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by Jay Patterson
Whatever you can do
or dream you can, begin it!
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
GoetheHenry David Thoreau said most people live ‘lives of quiet desperation.’ How many people do you know who have said ‘I wish I had done this,’ or ‘I always wanted to’. Most people have dreams of travel and adventure, but very few make them reality. Excuses for not taking the first step into discovery.
The Pattaya Mail talked to Marko Bartholomew who took that step when in his teens and began a life which is not ‘an’ adventure, but a constantly evolving process of discovery.
Marko’s travels have taken him to many continents, as he follows the thread of commonality which connects all human cultures.
The answer, which many of us wonder about, but few actively seek, is ‘Where did it all begin?’
For Marco, this quest is his life.
Though he may never find the answer, it is the search for the knowledge leading to it which is important.
The CBS Television Network in the United States has approached Marko, wishing to make a serial documentary on his life. Marco is also discussing a feature film about his quest with several major film studios.
His life is like a Buddhist wheel.
No ‘Eureka, I have found it!’, but rather a constantly turning cycle of knowledge-giving experiences, like the unrolling of an ancient scroll.
PM: This question may be banal. When did your ‘real life’ begin?
MB: I became fascinated with Asia while in university. I was lucky enough to have a class with Carlos Castaneda. He taught us about Shamanism and the "dream." The ‘Dream’ is the major tenet of Shamanism.
I also studied Buddhism with a Chinese professor. It was from him I learned that the Himalayas were the last area on earth where true Shamanism was practiced. Bhutan, totally isolated, was the world center of Shamanism.
PM: Is it your belief that Shamanistic ‘Dream Time’ and waking time are equally real?
MB: Yes, it is. There is a saying which is my credo; "That we come to earth to live is not so; we come here to sleep, we come to dream."
PM: Did you act on the attraction you had for Asia?
MB: Only through study, at first. But by then, the Viêt-Nam war was at its height. I was very disillusioned with the ‘flag waving’ among many people in the US. I did not want to be sent to Asia and be expected to kill Buddhist people. My Buddhism professor taught us that Viêt-Nam, Laos and Cambodia were devout Buddhist countries. I wanted to live among these people, not kill them.
PM: What then?
MB: The US instituted the ‘Draft Lottery.’ It was like a ‘Roulette of Death’. If you were unfortunate enough to receive a low number, it was almost certain you would be drafted. It was then I decided to leave the United States.
PM: So you just left?
MB: It’s amazing, but I received a scholarship to study a the University of Lund in Sweden. This was a productive and constructive way to give up the US.
PM: What was your time in Sweden like?
MB: Very enlightening. The Swedish were very anti Viêt-Nam war. Instead of the jingoistic, flag waving news I had seen on American television, the Swedish ‘Six O’clock News’ would show atrocities committed by western soldiers. One saw US soldiers acting like animals, shooting innocent villagers and kicking bodies around. This was the catalyst that made me decide to give up the western world. From my studies and reading I felt the Himalayas would be the farthest from the western world I could get.
PM: How did you begin such a radical life change?
MB: It was mystical. I had a great interest in Bhutan. Shortly after my decision was made, I picked up a National Geographic magazine. The cover story was about Bhutan. It looked like ‘Shangri-La’ from ‘Lost Horizon’. I had to go there.
PM: Did you just go?
MB: It took time. First, I went back to the US to get my affairs in order. I felt I needed experience. France was my first stop after leaving the US. I spent a year there learning the language, art and culture. I designed jewelry. After my year in France, I boarded the Orient Express Train.
PM: Did you go directly to Bhutan?
MB: Not directly. I felt I needed to learn and experience many parts of Asia. I spent time in different countries. I also bought stones, such as Lapis-Lazuli in Afghanistan, Persian turquoise and other gems to set in my jewelry. During my stays in the various countries, I learned about their cultures and was able to get distance from my ‘blind to the world’ American attitude. I finally arrived in Nepal.
PM: You didn’t go directly to Bhutan?
MB: No, that was not possible. I asked a Nepali merchant about Bhutan. ‘That country’s closed,’ he told me. The most obvious question was ‘Why?’ ‘Bhutan has never been open to foreigners in its history,’ he said. ‘There’s also a Thunder Dragon which protects the country from trespassers and evil spirits.’ I wasn’t sure whether I fell into one or both of those categories.
PM: Did you get in to Bhutan?
MB: No, I lived in Darjeeling. There were two ways to enter Bhutan; legally or illegally. The westerners living in Darjeeling were mostly ‘middle-class’ families involved in the illegal sales of antiques and religious artifacts. I felt that way of living was dangerous, destructive and disrespectful.
PM: You couldn’t enter Bhutan so you just waited?
MB: Yes. What else could I do? I had studied Asian art and languages and decided to put these to use. I supported myself by designing and selling jewelry. The day that changed my life was in the spring of 1975. I had traveled to the remote border town of Kalimpong. A cloth merchant showed me into the back of his storage room, and pulled some cloth from the top-most shelf. This weaving had the most splendid color and intricacy; it was totally unique. He said this was the royal family of Bhutan’s traditional ceremonial dress, a kushutara. I was fascinated and mesmerized by their beauty. With that kushutara, my quest began. People wanted watches and gold chains from Thailand rather than money. Almost all the money from my jewelry sales went into buying these. I acquired all my Bhutanese textiles through barter.
PM: How long did you do this?
MB: After a time, I made a trip to Europe and Canada. Museums and fabric experts were astounded. Their attitude was a puzzled, ‘Why haven’t we seen this before?’
PM: Museums really didn’t know about Bhutan textiles?
MB: The curator of the Museum of Textiles in Toronto found that there were no published books on Bhutanese textile art, at all! The six major museums in North America contained only 15 examples of Bhutanese textiles.
PM: Were the museums interested?
MB: Very. During my brief stay in Toronto, Max Allen, the Curator of the Toronto Museum, spent a great deal of time instructing me how to study textiles. He provided me a list of questions to ask the weavers. He also had a very anthropological as well as technical viewpoint.
PM: What impressed the experts most?
MB: That the textiles were absolutely unique. No other culture employed even similar techniques.
PM: Which technique impressed them most?
MB: A brocade called timah. Most experts said that it had to be embroidered, as weaving of that type was impossible. After three hours of peering at the cloth, three experts in California admitted that the Bhutanese had done something considered impossible by other cultures.
PM: It must have been gratifying, showing experts something they thought impossible.
MB: They told me only one other culture produced brocade which approached being as beautiful and intricate: the Mayans of Meso-America.
PM: I somehow feel that you made a detour on your trip to Bhutan...
(continued next week)
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Employ the physically handicapped
The Redemptorist Centre Vocational School held its annual graduation ceremony on December 4th, with 123 graduates in the one and two year vocational programs offered by the school.
The school offers academic subjects as well, but encourages students to choose vocations so they may support themselves in today’s non-academic, hi-technology world. This may seem like a contradiction but it seems that technology is breeding a glut of information while at the same time blocking the acquisition of knowledge.
The school is known among the physically challenged throughout Thailand and is considered the best school for those with special needs. The school was founded by Father Raymond Brennan in 1984. At this time, father Patrick Morrisey is the Principle of the School.
Over 100 of the graduates already have jobs with various companies and retail stores. But a group of physically challenged students are still without jobs. Without the use of their legs, access to and exit from places of work is very difficult.
Ms. Sirirat Tanseanthong is 20 years old. She is one of the students denied a chance to support herself due to being confined to her wheelchair. Sirirat contracted polio at age 4 and was only able to complete the mandatory 6 years of school. Without the kindness of family and neighbours, who helped her to and from school in her home province of Lampang, she would not have gone that far.
Sirirat talked about her life at home. She is one of five children. Her eyes glow when she talks about the love and encouragement given her by her parents, sisters and brothers.
Sirirat said that her friends were always kind to her and her teachers helpful. The one thing she is thankful for is that no one pitied her. She was teased by her friends, but never about her polio. Sirirat says her teachers were very kind and strict with her, telling her that she always must do her best.
The saddest part of school life was when the school bell signalled it was time for physical education class. Sirirat could not run and jump with her friends.
She said she always told herself that she had to fight any feelings of depression and self-pity. This became a problem when she had to leave school after sixth grade. As is true in the life of most country families, the oldest daughter is the one who sacrifices. She had to ‘watch the house’, as her parents were in the field all day. This included seeing that her younger brothers and sisters were fed and looked after when they came home from school.
Sirirat says she never resented helping her family but was depressed that while at home, she could not move around in a free fashion. She did this for 7 years.
One day a relative brought home a brochure from the Department of Social Welfare which had information about the vocational programs for the physically challenged in Chonburi province.
Sirirat was determined to come and study at the Redemptorist School and was overjoyed when she passed the entrance exam in electronic science.
Sirirat said the happiest day of her life was when she went to the Social Welfare office in Lampang to hear the results of the entrance exams. She couldn’t believe it when her name came booming out of the speakers.
She and her family celebrated and she prepared herself for the journey to Chonburi. Her first time away from home, she had heard horrible stories about Pattaya.
Once she moved into the dormitory with her classmates, she no longer felt ‘different’ and began to adjust. This strengthened her resolve to do her best in he courses.
The year which she thought would be so long has passed all too quickly. Not only did she receive her vocational certificate, but also a 9th year school diploma. Sirirat was determined to complete 9th grade and did it in one year with fierce persistence.
Sirirat’s hopes have not been fully realised yet as she and 10 of her friends have no jobs. Employers use the excuse that being paraplegic would cause ‘difficulties.’
Sirirat would like to work in Pattaya, as there are more job opportunities than in Lampang.
Sirirat’s speciality is Computer Programs for Offices. This includes retail outlets and other businesses.
Anyone who would needs a truly qualified and responsible employee would do well to consider Sirirat for the job.
Sirirat may be contacted at the Redemptorist Centre Vocational School, Pattaya, Chonburi. The telephone number is (038) 716-247-9. The Fax number is (038) 420-340.
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Merry Christmas!
’Tis the season to be jolly! Ho, ho, ho, and all that!
Traditionally at this time of good cheer, we tend to think especially of family. It’s a time of family reunions, giving and receiving presents, renewing acquaintance with friends and family in distant lands who send us Christmas cards even though we may not hear from them the rest of the year.
It’s appropriate therefore that ‘Family Money’ this week looks at planning for the family.
Now in case you are wondering if I’m going to talk about timing babies or the ticklish subject of contraception - nothing so mundane, let me assure you.
Planning for the family to me means ensuring they will continue to enjoy the lifestyle that I would wish for them, even if circumstances were to change radically.
How could this come about? Many ways.
At this time of year more alcohol than normal is consumed by more people, who then wend (or wind) their way home (or elsewhere for more sanuk), all too often using their own means of transport - cars snaking down the middle of the road, the drivers totally oblivious to what’s happening around them (although that is a daily phenomenon, not just at Christmas time), motorcycles weaving in and out of traffic at 80 kph with a whole party on board, only the headlight working, and the mirrors strategically positioned so the driver can see the pretty girls sitting behind him but never mind the other vehicles on the road - and there you are, totally sober of course, just as one of these maniacs appears out of nowhere. Newton tells us that the force of the collision is proportional to the squared velocity, which can mean a tangled mass of metal and a mangled mess of you.
What happens to your family? Are they properly provided for? Do they know where your insurance policies are and how to go about encashing them? Is your estate in order and your will up to date? Does your family have someone they can go to for help with processing all the paperwork that will be required before they can touch any of the proceeds? And give them professional advice on how best to reinvest that money to provide for their future?
Now, at this special time of year for the family, is not an inappropriate moment to give due consideration to these points. If you care about and love your family (which of course you do!), don’t you owe it to them to ensure these matters are addressed while you’re still there to take care of them? It could be the best Christmas present you ever gave them...
Other circumstances, not quite so morbid as the ‘worst-case’ scenario above, may arise.
What if you were only injured by the meandering motorcyclist? How are the hospital bills going to be paid? For sure the motorcyclist doesn’t have any money to pay them, and he probably doesn’t have insurance to cover them either. And anyway, it was your fault for being in his way, wasn’t it, you silly farang? A stay in hospital these days can cost you hundreds of thousands of baht, and you may also suffer loss of income if you’re unable to work. What effect will that have on the family budget? What provision have you made for that eventuality?
Another good Christmas present for your family is called for, methinks...
Another circumstance which recently happened to a client of mine could maybe happen to you (although I hope not!): he was told his employment was being terminated at the end of this year, and under the terms of his short-term contract, he would receive no redundancy or separation pay.
Fortunately, we had put aside a cash reserve in accessible hard-currency money funds which were growing at wholesale rates of interest, so he could call upon this ‘cash cushion’ to tide him and his family over until he finds other employment. Have you made similar provision for such an eventuality?
If not, I would suggest this could be another Christmas present for the family that is worth considering.
I sincerely hope I haven’t spoiled your festive mood with these examples of what sound family planning means to me, but if you give them some thought and do something to address them, you will be giving your family a more long-lasting Christmas present than the usual ones, and one for which they will thank you throughout the rest of their lives.
A Joyous Festive Season to all our readers, and a Prosperous New Year.
If you have any comments or queries on this article, or about other topics concerning investment matters, write, fax or e-mail Leslie Wright, c/o Family Money, Pattaya Mail, or e-mail him directly at [email protected]. Further details and back articles can be accessed on his website on www.westminsterthailand.com.
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Party survival tips
by Laura Zubrod, Registered Dietician
Food is one of the pleasures of parties, holiday festivities, and other social gatherings. Just because you are trying to eat healthful does not mean you need to avoid celebrations or accept a few extra party pounds. All foods, even traditional holiday treats, can fit into a healthy eating plan. The secret is moderation and balance.
Avoid going to a party hungry. Have a small, low-fat snack such as a glass of tomato juice, a small bowl of soup, or half a sandwich. Arriving at the party hungry makes it easier to overeat.
Don’t fast before big meals. This will only cause your blood sugar levels to drop and you will want to eat even more for an energy boost. Instead, try eating small portions of low-fat foods throughout the day.
If you are bringing a dish, make it healthy. That way, you’ll know there is something healthful you can munch on. Perhaps bring raw vegetables with a low-fat yogurt dip or a platter of fresh fruit.
Once you arrive at the party, have a virgin Bloody Mary or a glass of soda water mixed with fruit juice. Hold off on the hors d’oeuvres and champagne for a while and focus on greeting people. The longer you put off eating and drinking alcohol, the less time you will have to overindulge.
Examine every food option before choosing your first bite. This way you will be able to make the healthiest choices.
Use a plate instead of standing at the buffet table. Fill ¾ of your plate with fresh vegetables and fruit and save the remaining ¼ of your plate for anything you want.
Make just one trip to the buffet table. Be selective and choose only the foods you really want. Keep portions small, often just a taste satisfies a craving or curiosity.
Don’t feel like you need to try everything or that you need to clean your plate.
Move your socializing away from the buffet table. Conversations take your attention away from food and unconscious nibbling becomes too easy.
Focus on the people at the party rather than on the food and drinks. Ask yourself what’s really important. Seeing friends? Having a good time?
Bar Check
Parties, dinners, and social outings usually include alcoholic beverages. But be aware of alcohol at these events. Each gram of alcohol packs a whopping 9 calories. Remember carbohydrates and protein have 4 calories per gram and fat has 7. Drinking tends to make people less concerned about sticking to their nutrition plans. The calories in alcohol plus those from high-calorie party foods can add up fast. Try alternating each alcoholic beverage with a nonalcoholic drink such as fruit juice or water. Soda water with a twist of lime looks like an alcoholic drink, nobody will know what your are really drinking. This strategy also helps combat the dehydrating affects of alcohol that can aggravate the symptoms of a hangover.
Drink Calories
Beer, 12 oz 150
Bloody Mary, 5 oz 115
Bloody Mary, virgin, 5 oz 35
Champagne, 6 oz 135
Diet soda 0
Eggnog, 1 cup 340
Gin & Tonic, 7.5 oz 170
Irish coffee, 8 oz. 287
Margarita, 4.5 oz 195
Martini, 2.5 oz 156
Soda water (club soda) 0
Spritzer (3 oz wine,
soda water) 60
Wine, red or white, 6 oz 135
Wine cooler, 12 oz 215It pays to keep in mind where the calories in popular drinks are and aren’t. See how much you’ll save every time you choose a spritzer instead of a glass of wine.
Party foods and alcohol can fit into a healthy diet. That means learning to make some trade-offs so you will be able enjoy social gatherings and still abide by your nutritional plans.
Readers may write Laura care of the Pattaya Mail with questions or special topics they would like to see addressed.
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Delaney's Pattaya - Community Aspirations
There are several new theme restaurants opening in Pattaya this holiday season, but the latest one hopes to change more than just the drinking pattern in the beach resort town.
Delaney’s Irish Pub Pattaya, due for a soft opening in mid December, aims to become a community center by offering a comfortable place for community meetings, social gatherings, board games, reading, and the regular unwinding activities of a traditional Irish pub.
The large one-level restaurant replete with ‘Delaney’s Green’ punch-stitched leather seating will provide a venue for comfort, and can accommodate up to 140 diners. The bar itself seats 42 persons. Authentic Irish bric-a-brac, artifacts, antiques, and an Irish home-grown restaurant manager "work to make this as homely a place as Pattaya is wont to see," remarks Delaney’s Director of Development ‘Micky’ Doherty, an Irishman himself. "There’s a 40 foot container load from Ireland on its way."
The interior has been acoustically approved to facilitate the homely feel, and Delaney’s music policy will ensure a place to talk. "We have good live music but not so loud as to disturb conversation. People come here to enjoy themselves and their friends - and that means chatting without having to shout."
John O’Farrell, the General Manager from Bangkok, will oversee the day to day activities for the Pattaya establishment, and will take over as General Manager when the pub opens.
In addition to the social activities, Delaney’s Pattaya will offer the only Draft Guinness at the beach, and barmen will be trained in the art of the double pour for the ‘black stuff’ as Guinness is affectionately called.
Located off busy Second Road, at ground level within the Royal Garden Plaza complex, Delaney’s has ample parking, and large signage will direct patrons to find their way inside.
Delaney’s Pattaya is the second Delaney’s Irish Pub to open in Thailand, the Bangkok branch having opened its doors in November 1995 to enthusiastic crowds, and continues to be packed with regulars. There’s a number of investors hoping Delaney’s Pattaya will also have the ‘luck of the Irish’.
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Presented by Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital
Proper Nutrition Improves Memory
Many people complain how they often forget little things, and wonder how to deal with this problem.
Most of us begin to have small memory lapses when we reach the age of 40.
There are ways to prevent and solve memory loss. One is regular meditation. Some people give themselves ‘memory refresher’ exercises, such as writing lists of items and articles.
The best way to keep one’s memory functioning is the simplest; proper nutrition.
In the age of globalisation, all of us are rushed. Everything must be done at once. This often leads to improper eating habits.
Fast food is one particularly pernicious culprit. Loaded with carbohydrates and sodium, it merely fills one up while providing a minimum amount of nourishment.
Some of the nutrients conducive to a good memory are:
Choline: One of 3 nutrients able to pass through the blood brain barrier and directly enter brain cells. Foods rich in Choline are crisp, green lettuce, green vegetables, bananas, corn, tart fruits, meat and milk. Choline deficiency is characterized by melancholia, depression, forgetfulness and lack of concentration.
Lecithin: Activates Choline in the brain and is instrumental in keeping the central nervous system functioning properly. Lecithin also prevents anxiety. Proper amounts of lecithin prevent brain shrinkage in the elderly.
Soybeans, whole wheat, liver, beef, peanuts and corn are rich in Lecithin. One hundred grams of any of these foods will provide the daily requirement of Lecithin.
Manganese: Is another mineral essential for cerebral, nervous and muscle tissue health. Manganese is found in seafood, liver, egg yolk, whole wheat, and other foods.
Zinc: Essential for building cells throughout the body, Zinc is absolutely necessary for proper brain function. It slows the degeneration of brain cells, which is a major cause of memory loss.
Foods rich in Zinc are beef, pork, chicken, liver, dairy products, sunflower seeds, green vegetables, apples, and pears.
Another nutrient essential to a good memory is a protein, Glutamin. This protein has even been helpful in improving the IQs of children.
Glutamin helps prevent weakness and depression. It also increases sexual drive. Emotional disturbances are also helped by proper amounts of Glutamin in the diet.
If you are having trouble remembering or are over 40 years old, consider carefully whether you are getting enough of these nutrients in your daily diet.
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A culinary excursion with Ambrosia
His real name is Henry J. Bean, but all his friends call him Hank. For the past few weeks he has also been well-known in Pattaya’s Society. Or hasn’t he?
As soon as my friends and I entered Henry J. Beans on the beach front of the Amari Orchid Resort, our first question was: "Where is Hank?" Pierre-Andre Pelletier, the General Manager of the hotel who joined us for dinner, just shrugged his shoulders and told us: "You know how busy he is. He just left 5 minutes ago for Bangkok." Once again we had missed him.
The restaurant Henry J. Bean’s is typically American. Light wood panels, a huge bar, huge portions and friendly service. Every hour the staff drops everything, stops working and starts to dance. Waiters and waitresses in their cute uniforms, bartenders, cooks and kitchen helpers, and sometimes even the manager - all join in to make a show for the customers. There’s no live music at Henry J. Beans, but the tapes they play are all good.
Except every third Thursday of the month when another live band performs, and surely all the customers are marking this day red in their calendars.
After a lot of chatting and asking questions (my friends who joined me were journalists from Germany), and after the waitress tied a baby’s bib around our neck, we started to order. All of us had non-alcoholic cocktails with names like "Sunshine State", "Apple Breeze" and "Ray of Sunshine".
American’s love Mexican food - it’s no wonder one can find a lot on Hank’s menu. As starters we took "Mexican Potato Skin", filled with cheese. To describe it, one word is enough: Heavenly! We also tried "Voodoo Wings", spicy chicken wings in a very good cheese sauce. And we had a mixed seafood platter, since "Hank went Fishing". Crispy, yet still soft, and the portion was large.
The friendly waitress brought us, typical for Americans, a big bottle of ketchup. While she tried to place it on the table, she stumbled and spilled the red sauce all over my friend Hadrian. He was shocked, she was shocked, at least that’s what we thought, until she started laughing. It was only a trick-bottle and my friend didn’t have to change his trousers.
Hadrian, the photographer amongst us, chose a "Tuna Pasta Salad" as his main dish. He believes he has to loose some weight. Seeing the huge portion, he gave up his dream of slimming down. I had no time to try it, since he wolfed it down in no time. But according to the speed he ate it, I suppose it must have been very good.
His wife Nico, text-editor of one of the biggest magazines in Germany, had "Blackened Chicken Fajita". She was kind enough to let me taste it and for sure I am going to eat it next time.
Pierre had a "Bacon Cheeseburger", again very big and prepared with imported beef (not from England, though!). I chose a "Rack of BBQ Ribs". Luckily I took only half the portion, even this was almost too big. The ribs were perfectly grilled, very juicy and the sauce exactly how it should be.
Executive Chef of the Amari Orchid, Samuel Lehmann also takes care of Hank’s kitchen, with the help of a few Thai cooks. Pierre Pelletier told us that in all Henry J. Bean restaurants all over the world the preparation of the food is exactly the same. He also told us about the training the whole staff got. 5 people from London came for five weeks to give the staff an intensive training. This is one of Hank’s rules and he is proved right by insisting it.
Anyhow, the food is very good and the atmosphere couldn’t be better. The prices at Hank’s are not too cheap, all is plus, plus, but to enjoy a nice evening out, its one of the best places in Pattaya.
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