Beef/pineapple BBQ disaster

A small disaster at Maiyuu's birthday party!

We grilled beef strips on a gas-powered, tabletop hotplate. Maiyuu had prepared the beef in advance by sautéing it in pineapple. Unfortunately, he left the beef in with the pineapple too long...it turned to mush when we tried cooking it.

Maiyuu made another trip to the supermarket and bought more beef to replace the other stuff, which he reckons he can turn into hamburger meat.

He invited as guests his friend Golf, her younger sister Som, and their elder brother Bee. Jumbo the Chihuahua accompanied them as special guest.

They also brought birthday cake, with Maiyuu’s name written in icing on top, along with the number ‘35’.

‘What’s the 35 stand for?’ Maiyuu asked.

‘I didn’t know your age, so I just guessed,’ said Som.

Does Maiyuu, who turned 32 yesterday, really look so old?

Kong, Phiwit make soppy exit

The romantic gay coupling between Kong and Phiwit has ended happily, viewers will be pleased to hear.

The final episode of Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You aired last night. Kong and Phiwit shared a brief scene at the end, as their story really drew to a close the night before.

As in any good soap opera, the bad people get their deserts, the heroes win out in the end. Kong’s sister Aom, the female lead, survives a jealous rampage by evil witch Pattamat.

Phiwit’s dastardly brother Phipat ends up paralysed, though thankfully for Phiwit, he will have to spend the rest of his days in hospital rather than under his own care.

Phiwit tells Kong that surgeons in the US are sure they can restore Kong’s sight back to normal.

‘But will you still want me in your life once you can see again?’ asks Phiwit jokingly.

Kong, who is blind, trips, and Phiwit arrests his fall. Kong ends up in his arms.

‘You are tripping up all over the place,’ he scolds Kong playfully.

‘So you don't like it...tripping [falling head over heels] in love,’ Kong replies.

Watch their final scenes together here.

Sweeping out work worries

When work gets stressful, I like to reach for a broom.

No, not a management broom, the type which executives use to sweep out unwanted staff...but an ordinary household broom which we use to remove dirt.

The Thai-owned company which employs me is embarking on a restructuring and modernising phase. We have been through several of these in my time, but none seem as potentially wide-ranging as this one, which is brought about partly by the recession, and partly by the internet age, which is changing the way many companies do business.

A handful of Thai staff has been shown the door. One staff member dissolved in tears when the company told him he was no longer wanted. Like one or two other names on the list, he drew a wage every fortnight but hadn’t been seen in the office in years.

My company has an internationalist perspective, in that it employs foreigners and values what we do. It has also asked us to contribute to the debate over the company’s direction, which is welcome.

In my industry, it is probably one of the more far-sighted companies in Bangkok, if not the region.

Some of my foreigner colleagues have worked elsewhere in Asia. They say they were treated little better than poor migrant workers.

That said, we do have our problems. One is a lack of staff morale, which is inevitable in times of change. Worse, they axed our mid-year and end-year bonus, which upset my boyfriend as much as it did me.

‘Why don’t they just fold the company altogether, if they can’t afford to pay their staff a miserable two weeks’ extra?’ Maiyuu said bitterly.

In times like these, as I say, I like to clean, starting with the floors. I can work out my frustration on them.

I swept the floor of the main room this morning, and tackled the bathroom. Later today, I am likely to get the bedroom itch.

‘It’s another form of exercise,’ I tell the boyfriend, who looks baffled when I tell him that I want to sweep. It also helps keep my work worries at bay.

’Why bring your work problems home...you’ve finished for the day,’ says Maiyuu.

True, I have. But to be good at my job, I have to think about work most of the time. It is always with me, even when it isn’t.

My foreigner friends are the same; it’s just the way we are. Do Thais think about work even when they are not at the office?

I have never asked, but I bet some do. It occupies a big chunk of our lives after all.

Kong, Phiwit: Grandma and grandpa forever

Kong and Phiwit share a kiss – well, almost.

In last night’s episode of Tomorrow, I’ll Still Love You, the scene is set for a happy ending, at least between these two.

Kong, who is blind, discovers that the young man who has been caring for him is not in fact hired help Sak, but his own boyfriend Phiwit.

Kong’s mother, who was having a hard time accepting that her son and Phiwit love each other, allowed Phiwit to stay in Kong’s life, as long as he pretended to be Sak – hired help who feeds, dresses the lad, and puts him to bed.

The pair do not talk. Sak, presumably some poor immigrant Burmese, has poor Thai. While Kong chats away to him in Thai, Phiwit (Sak) says nothing - until last night's episode, when Phiwit feels obliged to declare his real identity.

Kong hands Phiwit a phone number. ‘Sak...please help me, but don't tell anyone I mentioned it. Dial this number for me, would you...it is the number of someone I know...I miss him, and just want to know how he is going,’ said Kong.

The number belongs to Phiwit himself.

Declaring his real identity (coming out?), Phiwit tells Kong that he has been by his side all along.

At first, Kong is happy, but then realises that Phiwit and his family have been deceiving him.

Kong doesn’t want to be a burden on his lover, so orders Phiwit out, and takes a swing at him.

Kong’s Mum walks in. ‘Tell Phiwit to leave!’ her son begs.

Mum decides Kong's happiness is more important than her own feelings. ‘I know what you are, and what you mean to each other,’ she tells Kong.

‘If you can be happy with the person you love, than I am happy too - no matter what you are,’ she says, guiding Kong’s hand to Phiwit’s own. The three share a family hug.

Later, in the garden, Phiwit takes Kong for a stroll. ‘I have promised to stay with you no matter what...I’m stubborn, so let me look after you,’ says Phiwit.

He knows a surgeon in the US who could restore Kong’s eyesight. I will take you everywhere, tell you what’s happening, be your eyes,’ vows Phiwit.

In Thai, the word for ‘eye’ and ‘grandfather’ (ta) is the same.

Kong jokes: ‘If you’re my ta...who will be granny?’

‘You mean you really don’t know who granny is?’ replies Phiwit, implying that Kong is the girly half of the relationship, not himself.

Kong walks off in a playful pout. 'Granny, where are you going?'

Phiwit follows. Kong turns at the wrong moment, so his face collides with Phiwit's own. It's almost like a lip embrace, probably their first kiss.

In this safe Thai soap opera, that might be the closest this gay couple gets to locking lips.

The final episode airs tonight.

In the main story, Kong’s sister Aom looks in danger of meeting her maker, as does the dastardly Phipat, as evil witch Pattamat goes on a jealous rampage. For more on that, see the Dirtilaundry blog, here. I’ll post a summary of the action tomorrow.

One bag of Mama instant noodles = one New Year's prayer

Nine monks visited this condo this morning for a New Year’s blessing ceremony. They turned up at 8am, and were gone in half an hour.

Condo staff prepared nine plastic chairs and a table.

Another half dozen chairs were laid out to one side for condo residents who wanted to take part.

Only 20 residents or so joined in, though many left dry-food donated goods in bags for the monks. They were arranged around the fountain in front of where the monks sat.

We are on the ninth floor. Neither Maiyuu nor I bothered going down. We watched from a window on our floor, overlooking the condo entrance where the ceremony was held.

As I write, the monks have given their blessings, taken their bags of donated goods, and left.

Kids are running around the place, and a few adults chatting. Someone has put on a Thai version of the Happy New Year song.

Staff pinned signs on condo noticeboards telling us that it was a dry-goods affair, meaning that if we wanted to donate to the monks, we should take dry food.

For Thais, Mama instant noodles are the convenience-food of choice. I wonder how many of those plastic supermarket bags sitting around the fountain contained Mama instant noodles?

The monks looked dowdy and dusty, like orange tumbleweeds bouncing through the desert. They laid their food bowls on the table. One spoke through a microphone.

A few eager types took the opportunity to ask for a personal blessing. I saw one man kneeling to one side of the monks. He had his hands clasped together in the prayer sign, pressed to his head.

Most people are content to watch, but there are always a few posers who want to take a blessing straight on the chin, so to speak. My, how devout.

I hope the monks made him give many bags of donated goods for the privilege.

-

Boyfriend Maiyuu’s birthday falls on Tuesday. He has asked me for B1,000 to put towards the occasion. The money will also go towards groceries over the next few days.

I hope Maiyuu enjoys himself. He was invited to no Christmas gatherings this year, as he does not work.

This is the season to be merry. Gatherings of family and friends are part of what makes us happy, as is the act of giving and sharing.

Maiyuu has invited his friend Golf to celebrate his birthday at our place. Hopefully she will bring her sister and the family pet Chihuahua as well, so the gathering is lively and fun.

Maiyuu made a dish of curry duck for Golf's family yesterday.

Golf, who lives nearby, paid for the roast duck. Maiyuu ladled the curry into bags and delivered it on his bike.

We get to eat what’s left, which is only fair. A day later, the left-over curry is still going.