The cycle continues

Posted on 7 January 2009 by christao408

The adjustment back to Khrungthep local time has been a tough one. I managed to have an upset stomach the day after I returned, possibly caused by jet lag, and then have been waking up at various odd hours the past few mornings: 12:50 am yesterday, 2:40 am today.

I’m not worrying about it, though. The nature of my job is such that I can do my work pretty much at any time. So if I’m awake in the middle of the night, I can work then and nap in the afternoon, instead. Besides, the jet lag will wear off and normal sleeping patterns will return.

The coming of the New Year has brought some sadness to those near us. Two days before the end of the year, Tam and Pune’s mother passed away up in Pan, outside of Chiang Rai. Pune is already living in Germany and Tam is scheduled to move there in the next few months with his husband, Markus. Sadly, this will mean that they won’t have much of a familial connection left here.

Then on Monday we received news that Ja’s father had unexpectedly passed away. He had been suffering some health issues, but nothing that was considered immediately life threatening.

When a Buddhist dies here in Thailand, the funeral events have a way of taking precedence in others’ lives. This is because the (usually) five nights of chanting commence on the first day of death, so there is no postponing things for a few days to allow people time to clear their schedules. It is this custom that really emphasizes the ties that bind families, friends and communities together.

Unfortunately, we were not in town for Tam and Pune’s mother’s funeral ceremonies. But Tawn attended services for Ja’s father on Monday and we’ll both attend this evening.

A reminder of the nature of life: we are born, we grow up, we grow old and sick, then we die.

But I Married Your Mother Anyway

Posted on 5 January 2009 by christao408

Sapphire Rain had this cartoon as part of her recent entry on a court case restricting a woman’s lesbian partner from spending the night. The sentiment of the comic really hits home.

Here’s to hoping that in another decade or two, we’ll look back on the issue of gay marriage and, just as we look back at the anti-miscengenation laws that were on the books up until the 1960s, wonder what in the world we were thinking.

Return to the Big Mango

Posted on 4 January 2009 by christao408

After two full weeks in the United States, Tawn and I departed Friday afternoon from San Francisco en route to Taipei and, eighteen hours later, Khrungthep. The heavy drizzle which had greeted our arrival to San Francisco on December 18th had returned to see us off.

In the morning, we met with Brian and Keng (who had arrived the night before from Khrungthep) for breakfast at Chloe’s, a Church Street diner that has long been a favorite of mine. Below, a view of this cozy breakfast spot.

Chloe’s has a Thai connection. Several, in fact. Over the years there have been many Thai servers and it turns out that the man in the apron, above, lived in Thailand with his partner for many years, speaks Thai, and is planning on moving here again in 2009. I gave him my card and we’ll see if you end up seeing him again here in this blog.

Below, the pumpkin ginger pancakes and the tomato, basil and brie scramble.

It was fun to see people from home (Khrungthep) in SF, especially as we had gone to see a show with Brian and Keng just two days before we left on vacation. Below from left: Brian, Keng, Tawn and me.

The drizzle cleared as we returned the rental car to the airport. We checked in a bit early since the car was due back at 1:00 even though the flight wasn’t until 4:10. That gave us some time to browse around the largely empty SF Int’l Airport and then sit and read while waiting for our plane. Below, our EVA 777 taxis to the gate on still-wet pavement.

The flight out was on-time and smooth. We had a beautiful view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge as we climbed to our cruising altitude. While the flight was long (13.5 hours to Taipei, another 3.5 to Bangkok) our connection in Taipei was short and so we didn’t feel like any time was spent lingering.

We landed just after 2:00 this morning and were at home and in bed by 4:00. I managed nearly eight hours of sleep, although Tawn was up several hours earlier.

There were probably be some more reflection on this trip as I sink back into my normal routine over the next few days. For now, though, I’ll just say that it is good to be home.

Last Bites of SF

Posted on 2 January 2009 by christao408

As 2009 came to a start, our trip to the US came to an end. Wednesday morning, Jenn and Kevin and the girls drove us up to the airport for our flight back to San Francisco.

The girls had been moody all morning, their usual reaction when we are leaving them. Emily wasn’t willing to get out of the van when we reached the airport, right.

Seems mighty stubborn to me, especially since her sister was willing to get out of the van and join us on the curb of the terminal for one final photo, below. But then, Emily is a “cut off your nose to spite your face” kind of person.

The three and a half hour flight back to the West Coast was smooth. There was a heavy layer of fog over the bay and we actually didn’t pull out of the fog until we were crossing the runway threshold, something that appeared to be near the limits of acceptable landing visibility.

For these final two days in SF, we rented a car. With the New Year’s holiday, we knew that parking enforcement wouldn’t be much of an issue and as we had some engagements in the East Bay, having a car would be very helpful.

Wednesday evening, New Year’s Eve, I surprised Tawn with tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera, which is showing right now at the Orpheum Theatre. I have seen this show three times before but Tawn never has, so it was a nice treat. John Cudia made for a very effective Phantom but overall the show’s production was just okay. I think the audio system at the Orpheum is not very good, more like listening to an AM radio than is okay for such expensive tickets.

Still, it was fun and we spent the evening together, which is what is really important.

We preceded the show with an early dinner at Little Star Pizza. With two locations in SF, we walked to the Valencia and 15th street branch. They do deep-dish Chicago style pizza, along the lines of what Zachary’s in Berkeley provides. My one complain with Zachary’s is that their crust isn’t very good. Sure enough, Little Star has this problem solved with a buttery, cornmeal-laden crust that is much more substantive and tender than Zachary’s.

Click on a thumbnail for a larger version. From L to R: Caprese salad with tomatoes and wonderful fresh mozzarella cheese; a deconstructed garlic bread with bread, butter and a roasted bulb of garlic – spread it yourself; a “small” pie, half with the Little Star special (spinach, onions, feta/ricotta/mozzarella cheese) and half with the Classic (mushrooms, sausage, peppers and onion). Heavenly.

New Year’s Day we awoke relatively early since we were just climbing into bed when the fireworks went off the night before. We walked down to Tartine for one more taste of their lovely pastries. Below, a view into their kitchen with Guererro Street reflected.

Above, the best croissant I’ve tasted outside of Paris with a bowl of latte.

The Mission District is a fascinating neighborhood with lots of little gems like Tartine. Another gem, just down 18th Street from Tartine, is the Bi-Rite grocery store. Lovingly maintained, it has a retro feel but a very contemporary selection of foodstuffs.

Above, Tawn ponders the selection of fresh fruits and veggies.

We walked back through the Castro and then back down Market Street to Anita’s in order to get some exercise. There was a pretty side street with leaves that looked autumnal, strewn in the gutters and on the cars.

Speaking of cars, we rented a Toyota Prius hybrid, the first time I’ve ever driven one. What a weird and wonderful vehicle! No ignition switch; just a on/off button. I spend the drive watching the efficiency display, moderating my speed and trying to keep the efficiency as high as possible. So far we have driven 120 miles and have a 44.3 miles per gallon average. The needle on the gas gauge has barely moved.

After Tartine we drove over to the East Bay, stopping in a my aunt and uncle’s house for a New Year’s brunch. Everyone was there, including my cousins Alex and Bill who had flown up from Long Beach the night before. Below, my cousin Patrick holds Logan, the son of family friends and a frequent topic of Alex’s blog.

After a visit to Bruce and Howie’s in San Ramon, we returned to the city to face the most difficult task: packing. The last item we purchased on our list was a new comforter at Macy’s. There was a sale and we paid a nice, low price, but getting a comforter into our suitcase is proving to be a challenge. One that has not been solved eight hours before our plane departs.

We enjoyed some mid-afternoon bottles of champagne with Anita, Lilian and Tanya, then set out for Cha Cha Cha, the “all-powerful” Cuban tapas restaurant that is always on our to eat at list. The Mission District location was busy but the wait wasn’t too long, a wait shortened by a pitcher of sangria.

From the left: Tawn, Anita, Tanya, Lilian and me.

We ordered all of the usuals. From upper left, clockwise: fried calamari, fried new potatoes with garlic-chili aioli, chicken paillard, sauteed mushrooms, fried plantains with black bean sauce, warm spinach salad.

We had a wonderful time and once we returned home, were too exhausted to do any further packing. Which is why, as soon as I finish this paragraph, I’m going to return to tackling the comforter problem. We leave this afternoon.

Breakfast

Posted on 1 January 2009 by christao408

Tuesday morning I went to my grandparents’ house and my mother and I prepared breakfast. Actually, she did most of the preparing while I played around with my sustainably-raised eggs to see what was unique about them.

Here are the results:

Happy new year to everyone. Best wishes for happiness and peace in 2009!

Eating our way through KC

Posted on 31 December 2008 by christao408

Sitting right now in the Midwest Airlines departure lounge in Kansas City, waiting for our flight back to San Francisco. A quick recap of the final few days in KC, most of which were spent sampling local delicacies and enjoying the company of friends and family.

Right: Emily and Chris go out for fried chicken.

Monday afternoon we took my niece to lunch with my grandparents at Stroud’s, the “home of Pan Fried Chicken”. They claim to be the only restaurant in KC that pan fries chicken. Whether that is true or not, I don’t know. But they sure turn out some tasty home style cooking.

Below: chicken noodle soup

Above: three pieces of Stroud’s crispy pan fried chicken.

The verdict: Stroud’s makes tasty fried chicken, very crisp. The meat itself, though, doesn’t have a lot of flavor. The side dishes, especially the heavenly mashed potatoes, are great. And their slogan (“We choke our own chickens”) is priceless.

Later in the day I scanned a lot of old photos from my grandparents’ photo albums. I’ll share more of these in the coming weeks, but here’s one from when I was just about six months old. My uncle, who is a photographer, took the picture.

Monday evening we stopped by the Honorary Royal Thai Consulate. Yes, there is a Thai consulate here in the greater Kansas City area. I applied for another one-year business visa, something I will have to do every year for the foreseeable future. A year ago when I applied, the Consul General, who is an American woman, didn’t spend a lot of time talking with me.

This time, however, I brought Tawn along and we ended up spending a half-hour at her house (the family room of which is the consulate), talking about Thai politics, etc. She told us that she thinks we should have children and went on about her frustration that proposition 8 passed in California. Kind of unusual, huh?

That evening, we continued that Thai theme and met Jack, a Thai friend who has lived in KC for a decade or more, down on the Plaza. Country Club Plaza is beautiful this time of year with all the holiday decorations. Here’s a view:

We ate at Houston’s, a small chain operated by the Hillstone restaurant group. For a chain restaurant, they have a good wine list and excellent pork ribs. Knife and fork tender, which is how I like them because I don’t like to gnaw on rib bones. From the top down: Ribs with cous cous and fries, Hawaiian rib eye steak with baked potato, double-cut pork chop.

There’s a little more to share but I’ll have to do it from SF as we’re about to board. Have a happy and safe new year’s eve!

The Second through Fourth Days of Christmas

Posted on 28 December 2008 by christao408

Technology is not entirely a foreign thing for our family. On Christmas Day my grandfather fired up Skype and we had a video chat with my aunt and uncle and cousins in Seattle. They were nearly snowed in and turned the camera out the study window so we could see the several feet of snow covering their yard, sidewalks and streets. Was that really Seattle!? That would be much more likely here in the midwest.

Friday morning we had family portraits down at the photo studio. I think it takes a person with a very special personality to be a good family portrait photographer. Not only a good photographer but patient, funny, and a child psychologist.

After the photo shoot, Tawn and I took Emily off her parents’ hands for a special afternoon with her uncles. First off we headed to the Plaza, a nice shopping area down near the country club. This is the oldest shopping district in town and is still a very nice place to visit. Emily chose our dining venue for lunch: McDonalds. Sadly, after several years of avoiding McD’s, I wound up eating there.

In the afternoon, we went to the book store to spend a gift certificate Emily and her sister received for Christmas. At first, Emily tried to sell me the story that the gift certificate was only for her, but my sister clarified and so I insisted that Emily choose a book for her sister, too.

We stopped by the Gap and found a nice top for her on sale, something light enough that it can be worn into the summer. Finally, we waited for uncle Tawn at Starbucks while he went shopping at a few other shops. It took him a long time to return and after reading through all the new books together, Emily started to get a little impatient.

Saturday morning Tawn and I drove to Overland Park to meet one of the owners of the Gasper Family Farm. They have a small, diversified family farm that runs in a sustainable manner and offers only 100% grass-fed, pastured cows, pigs, and dairy. The more I’ve been reading about food safety and sustainability issues (Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma) the more I want to better understand what is actually available as far as sustainable, locally-produced food.

A few months ago I signed up for the Gasper Family Farm’s e-newsletter and decided that when I was back in KC I would buy some of their produces. I emailed Susan, the “mom” of the farm, and placed an order for ten pounds of beef (combination of steaks, a roast and ground beef) and five pounds each of ground sage sausage and ground cayenne pepper sausage.

When I arrived at the designated pick-up point, one of her customer’s driveways on the corner of 80th Street and Hemlock, on a drizzly, freezing cold Saturday morning, Tawn thought it looked rather like a drug buy. Sure enough, she pulled the frozen goods out of a cooler in the back of her Chevy Suburban, cash changed hands, and I bought a dozen freshly-laid eggs, too.

Back at home, I decided to put some of my sustainably made food to the test, baking a lasagna for dinner. Mixing a pound of the beef with a pound of the cayenne pepper sausage, I had a nice bubbly lasagna ready a few hours later. It was lovely.

I still want to try the eggs, comparing the pastured eggs with the conventional ones my sister bought at the store. I noticed that with the two eggs I used in the lasagna, the yolks looked much more vibrant than with conventional eggs.

Speaking of sustainable eggs, I was tickled to see that the eggs came out a rainbow of colors from pale pink to greenish-brown to beige to brown. Emily and Ava thought this was pretty cool.

To accompany the lasagna, I did a roasted beet salad with a honey dijon vinaigrette.

Dinner was lovely.

In other news, here’s the video of our sledding last Wednesday. With all the crazy weather we’ve had here, the snow was entirely gone by the day after Christmas and then a little bit of it was back by this morning.

Enjoy!

Christmas Day

Posted on 26 December 2008 by christao408

Recapping my continued adventures here in Kansas City over the Christmas holiday:

At 6:50 Christmas morning the lights snapped on and two little girls bounced onto our bed. “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas! Santa came!”

So we threw on some clothes and headed upstairs. Sure enough, Santa had paid us a visit overnight! The snacks and eggnog that had been left by the fireplace had disappeared. All that was left were a few crumbs. Santa must have been hungry.

First things first, we checked our stockings, which had been hung by the fireplace with care.

There were all sorts of little goodies inside. Thankfully, no one received any lumps of coal, so we must have all been good this year.

Then I prepared breakfast: homemade biscuits with sausage and gravy. Very nice start to a holiday, if you ask me.

After breakfast we went to the family room to unwrap the gifts that Santa had brought. Amazingly enough, Santa had heard that Tawn was celebrating the holiday in Kansas City and had brought his present here: a picnic basket and set, complete with plates, glasses, corkscrew, cutting board, knife, etc.

Above: Emily and Ava don’t even look as Tawn shows off his new picnic basket.

In the afternoon we headed to my grandparents’ house for dinner. It was a tasty dinner but what I really want to share is this picture from the candied yams. My grandmother ran out of small marshmallows halfway through completing the dish, so she had to switch to large marshmallows. I thought it was kind of funny.

Later, she served us a special dessert that she hasn’t made for years: homemade cannoli. This Sicilian dessert is a pastry shell filled with a mixture of sweetened ricotta cheese and chocolate shavings and candied citrus peel. Very rich. She’s quite a cook and this was a really nice treat. Below, my grandmother and a close-up of the cannoli.

My grandmother is very talented. Below is a picture of my niece Emily’s Christmas gift from her: a dress that my grandmother made. On the piano in the background are two dolls that my grandmother made, too. Not only did she make the dolls, she made the costumes for them. She’s made dozens of these dolls over the years.

Very talented lineage I come from, eh?

In the evening after we returned home (I have a hard time getting used to this midwestern schedule, eating dinner at 5:30!) we were nowhere near ready to go to bed, so Tawn and I went to watch the new John Patrick Shanley film, “Doubt”.

A brilliant screenplay and no doubt an amazing stage production. However, I don’t think that it translated so well to the big screen. The film felt very claustrophobic and I was so relieved in the one scene where Meryl Streep’s character and another character go for a walk outdoors.

The acting was superb, especially Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Flynn and Viola Davis as the mother of the first black student at the school. Meryl Streep did a good job as Sister Aloysious, who suspects Father Flynn of abusing the boy. But she is such a strong actor that I couldn’t really ever get past seeing her and thinking, “That’s Meryl Streep acting like a really uptight nun.”

Still worth watching but maybe only a three out of four stars.

All in all, a relaxing Christmas.

Christmas Dinner

Posted on 25 December 2008 by christao408

When people get married, they have to find a way to handle holidays with their two respective families. Do they try to combine into a single, large celebration? Or do they find a way to juggle the two families’ celebrations?

In the case of my sister and brother-in-law, they have opted for the latter approach. Holidays are alternated. Thanksgiving was with my side of the family this year and Christmas Day will be with my brother-in-law’s family. Because of that arrangement, we had our official Christmas Dinner on Christmas Eve.

We will do another Christmas Dinner, a more casual one, at my grandmother’s house on Thursday.

Before I tell you about dinner, though, we were met at the airport Tuesday evening by my sister, two nieces and mother, left. It was dark already and very cold, but they braved the thirty-minute drive to the airport to be there as we walked off the plane.

What a nice way to be welcomed to the chilly midwest!

After an easy dinner we put the girls to bed and then discussed the Christmas Eve menu. My mother and sister had planned it out and done the shopping, so I volunteered to cook. The menu:

A leg of pastured lamb my parents had brought over form a butcher in Indiana, roasted in a rosemary-garlic rub
A grilled pork tenderloin in a mustard and honey marinade
Traditional mashed potatoes
Roasted carrots with a light maple syrup glaze
Leafed Brussels sprouts with bacon
San Francisco sourdough bread
For dessert, “The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford”, a refrigerated dessert that combines the best of chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and cream cheese.

It was a pretty easy menu, which left time during the day for all sorts of fun. First off, it snowed about an inch last night. Not a significant amount, but enough to go outside and do a little sledding.

Above: Me, Ava and Emily in the front yard. I have some fun video from that but no time tonight to edit it. Look for it in a future posting.

In the afternoon, we completed the “gingerbread” house project. Which more accurately would be the graham cracker house project. Something about my nieces’ personalities could be interpreted from their decorating styles:

After that fun project, at which copious amounts of sugar were ingested, I started preparing the dinner in earnest. My brother-in-law took care of the grilled pork loin, but everything else was in my hands. Here’s a look at the results:

From top left, clockwise: the lamb, pork, sourdough bread, mashed potatoes, carrots and Brussels sprouts.

The dinner turned out very tasty, a nice simple meal. The lamb is a different breed than the one sold most commonly. It has a tamer taste and was very enjoyable. The pork was really moist.

The Brussels sprouts were my favorite. I think taking the time to core them and pull the leaves apart really makes a big difference, making them sweeter. Usually, when they are served whole, I find them a little bitter. It is a bit of extra work, but worth it.

Sadly, I have no pictures of the Next Best Thing to Robert Redford. My apologies. But it was tasty.

After dinner, we headed to church for Christmas Eve service. It was at a United Methodist church, the one my grandparents and sister and brother-in-law attend, the same one my parents were married at, the same one where I was baptized.

One observation, though: is it just me, or are protestant churches especially gifted at making upbeat hymns celebrating joyous occasions such as the birth of their savior, sound mournful?

We returned home and the girls helped set out some snacks for Santa Claus: spiced nuts and cream puffs with eggnog to drink. Strange, huh? Here’s a short video in which I capture the discussion about this choice:

Happy holidays to you and yours!

And Christmas Arrives

Posted on 25 December 2008 by christao408

First off, to those Christian members of my audience, Merry Christmas to you and yours. It is actually just a few minutes before midnight on Christmas Eve here in Kansas City, but since my Xanga account is set for Bangkok Standard Time, it shows that it is already Christmas Day.

Second, many thanks to all of you who expressed concern for Tawn’s battle with his jet lag. I’m glad to say that he’s much better now than he was. Your kind thoughts no doubt helped speed his recovery.

We used much of Monday for Tawn’s recovery. Sadly, this meant that we had to cancel some of our plans. We felt very bad about that, but ultimately on a trip like this one, health has to be the first consideration. The entire trip could wash out if one or both of us became seriously ill.

By Monday evening Tawn was feeling well enough for us to keep our dinner appointment with my aunt, uncle and cousins. Of course, family is a priority in our life and so we made the trek over to the east bay for a very enjoyable dinner.

Before leaving, we had breakfast at Squat and Gobble, a small chain of creperies. Thanks to Jordan for letting us know that they actually open for breakfast. I had always thought that the location, which is just a block or two away from Anita’s, was just open for lunch and dinner. We had another nice American style breakfast, something that just is never the same in Khrungthep.

Left, buttermilk waffle with berries and maple syrup. Right, poached eggs and hollandaise sauce on English muffins, with home fries.

We headed to SFO for our noon flight on Midwest Airlines, the only airline that offers a nonstop flight from SFO to Kansas City. The airline, which like many of its peers has suffered some tough times, is still a favorite of mine. They offer a “premium economy” product, friendly service, and good value for the money. I’m the kind of traveler who will spend a little bit extra for greater comfort and convenience. My days of suffering in a cramped middle seat in the far back of a sardine can are over.

We managed to arrive just a few minutes before the check-in counter (which is handled by American) opened. Once the counter opened, the agent informed us that because of weather in the midwest, the inbound flight was about forty minutes delayed. Thankfully, this report was accurate and the delayed departure time didn’t slip at all.

This delay gave us time to enjoy SFO’s good selection of food – at least the good selection that is in the North Terminal. Of course, no trip to San Francisco is complete without some clam chowder, so we stopped at Boudin’s for a bowl of soup served in a hollowed-out sourdough round.

Too much bread, to be honest. Tasty, but an insane amount of bread. The chowder was pretty good, though. Frankly, I think the best chowder is served from the large vats at Fisherman’s Wharf late in the evening when there is just a little bit left and it has been simmering all day long. So tasty then. But this was a reasonable substitute.

Before leaving San Francisco, I’ll share a Christmas sight that I saw while walking in the Castro.

Yes, a merry gay Christmas to you, too.

christao408

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

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