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Potak Soup
“Potak” apparently means “shipwreck,” although I haven’t confirmed it beyond a Google search.* This may be considered a variant of Tom Yum Goong, although it really depends on who’s making it. Some online recipes describe it as Tom Yum soup with nam phrik pao (roasted chili paste) added, but every version I’ve had has been much more than that – some are more sour, some have a pinkish stock, some are clear, and some, as above, are packed with herbs. Either way, when we find versions we like, they are usually superior to Tom Yum Goong (which also comes in many versions, the most popular overseas version being the creamy…
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Japanese Hyosatsu (Name Plate) in Thailand
When we built our house in Thailand 17 years ago, we had a Japanese-style name plate carved in granite. When we were thinking of selling our house and moving back to the states last year after the floods, we painted it it over and put an artsy plastic address number over it. Then, when we decided not to move back after all, I eventually scraped all the paint off it… No harm, no foul, I guess.
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Rice paddy view
These particular fields (next to a needle shop and art village) have lain fallow for so long, I’m not sure if there’s actually any rice left.
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Someone brought a puppy to class
They were nice enough to put a nappy on it.
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Viola the Bird
This is most entertaining for at least 15 seconds: Viola the Bird (Google Labs Experiment)
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Thai meatball
Thai meatballs (luk chin or look chin, depending on your preferred Romanization) are, like sausage, popular and of mysterious formulation — you never really know what they’re made of, even after eating them. More important, however, is the dipping sauce. Good dipping sauce has saved many a bad meatball, and sauce is actually one of the most important aspects of Thai culture.
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NY Fireworks
The neighborhood was lit up. Taken in front of our house.
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Squid Yum
It’s yum.
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My new buddy is so smart
“Based on the response you shared from ChatGPT, it does seem that ChatGPT currently has more capability than me when it comes to directly processing information in Thai and Japanese languages. My abilities are limited to working with English text, while ChatGPT claims it can understand and generate text in Thai and Japanese to some degree. This would potentially give ChatGPT an advantage in being able to directly analyze primary sources or data in those languages. However, it’s difficult for me to definitively say whether ChatGPT is “better suited” overall, as there may be other factors at play: ChatGPT’s proficiency in Thai/Japanese could vary based on the complexity of the…
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It’s nice having a truck
Someday, I will make a list all of the vehicles I have owned over the years. A truck has never been among them, until recently. After our neighborhood and my precious Crown was flooded in 2022 (the Crown is sitting at my mechanic’s place, waiting for me to save enough money for a proper restoration), I needed new wheels. Since both of our kids were studying in the USA at the time, I figured we could get away with a standard size pickup and got a great deal on the Triton. It’s been great for carrying stuff around. An older lady in the neighborhood was giving away huge potted plants,…
