Thailand

Two birdies on a cerulean afternoon at Bangkok’s Alpine GC brought me a draw in my only match this month. You may remember Alpine as the site of Tiger Woods’ victory at the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic.

I have traveled to six countries this month, getting on an airplane once every 54 hours (on average) and staying at hotels from the waterfront at Kota Kinabalu to the noisome streets of Kowloon and to a surprisingly quiet Kanda last week.

I flew nine times in the past six days, from Bangok to Saigon to Dalat, then from Dalat to Saigan to Bangkok, from Bangkok to Brunei to Kota Kinabalu, then from Kota Kinabalu to Brunei to Manila, and finally back to Bangkok.

As we approach a new year, I like to reflect on those sage expressions that help me to understand the world and the type of life one should lead.

I’m still basking in the refulgence of my stunning victory at Boracay. But it would be remiss of me to omit the two small defeats that offset my three gigantic wins in November.

You may be thinking, from my recent adventures, that I am accomplished at golf only. Not so! At the Ayuddhaya elephant kraal, I am renowned as the elephant whisperer. From the day I discovered the extraordinary 100% organic Ele-Poo fertilizer, to today when with a whisper, a cucumber, and a shake of my head, I was able to calm this wild elephant — one quickly realizes that I’m a lot more than the Manny Pacquiao of golf.

I’ve seen a lot of Alps in the past few weeks. First, as I left Rome for Munich I flew over the Italian Alps before enjoying my Oktoberfest at the Lufthansa lounge.

Yes, it really is quite spicy. This is one of those items I felt compelled to try. I was at Thailand for a few days after my belletristic work at Italy.

I was undefeated again this month, proving that July’s poor showing was nothing but a blip on my unblemished record, and I closed the month with an amazing birdie this morning on the final hole of the Navy course in Bangkok.

I went out this morning for a bowl of rice porridge, which you may know as congee, or in Thailand, jok moo. I don’t know if this is an acquired taste, or just a dish that I have come to appreciate, but it is quite good.