The Canon eosM seems to be a decent camera, but there is a problem with battery capacity...about 200 shots and you're done.

Camera shops don't seem to have stocks of batteries that seem to be designed to fit only this camera. I found an internet ad for discount oem sourced batteries, and rang them to see if they really had stocks. They said "yes" and offered a discount if I visit the shop...well, I think that was the information I received, but couldn't be too confident as it was delivered in rapid-fire Thai.

So...I spent nearly 2 hours lost on the other side of the river as I tried to find the place. Eventually I gave up, pulled the car over and attempted to call the place for navigation assistance, even though I knew it was likely I wouldn't understand anything I was told...as I listened to the phone ringing, I glanced out at the closest shops and discovered I was parked right outside the place I was looking for...the dead giveaway was the plastic toy camera dangling from a string attached to the tiny shop's awning.

I handed over 1000 baht and walked out with 2 batteries!

It has been getting hotter each day for a week or so...and, more humid.

Something had to give, and it did in the form of an early morning rain storm. So, the morning at least was cool, and the street clean and glistening.

Monsoon is on the way! 

It is amazing how important this weather phenomenon is to the region! It helps to regulate what would be an impossibly hot summer, but its regularity and reliability is what allows Asia to grow most of the world's rice crop.

Well...the good news is that I won 31:17!

But, its getting harder, and I suspect Mawin [aka The Boy] is doing a bit of practice on the sly.

We don't play it every Sunday, but table-tennis seems like a Sunday Sport to me. There are two reasonably stable tables in a Games Room at the other end of the Apartment complex, and bats and balls are available for loan from the gym. Of course...serious contestants like us have our own kit!

I have watched a little of this sport on TV...a Chinese National Competition involving 6 or 8 of The World's Top Ten players...and discovered there are new rules about serving. No problem...we seemed to have learned the technique in a couple of sessions.

Now it is raining, so I guess a bike ride in Lumpini Park is out of the question.

Looks like any other day of the week when your view does not include a glimpse of road traffic conditions.
The "weather man" in me can confirm that its hot outside, as I have already made 4 excursions:
#1...to the gym at 0700, when it felt mild and about 30deg.
#2...to the street vendors for a real fruit smoothie (mango & pineapple), at 0930, when there was enough sting in the sun to have the drink lady panting.
#3...by bicycle to the pet-shop, to buy cat sand (but also picked up a water filter for the fish bowl), at 1100, when even sedate pedaling had me sweating copiously.
#4...to the street vendors to acquire fried noodles for lunch for Na and I, at 1230, when it became clear that this day was HOT!
From the apartment living-room window, though, the day looks clear and unremarkable. No-one out on their rooftops, that I could see, so perhaps they knew what was coming and finished their laundry early.

Cycling is a good way of getting about in Bangkok, and seeing places that are not accessible by other means of transport.
I have an MTB, which is very comfortable as a touring bike, and seems to give me reasonable visibility when I am buried in Bangkok traffic.

I think I am seeing a modest resurgence in bicycle use in this city...makes sense, really, as Bangkok is dead flat and not difficult work. 

Na's got this thing about Spring-cleaning the fish-tank, even though we have had the fish for only three days. So, she dumped the fish into a plastic bowl and carried the tank into the kitchen to scrub it and its plastic plants and its real pebbles.

After a couple of minutes she called out from the kitchen "You might want to just check to make sure the cats and fish are playing together ok".

I dashed to the bowl, expecting the water to be red with fish blood and entrails, but only Brownie was active...she had one paw in the water and was using it to push away the fish so she could drink the water!

When I returned with camera, a couple of minutes later, Brownie had finished her drink and moved away, but Daisy and Snowy were starting to get curious about what was floating about in the water. Daisy dipped a paw in the water a couple of times, but disliked the wetness of the experience...Snowy started dancing about, cos some hard-wiring in her brain was trying to send her a message about cats and fish, but she couldn't quite understand the message.

The Spring-clean was completed without mishap.

Just published a new themed short anthology of short stories, titled "Car Tales". I have been converting .rtf to .epub using Calibre but, this time, tried to do it with plain text pasted into Sigil, and it seemed to give a better result.

The book can be read on-line by clicking on the image, or you can download a .epub version, to read offline.

Spent an hour at the Boy's school, observing the recital of music skills gained during the 4 weeks of Summer Camp.

As usual it was a mix of cringe, humour and earnest effort.

Pre-monsoon weather is usually a bit of a challenge, and this year is no different.There was a violent thunder storm just before dawn, but by mid-morning it was oppressively hot and steamy...great if you are a tropical plant, but a serious trial for mere humans.

Went to the mall for a quick meal of Japanese noodles this evening, and a small goldfish tank attached itself to us...a complete kit, including 4 hungry, assorted fish.
Apart from the glaring green neon lighting, it seems to be an asset, and I expect it will provide on-going amusement for the cats.