Sport Day Parade Outfits 2011 Isaan Thailand.

The other week I was so lucky to witness another sport day parade here in Isaan Thailand and below are just some of the pictures taken.




















Brunty.

Judges in a World of Their Own.

I am going to rant, a quick and short one.

Judges! So many of them seem to live on another planet, their judgments are a joke. They don’t seem to be part of reality.

One judge Clive Wall, QC, who actually handed down a sentence that seemed to be fair (I thought a little lenient) has had his judgment deemed `patently manifestly excessive' by a halfwit, no common sense off the planet judge going by the name of Justice Debra Mullins.

District Court judge Clive Wall, QC, sentenced a piece of crap known as Ronald Anthony Neilson to an 8 year prison term (4 years for each crime to be served cumulatively) but eligible for parole after 4 years. (I thought this was too generous.)

Two groups of people walking through an area and apparently Neilson’s group started hassling some females in the other group. A fight broke out.

Neilson’s crime was he gets a metal bar from a shopping trolley and hits his first victim in the face. The victim had his skull fractured in three places and now carries ten permanent metal plates.

Neilson then knocks another victim to the ground and hits him in the chest and hand and robbed him of his wallet and mobile phone.

He claimed two of his friends committed the crimes but not him but was found guilty of grievous bodily harm and armed robbery in company with personal violence.

His legal team appealed the sentence was too harsh for someone Neilson’s age being 17 at the time of the crime. This is where Neanderthal Mullins comes in. She said, the sentence was “patently manifestly excessive", ruling that Neilson's age and lack of criminal history were significant mitigating factors. (Unbelievable)

She ruled the four year sentences instead be served concurrently, and that Neilson's parole eligibility date be brought forward two years to May 2013.

I hope Justice Debra Mullins that someone very close to you is a victim of violence, such as this case and that a judge rules a sentence and it is appealed and then the appeals judge says it was “patently manifestly excessive".

Brunty

Benjawan and Her Self Portraits, Isaan Thailand.

I was getting ready to upload some pictures and came across below. When I was out and Benjawan was obviously bored as she decided to take some self portraits.

I have found videos of her, where she has recorded herself singing English songs and been tempted to upload them to my Youtube account but thought better of it as it could cost some skin and blood.

So if you have not heard from me after 3 or so months Ben has seen I posted these pictures and decided to kill me. But I doubt she will object too much. Maybe a funny look and a slap and that will be it.




Brunty.

Beautiful Thai Girls and Christmas in Isaan Thailand.

I had complained the other day about my decorations and lights going missing, but my star for the top of the tree returned as did the reindeers. But that was it and I could not be bothered asking about all the other things.

Nong Ja, she isn’t into wearing girlie clothes but we bought her a nice dress from the Thai cartoon movie Khan Kluay and she happily wore it to the temple for Father’s Day the other weekend.


Ja couldn’t help but pose.

This is First, he is looked after by his grandparents and often comes over for a visit and to play with Ja. They get along well despite a big age difference. Often gives me a break as well.



Ja was in a picture mood and she had asked me to take pictures of her, and then she dragged Benjawan into them as well. After each picture she would cast her eye over the viewfinder and give her approval.

Then it was Miss Noot’s turn. She objected at first as she has a small problem with acne at the moment and said she wasn’t beautiful. But Ja is very persistent and eventually Noot had a couple of pictures taken.

I was then told I must Photoshop any of them I put onto the blog, so I did as I was told. A quick clean up and I was given the green light to use the picture.

One thing that caught Ja’s attention were the three small boxes I had wrapped and placed under the tree. A million questions and also telling me to open them were also made. But Ja has accepted they cannot be opened until the 25th. I am sure she doesn’t understand any of this.

They are just boxes with stuff jammed in them. I am not worried about Ja, but the other two larger monkeys in the house. One year they opened and then wrapped their presents back up thinking I wouldn’t notice.

So the countdown to Christmas is on in Isaan Thailand.

Brunty

P.S. Sorry about the heading as it is just a shameless grab for more hits. And that will happen for sure :)

Christmas in Isaan Thailand and a Qantas 380.

Well not a lot to report as we run into Christmas. I do have a funny story to do with Christmas but to that in a minute.

There has been a festival going on across from our house all week on the road near Big C Shopping Centre. We have been across a couple of times to browse amongst the clothes and other bits and pieces on offer.

At these festivals there are always games where you can win fluffy toys or dolls and countless other things. I will often have a go on pop the balloons as I usually go alright. It used to be 20 baht for 7 darts and pop 7 balloons to win a prize. Now it is 20 baht for 3 darts, the odds are much better right? Well not really as they glue extra plastic onto the feather area and the darts don’t fly real well.

Anyway, I had a go and the first time didn’t even pop a balloon and was going to give up, Ja insisted I try again. First dart popped two balloons and the next another and we were winners. Ja had her eye on the prize and it wasn’t a fluffy toy but a large airplane.

We got home and I put it together and that was when I realized it was a Qantas Airbus 380. I laughed and thought what were the chances of that. It had the Qantas kangaroo logo and even the “Spirit of Australia” catch phrase.

Ja had also chosen a Santa doll as a prize, she is a lot more switched on now at three and a half. The year difference has made a big difference. She takes everything in and the questions keep coming non stop about everything she sees or hears.


Ja with her new toy of the moment.

Another thing I have noticed is how much Ja retains that you tell her. She still cannot tell all the alphabet letters apart by looking at them but she can sing the song and she can relate many letters to pictures already. A for apple and so forth. Same as her Thai, she cannot read the Thai yet but knows all the pictures and can tell you each one and sings this song with Noot and Ben that reminds the kids of each symbol.

Here is the funny story or frustrating for me that I mentioned before. I am looking forward to Christmas just because Ja is so aware and been excited since seeing the tree in Big C and Santa and all the decorations. So on the 1st of December Noot had gone to pick up Ja from school and I had planned to pull the tree down and get the decorations out and we could decorate the tree together, great idea right?

So the tree came down and then I scoured for the plain white box that keeps all the decorations and bundles of lights. Couldn’t see it anywhere. There are some very large boxes on top of the clothes wardrobes so I thought Noot must have put them into one of these two boxes.

I get the first one down and pull everything out, nothing. That goes back up and the other one comes down and that also comes up empty. Okay I thought, Noot has put the box somewhere else. I look in our room, Ben’s room and then scour the spare room again, nothing. Check under the bench in the kitchen but nothing. Look inside the wardrobes but again nothing.

Noot arrives home and I asked her if she knew where the box was and she of course replied, “on top of the wardrobe!” and I politely let her know this wasn’t the case and she of course trusted me and then made me pull the two large boxes down, even though I said I had been through them thoroughly. She searched the rooms and then came to the same conclusion as me, the box was gone.

While all this was going on, Ja was asking a million questions and then Ben arrived home from univeristy.

“Ben, have you seen the white box with the decorations and lights?” I asked.

“Yes, I took it to the village for New Years Eve last year.” She replied.

I might have turned a little red, maybe. I had already told them before they don’t leave the house but Thai people never listen or just think “mai pen rai” (never mind).

Then Ben came out with this. “You go and buy new ones!”

Now I am sure I was red. I mean there were 6 years of collections in the box. Heaps of decorations and six sets of lights.

I could have driven the 20klms out to the village and then tried to find the box and if everything was still together, but I knew the girls were going their tonight (Sunday) as tomorrow they are off to the temple for Father’s Day.

I told them I wanted the box returned on the Monday with them and especially the large star that goes on top of the tree as I cannot find a replacement. This was met with looks of, “what is the problem, just buy some more, don’t worry about it, take it easy, and I am a pain in the ass foreigner.”

Anyway, so Ja and I went across to Big C and bought new Christmas stuff, and we will see what comes back tomorrow.


Ja was very happy to help Noot with the tree.

One thing about new decorations meant that Ja got to open some packages.


The tree quickly took shape and Ja was more than keen to help.

On Friday Ja came home from school and told me I had to take a picture of her and the tree.

And again today. We were off to Big C to run the gauntlet of Sunday shopping. It means the centre is full of barn nawk (hillbilly villagers) and I dread going but we had a few things to do and wanted to kill some time. (P.S. It was dreadful, absolutely jam packed with clans and out of control kids). Ja loves Ben 10, Power Rangers. She used to watch a bit of Power Rangers but hardly ever Ben 10 but insists she wears when we venture out. We have tried girlie clothes and dresses but they get rejected.

This is our neighbour’s dog Café. He was bought for the youngest daughter as a present from her boyfriend. She now spends most of her time away from the house and her mum and dad don’t really look after him. I bath him, and we give him leftovers. He is a lovely dog, incredibly stupid but we like him. Ja was having her toast and she offered some to Café and he was more than happy to accept.

That is about all that has been going on of late. Looking forward to Christmas with my little girl.

Brunty