xylophone

I have mentioned the atrocious driving in Patong, many times, and some of the worst culprits over the years have been the French Africans, so I was not surprised to hear the following from a friend who manages a shop here.......... Thai friend: – you know Big C, outside, have big crash yesterday (this was a couple of days ago). Me: what happened? Thai friend: – French chocolate man do wheelies on big motorbike and crash into other motorbikes, and have blood in many places! I could find out no more about this and I haven't seen it on any the news yet, so I would suppose that the guy is just injured and not dead, but it sounds like he got his just rewards through being an idiot on a motorbike – – mind you there are many of them here at the moment, sad to say.

I was here during that time and true enough corruption was rife, with even fake "Tsunami collections" being staged around the island of Phuket, for example. However the movie focused purely on the day of the event (and a few days after) and on the experience of one particular family and that was the scope of it........and in that regard, IMO it was excellent and very realistic

That version consisted of "fictional characters", whereas the movie had input from the actual persons involved, with the key people being on set in the making of the movie.......couldn't be more accurate than that.

Last night I watched a film that has been seemingly lost in the annals of time, yet is so pertinent to those on this forum – – namely: "The Impossible", which is about the 2004 tsunami, and is a true story about a family caught up in it. I had forgotten much of the content of it, so I was pleased that I did download it and watch it, and what surprised me in the credits was that although much of it was shot in Thailand, the tsunami waves aspect was shot in Spain and figures and other objects were added digitally, not only that, both Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts filmed their underwater sequences in a training tank in Spain! Well worth watching again and in it I saw a Thai guy I know here called Tao, who was drafted in as an extra for the movie, and I still see him around the place!

I've only bought two electric kettles since I've been here (17 years) and both of them were Sharp and both of them were plastic – – the reason being is that although the stainless steel kettles are "double insulated", I always steer clear of them since I got a bit of a "tickle" off one a few years ago! Never had a problem with anything made by Sharp.

I watched a movie called, "The Killer", starring Michael Fassbender, last night, and found it to be very average although it seems to have an IMDB rating of 6.7? I would probably give it something along the lines of 5.7, if that. Starts off very slowly, so slowly in fact that I almost switched it off, but I watched it through to the end, and whilst waiting for the grand finale, was presented with something which was just a little short of pathetic.

And this latest news should help Biden............. Stunning’ US jobs growth of 353,000 far outstrips estimates The US economy added 353,000 jobs in January, almost twice as many as forecast, in “stunning” figures that led investors to slash expectations for interest rate cut in March. Economists had expected a 180,000 jobs increase for last month, according to an LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) survey. Tom Simons, US economist at Jefferies, described the figures as “stunning numbers” that left him “near speechless”. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/stunning-us-jobs-growth-of-353000-far-outstrips-estimates

Sorry NanLaew, I don't as it was over 20 years ago and it was a dish created by one of Auckland's great chefs, so a very local dish......however I will sort through my old cuttings to see if I have got something.

I do buy the occasional Brie or Camembert and Stilton, but my staple is Mainland Vintage cheese (aged for 24 months) from New Zealand, and I find the selection of cheeses here to be very good!

Thinking about Patong nowadays, especially with the influx of Russians and Chinese, and the awful driving by the French Arabs, I don't believe I would have moved here at this present time, because back in 2007 when I bought my first house here, it was an entirely different place. Now the traffic is appalling and is gridlocked on many occasions, apart from the idiots weaving in and out of the cars and the majority of these idiots don't even abide by the law with wearing a crash helmet. The state of the roads is pretty dismal and there are patches of road where one has to be very careful if driving a motorbike, this as well as steering clear of the large drain covers in the road, some of which have sunk quite a few centimetres below the road level, thereby creating a danger. True enough there were a few rowdy visitors back in the day, but I always felt safe out there, whereas these days, not so much. I'm hoping that this Russian influx will only be temporary as I have only ever met one Russian guy I thought was genuine/good, and he was a "digital nomad" working from a place in Rawai. I sold him my old car and his English was good and we got talking about the few Russians that were around the place and I was perfectly honest with him and said that although I thought he was a good guy, I didn't like any of the others I'd met – – and his response quite astounded me, when he said that neither did he, so we weren't getting the best of them here even back then. To add to that I have noticed that we are not getting the "quality tourist" from Russia, inasmuch as many of them look like steroid junkies and even the women are heavily tattooed, even if they haven't got the rubber plunger lips! I would move out of Patong however I have made some friends here and it's always good to have friends when you have moved country; I have also made friends with several restaurateurs here and am able to take my own wine along and the main reason I won't move now at the age of 76 is because my Thai daughter will be finishing university in three months time and wants to come down to Phuket to live, which is where she lived for more than half of her life, and it will be great to be close to her after many years apart, and I'll probably try to buy her a little house in Phuket town, which is where she wants to live. So staying here is the easiest option, but probably not the best for my sanity!

I liked the play on words with your "food is a matter of taste", however I have to firmly disagree with my mum being the best cook I've ever encountered, because she was the worst cook I had ever encountered – – burnt toast, cabbage boiled until it looked completely white, a piece of fatty meat cooked in the oven until it resembled a very small "something or another", complete with the string tied around it, resting on a bed of fat. To add to that, she also managed to cook me an egg in Tepol washing up liquid, make a Mary Bakers sponge cake, which included Dettol in the icing, and finally managed to cook a Frey Bentos steak and kidney pie in the oven, with the lid still on, and of course the whole tin was horribly misshapen especially on the top because of the pressure buildup, and despite my shout, managed to pierce that dome, so the whole thing exploded like a Catherine wheel around the very small kitchen that we had, burning both of us just a little bit but making a mess on the wall and ceiling. Plenty more to add, but don't want to take up to much more room. PS. I do like cooking and eating Thai food and trying various recipes from around the world, and tomorrow I will be cooking Mole Chicken, whereas tonight it's a Chinese dish, Mabo Tofu (again).

I once had a wonderful chicken mole in a Mexican restaurant in Auckland, and tried to replicate here but my attempts were just okay, and fell well short on the sauce front. One can get just about any food here, even if it's a staple from the "old country", however what I have missed over the years is farmed venison, served with a port and blackcurrant/blackberry sauce (or similar). The venison in NZ is absolutely superb, and the NZ chefs are very innovative with their recipes – – venison sausages, served with peppered brie and mashed potatoes with a tiny infusion of truffle oil, served with the obligatory port and blackcurrant/blackberry sauce. I do miss that type of cuisine, but of course being in Thailand has other benefits to compensate, so c'est la Vie!!

Very true, and I have seen this here in Patong since I came here 17 years ago, and nothing has changed. However I got an insight into why nothing has changed because the Thai/Chinese guy who lived opposite me in a large house used to bring in these fake goods from overseas (read China) and distribute them to the small shops around Patong, and he made no secret about it, and more to the point on many occasions I saw several of the BIB sitting drinking with him in his garden, and they seemed friendly enough. So if certain members of the "law enforcement" are receiving "gifts" from the importer and distributor of these fake goods, then it's never going to stop. Furthermore, once these shops had been raided by the BIB, then they would still need to sell goods and that's where the importer/distributor came into it because he could restock them, therefore doubling his turnover – – a cunning plan!

more right-wing nonsense........stick to the facts. Oh, forgot that you are unable to do that, follwing the orange clown by lying again and again. Conspiracy theory nutjobs striks again! CLAIM: A new autopsy report for George Floyd has been released in 2023, revealing he died from a drug overdose, not from the actions of arresting Minneapolis police officers. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Social media users are sharing a page from the 20-page autopsy report that was publicly released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office in full on June 3, 2020. It has not been changed since. While the page says he had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, and did not have “life-threatening injuries,” the full report concludes Floyd died from “cardiopulmonary arrest,” not an overdose.

Intelligent people laughed...........!!

Tonight I will be cooking chicken breast with an Italian Arabiata sauce with just a little bit of chili in it and chopped black and green olives, accompanied by a few small new potatoes – – and of course the obligatory half bottle of wine (plus)! I still have some tofu left over from yesterday's menu, so tomorrow I may well revisit my Chinese Mabo Tofu recipe, with pork mince and mixed brown rice. AND, I'm trying to cut down on my carbohydrate intake so have stopped making my home-made pizzas (three plus a week), but I am getting withdrawal symptoms, so rather than make a pizza myself in a couple of days I will buy one from Da Moreno, the Italian restaurant nearby which makes superb pizzas.

I know but it was "suggestion" of mine!!!

Thanks ......so I will change my 1337x address as have just looked again and with either spelling it is not there!!

I have just this moment looked for E3 on 1337X, but I couldn't find it, only E2!!!!

I tried both spellings on 1337X, but it's not there, however E 2 is there, but when I moved to TPB, I was able to find it and I'm currently downloading it.

But then again, they are are toothless "body" and whose ruling means stuff all in the grand scheme of things.

I agree with that statement, and despite all of the arguments and the ICJ meeting, it's relevant to remember who started this war; Hamas started it and must bear responsibility for any outcome, no matter what. As I have mentioned before, Hamas must have known what the repercussions would be and now they are reaping what they have sown, but want to put their hand up to ask for an end to the war! Whomsoever starts a war must bear the responsibility for what happens during it and in every war there are innocents killed, but the big picture is what is focused upon, not that an innocent child, woman or man might be killed during the war, because they are "collateral damage". IMO Netanyahu should continue with his plan to totally destroy Hamas, and then go on to totally raze Gaza to the ground so it is uninhabitable, because that's where Hamas are hiding and that's where many supposedly "innocent Palestinians" are helping them survive. Impossible to live in peace next to Hamas, whose avowed intent is to kill Jews and erase Israel from the face of the earth.

On that note, I was looking for The Equaliser 3, after it was recommended by a friend, however it doesn't appear to be on the torrent sites yet – – anyone seen it? As I couldn't find it I downloaded and watched another movie called, "The Good Liar" which starred Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, and it was very good with a hugely unusual twist towards the end.

Rumour has it that they have already got a new manager line up..........his brother, Klipperty!

I am cooking Chinese Mabo Tofu using minced pork and tofu, and adding a little sweet and sour sauce to it at the end of cooking; to be served with mixed grain rice and the remaining half bottle of Californian red I have in the fridge. Lovely jubbly!