ChiFlyer

Thanks for the map marking the "Local Restaurants Area". After looking at the map for the hotel we are actually staying in, 🤔 it looks like it is about a 2 km walk into that area from our hotel.

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.

oops - I posted the url for the wrong hotel we are staying at the link below: https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/dadfp-four-points-by-sheraton-danang/overview/?scid=f2ae0541-1279-4f24-b197-a979c79310b0

I moved to Thailand about 6 years ago and applied for a Non-IM OA Visa from the US. At the time there was no insurance requirement for an OA. The requirements between the O and OA were identical. For anyone who does not know, a Non-Im requested outside of Thailand is an OA and one requested inside of Thailand is an O. Yes one can request a 90 day O from outside of Thailand from certain countries, but back in the day the US was not one of them. It is now. A few years later, Thailand added an insurance requirement for OA Visas and grandfathered that onto any permissions of stay that were based on an initial OA. I have decent insurance grounded in the US. It will pay for ER and ER related inpatient within Thailand. Immigration will not accept that, but insists that one has to buy Thai based insurance. This is an obvious kick-back scheme IMO. The Thai insurance is very expensive for a person of my age and also useless for a person of my age. They do not cover preexisting conditions. At 73 I am nothing but a collection of preexisting conditions. I have gotten around this for 2 years buy buying pretend useless insurance from an agent for 3000 THB. I am a little concerned that as I approach 75 this may become a bigger problem. I have decided to convert my OA to an O and hope for the best. Step 1 was to renew my US Passport early so that I had more flexibility with regard to that. Mission accomplished. Step 2 of the OA to O conversion started today. Basically I am doing a border run to Viet Nam to kill my Thai OA Visa status. I have decided to go to Da Nang instead of Saigon. Part of me feels that I should go to Saigon in order to see the place that was central to the War that so influenced my life, but I feel that Da Nang will give me a better feel for Vietnamese culture. Tips on places to see from that perspective would be appreciated. We (TGF is coming with) will only be there for 2 non-travel days. I applied for a one month entry visa to Viet Nam today. There are a lot of ads to get one to spend more money, but I believe this link is actually owned by Viet Nam immigration. BTW - Russians are granted visa upon arrival, but Americans are not. Oh yeah, the war thing. https://vietnamvisa.govt.vn/ My visa request cost $51 USD. Good news is that I discovered that the TGF does not need a visa to enter Viet Nam. Some of the ads suggest that she does. I am assuming that my Viet Nam visa request will be approved within 2 weeks. I booked a very nice hotel for our stay using Marriott points. Anyone know this hotel and/or the surrounding area. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/dadsi-sheraton-grand-danang-resort/overview/ Looking at the airfares on Viet Nam Air, 2 round trip non-stop seats (Economy) will cost about $250 USD for the 1.5 hour flight. Step 3 of the conversion will be to reenter Thailand on the new 45 day visa on arrival, or whatever it is called now, and the see my agent to extend that to 90 days and a 1 year extension of stay. I am expecting those steps to cost about 25,000 THB. Comments?

Korean Ground Beef and Rice Bowls This is another versatile recipe that can be tailored to one's preferences. It requires no fancy equipment and the ingredients are locally available in Bang Lamung. https://ifoodreal.com/korean-ground-beef-and-rice-bowls/ I have tweaked the recipe in the following manner: Reduced the sauce by 1 TBSP of Soy Sauce and replaced that with 1 TBSP of Fish Sauce. Used 2 TBSP of locally produced honey from Khon Kean, instead of Maple Syrup. Used 1 TBSP of Korean Guchujang instead of Red pepper Flakes. Pic to follow. Change order of veg entry to the pan to -> (3 mins for eggplant, 7 more minutes for Bell Pepper and Zucchini, Tomato near the end). Pics Korean Guchijang In the pot Plated

Not sure what you are saying bro. I am an American who lives in Thailand. I found the series to be a powerful statement of what people will do to escape the oppression that they were born into. Kind of like the American Movie "The Godfather". My only point was that I needed the subtitles to understand the London Ghetto English. I also needed subtitles to appreciate "Peaky Blinders" and "Babylon Berlin", which I considered both to be very enjoyable TV series.

I picked the series up from IPT, so I was not affected by where the presentation of the content originated from.

Jomtien: Bor Bua Klangjai We went to a Thai restaurant that was new to me for lunch today. The TGF's sister wanted to get a few of us together. It is in Jomtien off of Sukhumvit. If you are heading North from Boon Kachana it will be on the left side of the street about 1 km before Makro. Look for a pink sign and it is about 1/2 km on a side road off of Sukhumvit. It does show on Google Maps and I would advise using Ms Google. https://www.google.com/maps/place/BOR.+BUA+KLANGJAI/@12.8942592,100.8966731,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xf594329f32bc52bd!8m2!3d12.8942585!4d100.8966731 To describe the place in one word would be pleasant. There are a number of small huts where you can sit with some friends and look over the really nice landscaping. Some pics: The huts The landscapping The main menu Some other reviews https://restaurantguru.com/BOR-BUA-KLANGJAI-Pattaya As a side note the Gai Krapow had my eyes tearing a little.

You should be able to find subtitles here. https://subscene.com/browse/popular/all/1

A few things that have worked some for us with regard to pigeon control on a 16th floor condo in Jomtien. On balcony-1 the GF has her outdoor farm of spices, herbs etc. I tried growing tomatoes etc, but just not enough sun and too much wind. She has this balcony pretty congested and has hung a few things that blow in the wind. The overall busyness of the area seems to keep the pigeons away. Balcony-2 is the GF's laundry drying area. Again the movement seems to keep the pigeons away. Balcony-3 is where I hang my swimsuit and pool towel to dry. I also spray this balcony with cockroach spray every 5 days or so. The pigeons seem to dislike this. I have been told that it is a good idea to clean up any pigeon poop, as this is a welcoming sign for more pigeons. Anything that is uncomfortable to their feet, as described earlier seems to help. Over the last year we have replaced 2 air conditioning units due to their becoming aged. In both cases we replaced the outside floor units with wall mounted units. This eliminated nesting sites and this resulted in a huge reduction to the number of coos that I would hear. Annoy the little bastards as much as you can. I throw water at them and chase them with the car and bike in the parking lot. Just wear the little shits out whenever you can. I have succeeded in running over a couple of them with the car. We bought a BB gun yesterday. This is a war that requires constant assault. Death to Pigeons

One last moldy oldie -> "Fresh Air" by Quick Silver Messenger Service.

Another Moldy Oldie -> "It's Nature's Way" by Spirit.

This very moldy oldie was in my head when I woke up today. -> "I Shall be Released" by The Band.

In case anyone is living in a well fortified cave and does not know this already, S01E01 of "House of the Dragon" (a Game of Thrones prequel) aired last night (US Time). It is available on IPT. One should read some of the comments about the audio for the versions available on IPT. I found a good one, but had to look around a little. The highly anticipated show is getting very good reviews. It has an initial IMDB rating of 8.8. I plan to watch it this afternoon.

A friend recommended this limited series to me the other day. I am about 1/2 way through it and it is outstanding. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Offer This is about the filming of "The Godfather". I am guessing that this is a historically based drama. An IMDB of 8.7 is well deserved IMO.

More Dilbert

I pay the electric bill directly to PEA who bills me directly for the consumption. It is part of my long term rental agreement. I am in the third year of my rental agreement. I should have labeled my post better than I did. I like this triple unit condo in VT2A a lot, but we have begun to outgrow it. We will be looking for a new residence starting in the Summer of 2023. I will open a new thread about that.

Sriracha Ramen Soup This recipe has several pluses. It has generally available ingredients, gets to the table in less than an hour, needs no fancy equipment, and has a very good taste. https://bakerbynature.com/20-minute-spicy-sriracha-ramen-noodle-soup/#wprm-recipe-container-38677 I made a few small tweaks. I added a 1/4 tsp of Cayenne Pepper with the broth. I use homemade chicken broth instead of the stated vegetable broth. I add a TBSP of Fish Sauce with the Soy Sauce and Rice Vinegar. The broth may taste a little bland at first, but it will become more concentrated after the ramen noodles are added. And the poached egg is a must IMO. On the table.

No - top number is the monthly charge in THB. The botton number is THB converted to USD.

I track my electric bill and it has been trending upward. I have a 3 unit condo. I seldom run the air in 2 of the units, but let the one in the bedroom unit run pretty much non-stop unless I am out of the condo, in which case I am pretty good about turning it and all of the lights off. I run the close to non-stop unit at 27C, but tend to let that flow to some degree into the other units with no air. July June May April March February January December November October September August July June 4916.63 6295.97 4646.69 3043.26 4182.17 3229.42 3000.65 2430.30 2374.52 2200 3556.96 3391.97 3565.54 5007.17 155.59 199.24 147.05 96.31 132.35 102.20 94.96 76.91 75.14 69.62 112.56 107.34 112.83 158.45

A few of us went to Mr. Moo's tonight. The menu indeed is similar to the old soi 7 location. There are a few items, such as the Roast Chicken, that are absent at this time. The Thai section of the menu is very deep. The place is about 1/3rd the size of the old soi 7 location. They are obviously still getting things in place. The food was decent given the price. Mr Moo did visit the tables. He has dropped some weight. The arrival of your dish compared to the rest of the table is still an adventure. TiT.

Ok - I screwed up the directions for Mr Moo. It is actually on the first street South of the Rompho entrance. Go about 100 meters and you will see the familiar Mr Moo sign next to the Chang Bar. In my defense the directions were initially described to me in Thaiglish.

I found these Dilbert strip cartoons to be funny.

Another gangster drug trade TV series that I watched and enjoyed is "Kin". This one is set in Dublin and had an IMDB of 7.5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kin_(Irish_TV_series) S02 is due out in early 2023.

Well - I guess I would like to recommend the "Top Boy" TV series to Top Boy's thread. This is a gangster drug trade story set primarily in London with a very heavy body count. Not sure what it says about me, but I enjoy shows like that, when they are well done. This one is well done. IMDB of 8.4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Boy It is a Netflix series and it is available on IPT.