I heart Pom

This is indicative of infrastructure in Thailand. The Seattle folks should thank their lucky stars they don't have this for a viaduct.

Of course it is also necessary to capture Franimal in his true element - a beer garden. I am developing a taste for the Singha but still find that Francis generally gets to finish my beer after I've had a few sips. Singha ain't no Chardonnay.

I included the ele-sculpture for our dear Erica. She is taking care of our ramshackle house, my beloved garden, and our loony-tunes cat.

We were feeling sheepish about continuing to take McFran on tour. Of course we want to be respectful of the culture and religion. But then you encounter a Donald Duck eating a plate of rice at a wat and it leaves you to wonder if McFran could possibly be offensive.

This little fellow to the left I have dubbed ponder monkey. He's from Lop Buri. Fran is a much better photog than I am. And he looks so sweet. Rest assured, though, he'd have zero qualms about snatching your purse in search of some goodies.

Your guess is a as good as mine. We encountered this art at a wat in Chiang Mai.

Now to explain Pom. We have found a divine Italian restaurant in Chiang Mai, Pom Pui. Homemade pasta, pizza margarita for $3, REAL napkins (mostly you get a roll of tp on the table) and the wine is aight.

Then Fran went looking for the other Pom. Pom tattooed Francis with the Monkey King about 7 years ago. We were heart broken when we came back this way in 2004 and could not find him anywhere. But as Fran loves to walk the streets in the heat of the day we found him again!

We'll be spending almost a week here - putting the Laos trip on hold a bit more. I'm having some tattoo work done, a traditional style koi to tie in the flowers on my back. Stay tuned for those pix!