Ajarn

Looks like everyone's a member of the burrito police around here Seems we're going around in circles, some making a distinction between fried and deep-fried, others not. Or believing that what looks grilled is not, etc.

Yesterday I got so hungry reading the tamal thread that I ordered a burrito from Tacos & Salsa in Bangkok. After unwrapping and taking a couple of bites, I snapped this photo.

I can vouch for the fact that this particular burrito was lightly grilled on one side. Not fried.

Note that it resembles the photo of a Miguel's burrito someone else posted. To me this burrito ('Mexican-style breakfast burrito' on the menu) tasted more like a San Francisco burrito than a burrito from its original Mexican states, ie, Sonora and Baja, but it was tasty.

Aside: Tacos & Salsa is owned by a guy from Mexico City.

The only way I can imagine a burrito tasting 'San Francisco', is if they stuff it with beans and rice and meat and salsa. Anything else isn't San Francisco, in my opinion

dear all, i'll be in chiangmai this weekend & wish to drive up to chiangrai then to taichilek, i can't seems to find any info through the internet, can anyone aid me here? i'll be visiting the casino there as well, is there a website where i can book a hotel there for a night?

All I'm going to say is, if you get on the road to Chiang Rai make sure you stop at Charin Resort at kilometer # 142. They have the best Pies you will ever have in Thailand:)

yeah, it's confusing this. does this alleged law change apply only to girly bars or to everywhere that sells alcohol?

any advance on this anyone? is this a unilateral and enforced law change or is it still subject to kind donations to the police benevolent fund?

This is happening everywhere. I was just at Freedom bar, a tiny little hole in the wall place owned by a Thai friend of mine. Certainly no sort of girly bar, and not in a busy area. They're shutting him down at 12 also. From what he said, and I think it's already been mentioned, there's a new sheriff in town so to speak. Somebody from down BKK way now in charge. I'm not sure how on the nail this is though.

I hope I didn't miss something but is the new sheriff in town here to replace the sheriff who did a runner with the c.m police bonus a couple of months back??

I wasn't the sheriff who did the runner.. Just a regular cop who took 1.2 million baht for the boys. He had done it before, and no problem. This time, he took his whole family with him.

In Phuket it lasts for one and a half days, no more. In Chiang Mai it's three days, Bangkok is closer to a week and Pattaya, well, how long is a piece of string! I'm happy to be in Phuket for the holidays.

You think the water throwing in Chiang Mai lasts only three days? Foolish

I've heard a rumour that the Governor Boonlert is in trouble as well. He won't open a land crossing with Burma at Chang Dao because the governor of Chiang Rai pays him millions of baht each day to prevent this. A Chiang Mai Province crossing would significantly reduce income at Mae Sai.

I don't believe this. A Chang Mai crossing would not effect Mai Sai in any way because at Chiang Dao, there is nothing across in Burma, no cities, no hotels, no nothing except a few small villages. Nothing to bother anyone and the CR Governor is paying the CM governor millions of baht each day? Jeez, why would anyone believe crap like that?

From Miguels menu, one fried burrito

Chimichangas are available online at Miguels

Chicken or Beef Chimichanga

deep fried 160 b

I must have an old online menu in my browser cache, as I didn't see chimichangas listed. Great to hear they have them now.

Your photo of the burrito makes it look more appetising than the one on Miguel's website Doesn't look fried to me, rather grilled.

It is a burrito from the online miguels website.

http://www.miguels-cafe.com/menu3.htm

To me (and Oxford) they seem the same...

fried past and past participle of fry1.

· adj.

1 (of food) cooked in hot fat or oil.

2 N. Amer. informal exhausted.

grill1

· n. Brit.

1 a device on a cooker that radiates heat downwards for cooking food.

2 a gridiron used for cooking food on an open fire.

3 a dish of food, especially meat, cooked using a grill.

4 a restaurant serving grilled food.

· v.

1 cook with a grill.

2 informal subject to intense questioning or interrogation.

– DERIVATIVES griller n.

– ORIGIN C17: from Fr. gril (n.), griller (v.), from OFr. graille 'grille'.

I am using the term as it would be used in restaurants. Deep frying means cooking by total immersion in hot oil. Pan frying is cooking by partial immersion in oil (thus, french fries and chicken can be fried in 1/4-1/2" of cooking oil). Grilling is cooking on a flat or slotted surface which is heated. A small amount of oil is used to prevent sticking, but the cooking is accomplished by the food coming into contact with the heated surface, not heated oil. Thus, grilled fish, grilled chops and grilled sausages.

Your ideas which some share, and some don't

To me (and Oxford) they seem the same...

fried past and past participle of fry1.

· adj.

1 (of food) cooked in hot fat or oil.

2 N. Amer. informal exhausted.

grill1

· n. Brit.

1 a device on a cooker that radiates heat downwards for cooking food.

2 a gridiron used for cooking food on an open fire.

3 a dish of food, especially meat, cooked using a grill.

4 a restaurant serving grilled food.

· v.

1 cook with a grill.

2 informal subject to intense questioning or interrogation.

– DERIVATIVES griller n.

– ORIGIN C17: from Fr. gril (n.), griller (v.), from OFr. graille ‘grille’.

I quite fancy driving a tuk tuk for a few days, maybe even owning one. Does anybody know if this is possible? I saw a very nice custom one on the classifieds but it was £1600. I just want a little runaround like you see all over the place, nothing special. Or if anyone knows a tuktuk driver who is going on holiday and wants to make some money while he's away, that would be good too.

I don't really want to become a taxi driver - but incidentally, does one need a permit to be a tuktuk driver?

Not sure about the driving permit, but most tuk tuk drivers rent their vehicles. You might want to check out a place that works on them and sells them.. It is off Suthep rd, going towards the university, just past the klong road turn left and you can see the place behind the building..

From Miguels menu, one fried burrito

Chimichangas are available online at Miguels

Chicken or Beef Chimichanga

deep fried 160 b

Don't worry about this guy I think. He is too visible in a limited market to be successful, maybe he should try it out in Chiang Rai or Issan or down south. Plenty of opportunities in other markets I feel. And maybe you can make a deal with him with you as the name owner

It's time to give up one of our little secrets of the area....

Our favourite place is Huai Khum Resort up near Mae Ai. It's about 3 hours away and perfect if you have kids as well. (There's a swimming pool, a large grassy play area and plenty of places to explore and hike).

Agreed. A very nice place. Quiet, peaceful even with kids

Not necessarily which shop, but which area. I bought last year 3 shirts, 2 sets of pants, 3 ties, 1 jacket, all tailored for 6000-7000 baht in Pattaya. I don't want to go much over that, is Chiang Mai comparable price wise or are the best suit for your $$$'s in BKK?

Do not let Neramit Tailor in Chiang Mai make you anything! I had a suite and three silk shirts made by him. Of course what he didn't know that I was not a tourist and that I would be around to make sure no one else got ripped off by his sloppy work. It was a total disaster. Course some of the fault was mine, because I was going to a wedding and did not take the time to check everything....just trusted that he would do the right thing and make me a suite that fit and was of good quality. Nothing fit, and the shirts fell apart after the first couple of cleanings. The crotch did not fit at all (first sigh on good tailoring is a good crotch fit).............the material was not what I had agreed on in the first place........again my fault for just picking up the suite and taking it blindly. My biggest mistake was letting him know that I was going somewhere in a hurry........yep,,,,,that was a big one!!!

Any hoo................don't go there.........I have heard of lots of great stories of folks who have gotten excellent suites from Thai tailors so just get a good referral from someone you trust.

Cheers,

Bill

So, I wasn't the only person to have a negative experience with Neramit. He did come to my house three times to fit me for a shirt and pants. That part was good. When I first got the shirt back (Parachatan style) the front pocket was not placed well and had to be moved, and the collar was clearly crooked to look at. All replaced fairly easily. The pants, requested to be black cotton, were brown and very cheaply died black. The black pants turned light brown after the third wash.. Cost 3,000 baht.

I currently live in an apartment/hotel off Wing Ping road, not far from the Airport Plaza. The hotel advertises highspeed internet, but the actual speed is a bit slower than dial up back in Canada. For that I pay 300 baht a month. Okay, I can live with that, but what DOES peeve me is the local area site goes down all the time. It was off from yesterday afternoon and it's still off. Nobody seems to know why. It is annoying when you are just about to post something and the site goes down for an undetermined amount of time. Sometimes it just goes off and then on again a few minutes later. I had to drive into town to do my last minute internet posting before leaving tomorrow for Canada.

I understand that too many customers on the internet at the same time can make things slow, but it shouldn't stop entirely.

Can anybody explain to me in simple terms the reason this might happen?

Welcome to Thailand and Thai Ways

I like Tachilek. I have friends there, so I enjoy visiting them there a few times a year. As far as accomodtion, there is some, but it is nowhere near the quality you'll find in Mae Sai, which isn't saying much. The only decent hotel there closed a few years ago. The people are interesting, but your driving is limited to the Metro area, so if you want to see the airport or any countryside, you have to sneek in. The three or four large wats are very interesting, in my opinion.

I would sugest Muubaan Tanawan. Good location, has a large swimming pool, and good home prices. I pay 5,000 baht a month for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. There are a number of houses available here for less than you are willing to pay. Oh, we also have decent security service too

Okay, got the website info. My other comments were regarding the lack of quality in the annoucement. All this I[/size]I and your pictures are way too big for easy fast viewing

C'mon Ajarn.

First of all you couldn't even see them and now they are "way too big"

No pleasing some people it seems

I can and could see the pictures. Too big to see easily and quickly.

I'm just making a suggestion on how he can improve himself here.

If you don't like it, then tough shit

Okay, got the website info. My other comments were regarding the lack of quality in the annoucement. All this I[/size]I and your pictures are way too big for easy fast viewing

I really don't understand the Miguel's bashers at all. It's the only authentic Mexican restaurant in town. There is nowhere else to go. Hey guess what? We're not in Mexico. I don't own stock in the company but it is a decent establishment. Sure, not every item on the menu tastes great (like the tamales for example). But most items are good.

I completely agree. We are lucky to have such a decent Mexican place right in Chiang Mai.

I'm not sure what the "deep frying" burritos stuff is about, because the burritos are not fried in any sense of the word

Maybe, their apple pie desert burritos are, but they are not really burritos and taste pretty good anyway.

I don't know about what you ordered, but I have oredered burritos from Miguels and they were all deep fried, like the apple burrito, but not the same... ?

I think now it was likely confusion on the cook's part. It has been a few months since they were ordered. On their website, the ones in the picture are fried, but not deep fried..

I still like them unfried in any manner

Got a website?

Should get someone who knows about doing websites. This example, to me, does not suggest experienced and professonal staff at your business

To make a great S.F. Mission style burrito you need to have a very strong and flexible tortilla, and you need to steam it so it can stretch to hold everything, rice, beans, lettuce, jalapenios, cheese, meat and salsa. Don't know why but all the tortillas I have had in CM are strange, more dense and brittle so prone to structural failure. As to fillings, I think Diablos has more flavor, Miguels has good chili though.

I would like to see a third challenger emerge to be the burrito king of CM. They would have even bigger burritos, assembled in front of you, 3 or 4 basic choices, stewed chicken, pork or beef, with a daily special, maybe bbq.ed, mole or chili verde. You point, they put in the tort, roll, wrap in foil.

I agree that would be a good burrito, San Francisco style. Your description of it makes me homesick

Also, never deep fry a burrito, like they do at Miguels

Unless my 25 years in Thailand has caused my brain to be a little rattled, I was under the impression the Adjan (Ajarn) was Professor in Thai. So on this thread alone we have three professors not to mention the other learned posters.

BB, I'm not suggesting your brain is rattled, but the word Ajarn in Thai means, 'respected Teacher', not Professor, though I do have a Phd in Education. It is not something that we call ourselves (except maybe as an avatar), but it is what others call us. I have taught here in universities for 19 years, and everyone I know calls me Ajarn for their own reasons. I appreciate and value being called Ajarn, and do my best to deserve the title.

Good bit of artistic licence there Ajarn - I'm not sure which dictionary added the 'respected' part to your definition. Any student in Thailand will call you 'Ajarn' because it's your job. With your 19 years of experience teaching at universities, I'm sure you will have discovered that respect is usually given (with age, postition and qualifications) and not earned (through natural teaching ability) over here.

In my experience, you are basically right, but not any student will call their teacher 'Ajarn'. Prathom and Mathayom schools are a good example. Some may call you 'Ajarn', but it is usually out of respect because 'Ajarn' is used mostly in universities. In universities, it is more common to to use 'Ajarn' with your teachers, but I think you will find that the issue of respect is more common. I agree with you that this fom of respect (and others) is mostly given because of your job, rather than qualifications. My job is not an Ajarn, but a teacher, When you are here more than a few years it will make more sense to you.

Why not contact a company that sells water tanks and ask them to do the job?

Why the need to drink?

Why the need to lecture people, Ajarn?

I'm simply stating my opinion, and asking a question. No lecturing from me, sir

go get a cup of tea. order some meal on the phone and get some rest Ajarn. I think u need it. It is quite hot outside as well and no sign of rain. put the A/C on while you're at it.

You forgot to tell me to go swimming, which I just did

Why the need to drink?

Why the need to lecture people, Ajarn?

I'm simply stating my opinion, and asking a question. No lecturing from me, sir