ChiFlyer

7 hours ago, Glasseye said:

Oh yes. It's not the Thai banks I'm talking about. My K bank account has been tremendous, rarely an issue. The Bkk digital, working proper.

 

It's the U.S. banks I'm talking about. 

 

Just throwing out a rant. I hope one day I can tell you personally the full story.

I use Charles Schwab as my US bank and they tend to be on the stick. I have cancelled my US credit cards with Citibank and Chase as they became useless due to their notifications for approval processes. I use Skype for my US phone number and both banks are unable to communicate via Skype. I instead moved to AMEX for a US credit card and they have been a pleasure to deal with, other than their slightly high annual rate. Mine is $150 for a green card. Worth it to me due to the no hassle processes.

I have a Bangkok Bank Account and I have been pleased for the most part with their online services. They occasionally forget to update the laptop online service when they do an upgrade, but the mobile service still works when this happens. I prefer to access via the iBanking laptop method as I like the bigger screen and like to extract data to feed various xls files on my laptop. I have a Bangkok Bank credit card to use when someone does not accept AMEX.  

I let my Bangkok Bank ATM card lapse as it served no purpose. I use my Schwab debit card for ATM withdrawals, as all fees are refunded anywhere in the world.

The US Big Name Banks tanked on Friday in the US stock markets. A less than expected earnings report from JPM accompanied by words of warning from no less than Jamie Dimon were part of the reason for the downturn. Geopolitical angst and the Fed cooling toward lowering rates also caused a negative drag.

JPM is a significant holding within my overall US equities. It was at 15%. Hmmm - 14% now. I have held JPM for many years and some bumps in the road have occurred in the past. I actually worked for a Jamie Dimon Bank (as an IT consultant) for 5 years. Jamie and I were not close friends, but I was in the same room with a few of his immediate reports at times.

In case anyone is interested I use a site to get a quick market recap on a daily basis. They offer other services, but I use only the free market recap.

https://www.briefing.com/stock-market-update

We kicked off Songkran by having the Mrs family over for a pool afternoon and supper to follow. The crew had a seafood lunch to get things started and then the younger people jumped into the pool armed with water guns. A good time was had by all.

I made a casual supper that consisted of Sloppy Jane Sandwiches (a version of Sloppy Joes but with ground chicken instead of beef). Sides were some frozen waffle fries and a seasoned corn dish (my creation on the corn dish).

Here is a link for the Sloppy Janes. This is written for ground turkey, but I have never seen that in the Pattaya area. This recipe is quite tasty IMO. I usually make a fair sized batch and freeze the leftovers for later use. I used a frozen leftover batch today.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/sloppy-jane-sliders-1961874#communityReviews

Given the use of reheated components, supper was on the table in under an hour.

The spread.

The hit of the day was the Hagen Daz Ice Cream for dessert. The 7 year old guest gave me some big repeated thumbs up gestures for the Hagen Daz.

Leftovers were one sandwich.

On 9/22/2023 at 10:55 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I have always been a fan of this dish, so I decided to give it a try. I used the following recipe.

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/golden-chicken-cordon-bleu/

This was my first ever attempt at this recipe. I am giving myself a B+ for flavor and a D- for presentation. I served it with some zucchini.

The problem with the presentation was I did not do a very good job of rolling the chicken breast up around the filings. I need some practice on that. Still the Mrs really liked it and I will say that despite the messiness it tasted pretty good.

Anyway a pic.

Chicken Cordon Bleu - 2nd Attempt

I made Chicken Cordon Bleu tonight. The result was much better presentation wise than my first attempt. The Mrs really liked it. Here are some items that I think led to the improvement.

• I butterflied the chicken breast before pounding it out. A butterfly cut of this nature needs to be done carefully. One wants to cut to within about 1/2 inch of the other side, but not all the way though. The breast should open up like a book. What works for me is to cut slowly and stop and check progress along the way.
• Pound the butterflied breast a little gently with the mallet. Really the point is do not smash it hard or else you may tear the breast and it will not roll well.
• Pounded out breasts will vary some in size. If you find that the ham and chees are crowding the edge, cut off some of the ham and cheese.
• Roll slowly and get the ends tucked in. Have your toothpicks at the ready.

1 hour ago, galenkia said:

OJ Simpson dies aged 76.

Hope the murdering c**t rots in hell.

The duplicitous self-absorbed bastard deserves all of the "Rot in Hell" comments that he will get.

I am watching a couple of TV series that have held my interest.

The first is (S01-S03) of "The Fall" starring Gillian Anderson (Xfiles etc.). IMDB 8.1 (2013 thru 2016 or so).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fall_(TV_series)

This is a well done serial killer detective show based in Belfast.

The second show that is holding my interest as well is "Bodies". IMDB 7.3 (2023).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodies_(2023_TV_series)

This is a Sci-fi detective thriller with time travel elements. It is a little confusing to get started with, but comes together well IMO, if you give it a little time. It has 4 time segments with multiple characters and it would be a good show to read the recaps after viewing the first few episodes.

I downloaded both of these from IPT, but both are Netflix produced series.

On 8/28/2022 at 11:11 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Seared Scallop Pasta

Tried a new recipe tonight. Actually, I merged two recipes to come up with a version that I liked. In reading the main pasta recipe I noticed that the scallop searing part was at odds with a seared scallop recipe that I had faith in. The searing times in the pasta recipe were just too long.

I instead seared the scallops with Alton Brown's recipe. I went a little longer than Mr. Brown's recommended 90 seconds per side and regretted doing so. The scallops were a little over cooked. Still decent enough, but could could have been better.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/seared-scallops-recipe-1916984

I then switched over to the pasta recipe, making one significant change. Instead of adding 1/4 cup of pasta water, I added 1/2 cup of white wine. I also increased the garlic and hit the finished product with a decent shot of freshly ground black peppercorns. I liked the result.

https://feelgoodfoodie.net/recipe/pan-seared-scallops-pasta/#wprm-recipe-container-5826

Coming off of the stove.

Plated

Mr. Brown differentiates between Dry and Wet scallops. I think I had the dry ones, as they fit the description. One wants to use dry if possible

https://fishex.com/scallops/wet-vs-dry

Scallops are hard to find around Bang Lamung. I found some Japanese ones on Lazada. I have also seen some in the frozen seafood area in Central Festival. The Lazada package only had 7 scallops, so you might want to order 2 packages.

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/190-210-g-natural-coast-japanese-scallop-sashimi-grade-fooddeehub-i2114294445-s7101582479.html?clickTrackInfo=query%3Ascallops%3Bnid%3A2114294445%3Bsrc%3ALazadaMainSrp%3Brn%3A0bd093cd969045e40cc5a26ad05e8b3a%3Bregion%3Ath%3Bsku%3A2114294445_TH%3Bprice%3A495.00%3Bclient%3Adesktop%3Bsupplier_id%3A100183992064%3Basc_category_id%3A14127%3Bitem_id%3A2114294445%3Bsku_id%3A7101582479%3Bshop_id%3A1582169&search=1&spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.i40.5b982412vsvNvc

 

The somewhat humorous thing about this adventure, is that I made this dish because the GF likes scallops. She came down with a bit of a stomach problem (too much papaya salad the day before I suspect) and could not even sit at a table smelling cooked seafood.

 

Seared Scallop Pasta - Revisited

Some of the younger family members of the Mrs are in town as they are on their Songkran school breaks. We had them over today and I made a large batch of Seared Scallops Pasta accompanied by a large Salad, and some garlic bread.

It was a nice time between pool time and the dinner that I prepared being well received. One of the taller younger guys used some black putty to try to address the damage to a few tiles on the reflection wall by my pool. Worked out pretty well. Looks much better. I still have to have a guy run a new line across the top to feed the water more evenly. That contractor is busy with another job, so that will most likely be after Songkran.

I am posting this mainly to show the food pics. A couple of points about the recipe:

• I have discovered that the Little Walk Villa Market has frozen scallops that are not bad. I usually buy them a few weeks before I am planning on using them because they may be unavailable on any given day. These can be found in the frozen section directly in front of the butcher area.
• In the previous post I said I went a little past Alton Brown's 90 second per side rule for the scallops and they were a bit over cooked. This time I did exactly the 90 seconds and they were a tad under cooked. I left myself a note to do 2 minutes next time. Raising the heat would also address this, but risks burning the fat.
• I also went a little Plain Jane this time as I was unsure as to how my guests would like this dish. I used pasta water as the thinner instead of wine. I also did not finish with ground black peppercorns.
• It went well. The crew bagged up the leftover pasta and salad and took it back to their condo.

Oh, I made a homemade vinaigrette for the salad. The link below lists 8 ways of making vinaigrette. Better than store bought IMO and can be done in minutes.

https://www.food.com/recipe/basic-vinaigrette-dressing-with-8-variations-213989

Pics

Pasta

Salad - I cut everything up in the Morning, covered with plastic wrap, kept in the fridge, made the vinaigrette in the Morning as well, but did not dress the salad until meal time. The salad was made up of Cos lettuce, Sliced Red Onion that was soaked in water for 15 minutes, a diced Red Bell Pepper, Sliced Mushrooms, a few sliced radishes, and some crumpled Feta Cheese.

Some packaged Garlic Bread from VM. I went about 30 seconds too long on the broiling step. 2 minutes and 30 seconds for next time. Still zero leftovers.

Plated

6 hours ago, Jobe said:

Just watched a HBO mini series called “ The Night Of” currently one season of 8 episodes. An American Pakistani is in the frame for murder. Good viewing not too heavy and an easy to follow story line. IMDB rating 8.4 definately worth a look.

 

It is a great mini-series IMO. Powerful performances by Riz Ahmed, John Turturro, and the late Michael Kenneth Williams. 

I watched it on HBO when it first aired in 2016. Dialed into in kind of a Pavlovian response as it took over the "Game of Thrones" time slot.

The Mrs is getting over (slowly) some kind of bronchial infection, so we are spending most of our time at home. Due to this I am watching even more video entertainment than usual.

I watched "The Insider" this afternoon 1999 IMDB 7.8. A little long at 2:37.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Insider_(film)

This is a somewhat fictionalized account of a true story. Some big name cast members (Pacino and Crowe). Crowe was nominated for an Oscar.

I looked for a link that would explain what is fictionalized in the movie, but could not readily find one. There are various links on the net where both Lowell Bergman (60 Minutes producer) and Mike Wallace take exception with what has been reported about what is the true story. IMO the true story is pretty damn complicated for many obvious reasons. This is not a linear series of events that occurred in a vacuum.

The real life Lowell Bergman (60 Minutes Producer) is also listed as an influential person in the evolution of the TV show "Frontline".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Bergman

Oh, I liked the movie, but it was a 2 sandwiches watch, meaning how many breaks did I take.

I downloaded the movie from IPT.

I began watching S04 of "True Detective" the other day. Interesting watch thru the first few episodes. The main star is Jodie Foster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Detective_season_4

The IMDB of 8.9 is an overall series rating, which is pumped up by S01, which starred Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. Still after a few episodes I am enjoying this show.

Speaking about coming out of a Chicago Winter reminded me of this Low Rawls song.

5 hours ago, KhunDon said:

How did acetic acid cause the tiles to move?

Seems very strange. 😟

The acetic was applied with a paint roller. Evidently a little too vigorously at times.  

2 hours ago, forcebwithu said:

Out of curiosity, what was the damaged caused by the acetic acid? What was the remedy the other contractor proposed?

The damage was caused by the way the acetic acid was applied. A few tiles were pushed in a little causing the water flow to look like the wall is pissing into the pool in a couple of places. Additionally, the water flow is no longer being released as before. There are places where there is no flow. This is probably caused by a few top tiles impeding the flow and additionally the pipe having been clogged a little by the dust from the re-grouting.

The new guy is going to replace the water pipe and realign the few tiles causing the problem. Unfortunately for me, he currently has a big job down the street so it will be a while and Songkran will likely affect the schedule as well. Oh, how I suffer. 🙂 

Really the dummy is me. I should not have paid the final installment until I did a more rigorous check of the final product.

I need to add a followup note on this.

If anyone has picked up on the phone numbers and company names on the worker's shirts, I do not recommend this company. That has to do with the owner/manager. The work crews were great.

The re-grouting of the pool tile was a first rate job. The acetic cleaning of my reflection wall caused damage to the water flow over said wall. This was not obvious until a few days after work had been completed and the bill had been paid.

We contacted the owner/manager about this. He came out, looked at the problem, and lied saying he had not caused the damage. He then went Thai A-hole (not much different than Farang A-hole) saying that he was a busy man. I replied in kind (maybe not so kind).

Anyway, I really do not have much in the way of options for chasing the guy for the damages. I have had another guy out to look at what it would take to correct things and it will likely come to about 3000. Paying a lawyer to go after the guy would cost much more than that and it is unlikely that a Thai Judge would rule in favor of a Farang over a Thai National.

14 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

Back at ya EP. I always have enjoyed Easter. Growing up mainly in the Chicago area, Easter tended to represent the rebirth of Spring.

I am not a religious person. Hell far from it. Still I think maintaining some degree of spirituality in one's life is a component to having some degree of self-worth.

And the babes in the picture are stirring my spirituality.

8 hours ago, Evil Penevil said:

I'd only want cream filling in the first one!

Speaking of cream filling, the latest U.K. export to the U.S. is deep-fried Cadbury filled eggs.  

Cadbury eggs have been an Easter favorite of mine since I was a kid.  But deep-fried???   No, thank you!

Evil

Geez - more health food options. When will it end? 🙂 

I watched "Poor Things" this afternoon IMDB 8.0 (2023) - length 2:21:36

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poor_Things_(film)

"Poor Things" was generally regarded as the # 3 movie in the running for this year's Oscar. It is critically acclaimed. I would describe it as an "artsy" Frankenstein-esque movie. It is interesting. The camera work is very well done. The movie moves between B&W and Color with some stunning effects at times. 

Did I like it? Pretty much, but I thought that it moved a little slowly at times.

Available via IPT.

28 minutes ago, Trip said:

I was on a recent long flight and saw both Oppenheimer and the 90-minute Documentary Oppenheimer the real story back-to-back.

The movie was ok, but it was too long and just dragged at spots like delving into his balancing a girlfriend and crazy wife.

OTOH, the Documentary at 90 minutes I found riveting as it went into details about Oppenheimer's ties to his mentor Neils Bohr and why Groves chose Oppenheimer to head the Manhattan Project and how it ended up in New Mexico.

At the time Oppenheimer was black balled by Hoover/FBI for suspicion of being a communist sympathizer/agent but Groves went to Roosevelt and they over ruled Hoover. Groves said he knew in the first 5 minutes of meeting Oppenheimer that he was the only man for the job because he could condense nuclear physicist gobblygook into a few sentences of plain English so that Groves and others could understand the meaning and importance.

Any way, here is a link to the Documentary free on YT

 

We disagree on the quality of the movie and that is fine. I was spellbound by it and yes it is long,

2 hours ago, Stillearly said:

Anyone watched Shogun on Disney + ? I loved the mini series when I was a kid and the book is fantastic as well ... I'm thinking about getting Disney for a couple of months 

I am downloading Shogun through IPT. I have not started to watch it as of yet. I am probably a month away from that. It has an IMDB of 9.3, which is unusually high. The offer stands for an IPT invite.

On 3/28/2024 at 1:46 PM, tommy dee said:

Please dont turn this thread t a political one,   thanks

Hi Tommy,

I will be a good soldier and not politicize this thread. On the other hand, this is becoming a highly politicized topic. I will likely open a separate thread (or add to an existing one) over in US Politics.

18 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

Oppenheimer was also available on the flight , but after watching KOTFM I needed something lighter.. 

Oppenheimer might be the best movie of the last 50 years. It won 13 Oscars. And yes it is a downer in many ways. Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders) who won the best actor Oscar award was magnificent in the title role.

The supporting cast (Robert Downey Jr. (Oscar Winner), Matt Damon, Gary Oldman (in a brief role as Harry Truman), and many others were excellent as well.

Christopher Nolan (Oscar  Winner for best director) did an incredible job of bringing this complex and societal changing story to the screen.

I liked the flick. 🙂

21 hours ago, Stillearly said:

I watched "Killers of the Flower Moon"on the flight back from Bangkok 

a Martin Scorsese film , with Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert De Niro , an usual Western 

I thought it was a good film , although unsettling , especially when you know it's based on a true story ... 

👍

Excellent flick IMO. If it had not been for Oppenheimer (a fantastic movie), "Killers of the Flower Moon" might have taken home some significant Oscars. I still have not watched "Poor Things" which was the 3rd highly rated movie of the year. I have it queued up to watch sometime this weekend.

I thought that DiCaprio should have been nominated for an Oscar. He was great in "Killers of the Flower Moon". I suspect that his lack of a nomination was in part due to his playing an unlikable villainous character.

John Mayal - California

This is indeed a tragic event and my heart goes out to the affected families.

On the other side of the coin, Jordan Klepper goes after the news reporting.

I got an unsolicited email ad from an Italian Restaurant called "Sicily".

https://www.sicily.restaurant/?_gl=1*pegndu*_up*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjwh4-wBhB3EiwAeJsppIMSRB0uaEmNTVdShEY-D5xc0QcYQaeT6MI8dG9k8rqXOgnTNHicHRoCe14QAvD_BwE

It is out on Maphrachan Lake. They have a huge menu and many of the pics look very inviting, Looks to be a little expensive for an Italian restaurant, probably close to Gian's for price comparison purposes.

Anyone been out here? I am thinking about giving it a try.

On 10/10/2022 at 11:48 PM, ChiFlyer said:

Thanks for posting this. As fate would have it we are eating out a little more often this week, as we are going out of town next week. We decided to give the Rain Forest Cafe a first try. Been a while since we tried a new restaurant.

https://www.facebook.com/RainForestCafePattaya

The overall ambience of the place is quite impressive as shown in the @CampariO pics. We were there on a rainy night, so my pics do not look nearly as impressive.

I like the place. The atmosphere is fun. The overall menu is extremely broad with both Thai and Western food. My take on it is the Thai food is probably the better way to go. The food is affordable. We spent about 1000 on two higher end dinners, two beers, and a sugar free coke. They do not sell wine by the glass, but have bottles available. I did not want to go this route, so I did not ask more. I did notice that the wine bottle shelf had one brand of wine. I would guess that it is rather pedestrian and also over priced.

I thought the food was decent. I was not wow'd. Still they have a huge menu, so we are likely to go again and try a few other things.

A few pics

The outside area

The al fresca inside area (I can not make up my mind, if I like or hate the lighting)

The fully inside area (we chose this one as it was a muggy night)

The GF ordered a spicy pork dish

I went with Sweet and Sour Grouper (it was decent, but no pineapple <- 😞)

 

The Mrs and I had not been to Rain Forest since my last post on 10/22/2022. We went the other night. I feel that they have gone downhill some and that their business looks to be a little off. 

Just saying.