xylophone

Had an overwhelming urge to watch "The Accountant" again, so downloaded it and enjoyed it. Despite some poor feedback I have always like Ben Affleck, and another favourite of mine is, "Live by night" which I think is great, so if anyone hasn't watched it, give it a try and I think you will be surprised, despite an average ImDB rating.

I forgot to mention that the "love of my life" in the 60s was playing football, and luckily enough I got paid for playing as did the rest of the team, even more if we won the match. I lived for football and would play on Saturday and in the mid-week floodlit league on Wednesday, and again on the Saturday and also played for a senior Sunday league side, as well as training midweek whenever possible, so I was very fit and just loved my football – – although it didn't stop me from partying occasionally, especially in the off-season! This pic is of us lining up before the start of the Cup Final at Brighton's ground in 1968/9 in front of a crowd of around 9,000........plenty nervous!

In the 70s......travel and adventure:- In the 80s....White water rafting and sailing the NZ Americas Cup Challenge boat:- In the 90s....Setting up an investment division and playing tennis against Steffi Graf (a friendly warm up) in the 20s.....Thailand and my lovely Daughter Couldnt have asked for anything more!

Thank heaven that in my younger days we didn't have women with nose rings, lip rings, facial studs and the like, nor any tattoo's, or none that you could see anyway! Born in 1947, so experienced the 50s, and the 60s and 70s were brilliant, with far too much adventure and excitement to recall here. The 80s were good, with a fantastic job in NZ, which enabled me to dine out wherever I wanted, and date some pretty Kiwi girls – – wouldn't change it for the world, and I'm well satisfied with what I'm doing at the moment, which is not much at all, apart from spending far too much time on the computer and collecting red wine.

Sad to say that I have just noticed that a very good Italian restaurant I used to visit, along with some friends from our "Italian Food and Wine Appreciation Society" (IFAWAS), is no more – – it has gone and is being replaced by a Turkish restaurant, the name of which isn't up on the premises at the moment. It is in what is commonly known as "Soi Patong whiskey" or alternatively, "Soi Dr V" (after the doctors clinic on the corner of the Soi). I don't believe it's had much, if any custom since Covid struck, although I do believe there were some guest rooms attached to it, however it is a little out of the way and not the sort of place where one would normally pop into for a meal. All the same, I wish the new venture the very best in its endeavours, and I may have to give it a try in the near future.

Yes, thats the one........and a young looking Brian Cox was a surprise!! Also liked the music in it at the appropriate time; Iron Butterfly.....In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, as it suited the scene.

Jeez, I tried watching this, but couldn't watch it all the way through because I became nauseous after listening to the lies – – whatever makes a man (or a poor excuse for one) lie like that?? Unbelievable.

And when somebody mentions that Thailand is a "Third World country" some posters jump in and say that this is incorrect, it is a "developing country"!!! I would suggest that after this fiasco, Thailand is a country that has no idea where it sits in the grand scheme of things, and it is run by a bunch of corrupt idiots, so doesn't even qualify as a "Third World country" – – shameful, or pitiful, however you want to view it.

I noticed on BBC iPlayer that there was a movie from the 80s, called "Manhunter", the title of which I vaguely remembered, but could remember nothing about the film itself, so I decided to watch it, and am so pleased that I did because it was a very entertaining/good movie IMO.

Will look into this as I like Bill Nighy.......thanks for the tip.

You are right because I used to post regularly on the "Wine Thread" because collecting wine has been my hobby for 50 years (drinking it also I may add!). It had a few followers at one time, but if the law says we can't post/talk about it, then so be it. A pity really because it's such an interesting subject.

Sounds like you are a lucky man to have such a good wife, and who is such a good cook. Mind you in New Zealand I had a Chinese girlfriend (a very charming, witty and lovely lady) and she could cook Western dishes as good as anyone, and her steak was the best I've ever tasted! Yes you are right, beef bourguignon does take about 3 to 3 1/2 hours anyway, but if I put it in the slow cooker I don't have to bother with it for 3 1/2 hours, apart from the cursory glance after two hours, so no stirring or fear of it getting burnt and I can get on with doing something else. I've also found that the cheaper the cut of meat, the more tasty it is after the long, slow cooking Your mention of Beef Wellington has got me drooling, so I'm probably going to have to go out to a local restaurant where I know it's being served, and have myself a good helping of it. No photos sorry.

I thought any mention of wine on the forum was banned?? At least that's what I was informed by someone from the moderator's team, and I know this because I had to change my avatar which was a bottle of "The Hedonist" wine! However I did notice somewhere else that there was a post/advertisement for a huge wine showed/exhibition in Hua Hin – – so I'd like to know what's going on if possible. Thanks in advance to the moderator team.

I use one on a regular basis and find that I can produce a good end result with about 3/3.5 hours of cooking a boeuf bourguignon, a little less time for beef goulash, and the same with a chilli con carne.......but I'd better get off this subject otherwise I will be chastised by the "guardian of the thread" because it doesn't contain a pic of a curry!

Well I never thought the day would come when someone would start a thread on "curry sauces", especially since many of them can be bought in packets and jars, or frozen from supermarkets. The laugh about it is that a poster whom I have now put on ignore wanted me to post a picture of a curry I had made, which I haven't made for quite some time, as if the picture would prove how good it was!! So not being disrespectful to any other poster, a picture of a curry being made/cooking is no testament to how good it tastes. Go figure.

Thank you for the positive feedback............ PS. I forgot to add that I often took advice from some of New Zealand's best chefs, (some of whom I knew because of my position as Director of Sales and Establishment Marketing for American Express) and one of them suggested that I was adding a little too much to the lamb shanks dish, because I started to put truffle essence in the mashed potatoes. However he said that I was probably overdoing it because there were so many different taste sensations in the dish already, that the truffle oil infused mashed potato was overkill. So I stopped using it after that advice.

I have tried many of the jars of "cook-in" curries from different producers, and have found nothing which matches either those from a reputable Indian restaurant, or those that I can make myself. In short....I don't like them. My go to book for recipes is pictured below, and it has stood me in good stead for many years.

Available from Lazada and Home Pro......I actually bought mine from HomePro and now with a little discount. Link:- https://www.homepro.co.th/p/1185518?lang=th&gclid=CjwKCAjwjOunBhB4EiwA94JWsDQlcgGhsNbo1Q6BInyrZm_poGROr11PFYk6k2WFuOW_lT-ag-orixoCvG8QAvD_BwE

Everyone to their own I suppose spidermike, and I would never have thought that I would be living in an apartment, albeit 50 square metres with a large balcony, after having a large and lovely three bedroomed house on a large piece of land in the UK, and similar in NZ. When I moved to Phuket I bought a nice house and kitted it out to my specs, especially the kitchen and bathroom areas and was quite happy living in it along with the GF and her daughter, and whilst I was there I bought another house that needed doing up, because I wanted something to do. Jump forward five years and after the GF and I split, I found that the house was just too big for one person, and I felt like I was rattling around in it, although I'd had a very large house in the UK, now it just seemed too big and of course it had to be cleaned. So I sold it, and as I had already sold the other house, I needed to look for somewhere to live, so I searched around and found this apartment. I thought I would stay in it for a few months to give me time to look around, and here I am some 12 years later, still in it, and I don't have a problem with the space because it's all I need, and although I occasionally look around at other apartments, I feel at home here and the people who own it know me and are very nice, and is very convenient to all I need so why move? I could easily afford to buy another house if I wanted to, but as I'm happy and satisfied here, there's no need to do so.

Pleased that I found this topic as it is a subject near and dear to my heart, having just bought a countertop water purifier, after being sick of lugging bottles of water up the steps to my apartment. It is made by Toray (model no: SW9-8000E) and has some impressive specs, and as I only want it for drinking and cooking water, it seems ideal for those and is not intrusive on the countertop. The filter needs to be changed every 8 to 12 months, and I will probably do so after eight months, as the water here from both the government and the well, doesn't seem to be that clean. Not worried about water for washing and showering, so if anyone has any feedback on this type of water purifier, I'd be pleased to hear it. Suffice it to say that if information comes back that they are absolutely useless, then I will have no problem in ditching it!

Great kitchen n00dle and as clean, neat and tidy as mine, although my kitchen is smaller!! As I love cooking, a clean kitchen is important to me, as is a clean apt.

Already posted.......

Trying not to get off topic too much, but thought I would mention that at my Grammar school I came near top of the class in English and French, and surprisingly did well in Latin, even though I hated the language and could ever see the reason for it. Quite how much of an education was inwardly digested by trump, who knows, but his current level would suggest that at least he got to the grade of a 12-year-old.

Would also mean returning the up-front commission already paid.........

If he is is suspected of not paying the appropriate taxes, then put him on trial and live with the outcome. I am absolutely "anti-trump" and have often railed on here because of his dishonesty, theft and many other misdemeanours, so it's only right that Hunter Biden should be put on trial – – fair is fair.