Going bananas

As a long-term resident of Thailand during the first 10 years or so of this century I am well used to seeing bananas. My father-in-law has several different varieties in his garden. On my return to the UK I thought it might be fun to see if I can grow a banana or two here in England.

I tried to buy a variety that would live outdoors in the UK perhaps Musa basjoo, however, there were none left at my usual Dutch plant supplier. Then in May I saw some small banana plants in 5" pots for sale in my local branch of Lidl, a German-owned supermarket. I bought two for £5.00 and put them in my conservatory as they were not a hardy variety. After a few days it became obvious that were going to grow at a prodigious rate. I potted them into 12" pots and detached a few pups at the same time. The pups are now the size of the originals and the parents are looking really quite impressive. They were labelled as Musa acuminata 'Tropicana' and appear to be a dwarf Cavendish related strain, at least I hope they are 'dwarf'. The Cavendish is the main banana we eat here in Europe, and indeed North America. I've seen huge plantations of them in The Canary Islands and some of the plants towered above me. Probably no hope of them setting fruit here in York, but you never know.

At the moment they are outdoors enjoying our unseasonally mild autumn weather. I'll bring them in when the temperature consistently drops below about 12 degrees centigrade.

Khao Soi - my favourite Thai meal

We recently travelled from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It's a long way so we needed to stop several times for food. We were with my brother-in-law who works for EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand). In his job he travels all over Thailand and is great for knowing the best places to eat. He recommended a restaurant in Lampang which serves a really great dish of Khao Soi, sometimes spelled Kao Soi.

I had eaten Khao Soi while living in Bangkok. The shop which used to sell it though fell victim to the riots of 2008 and I have been longing for a dish since that time. So, as you can imagine, I was very pleased to hear we'd be stopping at a restaurant well-known for this speciality of Northern Thailand. I usually choose to eat chicken breast and was a little disappointed to hear they only served chicken legs here. It tasted amazing though and I washed it down with a glass of guava juice. I asked for an extra portion of crispy noodles, as I like that part the most. Then my brother-in-law ordered another bowl for me of just the curry and noodles. I ate the lot. It really is that good.

On the return journey, three days later, we stopped at the same restaurant (Khao Soi O-Ma) and had two bowls again. Yes, I put weight on during this holiday.

Below you will find a link to a recipe for it. Enjoy.

Link to Recipe on food.com

My wife is now a web entrepreneur

My wife has beaten me to it and set up an e-commerce website. She is offering Thai lessons: face to face, on SKYPE or through moodle. She has been teaching fun, holiday Thai based courses for a little while, but felt she could widen the scope and tap some business needs. I offered lessons in basic survival Thai to the marketing manager of the English language school I work at, who is going to Thailand soon on business and she is the first customer since the website went live.
If youd like a peek here is the URL:

 http://thaiconnection.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

Flying to toyland - (again!)

I am flying to Thailand on Saturday 26th September. Why? As a person who has made no secret of his recent dislike of the place it seems a strange destination. Well, it has to do with more permanent roots in England. My wife is in Thailand as I write with our children. I work full time so could not look after the girls hence they are with their mum. Why is my wife in Thailand? One word answer - visa.

Having lived for the last few months in England on a  tourist visa and quite liking the UK experience she decided to make the move more permanent. With this in mind she has applied for a visa granting leave to remain in the UK. They have been back in Thailand since July. To quote a line from 'Casablanca' - they wait, and wait, and wait. An appropriate quote because the speaker is describing people who need visas for America in Casablanca during the war and the difficulty of obtaining them.

It seems incredibly difficult to get a settlement visa for the UK. let's look at the situation: married to a British citizen for almost 10 years, mother of two British citizens, registered at the consular section in Bangkok, as indeed was the marriage. Educational qualifications include a BSc and an MBA. Some of the interview questions included "Have you any evidence that this is a long term relationship?"

The cost of this visa? 800 pounds - yes!! EIGHT HUNDRED POUNDS. The waiting time? "for your benefit and convenience", about 16 weeks.

They wait, and wait, and wait...