Trip 4 - Day 16

25th August

Another morning of waking alone which is still a little strange but so be it . I sort myself out tea and toast for breakfast and then set about hooking up the washing machine. This is a fairly straightforward task, so I then proceed to do a couple of loads of washing in order to save A the task later or tomorrow on her birthday.

It's really not difficult to load the machine, put powder in the tray that says 'detergent'; put softener in the hopper that says "softener dispener" and hit the 'Start' button. Machines here tend to provide a basic cold water wash. Why is it that machines in the West have become so over engineered and sophisticated? Does anyone really use anything more than one or two settings on their machine?

Forty five minutes later and the first load is done, so I grab the hangers and take the washing downstairs to hang out on the communal drying rails. This gets me a few comments as it's obviously not a thing that a man does in Thailand, but what the hell? It's something I can do that helps and it's a good use of time.

A returns home from work around 14:30 and rebukes me for having sorted the machine and having done the laundry, but it's not particularly forceful and I suspect that she's pleased that she doesn't have to do the job herself now.

She has a few hours sleep and in the evening says that she doesn't want to cook. That's no problem as we still have food in the fridge, so I have a couple of sandwiches whilst A just has a 'rice soup' with vegetables. We talk about the 'party' for tomorrow and I'm given a shopping list of booze and meat to get. A says that once she gets back from work she will go to the market to get vegetables as they are much cheaper and fresher, whereas meat in the supermarket is often cheaper than the market it seems.

She then gets a shout from 'lady #2' and she's off to go and have a chinwag (and no doubt something else to eat), I wonder about going into town to the party at Catz to see BM's Pieman & Volsfan, but don't really fancy going alone, so I call BM Casper UK to see what he's doing. Seems he's having a night off as well and is out and about taking photos rather than out boozing, so I decide to just stay where I am.

Next thing Wan (Casper UK's lady) is standing at the door to the room and she asks "where A?". I call downstairs, but the door is closed and they obviously cannot hear me, so as ridiculous as it seems, I telephone A (total distance from me to her is probably less than 10 feet!) and tell her Wan is here to see her. She comes up and the girls start chatting in Thai. Every so often I am asked a question about Casper UK and I find that I am reluctant to answer anything or divulge any information. It seems that Wan is concerned that he's seeing another lady on a regular basis and from what I can gather, she's been told that he's been seen with her on Walking Street tonight. I am asked to send him a text messgae from Wan's phone asking him to come home so that they can talk and I see no harm or danger in this, so I do as requested.

Next thing Pun (Cherry Bar and living at #16) arrives in the room and the three of them start chatting away and I do not answer any more questions directly. I do get told that the supposed new lady is "small like A" and I express my doubts that this really would be a long term assignation for Casper UK as his tastes have usually been for ladies with the 'fuller figure'.

Wan & Pun then leave and I am left bemused as to why Wan came to see A and what she thought that she could do. (Maybe it will make some sense later.)

I then just settle down with a bottle of beer and listen to some music whilst catching up with the boards and we have an early night.

Expenditure : 0 baht