Wednesday 30th August

 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 degrees higher than normal, which is 34°C,

but those 3° makes it feel like it's in the mid 40's.

 Tuesday 29th August

On our walk into the Chatchai Market this morning we heard a not-too-familiar roar of expensive cars coming from behind. I think "the boys and their toys" had been for a drive down south over a long weekend. They were moving fast so I only got a few snaps but there were a lot of them, and none were low end supercars.

There were a lot of Ferraris and Porsche too

.... however, this one was far more practical, in my opinion, 

and was not part of the "supercar" procession.

It was just toodling along the main highway.

This would not be my blog if it did not include some motorbike related stuff.

So, here is a really nice scooter we saw on one of our backstreet exploratory walks.

 

A nice one with some TIG'd titanium exhaust porn

 Yes, the Thais are also hardcore petrolheads. 

They just do their "petrolhead" stuff a bit differently to most of the rest of the world.

More on that later, I hope.

Tonight we thought we would treat ourselves and went out for an Indian meal. 

"Out", in this sense is a bit of a stretch as we went to the Karan Indian Restaurant, which is ~50m away but still in our complex. The food was nice, in fact, very nice, but I think that we Melbournians are spoilt. We have, arguably, some of the best Indian food outside of India.

I'm going to deviate here, just a little.

I used the words "Indian food" which is so much of generalisation that it's just wrong. 

How can I refer to what 1 billion people in an area of over 3 million square kilometers 

divided into hundreds of districts and regions and many culture and climates?

It's not dissimilar to people talking about "Italian" food. 

You know, like pasta and pizza pretty well encompasses the entirety of Italian food.

We follow a Youtube channel called Pasta Grammar.

It's run by by filmmaker Harper Alexander, a cinematographer from Maine USA,

 who thought it would be entertaining to post videos about the countless rules of Italian cooking

 that he learned after living with his wife, Calabrian Eva Santaguida originally from Dasà

Anyway, please look at this Youtube video for an accurate, funny and roundabout explanation 

why it doesn't make any sense to refer to all food from a large and 

diverse geographical, cultural and climatic region by one heading.

WRONG WRONG WRONG

Back to the Indian tucker we enjoyed last night

The ubiquitous bucket of ice, some condiments,
typical in taste and variety to home, and four samosa.

Stuffed (but not with potato as advertised) naan,
yellow lentil daal and chicken korma
All nice, and little in portion size

The bill. $30 Australian, which included three Leo beers.
Cheap by Aussie standards, expensive by Thai / Hua Hin standards.

And whilst on the subject of food, the other day I mentioned Vegemite. A few days after we were doing some shopping at a supermarket attached to the Hua Hin Intercontinental, which is our closest large supermarket.

Understandably it caters for westerners that stay in the Intercontinental as well as the expats that rent and holiday in the general area. As we "window shopped" through the supermarket and commented at how much more its patron are charged for products from home we came across ....

Yes, our beloved Vegemite, right next to the Italian Fiamma tomatoes and chick peas 

as well as San Remo carbonara sauce and Watties spaghetti!

What I found most interesting though was its unit price, the price for 100 grams.

For the following comparison I will use only Australian dollars

The unit price for the 220 gram jar you see above is $3.30/100gms.

The comparison with Australia, depending on where you buy is very interesting.  

The unit price for a 560 jar from Aldi is generally ~$1.61/100gms and from Coles and Woolworths ~$1.70-$1.80/100gms, notwithstanding specials. 

In conclusion, Vegemite, and most products you love from your homeland, will cost you dearly as an expat in another country. Also, shop around, regardless of where you are and don't assume that larger quantities automatically mean lower unit prices.