Okay, just for fun (and to see how many people are reading) let's have a trivia contest!
Email me the answers to the following three questions (flyingrat42ATgmailDOTcom), and I'll pick a random winner from the people that get all three correct. The winner will receive a small present (less than USD $10) in the mail.
Ready? Here goes:
1) What is the full, official name of the city Josh and I are currently living in? What does it translate as, and what is noteworthy about the name?
2) Particularly hot Thai chilies are known as phrik khii nuu. What does this translate as?
3) Which Thai author won a World Fantasy Award in 2002, and what is his other job?
ETA: I'll leave the contest open until 12 PM Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, March 15.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Same old, same old
Still no pictures. Ack! By hook or by crook, I will take the camera with me tomorrow and get some pictures of the neighborhood to show you.
Josh and I had a relatively fun weekend. We attended the annual Diplomatic Red Cross Bazaar at the Siam Paragon shopping center (http://www.siamparagon.co.th/. If you're viewing the page now, you may get a splash page which is a memorial tribute to HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the King's older sister who passed away recently; the country is observing a 100-day mourning period, and lots of Thai websites have similar tributes.) The Paragon is an amazing mall with an aquarium in the basement, an IMAX theater, an exhibition hall and lots of shops and restaurants (including a huge Kinokuniya bookstore, which Josh and I love!)
The Red Cross Bazaar is an annual event which most of the foreign embassies in Thailand (as well as lots of shops, restaurants, etc.) participate in to raise money for the Thai Red Cross. Each country typically sells characteristic products: clothing, food, wine, cosmetics, handicrafts, you name it. I volunteered at the US's booth (run by the Embassy's ACSA/Commissary) on Saturday evening: we were selling American candy and soft drinks, cosmetics and household goods, but the Igloo coolers were most popular and were selling like hotcakes, especially the big wheeled ones! (Coolers like that are hard to find in Thailand and are typically marked up a lot-- the ones sold at the Bazaar were still more expensive than the US, but cheaper than you can find elsewhere.)
We both went back on Sunday and spent some time wandering around. I was able to find a refill for my Dermalogica skin-care products (hooray!) and we bought a really nice inlaid chess-set/backgammon board from the Syrian booth for only 2000 baht, which is a steal! (I leave the conversion to USD as an exercise to the reader.) We also bought a beautiful ceramic ewer from the Pakistani embassy (which happens to be practically next door to our apartment, near the hospital) that will look appropriate for our reenactments.
We also took the opportunity to be served yak butter tea by one of the princesses of Bhutan, which was a cool experience!
Josh and I had a relatively fun weekend. We attended the annual Diplomatic Red Cross Bazaar at the Siam Paragon shopping center (http://www.siamparagon.co.th/. If you're viewing the page now, you may get a splash page which is a memorial tribute to HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana, the King's older sister who passed away recently; the country is observing a 100-day mourning period, and lots of Thai websites have similar tributes.) The Paragon is an amazing mall with an aquarium in the basement, an IMAX theater, an exhibition hall and lots of shops and restaurants (including a huge Kinokuniya bookstore, which Josh and I love!)
The Red Cross Bazaar is an annual event which most of the foreign embassies in Thailand (as well as lots of shops, restaurants, etc.) participate in to raise money for the Thai Red Cross. Each country typically sells characteristic products: clothing, food, wine, cosmetics, handicrafts, you name it. I volunteered at the US's booth (run by the Embassy's ACSA/Commissary) on Saturday evening: we were selling American candy and soft drinks, cosmetics and household goods, but the Igloo coolers were most popular and were selling like hotcakes, especially the big wheeled ones! (Coolers like that are hard to find in Thailand and are typically marked up a lot-- the ones sold at the Bazaar were still more expensive than the US, but cheaper than you can find elsewhere.)
We both went back on Sunday and spent some time wandering around. I was able to find a refill for my Dermalogica skin-care products (hooray!) and we bought a really nice inlaid chess-set/backgammon board from the Syrian booth for only 2000 baht, which is a steal! (I leave the conversion to USD as an exercise to the reader.) We also bought a beautiful ceramic ewer from the Pakistani embassy (which happens to be practically next door to our apartment, near the hospital) that will look appropriate for our reenactments.
We also took the opportunity to be served yak butter tea by one of the princesses of Bhutan, which was a cool experience!
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