Going Domestic

used to be square

used to be square
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

About a year ago, I recall writing over and over again about how it's just way too hot here in Thailand, and also about how food shopping was frustrating because there were so many things that I really and truly wanted that I just could not find.

Well, a year later, it's still too bloody hot here, but the food situation has improved noticeably. In some cases, it's just that my local store is carrying things more regularly, like vanilla yogurt (Activa, even) and graham wafers. In other cases, I'm just better at sleuthing products out.

Baking is still a trial here - traditional Thai dessert recipes don't start with "in a medium bowl, mix two cups of flour and then add half a cup of bran" so a lot of times, ingredients are indeed holding me back. One of my friends and I were delighted to find boxes of white chocolate squares on the store shelves last month - white chocolate in a form other than a candy bar here truly is a thing of scarcity.

I opened the box earlier this week to make my inaugural batch of cranberry-and-white chocolate blondies, only to find that the squares don't look quite the same here as they do at home. But they still tasted really good!

maybe the swedes were onto something

My infatuation with the home furniture scene here in BKK might be wearing off a little. Yesterday I had a bewildering conversation with one of the companies that is preparing a quote for a solid-wood bedframe for Madeline's room. I really like their furniture, I do, but I got a little panicky when the person on the other end of the phone call started saying that they didn't know if they'd be able to screw the head and foot boards to her boxspring.

Um - screw the head board and foot board to the box spring? I've never seen that done before, ever. I doubt it's good for the box spring. What's wrong with having side boards and supporting slats? I realize that I ought to calm down and appreciate that the majority of beds in Thailand are typically more of the mattress-on-a-platform variety. I'm just a little skeptical now that this is the best company to work with.

I'm also a little grumpy about furniture because I suspect that our cool sunburst coffee table isn't wearing well enough to make it to the end of another overseas assignment. In dim night-time lighting, it looks great, but in the daytime I've noticed that it chips and marks rather easily. Today Madeline dropped a tiny plastic bowl on the table, and there's a dent and mark. A few weeks ago, I dropped the tv remote, and a piece of the teak veneer chipped off. That doesn't really fit my description of normal wear and tear. On the other hand, we love the drum side table so much that we've purchased a second one ...