Cheese-paring mission, braving floods, sparkies take pity

Two days before pay day, we have virtually run out of money. I am down to my last 500 baht, which I am rationing out.

Maiyuu cut his finger while cooking yesterday. Outside, it was raining. We had run out of plasters at home, so he put a condom on his finger as temporary protection, until the rain stopped and he could go out to buy medical supplies.

I am pleased I had a few extra baht handy, or he'd have to go without.

Maiyuu made a tray of brownies. They are now sitting on the kitchen table, along with two cakes he made the day before.

In retrospect, I would rather he had kept aside the money for more important items, like regular meals, as he must have known that money was getting scarce.

I suggested we go to the supermarket, to buy cheese. If all else fails, I can eat cheese sandwiches, I thought, as we have plenty of bread in the fridge.

Maiyuu and I set out in mid-afternoon. The low-lying streets around our place were flooded. We waded through thigh-deep water to reach the main road.

On the way, we passed centipedes and millipedes floating past. 'Watch out for dog poo....that's here too,' warned Maiyuu.

At the supermarket, Maiyuu cashed in a voucher which gave us B80 worth of credit.

I bought Swiss cheese, for B180. The guy serving behind the counter must have thought I was some poor farang on a benefit.

On the way home, we visited a flea market which opens twice a week on a large piece of vacant land next to a dormitory.

Maiyuu bought som tam for B30, and a large bag of garlic cloves for B25; I bought a large bag of tomatoes for just B20, to go with the cheese sandwiches.

Actually, things are not so desperate. We did manage to buy a few other things from the market...I just can't remember what they were.

I was delighted to find the place, even though the ground was covered in mud. 'They set up the market here twice a week,' said Maiyuu.

'We must come here again, especially if the money runs out,' I said.

The problem is not that we have too little money. It is that Maiyuu misjudges how much we have left, or forgets that we need to live on basic foodstuffs, not just baking.

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Maiyuu is talking about creating his own blog, but undecided what to put on it. Pictures of naked guys? His recipes?

More seriously, he is also thinking about selling his cooking and baking on the internet.

Customers who like what he makes could place an order, which we would deliver.

'I would have to come up with unusual recipes: Thais like recipes that are different and eye-catching. They are not interested in what everyone else has,' he said.

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On the way back from the supermarket, we met two guys in a truck, who gave us a lift on the final stretch of winding, narrow roads so we could avoid the floods.

Maiyuu and I were standing at the head of a low-lying section, about to wade back into the thigh-deep floodwaters which we had earlier braved on the way out of our condo.

A truck stopped in the middle of the road next to us.

'Where are you going?' a young guy in the passenger seat asked Maiyuu.

He gave the name of the condo.

'Hop on,' said the guy.

We clambered onto the back of the open-bed truck.

Sitting on the sides up there, we could watch the floodwaters swoosh by. We were also higher than people in ordinary cars...it felt great.

The men stopped just before our condo to let us off.

They are electricians working at a building site 20m away. We thanked them, and walked the rest of the way home.