is my family is NOT cat friendly. The story is that long ago Grandpa Harold had a bad experience where a cat scratched him.

The details are hazy. Maybe he was trying to sell in an aluminum siding job to a nice old German couple on Bremen street and their cat, sensing such a deal would strap it's owners for cash, causing them to stop serving fancy canned food instead moving to cheap dry kibble, lashed out at the tin man. Another possibility is one morning he was enjoying a nice toasted egg bagel with a big schmear of cream cheese and a pile of fresh nova lox when a feline hopped up onto the table and snatched the lox and ruined his breakfast. The last alternative is that at some point in his early career he was beaten to a big sale by a member of the Katz family and the experience soured him forever against anyone or anything Katz or cats.

Whatever the true cause might be, this dislike, bordering on hatred, has been passed on through the generations. It is also bolstered by the fact that most of us Gimbels are allergic to the furry critters causing our eyes to water and our noses to run.

Anyway, but for a very brief (less then 3 days if I recall) time when we had a cute little brown kitten named Farfel in about 1968, there have been no cats in the family. Until now.

Singapore, like most of Asia, is teeming with stray cats and dogs. These street urchins live off the land and appear to be fruitful and multiply. In our old neighborhood there was a colony of cats. For a long time they had a great gig. They hung out in a parking lot of a high rise condo in front of a sushi restaurant. The people at the restaurant kept them fat and happy with fresh fish every night.

About a year ago the condo was sold en banc (a very common thing in Singapore when a building gets to be 10-15 years old) to make way for a newer, more hip and expensive condo development. First thing to go was the restaurant. One day they just moved out. The cat colony had grown to about 30 with new kittens popping out regularly and their primary food source was gone.

Some nice neighbors fed and watered the cats and we saw them every time we walked up the street. We started to recognize them and gave them names. Sophia spearheaded a project to get them all fixed so the colony would stop growing. To make a long story short, her project, Project Catsnip, was a huge success. Over the course of several months she and her team captured, sent off for fixing, and returned almost 30 cats.

Because they were fed and watered and people stopped by to see and hang out with them, many of the cats were very socialized. Their hangout was off the road and in a nice place for people to sit and chat and play around with the friendly cats. We stopped by regularly and got to know cats we named Fraidy, Ginger, Milo, Mocha Toes, Meowy, Big Mama, Crook Neck, Cloudy Eye, Gimpy and more. Sophia's efforts led to the adoption of many of the friendliest cats. We seemed to always end up petting and hanging with Mocha, Meowy and Cloudy. Miraculously my allergies weren't too bad.

Soon the building was sealed off and the demolition was ready to begin. The remaining cats were pushed out into the street, their territory blocked off from them. Sadly one day we found out Cloudy had been hit by a car and killed. It was really very sad. I became convinced we should take one or two for ourselves.

Sophia picked Mocha (one of my favorites too) and I selected Meowy. A risky selection since he got his name because he is so vocal. Each time we visited and left he would follow us to the edge of his territory meowing. Both were always friendly and liked to jump into our laps. When we got our gear - carriers, food, toys etc. and went to pick them up. Meowy, true to his name, made noise all the way down the street.

We got them home and parked them in our 3rd floor guest room. We also decided to change Meowy's name in an effort to see if that caused him to be less vocal. He became Twinkie. For the last part of our stint on Emerald Hill road the two cats got to know each other better by romping around in their spacious room. Unfortunately it was sleep depriving for us since they did much of their loud romping in the wee hours.

Now firmly ensconced in our new place, Mocha and Twinkie are in charge. While we mostly keep them out of the bedrooms (both Myrna and I are allergic but so far not too badly), they run the place.

I really like them both and can see their distinct personalities. Mocha, the girl, is very mellow and friendly. She likes to play by herself and cuddle up on anyone's lap. Twinkie, the boy, likes to run the show, push Mocha around at times, jump on the table or counter in search of a bite to eat and also remind of of his original name when it's almost feeding time.

My conclusion is that while they are not as loyal or devoted as dogs and can never replace our first pet/child Mitzvah, they are very loveable and are now an important part of our family. While he will probably not admit this in a group of Gimbels, Noah also has taken a liking to the cats and may miss them more then he misses us when he heads back to the US next month.

Lao Now!

Mr. Lao - Des Teso
A fleet of Tuk Tuks at the ready.
My shaky ride.
Nice quiet streets.
Not very commercial.

A quiet monastery.
Kids at play.
Nice Buddha
Doors and walls tell the story.
Golden repose.

Studying with the master.
Beautiful ironwork.
Mmmmm - hot soup.
No traffic jams here.
A market.

Local delicacies. Love the sticky rice!
Best fried frog skin....ever... (click on picture to enlarge).
Not the locals.
Beer Lao can't be beat.

That Dam (Black Stupa) is said to sit above the cave of a dormant seven headed dragon.

Approaching the Arch.
French with many Asian accents.
Entry to That Luang, the Golden Stupa.
The national symbol of Laos and the most religious site in the land.
Where Des is establishing himself as the number one singles player in the country.

From poor Kraft employee to wealthy ore baron.

By Tod Gimbel

I've been on the road a lot recently. The past few weeks I've been to Laos, Taiwan and Indonesia. Finally have a few minutes to do an update. I will debrief....

I had the opportunity to travel to Laos on a business mission in association with the annual meeting of the Director Generals of Customs of the ASEAN countries (basically all the countries of Souteast Asia http://www.aseansec.org/Bulletin-Jul-08.htm ). Of course I do spend much of my work life dealing with tariff and trade issues here in the region so I had a very legitimate reason to attend. I also wanted to add another country to my running visit list and link up with my friend and former colleague Des Teso who had just left Kraft to take a job with a mining company in Vientiane.

Laos, or the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country stuck between Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Cambodia and China. I notice that when a country has the word "Democratic" in it's name, it usually isn't. This is the case in Laos. It is ranked among the lowest counries on lists of personal freedom and economic conditions. Bombed heavily during the Vietnam War, Laos is known to most people over 40 in the US who have memries of the 60s and 70s.

Here are a few of the rankings:Organisation
Survey
Ranking
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal
Index of Economic Freedom
149 out of 157
Reporters Without Borders
Worldwide Press Freedom Index
156 out of 167
Transparency International
Corruption Perceptions Index
111 out of 163
United Nations Development Programme
Human Development Index
130 out of 177

So basically, its kind of a throwback communist country still waiting to break out and enjoy the growth that neighbors like Vietnam and Cambodia are enjoying.

Despite all this bad stuff, or maybe because of it, Laos is a very nice place to visit. The big city, Vientiane, isn't too big. My hotel, at 13 floors, is the tallest buiding in the country, there is no sign of Prada, Louis Vuiton, GAP, Fendi, Starbucks, McDonalds and all the other signs of sameness found in virtually every other place in the world. There are some very nice humble people, lovely old temples, colonial buildings from the French days, some really good food both local and international and prices that will make you smile.

I was only there for a few days but with Des as my guide I got to see the sights, taste the tastes, drink the good local brew and even meet few of the natives.

The Don Chan Palace Hotel http://www.donchanpalacelaopdr.com/(the skyscraper) is a 5 star (but more like 3) behemoth on the banks of the Mekon. It is big, relatively new but already old and empty feeling. The view of the river was nice. Lots of open space, cows and goats grazing, a few wooden boats floating by and the flickering lights and small building across the way in Thailand. Yes there was hot water, cable tv and even a balcony but I was a little afraid if I stood on it it might crumble and I would plummet 10 floors to an anonymous death.

They did have a very happening indoor/outdoor club where after 11PM the beautiful people and wannabes could drink Beer Lao and dance to the latest US, Thai and Lao hits.

A note about Beer Lao http://www.beer-lao.com/ . It seems every country in Souteast Asia has a really good local beer. Chang in Thailand, Tiger in Singapore, Bintang in Indonesia, San Miguel in the Philippines, Angkor in Cambodia, to name a few. Beer Lao is a very good one and appears to be one of the few big local compnaies in Laos. Hangover inducing but very easy to drink.

So night one Des took me to a very cosmopolitan restaurant/ pub right in the center of town called Khop Chai Deu. http://www.khopchaideu.com/ It's in an old colonial house and is kind of a modern day Rick's Place. Expats mingle with local drinking beer, playing pool, listening to music eating bar food with local and international tastes. One of Des' friends opened the place 10 years ago and it keeps growing and getting more popular. I just noted on the website that in addition to many daily specials, every night is insect night!

By day I attended meetings (a necessary evil of actually being there for work) but I also managed to walk around and look at some of the temples, shops, markets and peek into the daily life of the city.

Night two Des took me to a very local restaurant for dinner. We feasted on Tom Yam soup, Lao style, bbq beef tongue, crushed beef, fish, veggies and my new favorite dish - fried frog skin. Everything was tasty and spicey and the frog skins were delicious. We later stopped at a very local bar where there was a live band playing some great music. The beat was great, the musicians were good and everyone seemed to know the words and the special dance staps. Kind of like being at secret society where I wasnt in on the secret.

The next morning, on the 15 minute ride to the airport, Des showed me all the historic sites - an Arch de Triomphe type place donated by the French, the Golden Stupa, The President's house, the Legislative buiding and the Vientiane Tennis Club.

I would love to go back.