Remember, Songkran, SVB, Activities and more…

On Sunday 3 April in the morning we went to “our” Temple of Ban Pho Chai (Wat Si Phon Sung) and there the name of “Diny Kerssens Popma” was mentioned in “the list of remember”. The breakfast after the service was first offered to the deceased and after that the Monks and visitors could eat. Siripron and I took care of some of the dishes and gifts to the Monks.

Songkran, the (former) Thai New Year and water festival could be celebrated this year again but with limitations. On day 1 there was a “money collection parade” in our part of the village. This was for the “celebration of Ban Pho Chai” the next day, where money was collected for our Temple, that day there was also a “dance and music band”. Day 3 Siripron went with her Papa to the Temple where the money was handed over. The rest of the day was quiet for us with a pizza lunch and some family visit. The Saturday after Songkran was the Birthday of Mudmie & Mudmai (the twin of Warunee) and we started the evening with the family water blessing of Papa. After that we had a family birthday dinner at the house of Warunee.

In September of this year I will get my Government Pension (AOW) from The Netherlands but therefore I had to fill-in application papers. The second part of those forms had to be signed by an official approved authority in Thailand. For me there where 2 suitable ones, the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok or the Social Security Office. Because the SSO in Sawang Daen Din couldn’t sign the papers we went to the SSO in Sakon Nakhon and they signed + stamped the form without any problems. On 21 April I’ve send the filled-in forms by EMS courier to the SVB in the Netherlands.

For the “virtual challenges” I am still busy with the “Conquer 2022”, the year challenge of 2.022 mile (3.255 km of cycling). This month I virtual walked & biked in China (a part of the Great Wall & a part of the Silk Road), Morocco (Road to Casablanca), Middle Earth (the first of 5 “Lord of the Rings” challenges) and in the USA (a part of a trail on the east coast). I finished Canada/USA (Niagara Falls), Colombia (Coffee Trail), the Earth Day challenge, India (the Golden Triangle) and 2 “Strava” challenges. On Wednesday 20 April I had an accident with my bike, so I couldn’t go cycling a few times…

Other things that happened:
– I had again a lunch at Kham Ta Kla, also got my bread and sausages.
– Preaw & Both suffered from Corona and went to a quarantine hotel.
– My Swedish brother in law Tomas came for a visit to Warunee.
– We’ve got some durian of the family of Aon.
– Again we had more unexpected rain, so I had to do some lawn mowing.