Things Us Expats Stock Up On On Trips Back There

[Heng]

Going for a quick 6 day trip in June. Top of the list as usual: liter of Weller bourbon, a box of each of: Sour Patch Kids sour candy, Butter Fingers, Milky Ways, Sweet Tarts, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and one can of Kodiak Wintergreen. Yeah, I can bring several rolls because local customs doesn't seem to care about any other tobacco product other than cigarettes... but I've only got a one can per year habit.

I also replace any cracked Prince Graphite frames I might have and carry them back over. None of the pro shops here carry any of the outdated 'old school' racquets.

[Macx]

Coffee is a miracle drug. It prevents me from developing into a full-blown A**HOLE every morning.

As for the shopping list... hmm...

Habanero sauce

tequila, definitely

good thick, natural blackberry jam

Coppertone sunblock (can't find the good stuff here)

nice thick cotton socks (can't stand the polyester blend they have here)

lots of books

As for all the other foods, well, I'd just camel-up.

[Kerryd]

Crystal Light juice mixes

Cases of those flavoured Instant Coffee mixes

Cases of Flavoured Creamers.

Cases of "chunky" chicken, and ham (all I ever see is cans of tuna, and maybe some squab.)

1 Case of Hamburger Relish

A large package (or 10) of that great Smoked Salmon.

That's about it. Pretty much everything else I can find locally, or order online if I'm desperate.

Now that you've reminded me about this, I have to remember to also take a large suitcase when I go back for a week in August.

[Naam]

I would drop the coffee beans and get some hibiscus and pommegranate teas, that is if you are also health conscious as well as appearance conscious, (razors)). Coffee contains chlorogenic acid, gallic acid and phloridzin which degrade the hypothalamus, pancreas and pituatary respectively. These degraded parts are the basic necessities for the cancer nucleus.

next to coffee the most dangerous thing is to lie down. it is statistically proven without any doubt that most people die in this position

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Just recently caught on the news that caffein helps to retard the development of alzheimers and parkinson disease.

My wife recently took a how long will you live test and her results was to 104 with a footnote that she would live to 104 1/4 if she gave up coffee. Needless to say she still drinks coffee.

[ilyushin]

Spices, jerky, shades, clothes, shoes, tool kits, sauce pans, quality knives, proper rubber helmets (condoms), model planes, books, CDs, aloe vera gel, Timex watch, wine, beer mugs, ball caps, jerseys and anything else I can get in the bag.

[cloudhopper]

As far as I know Amazon will post new, but not 2nd hand, books to LOS. At least they have before...

My body must be riddled with cancer after all the coffee I've drunk over the decades....

[thomast]

pumpuiman, your grandmother, who drank coffee till her 90s, was not exposed to Chlorox laundry bleach, now in half the USA drinking water, and used worldwide for ``purifying`` many food products. Chlorox bleach brings radioactive polonium, cyanide, (for pipes descaling), engine oil and bearing grease, dyes etc which destroy your immune system and make up part of the cancer complex. Air pollution today contains strontium and many other toxic metals, not voluminous in the past. Therefore today, coffee, and tea, must be taken in a different context

[thomast]

Beentheredone that. Parkinsons is the inability of the substantia negra in the brain to make dopamine. It can be damaged by aspartame. Natural deterioration is speeded up by la deficiency in anti-oxidants such as supplemental natural Vit E, natural Vit C etc. Dementia has been shown to be a prion disease. Rather than stimulate a failing organ with caffein, why not prevent that damage?

[cathyy]

Geez, where's the plonk filter when you need it?

Re the Kindle: I investigated this quite thoroughly as I thought about getting one. While you cannot get the content via wi-fi here, you can still get content. You can email content to a special email address and it will be converted to Kindle format and emailed back to you free of charge. It would be ten cents to email it and have it sent to your device via wi-fi. Obviously this only works for legal content, such as prc and mobi files; you can't send in any non-purchased/non-secure ebooks but you can send in your own original documents and they will convert those to Kindle format. I chose a less content-restrictive device due our existing library of over 15,000 DRM-free ebooks.

On topic:

Jelly beans, especially the black ones.

Fritos corn chips. NOT tortilla chips, not Doritos, good old Fritos.

Squirt soda.

Vernor's ginger ale. Do not confuse this with Canada Dry or Schweppes, which are made to be used as a drink mixer only, and taste nothing like Vernor's.

General Foods Cafe Vienna.

Edited May 17, 2008 by cathyy

[JSixpack]

• For the Crown Royal (!), substitute single malt Scotch, such as Macallan, to the limit
  
• Lose the Fusion crap, buy Merkur safety razor, quality shaving brush, and quality soap/cream
  
• Ultra fast high-capacity USB stick or two
  
• Quality shoes, shirts, belts, socks, sunglasses if you want them
  
• Good motorcycle helmet, mesh jacket, rainsuit, boots
  
• Fine cigars and/or pipe tobacco to the limit
  
• Vitamins (useless, but offer feel-good factor)
  
• G-Shock, dress watch, lighter (authentic)
  
• Quality Leatherman-type tool
  
• Durex Avanti Super Thin Condoms (careful, though; can't take the stress of latex)
  
• Fine colognes (for you and SWMBO) and aftershaves; include Guerlain Heritage; don't carry on
  

Edited May 17, 2008 by JSixpack

[LooseCannon]

Loose cannon. Does not big pharma financially support these so called research scientists who say..no effect despite there being over 30,000 peer reviewed scientific studies showing efficacy of vitamins, herbs etc. Were the participants using natural or synthetic vitamins? What dosages? A Danish study showed beta carotene to have a negative effect on lung cancer deaths. They used syntethic (toxic) beta carotene, on aged, heavy smoking men, whose health was already compromised. More, by chance died of their lung cancers. The newspapers screamed Vitamins cause cancer. No doubt you were also concvinced, believing in the free unbiased and truthful press.

Commonsense tells me that having a healthy diet of fresh fruit & vegetables, prepared & cooked in an appropriate way, is the best path to good health.

Avoiding all pre-packaged & processed foods as far as practically possible is also very important.

Of course this sort of dietary regime requires a certain amount of discipline & effort & is thus not for everyone.

2nd hand books & lots of them.

Best quality hand tools.

[zorro1]

Condoms that dont break

[Jingthing]

Thanks for the great feedback on this thread. It gave me some new ideas on some good stuff to buy.

[mahtin]

I would drop the coffee beans and get some hibiscus and pommegranate teas, that is if you are also health conscious as well as appearance conscious, (razors)). Coffee contains chlorogenic acid, gallic acid and phloridzin which degrade the hypothalamus, pancreas and pituatary respectively. These degraded parts are the basic necessities for the cancer nucleus. Coffee also contains caffeic acid which is the specific allergen for 8 different organs. An allergen inflamed organ allows easy entry for the cancer nucleus and complex, starting a malignancy. Maybe you should also buy vitamin C in one gram tablets with bioflavanoids, try `now` brand, some organic selenium and organic germanium. These are the three kings of supplements that give your white blood cells the abilty to kill bacteria, virus, parasites, fungus, and detoxifies dyes, benzene, pcb etc.. If you are still reading this, and dont want to shoot the messenger, get up to date and buy yourself The Cure and Prevention of All Cancers, 2007, H R Clark PhD.ND. That will also keep you young and healthy for many decades..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2096672.stm

A quote...

Dr Jane Armitage from the University of Oxford's clinical trial services unit said the £21m five-year study had given disappointing results for vitamin use.

"It was disappointing we did not see any benefits at all in either heart diseases or cancer."

As has been suspected for a long time, 'supplement industry' a rather large scam.

Better spend your money on fresh fruit & veg & get all vitamins etc naturally.

Waste of 21m quid.

"The people studied were given relatively high doses of vitamins - 600mg of vitamin E, 250mg of vitamin C and 20mg of beta-carotene."

You need minimum 6 grammes of vitamin C daily - read Linus Pauling.

Cardiologists need not apply.

Sorry for being off topic, but I'm not from US.

Marmite!

[Zpete]

'JSixpack'

• or the Crown Royal (!), substitute single malt Scotch, such as Macallan, to the limit..YES, but prefer 'Glenfiddich' single malt.
  
• Lose the Fusion crap, buy Merkur safety razor, quality shaving brush, and quality soap/cream
  
• Hair conditioner will give anyone. male / female the smoothest of shaves, wet hands half t/spoon conditioner and rub on, no lather of course, great shaves.
  
• Ultra fast high-capacity USB stick or two......can be bought in Bangers for 500 Baht.. Emporium Sukhumvit.......or real cheap down Patpong, Silom Rd....... 240 Baht
  
• Quality shoes, shirts, belts, socks, sunglasses if you want them,,,,, Why, good stuff in LOS and cheaper.
  
• Good motorcycle helmet, mesh jacket, rainsuit, boots...............agree, hard to find decent in LOS.....helmet espcially.
  
• Fine cigars and/or pipe tobacco to the limit.........non gasper user.
  
• Vitamins (useless, but offer feel-good factor)....... total scam, all garbage
  
• G-Shock, dress watch, lighter (authentic).......... LOL, my BKK Rolex going well, 4 years on.... neva tried it in tide, shower it is OK
  
• Quality Leatherman-type tool ......... not in carry on baggage
  
• Durex Avanti Super Thin Condoms (careful, though; can't take the stress of latex).......... prefer bareback, but yeah for bargals....... and katoeys.
  
• Fine colognes (for you and SWMBO) and aftershaves; include Guerlain Heritage; don't carry on .......... I find cosmetics, genuine, cost about the same where ever I travel, inc Bangers ........ There are the fakes, good for cheap prezzies.........lol......stall at Big C.
  

All above was late last year.

OOOPs, nearly forgot, Vegemite is damned dear in LOS, if yer a Kiwi or Ockor

Marmite, ditto.

Edited May 17, 2008 by Zpete

[balo]

Jingthing. Sometimes we have to move forward, as science unfolds its mysteries, and re adjust our thinking. I used to cook with enamel, now that we know that enamel leaks dyes, back to steel, (but must be 18/10 grade stainless cookware, otherwise extremely toxic nickel opens up organs to attract the cancer nucleus) Glass leaks gold, so that also got thrown out. My one a day coffee, well, that went, I dont want degraded bits of pituatory circulating, uncontrollably sending out their hormones 24/7. There is a cancer epidemic, there wasnt before, and new science has identified its causes and therefore its prevention. Why not follow it. You save some money on expensive coffee,and TEA..

Why dont you get out of your protected bubble and enjoy your life and be happy instead of killing yourself slowly?

I believe you can eat and drink anything you want , if you do it moderately, and maybe go to the gym a few times to excercise. My body feels great, no worries. And I love coffee. My father lived an unhealthy life, he smoked 50 cigarettes a day for 60 years. Still he was 92 years old.

I dont smoke and I'm a light drinker.

Dont worry, be happy!

[JSixpack]

'JSixpack'

[*]or the Crown Royal (!), substitute single malt Scotch, such as Macallan, to the limit..YES, but prefer 'Glenfiddich' single malt.

Of course you do. Next up from Glenfiddich, which is near the bottom, is Glenlivet, without getting too exotic. If I buy in Thailand I buy Glenlivit because, for some reason, it's better value than Macallan.

[*]Lose the Fusion crap, buy Merkur safety razor, quality shaving brush, and quality soap/cream

[*]Hair conditioner will give anyone. male / female the smoothest of shaves, wet hands half t/spoon conditioner and rub on, no lather of course, great shaves.

Nope, hair conditioner works well for hair. For shaving, real shaving cream (not foam in in a can), with which you've had no experience, works best--as one might expect.

[*]Ultra fast high-capacity USB stick or two......can be bought in Bangers for 500 Baht.. Emporium Sukhumvit.......or real cheap down Patpong, Silom Rd....... 240 Baht

Sorry, but again you just don't know what you are talking about--which says something about the rest of your post as well. Go ahead and quote the read/write speeds of those cheap USB sticks--IF you can find them. Google for fast sticks and compare, then note that Thailand doesn't sell any of those, and what it does sell, in the realm of high speed, costs much more than better ones do in the USA. Again, you've never owned a really high-speed USB stick, so you can't appreciate how nice they are.

When a stick says "high speed USB 2.0" it doesn't mean anything; that's just marketing.

[*]Quality shoes, shirts, belts, socks, sunglasses if you want them,,,,, Why, good stuff in LOS and cheaper.

Wearable, but low price = low quality, poor style. (See USB stick above.) Good lasting quality and style (if you are able to perceive it) means added import and luxury tax. Fake sunglasses probably not UV resistant and therefore harmful.

[*]Fine colognes (for you and SWMBO) and aftershaves; include Guerlain Heritage; don't carry on .......... I find cosmetics, genuine, cost about the same where ever I travel, inc Bangers ........ There are the fakes, good for cheap prezzies.........lol......stall at Big C.

No, the real stuff is often about 1/3 the Thai price if bought from the online discount houses in the USA. Again, you're just blowin' smoke, don't know what you are talking about and wasting our time here. And me, I don't give cheap fake "prezzies" to anyone. If I give, I give something real--a present--and the recipient remembers it with as much gratitude as she is able to muster, and I feel good about myself too.

Edited May 17, 2008 by JSixpack

[RouxTheDay]

To those bringing books back from the States and worried about enough space/weight allowance for them in checked luggage... consider the option for sending "printed matter" through US Postal Service -- Airmail M-Bag (or direct sack). Send 0-11 pounds for $49.50 flat rate; each add'l pound is $4.50 up to a max of 66 lbs per sack. Don't know how long it takes, but might be worthwhile in certain situations.

[siamamerican]

pumpuiman, your grandmother, who drank coffee till her 90s, was not exposed to Chlorox laundry bleach, now in half the USA drinking water, and used worldwide for ``purifying`` many food products. Chlorox bleach brings radioactive polonium, cyanide, (for pipes descaling), engine oil and bearing grease, dyes etc which destroy your immune system and make up part of the cancer complex. Air pollution today contains strontium and many other toxic metals, not voluminous in the past. Therefore today, coffee, and tea, must be taken in a different context

and people live longer, healthier lifes today - why?

[RouxTheDay]

Coffee contains chlorogenic acid, gallic acid and phloridzin which degrade the hypothalamus, pancreas and pituatary respectively. These degraded parts are the basic necessities for the cancer nucleus.

Totally off-topic, obviously, but these claims seem to conflict with info I found doing a very quick web search -- admittedly not an in-depth study, as I only spent 20 minutes looking, but I easily found many, many references to a variety of studies that suggested...

Chlorogenic acid is an antioxidant (good) found not only in coffee, but in many fruits. Appears to have a positive effect and/or preventive function relative to diabetes (glucose inhibitor?). May be a tertiary tumor inhibitor?

Gallic acid is an antioxidant (good) with possible antiviral properties, possible cytotoxicity to cancer cells? Found in many plants other than coffee, including grapes?

Phloridzin is a flavonoid (good), seems to be an anti-diabetic agent? Apparently found exclusively in apples -- unable to find any references to its presence in coffee?

Caffeic acid may be an antioxidant, has anti-inflmmatory properties, may be anti-carcinogenic? Occurs in many plants besides coffe, including pears, several culinary herbs.