(The following pages were recreated from notes that I took while I was on the trip.) Pictures Text This was my eighth trip to The Philippines and eleventh trip to Thailand. Some highlights and lowlights of the trip were (in no particular order) -- I nearly missed my first flight -- from San Diego to Los Angeles. If I had missed that flight, then I would have missed my flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo, and from Tokyo to Bangkok. And my American friend was going to meet me at the waiting area in Bangkok. I couldn't log into any of my financial accounts because they required verification via either calling or texting me. That would require the institution to make an international call or text, which wasn't going to happen. I tried using my United States-based SIM card. It didn't work. I tried every scenario of turning on and off Mobile Data and International Data. They didn't work. I will need to prepare differently for future trips overseas. I couldn't log into my Yahoo email account for the same reason. The exchange rate for the baht to dollar improved for the dollar. On January 23rd, it was around 29.5. On February 11th, it was around 31.5. I had a nagging cough for about five days. (Altogether, it lasted for about two weeks.) But I didn't have a fever. So I don't think that I have/had Corona virus. I got to eat my favorite Thai dish -- pahd prik kgae-aeng. I got an inflammation on my rear end that I self-surgered. Maybe it wasn't a good idea, but if you had experienced it, you would have understood why I did it. The Eurotel Hotel in Angeles City was bad ... in several ways. Getting an airplane boarding pass at Manila's international airport was difficult. You'll learn about it by reading the text about February 1st. I spent one afternoon and two nights with my British friend who lives in Buriram. I visited with one of my Thai friends in Buriram. I got to visit with one of my teaching colleagues at Rajabhat University in Buriram. He was also my golfing buddy. I finally partied with my American friend in Thailand ... and The Philippines. National/International Crisis There was another international crisis during my trip. (It had been several trips since I traveled during a crisis.) It was the Novel Coronavirus outbreak. It started in Wuhan, China in December, 2019 and spread throughout Asia. Up to February 7, 2020, tens of thousands (31,000) of people had caught it and hundreds (700) of people had died from it. I wonder how long it will last. Also, there was a national crisis during my trip. A member of the military went on a mass shooting spree in a mall -- Terminal 21 -- in Korat. He did it on February 9th, killing approximately 30 people. I was in the same mall, on the same floor, six days beforehand. As I have mentioned on other pages that I have created on my Web site, I discovered that my friends and family who use AOL's software are not able to access the pages if they contain pictures. With that in mind, I have created 2 set of pages here. One contains pictures and the other contains text. Sorry for the inconvenience.
This was my eighth trip to The Philippines and eleventh trip to Thailand. Some highlights and lowlights of the trip were (in no particular order) --
Also, there was a national crisis during my trip. A member of the military went on a mass shooting spree in a mall -- Terminal 21 -- in Korat. He did it on February 9th, killing approximately 30 people. I was in the same mall, on the same floor, six days beforehand.
As I have mentioned on other pages that I have created on my Web site, I discovered that my friends and family who use AOL's software are not able to access the pages if they contain pictures. With that in mind, I have created 2 set of pages here. One contains pictures and the other contains text. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Created: February 15, 2020 Created: March 17, 2020 Return to Picture Page. Return