AT THE MOMENT OF COMMITMENT...

Dr. Sanguan and I.

Removal of a testicle.

Trachea shave.

And a late Korean lunch after surgery

Followed by a visit to the doctor's mansion.

.

Finally, my photo film of my Phuket-trip has been developed and the photos have been printed. Yes, that does sound old-fashioned. I was just kidding. Since 2004 I use a digital camera and since Friday, I a own a new one, this one being a very fancy one, a little more professional than the other one. Things change fast. I told my mother that my first telephone apparatus had a circular dial instead of buttons. My mother told me that her first phone was owned by the telephone company and was located in a booth at the end of the street. It was made out of bakelite. Things change fast.

Last night I had a conversation about the workings of the matrix of the universe. Unlike in India, this doesn’t happen very often in Thailand. I was sitting in a café and met the neighbour of a friend with whom I had a coffee and a few beers. This elderly gentleman, Jack, had an out of body experience at age 20 and since then he believed in the paranormal, the supernatural, God, the universe, whatever.

So we spoke for hours, discussing J.W. Von Goethe who said or wrote that At the moment of commitment the universe conspires to assist you. My new friend disagreed with the word “commitment”. He said it should be “passionate”. I told him that: first of all: the quote may not even have been said by Goethe, and secondly, Goethe spoke German, or Swiss German. I said that perhaps the German quote would rather sound differently. I tried to Google it last night but can’t find the original German quote. I speak English, Dutch and German equally well and was eager to find Goethe’s original German quote.

I told my new friend, Jack, about my coincidental encounters. I posted a number of those wonderful stories in January and February. Jack had many stories to tell. I asked him why wouldn’t he write them down, as they were so inspirational. He said he hated writing, but loved reading. I told him, I hated reading but loved writing. The love for creating characters, making them alive and give them a story to experience… Apart from that, I love to entertain, teach and inspire people with my books.

So I told him one of my stories. It was during the monsoon season of 2004 in India. I had taken my jeep across the Himalayas to the remote valley of Ladakh and sat in small eatery with a friend. Next to me, there was a couple, trying to order a sandwich in English with a Dutch accent. I felt the need to interfere and advise them on Ladakhi sandwiches, as I was familiar with the menu and knew which were good. The man was surprised I spoke Dutch as he had heard me speaking British English with my British girlfriend. He told me that they had a life altering experiences. They read a book written by a woman from their hometown in the Netherlands. It had inspired them to give up their office jobs and open up an orangutan sanctuary in Indonesia. They were now travelling to Dharamsala, India to hopefully find the author of the book that inspired them to change their lives. She lived in Dharamsala, the hometown of the Dalai Lama and they wanted her to know about their story and thank her.
I asked them. “Is that author called Veronique Renard, also known as Pantau?”
“O my God. It’s you!!”
The man burst out in tears. He and his wife spent the day together with me talking about coincidental encounters.

Last week I was in Phuket. I had an encounter with my dear friend Doctor Sanguan (which was pre-arranged) who is a gender reassignment specialist. I actually gave him one idea regarding a different technique to create the introitus of a colovaginoplasty and I am not even a physician. Last week, I witnessed a few sex changes and a facelift. Here are some digital photos.