Mary and I have both been extremely busy with work and Mary with grad school the last few weeks, so our lives haven't been all that exciting (unless you think conference calls are exciting).
A few interesting news tidbits from Bangkok.
1. Bruno Mars was recently here for a concert. I wouldn't have even known this except for a picture that went viral on social media of him purchasing a pirated copy of his own CD in a popular tourist area. The pirated music dealer has since been arrested, probably mostly due to embarrassing Thailand rather than for selling illegal copies of CD's.
2. Not many people know this, but Bangkok was heavily bombed during World War II by the allied forces. It's not uncommon for construction projects to uncover un-exploded bombs from this era. A number of bombs turned up this week. One was sold to a local scrap yard. Workers proceeded to try and cut up the relic with a torch, not realizing it was still a live 500 pound bomb. The result was 9 dead and much of a neighborhood leveled. There was also a 750 pound bomb found in the pond of an industrial estate this week.
Thailand's largest holiday, Songkran, is just around the corner and Mary's is off from school for the next week and a half. I'm taking some vacation and in a few hours we will be on our way to Australia! We're going to see Melbourne, Sydney, and spend 5 days exploring beaches and national parks in a rented camper van. We're not sure what our internet situation will be, but we hope to be able to provide a few updates along the way.
A few interesting news tidbits from Bangkok.
1. Bruno Mars was recently here for a concert. I wouldn't have even known this except for a picture that went viral on social media of him purchasing a pirated copy of his own CD in a popular tourist area. The pirated music dealer has since been arrested, probably mostly due to embarrassing Thailand rather than for selling illegal copies of CD's.
2. Not many people know this, but Bangkok was heavily bombed during World War II by the allied forces. It's not uncommon for construction projects to uncover un-exploded bombs from this era. A number of bombs turned up this week. One was sold to a local scrap yard. Workers proceeded to try and cut up the relic with a torch, not realizing it was still a live 500 pound bomb. The result was 9 dead and much of a neighborhood leveled. There was also a 750 pound bomb found in the pond of an industrial estate this week.
Thailand's largest holiday, Songkran, is just around the corner and Mary's is off from school for the next week and a half. I'm taking some vacation and in a few hours we will be on our way to Australia! We're going to see Melbourne, Sydney, and spend 5 days exploring beaches and national parks in a rented camper van. We're not sure what our internet situation will be, but we hope to be able to provide a few updates along the way.
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