Hydroponics

Tawatchai and I spotted this small hydroponics set up by the side of the road. No one around so could only look not buy produce. All looked healthy.

Rayong Office Lunch

Just had lunch. Nothing special. Well by office lunch standards!

Think about it.

Boiled rice,
Crab cooked in coconut milk, with assorted salads and of course chilies.
Several "pastes" which are  northern Thai dishes complementing the salads.
Deep fried fish,
Stewed pork, slow cooked with sweet sauce and boiled eggs.
Pork cooked with Bamboo,
and
chutneys assorted pickled cabbages and greens.

-- My selection --

Oh yes I almost forgot......

Desert of water melon and some coconut milk with jelly.

Now back to work... well maybe first a quick nap !!!!

Rayong Views

I mentioned a few days back that there were lots of interesting places to see and visit in Rayong.  (It gets a bad press in the tourist guide books and web sites. Usual comments being don't bother stopping keep on going to Koh Chang or where ever you were going. Wrong !

Well I think it has some character, in fact a lot going for it. Everyone can't be wrong. Its home to about 675,000 people and has developed as both an industrial town a major local fishing port. Ford motors manufacture all their pickups here. And there are loads of other international companies. On the fishing side they are the main producers of Thai fish sauce. A major local product which is available world wide. Even on the shelves of my local shop in La Digue, Seychelles.....

To support all this are the usual restaurants and bars and night life together with shopping Malls and some major hotels and apartment blocks for visiting business men. All in all a place worth spending a few days in.

We plan on being here for the next 3-4 years and so are moving slowly trying out different restaurants most evenings, going back to several as our "local" one.

Also and most importantly have decided to move from our Condo to the beach. We are in the process of buying a "town house". Its on the beach front. There is a coastal road in front then the beach. In fact it runs the length of Rayong Beach. Shore line is heavily protected with groynes. And sand has done a good accumulation to date. S small restaurant scattered all the way along. All looking good for the future. Opposite our place its not as yet a great beach to look at. If your imagining a swaying palm fringed beach unlucky but it has sand, water and its warm. I do see very potential and its a great location. This blog will soon be full of our purchase and renovations and listing and recording all the trials and tribulations that go with it.

For today I'll just add a few photos of some fishing boats and side streets.  I took these on the way to work. So a bit rushed. Jumped out of the car and clicked then jumped back in and off to work. And yes they do look a bit dull. It had just finished a torrential down pour.

House project to follow. :)

Joys of Cheap Shopping

Went out last evening in the local shopping mall to buy a few things.

Passing one of the many little computer accessories stalls I notices a box full of small USB phone charges. How much I asked? These ones are  Baht 80. That's about GBP 1.60. Bargain. Done deal. So off I went home to plug in my new "value for money" All excited thinking "Couldn't get this as cheap in UK etc etc".
Well plugged in and went to put on the music and have a cuppa. When suddenly a loud BANG from the bedroom. You guessed exactly where I had plugged in the "value for money" USB adapter.

All the lights went out, no power, everything off. Pitch black. On with the torch and after isolating the socket put the lights back on. This is what I saw.

Life is a Beach, its just that some people don't know how lucky they are......

Was down on on the beach front at Rayong the other day. I drove down the western end where there are less restaurants and more of a home to numerous fishing boats, huts, homes and all the usual stuff which goes with coastal fishing. Interesting area which I plan to explore again and no doubt again ! Lovely protected coast line. (photo curtsy of Google Maps street view)

And there located right on the edge of the beach I came across this lovely tiny beach hut. Well its obviously home to someone. I thought it was beautiful. Strange to find it at such a spot but then TIT, this is Thailand. Even the cactus trees are planted different colours. Looks idealic. I thought I must share this one... Hes probably sitting on a US$1.0 Million + property and has no idea of its worth... Wonderful life.

Beach Side Life

Today is lovely and sunny. About 30 degrees. Sun shining and perfect tourist weather. The wind is giving us a cooling effect and life is just, well things just "feel" good. However I'm not a tourist today but at work. So I'll enjoy as best I can, but no doubt someone will screw it up before sundown !....

The big ship in the background is an LNG tanker. Delivering LNG (Liquid Natural Gas is how we know it, but for it to be transport it must be cooled and then it turns into liquid. -163 Deg C.  Cold indeed.). In front of it are what appear small sticks you can see sticking out of the sea. These are the new piles we're installing to support the next jetty which we are building.

Looks good. Lovely day for fishing....

However while its good with the sun and breeze the down side  is it generates choppy waves. Translated means difficult for our barges and equipment to work offshore for pile driving and any other accurate work on the jetty construction.

So what to do. Not much is the answer. Just wait it out. Frustrating to say the least. I took a couple of photos and then found a few others from a few days past when  we were inspecting fabrication of some steel piles for the jetty. There are made from flat steel plate which comes in rolls from the steel mill. They are then "unwound" and spun out on a big rolling/turning machine and welded as they go along. Clever stuff. Welding looks impressive as the steel moves along. Pictures below show a pile being turned and also the welding sparks !!!!!

Also I've added in the standard photo of perception of construction site activities. Just so you know Thailand construction sites same as UK and the rest of the world.....i.e. two persons working and about 10 watching...... Actually it is a demonstration for a new mix for concrete. So we we were all ovbserves. Even more watching from outside of the photo....

Last Few Weeks

Seems these days I always start my Blog with an apology for not writing more often. This post is not exception. Except!!!!

From now on I'm going to improve and concentrate on doing various street themes and keep up to date. Well not up to date more a matter of more frequent posts.

Yesterday we stopped on the way to friends to pick up some food. Just some grilled Chicken and sticky rice etc at the local market. Lots of stuff to choose form but you really need to know exactly what you want or if you are like me you'll spend ages just looking at the amazing array of stuff. So concentrates on the job in hand. Lunch....

Assortment of grilled chicken. Legs, wings, kidneys, livers and heart, add in some sticky rice and local pawpaw salad. Done.... off we go.