Tag Archives: Food and drink

Asian adventure day 27. Kanchanaburi day 4.

05 Sunday Feb 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kanchanaburi, Musings, Thailand, Travel

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It’s Sunday here in Kanchanaburi. In fact it’s Sunday almost everywhere depending on your time zone, which is always food for thought – unless you’re a member of the flat-earth society!

Today here in Thailand I’ve been trying to relearn an old skill. That of just being. In the 21st century we all lead such hectic lives. My Asia trip has been focused on doing rather than being. I’ve been preoccupied with the things I want to see and those that I want to write about in the future – plus composing a daily blog, editing pitures and responding to events back in the UK.

Today, I decided to simply sit on the verandah outside my room and watch the world go by, without any lists, tick-sheets or any of the other ‘to do’ things we tie ourselves up with. Plus, it’s Sunday apparently, the biblical day of rest. Not that days of the week mean that much to me when I’m travelling, which is why I sometimes get caught out by events. But today I made the effort.

Whilst relearning to be I realized something. I haven’t got a single guide-book with me on this trip. I’ve a Kindle, but I haven’t fired it up once. This part of the world’s so familiar to me I don’t really need guide-books. Besides, I did most of the tourist stuff 20-30 years ago. I’m here for a different reason now, and part of that involves just being.

Oh, and eating.

I love Thai food. Dawn and I often make it at home but having it made for you in Thailand is hard to beat. Especially some of the regional delicacies like Khao Soi – or what I had for my evening meal today – papaya salad (Som Tum). It’s almost impossible to get a proper one in the UK because the real version uses a very young papaya as its main ingredient. In the UK you can substitute papaya with cabbage but it’s not the same.

It’s now late, I had a Whatsapp video call with Dawn earlier which was lovely following on as it did from yesterday’s mixed call with her parents. This time it was just the two of us. So, as it’s late I’m going to end this blog as I’ve plans for tomorrow. The rain I was hoping for hasn’t arrived here but the river’s at least a couple of feet higher. I know this by the fact the gangplank to my ‘floatel’ is now level to the land. Hopefully this will keep the air less hazy so I can have a day out with the camera. We’ll see…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 26. Kanchanaburi day 3.

04 Saturday Feb 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kanchanaburi, Photography, Thailand, Travel

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It’s a late blog from me, mainly due to the fact I’ve had a sociable evening with Steve Beames and his lovely wife Carol. I’d never met them before but we have dozens of mutual railway friends on Facebook and one of them tipped us off that we were in the same country together. All of us are on more than normal holidays and share a love of travel, food, railways and certain beverages so it would have been rude not to have met up and said hello. We ended up chatting for several hours.

The earlier part of my day was equally relaxed. I’d been up early so that I could sort out more work and edit pictures, as well as pondering and deciding to stay a few more days here in Kanchanaburi. Unlike Bangkok, the pollution that’s been hanging in the air for the past few days has finally begun to clear. Now I can actually see the surrounding hills which have been reduced to a ghostly image until now. There’s a threat of rain tomorrow, which will really clear the air.

The weekend’s brought an influx of people to where I’m staying but it’s still not busy. This evening was actually quite relaxed and fun. One chap was fishing off the end of the houses – watched by the young daughter of the French family who’ve moved in next door, especially when he caught fish after fish. His colleague was out in a little boat cutting back the water Hyacinth to free up space around the ‘floatel’ for swimmers and boats.

All in all an enjoyable day. I even got to make my weekly video call to Dawn – only this time it included her parents. Oh, and I found a restaurant that sold the classic North Thai dish Khao Soi – so I was well happy. Admittedly, this was the chicken version rather than the pure veg one but even so – it was gorgeous!

Such is the simple life here in Kanchanaburi. Tomorrow (depending on the weather) I’ll be exploring more…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 22. Bangkok day 5.

31 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by in Bangkok, Food and drink, Photography, Thailand, Travel

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I’ve had a relaxed day here in Bangkok after a busy day yesterday when I caught up with an old Thai friend I hadn’t seen for several years as Covid got in the way of my travels out to Asia. My chats with Chrissorn were wide-ranging but a lot focussed on Thailand and how a country so reliant on tourism is recovering from the world shutting up shop for so long. I’d realised what I’ve seen of Bangkok is far quieter of old but Chris filled out some of the details. Bangkok is normally crowded and not the place to be in a pandemic so many people returned to their home towns. Some of them set up businesses there, made them a success and realised there was no need to return to the capital with its high rents and cost of living. So Bangkok’s population has dropped (for now).

Another thing I learned was that many of the people who work in the tourist industry aren’t Thai. They’re from Myanmar, or Laos, or even Nepal and India. Indians have always been present here – providing most of the tailors you see around areas like Banglumphu, but the Nepalese were a surprise. When you get your street massage for 150 baht it’s unlikely to be from a Thai. The locals don’t want to do such arduous, low paid jobs. It’ll be an ‘economic migrant’ who fills that role. The same people the English despise and was one of the causes of Brexit. It’s one of life’s ironies. Go to most countries with a large tourist or hospitality industry (Greece is another example) and it won’t be the locals doing most of the work. Yet the UK, in its arrogance and dislike of foreigners has thought it can buck this trend and Brexit will mean more jobs for local people. The result? We now have a huge labour shortage in the UK and suffer the economic damage that flows from that – as newly released statistics show. The UK’s the only developed nation where the economy’s predicted to shrink next year. Even Russia, despite its international pariah status and awful war with Ukraine will grow faster than the UK. Of course, the hardcore Brexiters still claim any amount of economic damage is worth it to regain ‘sovereignty’ – something we never lost except in their overactive imaginations. I wish I could pay my bills with their fictional ‘sovereignty’…

Massage beds line Rambutri. A 30 minute session will cost you 150 baht, but the chances are the person massaging you won’t be from Thailand but Myanmar or Laos.

Another thing I learned from Chris was that the Banglumphu area, being crowded and full of foreigners pre Covid, suffered more Covid-related deaths than other parts of Bangkok, which could help explain some of empty shops I’ve seen and the lack of some old faces.

My time in Bangkok’s been rather sociable, partly because I’ve been going out more and also because there’s far more travellers and tourists here than in KL. Yesterday I ended up in conversation with a retired nurse from Darwen in Lancashire, a retired engineer from Heidelberg in Germany and a retired photographer from the UK who’s moved out to Asia and has a house in Pokhara, Nepal. You can spot the theme, can’t you? There’s a lot of retired people here! To leaven the mix, today I ended up sharing a table at my favourite food stall with a young lad from the Netherlands who’s been travelling around Thailand for a month.

Tomorrow life will return more to normal as I’ll be resuming my travels and exploring more of Bangkok – and making sure both camera batteries are with me! For now, here’s a few more images of life in Bangkok…

Today’s 50 baht dinner. On the right is a superb deep-fried and crispy fish with Thai basil that’s mixed with palm sugar. The dish on the left is vegetable with egg.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 21. Bangkok day 4.

30 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in Architecture, Bangkok, Food and drink, Photography, Thailand, Travel

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Having spent several hours this morning immersed in paperwork and picture editing my stomach reminded me what time it was and encouraged me to go eat. In Bangkok Monday is the day when all the street stalls have an enforced day off due to local ordnances. This means the streets are deathly compared to the reat of the week. It also forced me to find a new place to eat. I found a little cafe on Chakrabongse Rd away from the usual tourist hustle and bustle which looked quite inviting. It served the usual Thai staples including a signature dish I haven’t sampled on this trip (Pad Thai) so that’s what I plumped for, only with prawns. It was both delicious and filling.

Pad Thai, well it’d have been rude not to!

Having stuffed myself my plan was to walk across town to Hualamphong station in order to book a train ticket. It’s a 50 minute walk but you get to sample a lot of Bangkok. Plus, the weather’s warm, but it’s not sticky the way it gets in a few months time. So, I set off, with the idea of getting pictures on the way. Then it all went a bit ‘Pete Tong’. I dug the camera out to get a shot and found the thing was dead as a Dodo. Problem was, I didn’t have my spare battery with me as that was recharging, back at the room. There was no option but to hoof it back to the hotel and pray that the problem really was the battery and not something more serious. I’d been taking pictures last night and thought I still had a few bars life left in this battery. Once I swapped them over the camera sprang back to life – much to my relief! Now I’m hoping the second battery will recharge. By then it was too late to head to the station so I’m having another day exploring locally. I’ll try to get out to Hualamphong early tomorrow as I have a ‘teams’ call with the UK later in the day regarding some work.

Anyways, I’m out with Chris tonight, so pottering locally isn’t a problem. In the meantime, here’s a couple of phone pictures.

It’s a dogs life! These ‘strays’ are actually well looked after by the shopkeepers in this particular Soi – as are their puppies…
Living in a gilded cage? Sometimes local architecture makes you do a double-take…
At least this hotel around the corner from where I’m staying has tried to go for green. I must admit, I’m envious of the swimming pool…

I’ll add a blog update later.

What a lovely evening. I met up with Chrissorn and the two of us spent several hours catching up after so many years that were interrupted by Covid. As usual, I learned a heck of a lot about life in Thailand and Bangkok. It certainly won’t be our last meeting of the trip.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 19. One night in Bangkok…

28 Saturday Jan 2023

Posted by in Bangkok, Food and drink, Photography, Railways, Thailand, Travel

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Well, it’s one night of several really, but the old Murray Head song sprung to mind as I was thinking about a title for todays blog!

After travelling all this way I’ve given myself a day off today and just enjoyed being back in the city. There’s certainly been some changes due to Covid but what I realised today is that a lot of it has been a shuffle, Places I knew are (mostly) still here, they’ve just moved around the area a bit! A bit like me today. I moved hotel this morning, but literally just moved next door. There was nothing wrong with the old place – it’s somewhere I’ve stayed many times under its different names but the crucial factor for me was the fact the wifi was so slow it didn’t allow me to do what I needed to. This place is far better. That I had to move was another reason for giving myself a day off, along with the fact that I’ve been so busy it’s been really nice just to chill, drink a few beers and reacquaint myself with Bangkok after all this time. Oh, and enjoy the food. There’s a wonderful street food vendor at the for end of Rambutri which is still here, despite everything. Rice and two main dishes costs 50 baht (£1.25), the demon chili pickle is free – and not for the faint-hearted!

Anyway, here’s a couple of pictures that show the changing face of the railways which I took when I first arrived. Here’s how Hualamphong station looked yesterday now that it’s lost most of its long-distance services. Just the other week this place would have been buzzing.

However, the new station at Bang Sue, with the catchy name of Krung Thep Aphiwat Central Terminal, opened on the 19th January. It’s impressive – and vast, but also quite empty and it lacks the character of the original. However, it’s far more suited to the future of rail transport in Thailand.

Tomorrow I’ll have all the pictures I took on the way up here edited and online. Plus some new ones. I’m probably going to have another easy day tomorrow (well, it is the weekend after all) as I’ve lots of stuff to catch up on now I’m sort of stationary again. Even so, there’s plenty to blog about!

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 14. Kuala Lumpur day 8.

23 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photography, Railways, Travel

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Whilst the Chinese new year has been quiet these past few days (apart from fireworks every night) the holiday finally burst into life this morning. I’d been out for breakfast to a new cafe serving a range of Indian dishes including my favourite Roti Canai. Apart from the excellence of the food the restaurant was great for watching the food being prepared as there was a sub-kitchen with a griddle at the front where a young Indian lad was cooking Murtabaks, Rotis and keeping busy with a wok. He was happy for me to get shots of him working which made for great shots like this.

Throwing Roti dough from the pile of balls you can see in the foreground. The dough thrown around in a circular motion to stretch it wafer-thin then its folded over several times to form the layers that help make rotis so light.

Heading back to the hotel I found the local Chinese temple was packed with people celebrating the new year and a group of lion dancers had turned up to add to the festivities, which made quite a spectacle. The combination of raucous percussive and acrobatic performances drew a large crowd. Here’s a few pictures.

Prayers and incense inside the temple.
Two lion dancers leaping from post to post. The skills they display are amazing as the co-ordination needed between the two men is intense. One slip…
The lion flicks oranges into the crowd.

The whole area was buzzing as so many people appear to still be on holiday because of New Year – and not just the Chinese community. I’m assuming many building sites remain closed judging by the numbers of young Indian men I saw out and about. The numbers made me decide against venturing far as I suspected all the trains would be packed. Instead I wandered over to the old station for a couple of hours to take pictures there. It’s on my doorstep after all. The place was busier than I’ve seen it since I arrived, manly with Indian families catching trains up to the Batu Caves to visit the Hindu shrines there. Mind you, the fact the train service is so poor now added to the numbers waiting. When there’s only one train and hour instead of two they’re bound to be busy.

A KTM Komuter service to Batu Caves calls at KLs original main station.

Despite the absence of a lot of trains I had a pleasant couple of hours mooching around the wonderful old station whilst managing to get a few worthwhile library images including shots of the new fleet of Intercity electric trains that have been purchased to expand the service. They’re in a different livery to the earlier ETS fleet so stand out.

Set ETS213 calls at KL whilst working a service from Butterworth to Kuala Lumpur Sentral. Clearly, the nose cone over the coupling has taken a beating at some point. On the plus side, I only saw one broken window on this set!

Retiring to my hotel for a couple of hours to edit pictures I’d intended to maybe pop out for a rare beer tonight and get some pictures but the weather had other ideas. We’ve actually had a warm and fairly sunny day. So much so I decided to leave my brolly at home when I went out to eat. That was a big mistake! Whilst I was out we got hit with a torrential rainstorm which meant I got a soaking on the way home, so tonight’s been another quiet one at home listening to the thunder and fireworks. Maybe tomorrow…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 13. Kuala Lumpur day 7.

22 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Photography, Railways, Travel

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Have I really been here a week already? Time’s flying! I’ve settled into routine that’s governed by the weather as we’ve had a lot of rain these past few days – especially today. I’d planned to have a day out exploring but when I looked out of the window at 7am this morning the weather really wasn’t playing ball. Heavy grey clouds dominated the skyline and it wasn’t long before the torrential rain arrived – hardly the conditions for decent photography so I decided that a day sat in my hotel room editing hundreds of pictures would be a better use of my time. You can find the results of my efforts in this gallery. Eventually the rain eased long enough for me to nip out and find some brunch. I fancies something different this morning so I checked out a couple of eateries around the old market which is now full of tourist shops, but the nearby streets still have some traditional local eateries. One was packed, but I did find a table in this establishment where I enjoyed a very typical Malaysian breakfast – Roti Canai. Accompanied by a rich curry sauce these flatbreads are both delicious and filling.

I wandered home via a very subdued Chinatown. The combination of the weather and the fact it’s Sunday had really dampened its spirits, not that I was too bothered as I’d plenty more to do at home. Trying to keep on top of picture editing on trips like this can be quite a chore. You’re torn between going out with the camera as you’re only passing through and there’s so much to see, but you also want to show off what you’ve taken. At least the weather solved that conundrum for me!

By mid afternoon I was edited out (researching captions is even more time consuming than editing) so I decided to have a mooch around on the trains to check out a possible new location and check on engineering work outside Sentral station. Sadly, by the time I’d got to my first location the heavens opened again – and this time they stayed open! I did manage to find one thing of interest, this old Japanese Bo-Bo-Bo locomotive imported for use on contractors trains.

The three bogie arrangement has never caught on in the UK, only the ‘Chunnel’ shuttle trains use it, but it gained traction (if you’ll pardon the pun) in both Italy and Japan. If anyone can supply any background on this particular type of loco I’d be grateful.

Sadly, the location scouting was a bust. Still, it was my first trip out on the LRT system on this visit, which was quite entertaining as the trains were packed with loads of young Indian men out shopping as they’d got a day off from the building sites they’d have been working on during the week. It was the same when I got back to Chinatown. Guys were huddled under walkways and bridges trying to make the most of their holiday whilst staying dry! I sought shelter in my usual eating house and stuffed myself with chicken curry, rice and veg before waddling home to dry out and relax.

With it being the weekend Dawn and I had arranged to video call each other through the wonders of Whatsapp. My, how technology has changed! No more waiting for letters or making expensive telephone calls, now you can talk to each other face to face for free! As someone who travelled a lot in the ‘olden days’ I still can’t quite get used to how easy it is to keep in touch now – but it’s lovely being able to do so. The distance between us just melts away…

The rain’s stopped so I went for one kast wander along Jalan Sultan to watch the world go by and also record a short video that illustrates an important problem the street suffers from. The street’s a vibrant place to eat. It’s lined with all manner of restaurants, cafe’s and street stalls to cater for every budget. The smells are delicious. But. It’s also a one-way street that’s often clogged with cars. They’re like a moving metal barrier down the middle of the street. If only it could be pedestrianised the way Jalan’s Petaling and Hang Lekir are…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

Asian adventure day 7. Kuala Lumpur day 1…

16 Monday Jan 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Musings, Photography, Travel

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Sorry folks, I’ve been spending much of today working my way through all the pictures I’ve taken this week which means the long blog about my rail trips being delayed. I’ve still got a lot of picture captions to do as there’s not much point blogging about the trip if I can’t identify the locations of some of the pictures. I’ve decided to have another day working from home here at Bigland Towers KL branch in order to clear the decks of everything I need to do.

To be honest, it’s been lovely not to be under pressure. I was up at 06:00 and pottering around soon after as I had a load of washing to get sorted. Clothes don’t get particularly dirty here, but they sure get sweat-soaked, so a constant rotation of fresh clothes makes life much more pleasant – both for me and anyone in my vicinity! At least stuff dries very quickly in the 30 degree heat…

Having done my dhobi duties I went for an early morning wander around Chinatown which is very quiet that time of day as most businesses are still shut. The empty streets gave me time to explore and look up and around which is how I realised just how much damage Covid has done to the Malaysian economy. Several very large high-rise hotels are now derelict having never reopened after lockdown. Some of the smaller ones succumbed too, including a few backpacker hotels and the associated bars frequented by their customers – like the well known ‘reggae’ bar. My tour through the backstreets showed me gaps where little stalls have vanished too. There used to be an old Chinese street barber on Jalan Sultan. He had a mirror fixed to the side of a building and a barbers chair bolted to the pavement and little else other tan a tiny metal sheet roof to protect his mirror and clippers from the rain. In truth, he was a miserable old bugger, he had a big sign up saying ‘no photographs’ and he refused to cut foreigners hair, but he’d been here for donkey’s years. Now he, his mirror and his chair have vanished. But then so has much of the trade. Tourists are reappearing but the area’s so much quieter than it used to be. The Chinese are starting to return, but the Russians are otherwise occupied at the moment and even the numbers of backpackers (or more likely ‘flashpackers’ nowadays) and European tourists are well down.

None of that prevents me feeling happy to be back and relaxing into life here. I spent a lot of time here 10 years ago as I was trying to get a lens repaired – but all the spares came from Thailand which had been devastated by floods, so it took weeks, but then I was working for the International Railway Journal then so took time to organise an interview with the (then) President of Malaysian Railways and spent an interesting couple of days with himself, his Senior Managers and other KTMB staff. Happy days!

So I feel quite at home here and I’m looking forward to wrapping up the bits I need to do before spending some more time exploring. In the meantime, here’s a few pictures from today showing life in Chinatown.

This is where I eat. It’s a great Malaysian street food place on Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, just around the corner from the famous Jalan Petaling. It’s run by a delightful Malaysian bunch like this woman who’re only too happy to talk you through what’s available. A massive mixed plate of rice, vegetables and a meat or fish dish will cost you around 7 ringgit 50, or £1.40! The food’s delicious. You’ll never go hungry here.
The alleys off the side streets are some of my favorites as you never know what little businesses you’ll find tucked away in them. Here’s a traditional Chinese food stall getting ready for the day (and they work long days) with the chap on the red stool cracking on with the washing up from the night before.


A sight that’s become very common nowadays is pavement bric-a-brac stalls like this one as people sell stuff to help make ends meet.

A shot from this evening’s perambulations. 10 years ago this street would have been chokka at this time of night…

If you’re interested in seeing older pictures from Kuala Lumpur that I have in my archives, click on this link. Don’t worry, they’re not all of railways – honest!

I’m going to call it a day at this point in order to get back to picture editing. Expect more stories from KL tomorrow.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

8th January picture of the day…

08 Sunday Jan 2023

Posted by in Food and drink, India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel, West Yorkshire

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*for some reason my internal clock seems to be stuck in December – so apologies for those confused on seeing the titles of these blogs before I realise my mistake and correct them!*

Apologies for absence these past couple of days but I’ve been both a busy bee and social butterfly – if such things are possible at the same time! I’ve been trying to get various things in order before I head out to S-E Asia on Tuesday. Mostly stuff around the house, plus finishing off a few work pieces whilst prepping stuff to take with me to keep me occupied on quiet evenings or days when I’m relaxing by a beach – if I find the time, and a beach!

Plus Friday was a social evening as it was the last chance I had to meet up with friends in our local before I leave. Dawn joined me and the pair of us had a very convivial evening doing our regular quiz whilst quaffing a few ales (or in Dawn’s case, San Pellegrino) then chatting and joking with the rest of the pub. Saturday was in similar vein as Dee and I had brunch with her parents at Hinchliffes (billed as Britain’s oldest farm shop) where I enjoyed something I won’t be eating out in Asia – a full English breakfast!

Heading back to the Calder valley we said another farewell, this time to the fabulous Moorcock Inn at Norland Moor. We popped in for one last drink in order to say goodbye as Aimee and Alasdair are closing the place on January 20th as they’re giving up the lease. It’s a crying shame as in the five years they leased the pub for they’ve turned the place into a ‘must visit’ culinary experience with superb food and a great choice of drinks. They’ll be sorely missed by both locals and people who’ve travelled for miles to enjoy what they offered. We’ll certainly miss popping in after a bracing walk around the moor for a well-earned drink and a bowl of their sublime smoked roasted potatoes.

We continued our culinary these in the evening only this time it was just the two of us. Dawn took me out for a bon-voyage meal to a place neither of us had visited before, the Manor House at Lindley, on the Western edge of Huddersfield. It’s an old Victorian mill owners mansion which has been brought back from dereliction to become a hotel, restaurant and bar. The new owners have done an excellent job with the restoration. We had a drink in the bar before being shown to our table, which allowed us time to see what a mixed-age clientele frequented the place. The restaurant itself is stylish yet cosy and the food is excellent. As both Dee and I both enjoy cooking we’re not easily impressed and often find dining out a bit of a disappointment, but last night both of us were enthused by the inventiveness of the menu and the quality of the food. The place isn’t cheap but for once we felt we certainly had value for money. It’s not somewhere we’d go every month, but we’d have no hesitation in going back.

Today’s been more of a lazy Sunday, with a focus on more household chores and (in my case) packing whilst Dawn’s busying herself in the kitchen before we have a penultimate cosy night in – hence me blogging earlier than usual. So, all that remains now is for me to leave you with the picture of the day – but what to choose? I deliberately left my cameras at home these past few days as the time was about Dawn and I – not pictures – there’ll be plenty of time for those over the next few months! That means digging into the archives. One of the little projects I’m taking with me to Asia is another batch of old slide scans that need editing. There’s a real mixture (all from the late 1990s) but most were taken in India – including this one – which is of the delightfully battered and archaic Calcutta trams.

Sadly, the network has been cut back even more since those days. I’d love to go back and have a look at what’s left as I’ve not returned for a decade. Here’s how they looked in February 1998 when a queue of trams were stuck behind a common event – a derailment on the life-expired and rickety track.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!

21st December picture of the day…

21 Wednesday Dec 2022

Posted by in Food and drink, Halifax, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, West Yorkshire

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Today’s been another ‘confined to barracks’ day. Well, if you count the barracks as being a radius of a mile from home! Admittedly, much of the day’s been spent catching up on picture editing and paperwork, but I did have a stroll into Halifax to do some shopping for various DIY supplies I need for some of the projects I’ve planned for the Christmas period whilst I have the house to myself.

Halifax was busy with other folks shopping too but most of them were after stuff with a far more festive feel than the goods I was interested in. However, I did pop into the Sainsbury’s supermarket as they’re the sole stockists of a very nice low alcohol beer (an IPA) which I wanted to stock up on. The place was jam-packed with people shopping as if they were stocking up ahead of the Zombie Apocalypse! Clearly, some people either have a decent disposable income, or their credit cards are taking a beating…

The centre of town was equally busy, except for the empty shops of course – and the wonderful Victorian Halifax borough market, where a number of stalls had already shut up shop even though it was only mid-afternoon. But the one I was interested in was still trading – and had a queue – Thai Corner, where you can buy a wonderous Northern Thai/Laoation noodle dish called Kow Soi, something you rarely find on Thai restaurant menus. It’s a rich curry soup topped off with fried noodles and it’s delicious!

Having struck the final item off my shopping list I walked home under sunny skies to carry out one last chore before retreating to the office. I’ve been keeping our feathered friends fed and watered over the winter and gained a lot of pleasure from watching their activities outside the office window. I’ve discovered on food that’s very popular with some of the larger birds like Thrushes, Blackbirds and Magpies – oats. We’d been given a large bag of organic oats but found they were hopeless for making porage in the microwave, unlike ordinary oats. They take a bloody age and just don’t work right. I didn’t want to bin them, so the other week I tried putting them out for the birds and found that they (if you’ll pardon the pun) almost flew off the shed roof! So, when I got home I added another pile, along with some old cooked rice, peanuts and a few seeds. I see it as karmic payback for the decimation of the local bird population our old cat (Jet) carried out in his younger days – when nothing was too big for him to tackle and drag in through the catflap. We still miss him – even if the local wildlife has breathed a sigh of relief!

So, today’s picture is of a bowl of vegetarian Kow Soi I ate in Chiang Mai, Thailand when I visited in February 2011.

Bon appetit!

You can find many more pictures from that particular trip to Thailand (both rail and travel images) in this gallery on my Zenfolio website.

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank you!