Merry Christmas 2024

 Bangkok, Thailand

Merry Christmas 2024!

Wish everyone to be very very happy on this Christmas. 

Let's enjoy this festive season and don't forget to extend your love and care to others especially those in need of love and kindness.

Gigi 😉💖

Tasty fried salted fish ปลาสลิดเค็มทอด

Bangkok, Thailand

Saturday 11 May 2024

Hello,

Luckily, this Saturday is my free day. No work on schedule, no class to teach, no errands to run for; excluding chores, of course. Yes! today I just stretched my legs comfortably on the floor, watching some interesting programs, playing with my bossy cats and eating meals with no hurry. I feel very lazy and love to stay lazy as much as I can be. 

I didn't even have to cook because I already prepared my today meal since yesterday. What I have to do at lunch was heating my food in microwave. And today menu was fried salted gourami. 

Have you ever tasted it--fried salted gourami?  If not, just follow my article here. :)

Gourami or I should give you its full name > snakeskin gourami> is a kind of fresh water fish. It looks nice but very nicer when it is served in your dish.  This fish is called Pla Salid in Thai language.  Pla Salid can be cooked in different ways, yet the most popular method among Thai people here seems to be salted and dried in the sun. That is how we get dried salted gourami which can be kept for months.  And we simply fry and eat that salted fish later with steamed rice, boiled rice or noodle as preferred.  

It sounds very simple and its taste is mainly salty. Yet, trust me,  Fried salted Pla Salid is incredibly tasty. This simple salty fish was once a common home cooked dish with rather cheap price. A big one was just under 25 baht, for example.  However, in recent years, fish including gourami became much more expensive. Most water ways like canals and rivers have been so polluted that no big fish can survive and few fish and shrimps are found. People have to farm those fish and shrimps instead and they are not simple food any more. 

Now you could find salted gourami for sale in super market but with rather high prices.  One fried salted gourami in medium size could cost up to 100 baht. A bigger one then cost higher.  

Although the prices of salted Pla Salid rise a lot, many Thai people including I continue being its big fan. I can't help buying it whenever I find it a good price for a right size. My mother also loves it a great deal when I buy some for her.  Recently, I bought some from a vendor and fried it before bring the tasty fried fish to my mom. It's great to see a big smile on my mother's face.

Gigi💗😋

Happy Songkran Festival, Happy Thai New Year 2024

 Bangkok, Thailand

Sunday 14 April 2024

Happy Thai New Year 2024!

People in Thailand are now celebrating Thai New Year 2024, better known as Songkran Water Festival.  Starting from 13 April which is called Maha-Songkran Day, most Songkran celebrations continue for the next  few days.  Yet, the celebrations could be held later in some areas especially outside the main cities. 

Songkran Day in Thailand was once a peaceful period famous only among Thai people. The special day makes Thai family members reunion and enjoy their moment together. The day would begin with making merits --giving foods and other offerings to the monks at home or at the temple, listening to the sermon from the monk at the temple, for example. Then family members would  have meals as well as giving their home cooked food to their relatives and neighbors. The young would express their gratitude to the elderly by paying respect and gently pouring water over the senior's hands. During the day, the young would have fun by playing games and splashing water at friends, relatives or familiar people. The water they splash is clean and quite often added with sweet scent of local traditional mixture, called nam-ob-Thai. Thus, people were usually in pleasant and joyful moods. If some want to splash water at strangers or unfamiliar persons, they need to ask them politely and friendly for their permission first and give them good blesses.  Without the permission, they could not do their splashing. Hence, it was rare to see angry faces or crazy people during Songkran Day.  The day was then rather quiet, almost sacred, but happy and memorable moments. 

Today Songkran Day has changed a great deal and, probably, is one of the world's top gathering event rather than a local celebrating event. Thailand has become a top destination for foreign visitors from around the globe to come and join Songkran celebrations or better known as water shooting festival  among foreigners. The once peaceful day was turned into the period of fun and loud day when anyone could get wet from water shooting or throwing by any others. Young people and even some older ones care little about making merits and family reunion. Their Songkran Day top activity is to have fun soaking other people as much as possible; familiar ones or strangers don't matter. No need for asking for permission from those who will become the victims of their water shooting any more. No more concern about politeness and fine manner.  Simply to have fun and freedom to do as one is pleased. Thanks to Thailand' s tourism authority that maybe focuses mostly on the number of  tourists and tourist incomes rather than the other important components of the precious and long tradition behind this special day Songkran.

As long as it is considered by many as a time for big fun, Songkran festival will continue and attract visitors both local and foreign ones to join the events. This year the Thai government has already announced that the celebrations and fun period would carry on through the end of this month at different locations.  Besides, as the temperature in this summer time here in Thailand is skyrocketing, up to 40  Celsius in some areas, water shooting or splashing might help a lot of people become more relaxing and start loving one another better (I keep my fingers crossed though).

Happy Songkran Day, Happy Thai New Year!

Gigi