~ Marino and Tiz are off ~

 Monday 28th August We   went for a walk to Makro, the big western supermarket at the other end of Hua Hin yesterday. It's only 9.5kms but with the temperature at 34°C and 80% humidity it felt like a real workout.  An hour in the pool, when we got back, was just what we needed to cool down. One of the standout sights for the day was ...  The amount rust was incredible. The amount of bodywork that wasn't  there was even more incredible. When we were in Cha Am in 2019 there was a ute that delivered the salt water to the foreshore fish vendors and eateries  display tanks and I thought it was hilarious at how eaten away it was, but this unit is used as a tradies daily around town.  Road rules in Thailand are odd. Things like roadworthiness, having a license, wearing helmets, all of which are actual rules, seem to be more like suggestions.  For those that are wondering what the weather is like here around August Admittedly it's a couple of de...

Thursday 24th August  Thailand is a land of very diverse cuisines, without looking outside of it own borders. But we all have our favourites and, the polar opposite, foods we really dislike.  Coriander, a staple ingredient in Thai cuisine, is one of those tastes/flavours that polarises people. It's difficult, and relatively expensive, to get a dish here in Thailand that doesn't have coriander, in one form or other, in it.  Much the same goes for chili (พริก - phrik, pronounced as pri). There is a term in Thai (ไม่พริก -mâi phrík pronounce mai pri) which translated literally means "no chili" and is often used by farangs (westerners) that feel they have learnt a little Thai and can get a message across to the Thai wait staff or street vendor they are ordering food from.  From our experience this term is most often simply ignored or the meal you are eventually given  is taken down a notch, from 10 - being "It's going to blow your head off AND set your arse on fi...

 Sunday 20th August 5:00pm I was thinking of what I have read on the internet in preparation for trips overseas. The one solid truism that has been confirmed and reaffirmed, ad infinitum, is that this medium delivers the user "a diarrhea of words and a constipation of useful and valid ideas". To balance one against the other I hope that my offerings under the "Lessons Learnt" banner are going to clear up a few unknowns and misconceptions. Please bear in mind that I write about my "unknowns and misconceptions", not yours. Lessons Learnt #1 What ( name of the person that "knows") told me about flights What you are told about what happened to someone, anyone, on their boarding a flight with luggage isn't worth relying on if it deviates from the rules as set on their website on the day you are going to fly. The rules, from what I have observed, are applied ad hoc. Airport's security works in the same manner. My advice is follow to rules and i...

It's a coolish (27°C) Sunday morning and have decided to get on with the blog, after a dear friend wrote to me asking where it/I was. Thanks for the prompter PG. The start to this phase of my life (and I'm not speaking for Tiz here) has not been quite as rosy as I'd thought. The reasons are many but I think that overall it is just a personal thing that is happening in my head and of no interest to anyone else. On with the blog! We left on Friday 11th August at ~9pm on a Scoot flight from Tullamarine, without incident. We had packed our Osprey 40L backpacks to the maximum allowable carry on weight (10kg) as we did not want to incur any last minute fines or the inconvenience of repacking. We had watched endless YouTube videos on packing - how to pack/folding vs rolling, what to pack/layering vs fewer season specific clothing, necessary items vs wanted items .... and on and on. I did the best I could and layered up my clothing to get on the plane and even wore a fishing vest t...