Why Don’t We Check You In Right Now?

Posted on 9 December 2009 by christao408

Wednesday morning I awoke still feverish and with a worsening cough from deep within my chest. Realizing that rest and plenty of fluids were proving insufficient to overcome this illness, I went to Bangkok Hospital to see a doctor.

Two hours, a chest x-ray, and a battery of blood work later, the doctor said that there looked to be a small infection in my left lung and that while she didn’t think it was pneumonia it would be best if I checked into the hospital right there and then so they could start an IV antibiotic.

I explained that right there and then wasn’t going to work. For one thing, I had Tawn’s car with me, which he would need. For another, I didn’t have my computer or any reading material with me and at the very least I would need to let my manager know that I was going to be out for a few days. She didn’t seem to keen on that idea but she finally relented and gave me an oral antibiotic and instructions to return Thursday morning to check on the progress.

As she only prescribed me two pills and they are taken twice a day, I assume her intention is to check me into the hospital Thursday morning.

I’m not opposed to checking into the hospital if that’s the best course of action. I am concerned, though, that her decision may be based both on taking the most aggressive course of treatment as well as a realization that my local insurance provider will pay for inpatient treatment but not outpatient treatment, so they stand to earn more by having me check in.

We’ll see how this plays out, but maybe I’ll be writing some entries soon about my first time staying in a hospital.

On an interesting note, the amount I paid for today’s chest xray, the blood work, prescriptions and doctor’s visit (none of which was covered by insurance since it was outpatient) was only US$57. I think in the US my co-payment would have been higher than that.

Is it H1N1? Update

Posted on 8 December 2009 by christao408

I like to consider myself a man of science. When I came down with flu-like symptoms (temperature of 102.5 F / 39.2 C, muscle aches, occasional cough) I of course realized that I must have been exposed to a flu virus, although it is unlikely I’ll get tested to know specifically which one it is.

But there’s just a little bit of me that rejects the rational science expectation. Here’s why: Sunday afternoon I went for a traditional Thai massage, something I haven’t done in at least nine months. Like shiatsu, Thai massage is about manipulating pressure points and working deeply into your muscle tissue. It can be painful.

Before going into the two-hour massage I felt fine but afterwards my muscles ached as if I had been beaten up. More than once I had to ask the masseuse to lighten the pressure a bit. Sunday evening my face and neck were flushed and warm although a check of temperature didn’t show any notable elevation. I drank plenty of liquids and got some extra rest.

Monday, though, it wasn’t getting any better. I got up and worked for a while and then went back in to take a nap. Checking my temperature, it was up to 38.1 C (37.0 is normal body temperature) and as the evening went on it spiked at 39.2 C. Ibuprofen didn’t seem to be making any difference. Fortunately, I’ve not had any nausea and my appetite has remained healthy. This evening my temperature seems to have dropped a bit (haven’t check it yet but I feel cooler) and I had a light dinner of whole grain rice and some “gaeng jut” – so called “bland” soup which is broth with some ground meat and soft tofu in it.

I’ll get a full night’s sleep tonight and see how I feel in the morning. If the temperature drops then I won’t go to the hospital.

Again, I know there’s a rational and scientific explanation for my illness. But I can’t help wondering if the masseuse didn’t manipulate my energy points in such a way that it brought on the symptoms or opened the door to the virus by messing with my immunity.

Maybe an unfair assumption but I’ll probably be hesitant to get another full-bore Thai massage for a while. Maybe just stick with the foot and shoulder massage, which is less painful.

Tuesday Evening: Despite taking ibuprofen for the fever, my temperature has gone up and down always staying at least a bit about normal. Right now at 9:10 pm it is 39.0 C (about 102 F). Chest congestion has built over the last twenty-four hours with a very deep, rumbling cough beneath my breast bone. I’ll head to the hospital in the morning and have this checked out.

Thai Style Pumpkin Soup and Cranberry-Beet Relish

Posted on 5 December 2009 by christao408

To catch you up on some of the recent culinary delights that have come out of my kitchen (well, culinary attempts, at least…) here is an update on two different dishes.

The first was a Thai-style pumpkin soup made after Tawn requested that we have some soup for dinner one evening. I didn’t follow a particular recipe with this one but just pulled it together by taste.

Base ingredients: pumpkin, butternut squash, onions, carrots, celery, chicken stock.
Aromatic ingredients: lemongrass, galangal root (similar to ginger but less harsh), bay leaves, curry powder, cayenne pepper.
Finishing ingredients: fish sauce, coconut cream, palm or brown sugar.
Optional ingredients for garnishing: bacon, cilantro, sour cream or parmesan cheese.

Here’s a picture of the finished product, which tasted wonderful.

Coupled with a video that shows the whole “making of”.

The second dish is a cranberry-beet relish that I made for our potluck Thanksgiving over at Vic’s house. I stumbled across several recipes for this and so improvised a bit.

Sautee a chopped onion and then add the cranberries, stirring for a few minutes but not cooking so much that they begin to pop.

Add shredded raw beets – this would actually be gorgeous with golden beets – and cook a while longer until the mixture softens.

For flavoring add the zest and juice of two oranges.

Sweeten to taste with maple syrup. The natural sugars in the beets offset much of the tartness from the cranberries, so I find that you don’t need much maple syrup. If needed, add a little bit of salt to the mixture.

Let cook until at a nice consistency. Since I like to still have some whole berries left, I reserve about a cup of berries and add them later in the cooking process so they don’t pop before the relish is done. This turned out as a very nice alternative to regularly cranberry relish and several diners commented that while they don’t normally enjoy cranberry relish, they particularly liked this recipe.

Zense

Posted on 5 December 2009 by christao408

We were recently paid a visit from Singapore by David and Chor Phan. To celebrate the cool season we dined at the 18th floor rooftop restaurant/nightspot called Zense, located at Central World Plaza on top of the Zen department store.

There are several different restaurants that provide food for Zense so you can order from a combined menu and then your server coordinates the orders from each of the restaurants. Service was good and the food, while a little pricey (which one would expect from a rooftop restaurant), was pretty good for the money. A fun place to enjoy the cool weather and take in the lights of the city.

Here’s a selection of some of the dishes we had:

Assorted appetizers: spicy shrimps, crab cakes, baked oysters and smoked salmon.

Bacon-wrapped sweet potato French fries! Yummy…

Tawn’s obento box unagi, grilled and glazed eel. He said it was very tasty.

Australian sirloin marinated in a Thai-style lemongrass and citrus marinade, grilled medium rare and served with spicy chili and fish sauce dipping sauce. A contemporary take on a classic northeastern Thai dish.

Sticky rice (three colors) with mango.

Mixed berries tart.

Could All My Troubles Be Caused by My Coffee Grinder?

Posted on 2 December 2009 by christao408

The past week or so, things have just been off. My mood has run foul, Tawn and I have had a hard time coming to agreement on some decisions we would like to make, and things have generally just been funky.

Casting about for answers, I looked at the tides, the phases of the moon, and changes in the weather systems with an eye to determining what it was that was causing these unusual bumps in the road. Then it hit me: the problem is with my coffee grinder.

You see, about a year ago we caved in and purchased an espresso machine. A bit of a luxury item, yes, but one that really helped set the mood for the start of our day. The machine, a Starbucks branded one, has performed well all year but a bit more than a week ago it seized up in what the instruction book called a “vapor lock.” When opening the valve for the steam wand, water would instead come out the brew head. We could get all the espresso we wanted but none of the steamed milk.

After trying all of the troubleshooting remedies called for in the instruction booklet, I caved in and brought the machine back to the store where they are handling repairs. Good service on their part so no complaints there. But in the absence of our espresso machine I’ve been brewing our morning joe in a French Press.

French Presses are the glass containers with a plunger you press down after several minutes of steeping to separate the grounds from the brewed coffee. They have the reputation of producing wonderful coffee. Some aficionados say that French Press is the ideal way to appreciate coffee.

But each morning we wound up with mouthfuls of grit in our coffee, small black flecks floating to the surface of the scalded milk foam.

When I examined the grounds they appeared quite sizable. so I was confused as to why the coffee was turning out so poorly. What I determined was that our coffee grinder, a Krupps model that is reportedly one of the higher quality grinders, grinds very unevenly. In addition to some large chunks – half-bean size! – there are other parts that are pulverized to a fine powder. The result was coffee that is still watery but also contains lots of sediment, a brew that does nothing other than put me in a foul mood.

Finally realizing what might be the source of all my troubles, I headed to the coffee shop, bought a half-kilo of coffee and had them grind it in their professional grinder. Sure enough, the coffee was a uniform coarseness and when I put it in the French Press this morning, the resulting coffee was richly flavored and without any significant sediment.

I was happy. Tawn left for work with a smile on his face. I think things are looking up!

Dreams of Dancing

Posted on 1 December 2009 by christao408

There was a lad of twenty months,
He’d barely learned to walk.
He loved to watch the dancers
As they tango’d and fox-trot’d.

He felt the music in his heart.
His body knew the tune.
He couldn’t wait until the day
That he’d dance round the room.

And he’d go dancing,
He’d go dancing.

So many dreams start out so young,
So few will follow through.
They’ll fall aside and leave our eye
Before we’re fully grew.

But no matter what grand dreams we have,
They’re ours to go explore.
If we follow them we’ll be full grin
As we whirl around the floor.

And we’ll go dancing,
We’ll go dancing.

Inspired by our friend’s twenty-month old son J.J. who was mesmerized by the dancers at his mother’s birthday party. Set to the song “Marilyn Monroe” from the musical “Blood Brothers” by Willy Russell, which we saw performed this weekend by Bangkok Community Theatre. Here’s a picture of J.J. with his mother and Uncle Tawn.

christao408

The adventures of an expat American who moved to Bangkok for his husband.

Monthly Archives: December 2009