timmyp

Thanks, I've seen the bluegrass band at the weekend market on YouTube.

Are they really a group? I see a guy playing banjo, but nobody else. There's someone keeping time on the spoons... in the background I hear a fiddle and some singing, but is that a recording backing them? Can't tell by the video. I'll probably stop by the market next week, thanks for the input.

Please let me know if you know if you hear of anyone else! I'm still on the prowl...

These kinds of trad tunes (Celtic music, bluegrass, old time) can take a couple forms:

1) People playing to perform (great fun to listen to and watch, as well as fun to perform)

2) People playing together just to be social (irrelevant if people are watching, not about performance)

I'm interested in both getting together and arranging and performing, but more than that, I'm interested in just hanging out and playing some tunes.

Unblock: I'm going the Xian Guest House tomorrow and getting some pb!

Anyone know where else can I get homemade peanut butter in BKK?

Would love to pay someone else to do the grunt work, especially cuz I don't have a blender.

jfd or anyone else: Any idea where can I get a whole big bag of peanuts? I'm sure they're everywhere, but the biggest bags I've found have been 500 g (like you described using). Suppose I could just buy a bunch of 500 g bags...

And thanks a ton for the photos. I've seen those crazy over-priced tiny jars, too. Can't justify buying those, too small, and silly price. Missed the Skippy when I was at Villa last time.

Many thanks for the input. I stumbled across a teeny tiny cup of cottage cheese at a small Tops outside Victory Monument BTS station that didn't really stock foreign food. It was pretty bad cottage cheese with added cream. Looking to buy far larger quantities, they just had a single lonely cup. THEN I stumbled across this beautiful website, Homemade Cheese Co.

http://www.homemade-cheese.com/

Sorry if you're all already hip to its existence. I'll see what they've got tomorrow and report back.

So did your iPhone wind up working okay? If you have a factory-unlocked phone as mentioned, then you're doing fine, right?

I have the iPhone4, running the same software version 4.1 as you, and the same firmware, 02.10.04. I don't have a factory unlock, though. My phone is locked to a carrier in Japan (SoftBank).

Sadly, my iPhone can't be unlocked from its provider, because as of right now, there is no unlock for firmware 02.10.04. Just gotta wait around for another month or so until someone figures out how to unlock it.

Anyway, please post news of your success using the phone after you arrived.

Can I get a prepaid WiFi card? My little netbook detects strong turewifi signals all over town, but I can't logon because I'm not a truemove customer. Is there anyway I can get a prepaid card to access the network? That is, without getting a TrueMove phone contract?

I checked online, but the truemove website only lists info on adding a WiFi contract to a pre-exisiting mobile phone contract. I can't get a mobile phone contract with anyone because I'm on a tourist visa for the time being.

I bought a prepaid SIM card from dtac for my iPhone, but that only works with my iPhone (and sadly, it doesn't work either because I have the one iPhone firmware that can't yet be unlocked, but that's another crisis...)

I found inexpensive natural (old-fashioned) peanut butter up in Chiang Mai, but haven't had much luck in Bangkok yet.

To back up maxman, Jif, Skippy, etc., is full of sugar and has more saturated fat than natural peanut butter. It's pretty much just junk food.

I encourage everyone who eats that stuff to graduate to some good-for-you natural PB. That said, I've been trying to get my dad to go off Skippy for years, but he's a creature of habit...

Er... anyway, please pipe in if you know where some other brands of natural peanut butter are hanging out inBKK. I remember Chiang Mai had "Tida Bear" brand (crunchy, smooth, both with and without extra sweetener) and some other brands that I can't recall.

Does anyone know where I can get cottage cheese in Bangkok? I checked the Villa Market, Tops, etc. Did I miss something? There sure are a wide selection of global dairy products, sure seems like someone is likely selling cottage cheeses somewhere...small or large curd, I don't discriminate. Please let me know where they're hiding it!

Many thanks--

Tim

This is incredibly out of date, but just in case someone stumbles past this posting again:

As of summer 2010, Tim at The Garden on Ratchadamnoen Rd still has people over on Tuesday nights for a song circle. Some bluegrass tunes get played there. Tim wants to keep the focus on American folk music, but they wind up playing whatever everyone feels like playing. Tim is incredibly nice, absolutely hysterical, and very accommodating to whoever wants to join in. Looks like it's been going for over 3 years now. Check it out, it's always a nice atmosphere.

There is also a band that plays Irish-Scots trad music over at the UN Irish Pub. I never got to see them play, but I got a list of their tunes. Lots of hornpipes. reels, and jigs. I hear they do a few songs as well. It's not a session though, it's a band with fixed arrangements (nothing wrong with that). They have their practice, then do the show at the UN Pub once a month. There's a flute player, guitarist, button accordion, bodhran, and a fiddle player. All players live in Chiang Mai.

Would love to play some jigs and reels with you or anyone else out there. Unfortunately I'm in Bangkok... please PM me if you're ever headed to the capital!

I play guitar. Can do melody or backup. Also interested in jamming with anyone who plays bluegrass or old time.

Is there any place in Bangkok with a Celtic music session? Also happy to get together to play bluegrass and old time music. I'm moving to Bangkok on Jan. 8, 2011, and would love to find some people to play with, especially a fiddler. Let me know if you hear of anything!

Many thanks--