Goinghomesoon

In Phnom Penh I prefer to stay away from the river, too many tourists and touts. Some other places popular with resident expats:

1. Java Cafe, 56 Sihanouk Blvd: good coffee on the balcony of a restored colonial house (they do lunches and art exhibitions as well). A short stroll from the Independence Monument.

2. Khmer Surin, No 9 Street 57: one of the longest standing restaurants in town, extensive menu of Khmer and Thai food in a restored wooden house, either sit on the floor upstairs Thai style or at tables and chairs downstairs.

3. Le Jardin, No 16, St 360: snacks and homemade icecream under outdoor shade. Has a miniature wooden play house and sandpit for children.

4. Friends, No 215 St 13 (couple of blocks off the riverfront, near the National Museum). Interesting mix of food, staff are ex street kids being taught job skills.

5. The Shop, No 39, Street 240. Yummy cakes and sandwiches, salads and drinks. Not an Asian dish in sight. For those days when I just needed something sweet, just like home.

We are embarking soon on a weekend bungalow, basically your typical Thai wooden house built from our own wood. We were sketching out plans the other day and wondering if builders prefer specific room sizes? I guess many building materials come pre sized. Presumably it would keep costs down if we didn't have to specially make too many components? Anyone know if there are preferred room sizes here?

Never heard of them but would be interested in feedback as well, rather than sourcing all our own bits and bobs maybe this is the way to go, we want to do a low key Thai style place for weekends.

Thai partner just enquired at office in Phon Phisai about getting *electric* which currently does not run anywhere near our land (fifteen mins drive from nearest village, which is itself about 20 mins from PP). They said the govt will run wires and provide service once there is a group of five homes close together. Trying to get them to quantify *close together* was nigh on impossible so we are going to try getting the neighbours together to write and request it. They said the wait would take up to 12 months.

Okay I just found Pansy's card with price list and phone number 02 252 7594 or 02 651 4990

Price for a 1 hour facial is Thb 850. I think they do the blackhead squeezing thing, I generally ask for a soothing one and don't go for the extraction action.

These two also have some stories & reports on Thailand - I came to the expatwomen site via one of the personal blogs listed above. Talesmag has reports on almost any major city you might consider living in, including some in Thailand. I find it interesting to read other people's opinions on places I have lived.

www.expatwomen.com

www.talesmag.com

Mac I might be going against the grain. Before I met my current partner I was a single parent for many years. It's not easy but given what you've written it sounds as though your daughter would do better with an older, caring parent than with one that threatens her and potentially uses her as a pawn in relationship struggles.

In Thailand you should be able to set yourself up with a good meabaan to do the household stuff and concentrate on giving your daughter the best possible early years development. Just some food for thought, hope you both come through this okay.

La Boulange French Bakery in Soi Convent www.la-boulange.com/products.html

Best to buy fresh over their counter but they also sell some products in Tops Silom Complex and others in the area.

Great hunks of sourdough, yum.

Sorry if this are basic questions, I'm not particularly computer literate.

We are handing on current laptop to a younger family member for use at school. Have deleted all unwanted files and photos as well as unused programs and ones that won't be needed. Are there any other things we should do to clean up the system before we give it away?

Also the laptop needs some keys fixed and a general physical cleanup. I would just walk into Pantip Plaza and find any store but if anyone has recommendations of someone who can translate computereze into plain English that would be great.

Oh gosh, as an Aussie of the Michael Hutchence/INXS era I still find it hard to believe he died. I was living only a few blocks away from where it happened and it was an amazing process to see normally rugged Aussies mourning. That man was sex on legs.

Thanks Bina. I was searching for some way to describe my BF and I and I think you got it. Personally I could not have had this relationship in my 20s or early 30s. Back then I quite enjoyed the agony of all that *internal dialogue*. Maybe a certain mental maturity is required to get to the type of partnership you describe. Lucky SBK seemed to come upon her match quite early in life

First Christmas in Bangkok. Will probably opt for a hotel buffet lunch with free flow champers or wine to keep the adults happy . Any suggestions on which buffet has the best selection of Christmas foods? What sort of entertainment is put on for the big kids and the little ones?

My BF parents have 2 solar panels set up outside one of their houses. I guess total size at 2m x 3m. They live in an area with no power supply at all. Solar gives them enough power to run electric fans, standard wattage lights and a portable stereo. Best was that the system was *no cost*, according to BF they were one of 5 poor families in the area selected to trial the system a couple of years back.

Thanks Sheryl, yes we think something happened in the recovery room at the clinic, she was sore but happy the first few days after the op (with 3 other post-op female cats for company). But for the last few days there was a yappy little dog in there as well. That seems to be when she got majorly p*ssed off.

This cat is very funny. This morning she pulled 9 year old's homework out of her backpack and shredded it. Then made a bed of paper *crumbs* and rolled round in it purring loudly. I swear she was grinning. First time we've seen her really happy since she came home. Poor daughter. I'm sure the teacher won't believe her excuse *the cat ate my homework* but she really did!

Well a little of her voice has come back but now she mainly communicates by biting, hard. Imagine a large farang with a small brown kitty wrapped around my lower leg biting down on the shin bone. Not a good look. She won't have a bar of her favourite soft toy and bed that went to the clinic with her, even though we have washed them. She's become one very stroppy little cat. Spending quality time with a cat whose main aim is to draw blood is kind of difficult.

Pansy's, 20/24 Ruam Rudi Village, Soi Ruam Rudee are great (Lancome facials). I've been going there for years. It's very small and quiet but that's how I like it. Haven't got the number with me but you can find them on Google. It's 2 buildings down from the back of All Seasons Place so I love to go in there and treat myself to some window shopping afterwards.

Sofitel's rooms are 2800 Thb on Wotif (3,000 on weekends) including tax & breakfast for two. They have rooms at less than 2200 Thb by booking direct on the Sofitel KK's own website.

Catch any red songthaew headed down Sth Sathorn Rd past the Lumpini underground (Sathorn exit). They go past the Alliance Francais, Aussie Embassy then a Shell station and turn left down Suan Phlu. It's a 10 minute, five baht ride unless you do it in peak hour.

I see Blue Elephant advertised on the front of The Nation jobs section today for staff for their restaurants in Jakarta, Moscow & elsewhere. Restaurant managers/Assistants, Chefs, Receptionists & waiters/waitresses. Do they generally use all Thai staff in their overseas restaurants or is this a new change, maybe to make them more authentic?

John are you putting these into other Villas as well? Suk 33 is just such a long way to go for some.

We have a very Siamese-looking cat like this <a href="http://basilisk.co.uk/siamese/copper.html" target="_blank">http://basilisk.co.uk/siamese/copper.html</a> about 10 months old that we have had since she was a tiny kitten. Like many Asian cats she has been very vocal and until recently "talked" all the time. This was not the in-heat-yowling but miaows of different tones and strengths depending on what she wanted. If you were not paying enough attention to her she would nip your ankle gently and vocalise. When I was working on the computer her favourite trick was to sit on the keyboard and "talk" into my face so I couldn't ignore her. She talked to her toys and talked to the TV. She routinely lay in front of the door and scolded any of us that tried to go out without her. She's a real character

Three weeks ago we had her neutered and now our cat seems to have forgotten how to talk. She does all the same activities but literally not a squeak from her. She had a full medical check-up when she was discharge from the clinic and was given a clean bill of health.

Would the trauma of surgery do this to an animal?

I had the same issue recently. My gyno said hormonal changes (nice term for gettin' older) meant she'd move me onto the regular pill, rather than minipill & that should solve the problem. Where's Cheryl when you need her advice

Well above market rate....one woman I have known for 15 years is currently paid 17,000 p/month (7 days a week with one day off p/month) for a family with recently born preemie twins that have a lot of special needs. She speaks & reads fluent Thai & English and saves her salary so that every year she can go on a tour-group holiday somewhere like Singapore, Australia, China etc. So she is well travelled and has a sense of how the world outside Thailand operates.

Another 2 or 3 families I know have excellent staff that they pay 12-15,000 per month. One of these expats is a single parent whose (legal) Burmese maid/cook/nanny has to run the whole household and be a defacto parent for her children as she travels frequently for work. The nanny is more successful than the mother at getting the eldest child (14) to do her homework.

You can't compare these staff to your run-of-the-mill 4,000 baht per month girl from the provinces. It's like trying to compare a professional nanny back home to the teenage babysitter from next door.

International SOS sell travel insurance when you are outside your home country. I think it's called the Expatriate Travel Insurance Package or somesuch, I looked into it a few months back.