The day started with a very nice family that stopped out in front. The father had his little boy and young girl on his motorcycle and his wife was on her own motorbike. What caught my attention was the little boy was holding a Kaen. A Kaen is a traditional Thai Isaan instrument. They are very difficult to master but almost every musical group in Isaan Thailand includes a Kaen player. They come in all different sizes and the larger ones can make lower sounds. You can see the photos below. I just posted a video of the Kaen for you under the video tab so you can hear this instrument. I have a Khaen I bought two years ago but I cannot play it other than a few crazy sounds.
Next I looked up and there was a full grown (I think) elephant standing in front of the restaurant. Ning and I each gave the owners 20 baht (about 70 cents) for a bundle of sugar cane slices so we could each feed the elephant.
Then Phai said lets go look at some people catch fish so I climbed on the motorcycle behind her and rode a short distance to where we watched three different people (one was Phai's sister) catch a bunch of very small fish. They gave Phai a baggy full and when we got back to the restaurant she cooked them up and ate them whole. We had to walk past a shelter with pigs on it to get to the section of our river they were fishing in so I took a few photos and video of the pigs also.
Meanwhile back home the house was being worked on by the electrician who is just finishing up now at 5:30 pm. We had three people finishing the cinder block walls and another woman putting the coating on the bathroom. The bathroom is now ready for us to call the guy to put the tile on the floor and walls. Phai said she has hired two additional people to coat the back room walls both inside and outside tomorrow.
Now that the electrician is done the company that will do the ceiling and our front doors said they will be here on Monday.
Wow, it is really moving fast now. I am finally feeling the stress leave my body and excitement replace it. I hope the doors and ceiling live up to my expectations. Then we will paint, Install the bathroom fixtures and finish hanging the bathroom door and door to the back room. After the ceiling is up the electrician will return to install the lights and ceiling fan.
I measured our furniture and discussed how we will arrange our bedroom. Phai made it clear that the foot of the bed cannot face the direction the sun rises or we will die in our sleep. I have had other Asian friends who follow Feng Shui and they are very particular regarding the arrangement of a house and furniture. Feng Shui originated in China and I had a Vietnamese friend in Virginia who hired a chinese feng shui expert to come to the house and plan the arrangement of everything in the house. Luckily, the placement of the bed is in keeping with Phai's asian beliefs and will work out just fine.