Thailand's Got Talent - Takoyaki

Near where we eat most nights, a van parks close by selling freshly made squid balls, aka Takoyaki. Not the processed meat kind, these have squid in the centre of a dough/batter, which is flavoured with grated carrot and shallots etc.

This guy has definitely cooked a few in his day and uses only a couple of skewers to get the job done.

The balls are moved along the row of griddles, depending on their cooking stage, the final one being set to 'keep warm'.

Op là! They're delicious and at five for 20 Baht, he has plenty of customers.

Snap's other blog Chiang Mai Thai

#2 You know you've left home when...

 You know you've left home when...

• you see a fully grown Labrador, going for a ride, standing on the front deck of a scooter
• you miss a dumpling of a different kind...of course I miss the older dumplings too!

• half the time he tells people I'm 'suay' and the other half, 'suay'...come on Stray, which is it? Beautiful or Cursed?...same spelling, different Thai tones

Loy Krathong and Yi Peng Photos

I need a better camera! Mine struggles to catch anything in motion and night lights...so moving lit lanterns in the evening skies, don't make for good photos. Here's a few that turned out OK.

Waiting for the lantern to fill up with hot air...

...ouch, this is getting quite hot...



...make a wish...

Palm Heart Puffs

Saturday night walking market on Wua Lai road provides an opportunity to sample even more food, with a helpful English sign here and there.

These caught my eye, looking like a pile of something between fairy floss and scoops of ice cream, before I spotted their explanation. "It looks, feels, and tastes like a bready flour cake, but it's not. It's made from steamed palm hearts.....

Loy Krathong and Yi Peng

Since we first arrived a few weeks ago, signs of Loy Krathong and Yi Ping were evident. The odd bang of fireworks could be heard and a lost looking lantern or two, seen in the evening skies.

The old city moat...yes, that's a big pink rabbit.

Last night the fireworks increased to an almost celebratory level, a few more lanterns appeared in the sky and decorative street lights were turned on around the city.

Tha Pae Gate

Hundreds of lanterns held captive

The evening wouldn't be complete without sitting on a giant panda...also a lantern!

Don't even think about doing the bunny ears Mr Panda

Tonight should be even louder and brighter...

...and I'm sure not everyone will quite make it home. This morning - it's 9.30 am right now and the fire crackers are already getting a run for their money.

""Loi" means "to float" and a "Krathong" is a raft, about a hand span in diameter, traditionally made from a section of banana tree trunk...AND Loi Krathong coincides with the Lanna (northern Thai) festival known as "Yi Peng" (Thai: ยี่เป็ง). Due to a difference between the old Lanna calendar and the Thai calendar, Yi Peng is held on a full moon of the 2nd month of the Lanna calendar ("Yi" meaning "2nd" and "Peng" meaning "month" in the Lanna language). A multitude of Lanna-style sky lanterns (khom loi (Thai: โคมลอย), literally: "floating lanterns") are launched into the air" ...thank you Wiki.

Snap's other blog Chiang Mai Thai

You know you've left home when...

You know you've left home when...

• you discover the Pandan Custard in your bun is listed as a food group on the packet...fine, but what the hell is in the Pandan Custard?

 

• you put rice in his coffee instead of sugar...hey, I didn't have my glasses on!
• he asks for more dog with his rice (that should have been vegetables Stray)

Welcome to Bor Sang Fishing Park

One of Stray's fellow TEFL students (S) introduced him to Bor (or Bo) Sang Fishing Park last week, so I had to go and have a sticky beak myself. Getting there wasn't as straight forward as we'd hoped, but we made it eventually, despite the English sign being located well and truly INSIDE the car park. A minor, major detail overlooked by our direction givers.

A half day arranged tour to this place costs around 1500 Baht +, but if you show up on your lonesome, you'll pay around 250 Baht for entry, rod hire and bait (no charge to watch) and I doubt you'd be able to sustain pulling in these monsters for a whole half a day anyway. The park is open from 9 am to 10 pm, and the fishing is better at night.

Nong Buak Hard Public Park

I'm trying to walk off all of the food I've been blogging about, by taking regular walks. 'Regular' they haven't been, the old sleep pattern has been out of whack.

But I was inspired last night when I discovered I'd lost a couple of kilos on one of those PUBLIC scales, that plays REALLY LOUD CARNIVAL MUSIC when you climb aboard and has a REALLY LARGE digital read out of your weight...for the WHOLE NEIGHBOURHOOD to see.

Today I woke up early enough to escape the heat of the day and wandered up to, around and back from Nong Buak Hard (or Hat) Public Park.

Elephant on Thipanet Road

The other night on the way home from dinner we saw this on one of Chiang Mai's busy, busy roads. The elephant is only young and the mahout seems to be trying to sell food to locals, so they can in turn, feed it.

It's something I thought was reserved for tourist areas. I don't condone it, but thought you might like to take a look.

Snap's other blog Chiang Mai Thai

Kitchen Renovation...meet Otto!

This morning we hit an all time low of sorts. The novelty of eating out for every meal has worn off, and cold sandwiches and salads, made in the apartment, aren’t exactly comfort foods.

This morning...

Stray had slept in for a change and felt like eggs for breakfast. How are we going to cook them? Our cooking facilities total a toaster and an electric kettle. After fossicking around he came up with this....

Notice how white the tile grout is Mum!

It's a jungle out there - mop buckets, shampoo...

'It's a jungle out there' will no doubt be a regular post on this blog. Nearly every day, or at least every week, I buy something I didn't intend to or can't find something I want. Some days it's a bit like a Lucky Dip! So these posts will often  be a cry for help. Shopping without being able to read can also turn up some pleasant surprises!

After a particularly bad morning the other day, involving a suspected broken toe, rude tuk tuk and songthaew drivers and a giant headache, I decided to wash my hair with my new bottle of shampoo...which turned out to be CONDITIONER! That's the culprit on the right.

SiamSato, Ceylon Flowers and Abaranth

At the 7-11 I noticed this in the refrigerator.

It was in the beer section...so I grabbed a bottle, because it was so cheap. Only 25 Baht. I opened it when I returned home and poured some in a glass. No bubbles, barely any colour...what’s going on?

Chiang Mai's 23rd Food Festival

Lately our blog seems to be revolving around food...so why break the theme now? Last night we walked over to the 23rd Chiang Mai Food Festival. Not huge, but big enough to pass away two or three hours. About a hundred or so food stalls surrounding a large eating area, where you can enjoy a meal, beer and live entertainment.

Grilling whole fish over coals.