A Blog about the Daily Life on the Tropical Island of Koh Samui
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A few Words about Me
 My name is: Olle
I am living in: Lamai Beach, Koh Samui, Suratthani, Thailand
I am originally from: Stockholm, the capital of Sweden
I am doing for Kohsamui.org: Writing a blog about my life on a tropical island
How about my life here: Please read my blog below, my friends |
Are You Afraid To Eat Market Food?
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Friday, August 28, 2009
It is really nice with fluctuations in daily life, isn't it. Yesterday was a nightmare while today had no problems what so ever. How everything with the computer got solved by itself is best not to think about.
I am out of porridge so we went to buy some bread before going home. I do not like the white bread that much, but it is good enough sometimes, but then I prefer the type that is in the green plastic bag that is slightly darker and with grains. They are hard to get here on Samui, and most 7-Eleven do not even sell them. Today all stores were out of bread but in the fifth store we went to they had the white sort so we stuck with that. I wonder why so many stores here have to small stocks of bread, it seems like a bigger stock would work fine too. But as long as the problem is just about to find some bread you should not complain.
We went home and dropped off our things and then went directly to the market in Lamai. I read very often about people asking if you really dare to eat food from markets and from the small cars that people sell food and other items from. My answer to that question is, of course you do. One can of course have the misfortune to become ill from food everywhere but not more often from the markets than from other places according to me. I know many who find their favorites at the markets and on the small simple food places. On the market here they have the tastiest "loog chin plaa" I have ever eaten. "Loog chin" is the name for all the foods that are sold as small pieces on a stick which can be meat, fish or vegetables. The one I like are the balls of fish, but just these pieces are very special and not the usual type which for me is the white kind of small balls of fish. These are big and crispy and the sauce are usually made spicy and with really good taste in general. The sauce is an important part and the taste of course varies depending on how it is made.
 
This market offers food of all kinds as well as fruits, vegetables and spices. You can buy small grilled fish of various kinds, which often are really tasty and you also find deep-fried really small fishes that are not longer than a match, if even that big. They are crunchy and salty, but probably there are different variations that I have not eaten. My favorite Thai dessert, I have unfortunately not found here yet but only in Bangkok and a few other places in southern Thailand, is called "boaroy". It is a dish consisting of coconut milk mixture with small marble shaped pieces of dough Noting I want to eat too much of but to eat a little bit sometimes, I think is really good.
Fruits and vegetables in all forms can be found as well, some things at a good price while other things are relatively expensive in comparison to the prices at larger supermarkets. You will find small very tasty cherry tomatoes, a pink variant of tomato and the traditional kind. You can buy Thai cucumber, the larger type or of the smaller kind that is very good that have in food, for example with eggs. The small ones do not have the bitter taste that the bigger cucumbers peel more often can have.
Now I have become a little blind and do not see the market food in the same way as before and for me it is a bit negative. Before I was curious and tried most things while now I stick to a few favorites and forget everything else that actually is tasty too and offers diversity. Next time I go there I will buy something that I have not eaten for quite a long time and embrace the options offered.
What Is Happening
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Thursday, August 27, 2009
The last few days have been strenuous. I have solved a lot of computer related problems that has not been that easy. Yesterday I went to bed at 4 after having finally reached a solution regarding the work with a client. Now, that bit being sorted out I only have to do the work before I can exhale completely. However, now the strange things did really take over. My internet works fine and I can access FTP servers and other services such as MSN Messenger. But I could not reach the Internet via any browser, such as Explorer, Fire fox or Chrome. Yesterday was weird because I had to restart the computer to make them work, but after only a few minutes it was all the same, which resulted in dozens of restarting and I searched for solutions and the work that would take only half an hour was during the whole night standing completely still which was very frustrating. During the day, I have not been able to do anything either, and I was just about to reformat the computer, which I have done numerous times over the two years I had it, when it suddenly seemed to pull itself together so now I will give it one last chance . I am pretty sure that the next time I will buy a computer I will get a Mac and not a PC. It feels like the next purchase might have to be quite so soon, unfortunately.
I enjoy working through the computer, I even think quite often it is really fun but it is very energy draining to spend so many hours with unnecessary problems so even if a new computer is expensive, it may in the long run save me both time and energy. It is, after all, a fact that Mac computers have fewer problems and seem to run smoother over all. The reason I use PC is most out of habit.
To read about my computer troubles are hardly the most interesting thing to do so i hope i will not have any more problems taking up all my time like this again.
This week is a bit special on Samui, people are collecting money and food to the monks. I think it is done once a year and some cars drive around and collect everything. For instance people can give rice, noodles or whatever you want mostly things that can be stored. The monks live, according to what I was taught, in such a way that they cannot work for money but donations are ok. At some temples they have plants like fruit trees but otherwise they survive through donations. The collecting around the Lamai area was today and will be tomorrow as well. The collecting started the 24:th in Bo Phut and lasted one day and then the next day they went on to a new area and it ends in Nathon on august 30.
The 5th of September will also be a special day when I think that the monks themselves will go to the streets to collect food and money. I am not entirely sure how it will happen here because it varies in different places and it is not even on the same day at other places. I have seen this before and I think it was here on Samui, but I do not remember for sure so it might have been in Phuket, but a long caravan of people, some dressed up and drumming on drums was walking along the streets collecting. I am quite sure it was here on Samui.
The weather has been pretty ok, no rain, but quite cloudy, although the sun was shining a bit too. It is really wonderful that we have some mosquitoes here, just a few hours we use to shut the doors and even that time it is not that many mosquitoes at all. It can be very different from one area to another and sometimes it may be that the neighbor has a lot of mosquitoes while the next house has almost none. Here it seems to be very little mosquito over all. I well remember the rainy season for 2 years ago in Mae Nam, there were so many with mosquitoes at times it was scary and at dusk at the cafe in Phuket, it was also not that funny and I became plenty of bites every night. It is easy to complain about having mosquitoes but it is also good to remember to be grateful when it is like this too. The bats appear to still have food and are flying around under the streetlights, and one evening outside on the street I had two bats extremely close to my head I almost could feel the wings in my face once. They are very skilled flyers and often turn just in front of you but this time they were awfully close and I am not that keen on getting a bat hanging right in the face.
A Mediocre Day
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Wednesday, August 26, 2009
 
The day has not had much excitement to offer. The most exciting that happened was probably that I at three occasions on my way home from Tesco was forced off the road in quite unpleasant ways. Cars that run on the wrong side of the road overtaking other cars even when meeting others are not a strange phenomenon but perfectly normal. But these occasions occurred after sunset and it was dark and the cars that made this was changing line and drove out just in front of me and I was basically throwing myself onto the verge, just hoping that there are no holes or other things in the way.
On the way to the store, we passed a place where people were working on widening the road and also to make more space for the drain system to prevent flooding. On this route floods are not uncommon when there is heavy rainfall and when the few times a year when the rain becomes more persistent it usually floods in some places causing some problems on the roads and else were too. I guess this is part of the large project that is on the agenda to improve Samui's roads and other things. At various places here on Samui I have seen workers making new well systems to cope with large amounts of water and it will be interesting to see if the known places where it the past few years become major floods will do better or maybe not have any flooding at all.
The traffic culture in Thailand is very different from what many Westerners are used to. Everything from driving style to wearing helmet, taking a driving license and so on are of course very different from e.g. Sweden. For my part, I think it is both good and bad because I can sometimes find it to be a bit too much in Sweden with things. Here it is everyday behavior to sit on the roof of a truck holding on to almost nothing while the car rushing as monster on the road, or as the image above, sitting on the edge of the trunk of a car or on the edge of a truck bed and letting the legs dangle, something that would surprise me enormously to see in Europe while here I do not raise my eyebrows the slightest. Ironically, in the photo an ambulance are rushing towards us and it is also a common thing, less funny incidents. I also have to add that this is not ok in all places in Thailand. The police are a lot harder with things like this in for e.g. Bangkok.
As we have just passed this construction site Nui shouted to me to go because, she saw a wallet on the road. That is something she would never just notice without any concern and I also think that you should care about things like that. We turn around and pick up the wallet, which contained ID card and a hundred bath. The wallet belonged to a Thai and we brought it to a police station which is situated along the road in Chaweng with the hope that the owner will get it back.
When we arrived at Tesco I came to remember that I have not eaten anything during the day other than my obligatory bowl of porridge for breakfast and my stomach complained quite well. I like donuts and I saw my chance to have some donut bites and I rushed away to get myself two small donuts. I do not eat donuts that often and when I do so I use to buy one or two pieces of the small variety which are so small you can eat them in just one bite. I think that junk food and snacks should be eaten in small portions.
Now it is time to eat dinner, which today consists of steamed rice, chicken file and pieces of a long sort of pea. The dish is in Thai called "Phad Toa Fah Yao". After dinner, I will try to relax with a little TV and today I will try my best to get in bed in a somewhat reasonable time. Last night none of us could sleep and I think we were awake to just after five o'clock and my eyes do not really want to open up the morning after.
Messy Monday
Text by Olle - Living on Lamai Beach - Monday, August 24, 2009
It was a great weekend with both had some beach time and work time.
Last Saturday I went swimming for more than an hour and met a couple friends. It was really nice and as compared to last time I went swimming and the water was not that fine this was a huge difference. I was in the water all the time without getting the least cold. The beach called Thong Takian Bay is located in north Lamai in between rocks and is only about 250 meters long. The rock formations around are very rounded looks beautiful and there are even some rocks in the middle of the water. Behind the beach there are some bungalows and other accommodations nestled among palm trees and I think this beach is really a paradise beach. We tend to come here quite often because it is a bit smaller and it makes it cozier. The beach is also quite shallow and the water far into the beach is ridiculously warm. One of the first times we went there, I managed to lose my big silver necklace. The buckle on it had broken and when we were heading down towards the water I thought it was better to put it in the pocket of my shorts because I was too lazy to get up and put it among the other things we have left on the beach. It did not take long to forget what I had in my pocket and while playing around in the water it must have gone up and let the necklace fall out. Completely impossible to find, things are very hard to see in the sand and it needed so little for it to get some sand above. We had no face masks with us which would otherwise make it possible to actually find it. I got my lesson for being lazy.
The Sunday offered a lot of work which is positive and it was cloudy almost all day and even a little rain so I did not miss anything. In the evening however, I got some trouble when the work was about to be transferred via the Internet and it did not really work the way I expected with various file formats that we work with. After a few hours I managed to find a solution and get everything done. Web surfing and everyday tasks are done perfectly with the internet, the problem begins when it comes to a bit larger files to be transferred. I have 0.5 mbps uplink compared to 100mbit which I had in Sweden a few years ago but that is extremely good. I was finished at 2 in the night and then took a good hour before I fell asleep. Today, however, the problem got even bigger. By partners had problems with the file format and it was not easier when they did some mistakes which managed to confuse me in total before it was discovered that the fault was in their side. There was a small circus so to speak. The sum of it all is not quite finished yet, but it looks as if there is another portion of files that has to go online before we are done. That it takes time uploading might be ok as long as the internet works all the time and I think the internet connection works very stable which is great.
I wonder if the weather is about to be different now. There have been two days with more clouds than before, so it is not entirely impossible that some bad weather is ahead. But it is also possible that it is only short-lived.
Now it is time to take a turn down to the village to one of the small shops and buy ice cream because it was a long ago since I ate that. There are so many good cone ice creams to choose from so it is usually difficult to choose. For example, the Cornetto have lots of different variations of their cones and I wonder why there are so few to choose from in Sweden. I always find that there has been much more to choose from in other countries.
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