Going Domestic

Things I liked about living in Thailand, Part 1

Part One: Nichada Thani

I really appreciated where we lived, which was a gated compound/community about 30 km north of BKK called Nichada Thani. I really want to write a little bit about it, because googling for it often leads to snarky comments about Nichada life from posters on Thai Visa and other forums like it, and those sentiments aren't really helpful to familes who might be trying to figure out where they might like to live if they're moving in the Bangkok area. So, without further ado:

Things that I liked about living in Nichada:

• It was green and clean, by Bangkok standards. There were actual sidewalks to walk on, and they were free of vendors selling hair accessories, squid snacks, edible insects, or fake Rolex watches. They weren't full of dozing (or oozing) soi dogs, either. The sidewalks were actually fairly stroller/tricycle friendly for my young kids, which can't be said of a lot of the footpaths in BKK. For my first 2.5 years in Thailand, walking around the lake in Nichada Thani (I don't know if it has an actual name, but I always thought of it as Lake Nichada) was my primary form of exercise, and I enjoyed passing by the gardens of roses, frangipani, bougainvillea, and the other tropical plants on the way. Lots of coconut trees. And I never actually saw a snake, though I often saw snails of an awesomely impressive size! 

 

fancy feet

One of things that always makes me smile, living here, is the fancy footwear that women wear. It does not seem to matter if the rest of the ensemble is embellished. Any occasion is an occasion to wear shoes or sandals with ruffles, jewels, beads, red patent appliques, and three-inch spike heels. 

For example, the Montri bus monitors at my daughter's school all female, and they stand in a line on the sidewalk every morning. I'm not sure exactly what purpose lining up serves, but they are all wearing their unremarkable uniform of black pants, a white short-sleeved button-shirt, and a vest (usually a Thai-woven print in maroon, but today, a very Burberry-esque plaid). But the shoes? I scanned their footwear, and saw flats with rhinestones, heels with bows, and sandals with silver straps that went around and around and around one's ankles. 

My brown Keen slides seem so plain in comparison. 

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.

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.

sometimes a person needs privacy

only in Thailand - a napping stall at the mall
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

I was planning on posting a photo of some of the wacky Christmas decorations up in my community today, notably the really sexy Mrs. Claus that is on display by the grocery store, but I forgot my camera when I was out today. I did have it with me when Madeline and I ran an errand yesterday, which is why I was able to photograph this very unusual stall in a washroom at one of BKK's shopping centres.

christmas in the kingdom

Last Saturday, I took my camera with me when we ventured into the city. When we moved to the BKK area two and half years ago, neither Chris nor I expected to see any sort of recognition of Christmas. Thailand is a Buddhist country by a landslide, after all. What we didn't count on was that a) the city gets a little decked out in December because that's when the king celebrates his birthday and b) western holidays are seen as great fun to the locals. So, there are plenty of trees and tinsel about ... and traffic, of course.

The really weird thing about the Christmas decorations in central BKK is the presence of the dwarves. Could it be that the word for dwarf and the word for elf are strikingly similar in the Thai language?

things that confuse* me in my kitchen

silly Thai microwave
Originally uploaded by goingdomestic

Definitely, the microwave. The bottom knob, I am certain, is for the time. The top knob is only labeled in Thai and pictograms. The way I see it, there are four settings for varying degrees of hot and one setting for warm. Back in Canada, I used to cook rice in the microwave all the time. Here, well, I have no idea how I would follow those directions. I guess that's what the rice cooker is for ...

* I sort of wanted to write a post about things that I hate in or about my kitchen here, but I can only rant about the lack of a dishwasher so much, and writing that I wish there was room for a table isn't really that interesting.

an auspicious day

It was back in 2002, if I recall correctly, that Chris came home from work one evening with a Diablo Cake from the Brulee Patisserie. I can't remember if I was thrilled that he came bearing dessert or annoyed that he spent a lot of money on a cake. It could have gone either way. It turned out to be the most delicious cake that I have ever eaten, so it all turned out okay. I've spent the past seven years trying to figure out what flavours it was that made the cake so fabulous. I did manage to do a little detective work - I know that Rosemary, the chef, used a flourless chocolate cake for the base, and at least one of the fillings was whipped ganache, and it was topped with a ganache-based chocolate glaze. I actually have her recipe for plain chocolate versions of all three. Chris requested a Diablo Cake to celebrate his 39th birthday, and even though I wasn't sure if he was serious, I took up the challenge. My best guess about what elevated this cake above ordinary chocolate was copious amounts of cinnamon and maybe a bit of cayenne. I finished up my version yesterday, and it's not as good at the cake at Brulee (which I've blogged about an embarrassing number of times), but it's still a pretty tasty rendition. I have some ideas on how to tweak the recipe for next time, if there is a next time ... 

 

The other cool thing about today was that Chris decided that his birthday was a good reason to give his day job the shaft and take a guided tour of Bangkok's Chinatown with me. It was supposed to be a "historical" tour, but I have to say that what I learned was a different history than what I was expecting. Our guide took us to a coffee shop where men has been gathering to talk about work/life/etc. for the past eighty years. We ate lunch at a noodle joint that had been around for sixty years. We enjoyed bowls of a warm ginger broth with crunchy bits of deep-fried bread and tofu floating in it (sadly, my camera battery died, so I have no photos of any of this). Seeing as BKK is home to about three thousand Buddhist temples, we also visited a few of them, and our guide tried his best to contrast the Chinese variation of Buddhism to the type of Buddhism that prevails in Thailand. It was a very hot but fun day, but I finally got to ride in a tuk-tuk, and our guide from the Smiling Albino was a very gracious host.

are you being served?

I have refrained from posting about one of my biggest aggravations about trying to get things done here in BKK for a year and a half, but I cannot remain silent any longer: I will never ever understand why the relatively straightforward process of buying something at a department store (whether it's Central, the Emporium, or Paragon) takes so darn long. At least ten minutes is typical, and I often only have one item to ring up! Why does it take so long? Well, sometimes other customer who get to the cash desk after I do have their purchases attended to first. I have no idea why, and it's kind of upsetting to me. Additionally, when it's my turn to pay, sales associates from every single department I've shopped in (ie. baby clothes, infant toys, children's toys, children's books) must be tracked down and summoned to the cash desk so that they can have their commission cards scanned, even if they were conspicuously absent when I was making my selections! Ugh. This is why I really like shopping online ...

27 degrees celcius is not cold

Last Thursday, I was on my way back home from the shopping complex that opened up ten minutes from here, and I saw a dog wearing a knitted doggie sweater. I have become used to seeing Thai people wearing long sleeves, jackets, cardigans of late as the weather has changed from stifling to pleasant, but seriously, a doggie sweater? Like that coat of fur isn't keep one's guard dog warm enough?