Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
We had to take our Mazda 2 Elegance (TH only sedan model) into the new dealer down the highway to fix the most annoying vibration in the world (which will require removing the dash so I’m totally not doing it myself). Anyway, someone cut me off on the way home just as this came up on screen in the windblown (windows open because it’s nice) Kujira:
It was oh so aggro.
~ best RATM cover, evah! ~
I might as well use this as a chance to mention that we may be going-going back-back to Cali-Cali within the next couple of years… but if the streets back home vibe like this every day, I might not even mind being away from Thailand for very long.
When I started out as a copywriter in a medium-sized translation office in Miyakojima, Osaka, I had more translation and technical writing jobs than anything very creative… but in that first year, a huge job landed on my desk, unbeknownst to me. The job was simple, the client wanted a rewrite and “native check” from a random gaijin on staff – me. The original headline was a single sentence, roughly worded. Something like, “We can see the future on this LSI.” Of course, nobody knew (and to this day, nobody knows) what an LSI was, so: “Large-scale integration (LSI) is the process of integrating or embedding thousands of transistors on a single silicon semiconductor microchip.” In semiconductor manufacturing circles, it refers to a specific kind of microchip.
I tried to convince the client to replace “LSI” with “microchip” for a few hours, but to no avail – the nomenclature was set in stone. So I suggested “The Future is on LSIs,” and promptly moved onto the next job. I was used to knocking out several quick jobs a day, so I didn’t really give it a second thought. Until I was watching TV one day half a year later and saw Jeff Goldblum, in the desert, with a spiky haircut, speaking words I had written:
It was my proudest day as a copywriter.
Later in my career, I would work with advertising legends like Leo Burnett on hot accounts like Sony Vaio, Virgin Records, and the Honda Insight, but I would always be drawn back to that hot day in the translation office in Osaka.
Just like most other places I’ve lived, California is most beautiful when there’s nobody else on the streets. It’s why driving around before dawn is so damn spiritual.
Super chill but badass… They made a hypercar out of what?
Should I be concerned that I’ve heard of most of these and used quite a few of them: Killed by Google
I can’t bear to look for the greatest loss of all on there:
After trying soooo many replacements over the years, I am finally on Inoreader, but most of the feeds I was ever subscribed to are of course dead.
Tucked somewhere in between a bunch of other cars in an underground parking lot in Bangkok, a true legend is waiting for Sumitomo/Dunlop brake seals that are probably impossible to find… Reading this forum post from 15 years ago reminded me why I had to change out my entire brake system for the Crown. There simply were no replacement parts to be had. My calipers were also marked Sumitomo, and I sent all of the parts to someone who needed them online.
It would be a real dream to see the king of Toyotas cruising down the tollway in BKK. Just like this:
Took some more photos and sold it for half of what I bought it for 8 years ago. It was fun to ride and served me well, and it was also the first vehicle I ever bought new… but I haven’t been able to ride it the past couple of years due to COVID, and the ethanol fuel mandated in Thailand just goes bad very quickly. I ended up having to replace the fuel pump and injector because the fuel had degraded into something nasty. Anyways, we put up an ad yesterday and got several interested parties calling today. A bike dude from Ubon Ratchatani made the drive out and bought it on the spot. I hope it serves him well.
I had replaced the decals with a more colorful set in order to appeal to a younger buyer, and it worked exactly as planned. This sort of strategy seems to work well for us.
My CRF250M originally looked like this:
I originally bought it used in this color and actually had a new one rush made for me in the same color at the Honda factory in Rayong when the old one didn’t work out. I liked this color scheme because it reminded me of my dad’s black 280zx with gold trim from the 80s.
Just feel like posting some old food photos that have been sitting patiently in a folde called “blog” on my desktop for a couple years.
This is Yam Pla Muk, or Thai Squid Salad. I don’t remember exactly where we ordered this one. “Yam” is a type of Thai salad that’s spicy, sour, and kick-ass: Thai salads… These are among my favorite foods here, and we eat them all regularly.
This one is larb, which is also one of the Thai Salads mentioned in the link above. Specifically, it’s larb moo, or pork larb. Larb is also known as a meat salad (which is obviously the best type of salad). This plate of larb is from a restaurant specializing in it and other meat dishes in Sangkha, Surin. We visited there last year when Mina’s great grandmother passed. It was the first time we’d been to this restaurant, even though we’d been going to Sangkha quite often to be with relatives for new years. I’m not sure if we’ll visit there again any time soon, although some of Nam’s aunt’s are moving into her grandmother’s house.
Sit back, relax, and be amazed by the wonder of cheap smartphones:
//
//
///
///
///
////
////
////
////
And of course, the brilliant Reddit stitch up of all 3 clips: 1 Wave, 3 Angles
/////
So what are we looking at?
This is a tidal bore, a strong tide pushing up a river. This one is locally known as a bono, or, a wave of seven ghosts, because there can be seven successive layers of waves. People surf on these, yo! It seems that the location is Cape Binjai, Sumatra, on the Kampar River. By all means, please subscribe to Rina’s YouTube Channel because she has the best smile even when getting bowled over by angry waves!
Thank you for reading this post and please excuse the crappy manual formatting above (necessitated by irritating autoplay videos) – don’t worry, I’ll never get around to fixing it properly!