1) The words ‘discrete’ and ‘discreet’ have identical derivations, but different meanings in English. Not only can I not remember which is which, I only occasionally even remember that they are different words. Which, in French and Latin, they aren’t.
2) I told Pandora that I like the band Barcelona because I wanted to listen to squealy nerd-themed 80’s-style synth rock in the manner of such hits as “I Have the Password to Your Shell Account” and “Planet Jerk.” It turns out there’s a newer, more-popular un-squealy band called Barcelona which is the only Barcelona that Pandora knows about and now my stream is polluted with hundreds of naval-gazing contemporary male vocalists.
Lately I’ve been having some unintended success with producing large amounts of freshwater microalgae (it’s growing in the water bath which keeps my on-purpose plankton tanks warm) so I decided it was time to get some filter-feeding freshwater plankton to turn my green water into something useful.
Ever since I got these guys (the grown-ups are about 1/4″ or a bit less) I’ve been claiming to everyone that they’re ‘born pregnant.’ I’m still pretty sure that’s right, but wikipedia doesn’t back me up so I’d like to get some photographic evidence. The above shots are with my pocket camera — the following are with a kid’s digital microscope.
Puzzling! Not only are there not tiny pregnant daphnia inside the parent, but there aren’t even baby fleas in there at all — just blobs that look suspiciously like eggs. Either I’m completely misunderstanding how this life-cycle is supposed to work, or my daphnia have decided that my basement is about to suffer ice and/or drought and they’re making little bomb shelters to weather the coming cataclysm.
I will try to scoop out a few more expectant mothers tomorrow and see if everyone is in the egg business or if I just happened to scoop out the one long-term thinker.
Meanwhile, here are a few close-ups of one of the ostracods that have started reproducing like mad in an underpopulated shrimp tank. Another let-down: turns out that when multiplied 60x they just look like big pinto beans rather than tiny ones.
I’m back in Minneapolis. I never cease to be impressed by how very, very far it is from Malaysia to Minnesota.
Here’s my last bunch of out-of-context food photos from the last week or so.
An ice kacang from a western-style coffee shop in a mall in Ipoh. I’m not sure if the ice cream and peanuts are Ipoh-style or just a feature of that particular cafe. The green frog-egg looking things are basil seeds… apparently they do that if you soak ‘em in water for a while.
Also from a mall in Ipoh, ‘Claypot Rice.’ The pot is heated over a gas flame until it’s dangerously hot, then rice and chicken are scooped in where they get all toasty and crispy around the edges. The food is pretty basic, but there’s an element of excitement in that customers are expected to carry these glowing-hot loads on a plastic tray through a crowded food court to an empty seat. It’s a miracle that I didn’t require salve and bandages at the half-way point.
“Kao Soi Kai” from a roadside stand in Samoeng. Kao Soi is the default noodle dish of Chiang Mai. It’s coconut soup with flat, rich egg noodles and a bit of meat. Every version that I encountered also had crunchy chow mein noodles sprinkled on top.
From Huen Phen restaurant in Chaing Mai: Jackfruit salad and ‘crispy pork’ (which turns out to be the same thing as chicharones.)
Stuffed bamboo shoots, also from Huen Phen. I’m happy to report that you can get this same dish at Ruam Mit in St. Paul, and I like it slightly better there. Of course, the jackfruit options are a bit limited in St. Paul.
Back in Singapore, my first priority was getting a bowl of mee pok at Bedok Market. I will rejoice if I can find a place in Minnesota that serves Malaysian-style noodles in chili, but I suspect that you have to have a noodle factory nearby to produce the same effect.
I’m back in Singapore today to pack up and catch my breath before flying back to the US. It was a nice clear day today so I tried to shoot a panorama of the yacht club where I’ve been staying… the stitching isn’t perfect but you can get the idea. Click to see the full-sized image.
To the left is the club hotel, in the middle is the pier/breakwater that leads to the marina where the Clamn is moored. On the right is the club restaurant.
In addition to all the cargo ships visible in the straight, there’s one more feature to the view which didn’t show up in that panorama — the Changi HDB Staging Ground.
I spent a long time wondering why there was constant construction at the staging ground but nothing ever got built. It turns out that the staging ground is where construction rubble is hauled after buildings are demolished. The debris is loaded into barges and hauled to various points around the coast for land reclamation.
There were a couple of nervous emails about the Bangkok protests in my inbox this morning, so, just a quick update:
1) I’m back in Singapore today, so I’m unaffected
2) Chiang Mai (where I was when the protests started yesterday) has overwhelming support for the ‘anti-government’ folks — this consensus means no one bothers to protest there.
3) The protests were scheduled and expected, and I flew back to Singapore directly rather than via Bangkok to avoid the commotion.
I spent most of yesterday at the ‘Thai Farm Cooking School,’ hoping to learn why my pad thai always end up in a sticky mess. I’m not sure I solved that problem but it was a pleasant day nonetheless.
We started out at a wet market to buy a few ingredients.
We made our own curry paste later with mortar and pestle, but I have to suspect that the people at the market use a food processor.
Grating coconut and pressing out coconut cream
The blurry bits are whirling electric fly-repellers.
Those are tiny eggplants which apparently grow in bunches like grapes.
After the market, a bunch of trucks hauled us out to the land where the classes are taught. There was a small herb-garden on site, big enough to provide a fair number of the herbs and spices used in the class. We were all provided with stylish hats and aprons.
I’m staying at the ‘Garden Guesthouse’ in Chiang Mai which is essentially just three bedrooms upstairs from a bar and cafe. Their street sign is so sun-faded that I can’t read it (I just look for the blank sign when walking up the street) so I doubt they have a lot of walk-in customers.
The have poor street advertising, but very good internet advertising. One of the owners, Tim, is an expat whose main work is in web-design and search engine optimization. His tiny 3-room operation comes up on the 1st page (3rd link!) in a google search for ‘Chiang Mai Guesthouse’.
The place is really nice, although I suspect that Tim keeps it running mainly as a test-bed for web design and as a venue for his band which is currently rehearsing a Fleetwood Mac song outside my window.
The zoo aquarium had a open-from-the-top ‘touch tank’ with rays in it and then, later, an identically designed ‘dangerous animals’ tank with lionfish and morays. There was a velvet rope around this tank in order to discourage me from petting the lionfish.
In case of genetically engineered supersharks with cutting tools press button.
There is a baby panda at this zoo which is a very big deal. Lots of people were sitting around waiting for it to poke its face out in public… while waiting you can watch it on closed-circuit TV. I got impatient and didn’t see the baby in person, but Mr. Panda was eating next door.
These are photos from an afternoon trip from Chiang Mai to Samoeng and back again — the loop goes around and behind the mountain that Doi Suthep is on. My little 110cc Honda Click could only barely get me up the hills, but outside of town the roads are mostly empty and drivers are friendly.
Noisy cicadas!
This photo isn’t very interesting, but when the gardener hosed down this fence it made a great marimba noise.
