Around Mahasarakham
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Hi-so in Sarakham – New Sermthai Complex, Maha Sarakham
——– Three years ago, when we moved into this house, many people doubted my choice of location. I simply told them that it would be a few years until this became the new center of Maha Sarakham. Our house was one of the first up around here and, back then, was surrounded by nothing. Now there are hundreds of houses that have sprung up all around us, a new Big C supercenter, dozens of new stores and restaurants, and as of today, a huge new shopping mall. The oldest shopping center/minimall in Mahasarakham is Sermthai plaza, located next to the canal in the old downtown district – this year is…
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Jules Verne in Khon Kaen?
In the lobby of the Pullman hotel (ex-Sofitel Raja Orchid), Khon Kaen, Thailand.
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Monsoon Season
A big storm blew through here yesterday… At one point, it was gusting as hard as I’ve ever seen it. The reeds at the edge of the pond were blowing sideways, and the doors of the house seemed unsure of whether to blow in or out. The babies were sleeping at the time, and stayed that way even though the thunder seemed to boom right over us and the lightning tripped the Saf-T-Cut twice. Nam was still at work, and the street in front of our house flooded a bit, but not as bad as last time. The storm blew over and the sun came out. The babies eventually woke…
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The Toyota “Kujira” Crown, Reborn
After five months of being held hostage by a rogue body shop, a brief return home, and then a serious accident caused by a negligent repair shop, the Kuj has returned. These are the kinds of photos I really wanted to take before the accident, but I never had the chance. The body shop to which the work was outsourced did a good job – they pounded out parts I thought would be impossible to save, and finished the job slowly while looking for parts. Only one rare part was totally lost – the lower right front turn signal lens and frame. The shop returned the car to me apologizing…
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explosion!
So we went out for a family dinner last night, to a place we used to go a lot for crusted garlic fish, but stopped visiting for no reason in particular. Mina was acting kind of funny, not scarfing down everything in sight as usual. Finally, she really stated acting up and did something that merited a spank on the bottom, so I put her over my lap and wound up for effect. I knew something was wrong by the sound of impact: SCHLOP!! Baby shit splattered all over my hand and a stinky mist expanded from the area of impact. Mina looked at me in defiance. Nam thought it was…
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Stuck like a boss
Yes, I got stuck. I arrived a bit late to the first wedding of two only to get trapped in the parking lot due to idiots who had parked every which way Undeterred, I squeezed through a couple of pickups to a promising dirt field that appeared to be damp, but solid. A couple feet into it, the car bogged down a bit, but not wanting to get stuck, I pushed forward… and got stuck further into the field. Anyway, lemons into lemonade I say. This is what my car would look like slammed, with brown tires: Eventually, a truck came and pulled our trusty Cefiro out of…
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OTOP Marketplace Update – Economic Recovery Edition
The OTOP (One Tambon One Product) marketplace I wrote about a couple years ago is now booming. For the first few years of its existence, it struggled along as a ragtag gathering of unsuccessful vegetable vendors and farmers selling homemade charcoal and surplus rice from the curbs. I visited twice a week to buy organic vegetables and freshly slaughtered/butchered meat (that are, as yet, completely unappreciated in this neck of the woods) for years, and nothing ever changed. The entire market seemed to be run by people too old and frail to work any other jobs, and I was in a small group of regular customers who were barely keeping…
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Christmas Day 2011
I got around to pulling photos from the camera today, so here’s what we did for Christmas this year: Yes, the fish sanctuary/Buddhist temple. This is one of Max’s favorite places to visit now.
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Fake Kingston Flash Drive
I went to the annual Chinese festival in downtown Maha Sarakham last month; this is one where they host Chinese opera at the business association meeting hall (I uploaded crappy vids of the opera this year here and here). Aside from the performance, which I generously bear for up to three whole minutes every time I go (once every couple years), I also like walking the wide area of stalls filled mostly with unimpressive yet numerous food vendors. At the end of one row of stalls was a memory card/USB thumb drive vendor selling at very low prices. I picked up this 8GB Kingston stick for a couple hundred baht…
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Like bugs
Nam took the babies to see their old nanny. Her new house is almost complete, but is out in the sticks. At night, the house is apparently crawling with all sorts of bugs, frogs, and who knows what else. Max brought back a couple to play with at home.
