Around Mahasarakham
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Overheard at Big C
I picked up Mina at school a couple days ago and we stopped by (the about to die at any minute) Big C on the way home to do some shopping for the few things it’s worth going there for – coffee beans, pistachios, keto sweetener. Mina overheard a staff dude asking one of the butchers in the meat area,”do chickens have spines?” The butcher confirmed kind of incredulously that they do, indeed, have spines. This set Mina off laughing for a good couple minutes. Then we got to the checkout, where either my pronunciation when I asked the old lady running the register if they had bags was off,…
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fish balls? pig balls? beeg balls?
This is Thai luk chin (ลูกชิ้น). I believe they were served at a highway noodle resto between Sarakham and Borabu on a uni trip with Tee last year. I haven’t used the word beeg for more than 20 years; it was Adam’s invention back in the day. Wrinkleh.
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Edward
Edward is one of the two turtles I saved from the road this year. He was crossing from a pond toward Wang Yao Market on the shortcut from Your Place Hotel to Makro. I kept him in a box for an hour until I could release him.
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buff
@Nam’s mom’s house
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Marco Pony
I found these at Big C Maha Sarakham (still slowly dying). I just found the brand funny for some reason. But AI told me that it’s an established brand that’s been around a long time. Because of course it is. The typesetting is just everything I ever expected.
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Flooding 2025
This was not too bad of a year for flooding, but it has definitely gotten worse than when we moved here. The enlargement of the pond in front of our house and the concrete road sinking has contributed to making the stretch right in front of our house the most prone to flooding. Luckily, we built our house more that a meter off the ground anticipating this or worse. Most of the houses around us get wet inside. Seeing your house surrounded by water is like living in Ponyo world, so it’s not all bad.
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Tendai Visit – August 2025
Nam and I met at Tenri University in Japan 30+ years ago. Over the years, we kept in touch with Tendai from Thailand both formally and otherwise, which led to formal MOU signings between Tenri university and Nam’s employer, Mahasarakham University, as well as mine, Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University. This eventually led to yearly trips from Tendai to MSU with groups of up to 20 students, as well as Nam taking students from Mina’s high school (with her uni students acting as chaperones) for intensive Japanese language training and cultural study in Tenri. The Tendai group always has a couple destinations when they come over, and they left for Phayao…
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Weaver
I went on an excursion to the nearby town of Kut Lang on a social development training course for our students. This consisted of locals gathering at a temple, Wat Nong Saen Nuea, and showing off their handmade product crafting skills while students watched and asked questions, with the intention of offering improvement strategies at a future date. For me, however, this meant a chance to do a side quest and add a new skill, so I embraced it and sat on the concrete floor and learned to weave dried bamboo strips and reeds for five hours. The old ladies were surprised that a foreigner was so interested in their…
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Wrapped
Max took private Muay Thai lessons when he came back during the summer last year. He really enjoyed it, especially since private lessons in the states are too expensive. His gym and teacher were the same from when he studied with Mina when they were bobies.
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The Last Marvel Supper
My brother-in-law opened a boat noodle shop last year. The noodles are good (and the crackling toppings are great), but the wall art is just fantastic: As you can see, the boat props for boat noodles are very important. On Maps: รวมพล ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ
