Local Beggars

These two cats were happy to eat all of my chicken wing scraps - including bones.

Too Much Is Never Enough

Contamination

Science lesson for the day.

The white lining in some of our sofa covers was showing up in the US with yellow stains in certain areas.  At first, I suspected a cat was sneaking into our factory and using the unpacked covers as a litter box, but after sniffing some returned pieces, the expert noses of our Thai staff confirmed it could not be cat pee.  

Without any other ideas, I took a sample to the local university to have a look at the stain under an electron microscope.  

The first image shows some moisture in the fabric.

This picture shows the specs of contamination, which the microscope determined was mostly Magnesium.

Apparently, after being loaded in a broiling shipping container the moisture formed condensation inside the plastic packaging and combined with some traces of magnesium, which was left in the lining after the moisture evaporated.   Now, we just need to find out where the magnesium came from.

Big Fish In A Small Spond

On the 1st of January I took Nuch shopping for a 10th anniversary gift.  She chose a nice ring at a shop in our local mall.  After paying for the ring, the saleslady asked us to register for some kind of contest. I assumed it was a "lucky draw" where they pick a name from everyone who went shopping that day and you could win a pair of flip flops.  I wasn't interested, but Nuch said the lady insisted, so we spent another 20 minutes copying receipts and registering - a complete waste of time, I thought.

It turns out this was not simply a "lucky draw".  It was a contest for whoever spent the most money at the mall on January 1st, and a few days later, someone called Nuch to tell her she had won.  

The mall asked her to come in to take a photo that they will use in an advertisement. 

And the prize was not a pair of flip flops, but some Japanese skin cream worth about $200 - not bad.

The ring cost a few pennies, the facial cream was a nice bonus, but Nuch being able to tell her friends that her ring won the prize for most money spent on January 1st is priceless.

Bureaucracy

These are all work permit and visa applications at Thai immigration

Pak Boong Fai Daeng

or Morning Glory Red Fire is one of the most popular (and dangerous) vegetable dishes in Thailand.

More MB Sushi

I was back at my local sushi shop.  This time I got the Trio - tempura shrimp california roll on the bottom, fried Chicken in the middle, and a salmon/ crab combo on top.

I could not finish

Lucky Bugs

I saw these next to a worker's desk.  I thought - please don't be a snack.  Turns out they are lucky bugs that help pick winning lottery numbers.

Want Big Mac

Tipper 1 - Christmas Tree 0

more cat pics

Amazing Sunscape

I was in the back of a taxi the other day and saw this amazing sunscape - I think that's a made up word. 

I was not the only one who was impressed.  These pics were posted on Twitter by other people from different angles.

I just googled it - these are called Crepuscular rays, but I like Sunscape better