Supermarket discovery, groin itch curse

Maiyuu is whipping up some chocolate fudge, after yesterday asking me what fudge was.

'Like brownies, but smaller,' I said.

'I will try making it for us!' he said excitedly.

Maiyuu went out in search of ingredients, including corn syrup, which Martha Stewart uses in her baking as a thickener. After visiting a few places Maiyuu eventually found an imported bottle of the stuff at Villa Supermarket in Sukhumwit.

Maiyuu was excited by his discovery. 'A couple of shopkeepers told me I could only find it at Villa. The place is full of imported bakery items,' he said.

Dear Villa: I can see many more visits coming up. Maybe we should just buys shares?

The supermarket chain is popular with foreigners in Bangkok, according to the internet.

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Thank you to readers who offered advice on how to cure my groin itch, which I suspect is a fungal infection picked up from my condo pool.

I shall visit my local pharmacy (there are a couple in the slum area across from me) to see what they have in stock.

Three main groups of tenants appear to use the pool: oldies (mainly Thais, but also a few foreigner oldies like me); actively, sprightly farang (anyone still in their 20s or 30s); and youngsters learning how to swim.

Occasionally a group of teens also visits. They might be the offspring of tenants, or perhaps they snuck in from the local learning establishment (can't say the 'S' word any more - Adsense disapproves) next to us.

I am not sure which group brought with them the fungal infection. But whoever it is, I hope they are suffering the red itch as badly as me.

Attack of the itches

Just what do they put in pools these days?

No sooner have I recovered from my ear infection, which I probably picked up in the condo pool, than I am now suffering an attack of the itches - what looks like a prickly heat rash in my groin and down my botty crack.

I have bought the ointments, and am applying liberal doses of prickly heat powder; so much so that the floor of my bedroom is covered in a fine white sheen.

But will it go away? The itching drives me crazy.

Scratch, scratch!

Wet protesters, greased lightning boyfriend, song in a supermarket

'Carrefour, Carrefour, we love to serve...!'

Maiyuu and I went to the Carrefour megastore in Pra Ram 4 yesterday for our big shop. A heavy wet-season downpour started as we made our way there by taxi.

I watched as traders and protesters (you can go hardly anywhere in Bangkok without seeing protesters) raced about, yanking at tents and covering things up.

They were soaked, their T-shirts clinging to their skin.

Outside Carrefour, Maiyuu handed the fare to the driver, and made a sprint for cover.

I have never seen him run so fast. One moment he was sitting beside me, the next he was inside the front doors of the megastore, waving. How can it be?

'You move like lighting. I didn't know you could go so fast,' I said after joining him.

Maiyuu laughed.

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'You'll have to wait 10 minutes,' the cashier told me.

I was standing at the cash register at 4.50pm, attempting to buy a bottle of whisky.

Thai law limits the hours in which I can buy alcohol from licensed providers such as Carrefour.

I had put a bottle of whisky in the basket, thinking I could pay for the thing without trouble, but I had forgotten the selling-hour restrictions.

I can buy from 11am to 2pm, when the abstinence hours kick in, and I can't buy it again until 5pm.

Small, unlicensed outlets still sell, of course, but I wanted to buy it with the rest of our shopping, as it was more convenient.

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The special hour of 5pm is also the hour when Carrefour's young service staff sing for their customers.

They line up down the side of the store, and in front by the cash registers, to perform their corporate anthem.

'Carrefour, Carrefour,' they sing.

They wave their arms like cheerleaders. They also swivel about on the spot.

For the staff, this must be the most horrid moment of the day - when shoppers turn to stare at their awkward singing and dancing.

The song lasts for about five minutes. The red-shirted staff who formed a line in front of the check-out area were led by a tall, slender figure who looked perfectly gay.

He was the only one who moved with any conviction.

The others, including young men on rollerskates who pack groceries, smiled awkwardly and tried to avoid meeting my gaze.

'Carrefour, we love to serve...'

Next time, I shall take a camera. Would they mind?

Squalid box memories, Pantip revisted

I asked myself the other day what brought on Maiyuu's creative streak in the kitchen now that we have moved into our new condo in town.

I suspect Chef Maiyuu is capable of creating such wonders because he is content.

Maiyuu and I are much happier living in our new place in town, we realised the other day.

Back in Thon Buri, we lived in a foul old place - really, little better than a cramped apartment block where prostitutes crashed during the day before venturing out at night to ply their trade. It had no kitchen, so Maiyuu had to do his food preparation and cooking sitting on the floor.

A grotty place beset by noise from screaming children in the hallway and trains outside, it robbed us of the will to make something better of our lives.

'I would get up and not want to do anything...the place was just too awful,' said Maiyuu the other day.

It had no windows, just two doors leading on to a balcony opposite the main entrance. It pointed the wrong way, so rarely caught the breeze.

I could go on, but the thought is too depressing.

Yet this condo was one of the more expensive in the area, and almost constantly full. Many Thais live in even worse surroundings - box-shaped apartment blocks which I would hate to call home.

A young woman of the night, Joy, lived at the condo.

She was a pretty little thing who sold her body for money, and left a few years later when she fell pregnant.

'Joy was just one of them...the place was crawling with prozzies and kept women,' said Maiyuu, who knew her.

I never knew, though I often wondered why so many of the young women who lived there, only came out at night.

Good riddance!

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Nine years ago when I arrived in the Land of Smiles, I would have found unusual a visit to the busy computer shopping centre, Pantip Plaza.

The place is full of young guys, so I am sure I enjoyed my first foray to Pantip way back then.

I have been there perhaps half a dozen times since. I paid another visit yesterday with my friend farang C, who took in his Apple laptop for repairs.

After eating a quick meal on the second floor, we looked around for shops willing to repair an Apple laptop on-site (hardly any, as it turns out).

'Hardly anything goes wrong with Apples, but when they do go wrong, they are hard to fix,' one Thai repair woman told me.

After half an hour of searching, we found a promising looking place on the top floor.

I did my Thai thing while farang C, standing by my side, made grumpy comments. He enjoys pecking at the Thai service staff, who in his eyes seldom seem to do anything right.

Sure, I saw plenty of young people - young men in all-white school uniforms, service staff in their 20s.

But really, the scene did not look spectacular. It was nothing unusual. I did not ogle over anyone in particular.

It was just another collection of people, but I enjoyed it for all that, as you might enjoy a walk in the park.

When I see Thais these days, I can appreciate their beauty, but I don't wonder about their lives.

They have become regular people, just like me.

Macaroni and basil, monk's prayer basket, Patsy's fabulous battle

Chef Maiyuu's macaroni cheese and red basil. That's the leaf on top.

Since taking this picture, Maiyuu has made a pineapple cinnamon cream cake, with walnuts on top. If I can persuade him to take a photo, I shall bring you that delicious creation tomorrow.

I transferred this shot from the camera to my computer myself. It wasn't that hard, really. All I had to do was locate the 'start' button on the camera, then insert a jack into the back.

The cord with the jack attached is attached to the back of the computer. We leave it there for the sake of convenience.

Normally Maiyuu would perform this task for me himself, but he is away.

Last night he stayed with a friend, Mai. They are making food for the monks on their morning alms rounds. Maiyuu is a good cook, so Mai invited him to stay over and help her make the food.

Personally, I think monks should be happy with rice and garlic. 'Just give me the rice and garlic prayer, please.'

Maiyuu is likely to cook a superb dish. Will the monks offer rise to the occasion? Is their prayer repertoire that fancy?

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Eddie and Pats, with the cigar

Patsy has g-g-gone!

Maiyuu and I enjoy watching re-runs of Absolutely Fabulous on BBC Entertainment, which until yesterday we could view from Thailand's largest satellite TV provider, True Visions.

At midnight last night, True dropped three channels from its line-up, including BBC Entertainment, which means our daily dose of the London-based, hi-so adventures of Patsy and Eddie is no more.

BBC Entertainment aired Absolutely Fabulous three times a day on weekdays.

My boyfriend and I would tell each other when it was next due.

'Deo, Patsy ja ma'...those words also will be absent from our home.

Bugger True! They have replaced BBC Entertainment with some crap aimed at younger people called AXN Beyond.

The house advertising, by some guy with a fake American accent, is aggressive and in your face. Everything about it looks designed to annoy (for someone of my vintage).

All is not lost: we can still watch highlights at YouTube.

But it's just not the same. This is definitely not a day to break out the Bolly Stolly!

Patsy, played by Joanna Lumley, was my favourite character. In real life, the actress has since moved on to bigger things. Lumley has been taking on the British government over its failure to give citizenship to the Gurkha war veterans.

Go, Pats! Read about her battle on behalf of the Gurkhas here.