Charlie Dittmeier's Home Page
I was going to the airport at 8:00 PM and traffic was heavy. Here a street food stall offers food for those who want to eat before arriving home.
I was surprised how heavy the traffic was at 8:00 PM. I wouldn’t want to be driving home like that every night.
Russian Blvd is the place where people sell durian fruits at night during the season. Here a family has set up their cart. The 15,000 figure is the amount of riel ($3.75) per kilogram of durian.
I’m in Louisville, Kentucky but have run out of time for today. Here is a picture of monks begging in Phnom Penh before I left for the U.S.A.
More to come tomorrow!
I’m at the Phnom Penh airport now, waiting for a 23-24 hour flight to Seoul/Detroit/Louisville. I had to go to a doctor twice today for treatment for my eye problem and that really messed up my schedule. I’ll be back tomorrow–from Kentucky–with more, but now it’s on to Gate 8 for boarding.
I spent the day from 7:50 AM to 3:40 PM at BNH Hospital today, going through all the tests and procedures for a medical check-up program. They are thorough!
In a taxi going to BNH Hospital early in the morning, I saw a familiar scene–the masses of overhead electrical wires on all the streets, just like Phnom Penh.
After a morning of tests, one after the other, I was in Dr. Irene’s office for the actual physical exam and she got called out for a consultation. That gave me a chance to look out her window at the surrounding buildings. They are fortunate to have a lot full of trees next door, on the grounds of an Anglican church.
Dr. Irene and Charlie. She is a fantastic doctor and a really good friend!
For almost 25 years I have been having an annual medical check-up at BNH Hospital in Bangkok and today I flew to that city for an appointment tomorrow. Immediately after passing through passport control, the new arrivals encounter this display set up to honor the King of Thailand.
I took a bus from the airport to the Victory Monument and then got a taxi to the Maryknoll house where I am staying. I was trying to keep track of the taxi meter but the driver had so many Buddhist amulets and medallions hanging in front of it that I could almost never see it.
Fr. John Barth is living and working from the Maryknoll office in Bangkok. He and I used to live together in Phnom Penh when he was assigned to Cambodia. Today we had a meal together and caught up on all that is going on in the Maryknoll world.
Today Sr. Bernadette Pheng Sreymom professed her perpetual vows as a Salesian sister. The ceremony was in Kampong Cham, her home province, and many people from Phnom Penh and other provinces came to show their support and appreciation.
Today about 60 priests from Cambodia gathered at the Catholic center in Sihanoukville on the coast for a week of retreat.
When I first started flying to Bangkok in 1980s, the old Don Muang airport was a bit dowdy but served well. Then the new Suvarnabhumi Airport was build, relegating Don Muang to a domestic and no-frills airport.
Coming back from Bangkok last, there is now a no-frills S terminal at Suvarnabhumi and it is top-notch. It’s got all the shops and glitz and gardens. Just no people. It just opened and the carriers haven’t moved all their flights there.
It’s nice but it took almost twenty minutes to get there, even with a train ride, from the main Suvarnabhumi terminal.
In the past, a must-do on every trip to Bangkok was a visit to Panthip Plaza, a large multi-storey mall filled with computer vendors. Covid basically wiped out Panthip Plaza, though, and like so many other businesses, it has not seen a return of all the former vendors nor the former customers.
Previously five floors of computer, printers, and every imaginable accessory attracted customers like me looking for gadgets. On my trip to Bangkok last week, I made a trip to Panthip Plaza where now the top two floors are partially refilled with computer shops while the bottom three floors are vacant.
Before, many of the shops were just open areas with cardboard boxes full of all sorts of accessories spread over the total floor area. Now more of the shops are more formally arranged and there is not nearly the foot traffic there used to be. I was able to find what I was looking for, though–an extra power supply for an Asus laptop.
I’m sorry for the week-long hiatus! The first part of this month has been crazy. Last Sunday I flew to Bangkok for my annual physical exam on Monday. They saw a spot on my lung and that required going back for more tests on Tuesday, but in the end the lung specialist said it’s probably an old infection and just check on it in a year.
Adding more complexity to the week was my seeming to have the flu while there and feeling miserable. That finally started turning around Wednesday morning and today (Thursday) I feel just about normal.
At BNH Hospital, I had to take the elevator to the 4th floor several times and noticed this admonishment on the elevator button panel, telling people not to bring durian fruit into the hospital. For those who don’t know, durian is a large Asian fruit with a thick prickly hull. It is noted for “Tastes like heaven, smells like hell,” and is also banned from all Asian airlines because of the sharp pungent odor.