To a T

Yesterday I rented a scooter and rode around part of the island of Phuket. Until I got here, I hadn't realized that Phuket is actually an island, but it sure enough is. It's beautiful, lush, hilly, and hot. This island is chock full of narrow winding roads that weave along the coastline, affording the odd glimpse of a secret beach or hidden cove. Photo ops are plentiful, and it can take hours to make the fairly short journey from Patong Beach to Phuket Town on account of all the pic stops. I can attest to that.

And, having said that, I just realized how devoid of photos my blog has been lately. It's not like I ain't takin' pics, people! It's just that downloading them is a bit of an issue : ( I'll get to work on that as soon as I can.

A few things that Phuket has in abundance? Try street vendors stalls, annoying hawkers working those stalls (and pawing you to try and steer you into their space to browse), 7-11 stores, Thai boys who look remarkably feminine, custom tailors, cheesy restaurants and bars, older Caucasian man and young Thai girl (or boy) couples, and scooters/motorbikes. It's not necessarily the place where you go to "get away from it all," but you can find that kind of seclusion if you want to pay a lot of money to stay in an upscale resort. I've chosen to stay right in the mix, but (luckily) my hotel room is quiet enough that I can't hear all the commotion from my room. That's good, cuz I've actually been playing it pretty cool during this holiday. Other than going out the first night I was here, I haven't been doing the nightlife things cuz I've been too busy blogging.

What I have been doing is deciding that it's high time to take advantage of all the custom tailors here. My intention since going to Singapore back at the end of August has been to get a custom-made suit that will fit me and my hard-to-fit legs to a T. And ever since then, I've put it off. Can you say procrastinator? Uh, ya.

To be honest, I've struggled with the value of getting a suit custom-made for me at a very reasonable price, against the reality of "Do I really need a suit?" I haven't worn one in sooo long, and it's not like I go to a lot of weddings. Still, I suppose a man always needs one good suit, hey? And what's the worst that could happen? Instead of paying $1000 for a good quality off-the-rack suit, I pay a few hundred bucks for a custom-made suit that (hopefully) fits me to a T, but that I cart around on tour with me and never wear even once. I can live with that as a worst-case scenario.

And so I've come to a decision. I do desperately need new work pants, seeing as how my favourite pair is finally and officially dead. Bless them and the years of service they gave me, but damn The Republic for not stocking them anymore. Well, it's a perfect opportunity to take advantage of all the tailors here, so I'm having three pairs of pants custom-made for me for a total far less than what I would pay for one good quality pair of pants off the rack. I went to a tailor shop that has a very good reputation, at least according to the celebrity endorsements and advertising. And if they do a good job on these three pairs of pants, I'll probably go to their Hong Kong outlet when I'm back "home" and have a suit made. What the hell! I look great in a suit even if I only wear it once, when I'm going for my fitting in the tailor shop.

I go to the shop later this morning to try on the first pair of pants and have them make adjustments to accommodate my hard-to-fit legs ensure they fit to a T. And then they'll cut the two other pairs to the same custom measurements. Fingers crossed they fit my funny legs!

Postscript: hey, I just thought of a great reason why I can use a new suit. Our Publicist mentioned that they always like to use hometown people to help do publicity in any city that the circus hits. Naturally, when she found out that Ottawa's my hometown, she got a gleam in her eye and asked me if I would be comfortable doing a press junket while we're there. Ya, I can probably accommodate that...