Normal life

[Paul6754]

Shrimp and lobster meat are the best food there is but I'm not brave enough to suck the head of the shrimp or eat the green stuff (tomalley [liver/pancreas]) of the lobster, people around here consider it a delicacy and a waste to leave it.

[geosname]

When I was a kid my mother used to take me in the old meat market in Hanley. In the corner near webberlys was browns butchers [sausage rolls and warm black pudding:clap:] and the fish market, one stall across from browns sold cockles, muscles and prawns ready to eat with salt and vinegar. If we were a bit flush that week she would treat me to some.

I have always loved shellfish, prawns, jellied eels, squid rings etc etc etc..... the only thing I have never liked is whelks.

Here there is an abundance of such things to buy but apart from prawns and crayfish I dont usually bother... the locals suck the brains from the prawns and the fish and Ive seen them plucking there eyeballs when everything else has gone.

[geosname]

All the things grandmothers used to buy are still available here, even in macro and tesco. Tripe, chitlins, brains, pig mask [face], trotters etc etc, Nothing on an animal here is wasted, whichever animal, including chickens/ducks feet.

[Paul6754]

When I was a kid my mother used to take me in the old meat market in Hanley. In the corner near webberlys was browns butchers [sausage rolls and warm black pudding:clap:] and the fish market, one stall across from browns sold cockles, muscles and prawns ready to eat with salt and vinegar. If we were a bit flush that week she would treat me to some.

I have always loved shellfish, prawns, jellied eels, squid rings etc etc etc..... the only thing I have never liked is whelks.

Here there is an abundance of such things to buy but apart from prawns and crayfish I dont usually bother... the locals suck the brains from the prawns and the fish and Ive seen them plucking there eyeballs when everything else has gone.

 

Brown's sausages are delicious, are Brown's still going.

 

Clams, especially little necks, are the best laxative for me.

[geosname]

Brown's sausages are delicious, are Brown's still going.

 

Clams, especially little necks, are the best laxative for me.

 

I dont know about Browns... there is a stall in hanley market carrying the name but I dont know.

I like clam chowder...

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Kangaroo Yes, emu too. Proper bush tucker Geo

 

I'm not Geo, I'm his better looking much, much, much younger brother from another mother! :D

[Aussie Rules]

I'm not Geo' date=' I'm his better looking much, much, much younger brother from another mother! :D[/quote']

 

Same dad then!?

 

You're so alike in many ways it's hard to tell you apart

 

Still, roo and emu is proper bush tucker

[geosname]

Monks and the Temple...

The religion is predominantly Buddhism, the temples you cant miss as there is at least one in every village and the older ones dotted all over the country dating back hundreds of years... the monks are plentiful and can be seen at airports, train stations, shopping centers, hitching a lift on the roads... in fact anywhere and everywhere... and one could be forgiven for thinking its a very religious country with many many people following the calling... Its not that simple.

 

A lot of the children training to be monks are placed there by their parents because they are to poor to care for them themselves. A high percentage of the older monks are there as a direct result of either a prison sentence ending or for rehabilitation purposes, drink and drugs being the common factors combined with nowhere else to go.

 

The monks are fed on a daily basis by the villagers, approximately 6.00am the villagers wait by their gates and the monks come calling to collect donations of food and other things as available..... it all sounds a simplistic way to deal with social problems in a local community..

 

These are not monasteries or convents dedicated to serving the poor or needy... this is the actual lunatics running the asylum scenario.

 

How do I know?.... my brother in law... 2 years at the bangkok hilton for borrowing a television from his neighbour whilst as high as a kite and rat assed was released and became a monk... some time later... again drunk and high burst into a seminar at the temple brandishing a very large knife and started to threaten all present... unfortunately the seminar attendees were all serving police officers... after another spell in hospital he is once again living in a temple, still hiding the drink and drugs, still being bowed to by the poor. still fed by the needy.

[Robbie Earle's Perm]

Same dad then!?

 

You're so alike in many ways it's hard to tell you apart

 

Still, roo and emu is proper bush tucker

 

Well given what he thinks of his and I think of mine it could possibly be the case!

 

My mate had a too burger with beer battered fried this lunch time, to me it's like eating your pet, if they start of koalas I will be starting a campaign :)

[geosname]

It was hospital day today, my wifes sister has fits and seizures and the mental age of a 12 year old, she needs regular medication which includes regular check ups.

Left the house at 7.00am, arrived at the hospital 7.20am. Doctors dont start work until 9.00am... ish but everyone arrives early to try to beat the slow administration system. People take a seat and wait their turn to get a number so they can join the queue to have blood pressure and weight taken then join the queue to see the doctor. 9.10am doctor seen sister in law joins another queue to see administration to get next appointment, 9.40am having received appointment she joins another queue to wait for medication, 10.15am job done... until next time... this was a local hospital approx 10 miles away.

My wife, who has Lupus, cant use the local village clinic or the local hospital or any of the other hospitals on route to Khon Kaen [although they do treat lupas], the government decided thats where she will be treated and there isnt a choice... unless she first goes to khon kaen hospital and asks for a deferment to another hospital [every appointment] which defeats the whole point. She insists on maintaining her social payments so she can use the facilities like everyone else... her start time is 5.00am and if shes lucky shes back at home by 5.00pm because the same system applies... queue, wait, queue, wait etc etc.

Doctors not working in the hospitals are a totally different kettle of fish to UK doctors... they are private, they do not make hospital referals, you can see any doctor and/or several on the same day, there are no computer records and the doctor seeing you probably wont have any of your medical history unless you have seen him before but wont have a copy of other doctors diagnosis/notes on your condition/medication/allergies etc etc... if after seeing the doctor you need a hospital you go to the hospital and start the process over again.

As a farang I cant use the health service available to Thais, I can attend the same hospitals, see the same doctors, get the same medication etc but I have to pay and join the queues... well thats not strictly true... about the queues... if I know someone on the staff or offer a couple of hundred baht my name will jump the queues as if by magic.

Then there are the private hospitals... phone up for an appointment, get seen on time, get the treatment and medication quickly, pay the bill, go home early... the cost difference is quite large

Government hospital... nurse and porter collected me from house, 3 xrays, see doctor 3 times, plaster cast, new crutches, 5 items [?] on prescription, porter transport around departments, called me a taxi to get home... 20 quid

Private hospital [dentist]... 6 xrays, 4 appointments, 1 crown... 500 quid.

If your poor.... and a lot of people here are... you can ask the hospital to treat you for free if you dont have social cover... sometimes they give it, sometimes they dont... call an ambulance? if its an emergence [decided by the doctor] its free... if it isnt it costs an average days wage... lots of people dont make it to hospital... my wifes father was one... he had a heart attack on the bus, the driver didnt rush to the hospital he dropped all his paying customers off at their stops on his route before considering going to the hospital.. the doctor said if he had been taken immediately he would have survived... life is cheap here.

[boltonsno1]

Normal life? Same ****, different day.

[Yukon]

If you don't suck prawn heads you're missing out- honestly

[geosname]

A Xmas update.....

Its not a big event here, in fact its a none event, cows still need taking to the fields, food needs preparing and buying, water still needs to be collected from the lake and the shopping still needs doing, yes shops and banks are open.... new year is slightly different, workers get 2-3 days off so the roads are blocked with people coming home and a 4 hour journey lasts 10 and its a chance to catch up and gossip with friends and family not seen for months... or longer.... but Thailand has 3 new years... the one fast approaching from the west... Chinese new year ... and of course the famous Thia new year of Sonkran which last from 5 to 7 days and if you dont get wet or powdered you have stayed in the hotel all through it... its the time when the locals get to touch the mysterious westerners.

Life in the village hasnt changed much.... three deaths and a wedding this week and an invitation to a new house party next week... the sun still shines daily, the water is cut off at least twice a day and the electricity is also unreliable... but its cool season... although I still wander around with just a pair of shorts to cover my modesty the locals feel the chill.... in the evening when the temperature starts to fall to 20c and I finally turn off the fan my wife dons a second pair of trousers a third jumper, a body warmer and a wooly hat to keep warm while her mother huddles under a thermal blanket for warmth... yes that sounds odd but the oddity isnt what the locals do its what the farang who doesnt feel the cold does thats odd... its just a different normality.

[Jimmy]

A Xmas update.....

Its not a big event here, in fact its a none event, cows still need taking to the fields, food needs preparing and buying, water still needs to be collected from the lake and the shopping still needs doing, yes shops and banks are open.... new year is slightly different, workers get 2-3 days off so the roads are blocked with people coming home and a 4 hour journey lasts 10 and its a chance to catch up and gossip with friends and family not seen for months... or longer.... but Thailand has 3 new years... the one fast approaching from the west... Chinese new year ... and of course the famous Thia new year of Sonkran which last from 5 to 7 days and if you dont get wet or powdered you have stayed in the hotel all through it... its the time when the locals get to touch the mysterious westerners.

Life in the village hasnt changed much.... three deaths and a wedding this week and an invitation to a new house party next week... the sun still shines daily, the water is cut off at least twice a day and the electricity is also unreliable... but its cool season... although I still wander around with just a pair of shorts to cover my modesty the locals feel the chill.... in the evening when the temperature starts to fall to 20c and I finally turn off the fan my wife dons a second pair of trousers a third jumper, a body warmer and a wooly hat to keep warm while her mother huddles under a thermal blanket for warmth... yes that sounds odd but the oddity isnt what the locals do its what the farang who doesnt feel the cold does thats odd... its just a different normality.

 

 

 

Chell Heath never changes then Geo............

[Aussie Rules]

Ive had wild boar, buffalo, shark, reindeer, ostrich, crocodile, rat, snake, various worms, grubs and insects and chocolate bees... I wouldnt mind trying roo or emu.... I wouldnt be surprised if I hadnt tried dog and cat without knowing it.

 

In the Christmas of 1984 I was seconded to do the books for the Kalumburu Aboriginal Community - the furthest point north in Western Australia Take a look here.

 

During my stay those lovely people treated me as a friend rather than a 'whitefella'. The food was always good, but once or twice I would notice my hosts cast glances my way with the occasional giggle or smile. They were eating the same food so I put it down to their friendliness.

 

Only when I was flying home was I made aware I had shared a meal or two containing feral dog