The good news is I don't have to buy 2 more tickets to Canada at $2,000 CDN. As our visa application stretched into over 120 days the price of tickets from Bangkok went up due to the Canadian dollar dropping in value to the Us dollar and proximity to flight dates. I will make my annual pilgrimage to Canada in the month of August to attend to business and see friends and family, but I will do it alone, thanks to Canada's brutal immigration process and policies. Can you imagine waiting 120 days for an answer on a visitor's visa to any other country?
I have been reading up on Canada's visa problems and they all stem around Canada's paranoia of letting someone in, who may then claim refugee status. I guess the thinking is to make legitimate visitors pay for the few problem visitors who may overstay. A reasonable solution would be to make the problems pay by deporting them rather than giving them free access to lawyers and our bleeding heart legal system.
Enough, time to move on .. shame on you Canada! Legitimate visitor's are missing out on weddings and funerals while you fiddle with a broken immigration system.
Bangkok is aflood again as the monsoon rains hit early this year. It really does not affect me as I live in a tourist area and it is relatively high ground. The city planners can basically control which areas get flooded by an intricate gate system. Better that the tourist areas don't get flooded, despite it being off season. However, the nightly deluge is having an impact on the night life in Bangkok. When in doubt, carry an umbrella and wear sandals as the water sometimes gets ankle deep.
Thavorn sitting down to Som Tum - a favorite dish - bamboo on the side
The dish combines the five main tastes of the local cuisine: sour lime, hot chili, salty, savory fish sauce, and sweetness added by palm sugar. The ingredients are mixed and pounded in a mortar; The general Lao name tam som literally means "pounded sour", however, the more specific Lao name tam maak hoong literally means "pounded papaya". In Khmer, the name bok l'hong also means "pounded papaya". In Thai, the name som tam, (a reversal of the Lao name), literally translates as "sour pounded". However, other pounded salads in Thailand are consistent with the Lao naming convention in which the word tam ("pounded") is listed first.
Despite the use of papaya, which one may think of as sweet, this salad is actually savory. When not yet ripe, papaya has a slightly tangy flavor. The texture is crisp and firm, sometimes to the point of crunchiness. It is this that allows the fruit to withstand being beaten in the mortar. Wikipedia
Most of the time you see people eating on the street, enjoying a salad, they are eating Som Tum. It is very spicy so beware and if you order it for yourself (farang) ask for it to be not too spicy. However, you must sample this dish if you visit Thailand.
TTYL
Somtam is one of the rare Thai dishes I don't like. Strange mix of syrup and hot peppers.
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