FFOSSL

Sophia's doctors closed up the incisions on her legs. Stuart reports from his Blackberry ...

All is ok. Took longer than I thought. Sophia is in the room.

Physical Therapy is difficult. Today Sophia stood up for 4 minutes. She turned in pretty early because she was tired and you can just watch so much coverage of the world cup. We are getting a lot of information about the world cup. We now understand more about how the world cup works than any US sport. I went to see Thai kick boxing that other night and it was very cool.

Sophia is continuing to do better. The physical therapy is getting harder. She is sleeping better because the increasing difficultly. I went to the Siam Paragon which is a huge mall and got a lot of reading material. I bought a Time, Newsweek, Economist, New Yorker, Atlantic, and the Herald Trib. I think she is already finished with them all. I will have to go on a reading material run this afternoon. I am off the see kick boxing tonight. Should be fun.

Stuart

I got an email from Stuart. He said "... Sophia is doing ok. Really pretty good. But I see that someone really needs to be here. I have spent most of my time at the hospital so far. trying to get a lay of the land. I found the Jusco which is a supermarket. Shopping was great fun. Just people and stuff watching is great fun. I can't believe how many people are selling food on the street."

Stuman's sleep schedule is off, and he is sleeping more like very long Saturday afternoon naps versus real sleep. Which is why he was emailing me at 3am Thai time!

I picked Lettie up yesterday afternoon at Dulles. Given the fact that she travelled West for almost 24 hours, but really travelled back to the future and lost 12 hours somewhere along the way, which I guess she'll get back when she returns to Bangkok -- is all this confusing to you? It is to me!! -- she looked none the worse for wear and we are all really glad to see her.

Follow the Link to Lettie's Pictures of Bangkok

Not everyone that is reading FFOSSL was on the email reflector when I sent out the original Story of the Durien Fruit. Someone suggested it be posted again because it's a good story. Plus, it's in line with today's theme of FOOD!!

The Story of the Durien Fruit

Tair, Sonny's surgeon's wife, took Lettie and Hedi to shopping paradise In Lettie’s words:

The bottom level was a Whole Foods on steroids - beautiful fruit and fish and meat and everything; upstairs was a shopping experience that makes everything I have ever seen before pale in comparison - not even the mall in Santa Monica had me floored like this [editor’s comment: and we all know how Lettie likes to shop!]

We bought Sophia some Body butter lip balm and some shea butter lotion for her feet and elbows

We also got her some beautifully wrapped sliced fruit.

Hedi got curious and bought a Durien (the stinkiest fruit in Asia) - we were in shame when we left the package in Tair's trunk while we had lunch - it was so stinky

Hedi tried to hide the Durien in a double bag and take it into ICU. I was mortified, “They'll kick us out”, I said. “Only if the catch us,” she said.

We made it to the cab home and the driver stopped in the middle of the street and demanded we hand over the Durien so he could stick it in the trunk.

We now have it stashed in the room fridge and it stinks SOOOOOOO bad.

The moral of the Durien fruit story: never haul a piece of Durien around with you while travelling in Asia!!

Phone Number is 662-027224055 ext 5102

Thanks to Rhonda's friend Thomas who actually used the number above. he said use this number and when the phone goes *blip* punch in the extension

The difference between this one and the orginal one is that the orginal sends you to a switchboard - this one is direct.

Now you won't have to learn Thai Numbers!!

Let me first say that anyone who knows me knows that I don't cook. I do know how. I just choose not to. However, with the right stove, cookware, and knives you can do a lot. So it is a fun challenge to use the S & L kitchen in Crofton and cook with Ben. I packed a couple of recipes and headed for the Shoppers (big supermarket) and Shoreline (wonderful fish and seafood market that any of you who have vistited Crofton will know about).

I told Ben last night that I was going to make Shrimp Creole today. He said, "Oh, we're going to make roux." I said, "What's roux?" Did you know that in all South Louisiana cooking the first thing you do is make the roux? Well, now you do and so do I!!

Many hours later, and thanks to the Crazy Roux Lady (well, that's what Ben and I called her because she takes roux very seriously) on CookingLouisiana, I know way more about Cajun Cooking than I did yesterday and it ain't easy!! Not only are there many "colors" of roux, but a whole philosophy on whether you should make Shrimp Creole with "shells on". We went with "shells off" and made shrimp stock for the Creole.

It turned out pretty well, but there's a lot of room for perfecting the Creole to satisfy your palate. Maybe we should watch Emeril and he could teach us how to "kick it up a notch!!!" CookingLouisiana says that old creole cooks start in the morning and cook all day. Crazeeeee!!!!

Besides the Cajun experience, today Ben and I went to an amazing used bookstore at Eastern Market in D.C. Ben got some stuff that is on his summer reading list, plus some short stories about Bangkok by an American-Thai writer. I got some stuff that I was looking for and some other stuff that practically fell off the shelf into my hands. We both picked some books that that we believe will be fun and funny reading for S & L in Thailand as well as becoming an addition to the permanent collection at the Floraville Complex lending library.

Ciao!

To write or call Sophia at the hospital:

Sophia Parafina
Room 1021
Vibharam Hospital
2677 Pattanakarn Rd
Suan Luang Bangkok Thailand 10250

Phone Number : 66 2 027222500 rm 1021

Lettie Moved

If you haven’t been reading the FFOSS (now FFOSSL) BLOG, Lettie has moved from the hotel into a condo. Her address and phone number are:

Apartment C10C
Floraville Complex Tower C
14/2 Srinakarin Intersection
Soi Pattanakarn 51
Pattanakarn Road
Suanluang, Bangkok Thailand 10250

Phone Number is 662-02722405584 ext 5102

A Thai person answers the phone and may not understand 5102 in English. At least that was Ben’s experience, so if you want to learn how to say the numbers in Thai, here’s a handy little shareware tool to help you:

Learn ThaiNumbers

Used Books?

Lettie says, “There is a paperback lending library at the condo complex and I will hunt for good reading material. If any of you have suggestions for engrossing easy reads - please comment” (or send her an email).

If you have books you are willing to part with, send them to the above address and when S & L are done reading them, they will be donated to the lending library.

About the BLOG

Some people have asked me: “What’s the latest news from Bangkok?” I reply, “Aren’t you reading the BLOG?” They say, “What BLOG?”

Well there is a BLOG at: YOU ARE HERE!

Originally – because I had never setup a BLOG before – I thought I had to invite everyone to be a member so they could read the BLOG. That is not the case. If you just want to read the updates and comments, then add the above link as a bookmark in your favorite web browser.

If you *do* want to join and have not, your invitation is still pending. What does membership give you? You will be able to create your own posts and add comments to existing posts. This is not a public BLOG, but I have restricted comments to Members Only. By default, only members can create posts.

Cheers, Rhonda