Hulk smash.

About six years ago, I was attacked by a Malaysian Sun Bear. I had gone on a school trip to the mountains, and at one of the scenic viewpoints, there was a dirty cage with a juvenile sun bear in it. Tourists were feeding it chips and bottled soy milk and whatever shit they had with them, and it was really just a shitty experience overall. But I, like every other asshole around, was entranced by the bear, and held a banana through the steel fencing for a second too long. The bear came around and swiped the banana out of my hand, and one of his claws brushed the top of my hand. It didn’t break skin, but immediately turned red and funky. And that is my story about the time I was attacked by a bear.

Actually, I was just trying to write something, anything, to get my mind off this photo I just saw. It made me hate people again. Really, really hate people. Here it is:

Kwan the Sun Bear
Kwan the Sun Bear

Here’s the short explanation:

“Kwan” the Malayan sun bear died after the group discovered her starving and kept in a dark room Saturday during what the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand described as a routine check on wildlife kept at a temple. (full story here)

If you want to hate people any more, you can check out Wildlife Friends Foundation FB page and see more horrifying pictures of Kwan, read about the loris that had its legs broken so it couldn’t run away from the stew pot, and see just how bad it really is:

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Full props to Wildlife Friends Foundation and whoever paid off the authorities and freed that goddamn caged-for-30-years gorilla in Bangkok (although I’ve heard rumors this actually did not happen).

Seriously, fuck people.

Areca Nut (aka Betel Nut)

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Apparently, the palm tree growing behind our house is an Areca Palm, because Nam pulled these off it today. I tried chewing betel nut a few years ago with Nam’s grandmother (it was….interesting), and know a bit about it from talking to an old vendor at the market after that. This type is called “mak luang” (yellow betel nut) in Thai. I’m not actually sure if yellow is a variety our just a stage of growth, though.

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Muay

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I pulled the kids from Tae Kwon Do a while ago because their sensei was a dumbass. We were looking for a good Muay Thai coach for a couple years, and may have finally found one at a new fitness center that sprang up nearby. Nam and I will be working out at the same time, a couple times a week, so that’s good. At our first session, our trainer pushed us so hard, I almost puked. Good times.

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Fever baby

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In the middle of a crazy day, things just keep coming.

Mina came down with a pretty high fever on a day that includes me getting up early to teach (and thus skipping my MA classes), a dance recital for both kids in the afternoon, Nam and Max flying to Bangkok in the evening and staying the night, etc., etc., etc.
She is intermittently waking up with feverish dreams and asking if she is still on earth or in space, and other trippy shit like that… I wanted to tell her to embrace it, but she just feels icky and now, mommy has to leave, too. Woe is us.

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Nuclear green happiness

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Fusion green curry for dinner: Coconut milk, curry paste, chicken, long green peppers, Japanese eggplant, carrots, green eggplant, enoki mushrooms, bird’s eye chillies, krachai (lesser galangal), horapha (Thai sweet basil), bai makrut (kaffir lime leaf), grated lime skin, and secret seasonings. I usually use straw mushrooms but didn’t find them at the fresh market today.

One of the horrible ironies of contemporary Thai cooking is that people have been corrupted by sugar and everything is too sweet. It took me eight years to find a balance for green curry that I have confidence putting up against any other. It might not be to everyone’s taste (it is pretty spicy), but it has wowed many. I take my curry experimentation very seriously!

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A night outside

Last night, we planned to go camping in our front yard. Max came down with a cold and Mina does nothing without him, so the kids ended up staying in the house. Nam worried about the kids waking up in the middle of the night and not finding her, so she also slept in the house. I had already put tents up, so I decided to sleep on the lawn alone.

Woke up with a sore back and lit some charcoal because camping is not camping without fire. Grilled some yakitori and khao chi rice balls in a wonderful fusion of classic Japanese and Isan flavor profiles. Then I went to my Sunday masters class and thought about when I would have time to write my thesis. I seriously need a day to chill every week, but that’s not going to happen for a while.

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