The lead up to Friday’s trip has included the checking off of dozens of items on our “to do before leaving” list:

• Go to the dentist
• Stop by the bank
• Choose gifts for people
• Complete my “to buy” list
• Etc, etc, etc…

I’m happy to report that I’m quite a bit further along the list than I usually am at this point in preparation, so I won’t be too stressed out over the next few days.  That said, I have a ton of work to prepare before leaving so that will make up for any stress I avoid by being organized.

Late last week I baked my final loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread.  The day before I leave I’ll have to feed the sourdough starter again, but it should survive twenty days in the refrigerator okay.  You’ll recall that I had some problems with my baguette pan last time – the loaf rose into the perforations and I couldn’t remove it. 

This time I wisely used some parchment paper to line the pan and the results were much nicer.  The natural yeast was getting a bit out of hand, though, as the dough was rising over the side of the pan and resulted in a slightly deformed loaf.  I’ll have to keep working on this next month.  One of these days, it will look right as well as taste right!

Below: Before (left) and after (right)

On Tawn’s list of things to get done before leaving is some writing for magazines. 

He’s writing a guest article in Elle Thailand, this one about climbing the career ladder.  We did some brainstorming beforehand – I write corporate training materials for a company in the US, Canada and the UK so have addressed this topic before – and then he applied those ideas to the likely Elle readers, giving it a Thai twist.

Tawn’s becoming a male Thai Carrie Bradshaw, what with all his writing.

He’s also preparing some recipes for an upcoming interview by a health and fitness magazine.  The column for which he is being interviewed focuses on various Thai men and asks them to include a recipe they like to prepare.  He’s been experimenting with salmon baked en papillote served with a couscous salad.  So far the results are tasty.  The interview and photo shoot (“I promise it won’t be crazy like the shoots for the house were!” he says) are on Thursday.

Sunday night we joined a group of friends at The Esplanade, an self-styled “arte-tainment” mall, for the touring production of We Will Rock You. 

Based on the music of rock band Queen, We Will Rock You is set in a Matrix-esque future in which the world (now named Planet Mall) is run by the Globalsoft Corporation, which controls all aspects of consumer culture.  Music (other than the computer generated bubblegum pop made by Globalsoft) is forbidden.

One young misfit, Galileo, hears strange sounds and words in his head, not understanding the significance of them.  It turns out that he is The Dreamer, who a prophecy has foretold will find the hidden musical instruments and return rock and roll to the world, freeing the populace from the grips of Globalsoft.

Critically panned, the musical was enthusiastically embraced by audiences in London and elsewhere, thanks to the familiar music and accessible storyline.  Khrungthep audiences haven’t been so receptive.  Despite scads of publicity, the theatre was only about one-quarter full last night.  Rock musicals probably aren’t very appealing to Thai audiences.

It was an enjoyable enough show, although played at such an amplified level that I couldn’t understand most of the lyrics.  It is funny that when you listen to the songs from the soundtrack, they are mixed and amplified in a way that allows you to hear the lyrics, which really help drive the story.  But live, it is played so loud that the words get lost.

I know, I know… I’m becoming one of those grumpy oldsters who complain about the volume.  Let me add one better to that, then:

When we arrived at the mall, there was a full blown concert going on in the center courtyard, above.  This is an inside section of the mall and the sound was unbelievably loud.  Here’s a little video I shot to give you a sense of the experience:

I think it is unreasonably loud, especially since any number of the restaurants in the mall face onto the courtyard.  Very difficult to enjoy a dinner there with this music blaring.