tutsiwarrior

I'd just leave the preparations to the family...they'll leave it up to to the ladies at the village to do things the way they were done in the past, the wat for all the ceremonies including the fridge and the crematorium...I didn't have a clue when the wife died...

then they hand you a rag fulla ashes for you to get on with the business at the river...no muss or fuss...I'll go out the same way I suppose...

kofta using pork?...an interesting concept as it's a middle eastern/persian dish and pork is haram...I've tried making kofta using the frozen ground beef from makro but it has too much fat...and yeah you can use an egg as a binder, also some bread crumbs sorta like meatloaf with some spices and chiles added as in the OP's recipe...cooked the same way as meatloaf without the skewers...

today I made mac and cheese using grated Mainland 'Epicure' and not half bad...interesting to note that all the Mainland cheddars (3 types) cost the same from mild to aged...the Epicure (oldest) is tip top...

19 hours ago, BritManToo said:

150bht from the 'cheap' shops everywhere.

 

yeah, these clay pot grills are a popular item locally, sorta like a local version of a hibachi...trouble is ye can only fit a couple of items on the cooking area at a time...and no variable cooking height adjustment...not a problem I suppose if all you cook is some pork belly and pig offal...

I've found a new comfort food...miso soup...miso paste comes in a plastic bag from makro, simply dissolve a heaping table spoon or so in hot water from the kettle and stir a bit and et viola soup in 5mins....very comforting sorta like chicken noodle soup...garnish anyway you want, I eat it plain, I've always been a big fan of japanese food...

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

Tobacco Road made famous by The Nashville Teens in '64.  Interesting history about the song.

 

John D. Loudermilk wrote this song and originally recorded it in 1960. He was born and raised in the old tobacco warehouse city of Durham, North Carolina.

 

"I got the idea for writing that song from a road in our town that was called Tobacco Road because it was where they rolled the hogsheads full of Tobacco down to the river to be loaded onto barges. Along that road were a lot of real tough, seedy-type people, and your folks would have just died if they thought you ever went down there."

 

Does that sound like Kingston upon Hull, bannork?  You ain't one of those seedy-types, is ya?

 

 

later on Loudermilk lived around the corner from my grandparents on Belmont Blvd in Nashville...my pal Sandra informed me and I said 'what Loudermilk?' and she said of Tobacco Road fame and I said that's the Nashville Teens...and she said he didn't perform ye silly, he wrote the song...

she wrote a pop music column for the Peabody Demonstration School newspaper and got to meet the Rolling Stones as well...

jeezuz, where'd they get this shed?...ye look back on the music and it seems unbelieveable...

it's all blues derivative, of course...

Mainland brand cheeses (NZ?), 3 types of cheddar, edam and gouda suit me...pretty much available everywhere, a thai concession to corrupt westerners...

some Rye - vita would do me as well...there's only so much rice and muu daeng that you can eat...

gots to have me some ob dat meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy with plenty ob cornbread...

grandma quit listenin' to me after awhile and alternated with southern fried chicken with green beans and hog jowl...

'tutsi! come over here and get yer supper, won't be no ice cream until ye finish it!...'

5 hours ago, Digitalbanana said:

Kevin Coyne - I Want My Crown [1973]

 

Big Joe Williams' wife does this best when she sings:

I done my best now I want my crown

sometimes stumblin', fallin' down

almost level wid de groun'

I done the best I can now I want my crown...

on the Arhoolie album with Big Joe on 'Sloppy drunk blues'. (he's on the front sleeve smilin' with his 9 string and a bottle of gin)...someone see if they can find it...I been lookin' fer it since they had google and youtube...

whoo - ee baby, baby bring me one more half a pint (I believe that Dennis Hopper lifted that line in Apocalypse Now!)...

5 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

No, it doesn't just go away but you can adjust your lifestyle especially diet ( by that I mean the foods you eat as well as the way you eat them ).   Sufficient plain water intake is essential.     Exercise can be as easy and simple as you like as long as you benefit from it.    If you are still working try not to burn out too often that certainly catches up with you.    Having had multiple TIA's and a stroke with complications ( almost total muscle loss ) I am fitter now than before.    My heart rate is very low but I look at this in a twisted logic way that it may reduce the risk of blowing a fuse.
Good luck with whatever treatment you use.

I had a stroke about 10 years ago and lost the use of my right side for about 6mos, finally gave up work altogether about 3 years ago and went home and got into bed for about a month to recuperate...the work was easy, the traffic on the roads in the middle east and associated stress kicked my <deleted>...lost about 6kgs along the way by tweaking my diet...I usually check the BP about once per day and take the same meds as 10 years ago but only as needed (using a BP monitor) instead of daily...

a lot of us don't realise that we have high BP until a medical emergency arises like a stroke in my own case (combined with badly controlled diabetes)...the doc in Hanoi just pushed some meds at me and said to come and see him later on to see if they worked...I was healthy otherwise except fer drinkin' too much...a friend sat with me and said 'all that vodka can't be good fer ye, ye oughta slow down a bit' and she was right...

'and start eatin' yer breakfast in the mornin'' 'not until ye get some noodles...' 'stinkin' noodles are fer tourists in Hanoi...' 'at least some fresh baguettes would be nice...get the cook to learn how to make some...' the mundane assumes a greater significance on the remote north central coast of Vietnam...

12 minutes ago, Speedo1968 said:

No, it doesn't just go away but you can adjust your lifestyle especially diet ( by that I mean the foods you eat as well as the way you eat them ).   Sufficient plain water intake is essential.     Exercise can be as easy and simple as you like as long as you benefit from it.    If you are still working try not to burn out too often that certainly catches up with you.    Having had multiple TIA's and a stroke with complications ( almost total muscle loss ) I am fitter now than before.    My heart rate is very low but I look at this in a twisted logic way that it may reduce the risk of blowing a fuse.
Good luck with whatever treatment you use.

I had a stroke about 10 years ago and lost the use of my right side for about 6mos, finally gave up work altogether about 3 years ago and went home and got into bed for about a month to recuperate...the work was easy, the traffic on the roads in the middle east and associated stress kicked my <deleted>...lost about 6kgs along the way by tweaking my diet...I usually check the BP about once per day and take the same meds as 10 years ago but only as needed (using a BP monitor) instead of daily...

my understanding is that once you're diagnosed with high BP it doesn't just go away and that it's important to monitor frequently and adjust the medication accordingly...I started with a daily dose 10 years ago and now dose it enough to keep things within 135 - 155/70 - 85 (about twice per week...) it's a toss up between yer BP and the extra load you put on yer liver and kidneys ingesting the meds...

I'm with lopburi3 on this...do an eye exam at Rutnin then copy the prescription details on the Zenni internet order form, the frame prices are way cheaper than any you would find in Thailand...delivery in under 2 weeks from Hong Kong...includes progressive lenses, etc...

you also get to talk to an opthalmologist at Rutnin about any specific probs you may have...diabetes, cataracts, etc...

1 minute ago, stephenterry said:

I would also suggest junking added sugar processed products - and Thai cooked products where I have to request no sugar, please. 

a sprinkle of sugar is OK but a lot of thais like to high dose it with the kweiteo which is no good...I add a small bit to my muu daeng usually...

'the falang wants kweiteo...hold the sauces and the sugar...' 'tell that fat bastid to hold it between his knees...' (famous Jack Nicholsen line from the film '5 easy pieces')

22 hours ago, Sheryl said:

As above. Which for Thai food mostly means preparing your own.

 

Fish sauce and soy sauce also need to be avoided or get low sodium brand of soy sauce and use sparingly.

very true...a lot of common asian cooking sauces (what would asian food be without sauces?) are very high sodium...soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, etc...

the un filtered Camel brand was sold to the japanese some years ago...they don't taste much like the old Camels and only available at airport duty free places...down the market you can find Black Cat brand local tobacco and I useta smoke roll ups some years ago...pretty rasty stuff, after drinkin' and smokin' that stuff all night it felt like cancer the next morning...you also can find tobacco in bulk in big sacks...whoa nellie!

need to find locally supplied Copenhagen or scandinavian snoose for a nicotine fix...smoking is uncool...

I'm on my 2nd OMRON unit, was first diagnosed with high BP in 2010 (with badly controlled diabetes and a mild stroke in combination to boot)...a good way to monitor the effectiveness of BP meds as they are expensive...probably one of the best products on the market for home use...

3 hours ago, Banana7 said:

I'll do more research. However, ARS currency is plummeting which reminds me of Thailand's currency issues back in 1997-1998.

 

In May 2019 USD=44.3 ARS, today 15 Dec. 2019 USD= 59.63 ARS, and ARS will probably continue to devalue.

 

 

back in the 90s it was worse and I wondered how a big vibrant place like Buenos Aires could survive...I was in Bolivia in the 80s and shops in Cochabamba simply shut down, when youl'd ask what something cost they'd say 'no tiene precio' meaning that the price could double the next day...strangely enough meat and veg remained nearly the same...locally produced...

hyper inflation is really bad and can seriously screw things up and cause chaos...hard to find a pack of smokes sometimes...folks useta barter fer stuff when it got bad and hoard making the problems worse...

3 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Indeed on that point you are entirely correct. Thanks for that and I definitely should have known better as I've toured around Costa Rica. I might have been thinking about Bluefields, Nicaragua in a neighboring country on the mainland that does indeed have a Caribbean culture. 

I always heard that Bluefields was a malaria ridden s***hole that was best stayed away from like most places on the nica caribbean coast...

1 minute ago, grifbel said:

Wrong.  The 7 year Flor de Cana is much better and excellent value.

I was just talkin' about the Flor de cana available locally in small shops in Nica...never seen anything but the standard white rum and it was excellent value...sometimes cheaper than bottled water...

19 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Good old Jerry, vlogger expat in Mexico, shares the recent results of yet another best places to retire abroad findings. Some interesting details:

 

The TOP 5 are all in Latin America!

Mexico is number one!

Nicaragua is in the top ten! (Has it improved recently?)

Thailand has declined to be OFF the top ten. (No surprise.)

 

 

 

1 - Mexico

2 - Panama

3 - Ecuador

4 - Costa Rica

5 - Colombia

6 - Malaysia

7 - Spain

8 - Nicaragua

12 - Thailand

Matagalpa and Esteli in Nicaragua are worth investigating for cheap retirement...I visited both places 30 years ago and they had their charm, nicer than Leon and Grenada (high and mountainous and cooler) and both places since inhabited by gringo retirees...there ain't much to the locally prepared food (tacos 'al pastor' and black beans mostly) but there are markets everywhere for those that cook...

and that Flor de Cana white rum can't be beat anywhere...better than any caribbean rum that I've tasted...the beer ain't bad either...stay as far away from Managua as possible, never been in a more horrible place...and back in those days I thought that I was tough...

I usually get whole chicken breasts from the vendor's bin at the traditional market...quite nice with green curry paste and aubergines, they look to be fresh most of the time...also good in indian curries with tomatoes, onions, fresh chiles, etc...nice with freshly made chapattis..

if yer havin' problems with the quality of yer meat a marinade before cooking is always recommended (olive oil based for western, soy sauce based for asia, etc)...always gotta check the cooking arrangement like oven, stove top, etc with temperature adjustments to boot...I'm eatin' a lot less meat these days as my digestion can't handle it...a lot more veg and tofu, etc...

also good fer the bowel movements...be judicious with yer spices and chiles...fresh chiles at the market these days always merit scrutiny...

reheated stir fry noodles tonite, mmm good...

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/09/vegan-recipe-meera-sodha-mee-goreng-noodles-carrot-red-cabbage-and-tofu

once again

for those that have recently obtained a non immigrant 'o' visa based on retirement

I'd like info regarding the application requirements at either Penang or Savannakhet for a single or multiple entry non immigrant 'o' visa based on retirement, specifically

• financials including document requirements from the bank, etc...amounts? any seasoning required? thai bank required?
• waiting times (to book return flights, hotels, etc)
• requirements for tickets out of Thailand?
• and any other recent info for those two locations

many thanks...