Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
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Yeah, Grammarly is useless if it can’t parse a sentence like that. Let’s break the sentence down.
It seems no matter how much you bring; it is never enough.
There’s an implied “that” that goes after the word “seems.” This makes “no matter how much you bring” a dependent clause, and “it is never enough” the main (independent) clause. When the dependent clause comes first, you have to use a comma.
If you do that again, I’ll kill you.
This is the rule to apply to the above situation. So your initial instinct about the comma was correct. You’re probably better off not listening to Grammarly.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/June/2023 @ 12:04 pm
It seems no matter how much you bring; it is never enough.
Spot the error! Grammarly didn’t warn you? Then Grammarly is useless.
Well, it sounds as though you’re settling back in. It’s nice to get out and about, but there’s also comfort in having a routine.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/June/2023 @ 6:15 pm
The ferry to Ko Lan launches from the Bali Hai pier
Bali Hai! Just like the song.
If you are feeling devilish
All roads lead to “Lucifer.”
And a look in the other direction
So many cities all over the world are doing that tacky thing in which the city’s name appears as a sign just to remind you of where you are. Unnecessary labeling—it reminds me of that Far Side cartoon.
A shrine of our times.
See the Buddha’s hand touching the earth?
He recently made the news by completing a one-thousand-kilometer walk from Pattaya to Phuket to raise money for a children’s charity he supports.
Hats off to him! That’s longer than the Camino de Santiago’s longest route.
…and up some steps
I bet that part made you feel right at home.
I saw some of these (whatever they are) along the way.
I think these are called “spirit houses” in English. They’re a native SE Asian thing that existed before the arrival of Buddhism. I don’t know the history of Buddhism in Thailand, but if it’s like everywhere else, then Buddhism probably incorporated spirit houses into itself. All big religions, when they cross borders, take on a local flavor. Spirit houses come in all shapes and sizes. They’re a bit animistic in nature. Shrines reminiscent of spirit houses can be found in East Asia.
the island generates more garbage than can be hauled away. So, I guess the locals don’t have much incentive for proper disposal.
That’s a damn shame. I saw much the same on Jeju-do.
And then heading back down to the beach
I bet that final downhill was a relief.
But by the look on my face, I seem to be having a grand ol’ time hanging out with Buddy Fucker and Slimy Limey.
That’s about as stupidly pickled as I’ve ever seen you.
I wonder if I peed my pants on the way home?
At a guess, you’d smell that.
Well, thanks for the final-day pictures. That looks to have been a gorgeous walk. I’m glad you had a good time while there, with only a minimum of breathing issues. Vietnam, here we come!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/June/2023 @ 6:04 pm
It’s good that you were able to recover your post. As for errors, you can always go back in and edit as needed. I do that all the time because I’m always catching errors in my prose. It’s a “take pride in your work” thing.
Maybe your original ride to the airport was operating on “Thailand time.” Well, too bad for him. You snooze, you lose.
re: monastery
That first shot shows a common Buddhist symbol: the 8-spoked Wheel of the Dharma. Each spoke represents a part of the 8-fold Path: right views, right intentions, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. The next photo of the Buddha statue shows the moment the Buddha touched the earth to call the world to testify to his enlightenment. The earth shook in response, and the legions of hell, which had been trying to distract the Buddha from becoming the Buddha, fled in terror. You’ll see lots of one-hand-touching-earth statues of the Buddha all over Asia now that you know what to look for.
I look forward to that final Thailand post. Welcome back! Good luck as you reestablish yourself and get back into your regular routines.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/June/2023 @ 5:53 pm
Well, it was all quite an adventure. I look forward to the Hash pictures and to a return to Filipino internet connectivity. I hope someone was able to repair your phone. See you back in the PI!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/June/2023 @ 1:19 pm
Forgot to congratulate you on surviving your rub-and-tug without breathing issues. Not exactly the kind of data point I’d prefer to focus on, but this problem was mentioned in the past, so it’s a point of reference.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/June/2023 @ 2:27 am
Good luck with today’s Hash!
Meantime, thanks for all the pics.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/June/2023 @ 12:56 pm
re: Virgin, Rooftop Pattaya
Unlock your soul… follow your heart… it’s all very spiritual. But humorously so since Buddhists technically don’t believe in souls (although you’ll hear many folkloric Buddhists use soul- or spirit-language).
That’s what I had. Dave and Jo’s meal came with ice cream.
Well, at least your meal came with the all-important crinkle-cut fries.
This is a crappy picture of the sign on the men’s room door
I was curious to see the Cyrillic for “penis” is basically a one-to-one transliteration of “penis” (пенис, literally p-e-n-i-s). The French, at the very bottom, is all wrong: “petits pénis” is using the masculine plural for the adjective, so it’s saying “little penises,” and the “grande pénis” is bizarrely using a feminine form of the adjective for “big,” which makes no sense. The two phrases should be “petit pénis” and “grand pénis.” The Chinese says, “small yang stem” and “large yang stem,” where “yang stem” means “dick.” (That’s yang, the masculine principle, as in “yin and yang.”
Reassuring to see Western languages being butchered outside of China, Japan, and Korea.
Oh, yeah:
The advertisement outside the elevator
Look closely at that sign, and you’ll see the cursive “Rooftop” has three “O”s.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/June/2023 @ 6:50 pm
It must be Thai because they used ham instead of bacon.
Aigo, so culinarily timid. Feel the slaps of a thousand ajummas.
I admit I make a lot of Western food when I cook at home because, frankly, I get the Western-food jones myself, and Korean food is so readily available, so there’s no reason to crave it or miss it. But I also have a roster of go-to Korean places that I like, and on occasion, I’ll experiment and try something new (although, admittedly, those experiments often end in regret 2 out of 3 times).
But I’m talking about what I do as a resident of Korea. For the same reason, I (almost) never rag your ass about all the Western food you eat in Barrio Barretto: that place is your home, and when you’re home, you should do what’s comfortable. When you travel, though, it seems kind of sad not to try the local stuff and get a really good impression of the cuisine.
However, I gather that cuisine is not your top priority when you travel: it’s more likely bars, and maybe walking routes, too. In fact, it almost seems as if the thought of local cuisine is, for you, almost unpleasant, as if you were so culinarily conservative that only Amurrican food will do. Is it a trust thing? Are you worried about food poisoning despite having spent so much of your life overseas?
I’m not saying you need to be eating rats, scorpions, calf brains, and centipedes on sticks (I wouldn’t eat those, either), but it would warm the cockles of my heart to see you get at least a little adventurous while you’re abroad.
Then again… maybe I have no room to talk. If someone insisted that I should go rock climbing or parasailing while abroad, I’d likely say “Fuck that. You go. I’ll stick to walking.” So I have my limits, too.
OK, I’ll stop hassling you about food from now on. I’ve bothered you enough. Food is something I’m into, and I’m imposing my values on you. This is your trip, so enjoy. Visit that slut bar. You know you want to.
I decided on the chicken and broccoli.
Insert thumbs-up icon here. I guess my above rant was for nothing.
re: doc’s appointment
At least you got confirmation about your nasal issues. Will you consider surgery in the States, or does that require insurance that you don’t have? Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
re: bar district
Is it weird to see familiar bar names echoed in a totally different town?
It is not stocked with hotties like these, though.
Girls in skimpy, pleated skirts seem to be an almost pancultural thing. Outside of Muslim countries, I mean.
shame on me for not speaking any Thai
You’re only a tourist, so no one should language-shame you for that. I’ll get after you about not learning more Korean after years in country, but who can fault you for not knowing the local language when you’re only visiting?
Is “Repent” seriously the name of a bar there? We have Christians with bullhorns here in Korea, as you know, warning citizens of the dangers of hell and the solace of coming to Christ.
I found myself on Soi 7, and it was full of wide-open spaces-type beer bars. That’s more to my liking, and maybe I’ll get a chance to swing by there again when the bars are open.
I’ll be interested in what you have to say about Soi 7 now that you have a point of comparison with Soi 6.
re: “pissoir”
Pissoir is a French term for—you guessed it—the pisser.
we are going to try the place on the roof of my hotel called Virgin.
Is that the place with all the awesome-looking Italian food? I would violate my own eat-local ethos and go nuts ordering a ton of Italian dishes there. Appetizer, main, salad, dessert.
re: pullout couch
I watch a YouTube channel called The Detail Geek, featuring a Canadian dude who details cars. He often gets scruffy-looking cars with seats covered in unpleasant-looking mystery stains, but he always manages to make those seats look like new. He’d make short work of that couch, I’m sure.
What are you learning about the history of Pattaya? Who are the locally famous people honored by statues, fountains, or named buildings? What famous conflicts took place there? Where’s City Hall, and what do the local temples look like? Are you up late enough to do a long stroll through a big night market? What subcultures leap out at you? How safe do you feel? (I get the impression it’s pretty safe.) What are some crucial Thai phrases for tourists?
Anyway, thanks as always for the photo essay.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 15/June/2023 @ 7:44 pm
I had some severe breathing issues that left me feeling light-headed.
How polluted is the air over there? From what I can see, Pattaya has a small population, so it seems to be a relatively small town, i.e., there shouldn’t be much air pollution. I’m just wondering.
You are never far from a pot stand.
I’ve gotten so used to South Korea’s straitlaced attitude toward drugs that these photos are frankly amazing. With the marijuana-leaf logos being so out there, this isn’t even a subculture: it’s in-your-face culture. Do you see a lot of strung-out Thais on the street? If not, why might that be? They have the good taste to keep it indoors?
that pork dish came right off the Thai menu. I enjoyed it, too!
Congratulations.
That’s me nearly every frickin’ night.
I can almost make out the word “Kevin” in that green sign. And I love the napping dog that’s kind of in the background.
Looks to have been a nice stroll, all in all. Good luck with the docs. I hope you get those lungs under control.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/June/2023 @ 5:41 pm
I’d say “Thai One On-on” is close enough that “Thai One On” would come off as unoriginal. That said, I’m sure there are still many awful Thai puns to be made. Just don’t Thai too hard to find them.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/June/2023 @ 4:56 pm
We should actually get as many of the cringey “Thai” puns out of our system as we can.
Bad Thai
Bad Thai-ming
The Thais that Bind
Hit Me, Baby, One More Thai’m
Thai Cobb
I’m ReThai’erd, So Phuket
Thai-tanic
Neck Thai
Thai Hard
Thai Chee
Live and Let Thai
Thai Me Up, Thai Me DownYou’ve already used “Thai one on,” right?
Anyway, there’s a partial list. You’re welcome.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/June/2023 @ 3:51 am
Flat… like a greener version of Texas, and probably just as humid as the Houston area.
All in all, this looks to have been quite a nice adventure. Good to know your lungs held up, too.
Any more Hashes while you’re there, or will it be solo adventures from here on in?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/June/2023 @ 8:46 pm
Tons of street food if you look up “street food in Pattaya” on YouTube. Happy hunting!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/June/2023 @ 1:40 pm
the hassle my friend Dave’s girl went through at immigration
I must have missed that you were not going to Thailand alone. I’ll have to reread your previous posts to see where I went wrong. Anyway, I’m sorry to hear your friend’s girlfriend(?) went through all that nonsense.
160 Bhat[,] which equates to $4.60
So that’s very roughly a 30:1 ratio. (Google says 34.67 as of today.)
Glad to read that the breathing seems to be fine. Good luck with today’s Hash. Activity like that is probably a good way to get into the rhythm of a place.
I hope you try harder to eat Thai food, including yo’ breffus in the mohnin’. You can’t be the sad Korean who beelines to Koreatown, afraid to leave his bubble! I totally understand jonesing for Western food—I do it, too—but you’re here to explore. That said, the menu showing all those “traditional Thai dishes” (ha) did look pretty good. I wonder how expensive such foreign food is in Thailand. In Korea, as you know, you pay a pretty penny.
Happy Hashing!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/June/2023 @ 3:26 pm
May your week-long adventure be wheeze- and gasp-free.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 11/June/2023 @ 4:08 pm
He told me the tables in front of the dance floor will be removed and replaced with couch seating.
Yikes. I hope he covers the couches in plastic, what with all the drunkenly sloshing beer, possible vomit, and probable bodies lying inert (and quietly drooling/pissing/leaking diarrhea) after whatever event is over. I don’t see this going well. Because people are assholes.
Oh, and Ashley was dancing with The Green Room team, and I fed her lady drinks as well—another SOBsidy.
So in a sense, you are somebody’s ATM. Several somebodies’.
I spent the morning getting all my paperwork in order for my upcoming trip.
I hope you have a good trip. I don’t know how frequently you’ll be blogging from Thailand (are you OK with blogging via your phone? Do you do that regularly in the PI?), but here’s hoping you slap up at least a captioned photo a day. Of local food.
re: spell disaster
The word disaster‘s roots break down to “bad star” (dis + aster). May your trip in no way be star-crossed.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/June/2023 @ 5:56 pm
“What’s in the box?” sounds like a reference to the movie Se7en.
Why I keep going back to have my nose rubbed into the fact that I’m nothing to her is a whole other level of stupid. Maybe I’ve finally got the message.
I think Koreans have it right: when you break up with someone, just cut them out of your life. Americans love to do this “my exes and I are friends now” nonsense, which often turns out to be a lie. With that much history and baggage, it’s better just to move on. Why Americans keep creeping back to the poisoned well, I’ll never understand. It’s a great example of what’s called attachment in Buddhism. Let—it—go.
re: breathing
So much for my theories.
re: photo of my address
Any way you can blur or mosaic out my address? Thanks. If not, I guess it’s not a huge deal.
Scott is a Navy vet. Steve is an Aussie.
This is funny for some reason.
Count your blessings?
She’s got long arms.
Looks to have been a great walk on a beautiful day.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/June/2023 @ 7:56 pm
re: clause
Close enough. But what distinguishes a dependent clause from an independent one?
Admittedly, clauses are a bit nettlesome because there are so many ways to classify them. Maybe after I finish my final post on commas, I’ll do a series on clauses. The basic classification that I’ve hammered on is dependent vs. independent, but you’ve also got noun clauses, adjective clauses, adverb clauses, relative clauses, restrictive clauses, nonrestrictive clauses, infinitive clauses, etc. It’s a mess, and for purposes of teaching better writing, I prefer to concentrate on just dependent/independent clauses because that’s where most people go wrong.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/June/2023 @ 3:11 pm
re: samgyupsal
Without a doubt, there are places that spell it that way, but it’s not the official Korean government’s romanization. The problem with the “u” in “gyup” is that “u,” when used in this unofficial way, can represent either the “ooh” sound or the “uh” sound.
Lee Sun-hee (“uh”)
Admiral Yi Sun-shin (“ooh”)So people can use the “u” if they want, but they’re assuming that the reader is going to fall back on the phonetics of American English. What if the reader isn’t American? Sure, you can argue that it’s not obvious how to pronounce “eo,” but at least it’s part of an official phonetic system. And in that system, “u” is only ever “ooh.”
What does “mahout” mean in this context? It can’t mean an elephant driver.
re: comma splice
Did you use Grammarly to help you figure out that error? Your suddenly fluent use of terminology like “independent clause” makes me suspicious! I’ve repeatedly asked you what a clause is, and you’ve never given an answer.
re: oxygen tank
When you said “oxygen tank,” I thought you meant one of those tiny ones that can fit inside a lunch pail. Even if the airlines did allow you to take that on the plane, I can understand not wanting to lug that monster around with you all over Thailand.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/June/2023 @ 8:19 am
I just wrote you a long comment and ended up accidentally deleting it because I’m an idiot.
#8: This one is going up fast, construction just started a couple of months ago.
Spot the error!
Anyway, the walk looked good, as did the food (did you partake)?
Another commenter suggested deep breathing as a way to oxygenate your blood; I’m guessing that your walk required effort, which made you breathe more deeply, hence the better pulse-ox at the end. When you’re in Thailand, try walking around a lot, assuming the air quality is good.
Did you see all that shit about Canadian wildfires, and how that’s affecting the US east coast? Scary pics coming out of that part of the US. I’m worried for my brothers and my best buddy Mike.
Here’s what I’ve been doing since I last posted here at LTG:
You need to stop giving oxygen to your dogs. If you’re trying to make them float, you need helium. Which will also make them bark funny.
“Samgyupsal” is better than “samgyapsal,” at least. Ahem.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/June/2023 @ 4:59 pm
Well, I hope you don’t go all the way to Thailand just to eat pork chops and hamburgers. We’ve got Koreans who do something like that: they’ll travel to a foreign country, then make a beeline for the local Koreatown to eat Korean food. Kind of sad, really. What’s the point of going abroad if not to explore?
87 is also not good. I hope you’re gonna be okay during this trip. Just be careful. Are you allowed to take that oxygen tank with you?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/June/2023 @ 8:13 am
OK, so now, I’m fixated on that pulse-ox number: 83. Jesus Christ. Please take whatever medical equipment is necessary (and allowable) on your trip to Thailand. And maybe, upon arrival in Thailand, figure out where the nearby clinics and hospitals are and how to tell a cabbie you need to go to one should there be an emergency. It sucks to have to make such preparations, but you really can’t afford to have an episode in a relatively unfamiliar country without some sort of plan in place.
Aside from all that dark talk, good luck with your trip-related red tape, and here’s to no more episodes before you jet off to the land of Theravada Buddhism. Be sure to eat a lot of cheap, awesome street food once you’re there. I hear about that all the time from travelers I know.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/June/2023 @ 7:20 pm
Drain Snake writes:
I would also spread it around to cohorts. She should be the one made to feel uncomfortable, not you. Nothing like the specter of an enforced debt to keep an erstwhile “friend” away. Just a suggestion.
I totally agree.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/June/2023 @ 6:03 am
Seems almost as if Rose didn’t even bother denying her initial theft. And then there’s the Hash-beer thing… is she a klepto or something? At the very least, she’s bad news. Are you saying she participated in the Hash despite not having paid, or did some mysterious benefactor pay for her?
Here’s hoping that Thailand can provide some respite from all the drama. You’re off in a few days, yes? I hope you see your docs about your lungs before then.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/June/2023 @ 5:00 pm
Sounds like an interesting series. I’ll stick it on my ever-lengthening Netflix queue. I chuckled at your remark about always seeing LA on a clear day.
It’s sad that you didn’t like Dennis Haysbert as God more. I love Dennis Haysbert. He played President David Palmer on “24” until they shockingly killed off his character in Season 5. Haysbert himself joked he was the “first black president” before Obama.
Playing God is difficult because, as a character, God arguably works better when he’s in the background. Look at the difference between the New Testament and the Old: in the Old Testament (OT), God is front and center, a huge and loud mover of events, constantly interacting with his people. In the New Testament, by contrast, you don’t get much of that because the focus is primarily on Jesus (does Jesus get a mention in the series?). There’s the “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” moment at Jesus’ baptism, but aside from that, you don’t get much OT-style God. And I’d say that that’s for the better.
What it means for dramatic actors playing the role of God is that the role should be understated, with God being seen more through hints, implications, and innuendos. This is how the series Battlestar Galactica handled God: evidence of his existence was to be found in the turn of real-world circumstances, not through the appearance of a glowing being or divine hand.
Does Dennis Haysbert’s God ever bust out a loud miracle?
Anyway, I appreciate the series review; it sounds as though it’s worth watching. I have a few other series I want to binge first, but I’ll definitely get around to this one. Thanks again.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/June/2023 @ 4:25 pm
Okay, well, rales or rhonchi, please get your lungs checked. This is double-plus ungood.
As for Joy saying you’re the most important person in her life… color me skeptical. If she really thought that way, I think you and she would have a radically different relationship. Do you two text a lot or have lots of deep and personal conversations? I suspect not, which is why you were taken aback when she wrote what she wrote. If she really thought of you That Way, she’d be angling to enter into some kind of partnership with you. I’ve seen no sign of that happening. What you have now is an unequal relationship fueled by money.
Anyway… lungs, dude.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/June/2023 @ 6:33 am
Guess I’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time. “Rales” is pronounced “ralz” (rhymes with “pals”) or “rahlz” (rhymes with “balls”).
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/June/2023 @ 3:50 pm
If your lungs are doing that funky wheeze, especially if it sounds a bit like crackling or rattling, they might be infected. That symptom—and your docs will appreciate your knowing the terminology—is called rales (pronounced “rails”). It specifically refers to crackling/rattling, not just generic wheezing. Do see the docs right away and tell them “I think I had rales in the morning”—and, if possible, for how long (if that’s what this is, I mean). While you’re at it, you might ask the docs for a COVID PCR test, just to be sure, since the condition is primarily lung-related. I’m guessing the chances of COVID are low, but it pays to check. You can also just buy a home test and use that. I did that back in March and tested negative twice.
If the lungs are mucus-y, a steaming shower can possibly help; it performs a nebulizer-like function. A good temporary remedy.
re: the women in your life
Hey, what happened to avoiding drama?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/June/2023 @ 2:06 pm
«« Back To Stats PageI’m a bad writer these days. To clarify: I understand that “in-doctor-nated” is supposed to make you think of “indoctrinated.” But I guess the pun fell flat for me because no indoctrination occurs in your post. You’re out with doctors, yes, but I guess I was looking for that further wrinkle that makes a pun truly meaningful.
Famous example:
Ruth and Johnny, Side by side,
went out for an auto ride.
They hit a bump. Ruth hit a tree,
and John kept going—
Ruthlessly.Some versions have the couple on a motorcycle.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 04/June/2023 @ 7:07 pm