Hodge Podge in Thailand

Jen and Ringo came to visit, which was awesome. I only took one picture with Jen and Ringo in it, not awesome. We swapped stories, ate dinner, drank beer and laughed a lot. Just in case you are off the Jingo circuit, they are very happily living and teaching at an International school in Manila, Philippines and more excitingly, they got married in June! If you are in the wild and crazy bunch who attended the wedding in St. Louis, I'm jealous and I hope you took a bunch of photos.

We spent New Year's with Pei Pbet and here family. Here she is preparing for the New Year's feast. I was invited to make the green curry since my neighbor declared that I know how (this mind you was after one time of making it with Oh in my kitchen at about 1/10 the quantity). The ladies came to my much needed rescue at the crucial moments.

Tim fondling pig parts; hearts, kidneys, livers oh yeah, and some meat. No, this wasn't an outreach lab, it was preparation for dinner. All parts are fair game. Tim was scorned for not being able to slice the meat thinly enough for the Korean style barbecue. "Tim why you cannot do?"

This is Ja, our Thai Taylor. She is 8 years old and opts to spend just about every weekend with her aunt, Pei Oh.

Dinner, Korean style at Pei Oh's on New Year's Eve.


The Ariston IE54G Instant Hot Water Heater, our dear friend. The weather in Thailand can be swelteringly hot causing most locals to spritz-off sometimes four or five times a day, but we two farang still desired a warm shower option. Tim's quite a cold-water chicken (Jim and Christina can attest to that). So, we installed an instant hotwater heater in our bathroom, a simple, efficient solution. After installing ours, Tim helped Pei Oh install one in her house, too.


My favorite sign in Bangkok was over a Western style toilet in a Bed and Breakfast that read, "Please do not stand on the toilet seat. Thank you." Now...I know I haven't been in Thailand that long, so the question is: Are there some expatriates out there that have lost their roots?

Other enjoyable bathroom literature includes, "Please Keep Clean," good advice. May I gently recommend some t.p. and soap, it helps.

"Please don't put paper in the toilet." Actually, this one is never written in English, so I'm leaving it up to you to trust my sources. I enjoy this one for a few reasons. One, Thai people already know not to throw paper into the toilets, it's tantamount to asking a Westerner not to stand on the toilet seat when they use your bathroom. Second, ninety-some percent of the time, there is no toilet paper, so the offender would have to smuggle it in. Third, about half of the time there aren't any trash bins available in the stall, that begs an obvious question.

I've seen this on the plastic cover for t.p.,"Happy paper." You said it.

And finally, moving out of the bathroom (our mothers will be relieved)...many of the restaurants around prominently display a happy marshmellowy figure holding a folk and spoon advertising, "Clean Food, Good Taste." Tim visualizes his plate of food being dipped in sterilizer prior to being served.