Going Domestic

imposing sanctions

This afternoon I noticed that Villa Market received another shipment of Dr. Pepper, otherwise known as The Bestest Soft Drink in the Whole Wide World. The other three times it's been stocked, this deprived little ex-pat happily bought half a dozen cans (at an embarrassing 48 baht/can) and slowly doled it out to myself. 

But this time, I am going to be good and forgo the Dr. Pepper and what's probably a dozen teaspoons of sugar and artificial flavours and colours per can. If I'm going to drink something not-so-good for me, it's going to be a chai latte. If I can only find cardamom in Bangkok ...

another wonderful thing in this really strange place

Last night, we had a sitter and Chris and I were out for dinner with my mom and dad. We were dining at Red Sky, which is a smart al fresco restaurant at top of a hotel, fifty-five floors up. I was actually pretty grumpy as the evening started, as the plans had gone awry earlier today due to missing a river taxi stop and a very cranky child. I was working on my salad with duck, trying to rally, when I noticed that the gentleman providing live music on an electronic keyboard was wearing a purple dinner jacket and wore his hair in shoulder-length braids. And he was singing a jazzy version of the theme to The Flintstones. Hearing a song from my childhood sung fifty-five stories above the chaos of Bangkok was just so delightful that it totally turned my mood around.

recent things in the hat department

Exhibit A: A hat for Madeline, knit in Noro Silk Garden. The pattern is Odessa, and this hat has had it out for me from the beginning. The pattern is not difficult nor were the individual stitches unfamiliar, yet I ended up having to start the entire hat over three or four times before the spiral pattern started to work for me. The pattern is for an adult-sized hat, and I was adapting it to fit my smallish child, so I figured that one ball of yarn would do the trick. She wore the hat on our holiday, and it wasn't stretchy enough to cover her ears and frankly, it sat rather awkwardly on her head. This adorable little rainbow-y hat was spiteful to the end! I put it in it's place when we returned to BKK and frogged the thing. 

Exhibit B: A bunny hat, knit in a semi-novelty acrylic from Sirdar (hey, it's soft and washable). I've wanted to knit this pattern since my copy of Itty Bitty Knits arrived in the mail (honestly, this book has been a brilliant investment - I've made three other hats from it). This one came together very quickly, and the only part that I am not happy with are the stitches between the ears. They seem really loose. I was worried that it would be kind of annoying to knit a yarn with little pokey bits on it, but it wasn't a problem at all. This hat was a gift for two month-old girl in a holiday exchange that I was involved in. Sadly, I didn't finish the hat until after Christmas, but I mailed it off as soon as I could. Shipping to New York was only 60 baht, or about two dollars. 

one small fabulous thing

After my workout this morning, I zipped into Villa Market to buy groceries for tonight's dinner (sausages with bell peppers and onions - yum). I had put the money I needed into the pocket of my gym shorts and left my wallet at home. As usual, I found a few unanticipated items to put in my shopping basket - frozen blueberries and small ziplock bags were in stock again! When my groceries were added up at the check-out counter, my total was two hundred baht more than I had with me. Flustered, I explained to the girl working the counter that I would have to put something back, but she shook her head, continued bagging my purchases and said, "It's okay, just come back before nine o'clock with two hundred baht."

So I did return as soon as I could with the money in hand. 

Usually, I feel really sheepish about the insane number of times that I go to the grocery store in the course of a week. I'm there easily five or six times, and sometimes, I am there more than once a day! But this morning, I was actually really happy that I am a very familiar face at the Villa Market.

happy-go-unlucky

Oh, things started out well today. My dear Chris has been working out with a trainer for the last six weeks or so, and I was granted an invitation to tag along to his session in the city this morning. It was hard work and my poor weak arms are going to be aching tomorrow, but I had a lot of fun at the session. It was only after Chris and I were grabbing a bite afterward that I realized the first unfortunate thing about today: my watch had stopped again. 

The warranty on my watch expired this past October, and in November, it stopped outright for the first time. A new battery brought it pack to life for a few weeks, but by the end of the of month it was paralysed again. I took it back to the service center and was told that it needed a cleaning, so I forked over the funds for that. It ticked away well enough, but it's latest act of defiance today is really bringing me down. Firstly, I think that I paid too much for a watch that only has a two-year warranty (something I will research more before buying another) and secondly, I am annoyed that I'm having this problem with a watch that is barely two years old! 

So, Chris and I (and my defunct piece of jewelry from Switzerland) finished lunch and headed back home to hang out with the kids, and about ten minutes away from our apartment, I have a startling revelation: I left my sneakers in the women's shower room at the fitness centre. Ugh. Trekking back into Bangkok to retrieve them would have eaten up the rest of the daylight hours (okay, exaggerating a bit, but it's a long drive), so I am hoping that they'll be in the Lost and Found on Monday. With a watch repair in my future, I'd rather not have to fund replacement footwear. 

round tripping ramekins

made a round-trip
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

I ordered two pieces of ceramic bakeware from the Le Creuset line awhile back (my beloved blue Emile Henry is getting hard to find), and I was really suprised to see that they were made in Thailand. Is there a Le Creuset factory outlet somewhere here that I've been missing? Maybe I can afford one of their dutch ovens afterall (they're about $350 at the Central department stores) ...

I had sort of forgot about the made-in-Thailand element until I opened one of my Christmas gifts last week and discovered a pair of blue ramekins from a department store in London called John Lewis. It was a really thoughtful gifts, as I've stupidly broken two of my four Emile Henry ones in the last three months. Chris said that he comtemplated purchasing the Le Creuset ramekins, but figured that it was sort of ridiculous to bring something that was made in Thailand back to Thailand, picked out the lovely blue John Lewis-brand ones instead.

Side note: John Lewis has an entire "ramekin" category on their website, which is sort of interesting! And they have heart-shaped ones from Le Creuset! Cute! 

Meet Santarina

Santa's Mid-Life Crisis
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

Here's another photo from December that I took awhile ago but neglected to post. This lady, whom I had thought of as Santa's Little Something-on-the-Side, is on display right outside the grocery store in our community. There are other holiday placards posted around, but she's the one that I am the most baffled by. It's fun that some Thai folk get into the the Christmas spirit, being Buddhist or Muslim and all, but surely this could not be Mrs. Claus.

Chris and I might have stumbled on this lady's identity when we were at the local mall, heading up the escalator to see a matinee of Sherlock Holmes. A stage was still set up on the middle of the mall, with a sign reading "Little Santa and Santarina Contest". Chris remarked, "I've never heard of Santarina!" and I immediately thought that she might be the lady with the chilly legs on display outside of Villa Market.

obligatory reflective post for the new year

Is this new year the last of the current decade or the first in a new decade? I think that 2010 is the final one in this decade, but it's a topic that I have trouble pinning down. 

Whether or not the 'aughties are over, I've been pondering whether it's been my most action-packed decade. In this one, I landed my first real (and respectably-paying) job, and I really enjoyed it for the first couple of years. I was new to Calgary and loved the co-workers that I became friends with. In the 'aughties, I also acquired a husband and a mortgage (though it probably won't be paid off before the decade is over). I was down-sized (bitterly, but I should have bailed before that), and I guess that I'm sort of retired from my former field now, having last been paid for doing something in May of 2004. I corrected the failings of my home economics teachers and learned to both cook better and sew better. I will end this decade with two more children than I really ever imagined having since I stopped playing with dolls sometime in the 1980's. I've lived in three different cities in two different countries, and there's a chance that I'll be changing venues once more before the end of this year. 

I don't remember the eighties and nineties being so full of stuff. The only thing I had going on was school, though I did add a diploma and two degrees in the nineties. Maybe I'd have to look a little further back - in the seventies, I learned to walk and talk and use utensils. Those are big ones :)