Thai Society/Culture
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Three Generations, Four Riders
I take quite a few photos of random riders; I can’t believe this is the first “generations” photo I’ve posted for seven years! The last one was in Vientiane.
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We are on a boat.
The kids are having a blast. Incidentally, we are on the mighty river separating Thai and Laos, and it ain’t the Mississippi. @Chiang Khan, Thailand
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Temple at Ancient Khmer Ruins
@ Surin Province, Thailand – New Year’s Eve
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Maeng Da – Giant Water Bug (Lethocerus indicus)
This big guy was attracted to the lights we leave on at night in our pavilion. I found him in a weakened state under our Japanese-style table in the morning. This is an extremely important food source in many Asian countries because of its strong odor, which it uses to attract mates and is used as a potent flavoring in various dipping sauces. This insect is also eaten whole in Thailand, usually deep fried and then stripped of legs and carapace. Because of the perceived sexual behavior of this bug (just sitting around attracting females with its scent), the term maeng da has been adapted in Thai slang to mean…
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Fish references for Thailand
Fish and Fish Dishes of Laos is my go-to book on any freshwater creatures I see/catch/cook/eat here in SE Asia. It was written by famed British diplomat and historian, Alan Davidson, who included recipes used by the royal cook for the king of Laos. I only have a reprint of this book, which suits me just fine, since I’d feel guilty carrying around an original in the trunk of my car with a short bush pole and a battered old tackle box. I will find the original someday in a used book store in downtown Vientiane, I can just feel it. I recently found a link to a related e-book (free)…
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A Visit to Wat Nongwang
For the past year, we’ve been relying on a Cefiro specialist in Khon Kaen for repair of our Cefiro A33 (Infiniti I30), and we had noticed a huge pagoda just down the street several times. A few weeks ago, we took the kids along with us and decided to visit the pagoda after dropping off our car to fix leaky power steering hoses. It was a great trip to a temple truly rich in history, Wat Nongwang (aka Wat Kaen Nakorn)
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Culinary Constant
I had these photos up on Facebook, but wanted them here as well.
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Khon Kaen to Sarakham
We came back from KK yesterday after staying at the Rachawadee Resort near the airport for one night. We had stuff to do on Saturday (power steering line replacement) and early Sunday morning (dentist for mommy/Mina) as well, so it made sense to stay in Khon Kaen instead of coming back since the price for accommodations is cheaper than gasoline (the non-ethanol-adulterated version of which is known in Thailand as “benzine” from the German “Benzin”, not to be confused with “benzene“). Besides, we had always wanted to see the resort — it was nice with a good pool, and photos will be forthcoming pending discovery of our digicam’s charger. Anyway,…
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petrified gecko
In the taillight of my coworker’s Ford Focus.
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Folding Lotus Blossoms
I never knew lotus flowers didn’t just look like that when they opened naturally…
