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Mousehound

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Posts posted by Mousehound

  1. I have heard a lot about pork pies here Chiangmai, from englishmen but never been brave enough to try them. They look like spam (canned pressed manufactured ham in a can) wrapped in pastry. What exactly are they. You other pies are good and I have had the curry from Rim Ping not bad. Sorry I am an Aussie and pork pies are not really heard of on the island.

    Just curious folks thats all.

    Pork pies are a short pastry filled with minced pork surrounded by marrow jelly. They are usually pretty salty and very fattening - I love them. Eat them on their own or with hot vegies or a salad. Most supermarkets in Oz sell them.

  2. I just went through all the pages here ... breathe taking shoots here!

    Here are a few more of one of my favorite areas in southern Thailand, that is Thali Noi Lake... in Northern Songhkla Province... about 20 kms from Phattalung or can be accessed from Ranot by taking the long bridge...

    There seems to be more places to stay in the area theses days. January is best time to see birds, April best to see lilies. But do as early in the morning as possible, because the lilies close up by around noon!!!

    Long tale boats can be hired from Thali Noi village, for a bout 500 baht for 3 hours or so... well worth it! thumbsup.gif

    The guy driving the boat does slow down when camera goes up...!

    These were taken in early May this year.

    This is a very interesting report for me. Looking at working my way down through the parks to the malaysian border.

  3. The Tamron 180 is one of the best macro lens in the market, light and sharp. A very good choice!

    Thanks - I must say that my decision between the Tamron, the Sigma and the canon was purely based on cost. Got it as a shop demo for $500 US. Easily the cheaper of the three lenses - but I hope not too inferioir. let you know how it goes.

    • Like 1
  4. I have an iPad2 - it replaced an ASUS 10" subnotebook that finaly gave up after two years of use. I use the iPad pretty well all the time - work and liesure. It has a great screen and that, for me is its advantage over the ASUS. Better battery and nicer to look at. But I will go back to a windows driven tablet in an instant. I like the flexibility of the notepad - USB -printer port etc. over the iPad I also much prefer the Windows look and way of working - even after a year of heavy use I actually don't find the apple system particularly intuitive. My take is that Apple are great marketers and have a slick looking product but it is short on practical benefits for the money. I also use an Windows phone. (My son has been bitten by the Apple "religion" so we argue all day about it - but I use both - and I pay the bills - so I'm right!).

  5. Some posts indicate a dislike of using credit cards. However, provided you choose a reputable company there can be some significant advantages. Mastercard platinum insurance cover is pretty good. In fact often better than the insurance offered by the hirers insurance. You are also covered against fraud. Make sure you keep all paperwork and make notes as you go and keep them. As an aside I never take out extra travel insurance (which can abe as much as 30-50% on top of the cost of an airticket) when going overseas - just use the credit card. I carry the policy (Zurich) with me and contact numbers. Had to make a few calls once - all sorted by the help desk.

  6. The tax law has been pretty much the same in Aust for years. You pay tax where you earn your monies. As you are also being paid by an Australian registered company that will also file with the tax office there is no real way around it. There have been all sorts of schemes and scams over the years to get around this. But the cost of setting them up keeps lawyers and accountants rich and the jails are full of both these professions and their clients.

    But, I think living in LOS on your downtime is a great idea - give it a go. The difference in the cost of living between Perth and BKK will more than cover your airfares. You would have to save between 30-60k bht a month just on rent for an average small place and a meal and a pint in a Perth pub is now 1200bht, (can be a little less but also a lot more).

  7. Use the following :

    40 % turpentine

    30% boiled linseed oil

    30 % tung oil (aka China wood oil)

    3 or 4 coats. Apply with a rag and let each coat dry for at least 24 hours. Rub well.

    Boiled linseed and tung oil are drying oils. Any 'teak oil' is petroleum distillates with maybe some linseed oil.

    regards...Island Teak

    This post is quite right. This is the best finish in my opinion. The Tung oil component makes a very hardy and beautiful finish. Keep it off your hands though. Several thin coats are better than fewer thick coats.

    You may be able to buy Tung oil - already mixed. I like Cabotts. Linseed oil would be my next choice as it is cheap - environmentally sound and safe to use. Water on smooth oiled surface means slippery surface - you may need some form of non slip matt as well.

  8. Having read through the thread I not a couple of recurring comments: that the place is full of old people and rock music is also prevelant. My retort is that we older citizens are prepared to show you conservative younger lot how to really live - if you only ask us. Secondly, it is true that the older generations like rock and blues rock, whereas the youngsters like a reprehensible dirge called "rap". Oh dear!smile.png

    • Like 1
  9. I learned to drive in Germany, on the left. Went to UK - drove on right. Worked in the USA drove on right. Worked in HK drove on left. Drove around Europe - drove on right. Visited Malaysia and then India - drove on left. Went to Venezuela - drove on right. Hired a car last trip in Thailand - drove on left. I now spend a lot of my driving time in the middle of the road in a funk of confusion. Actually, in India either driving on the left or right really is an option.

    And then there is the imperial/metric nightmare!w00t.gif

    If the "pint" and the standard length (one chain 66ft or, as you know 100 links) of a cricket pitch go, then the world is finished.

    You're a brave man, driving on the left in Germany and the right in the UK. The British constabulary might applaud such nonconformist commitment, but I have found Germans generally to have a strong tendency to conformity.

    For our transatlantic cousins, I believe they will cope better than us should there beer measures be metricated, since they have always been short-changed in the size of their pints in case, received not even a half-litre in each of their diminutive sixteen ounce glasses

    I was in the pub the other night with the family, by the way, and the Magners glasses were scribed with a 570 ml mark slightly below the rim, while my guinness glass was a pint to the brim - I believe a 20 ounce pint, but that was based solely on a visual comparison with the Magners glasses.

    SC

    Just proves how confused you can get!

  10. I learned to drive in Germany, on the left. Went to UK - drove on right. Worked in the USA drove on right. Worked in HK drove on left. Drove around Europe - drove on right. Visited Malaysia and then India - drove on left. Went to Venezuela - drove on right. Hired a car last trip in Thailand - drove on left. I now spend a lot of my driving time in the middle of the road in a funk of confusion. Actually, in India either driving on the left or right really is an option.

    And then there is the imperial/metric nightmare!w00t.gif

    If the "pint" and the standard length (one chain 66ft or, as you know 100 links) of a cricket pitch go, then the world is finished.

  11. North Wheels rent out bikes. They seem to have been around a long time and have a good reputation for hiring cars. No doubt others here know them better than I do. Their insurance seems to be good on cars - they say they have the best comprehensive insurance that you can get but I would always check out exactly what is what. With a reputable company like NW I would consider paying with a credit card. My card does cover me well for hire as long as it is not off road and is from a proper hire company not someone who is private. They have 110cc bikes and 115cc from 3500Bht / month - comes with helmet. I would not hire anything without a proper license at least issued from either Thailand or home country - plus an International License if the latter. But then I am super cautious about hire and drive in Thailand. Whatever, I tend to pay top Bht and sleep a bit easier.

    http://www.northwheels.com/mrates.html

    Might be worth checking them out - they are North of Tapae gate on the east side of the moat.

  12. Sorry if I don't get this. Does this mean you can't buy property with funds you imported unless they are expressly for the purpose of buying a property? is there alimit on the ammount of funds that may be imported? eg. If I bring in say $10 000 US and live of this for a while and then decide to buy a property is this a problem?

    Your biggest problem will be to find any property in that pricerange sad.png

    Sorry should have said 100 000$

  13. Had a Camry 2.4L 4 cylinder converted to LPG as I average 1000k per week - have done over 150 000k and never a problem with anything. I now insist on using Shell oil that is especially for LPG. Toyota mechanics opinion is that the engine will be cleaner. Also I have had some problems with dirty fuel from petrol pumps - so cuts out that worry to some degree.. Saves me about $3000 a year on fuel so I think it is a good bet. Taxis in Oz use LPG and get huge Kms out of them. Usually it is the transmissions that play up way before the motor.

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