Friday 31 August 2007
Am I showing too much cleavage?
Scroobled by Mel on 31.8.07 2 commentaramas
Labels: girly things
Thursday 30 August 2007
Globules of lard....
Scroobled by Mel on 30.8.07 3 commentaramas
I'll never be the same again....
Anyhoo.....releasing all attachment noooowwww with the out breath....
Scroobled by Mel on 30.8.07 3 commentaramas
Labels: Evil Mother-In-Law
Wednesday 29 August 2007
This Ain't Just a Hunk of Wood...
(one day will get a decent camera - until then run with your imagination on how gorgeous this is in real life)
Scroobled by Mel on 29.8.07 2 commentaramas
Labels: quirks
Monday 27 August 2007
My Ode to Durian
Although I possibly get more pleasure out of eating durian then perhaps some other joyous bedroom past time (!), the stench that emits from them is just beastly. My friend visited me last year from Oz described the taste as a cross between rockmelon (cantaloupe) and onions while trying her best not to spontaneously projectile it back onto me. There really is no in betweens with durian. You love it or you hate it, there's no grey area when dealing with this fruit. This is what Wikipedia has to say about it:
Opinions are widely divergent ... ranging from highly appreciative to deep disgust.
Writing in 1856, Alfred Russel Wallace provides a much-quoted description of the flavour of the durian:
“ | The five cells are silky-white within, and are filled with a mass of firm, cream-coloured pulp, containing about three seeds each. This pulp is the eatable part, and its consistence and flavour are indescribable. A rich custard highly flavoured with almonds gives the best general idea of it, but there are occasional wafts of flavour that call to mind cream-cheese, onion-sauce, sherry-wine, and other incongruous dishes. Then there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither acid nor sweet nor juicy; yet it wants neither of these qualities, for it is in itself perfect. It produces no nausea or other bad effect, and the more you eat of it the less you feel inclined to stop. In fact, to eat Durians is a new sensation worth a voyage to the East to experience. ... as producing a food of the most exquisite flavour it is unsurpassed. | ” |
Wallace cautions that "the smell of the ripe fruit is certainly at first disagreeable"; more recent descriptions by westerners can be more graphic. Travel and food writer Richard Sterling says:
“ | .... its odor is best described as pig-shit, turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock. It can be smelled from yards away. Despite its great local popularity, the raw fruit is forbidden from some establishments such as hotels, subways and airports, including public transportation in Southeast Asia |
Both of these descriptions are so accurate I couldn't word it better myself. You're seriously not allowed to take Durian on air-conditioned public transport so as not to offend other passengers. If it weren't for the fact that the smell of durian on your breath makes you repugnant to all fellow beings, the fact that too much makes your stomach burn and too much makes you fat...I could live off this fruit alone for all my days...
Scroobled by Mel on 27.8.07 3 commentaramas
Saturday 25 August 2007
My house has been invaded by lil' elves...
Now this photo is J's mother and the typical facial expression she has (click for larger view, if you must).
Just to be fair and balance out my karmic presence, here is one of her smiling. I think it's the first time I've ever seen her smile in nearly 3 years (she has teeth?)!
The oldies in my village have a big parade in town today for a sports carnival.
Scroobled by Mel on 25.8.07 2 commentaramas
Labels: Evil Mother-In-Law, karma, traditions
Eat til you die...
How much for all this...a mere donation of 100 baht for the two of us..that's $3.80 ($1.90 each...for 7 courses!). Love this glorious country!
Scroobled by Mel on 25.8.07 0 commentaramas
Friday 24 August 2007
Chill'n with the fishies...
This is what J thinks of me taking his photo in the middle of his facial!
Scroobled by Mel on 24.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: spa, swimming hole
No sleep tonight....
The folks have a party hire business..as you can imagine, great business in Thailand. They hire out tents, chairs, tables, plates, cooking stuff...everything you'd need for a party, they hire out. This week is a crazy week for the biz. J was called out of bed by mother dear this morning at 5:45am to go and help his dad pull down tents and go to another party to put them all up again! Did I mention that we're really over living with the parents!
Scroobled by Mel on 24.8.07 0 commentaramas
Thursday 23 August 2007
My love of forums...
In the 3 years I've been here I've met 3 white women married to Thai men...and one of those I only met yesterday! Which brings me to my point of how much I love forums. They're bringing people together damn it! I met a lovely Thai/farang couple yesterday who live a measly 70 kms from me, who I "met" on the forum. I am not aloooonnnnneee! Seriously, for a couple of years I honestly thought that in the whole of Thailand there were perhaps 5 couples in my situation. But now I have discovered, in reality, it's more like 50 couples (compared to the 800 000+ farang men/Thai women couples!). Joyous days, I can communicate again!
Scroobled by Mel on 23.8.07 2 commentaramas
Labels: addictions
Tuesday 21 August 2007
She strikes again....
Scroobled by Mel on 21.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: Evil Mother-In-Law, karma
Monday 20 August 2007
The world spins again...
Hurrah hurrah, Thailand voted YES to the new constitution and no apparent dramas followed. There will now be an election before the year is out to vote in a democratically elected government and all will be well with the world again (cough cough).
She hadn't used any type of measuring tool or tape to create straight edges, she just did it from sight (coke bottom glasses sight at that!). Unbelievable! Not sure where to go from here..whether to leave it, in all its hideousness or to pick up that brown brush and fix it. There unfortunately is no option of painting over it...I'm not quite up to facing her wrath!
Scroobled by Mel on 20.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: Evil Mother-In-Law
Sunday 19 August 2007
Thailand says Yay or Nay
Scroobled by Mel on 19.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: Thailand
Saturday 18 August 2007
Walking frogs...
Scroobled by Mel on 18.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: quirks
Thank goodness for Muslim Restaurants!!!
The house warming was celebrating J's cousin's new 2 million baht (~100 grand) monstrosity of a house. If only I took my camera! Its 2 levels of fluorescent green paint, floor and curtains are trimmed with a lovely shade of bright pink and the entire mansion contains 5 rooms in total. The bedroom and bathroom upstairs and the kitchen, another bathroom and a tennis court size "lounge" room with nothing in it downstairs, and that's it. The entire block is house...you literally can't even walk around the perimeter of the house because it fills the block on 3 sides!
Thais are big on "show". As long as it's big and people know how much you spent on it, it doesn't really matter if it makes you physically ill to look at it because for 2 million baht everyone automatically tells you it's beautiful! J's parents were devastated when we laid our foundation dirt for our future house about 20 metres from the road behind a huge tree. So much so that they didn't talk to us for the entire day! They were pretty hung up on the whole "show" thing and putting the house right on the roadside and couldn't understand why we wanted to "hide" the house! I am pretty hung up on the privacy, away from loud road thing myself, so I won out...painful foreign daughter-in-law that I am!
Forgot to mention...yes indeed, there was Karaoke! Wasn't very spectacular tonight though as it was quite early and people weren't very intoxicated. Bet it's going off now though! I on the other hand am going to sleep...
Scroobled by Mel on 18.8.07 0 commentaramas
Wednesday 15 August 2007
Karaoke rafting...
30 Thai teachers, J and myself were transported to Karaoke World by a longtail boat in several trips, also hauling along all the food and alcohol supplies for the evening. All on board by about 6pm in time for a not so spectacular sunset due to cloud cover. They got the music cranking before we even alighted ship! After everyone was on board and settled at tables, the Karaoke was immediately cranked up! It was all pretty mediocre until after dark when the teachers went wild! Talk about Jekyll and Hyde!! Those teachers know how to partay. Pretty much everyone is called up one after the other to sing and they're all desperate to be next in line to sing (!!)..it was inevitable that my name would be called..so up I went, did my little bit of speaking Thai to much applause and laughter, but all they wanted was English (they were all English teachers!) and of course for me to "Sing-a-song, english english". I bitterly disappointed them as I just couldn't bring myself to do it. J on the other hand ran up to the stage, started extravagantly dancing and sang a few Thai classics to get the party rockin' again!!
Amongst the festivities we were served a 5 course meal of snacks, seafood platter, grilled fish, Tom Yum Goong, Curry, Vegies and rice and dessert of fruit! I was so stuffed after this effort I couldn't move for a good hour but the teachers got up again for more singing and dancing all throughout the meal! Crazy cats... Most people crashed about midnight and the boat closes everything down at about 1.30am - everyone has to work in the morning! A few of the men tried to continue gambling by aid of lighters but didn't last long (they were the first to rise int he morning and start gambling again before the sun was up!). With all of us mashed together in the back of the boat there wasn't much space for sleeping...everyone was up at 6am anyway for sunrise and back to the mainland for a quick breakfast before going to work. Thais don't really get the concept of a weekend! They'll do anything, any day of the week! Love it...
The Karaoke Raft
Sleeping area at the back
The lake, the raft, the tow boat
Forgot to mention - all this was for free (courtesy of the teachers)!!
Scroobled by Mel on 15.8.07 0 commentaramas
Monday 13 August 2007
Mother's a Punk Rock star
Public Holiday today as it was Mother's Day yesterday, celebrating the Queen's B'day and people's supposed lovely mothers...not that I'm bitter about not having one of those (talking in-country Thai mother here). My MIL has actually been quite pleasant this week..I think it's because her daughter is visiting, she's on her best behaviour!!
Just finished a 40 minute aerobics workout..free in our village, just across the road from our house conveniently enough. They usually do it 5 days a week, there's about 15 of us that do it daily...you have to love this country that provides free workouts...where would you get that in western countries I ask you. Yesterday was particularly hilarious because J's mother decided to try it out! She's a pretty spritely 65 year old but her co-ordination leaves a little to be desired, but really, good on her for giving it a whirl! I so wish I had a video recorder though because after trying the routine out for 10 minutes she just couldn't keep up so did her own thing and ended up dancing like she was at a heavy metal concert, hands flailing the air, head wobbling, legs kicking...very amusing to behold to say the least!
I've had the "10 little Indians" song stuck in my head for 3 days now...from school camp, except the kids sang "10 little Indias"..you know it, go on... 1 little 2 little 3 little Indias, 4 little 5 little 6 little Indias, 7 little 8 little 9 little Indias, 10 little India boys!". Share my pain...
Scroobled by Mel on 13.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: Evil Mother-In-Law
Saturday 11 August 2007
Trouble in Paradise
What a week! From about Tuesday until last night I've wanted a divorce from my usually fantabulous husband who had completely stabbed me in the back! I might be being a little dramatic, but only slightly. Here I am, innocently working on the computer on Tuesday when we get a couple of visitors - my uncle-in-law and his friend. Both are highly respected School Principals. I should have seen the signs.
A little background....I HATE TEACHING!!! I tried teaching English in a local village school for 3 months and I think it aged me 10 years and has forever traumatised me for teaching again in Thailand. The teachers are lazy, the students lazier and absolutely everything English related is put onto the white gal (because I speak English, I know everything...of course!). In my short stint at teaching I was often placed in front of large groups of students (can be hundreds!) and told to sing or play an English game. Having no previous teacher training, this is no easy task off the top of my head.
Anyway, back to beloved husband....After quite some time of the men talking outside, I finally go out to see what's going on and J has signed me up for a 2 day English Camp! Not happy Jan..Thai's can't say no - this is something that I both love and loathe. J just couldn't say no to the gang up from the teachers, even knowing that I would do something very extreme to his nether regions... I guess in hindsight he was quite brave! Respect for elders is more extreme than fear of loosing one's manhood from wife! Needless to say I've survived it all...and it was quite fun at times, but really, entertaining 200 ten year olds for two days is not really my thing. I'll be having nightmares about singing the Hokey Pokey on a microphone in front of the masses for years to come, I'm sure! So will they come to think of it...
Watching the dozens of crazy monkeys chasing all the children for food was probably the most entertaining part of the camp!
Scroobled by Mel on 11.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: school
Saturday 4 August 2007
I'm an addict....
I have become completely addicted to the internet...it's definitely an illness, are there support groups for this? I'm sure I'm not alone in this...we got "hi-speed" net put on 2 months ago and it's been a steady downhill for me since. At first I just thought it was the novelty of going from dial up (literally 5 minutes to download some pages) to satellite speeds...OMG I could watch video clips online!! Although they still stop for streaming but it's a step up at least.. but it's gotten so I find it painful to walk away from the computer for fear my husband will steal it when I go to the bathroom. I'm getting headaches...I'm not feeling quite...right. Must wean myself off it..perhaps tomorrow I'll just look for 5 hours instead of....I'm too embarrassed to even say.
Woe is me, but tomorrow's another day...
Scroobled by Mel on 4.8.07 0 commentaramas
Labels: addictions