My 27th Birthday June 28, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a comment
Tik and I had some friends over for my birthday. We didn’t really do much this year as we have both been pretty busy but having so many people over was great. Today was the first opportunity to meet Misma, a cool Finnish guy, and perversely the only male I’ve ever met (and stayed friendly with) via the internet. In all there were about 13 of us that night and it was great fun. This apartment is a perfect place to entertain people as we have all we need for a party in delivery distance.
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Our First Ebay Auction June 15, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Business , 1 comment so far
I’m getting a little concerned about the state of my current internet investments.
I think it’s now time to get out of the investment industry and to build another business.
Tik and I are keen to export products from Thailand - not an especially novel concept but one which I know we can expand and make some credible income from. With Tik’s great people skills and my internet experience we make a perfect time.
After a few setbacks we’ve added our first item to ebay today. The company we are representing seem very enthusiastic to work with us and I see a lot of potential for his scrap metal sculptures. The artist is efficient and I’m hoping that the lifesize Start Wars C-3PO we have advertised will give us an idea as to how popular his work might be.
Speech Recognit… Recognit… Recogmushroom June 15, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Computers , 1 comment so farI wasted an hour today installing ‘iListen’ on my computer. This was my first experience of voice recognition software and considering the technology is about 10 years old now and that computers have gotten much more powerful I was really excited to try it out.
After a pointless hour trying to get the damn program to correctly hear the words ‘The’ and ‘I’ I was informed that everything was configured perfectly.
Here’s my test …
Some More Thai Lessons with A June 11, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Education, Thailand , add a commentI had another lot of 10 x 3 hour Thai lessons with A this month.
The problem with studying so intensively is that I don’t get the opportunity to memorize everything. I was more interested in putting the time in and knowing that despite being overwhelmed with vocabulary I’d at least have the chance to practice having converstations a little more.
A taught me a lot of phrases I really need to learn. I was extremely proud of myself when visiting Suan Lum Night market on my own and being able to discuss exporting various products with the Thai traders. I’ve also taken a faulty headset to get repaired and had a long conversation only in Thai about the problems and solutions.
As Tik’s studying hard for her IELTS English examination we have been communicating entirely in Engliagh for a month so I’m glad to have the opportunity to refresh my Thai skills again.
Stupidly though I organized all the hundreds of necessary Thai phrases onto index cards, and lost them all. I just found them today, so there’ll be no more excuses. I’m determined to be at a strong enough level for our wedding (potentially April or August 2007) that i can charm all the Thai guests and present my wedding speech in both languages.
Tik’s Family Come to Stay June 9, 2006
Posted by Martin in : Thailand , add a comment
Tik’s mum and two sisters came to visit us for the weekend to take a holiday. Toon and Nong Mai have already stayed here before but it was the first time I hosted Tik’s mum. She is a fun lady, very contented to be in the company of her three self-sufficient daughters. We took them shopping, took them out for meals and on the Sunday we had a full day trip, meeting up with Toon’s boyfriend P’Nut at Ancient City, and following from there to Baan Saen.
I have been to the Ancient city twice before. It is a fun day out, where one can cycle (or in Tik’s case, drive a golf cart) around a scale model of Thailand, visiting model houses and temples. I enjoyed the cycling despite the intense heat, and ended up with my first case of sunburn in Thailand for years.
Baan Saen is the nearest beach to Bangkok, we didn’t spend too much time there although we enjoyed a lovely seafood meal before returning home. Â Despite my many Thai lessons, that weekend I really struggled to keep up with conversation so it’s time to get some more study practice.
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