Nipa Palm--have you ever seen????

I received this e-mail and pictures from my Thai friend ,Aom who is owner and operator of the local computer and video game store in our village. I had gone to add minutes of time to my cell phone and she had this strange fruit that she was chopping open and feeding her son and anyone that wanted to try, and she gave me a few pods to take home and try , she also sent the e-mail and pictures  for me with information  about the plant and fruit. What a interesting plant , and one of many uses for the Thai folks in the villages where it grows . Take a look at the pictures and video and see for yourself  a very interesting plant that most (me for sure ) have never seen or heard of in our lives.Thailand (the country and the people) never lets a day go by that I don't see or hear about something new and interesting to me and I hope to those that read my little blog.Things like this and friends like Aom(who also owns and operates a beautiful resort(family style -kid friendly) on the Famous River Kwai here in Wang Pho, are just another one of the reasons why I'm Rretired in Thailand and Loving It. You can E-mail me if you're ever in this area and would love to stay in a real Thai (house) resort for you and family and there is  enough rooms in the house to bring along your friends too.Thanks for the read .
                                                                                            Malcolm
E-Mail from Aom

Sawasdee ka ,malcolm และพี่ตุ่น


Nipa Palm make thai sweet food ลูกจากลอยแก้ว

Leaves nipa palm can be taken to wrap the sweet food.

ใบสามารถเอาไปห่อทำขนมได้เรียกว่า ขนมจาก

To be able to remove the leaves to make the roof.

และใบก็สามารถไปทำหลังคามุงจากได้

VDO cilp Nipa Palm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnHtqY4GIXY





aom

Talking (feeding) with the animals

A couple days ago I went to the famous Bridge on the River Kwai, to visit Ciejay's nephew Guy, he has a bar-b-que stand near the bridge and sells a great bar-b-que chicken and ribs. You know me and food I just had to give it a try, he ask what I wanted and I said "give me a sampler plate" WELL , he piled a little bit of everything on my plate and a generous side of his famous homemade bar-b-que sauce, I rolled up my shirt sleeves and dug right in, to my surprise, and sauce all over my face,the plate was empty in no time, and it was all good, especially the Bar-b-que chicken legs.The food was good and I would go back for more another day , a great lunch stop, or afternoon snack.
BUTTT the thing that caught my attention that day aside from the great food was a little table beside the stand that had a couple of baby animals on display for picture taking and for a small donation you could hold them ,pet them ,and feed them a bottle of milk.  They had a leopard and a tiger and they were just beautiful, and very playful. The petting and feeding stand are a part of the Safari Park Zoo, in Bophloi , Kanchanaburi.It's a really good zoo and they display and take care of the animals very well, They have several of these stands around the area and the donations help to feed and take care of the many endangered animals in Thailand. It was a real thrill to hold and feed these babies and something I'll remember a long time ., lots of folks were having their pictures taken while feeding the babies , something you get to do maybe once in a lifetime, I loved it .
I took a few pictures and hope you enjoy them , and if you're ever in the area  ,stop by for a bar-b-que plate and  feed yourself and the animals .

Mushrooms,picking ,cooking ,eating ,enjoying

   This is mushroom season here in Thailand and Kanchanaburi is famous for all kinds of mushrooms that grow in the forest and especially  the foothills of the small mountain range  in the Sai Yok area, there are mushrooms a plenty, one of the favorite and most sought after, and a great income for the families that live here is the termite mushroom or (hed khone ), also they are a favorite in Tum Yum soup of all kinds , my favorite is hed khone mushrooms and chicken  soup with coconut milk, "yum yum".

    One of the most famous and expensive mushrooms found around here are called the hed khone , and folks come from all over the country to buy them at the roadside stands along the highway between Sai Yok and Kanchanaburi,  and there are whole sellers that come from Bangkok to bargain with the roadside stands in order to take them back and sell to the high  priced restaurants, a meal that includes hed khone mushrooms (fresh) can cost as much as 350  baht or more . . They can cost upwards to 400 baht per kilo at the roadside stands. The season for them is Sept. till Jan. and families that sell them every year, will stay in the woods for days, guarding their secret places, they seem to grow in the same places at the same times every year.
    At the foot of the mountain behind our house and in the forest leading up to it ,there lots of hed khone mushrooms grow and people from our village will come every morning at 5 or 6 am and start looking for them especially after a good rain and a sunny day. It's first come first served at our Mt. and the early bird gets the worm (mushrooms).
Today was a lucky day for us , we had a man come and cut our grass for us today and  I was out back looking, to see if he had done a good job when , I happened to look over about 50 ft. from our back deck and saw what I thought was mushrooms ,I called Ciejay to come look , and sure enough they were hed Khone mushrooms. we were able to pick about 2 kilo. What a great fine and in our own backyard , It don't get any better than that.
   Ciejay just finished cleaning them and tonight we are going to saute them with onions and garlic and  serve them with grilled, pork tenderloin and jasmine rice. and we will still have enough left to make a great  mushroom and chicken with coconut milk for a great Tum Yum soup.
    This is just another example of the wonderful variety of food that is available here in the LOS , that is there just for the small effort of getting out and looking . Do you like fresh mushrooms?, and do you ever go to look for them in the forest near your home?Ciejay and me we love mushrooms any time we can get them , most of the time we , like most people have to buy from the roadside stands and every once in a while , if a neighbor finds more than they can use  they will share them with their neighbors, and we're very happy when this includes us . Just another reason why we're "Retired in Thailand and Loving It".

A visit to the Bamboo School's (Thailand) Lakeside Chapel

                                                        Bamboo School
The Bamboo School exists to fulfill God's direction given in Isaiah 58.
We're located in the mountains up against the Burmese border in the small village of Bongti, home to 541 families with an annual average income of just US$180/year.
There are currently 63 residents (many of them orphaned, abused, medically challenged, retarded, or refugees of economic poverty) that God has molded into a family.

Many of you know that Ciejay and Me , are very much supporters of the Bamboo School near the Burma  border in Bongti, Thailand. The Bamboo School is a orphanage , that is held together and run by a lady,the kids call MOM MOM Kat, I call her Kat for short . She is a wonderful , and committed person to the Task God has called her to do , I know of no other person with so much love and compassion ( and energy) for unwanted children. She is truly what God calls "The Salt of The Earth".The school is not funded by any one particular organization , even tho Kat is a Seven Day Adventist, Children of all religions , are welcome, the school is funded by freewill offerings , if you would like to know more about the Bamboo School  check out their web site at http://www.bambooschool.org/ .

My friend Jerry took a trip thru the mountains to visit Kat and the Kids , this past Saturday , we wanted to take some bakery goodies for the kids that Ciejay had a lady who bakes in our neighbor hood ,she had her to bake a bunch of small cream filled rolls , enough for the kids to have for a couple days for an afternoon snack.
We got there just in time for their Sabbath Day Church Services at their new Chapel by the Lake , what a beautiful place , and we enjoyed a great sermon from Kat and some really wonderful singing of hymns from the kids . We visited for a few hours  and really enjoyed our time with the kids . I took a lot of pictures and will post a few for you to see , If you are ever over this away and would like to visit the School , give me a call and I'll show you the way .                                                                     Malcolm and Ciejay

GOOD-BYE-----BOK----WE LOVED YOU

Today is a sad day at the Burgess's , Our boy Bok (dog) passed away ,and went on ahead to the rainbow bridge to wait for Ciejay and Me when we pass by someday.

Bok was a stray ,that found his way to our home and hearts as a little puppy he was , not even a month old, he was nine months old when he was poisoned , by someone or something , we'll probably never know . Bok never meet a stranger during the day and was loved and enjoyed by all who live on our road , a couple of our neighbors loved him as much as we and they called him Peter, he could understand Thai and English and was very obedient when told what to do.BUT when nightime came and he would take his post on our front porch , then, he was transformed into Bok the Wonder Guard Dog and everyone was a stranger till morning. He will be missed , If you have dogs  watch after them as they like Bok will love unconditional and sometimes  that's not to good. Take care of them as you would a small child and never allow any folks to be cruel to them.

The Rainbow Bridge inspired by a Norse legend By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill, Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still. Where the friends of man and woman do run, When their time on earth is over and done. For here, between this world and the next, Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest. On this golden land, they wait and they play, Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day. No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness. Their limbs are restored, their health renewed, Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued. They romp through the grass, without even a care, Until one day they stop, and sniff at the air. All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back, Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack. For just at that instant, their eyes have met; Together again, both person and pet. So they run to each other, these friends from long past, The time of their parting is over at last. The sadness they felt while they were apart, Has turned into joy once more in each heart. They embrace with a love that will last forever, And then, side-by-side, they cross over… together.

ฉ 1998 Steve and Diane Bodofsky. All Rights Reserved.

I Do a Walk-About

Well, not a very long walk-about , just a walk around the yard and our house , some in-side and mostly outside. Folks are always wondering what kind of a house or hut we live in here in the LOS. I thought I would take a few pictures to post and show you that we are not as far removed from civilization as some folks seem think that have never been to Thailand . A long time ago in one of my first post here on  Retired in Thailand and Loving It  , I showed pictures of the house ,before and after the remodel, you see we bought a 8 year old Thai concrete house that was 70% finished when it was abandoned, and sat empty for about 8 years  , really run down and some structural damage no one was interested in buying it to repair or live in , but Ciejay and Me  had a dream of turning this into a home for us in Thailand , so with a lot of blood, sweat , and tears , we think we have almost after 7 years got it just about like we want it .There will always be little things we see that we want to do and as time and money allow we'll try to do what we can.Now we are happy with the little make-over we have done and hope you enjoy the pictures, I put little brief caption on each to explain them . Malcolm

Share my blog with your friends and family, and they will get a little (real) glance into living and retireing in Thailand.