Escaping the heat, flying farang, Beeb revisited

'I am just sitting inside waiting for the electricity men to finish fixing the pole,' a Thai woman said.

My neighbour was chatting on the phone. I heard her conversation through an open window, as I leant out my own window to take a picture.

The young woman was hiding indoors to escape the heat, after the power company yesterday cut our power for five hours.

To get the picture, I held my hand out the window and pointed the camera in the general direction of a group of electricity workers, who had mounted a power pole and were doing things with the wires.

Unfortunately, you can't see the power workers in the picture - I can't have leaned out far enough. They were the whole point of my taking this image, but never mind. Still, you get a good view of the side of our place (I posted the pic here, but I since deleted it accidentally - sorry).

The power men were fixing several poles in a side street. I heard them calling out orders to each other, so they could get the repairs done at speed.

My neighbour Farang C went out to a local eatery to escape the heat. I visited the condo pool, on the 10th floor of the car-parking building. The power cut also cut power to the lifts in the complex, so it was a good day for exercising our feet.

On the way back, I met one of the cleaners.

'Did you walk down?' she asked.

No, dear - I jumped.

We stood outside our condo building, one of many in the complex. The cleaner knows I live on one of the upper floors, almost as high up as the pool on the other building.

'Will you walk up?' she asked.

No, dear - I shall fly.

After my swim, boyfriend Maiyuu and I asked how we might put the day to good use.

Being good Bangkok citizens, we decided to pack a bag and make a day of it: take in a movie, then walk to a park and visit a local temple.

I lie. No, we didn't. We're not that bloody earnest.

Maiyuu's pizza

After my hour or so by the condo pool, I came home to find Maiyuu cooking.

Howzat? I had forgotten about our gas cooker. You can't keep a good cook down, Maiyuu included.

He made Japanese-style pizza, which you can see nearby. The soft base was made with two types of flour, mixed with vegetables.

By lunchtime, the power was back on.

In mid-afternoon, he made a Korean-style pizza with kimchi (pickled vegetable). Last night, I took another one with me to work.

Back from the office, I found Maiyuu had been busy in the kitchen again. He made a wholesome tomato and vegetable soup for my meal before bed.

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Since the True satellite TV service pulled BBC Entertainment, some foreigners who want their daily dose of the Beeb have found inventive ways around the problem.

True's Platinum package included BBC entertainment before the provider axed the channel from its line-up.

Some creative foreigners have now cancelled their Platinum package, but are still watching the BBC, with a little help from technology.

Farang C has a friend from Britain, who, refusing to concede defeat, now watches BBC programmes here via BBC's own iPlayer, which only works in Britain.

He lives in Bangkok, so to get around the problem, rents an IP address in the UK.

He pays for one with a Paypal card, for the equivalent of just B300 a month. The BBC thinks it is sending the programmes to a local IP, even though it is not.

Farang C visited his friend the other day. They watched BBC programmes on his computer which aired in Britain just the night before.

For a small investment, he can buy a cable connection from his computer to his TV, so he can watch the BBC on the big screen instead.

As I understand it, he can download files from the BBC and watch them any time he likes, though downloads (as opposed to live streaming) have a shelf life of just one week.

As I say, BBC's iPlayer only works in the UK, but if you rent a UK-based IP address, then the Beeb doesn't know any different.

I need more information. At the moment, the boyfriend sounds less than enthused. Unless I can watch the shows easily on a TV screen, then I probably won't bother either. I spend enough time in front of a computer as it is.