…………..in that new  suit!  Of course that’s Jim I’m talking about and I’m not sure exactly what brought that about.    It might have  been due to the many salesman that approach you on the street when you’re just strolling by …….. or it might have been having extra time on your hands with not too much to do……or maybe because you want a souvenir of Thailand and you don’t like the ‘souvenir type stuff/junk’ in the shops……………or maybe because that’s what people do when they come to Thailand, ie. buy a suit!   It also might have been because Marilyn has been going on about “Harry, the Hong Kong tailor” that used to be in Placentia when we were teens and she seemed surprised that I can’t remember who he was, but I can’t!  No doubt there was a connection when we found ourselves at the tailor shop with Jim getting measured for a suit and then when he was given the card to come back later that evening for a fitting, the card said “Hong Kong” tailor……?…karma!    Maybe, but whatever the reason Jim woke up one day and said “I think I’ll buy a suit”…………………and I remember thinking “is he OK?”.   Nonetheless we walked down the street and within minutes he was being fitted for a suit……………and I thought “where’s Robert?”…………and then I thought “this man measuring Jim reminds me of Robert”………..very quiet, very professional……….just taking the measurements and telling them to his assistant who was duly noting them on a piece of paper.    Before you know it we agreed on the material, the price and when it would be ready!   Of course you have to come back on day two for the fitting, which we did, and while Marilyn and I were sitting there watching Jim try on this beautiful ‘rough draft’ of his suit we were shown catalogues of women’s suits, shirts, dresses, blouses, skirts, etc. and we were surrounded by this beautiful material……..and you guessed it, we were hooked!   So we put in our order and found ourselves coming daily to the tailor for the next three days for fittings….didn’t matter, we had time on our hands!

Interestingly enough we got to know our tailor/salesman and he became quite interested in who we were, where we were from, what we did for a living and why we were in Kata Beach…….and, of course, we were interested in him.   He told us he was just a worker in the HK tailor shop and had only been in the area for six months……..his wife and 14 year old son were in Bangkok.  He went on to say that in 2004 he invested all of his money(over one million bhat, approx. $40,000) in a small shop at Patong beach which was about 20 mins.away…………and within an hour a few months later it was wiped out by the tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004…..and, of course, he didn’t have insurance.   That conversation took place yesterday and today we flew out of the area at 1:05pm to Bangkok and when we arrived we had an emergency e-mail from the Canadian government warning Canadians about an earthquake that had taken place at 3:30 pm in the Indian Ocean.  The warning was related to the possibility of a tsunami in the Phuket area, the beaches were closed and our flight was one of the last to get out before they closed the airport!  We were glad to be in Bangkok……but did feel concerned not only for our tailor but also for the many other wonderful Thai people that we met there.   Fortunately at this hour the warning is being lifted and life there should return to normal.

Well I’m not finished, but it’s been a long day and I need to go to bed!  The trip is quickly coming to an end and there’s still so much to tell you but time is running out before we return to Canada.  I’ll try and find time to touch base over the next few days but if I don’t,  just touch base with us when we return and we’ll fill in the blanks over a coffee or a beer.  Take care!