View from the Athenee

Posted on 8 December 2008 by christao408

Sunday afternoon I met Brian for dim sum at the Conrad Hotel, then we walked up the block to his new condo. The complex, the Athenee Residences, is part of the Athenee Hotel, a five-star Royal Meridian property on Wireless Road near the US and British embassies.

(Yeah, a little hi-so for me, but what are you going to do?)

Brian’s unit is on the 28th floor and has views to the south and west. At this point it is unfurnished but it sounds like in another month or two he’ll be able to move in. It is interesting to look at other people’s homes because everyone has different values and desires when it comes to living space: layouts, size, views, etc. are all dependent on personal taste.

Personally, I’d replace the craft paper window treatments, but that’s just me.

Needless to say, at twenty-eight stories above the Big Mango, he enjoys some nice views. It was hazy on Sunday afternoon, but here are some shots and a short video clip.

Looking to the west (and zooming in) you get a good view of the US ambassador’s residence, which is on one of the largest, most lush and most under-developed plots of land in the city center.

At the corner of Wireless and Phloenchit Roads is this property, a series of shop houses that are being slowly demolished. I wrote about this in October. The open space on the other side of the Skytrain tracks is the British embassy, the front portion of which (demarked by the white wall) has been sold to the Central Group. Central, a retail chain that owns the Central Chidlom department store which is just out of the upper left corner of the frame, plans on building a mall and office complex here to connect to the department store.

Phloenchit Skytrain station is on the right hand side of this picture and Wave Place, an office/retail complex that houses Home Pro (kind of a weak Home Depot) is the large building in the upper right hand corner of the picture.

Here’s the panorama from his balcony with a little explanation.

On the way home out in the “countryside” of Soi Thong Lor, I found myself behind a pickup truck carrying two bulls. Why in the world they were driving into Thong Lor Soi 25, I have no idea. It is a residential alley with no outlet and, to the best of my knowledge, no farms.

The strange things you see in this city!

And the goose is getting fat…

Posted on 7 December 2008 by christao408

Is there any doubt that the holidays are just around the corner? All over the Big Mango we’re seeing signs of the holidays:

Twinkling lights, which are already popular here, are in even greater abundance.

Gift baskets, the staple of New Year’s greetings especially in business, are being put together, cellophane wrapped and set out for sale. (Below left)

And the random ornament displays have been set out, including this huge deer head with psychedelic antlers which we spotted at the J Avenue “lifestyle shopping centre” on Soi Thong Lor. (Below Right)

Everywhere we go, Christmas music is playing. It is very festive and not just a little strange, considering that Christians make up less than one percent of this country’s population.

But here’s the deal: Buddhism doesn’t have any catchy holiday carols. Sure, there’s the chanting, but where are the Wan Makha Bucha carols? Sadly, there aren’t any.

We’re preparing for our sixteen day trip in the United States, for which we depart a week from Thursday. So much to be done beforehand and we have several projects that we would like to wrap up before that departure.

We’ll see. If there’s anything I’ve learned in Thailand, it is to not get my heart set on having something done by a particular date.

Game Night

Posted on 6 December 2008 by christao408

Nights out here in the Big Mango seem to fall into the usual trio of possibilities: dinner, a movie, or dinner and a movie. So we were excited about the opportunity to spice things up a bit when Matt and Si invited us over for board games.

Where have board games gone in my life? I loved board games as a child and played them even through university. But somewhere in my adult life I left board games behind, forgetting how exciting, competitive and inexpensive a night with a board game can be.

After drinks and appetizers at Matt and Si’s condo on Soi Lang Suan and a casual dinner at a Thai restaurant down the street, we returned for several rounds of Aggravation. They have the classic version of the game which has a dark board and a symmetrical, asterisk-shaped path. This is the same version I played for hours on end with my paternal grandparents.

Making things particularly interesting, they have two house rules: When you roll a four, you have to go backwards by that many spaces; and you play in pairs with your rolls helping your partner after you have won.

It was a fun, low-key evening and something we need to do more often.

Happy Birthday to His Majesty

Posted on 4 December 2008 by christao408

Today is the 81st birthday of His Majesty the King of Thailand, Buhmibol Adulyadej. Born in 1927 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, HMTK has reigned over the Kingdom of Thailand for more than 62 years, making him the longest-reigning current monarch in the world.

Those of you who haven’t been to Thailand may have a difficult time fully appreciating the level of respect Thais have for their fatherly monarch. His image appears on all the currency, there are portraits of the King and the Queen in almost every home and business, and the royal anthem is played before movies and all performances.

Unlike many countries where the leader’s visage is so widespread (what was that European country where the leader named one of the days after himself?), the Thai people’s affection seems very sincere and genuine.

This seems difficult for most foreigners to believe and I regularly encounter people – both expats and visitors – who insist on asking about “the truth about the King”, and usually do so in public and in front of Thais. Needless to say, this is highly taboo, not to mention illegal. If you want to show good manners while in Thailand, please don’t make Thais uncomfortable by asking them probing questions about the monarchy, especially in public and in front of other Thais.

After six decades of leading the nation, the King is seen as a beacon, something constant amidst the ever changing tides of Thai politics.

To that end, he annual birthday message, which he delivers on the eve of his birthday, is widely anticipated. What will he say? What guiding lessons will we receive? The anticipation was all the higher this year after the resolution of the airport seige just three days ago.

So it was with great disappointment that the public learned that His Majesty was feeling unwell and did not have the strength to make a public address. He sent two of his children, the Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and the Crown Princess Maha Chakri, to receive the public’s well-wishes and to return them.

So we will wait with baited breath until HMTK is well enough to address his subjects.

This morning while out on an early morning bike ride, I came across a community event in a dead-end street down near the river. The local emergency corp and all their volunteers were celebrating HMTK’s birthday. After a short parade they made merit for the King, said an oath of loyalty to him, and then sang the royal anthem.

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty!

Audio Postcard

Posted on 3 December 2008 by christao408

As a former college radio DJ and a long time radio buff, I’m fascinated by audio’s ability to transport us without the use of pictures. The past several months, in addition to my camera I have carried around a digital audio recorder. So far I haven’t done much to edit and share the “audio postcards” I’ve collected, but I’m going to start sharing them so you can get a sense of what this country sounds like.

Since moving here more than three years ago, I’ve noticed that Thailand is a country of sounds. Here in Khrungthep it is often very loud, with overlapping noises competing for your attention. But beyond the sheer volume is the uniqueness of the sounds, sounds that weave together as part of the Thai life.

BBC: Airport Protests Called Off

Posted on 2 December 2008 by christao408

As of 7 pm Bangkok time Tuesday, the BBC was reporting that the protests that have closed the Thai capital’s two civilian airports for the past week, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers, has been called off. Here’s the BBC report:

Thai anti-government protesters have agreed to end their occupation of Bangkok’s airports, allowing thousands of stranded tourists to leave.
Passenger flights from the main international airport are to resume on 4 December, say correspondents. Protests had shut down Thailand’s two main airports for more than a week.
The deal follows a court ruling that forced Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat to step down over election fraud and disbanded his governing party.
The constitutional court ordered Mr Somchai’s governing People Power Party and two of its coalition partners to disband. The parties’ leaders were also barred from politics for five years.
The ruling came after months of protests led by the anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) that have crippled the political process in Thailand. They had vowed to continue their protests until the entire government stepped down.
They accused Mr Somchai’s administration of being corrupt and hostile to the much-revered monarchy, and too close to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

If this proves to be true, I’m greatly relieved the protesters have come to their senses. I’m confused, though: based on everything I have read locally, the constitutional court’s ruling was fully anticipated, the date of the ruling was fixed well in advance, and the chain of events – court ruling followed by government dissolution – was widely expected.

If this is the case, then why didn’t the PAD simply allow the court to act, following due process? Why didn’t the PAD let the wheels of justice – wheels they knew were already turning in their favor – turn on their own rather than do untold damage to their country and fellow citizens?

Anyone have any good answers?

An Auspicious Sign?

Posted on 1 December 2008 by christao408

Leaving my Thai lesson early Monday evening, Khru Kitiya (my tutor) and I noticed a smiling face low on the western horizon: the conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the moon.

Here in Thailand, text messages were being sent between people almost as fast as rumors of a coup. “Look in the sky! Look in the sky!” Tawn’s father called and told him. Many said – and the newspaper captions Tuesday morning accompanying pictures of the event agreed – that perhaps this was an auspicious sign pointing to a bloodless end to Thailand’s political difficulties.

This pairing of the two planets will happen again in February 2010, but will be too close to the sun to see. According to National Geographic, some historians think that a similar conjunction between the planets in 2 B.C. may have been the source of the “Star of Bethlehem” in the Bible. The pair of stars would have been so close together, they may have appeared as a single source of light.

My father is a moon-watcher. For as long as I can remember, he’s written the full moons on his calendar and knows the names of the different moons. When my oldest niece, Emily, was just a few years old he would show her the full moons. Now she is a moon-watcher, too.

Let’s hope that this conjunction is an auspicious sign.

Putting a Smile On It

Posted on 30 November 2008 by christao408

An update: The airport is still closed. The anti-government protesters attacked a police checkpoint and confiscated ten vehicles and the riot gear inside. But, in a telling twist, the protest leaders also had a face-to-face meeting with the police, asking for their increased protection. This after a bomb was thrown at their protest at Government House, injuring fifty people, four seriously.

Airports of Thailand, the semi-public company that runs Suvarnabhumi and Don Meuang airports, reached an agreement with the protesters to allow pilots from the various airlines to ferry the 88 airplanes that are stranded at the airports, out of the country. The protest leaders agreed to this because they didn’t want to be responsible for any vandalism that might happen to the planes.

Pro-government protesters gathered in front of Bangkok City Hall and they promise to take back the airport if the police can not or will not. There are calls for exposure of who is actually supporting the anti-government protesters, suggestions that they must be supported by very influential members of Thailand’s elite if they are allowed to act with impunity for so long.

Much seems to hinge on Tuesday’s Constitutional Court verdict in a case about voter fraud. Three parties, including the government majority party, the PPP, are facing dissolution. This might pacify the anti-government protesters who might then clear the airports. But the pro-government faction sees a potential “coup by court” and is already saying they will fight any miscarriage of justice.

Can it continue? Many observers say it will have to come to an end by Friday, December 5th – His Majesty the King’s 81st birthday. But who knows what will really happen?

But that’s just the headlines. The real story is what’s happening with the tens of millions of Thais who are not protesting. A poll published this morning shows that 92% of Thais surveyed think both sides should put their differences aside for the good of the country. 76% see it as “a national shame”.

A few days ago, Ajarn Yai, the former director of the school where I volunteered as an English teacher, called Tawn. She wanted to convey her apologies to me on behalf of the Thai people, but was too embarrassed to call me directly. She said that if I had any guests in town, I should bring them down to Samut Songkhram province and she would entertain them.

Ajarn Yai (“Ajarn Yai” means “big teacher” in Thai) asked whether Trish was still in town. She was relieved to hear that Trish had made it out in time and said that if Trish was still in town, she would have offered to have Trish stay with her for a few days, to take the burden off of me.

That’s sweet, isn’t it? And very telling.

Here’s the top-of-the-fold story in this morning’s The Nation, one of the two English-language papers here in Bangkok. They say a picture says a thousand words and in this case, it is probably more like a full novel about Thai culture.

What you see is a traditional Thai dancer (Tawn is pretty sure she’s a he, though) entertaining crowds at U-Tapao Airport. U-Tapao is a miltary base about 190 km (two hours’ drive) southeast of Bangkok, built by the Americans during the Vietnam War. It is being used for some flights to get stranded foreigners out of the country, but it has no commercial facilities and can only handle about 40 flights a day compared with Suvarnabhumi’s 700. They’ve had to bring in porta-potties so the crowds can relive themselves.

Passengers are checking in at one of the hotels in town, the Centara Grand, and are being bussed to their flights. They have to check in at least five hours before their flight. THAI Airways, as you can see, is making an effort to make the experience a little less painful, by providing some entertainment for the crowds. A story in The Nation also told about how THAI employees are pitching in to help with the chaos at the hotel check-in area, with flight attendants comforting passengers and employees’ mothers making food for the ticketing agents, who can barely leave their posts.

Tawn had to laugh when he saw the picture in the papger. “That’s very Thai,” he said. And it is true. It says so much about Thai culture. First, to their credit, the Thais are very gracious hosts. They try to make every experience pleasant and so by trying to entertain their guests and show some beauty, they are making the best out of an improbably difficult situation.

The flip side to that, the one that can make non-Thais jai rone (hot headed), is the sense that in a completely out-of-control situation, effort is being expended on some window dressing rather than actual solutions.

I’m an optimist, though, so I see things through the first point-of-view.

That said, Boon and David had to fight a chaotic crowd to get out on a flight at U-Tapao yesterday, Markus had to take a 10-hour van ride to Phuket to catch a special Lufthansa charter to Frankfurt, Anthony and Francis are still uncertain if they’ll be able to leave this evening on their re-scheduled flight, Brian is still stuck in Hong Kong and Ken is stuck in Chicago, both unable to return, and I personally know of at least eight people who have cancelled trips here.

Tawn and I agreed that if the airport is still shut down on December 18th when we are scheduled to fly to the US, that we’ll change out ticket to one-way out of the country.

Thailand Thanksgiving 2008

Posted on 30 November 2008 by christao408

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was, by most measures, the most successful party we’ve hosted here in Thailand. The last minutes weren’t a frenzied rush to the table, clean-up wasn’t such a hassle, and the food was very good.

I started Friday about 6 pm and prepped until just after midnight, focusing mostly on the stuffing and getting dry ingredients measured out for Saturday’s baking. All about that in the previous entry.

Saturday I started about 8 am and worked through my list one item at a time. The morning was spent baking pecan pies and squash rolls. After making four dozen rolls I still had dough left over, so I played with it, making a braid, some mini rolls in a muffin tine, and a pretzel.

This time around, I tried brushing the rolls with a milk and egg wash. Ultimately, I think they are butter wish just some butter on top. Also, I think I overbaked them a little. They were not as light as the test batch I did earlier in the week. The pecan pies were gorgeous and not too sweet. I love the recipe.

Our guest list continued to fluctuate. Ultimately, of the original guest list, we lost four because of the airport closure, gained two because of some new friends that entered the group, and then lost three at the last minute because of various complications.

Trying to plan for an ever-changing number of guests is a pain. I ended up making a lot of extra food, which I realize is the case for Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure how much stuffing I really need.

Fearing that the 16-lbs turkey would not be sufficient (remember, it looked like we were going to be up to 20 guests at one point), I bought an additional turkey breast, dry brined it and roasted it Saturday morning.

Despite dry brining it only about 30 hours, it turned out very salty throughout. Not sure whether I used the wrong type of salt or more than I should have but, while not inedible, it left me drinking a lot of water.

For the sweet potatoes, I went with the toasted spice rub. They turned out well, again I had way too many prepared, but I think they were a little over-cooked and mushy.

Things that were very positive:

Setting up tables and chairs downstairs by the pool. The weather was perfect – about 80 degrees and a light breeze – and having a company provide all the dishes, etc. (and taking them away afterwards to be cleaned) made all the difference in the world. Having people outside the house kept the gathering from feeling crowded. Our house is really at its best with six guests, no more.

Having some friends come over early to help. Boon (in green, right) and Kobfa lent extra hands in the kitchen and as other guests arrived, Tawn wasn’t shy about getting their help with last minute arrangements.

Tawn’s aunt also came over to keep an eye on things and lend a hand. Since we were downstairs by the pool, we wanted to be able to keep the house open for people to get things and use the toilet. Having someone there ensured that possessions were safe and secure. Also, she helped washing dishes so we didn’t have as much of a mess to clean up at the end of the night.

Above, our poolside location. Below, table arrangement by Tawn.

Here’s the menu. Links go to the recipes.

Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

Traditional Roast Turkey with Gravy

Dry Brined Roasted Turkey Breast

Cornbread Chorizo Stuffing

Braintree Squash Rolls

Yams with Toasted Spice Rub

Italian-Style Cranberry Citrus Dressing

Southern-Style Creamed Peas

Fresh Green Beans with Bacon

Pecan Pie

Pumpkin Pie

Assorted Macarons

The pumpkin pie was made by Matt’s partner Si. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of either his pies or the pecan pies I made. They were tasty, though, so if you want his recipe I can track it down.

We had time for a group photo before we tucked in. Standing from left to right: Chairat, Francois, Doug, Matt, Markus, Suchai. Seated from left to right: Chris, Tawn, Boon, Kitty, Si, Tam, Kobfa. David arrived a bit later.

While guests started serving themselves, Markus assisted me with the turkey carving, a task made all the more difficult by a wobbly table and the wrong type of knife. I guess I should cave in and purchase a carving knife.

Below, Kitty and Doug confer, Matt spreads butter on his roll, and Si, Kobfa and Boon converse.

Below, the happy hosts with Kitty and Doug.

We started dinner about 4:30, which meant that even after a very leisurely meal and visit, we were wrapped up by 9:00. Even after cleaning up and driving Tawn’s aunt home, we were in bed by 11:00. Now that’s quite a feat on a party night!

T-day Trial Runs

Posted on 28 November 2008 by christao408

T-Day. For those of you in the United States, Thanksgiving has come and gone, nothing left except your promise to exercise a bit more this weekend and, of course, lots of leftover turkey.

Here in Thailand, though, we’re doing a delayed Thanksgiving since everyone has to work on the weekdays. Tawn and I expect about 16 guests over for dinner this evening. This number has changed a lot because of the airport seizures. Brian, Ken and Vic are all stuck outside the country. On the other hand, we have picked up one or two guests as visiting friends of invitees are stranded and cannot get home.

Throughout the week, I’ve been doing preparation work for Saturday’s dinner and testing out some new recipes, to decide what should make the final cut.

There is a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes with toasted spice rub that sounded interesting. On Tuesday, I made a big batch of the rub and tried it on some regular potatoes.

The rub is mostly coriander and fennel seed, with lots of chili powder, crushed chili pepper flakes, and a dash of cinnamon. The flavor was very nice although I think some cumin would add to it.

I also tried a recipe from my childhood: Baintree Squash Rolls. These yeast dinner rolls have roasted squash puree which adds a wonderful color and an addictive flavor. They are easy to make, especially in this warm country where yeast doughs rise without difficulty.

There really aren’t that many dishes from my childhood memory. While my mother cooked all the time, I don’t have a firm memory of that many of the dishes. West African Peanut Butter Soup is one. These squash rolls are another. Over Christmas I’ll have to talk with my sister and see what dishes she remembers. Maybe my memory just needs a poke and it will kick back in.

Our trial run dinner on Tuesday. This was just for me and Tawn and it tried out a cranberry sauce, the squash rolls, and the toasted spice rub on both regular potatoes and a pork steak.

The sauce, as you can see, was very watery. While making it, I kept thinking that there really was way too much liquid and I even ladled some out. It wasn’t until the following day, reviewing the recipe, that I realized it was watery because I had added only one package of cranberries instead of the three that was called for! The flavor was pretty good, although ratios were off because there weren’t enough cranberries.

My final midweek test was with pecan pies. Matt’s partner Si is baking fresh pumpkin pie for Saturday, which is just wonderful. I’m usually hesitant to let guests cook for my parties because most people just go to the store and buy something prepared. This, in my narrow definition of the word, isn’t “cooking”. But I have full faith that Matt and Si will show up with some wonderful desserts.

To provide some contrast and an alternative for anyone who doesn’t care for pumpkin (I didn’t as a child, but love it now), I started to think about pecan pie. I have two large bags of pecans from Costco that I trucked back from the US with me last visit. Need to use them up before the next visit so I can buy some more.

Pecan “tartlets” after being pried from the muffin tin.

Never having made a pecan pie before, I actually went out an purchased corn syrup, supporting the agricultural monoculture that is American farming. I thought that mini pecan tarts would be fun so I made three different sizes: small, medium and large, below. They tasted fine but the topping just bubbled over the small and medium tarts and made for a huge, sticky mess. It took a long time to get the pans scrubbed clean.

Test runs finished and my menu finalized, I started my preparations on Thursday. Cranberry sauce was first, a re-do that would this time more closely follow the instructions.

Villa Market now had fresh cranberries on its shelves, which had been missing over the past few weeks as I prepared my menu. Curious as to the difference between the two, I bought both fresh and frozen berries. The price (about US$7 for a 12 oz / 300 g container) was the same and I couldn’t tell any difference in taste, texture or quality.

The recipe starts with a simple syrup infused with vanilla, fresh squeezed orange juice is added along with the berries, salt and pepper. This is simmered until the berries start to pop then is taken off the heat. I don’t cook it for too long because I like my cranberry sauce to still have some recognizable berries in it. After taking it off the heat, I stirred in a little Dijon mustard. Sounds strange, right? The tangy flavor goes very well with the tart berries and the citrus-vanilla sweetness of the sauce.

Friday was final prep. After a day of working and completing some errands (our car battery died this week so we had to get a jump start from a taxi and go buy a new battery), Tawn and I stopped by the market for one final push.

The big item: homemade cornbread chorizo sausage stuffing. This is not a difficult process but it is time-consuming. First I have to make the cornbread, then I have to toast the cubed cornbread. I have to cook the sausage and de-fat it. Chop the veggies and cook them, then start combining everything.

The nice thing is that this can be prepared in advance, refrigerated, and then baked on Saturday noon. Trying a few bites after I was done, I have to say that this is probably the tastiest stuffing I’ve ever made. And I was able to find locally made chorizo!

After finishing the stuffing, I sifted the ingredients for the rolls and put them in ziploc bags, then made the pie dough and refrigerated it. Finally, before going to bed at 1:00 am, I took the turkey breast out of the bag where it had been dry brining, rinsed it off, patted it dry, and set it back in the refrigerator to finish drying out.

Because my oven isn’t as big as standard US ovens, I’m not cooking the whole turkey – that’s been ordered from Villa and for 1000 baht (about $30) they are baking it for me and making the gravy, too. But I am cooking a turkey breast myself, either so we have a little extra meat or because I feel guilty for not cooking the whole turkey. I’m not sure which it is.

So here it is, Saturday morning. Cool – about 74 degrees F – with a light breeze. Our pool-side dinner will be fantastic. I just have a lot of cooking to do.

As of this point, I need to finish the pies, make the rolls, roast the turkey breast, bake the stuffing, bake the sweet potatoes, make the salad dressing and go buy salad greens. There wasn’t enough room in the refrigerator for 16 people worth of salad greens.

This time tomorrow, I’ll tell you how it went.