January 21, 2020
I went to bed at 12:30am, but I couldn't sleep and I woke up at 2:00am.   I don't know if I was nervous about waking
up to late to catch my flight from San Diego to Los Angeles, if I was excited about my trip to Thailand and The
Philippines, something else, or a combination of things.   Since I didn't need to leave for the airport for another three
hours, I caught up on things on my to-do list.

At about 5:00am, I summoned a Lyft ride.   The driver picked me up at around 5:10.   I choose a shared ride instead
of a private ride, so we picked up another person.   I asked the driver if we could stop of at a nearby ATM machine
so that I could get some money.   (I was going to go into a branch of one of my credit union the day before, but it was
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and all financial institutions were closed.)   He agreed and we did it.   Then, he got a
request from another person and we picked up him.   By the time that I got dropped off -- last -- at Lindbergh Field,
it was about 5:45.

I went to the United Airlines counter to check in my bag.   (I had pre-checked my bag was too big for the airplane
that was doing the 20-minute flight from San Diego to Los Angeles.)   The agent said that I had check it in too late
and that the bag would arrive in Los Angeles with the following flight.   (Uh-oh!)   I told him that I needed the bag to
arrive when I arrived because I had an international flight out of Los Angeles at 10:40am.   He thought about it for a
second and said that he would get the carriers to make sure that my bag was on my flight.

I proceeded to the security line.   I looked at the time and my flight was leaving in 35 minutes.   I asked one of the
United Airlines employees if I could go to the front of the line so that I could get through security faster and make my
flight.   She said that she couldn't leave her post and that my best chance was to ask customers in line if I could cut in
front of them.   I walked to the front of the line and asked people if I could do it.   Fortunately, one gentleman agreed
and instead of being the 50th person in line, I became the third person.   (But the couple in front of me were putting
approximately eight bags through the security scanner.)   I got through security, with a brief secondary pat down, and
made it to my flight's gate with two minutes to spare.

I showed the agent my ticket and she said that I had plenty of time before the plane was going to leave.   Great!   So, I
walked over to one of the seats in the lobby area and put on my pants belt.   (I didn't have enough time to do it earlier
since I was rushing to get to the gate on time.)   Then I thought "Plenty of time? I should have two minutes before
they close the doors."   I looked at the gate's screen and it said that the next flight was to Newark0 (New Jersey).
"Newark?!"   I looked at the screen on the adjacent gate and it read Los Angeles.   (And the time that I was supposed
to leave.)   So, the agent hadn't looked at my ticket closely enough and my flight's gate had been moved to the next
one.   I hustled to the next gate and got through the door with less than a minute to spare.   (Note: The agent had
difficulty scanning the ticket that I had printed out at my place.)

When I arrived in Los Angeles, I went to the baggage collection area.   I found the carousel that the bags were
supposed to be on and waited for my bag.   Approximately four bags wound their way along it.   I went to a United
Airlines baggage claim area person and asked him about it.   He suggested that I wait for another couple of minutes.
While I was waiting, another two customers did the same thing.   The employee stated that the luggage might be
jammed.   He slowly walked over to the front of the conveyor belt and confirmed it.   He slowly walked back to his
desk, told us that his guess was correct, and called someone to fix the problem.   Around three minutes later, bags
started coming out of the system and I got mine.

Since I was at the domestic terminal for United Airlines, I needed to go to the international terminal in order to catch
my flight from Los Angeles to Narita Airport in Tokyo.   (MY final flight was from Tokyo to Bangkok.)   I walked
outside, told an airport employee about it, and he said taht I could either do the 10-minute walk to the terminal or I
could catch an airport shuttle bus that circled the departure areas of the airport.   I found one of the shuttle buses
and got a ride to the international terminal.   I walked in, looked around, but I couldn't find a United Airlines sign.
I showed one of the Japanese-based airlines employees my ticket and asked him about it.   He said that I needed to
go to the ANA -- "All Nippon Airlines" -- counter.   "But this is a United Airlines flight."   He said that, in that case, I
needed to go to the United Airlines terminal to catch my flight.   "But I just came here from there."   "Sorry," was
his response.   So, I went outside to get another shuttle bus ride.   I quickly found one, but the driver indicated
through the bus' window that the bus was currently not in service.   (Uh-oh!)   So, I began the 10-minute walk back
to the terminal.   Halfway there, I found a different shuttle bus and got a ride to the terminal.

Since I had around a 3-1/2 hour layover between arriving into Los Angeles and leaving from it, I still had about 1-1/2
hours to go through security and get to the gate.   Fortunately, I had printed out all of my airlines tickets, so it wasn't
necessary for me to go through the ticket-printing process.   I got through security and got to my gate on time.
When I was going through the line to board the plane, the agent had difficulty scanning this second ticket that I had
printed out at my place.   (Note to self:   When printing airlines tickets, use either 'Normal' or 'High Quality', not
'Draft', when doing it.)   So, she asked for my passport book, scanned it in, and I was good to go.

Did you notice that I wrote "... I still had about 1-1/2 hours to go ..."?   The reason that it wasn't "... I still had about
two hours to go ..." was because the flight from San Diego to Los Angeles was 30 minutes late.   No one informed us
why, but it put some more pressure on me to get to through security and to the gate in Los Angeles.   I thought "Is
this going to be the end of the difficulties with this trip?"   Oh no, it wasn't going to be the end!

January 22nd
The flight to Tokyo took approximately 11-1/2 hours.   (That's why it was January 22nd instead of the 21st -- 11-1/2
hours flying and a 17-hour time zone difference.   I'll let you do the math.)   And it went smoothly.   As a matter of
fact, the captain made one of the smoothest landings that I had ever experienced.   I debarked the airplane and
walked approximately 15 minutes to my departing flight's gate.   When I arrived, one of the Japanese United Airlines
employees asked if she could help me.   I showed her my ticket and she said that I was so early that the people
boarding the plane at that time were on the previous flight.   ("Great, I'm TOO early.")   So, I took a seat in the
waiting area.   Around 30 minutes later, an announcement was broadcast on the airport's speaker system that our
flight had been delayed by 45 or 50 minutes.   (Naturally.)

About one hour later and with about 30 minutes left to begin boarding the airplane, we received another
announcement that our flight had been moved to another gate.   ("Are we having fun yet?")   So, I collected my
carry-on bag and laptop bag and walked to the gate.   Nothing went wrong from this point on.   (Right!)   After
having traveled for about 16 hours, I had to do everything that I could to avoid falling asleep.   (If I fall asleep, I
must miss the flight.)   I twisted this-way-and-that in my seat in order to stay awake.   (I asked myself if people were
wondering if I was doing exercises in my seat.)   Finally, we began boarding the airplane.   Guess what happened
when the agent try to scan the ticket that I printed out at my place?   You are correct.   So, they printed out a new
ticket for me AND scanned my passport into the system.   And that was that ... I was on the third and final airplane
of my trip.

I was supposed to arrive in Bangkok at 11:55pm, but since the flight from Tokyo was late, I arrived at Bangkok's
Suvarnabumi Airport at 12:50am.   That's about one hour late.   My American friend who was already in Thailand
had offered to greet me when I arrived.   (It's a 20-minute taxi ride from his place to the airport.)   So, he had to
wait an extra hour for my plane.   And imagine what would have been the situation if I had missed my flight from
San Diego to Los Angeles!   By the way, he correctly warned me three days before that he might lose access to his
email address.   And he had indeed lost it because I emailed him twice during the next two days and he didn't
respond.   (He always responds to email messages within one day.)   So if I had missed any of my flights and would
have delayed by 1/2 or one day, then it would have been "interesting" for him.   But I made all of my flights, barely,
he met me at the airport, perfectly, and I'm writing this story as I suffer from the effects of jet lag ... going to bed at
2:30am Thailand Time (9:30am Pacific Time) and waking up 1-1/2 hours later.

Flying Summary:   I flew from San Diego -- starting at 6:27am -- to Los Angeles, from Los Angeles -- starting at
10:40am -- to Tokyo, and from Tokyo -- starting at 6:35pm -- to Bangkok.   With layovers, it took approximately
25-1/2 hours.

Well, the sleeping pill might be kicking in now after 45 minutes.   "All's well that ends well.")   Wish me luck
during my return flights from Bangkok to Tokyo to Los Angeles to San Diego in three weeks.   So
many flights, so many chances for problems.   Among possible problems to avoid, I think that I'll print out my next
tickets using the 'High Quality' option.   What do you think?

Thailand
January 23rd
I woke up around 9:30, having slept another four hours.   After taking a shower and chatting with my friends, we
went out for breakfast.   (they usually don't eat meals in their condo.)   We went to the Terminal 21 mall and ate at
the food court.   Even though there are around 150 tables in the fifth floor area, they were all taken and it took us
about ten minutes to find one that we could share with a man sitting at one of the seats.

After finishing, we returned to Sukhumvit Road because I wanted to buy some things such as a SIM card for my
smart phone.   After crossing the Asoke Road intersection, we were walking down Sukhumvit Road when I/we saw
something that I hope to never see again.   A Thai man wearing business casual clothes was dragging another man,
presumably Thai because of the dark color of his skin, along the sidewalk.   The man being dragged was only
wearing boxer-type shorts and was unconscious.   I'm hoping that he was only passed out from overconsuming
liquor and that his condition wasn't more dire.

A couple of interesting things happened that day.   One was that my friend and I were walking along the overhead
bridge, going from Sukhumvit Road to Asoke Road.   We were just about to step onto the escalator to go down to
the street when we saw a maintenance worker at the bottom.   We waited for a few seconds because the escalator
wasn't working.   Then we began walking down it.   After three or four steps, the escalator started working.
Backwards!   Fortunately, we were both holding onto the handrail.   Otherwise, we might have been thrown
backwards onto the steps.   And there were a few other people who had the same experience.   Why didn't the
maintenance worker warn us?   Or why wasn't the escalator blocked off so that no one got onto it?   Who knows.
These types of things occasionally happen in Thailand.

After my friend and I survived the escalator event and arrived at the intersection of Sukhumvit Road and Asoke
Road, we waited for the pedestrian crosswalk signal to change to green for us.   (In case you've never seen the
intersection, Sukhumvit Road has three lanes going each direction and Asoke Road has six lanes going each
direction.)   While we were waiting, several people on the other side of Asoke Road illegally crossed to the
middle of the road while the walk signal was red.   Then, a man and a woman went for it across the remaining
six lanes, cutting right in front of cars that had starting crossing the lanes.   The cars waited for them to cross.
And the pedestrians were lucky because, in Bangkok, the cars sometimes don't wait.   When they reached our
side of the street, my friend yelled at them "Hey, you crossed the street illegally."   (Or something like that.)   The
man turned back to my friend and said something.   In turn, I yelled at him "kee-ote-sket-eh" which is "Be
careful" in Japanese.   I couldn't remember how to say it in Thai, so I said it in the only other Asian language that
I could remember.

Later that night, my friend and I went to some go-go bars.   While walking down a street, I bought two skewers of
chicken kebabs for dinner.   They were cold, hard, and the vendor shorted me 20 baht (75 cents) in change.
Fortunately, I counted the money, pointed it out to me, and he gave me the rest of the change.   (By the way, my
friend generously exchanged my dollars for his baht at the rate of 30-to-1.   The existing rate was between 29.0-to-1
and 29.5-to-1.   Plus, I didn't have to pay a commission fee at an exchange booth.   "I appreciate it, my friend.")   I
bought a drink for one woman.   When she asked me to buy another drink for her, I asked the waitress how much
the lady drinks cost.   She showed me the menu that she had chained around her neck and it read 280 baht.   (At
the time, the exchange rate was about 29 baht per dollar.)   "Well, that's quite expensive," so I told the woman that
I was sorry but I wasn't going to buy her another drink at that price.   Was that expensive, wait until you hear this
one.

My friend returned to his condominium and I went out by myself.   I went into another go-go bar and ended up
buying a woman a drink.   Like the woman in the other bar, she finished her drink and asked me for another one.
I asked the waitress how much the lady drinks cost, she showed me the menu that she had chained around her
neck, and it read 360 baht.   "Hey, are we in Las Vegas?"   Needless to say, I didn't buy the woman another drink.
Even though she asked me about five more times for another one.

I went to another bar with a different strategy.   You're correct -- I wasn't going to buy another more lady drinks.
I ended up buying a beer at the outside deck of a bar and spoke with one of the women who stand outside to entice
customers to go into the bar.   Her English skills were very good and we must have chatted for half an hour.   I told
her that I didn't have enough money to buy her a lady drink but that I would return the next night to buy her one.
(She had told me earlier that she works 27 days per month, so I guessed that she would be there the next night.)

Well, the fun wasn't over.   While I was walking down the street of my friend's condo, I was paying close attention
to my steps.   The reason was because it was VERY dark and the sidewalk was VERY uneven.   While walking, a
rat about eight inches long, including its tail, ran from the street across the sidewalk in front of me.   I did a little
jig to be able to increase the length of my stride and barely missed stepping on it.   And that was enough adventure
for one day and night in "The City of Angels."   Oh, and I couldn't get the elevator to work, so I had to wake up
my friend's girlfriend -- at 2:30 in the morning -- to help me get to their condo.

January 24th
Per my friend's sleeping schedule while overseas, we got going around 11:45 in the morning.   Like we did the
previous day, we went to the Terminal 21 mall and ate at the food court.   Afterwards, my friend and I went
shopping on Sukhumvit Road for a laser pointer that I wanted for astronomy.   One shop had one that was 18
inches long and was used to burning things such as wood.   He demonstrated it for us and the wood started burning
in about 15 seconds.   I said to my friend "I'll bet that they wouldn't let me take that on my flights from Bangkok to
San Diego."   The prices for the laser pointers differed by shop.   They started at 800 baht, 650 baht, and 450 baht;
I negotiated the lowest one down to 300 baht -- about $11.   That was around twice as expensive as the laser pointer
that I had bought seven years ago.

For dinner, I ate three skewers of chicken and three skewers of pork.   I love eating street food, although it is
unsanitary since there's usually one person doing the cooking and handling the money.   Afterwards, my friend, his
girlfriend, and I went swimming at the pool that night at their condo.   I finished earlier and went out while my
friend took the night off.   (He usually parties every other night.)

After partying, I walked back to my friend's condo.   I got lost and it took an extra 30 minutes or so to find it.   Do
you remember me mentioning that I had to skip over a rat during the previous night?   Well, tonight, four rats, not
just one rat, ran across my path while I was walking back to the condo.   But that wasn't the end of the night's
adventure.   I got lost walking back to the condo and it took an extra 30 minutes or so to get there.   Fortunately, I
was able to get the elevator to work.

This was my second and last day and night in Bangkok.   I had fun spending time with my friends, but as usual, I
couldn't wait to get out of that big city.   So, we went to another big city the next day -- Manila ...

The Philippines
January 25th
I planned on waking up at 7am, but I woke up at 5:30am. Like walking up early to leave San Diego, I don't know
if I was either nervous about waking up too late, excited about going to PI, or both.

After quickly eating something at my friend's condo, my friend, his girlfriend, and I took a taxi from the condo to
Don Mueang Airport.   When we arrived, there were about 15 cameras set up in the waiting area.   We guessed that
they were filming people related to the Corona virus.   We found my British friend.   Our flight was delayed by four
hours (Four hours!), so we (obviously) had a lot of time to kill prior to leaving.   So, my friend took me to a food
court where we ate breakfast.   Later, his girlfriend arrived and helped us to do something (I can't remember
what it was).

The flight from Bangkok to Manila went well.   We had slight difficulty finding a "correct" taxi to take us to the
hotel.   ("Correct" means one that is in the queue instead of one that overcharges for the ride.)   When we arrived
at the Royal Bellagio Hotel and checked in, the clerk stated how much money that we owed them for the room.
What? -- I thought that the rooms were already paid for via Priceline.   The clerk stated that the rooms were held
for us, at the discounted price that we locked in, but that the rooms weren't paid for.   So, I would need to check my
credit card records to make sure that my card didn't get charged for the rooms.

My friends and I partied that night.   One of my friends ended up partying alone with two women and he ended up
spending about 17,000 pesos.   (That's about $340 at the current exchange rate.)   Naturally, he didn't have that
much money with him.   So the women "escorted" him to an ATM machine where he withdrew the money in order
to pay them.

January 26th
My friends and I took a van ride from Makati to Angeles City and the Devera Hotel.   It remains a nice hotel, but it
has issues.   For example, the shower in my room drained very slowly.   I asked an employee about it and he said
that the reason was because my room was on the 7th floor.   ("Oh.")   Also, the toilet plugged up once.   An
employee who fixed it said that the reason was that I put heavy paper in it.   ("Is toilet paper considered heavy
paper.")   The actual reason was because I took a big "Number Two" because I hadn't taken one for the entire trip
until that day.   One other issue was that there were no seals between the bottoms of the room doors and the tile
floors.   As such, noise easily passes between the halls and the rooms and vice versa.   I fixed it by getting an extra
shower towel and placing it in the space ... along with using earplugs.

Note: If you ever stay at the hotel, try and get a room that is as far away as possible from the employees' storage
room.   They tend to be noisy, starting around 6 o'clock each morning.

I want to point out something about the timing of this trip.   You might have noticed that I arrived in Thailand on
January 23rd and then left on the 25th.   The primary reason for doing such a quick turnaround was that my
British friend's Thailand visa was going to expire on the 28th.   By leaving on the 25th, he could get the maximum
amount of time out of his visa without overstaying and having to pay a fine.   On the other hand, my American
friend had overstayed his 30-day visa by eight days on the 25th.   As such, he had to pay a fine of 4,000 baht --
$138.   Ouch!

Regarding partying that night, my American friend used his standard method of operation and didn't go out that
night.   So it was up to my British friend and me to party for both us and him.   And we did.   We had a great time,
skipping from one bar to another on Fields Avenue.   I don't know how many bars we visited, but I know that I had
a good time.

January 27th
This was one of those days where I didn't write down notes of what transpired.   I do know that we ate breakfast at
the restaurant next door to the restaurant -- Angel's Bakery.   We probably relaxed during the day, catching up on
the news on television about the Corona virus problem and other world and national events.   I recall mentioning to
my friends that I wanted to take them to the mall sometime while we were in Angeles City.   (It turned out that we
never made it there.)   So I guess that it was a typical night of partying, including my American friend who was
having his "day on."

January 28th
My British friend and I walked around and researched hotels to determine where we stay during the next two
nights.   My original plan was to leave the next two days open and then we could decide if we wanted to stay in
either Makati or Angeles City during them.   After checking out eight hotels, we ended choosing the one that was
next to the Devera Hotel -- Eurotel Hotel.   I pointed out that one of us needed to stay in the Devera Hotel so that
we could get the van ride for 3,000 pesos ($60) from Angeles City to Manila/Makati.   So my British friend stayed
there.   (And the plan worked.)   The only tricky part about this plan was making sure that we got together on time
on January 30th to return to Makati, since we were staying in different hotels.   But that shouldn't be a problem
since the hotels were next to each other.   However, staying in different hotels WOULD turn out to be a problem on
February 1st.   You'll find out why if you continue reading this "story."

January 29th
I woke up with an inflammation on my butt.   And it was very painful.   I decided to fix it myself.   I went to a
pharmacy and bought a syringe and anti-bacterial ointment.   When I returned to the hotel, I bought a book of
matches from the front desk to sterilize the syringe.   Later, I lanced the boil four times, it bled for a while, stopped,
and I put the ointment on it.   During the rest of the trip, the boil was much less painful, but it wasn't completely
fixed.   Also, it bled whenever it was rubbed.   And it stained both pairs of shorts that I wore.   (I didn't discover it
until a couple of days later.   How embarrassing!)   So, I would have to get a doctor to fix it when I return to the
United States.

One of my friends and I checked into the Eurotel Hotel.   Wow, the rooms are not "good"!   They are old, along
with the sheets and towels, and we had a few problems.   In particular, the security box in my friend's room didn't
work.   So he moved to a different room.   My room was the same price as his, but mine was much smaller.   So I
changed my room to his room.   The air conditioning worked well, but it blew air directly onto the beds.   And the
fins couldn't be moved or changed to rotate.   So my friend used his extra pillows to create a "wall" to shield the air
from hitting him while he was sleeping.   Last, either we couldn't connect to wireless network or could connect to
one of them but couldn't access some Web sites that had heavy graphics.   For example, Travelocity's Web site when
pushing down to particular hotels' images.

When we rode from Makati to Angeles City, we discussed several things during the lengthy trip.   My British friend
stated that he had read that there are many bars in an area at Perimeter Road.   The road was about a 10-minute
walk north, away from Fields Avenue.   The driver confirmed it and stated that we should check them out.   So
that's what we all did that afternoon.   Wow, there were SO many bars!   There between three and six bars spread
out over a large area ... not all grouped together as was the situation on Fields Avenue.   So that's how we spent our
afternoon and night.   It was a good discovery, so good that my British friend returned the next day.

My American friend an interesting observation when we were partying at the bars on/near Perimeter Road.   He
pointed out that the majority of the men in the larger bars were ex-military personnel from the Vietnam War.
And he was correct.   In those bars, it was obvious that these men lived in the area.   The reason was because they
were chatting and interacting with each other in ways that indicated that they'd either known each other for years
or that they had things in common besides just partying in the bars.   Also, in these types of bars were lots of
memorabilia, such as posters on walls, uniforms, etc. that were donated to the bars from Vietnam war veterans.
On the other hand, the majority of the men who were in the bars at and near Fields Avenue (Walking Street) were
Americans, who didn't appear to be ex-military, or Americans.

January 30th
I made reservations for the Royal Bellagio Hotel via Priceline.   At least I thought that I had made reservations.
You'll find out why when you read the January 31st entry.

One of my friends pointed out that the temperature in The Philippines felt about 15 or 20 degrees cooler that the
temperature in Bangkok.   He was correct.

Regarding accessing wireless networks at hotels, it was hit-and-miss.   That can get quite frustrating, especially
when trying to keep up on email messages and the news about issues such as the Corona virus.   And being unable
to connect to either a network or connecting but not being able to access some Web sites was the situation at
Eurotel Hotel.

I don't know if it was this day or a day soon thereafter that I realized that I didn't need to take Imodium-AD pills.
That was a requirement during previous trips to this part of the world.   Maybe my body had changed.   Maybe my
body had adapted after living in Thailand for one year and nine months.   Whatever was the reason, I was happy
about it.

January 31st
Are you ready for some more "fun"?   Here you go -- when my friend and I tried to check into the Royal Bellagio
Hotel, the employees couldn't find our reservations.   Fortunately, my friend took a photograph of my computer
screen with the reservation including the booking number.   The employees still couldn't find it.   Eventually, all of
us concluded that something went wrong between Priceline confirming the reservation and the hotel receiving the
reservation.   So, my friend and I sat in the lobby and made a new reservation.   I'll be contacting Priceline about
the issue/problem.

One interesting thing about the reservations at the Royal Bellagio is that the hotel rooms aren't paid for with my
credit card.   Instead, a room is simply reserved and it is necessary to pay for the room while checking in.   Also,
this particular hotel requires a 1,000 peso security deposit.   Per room.   Which we paid for.   In cash -- pesos.

Like the Eurotel Hotel, either we couldn't connect to wireless network or could connect to one of them but couldn't
access some Web sites that had heavy graphics.   That's why my friend couldn't make reservations at the Royal
Bellagio Hotel via Travelocity and I did it via Priceline.

If you ever stay at the hotel, ask for a room that isn't facing the street.   Even late at night, the drivers often
honk their horns while driving on it.   Once again, I love my earplugs.

Thailand
February 1st
Since my British friend was staying in a different hotel, during the previous afternoon, we made plans to meet in
front of the Royal Bellagio Hotel between 6am and 6:15am in order to take a taxi to the airport and fly to Bangkok.
My American friend and I checked out together and got to the sidewalk around 6:10.   A taxi driver saw us and
asked us if we wanted a ride.   We told him that we were waiting for a friend and that we would leave for the
airport when he arrived.   The driver asked us what time was our flight and we responded that it was at 9 o'clock.
He suggested that we don't wait too long since we needed to check in at least two hours before the flight ... in 50
minutes.   My friend and I decided to wait until 6:30.   We did and my friend hadn't arrived.   We decided that he
would need to "fend for himself" because we didn't want to possibly miss the flight along with him.   So we got in
the taxi and went to the airport.   By the way, I couldn't call him because none of us had purchased SIM cards
while we were in The Philippines.

My friend and I had a difficult time trying to check into the flight.   We went to a security check point and the
guard told us that we needed to get a boarding pass prior to passing through there.   We asked where we could get a
boarding pass, she told us, and we went to AirAsia's office.   When we arrived there, the employee informed us that
they don't provide boarding passes there and that we would have to go to the security check point to do it.   "We
just tried that and they said that we have to get a boarding pass from you."   So, we returned to the security check
point, actually a different entrance to get to the same destination.   The guard told us that we couldn't pass.   We
told him what we had gone through, he thought about it for a moment, and he let us pass through.   From there, we
got our boarding passes and continued to the next security check point.   (Yes, Manila's international airport has
two security check points.)   Lo and behold, standing in the line facing us was my British friend ... ready to go
through the security check point.   Obviously, he had gotten his own taxi to get to the airport.   Apparently, all of
the time that my American friend and I spent trying to get a boarding pass equaled my British friend's more
efficient method.

During the flight, I pointed out to my friend that the immigration area when arriving at Ninoy Aquino
International Airport in The Philippines is much improved compared to when I went through it about eight years
before this trip.   He stated that he heard that there were two international airports in Manila.   That was possible
since Thailand had two of them.   I asked the Filipina sitting across the aisle from me about it and she stated that
there was only one international airport in Manila.   So, I was correct that the immigration area at the airport was
much improved.

Great! -- the AirAsia flight from MNL to BKK ran out of arrival cards, so we would have to scurry to find some
forms at the airport and fill them out prior to going to the immigration line.

My British friend had difficulty getting through immigration because he had lived most of the past three years in
Thailand on a tourist visa, even though he legitimately left the country per the requirements of immigration.
Eventually, he got through immigration.   He called his girlfriend, she spoke with the agent, he spoke with his
girlfriend again, she informed him that he would have to bribe the agent in order to get through immigration, she
said that the agent wanted 3,000 baht (about $100), he took it out and handed it to her, she indicated that he needed
to put it in his passport, he did it, she took it, and he was on his way.   Wow!

My American friend returned to his condominium and my British friend and I took a taxi to a bus station.   We
took a 3-1/2 bus from Bangkok to Korat.   When we got there, my friend got his motorbike and gave me a ride to a
nearby hotel -- Sansabai House Hotel.   We asked for a room for me and the clerk said that they were full.   My
friend said that he wouldn't typically recommend it, but I could stay at the Tokyo Hotel next door.   I checked in,
went to the room, and quickly learned why he told me about not recommending it.   Obviously, this place was
previously a residence and it wasn't well maintained.   But no big deal since I was only staying there one night,
leaving for Buriram the next day.

My friend and I planned on meeting at my hotel later.   He was going to pick up his daughter from school and
return with her.   They arrived about one hour later and we went to a nearby bar -- Monkey Bar.   They rode on his
motorbike.   He asked me if I wanted to ride with them.   I told them that I would enjoy the walk, albeit only six
blocks long.   He said that he foresaw me getting lost.   Ha! Ha!   I met them at the bar and only had one drink with
him.   I had been fighting a cough for the past five days and decided to take it easy that night.   So, he returned to
his place with his daughter, I returned to my hotel, and I got a good night of sleep.

February 2nd
Note: Today is 02/02/2020 -- an interesting sequence of numbers for a date.

An interesting issue: Texting myself notes while in PI didn't work, but minutes were charged to my account.

I researched how much bus rides cost and how long they take between Bangkok, Pattaya, Korat, and Buriram.
The results were --  
1. Bangkok-Korat: ??? baht and 3-1/2 hours  
2. Korat-Pattaya: 350 baht and 6-1/2 hours  
3. Buriram-Korat: 120 baht and 2 hours