Memo next, dinner at Ooys

Halloh, my friend Pang had her baby five months ago. Her doctor was afraid the baby would come too early and ordered her to stay in the hospital the last month of her pregnancy. She didn't much like that, but obeyed.
Mutual friend Ooy (in the purple shirt) organized a dinner party. Pangs husband is Aay is on the right. Pang is wearing a white blouse. Her sister in wearing a hat and pink sweater. Notice that most everyone is bundled up. In the evenings in C.M. the temp. drops to about 65 F.

Pang was going to name her son Gang Ho, which means mixed salad or mixed food. She decided on Pet, which means Diamond because her husband works with silver and stones in the jewelry industry.
For nearly a month now Thailand has been in chaos. The big joke among my farang (foreigner) friends is that someone (I don't know who) rated Thailand the 7th most dangerous country in the world to visit. As my ex Sue used to say, "Oh pahleeze!" For more than a week 160,000 tourists were stuck at the airport.
Until this week, a tourist could enter and stay in country for 28 days without buying a visa. After that you can leave and return for 28 more. In typical Thai govt. folly, it has decided that a tourist coming in by land will only get 15 days. To get 28, you have to fly in! Apparently,this is to encourage tourist to fly! The air industry is crippled. Few tourists even want to come here!
I will make my visa run to Laos tomorrow. I will take the two day slow boat down the Mekong river to Luang Prabang, then the bus to Vientienne and back into Thailand. I am flying to Taiwan to visit Annie on Jan. 2. In order to avoid buying a $60 visa, I have to stay out of country until Dec. 20. I am a cheapskate so I will spend that money visiting more of Laos then originally planned. I'll write when I find some internet.
Luvv, Duggg