Magoomba

Don't want High Definition, because it's a pain to edit - so I've heard

HD Editing is better than it was a while ago. I use Adobe Production Premium CS4. It is good and stable for editing HD, and the result is very good. The main thing is to make sure PP CS4 goes back to Adobe for all the updates.

Sometimes there can be a problem with the Codecs for the Sony Format, but apparently it will read the Canon format without an additional Codec. There is a really nice Canon HD Camcorder that would suit your requirements I think its either the HF 10 or the HG 10. You will find the results of HD will be a very pleasant surprise, particularly if you have a big LCD or Plasma TV.

I have to say the worst food and service currently has to be the Australian Pub in Soi 11. They have this huge outdoor B-B-Q at the front, and the idea of having some sausages cooked on a big grill like that quite appealed to me. What returned to my table was a long way short of my expectations. Firstly the food was not cooked on the big open grill, it was cooked somewhere else in the restaurant. How anyone can claim to selling Australian food and not be able to plate up 2 B-B-Q sausages is beyond me. Not only were they not properly cooked, the sausages actually tasted off.

After I politely pointed this out to a rather indifferent waitress, she mumbled something and left the plate in front of me. This brings me to the second point they don't have the worst service in all of Bangkok, then they can take the prize of the most indifferent staff. Having a foul taste in my mouth, I had to flag down a waitress to get me another drink. From memory I was drinking beer that was 220 Baht a bottle.

Finally I asked the waitress about 20 minutes later to remove the plate as I did not like the smell. She then told me that she wanted to get her boss to hear my complaint. Thinking my blood was about to boil I gently moved the plate onto a spare table and asked for the bill. To think that I would wait for more than 20 minutes for the boss to listen to my complaint I could not believe, particularly as there seemed to be plenty of staff standing around and talking or surfing the internet in the back corner.

In summary, the two foul sausages were about 340 Baht and a few beers, maybe 2 before and 1 after comes to about 1,000 for 3 beers and two sausages. In my mind price-wise and value-wise that makes the Suatralian Pub in Soi 11, about the worst value if not in all of Thailand then probably South East Asia.

They really didn't have the poor excuse of "Oh sorry, we can't cook this" or "No that grill is not operating" this was because of the soft opening. Mind you, with minimal service and food, they were happy to take the full price for the food. So I decided again a few days after their formal or Hard opening to see what the place was really like. Well, I cannot say I would ever bother wasting my time there again.

I then think like this:

Its Expensive.

The staff are indifferent and self posessed.

The food is not all that good.

Try another virus program and check for adware

This ain't for the lives of the rich and famous expat package bunch.

This is for the expats who do what they can to live in the local Thai economy, but are still human.

Some food luxury items are not luxury items in the west (such a Paramagiano cheese) but are in Thailand, they still count.

So what is your list of items you can't live without and those that you have sacrificed enjoying living in Thailand?

I have limited it to take home grocery items, but if you want to list restaurant indulgences as well, why not?

My list (can't live without)

good coffee

Paramagiano cheese

smoked salmon (and cream cheese to go with it)

avocados

sometimes 100 percent agave Tequila

sometimes good beers like Guinness

western breakfast cereals

My list (can live without)

good beef

western mushrooms

wine (painful!)

really good coffee

ricotta cheese

greek olives

If you have a friend in Indonesia, you can get plenty of excellent coffee and cheap.

If you look at the rentals in Bangkok and the number of condominiums that will take a 3 month lease when 6 months ago they were insisting on 6 month leases, that speaks volumes.

It would not be surprise me if the brilliant promotion is valid for Thai nationals only...

There is an easy answer to that. Only check in when I have a Thai national with me. If the Thai National only wants a short holiday check out the next morning and look for another Thai.

I hear there are plenty of "Homeless" on beach Rd

My apartment doesnt have an oven, and no room for one either. I have been considering getting one of these Convection Microwave Ovens so that i can do some basic 'oven-based' cooking etc. Just wondered if anyone has any experience with these or has any advice/warnings.

I want to be able to cook things like sunday roasts, pasta bakes etc

I've seen various models for sale in the electrical stores, they seem to retail for about 20,000b thereabouts. If anyone knows of a shop that sells them cheaper, i'd appreciate the information

Central Rama 3 will have your answers Don't forget your Earth wire.

I think I saw something similar on Rama 4 Rd near the Sukhumvit Rd end recently when I was buying some catering supplies.

to the uninitiated, girl friendly usually means the hotel doesnt mind its premises being used as a place for short time sex(usually with a hooker)

Don,t assume everyone goes down this route?

Wow, I don't want to sound like an <deleted> snob, but I must stay indifferent places. May I suggest that any hotel over $200- USD a night are more interested in their guests experience then their morals. I have never had the Sheraton, JW or Banyon Tree look twice at numerous "Mrs Magoomba" that have arrived. If you are not sure, do what I did back in Zim - call the <deleted> hotel first before you think they will let the ladies in.

Since I am recent on this subject - I went to Macro in Naratiwas Rd and though wanting a Gas oven, I got a great electric unit, that is commercial grade. It will go to 300 degree which is great for Pizza. The issue is that there is a fuse holder that breaks the circuit after overheating. I got the local electrical guy to change the fuse holder and the oven will stay at 300 + all day.

Originally, I wanter electric, however, the salesman told my tee-ruk that you cannot cook a chicken in a gas oven and they are prone to exploding. I dod not believe him, but did not want to argue the point. We went to the market in Kab Choeng to get some of the really delicious chicken and duck and tee-ruk was shocked to see this wonderful food was cooked in gas. I just decided to gently smile at the situation.

Back to the electric, yes up-turned granite bench top is excellent, but make sure there is plenty of flour to cook the pizza on - otherwise enjoy.

I had a G7 that I left on a bus in Denmark recently, and I decided to replace it with a G10. Some people tell me the G10 is the best Digital compact camera ever built, others don't agree. Only history will give us the answer to that.

As I am not the greatest photographer, I do like to crop my images to get something more pleasant to look at, therefore the 14.7 Mega Pixel image is very useful to me.

Some things I like are the new hand-grip, it certainly is feature packed and the very strong body, although that adds to the overall weight, it also makes the unit less likely to damage being knocked around. The different options for focus and exposure also make the experience easier with somewhat more control. The full "Auto" mode also makes it easy for my Tee-Ruk to take the odd photo. The large LCD display and the very good wide angle options are also features for me.

The things I don't like are the noise, and the very poor video options. There are some ways to reduce the noise, however, the video options I find aggravating. Things like, there is no wide screen options and you cannot zoom the lens either in or out once you have started shooting. In the day and age of wide screen this is not good. Also with playback, there is no option to select wide screen so therefore if you are showing the pics or movies on a wide screen TV then they will be stretched. So in summary, it will not be anything like a replacement for a cheap camcorder.

In Summary, if you can live with the noise, and its not as bad as others and you aren't all that interested in shooting Video (I am not as I own a Sony HD-SR12 Camcorder) then it is a good selection.

This is a shot I took last night of the storm rolling along the sky. My attempt was to get a lightning strike, but I was a little slow setting up the tripod for the time exposure. I forced the exposure to be 15 seconds by adding the ND filter, and of course because of the low light, then the image will be a little grainy.

I was there for a little while yesterday. A very fun party, looking forward to some pictures.

I got a Granite Bench-Top and have a good selection of off-cuts. These are some great slabs from Saraburi - about 120km North East of Bangkok.

I might test these with the shiny side down.

I saw it today at a CD shop in Fortune City near the Rama 9 MRT Station.

If you have plenty of collateral, I can give you the name of a money lender here in Burriram that lends at 5% a month.

Mind you he did charge me 20 Baht for the internet, but I can live with that. It just meant that the tip was reduced by that amount.

Well, another afternoon spent in Issan. Relaxation is on the top of the agenda, complimented with cheese and bacon "Toasties" and the odd cold drink.

Yes, once again at the Leelawaddee Gardens here in Prasat, and the slow and gentle life style is certainly a pleasure. Watching all the comings and goings while sitting by the pool, oh, time to turn off the laptop and relax a bit more.

Well, I can highly recommend this sponsor's offerings.

Enjoy.

Maybe some Black Magic got you

It is interesting that the "Black Magic" does not deal with the practical on a day to day level, rather this metaphysical void.

My Tee-ruk's grandmother supposedly has the power for good and bad. Does all the ceremonies and all that carry on but of course the Powers cannot be demonstrated in a practical manner.

I offered her 50,000 Baht if she could make my Boss fall sick requiring Hospitalisation before January 27. She had nearly 2 months to acomplish this, and did not get a result. She has been informed of this and sadly has missed the 50,000.

I also offered her 1,000 if she could pick the lottery number a favourite out here in the jungle. After consulting some tatty book with some weird symbols and some old chants I was given the number. I chose for myself number 69, as that is my favourite 2 digit number, Grandma gave me 3 different numbers. Sadly (for her) she missed that as well. If anyone watches the 2-digit numbers, you will see I got a result about 10 days ago with number 69. My Tee-Ruk was too embarrased to explain about that number.

If the OP wants to get to Burriram or Surin, I would suggest a Car and Driver. You can find them advertise in the major newspapers.

I have some Koi in my tank.

I have the regular huge blue filter that I clean out about once a month. The Pump is is about 75 LPM in a one inch flexible plastic pipe. The Tank is probably 3000 L

Other than that I feed them once a day and they seem ok. I got them from the pet shop in Surin near the Petkasem hotel.

Frustrating for me - every time I have a chance of Paul's Pub quiz either I have to go home (normally drunk), or I am too drunk to get back to the Harley bar.

Maybe some time I will get there.

Reporting is the lowest, the very lowest of all options. It is out of question.

Maybe so, but it appears that there is no one here that knows how to report someone working illegally. Rather people here are offering opinion about the OP, rather than the issue there may be an illegal maid, where the problem has been brought to a head because of their dog's behavior.

Possibly also in the reducing economic climate, weeding out the illegal workers may not be such a bad thing.

Yes, I do have a real Work Permit.

Dave;

Many things I agree with you. I was there tonight, and I thought the service was what I wanted. Gary came and asked my a number of times when I wanted the Soup, Main Course and of course the Pudding. After I said yes, I thing the maximum amount of time I waited was less than 5 minutes. Frankly the service was very good, considering the number of people there and the food was excellent.

If you were there tonight, I was sitting with Jamie from the Leelawaddie resort who is an advertiser here.

I asked my Tee-Ruck just then and she said GOLD

I arrived last night after a 7 hour journey from my residence in Bangkok. We left at 11:00am and it was just getting dark at 6:00pm.

Once leaving Bangkok the journey became more interesting. Climbing up those long slow hills, and the beautiful mountain side to look at. From what looks to be the thickest on jungle that no man could traverse, I could see large Buddha's looking over us all. Stopping at the top of the hill, we were presented with a myriad of stonework of all different styles and form. What made all of this even more pleasant, only a few more km away was a lake, where we could have a meal of fish and rice and enjoy also the lovely vista of the lake.

The pleasant roadway stretched on for maybe another 100km, where to my dismay becomes a single lane road. I think there are different rules driving on a single lane road than a divided highway. I can not believe the things I saw and the behavior of the traffic, it defies all logic in my mind. We turned into a 7-11 and purchased a number of supplies and then headed about another 40km to my Tee-Ruck's home.

Her home is very pleasant, and I have the enjoyment of Air-Conditioning, Hot Shower, a spring mattress and a flushing toilet. There also seems to be the normal Red-Dish TV that has little of any great interest to me.

Thaddeus, you are correct, there is only 4 houses here and maybe some small out-buildings. It is very quiet. After dinner last night, I opened my notebook to have a pleasant suprise that my internet connection works. It is maybe one third the speed of what I enjoy in Bangkok but I have internet. This morning we went to visit some family in a village south of Kab Choeng, all with a similar style. We then went to a large ton called Prasat, and sat near the bus station where there seemed to be many "farang" or "barang"

Now with my jottings, I can see they have found some large bird for Christmas. I cannot get an answer if they have ever eaten that type of bird before or not. It looks like a large Ibis and I am not sure what it will taste like. I am sure if they have eaten it before, then they will know how to cook it.

That is my update for the moment, and I think I will have a nice cup of tea. Maybe later I might go looking for the Farang Connection, but I am sure that will be back in the main village. Anyway, My tee-ruck and her family seem to be good company at the moment.

Oh yes, I ould like to purchase a Motor Bike like a Honda XR 250, the Dirt Bike style. Can anyone tell me where I can get one of these, I think it would be fun to ride around for a few days. I have a Work Permit, Visa and International Drivers License but every shop I have seen is the style of bike that I would not feel comfortable riding in rough terrain.

Thank you again for your replies, I appreciate your input to this.