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Regarding the "7-day grace period".....what are the chances that the folks at the new Bangkok office will let me renew 8 days prior to the due date. It sure would help me avoid a major schedule conflict. Any advice (bring cookies when I go....talk to a certain person who is known to be lenient, etc.)?

CHEERS!

D

Best wishes for a speedy full-scale reopening!

As an aside, I commend the Sunrise team....and heck, I'll extend the kudos to Jorge (Tacos & Salsa) and to Billy and Monita (La Monita Mexican Food), too. All three mexican food restaurants have owners that consistently, courteously, and constructively reply to any and all comments posted on ThaiVisa. Other service business entrepreneurs who operate in BKK and who are shy about conversational posting (as opposed to blatant self promotion which presumably requires a sponsorship investment) on ThaiVisa could learn a lot from that.

Come chat with us here.....and we'll come spend money with you there. ;-)

CHEERS!

D

Fantastic! Good on ya', sir. :-)

If I had a dime for every genuinely good hearted plan (like this one of yours) I dream up....I'd have a lot more money than if I had a hundred dollars for every one of those plans I actually put into action. Thank you for the inspiration to make 2010 more of a "do good" year than just a "think good" one.

CHEERS!

D

Interesting thread! It led me to view several Shaolin videos on YouTube, as well as a few actual "fights" between Muay Thai and other disciplines. I've nothing much to contribute to this thread other than my sincere respect for any and all athletes who are far along in their journey to master their fighting discipline. May you never need it for anything other than sport.

This video clip is nothing but semi-related comic relief. I stumbled upon it while viewing more serious (and related) videos. Truly funny, especially if you consider the title of the video.

CHEERS!

D

Perhaps the overall opinion of prior Mexican Food Restaurants in Thailand is represented well by the "Similar Topics" section at the bottom of the page?

CHEERS!

D

I heard a talk given by a Thai official that includes his recollection of how this "measurement" program originated. Beyond this one issue.....the entire speech is full of interesting information and good humor. Definitely worth a listen. Here's a link.....I think you can watch it on video or download just the audio. Hope ya' like it!

CHEERS!

D

http://fora.tv/2008/08/01/Mechai_Viravaidy...lth_in_Thailand

Hey SOIDOG2.....thank you very much. The information in the doc you posted provided was most helpful.....and I'll go with 10-12% when I consider fat content from the Avo calories for the locally grown (mostly Pollock variety based on comparing pics) Avo's I eat.

Thank you again everybody!

CHEERS!

D

Thank you -- everyone -- for the feedback. Like you all, I do indeed love the local Thai Avocados (when I can...very seldomly.....find them). I'd be most interested in one specific micronutrient comparison between the local variety and those from California........grams of fat per 100gram serving.

For those who have tried both kinds (local Avo's and California Avo's).....do you feel that one contains more fat per 100grams than the other?

CHEERS!

D

Hi! I've been wondering about this for a while. The Thailand grown avocados that I occassionally see for sale in supermarkets in Bangkok are wonderful! That said, they are obviously different in terms of size, appearance, and taste (not a bad thing!).....and I was hoping one of the ThaiVisa farmers could offer information on whether the nutrition profile (calories, fat grams, carbohydrates, protein, etc.) for the local Thai avocados is different than for California avocados, and if so...what are the differences in their nutrition profiles? I've attached the nutrition profile information for the California avocados. Or you can find it here.... http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fruits-...43/0?print=true

Any ideas on how the local Thai variety compares?

CHEERS!

D

Cool....we're building our list!

Let's make sure we only consider an "owner" as someone who does indeed own more than 50% of their business. Bill Gates....owns less than 10% of Microsoft.....but KALBO123, do tell him the folks on ThaiVisa say, "howdy!". :-)

"Operators" (of a business) are cool to add here, too....so if someone you know from ThaiVisa is the managing partner or general manager of a business.....please do add the information to this list. (Gates flunks that test, too....as he is no longer involved in the day to day operations of Microsoft.)

Bring on some more names of owners / operators who hang out here on ThaiVisa and who also run great businesses!

CHEERS!

D

Just curious.....who won the chili cookoff?

CHEERS!

D

Quick background to my question. Tonight I was at Villa Market, Soi #33. I saw a male shopper picking up bottles of pasta sauce and carefully reading the ingredients. I walked up to him, apologized for interrupting his shopping, and then proceeded to tell him a bit about "Nana Pasta Sauce" (which was on the shelves). I mentioned a few of the facts I've learned about Nana sauces (named after his grandmother...not the Soi, made locally with many locally grown ingredients, low sugar content) from ChefHeat's posts here on the ThaiVisa forum.

It felt great to refer a product that I believe in.....especially one that is also owned / operated by a fellow ThaiVisa member. :-)

The question....which products / services owned or operated by a ThaiVisa member do you use, like, and recommend to others?

I'll start......Nana Pasta Sauces (ChefHeat), Sunrise Tacos (Greg), Sunbelt Asia (Greg), Tacos & Salsa (Jorge), Homemade Cheeses (Ezzra), Big Pizza (Chris). That's what comes to mind first, although I'm sure I've left many....sooooooooo many......out. So g'head and add to the list. ;-)

CHEERS!

D

Best wishes to you, CZHTECK.

I've not had major surgery done in BKK.....but I've been a longtime / frequent patient of Bumrungrad....and have never had occasion to be unhappy with the service or the doctors. I'll recommend that you check out Bumrungrad Hospital.

CHEERS!

D

A previous thread on steel cut oats included a suggestion to go (in BKK) to Central World's grocery store or Central ChidLom's grocery store. I've been to both....neither one carries steel oats anymore. Please keep the suggestions coming if you know of a source in Bangkok.

CHEERS!

D

I found a place (Actually in Thai Visa forum) making Cheese in Bangkok Thailand.

they dont make yellow cheese or smoked cheese, not yet atleast.But they do have Cottage Cheese, Quarke Cheese,Feta Cheese,Yogurt and cream cheese.According to their website all products are 100% Natural and fresh.

Now all we need to hope is that the Cheese is Tasty as well and we are on the way.

Btw this is their website for information: www.homemade-cheese.com

If anyone tried or tries please let us all know about the quality...

Hi WAGOOSH.......I've posted a review of this company (www.homemade-cheese.com) here on ThaiVisa....but as I don't have a link handy (you can, of course, search for it), I'll give you a summary:

The process of ordering is very customer focused. I spoke to Eran both on the phone and then followed up via email (he replied within 5 minutes). We arranged for an order that included about 10 items (from memory....they were quark, two cottage varieties, two feta varieties, Lebanese yogurt, and Tahini) and agreed on a delivery time window of two hours. The order was delivered on time and was well packaged in coolers that resulted in the cheese being chilled even after its journey from the company's location to my place. All items were DELICIOUS....and I think I rated most as 8 out of 10 or higher (scale of 1 to 10). The only one I think I rated as lower.....still a very delicious "7"......was the ricotta, which was a bit creamier in consistency than I prefer (I like very dry ricotta....just a personal preference). Make no mistake....even their ricotta tasted great!

Hope that summary helps.....and I think I put approximate prices in my full review.....I just don't recall them now.

CHEERS!

D

Hey Namoo....thank you for the reply. I'm with True right now (4mb plan).....and here are my three speed tests from today. I duplicated yours (San Francisco.....and local BKK) and then ran one from BKK to NYC (New York City, USA) since NYC is where most of the servers I communicate with are located. Notice below in the results the difference between SFO and NYC.

With this in mind....would you mind repeating the speed test one more time......and going from BKK to NYC. That would be enlightening for me and probably many others here on this forum.

Time for all three tests.....4pm Tuesday May 12.

BKK to BKK

BKK to San Francisco

BKK to New York City

CHEERS!

D

Hey NAMOO.....your connection speed is making me drool. :-)

What company is that with.....TT&T? True? Other?

Got a link to their URL by any chance?

CHEERS!

D

Hey POLECAT......while these two aren't specifically street food, they are both tasty and cheap: fried pork skins and fried salmon skins.....widely available at any of the grocery stores (not 7-11...sorry).

Enjoy! (hopefully)

CHEERS!

D

Thank you both for the replies and the locations of the sellers. I'll check 'em out!

CHEERS!

D

Hi Sheryl....I asked about Modafinil a while back and then didn't think much about it again once I understood it wasn't available in Thailand. In the past few weeks alone, however, I've heard about this "wonder pill" (Modafinil) so many times that it's impossible for me to believe that many of these folks aren't getting it shipped from an online pharmacy. A few of the people are folks I see at the gym regularly and I'd like to know what they might be in for should a shipment go awry.

What is the "norm" (I'm sure I can imagine the "worst case"....so no need to ask you to write it out) as far as outcome / consequences if someone orders something like a 30 day supply of Modafinil without a prescription from an online pharmacy for delivery to them in Thailand and customs seizes the package? (This is my hypothetical, and I'd like to keep it just at "30-day supply Modafinil"....so I'll appeal to all who are reading this post not to hijack this with responses based on other hypotheticals involving either larger quantities or more "hard core" drugs.)

1. Simple destruction of the package? If this is all that happens (somehow I suspect it isn't), then do they even notify you or does the package just never arrive?
   
2. Notification by customs / police by mail or phone with instructions to go to a local office and pay a fine?
   
3. Notification by customs / police in person with instructions to pay a fine on the spot?
   
4. Notification by customs / police in person with physical arrest and detention? If so, what then viz process and consequences?
   

Any other thoughts about this hypothetical?

CHEERS!

D

Hi! Where can you buy a "sleep mask" (the type that covers your eyes which serves to block out all light while you sleep) in Bangkok?

CHEERS!

D

Thanks but read my post from the health forum:

People with celiac disease or gluten intolerance should NOT eat spelt (also known as “farro” or “dinkel”) because it contains GLUTEN.

Information easily available by searching the web.

Go kindly,

-O

Huh? I'm sorry for what seems to have been a confusing post by me above. I tried to make a point of saying that their sugar free / wheat free cookies were not gluten free. Hmmm....I think I did that.

And the cookies and ice cream comments by me were just extras.......the main point of my post was to help you find what you were looking for, which was Guar Gum. Am I wrong about that? And to that end....I was simply supplying the name and location of the one place that I've ever seen that sells Guar Gum.

I was trying to help ya'......and still hope I did. Enjoy the Guar Gum!! :-)

CHEERS!

D

Hey Orangutan......I'm happy to see a topic I can help with! That's rare...lol!

In fact it was just two days ago that I discovered a place that sells both sugar free ice cream and wheat / sugar free cookies (not gluten free....they use spelt). Best thing is....the ice cream is sweetened with "Swiszi" (same stuff you see in the grocery store) instead of maltitol. No artificial sweeteners are "healthy"....and all are best avoided.....but that said, when the craving for sweet...and for ice cream.....hits me this is my new "go to" place.

Ahhhhhhhhh.....and for you.....they happen to sell guar gum. I'd never seen it sold before....so I bought some. Haven't used it yet. I believe the price was 300 baht for 200 grams.

The place is called "Ice Connection" and it's part of the "Verasu" group of retail stores. Google Verasu / Bangkok for details. The branch I went to was on Wireless road....very near the Plaza Athenee hotel. If you take BTS to Ploenchit....you can walk there within 10 minutes.

Hope that helps!

CHEERS!

D

I placed my first order on Wednesday after calling them to have a few questions answered. Good dude....name was Eran. He said they're just getting ramped up for production and thus far have mainly catered to a few hotels and restaurants. Getting on supermarket shelves, according to him, is in the works....but at the same time he said he was cautious about any overproduction that might compromise quality. Eran asserts that they only use organic milk from a farm "north of Bangkok". I asked about goat milk alternatives....he said they're looking into it.

After the phone call....we exchanged an email with my order and his reply with pricing.....and he guaranteed delivery at 9pm the same day (I asked for it to be delivered at 9pm....but he said he could deliver anytime, although for special orders it may be the next day).

I ordered.....well....a lot. :-)

Feta (both firm and soft)....haven't tried it yet....but will today.

Quark.....creamy / a bit too "sweet".....7 out of 10 on taste.

Cottage cheese -- low fat.......great taste and consistency, small curds....10 out of 10 on taste.

Cottage cheese -- 5% fat.......same review as cottage cheese above.

Labneh.......smooth, creamy, topped with herb infused olive oil......taste 10 out of 10.

Ricotta.......small curds....a bit "wetter" than I'm used to (usually more dry)......taste 8 out of 10.

Tehina........sesame mixed with ???? (not sure what they use.....sorry).......nice consistency......tart.....taste 9 out of 10.

Prices were between 360 baht -- 720 baht per kilo for the different products....and I ordered between 250grams and 500 grams each. Delivery charge was 80 baht....and the delivery guy was prompt (early!) and arrived with a portable cooler that did indeed maintain a cool temperature for the cheeses. Each one is packed in a plastic container (like the ones that the food delivery places use).....no problems with any of them.

Hope that helps!

CHEERS!

D

Indeed! Thank you, George and "Team Thai Visa". :-)

(love the Twitter updates, too!)

CHEERS!

D