jfchandler

Here's a real example of frijole crazyness in Thailand....

Went shopping at the Villa Market, Sukhumvit Soi 2 yesterday, and saw on the shelf their latest brand on frijoles....Casa Fiesta...

On one of the end caps at the front of the store, they have a section of Mexican food.... and I saw the cans there... priced to my surprise at 73 baht per can...

Then, went one aisle over to the canned foods section where they have various kinds of beans... And saw the exact same brand of frijoles on the shelf there priced at 155 baht per can...same price I'd see in Villa before....

Grabbed a couple of the 73 baht cans on the shelf, and took them up to the cash register and had the cashier check the price... Sure enough... rang at 73 baht... So I took them home with me...

Didn't try price checking the regular cans priced at 155 baht... But I checked both versions and both exactly the same. The lower price one not expired or anything like that...

So...if you happen to be buying Casa Fiesta at Villa, you might check both locations in the store (Mexican and beans) and see if you find the lower price at other stores as well....

I'd be interested in doing some school volunteering also -- not because I need that to cover any kind of visa, but just for a variety of other reasons.

Clearly, the law requires a work permit for volunteering in Thailand. But, I've been reading here about the supposed hefty increases in the fees associated with new work permits. And those accounts made me think it unlikely a school would undertake those expenses on behalf of a part-time (farang) volunteer.

I'm happy to spend my time on behalf of a volunteer school venture. But I certainly don't want to get tagged with a 20,000 baht annual work permit fee for the privilege of doing so.

So, just to be clear on this....

1. What is the current govt fee associated with a new work permit application?

2. Is there a difference between what is actually currently being charged now and the maximum allowable amount the law passed last year allows the government to assess...if they choose to?

3. Are there any provisions about who is responsible for paying the fee for a work permit, i.e., the employee/volunteer or the employer??? If the employer won't, then it's up to the employee/volunteer to pony up instead?

4. I'm assuming there is no special category of work permit (and related fee) applicable to volunteering -- though one might think there ought to be.

I too want to add my thanks to TV for helping sponsor the evening and to BKK James for his organizing, notwithstanding the fact that he both arrived late and left early (relatively speaking).... Had a great time and enjoyed meeting (or trying to meet) with everyone in attendance...

Had the great pleasure of accompanying one charming lady (MidoriApple) and meeting another one for the first time while there (ThiThi). Just goes to show there are some definite cuties lurking out there in ThaiVisa land....

Also, for the record....

1. I brought no ladyboys with me... just one real 110% lady. So I hope this lays to rest the ill-considered banter on this LB subject...

2. I also spent the evening socializing with some very nice TV gents, too many of whom have the wretched habit of smoking cigarettes. This notwithstanding, I said nothing to anyone all night long about being choked by fumes... I held my breath (and comment) until today in the relative safety of my smoke-free home....

Can't wait for the next one.... Cheers....

Read the post above... closed Sunday and Monday...

Happy Hour Specials at the Huntsman

I'm down... as they say back in my former home...

Last time at the Soi 8 pub, I brought along 4 ladies and one very nice katoey, which meant we ended up with our own separate table... This time, I promise to be more modest....

We are honoured! Willing to put up with a venue that allows smoking.

No problem James... We can having smoking and non-smoking sections for our TV gathering... Non-smoking section there in the pub... Smoking section outside on the street... Easy!!!!

Three times actually... Ya.. don't ask...

I'm down... as they say back in my former home...

Last time at the Soi 8 pub, I brought along 4 ladies and one very nice katoey, which meant we ended up with our own separate table... This time, I promise to be more modest....

I'm midway thru the preparation process of my first homemade batch in Thailand....

I first soaked the pinto beans from about 1 pm one day until about 10 am the next morning, then I plunked them into my "smart" electronic controlled rice cooker, covered with a lot of water. Ran the rice cooker cook cycle once, and it took a LONG time, much longer than if I was preparing rice, maybe double or more. But when the first cycle was done, almost all the water from the beans in the pot was gone and the remaining beans were very soft and tender after just one cooking cycle. Didn't need the second one. But again, that was with a "smart logic" style rice cooker.

Tomorrow is the stove cooking, spice adding, mashing and final preparation.

I was in the Ari Villa today and saw that the only refried pinto's they have for sale are a few rusty cans of Casa Fiesta for 159 baht each. I remember well a couple of years ago when Villa decided to triple the price of Casa Fiesa refried beans for no good reason.

<deleted> is it with the importer that they can't just supply the market with beans! I wonder if there is an economically rational reason. It appears to me that whenever they bring in a shipment of S and W canned black beans, for example, they immediatly sell out. Ditto for the Rosarita products. Maybe I'm missing something about the market?

Ricklev, I concur about this and shake my head in wonder...

Until a few months ago, Villa Markets regularly had Rosarita canned frijoles in the different varieties priced at either 70 something baht or even a couple varieties at 53 baht, the later being a pretty good price for Thailand. Now, Rosarita seems permanently gone from Villa (I've asked at the stores and gotten no explanation) and the only alternative is the Casa brand priced at nearly 160, which now seems available sometimes.

Can someone explain for me why the same basic can of refried beans goes from 53/70+ baht to 159 baht because it's another brand? As someone famous once said, "beans is beans!!!"

That's interesting, Dotcom... So you've got a pub here that really closes on both Sunday and Monday??? Guess no Sunday roast there....

Had a great night last night, and tried two new places for the first time -- both earning high marks...

1. Had dinner at Coffee Beans by Dao, the Soi Ruamrudee branch, maybe 200 meters (easy walk) up the soi from Ploenchit BTS station. (Other CBBD locations at Ekamai, Rajdamri, Paragon, and Central World). Same Ruamrudee complex hosts Bacchus wine bar and a Vietnamese restaurant, name something like Delices. For Valentine's Day, CBBD gave a long stemmed red rose to each table and a complimentary small desert, which both were nice, thoughtful touches...

But, mainly, they have a very interesting and broad menu, a good selection of drinks and a very good selection of deserts including various cheesecakes. Entrees (Thai and western) tend to run in the 200 to 300 per range, while non-alcohol drinks were around 100 and the deserts seemed to run about 130. For dinner, non alcohol drinks and desert for two people, our total bill ran about 1,100 baht.

Among the good points, the service was very efficient and prompt, we had the choice of sitting inside in a very pleasant, nicely done dining room (draperies and upholstered chairs) or sitting outside/out front on a covered patio complete with misters (water cooling spray). We took the outside patio, sitting at a large table on a couch together. The place was busy at 6 pm and got busier as the night went on. The crowd on Valentine's Day was 90% Thai, including a Thai TV series star that my GF spotted nearby us.

2. Later in the evening, went to Ana's Garden on Soi Thong Lor, also about 200 meters up from Sukhumvit Road on the left side of the street. Easy walk from Thong Lor BTS, or a very short taxi ride. As someone who's perpectually hot in BKK, this was a great place for the evening. The restaurant in front feels like an oasis, with lots of running water and many strong fans throughout creating a cooling breeze. The restaurant is basically a very large outdoors covered patio in the midst of trees.

Again, good, efficient and prompt service. Decent prices in the 150 to 300 per entree range. In the back they have a bar and DJ that starts nightly about 9 pm in an enclosed (indoors area). But on this night, we only stayed for dinner and drinks, and left the dancing/DJ part for another visit. Only a small markdown to Ana's for having a rasberry margarita on the menu, but finding out after I'd ordered one, that they'd run out of rasberry makings for the night, and no other fruit margaritas on offer. But the atmosphere in the restaurant was great, being the kind of place where I'd love to come and enjoy spending the whole night. The location is right fronting on Thong Lor, but the word that keeps coming to mind to describe Ana's is OASIS...

Great choices for Valentine's Day. Great choices for any day.

Ok...so now it's 1 pm... either no one's awake yet...or... Thailand is full of a bunch of romantic zeros!!!

As George Bernard Shaw said: "There is no love more sincere than the love of food"

So, for us, no need to go out tonight to eat a bland and overpriced menu in an overcrowded place surrounded by non-efficient waiters.

But we definitely go for a jazzy Sunday brunch, tomorrow.

It's a great venue and has been very well reviewed elsewhere... But you ought to have mentioned along with your recommendation... the price is 1,600 baht++ per adult.

At that price per person, you can buy a lot of night time food/love....

I'm thinking about...

Coffee Beans by Dao (multiple locations) for early.....

Ana's Garden or Face Bar or To Die For for middle...

and late... not sure.... maybe someplace open nearly or all night.... Banrai Coffee at Ekamai or Absolute 7 Pub or 13 Coins Restaurant....

Deserved Honorable mentions: Rider Resort behind Seacon Square, Lemongrass on Suk Soi 24, interesting night to try Nomad on Suk Soi 12, and a few others....

But...the night's still early...and sometimes the best laid plans....

Ok...so now it's 1 pm... either no one's awake yet...or... Thailand is full of a bunch of romantic zeros!!!

Search the threads here for multiple things on finding and making bread using breadmakers in Thailand...

I use one brought/bought from abroad (the U.S.), and simply plug it in with a 110/220 power converter... just make sure your converter can handle the required voltage...

I have an older machine, but was checking prices lately on Amazon and such... They've really come down in the U.S., and many quality models available. Last time I checked, the couple of models Verasu has on offer here were in the $150 range. Just depends if you make occasional trips abroad.

Bread in Thailand, by and large, tends to be pretty mediocre.... So it's not so surprising that the selection of bread machines available for purchase here likewise tends to be pretty limited, especially when you're outside BKK (but even here too).

OK OK... I'm looking and looking...and see nothing here...no thread on this topic for BKK, except for the folks up in CM...

So where to go tonight for drinks and/or dinner.... Romantic setting... not extortionist prices...and not the most obvious choices (like Vertigo, etc.) where everyone is likely to try to go on this special day...

Romantic outdoor garden settings with nice music (not rock music or Carabao today) sound right for tonight.... Or maybe something along the Chao Phraya...

Or how about hotel lounges with a view and music, but please don't say Oriental or Shangri-La... Pang pang pang... Let's keep this reasonable...

I remember Anna's Garden fitting into this category from what I've read, but haven't yet gone myself... Someone in a different thread the other day mentioned Le Lys near Chong Nonsi as a lovely place... And likewise there was another recommendation for The Face bar in Suk Soi 38 (all of these not mentioned here specifically in connection with Valentine's Day).

So, those are a few to get things started... I can't be the only one out there thinking..where to go tonight.... And, as seems usual, the lady is offering absolutely no help in the way of suggestions....

How come nobody has yet mentioned this Valentine's Day gift....

Say you're living outside Thailand and really want to show you care.... send a buffalo upcountry!!!

Now that's really romantic!!!!

True, flowers are nice but I think it is waste of money especially during Valentine's... the price is so crazy!!

and the dinner place in Bangkok will be pretty crowded... how can I feel romantic?

For me, I prefer money or/and diamond!!!

haha... why need to be too cost? Just one sweet kiss is enough..

Ohhh.... please make up your mind... Money and/or diamond.... Or one sweet kiss????

Or.. maybe...you'd like both???

Just wanted to remind you last minute guys that Valentines Day is quickly approaching, so if you are sending something to the LOS, nows is the time to mail it to make sure it gets there on time. I took the easy way out and sent my love via Western Union... I know she will get it on time

i would love to know what everyone else is getting their sweethearts...

Ahh..... fond memories of money transfers to Thailand via Western Union.... the gift that keeps on giving and giving and giving and giving....

Santa Fe's current 99 baht promotion is a ribeye steak, original pork steak and frankfurter, Cordon Bleu, Black Pepper Fish Steak or American Pork Chop.

Had the ribeye, and the pork steak and frankfurter. I know that Santa Fe will never compare to a decent steak place, but still it's a decent piece of meat and tastes fine. Didn't care for the frankfurter though.

Decent value for money in my opinion.

OT, I'd rate Santa Fe more at the cheap end of the spectrum vs. value (quality for price).

I've eaten there a couple of times when out shopping, including at the Century Movie Complex at Victory Monument (it's right near Izumi on the same floor). Had one terrible, tough as leather ribeye, had some of a GF's ribeye on another day that was OK, and surprisingly had a pretty decent pork steak there another time.

The meals come with a couple of slices of bread that's supposed to be garlic bread...kind of... And some kind of weird mini salad comprised of some lettuce, some small cubed veggies. and some kind of undefineable cream sauce mixed all in....

Having said that, they also have something like a 499 or 599 Australian ribeye on their menu.... But given it's Santa Fe, I haven't been able to bring myself yet to plunk down that kind of money there for a steak that purports to be a good one....

He actually looks a bit more Spanish than Mexican... dark hair... lighter skin... a bit model-ish...

I think, if you saw him there, you'd know he's the boss.

Actually.... I wouldn't mind seeing you try that... hehehehe...

Think of it as you ode to Thi thi....

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"??????