It is somewhat shocking, the rate at which Cannabis stores have popped up in Bangkok, ever since the legalisation. Seemingly overnight. Suddenly I am surrounded by more Cannabis stores than 7 Elevens.
Below are some that I see on a regular basis that I found creative.
This is the one closest to my home. This started out as a small nook above a donut shop, but they eventually bought the property next door for their own place.
High Society Cannabis StoreHigh Society Cannabis Store
This is my favourite. It has no pretensions about what it is selling. Everything is clearly labelled.
Wonder Land
As per Google, there are 241 cannabis stores in Sukhumvit area alone. Thais are extremely shy about smoking up, so it remains to be seen how long all these stores last on expat business alone.
Following up on articles on how to be a Tamil, Gurgaon-ite and a Delhi-ite, this one is about how to be an Assamese. Information gleaned from observing many friends from that region.
Wear a goatee.
Listen to heavy metal music.
If you can, grow long hair.
Smoke weed all the time.
Say “Maksudai” and “Kela” to address incidents you don’t agree with.
Go to study engineering/architecture outside Assam and pick fights with groups of Biharis and UP bhaiyas.
Last week, I travelled to Malaysia for the second time. Malay is a tough language to crack. But one thing that makes it easy is that they use the same Latin script as English. So you can at least read the words. This is how I came across many Manglish (Malaysian English) words, which seem to be funny variations of standard English words.
Manglish Commuter=Komuter
By the way, these Manglish words are not only used as slang. They are part of official communication and signboards everywhere. Below are some of them I found funny
English Word/Phrase
Manglish Variant
Station
Stesen
Central
Sentral
Minar (Sorry, I know)
Menara
Restaurant
Restoran
Clinic
Klinik
Action
Ackshun/Ekseyen
Is it?
Izzit?
What to do
Watodo
Lift
Lif
Discount
Diskaun
Cylinder
Silinder
Mail
Mel
Project
Projek
Operation
Operasi
Security
Sekuriti
Access
Akses
Police
Polis
Cabinet
Kabinet
Utility
Utiliti
System
Sistem
Premises
Premis
Parking
Parkir
Canteen
Kantin
Lobby
Lobi
Pantry
Pantri
Intercom
Interkom
Telephone
Telefon
Train
Tren
Commuter
Komuter
Procedure
Prosidur
Coach
Koc
Cantonment
Kentonmen
Electric
Elektrik
Gallery
Galeri
Respiratory
Respiratori
Philharmonic
Filharmonik
Calorie
Kalori
Express
Ekspres
Escalator
Eskalator
Museum
Muzium
Zone
Zon
Receipt
Resit
Motorcycle
Motosikal
Expo
Ekspo
The
Teh
Lorry
Lori
Lamp
Lampu
Monorail
Monorel
Ticket
Tiket
Minute
Minit
Brake
Brek
Commercial
Komersial
Accessibility
Aksesibiliti
Counter
Kaunter
Immigration
Imigresen
Customs
Kastam
Bus
Bas
Hose
Hos
Account
Akaun
Kiosk
Kios
Common English words/phrases and their Manglish variants
Taking my series further global, here’s Pathetic Fool 5 from Malaysia.
Pathetic Fool 5
I discovered this one at a Skybar in Kuala Lumpur. She brought with her a framed photo of herself and set it on the table before being seated. Throughout her dinner, she kept looking at her own photo and asked her lover to take pictures of her, with her framed photo.
So I upgraded from my iPhone 12 Pro to an iPhone 14 Pro. Here’re my takeaways after 1 day:
The camera module is huge. There’s a perceptible slope to the phone when lying flat. The phone looks stupid without a case. Like it has sprouted a tumour.
Camera bump without caseCamera bump with case
But the cameras take very nice macro images. Will get creative with this in the days to come.
Orange Macro, iPhone 14 ProFabric Macro, iPhone 14 Pro
It is and feels heavier than 12 Pro. I am glad I didn’t get the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which I almost did. My little finger is already suffering.
FaceID is noticeably faster.
The dynamic island is cool. Even the parts with the FaceID sensor and the camera are touch sensitive. Hope more apps develop cool features for it.
Music, Dynamic Island
Charging, Dynamic Island
Lock Screen, Dynamic Island
Although, the notch on the older iPhones had become invisible to me, I still can’t un-see the dynamic island. Also, the Dynamic island sits a bit lower on the screen compared to the older notch, so app content starts even lower. This change is just barely perceptible.
The always on display is cool. Time will tell how much battery it uses up.
The display is cooler (as in colour temperature). I think my iPhone 12 Pro Display was unnecessarily warm.
The 120Hz display difference is visible, especially during screen animations and when using the 12 Pro.
Will sell the iPhone 12 Pro once my eSIM situation is sorted out, hopefully in March 2023.
Another weekend with not much to do. I had some Cannabis left over from last time, so decided to give it another try. Like last time, I chewed it all up around 4 in the evening, assuming it would hit be hours later. Soon, I forgot about it and gulped down some Smirnoff. Big mistake, the Cannabis hit me within an hour this time.
The main thing I remember feeling was as if I was a young kid living with my parents. The second thing I remember feeling was a strange sense of smell in my sinuses. The familiar feeling of nasal congestion (I used to be frequently sick when I was young).
Then I felt as if I had just watched a South Indian movie (I think Roja or Bombay). It makes me feel like I have some very repressed and strong memories of watching these movies.
Last time the Cannabis hit me after dinner, but this time it was early evening so it made things a bit complicated. I took our dog for a walk. It was still evening, but to me it weirdly felt as if it was early morning. Then I started over thinking things, what would happen if I do something specific. But it was one of the best walks I had with our dog. It was as if I could feel what the dog was thinking and where she wanted to go. It was as if we both became one during our walk.
Soon I started to feel the familiar dread of wasting the weekend in such a state instead of being present. Back home, if I held my head still for too long, any sudden movement after felt as if a huge jerk hit my head. I remember being very thirsty. Also, it brought out some hidden memory of being at some temple very early in the morning. We had also booked a table for dinner at a fancy restaurant and I remember feeling as if that it would now go to waste.
I booked a taxi and went to the washroom. Then I felt a sudden sense of panic as if I booked the taxi and then forgot about it for hours. When I rushed back to my phone, I realised it has only been a few minutes. I felt a weird feeling that my upper jaw would ram into my lower jaw at high speed breaking all my teeth. Soon I felt as if I was going to Murthal dhabas early in the morning. Then I felt as if I was finishing my shift at a call centre early in the morning to go home.
At dinner, I was completely absent. I had no idea what the staff was saying and had to think about everything twice before I understood it properly. I remember ordering normal food and then something overcame me and I ordered a full chicken. When it arrived, I decided I don’t want to eat it anymore and gave it to my dog below the table. It was spicy and afterwards, I remember the dog drinking lots of water. I do remember eating more than 1 Churros and wanting to eat even more.
Somehow (I don’t remember) I came back home and went to sleep.
On the bed, it felt as if the bed was moving like a roller coaster. I remember holding on to the side of the bed with my fingernails afraid I will fall off. Bordering on panic, I somehow closed my eyes and forced myself to go to sleep.
Cannabis and alcohol fuelled sleep
Overall, I wouldn’t call this a pleasant experience. I regret wasting so many hours of what remained of my weekend high and asleep. Or perhaps next time I will eat the buds in the morning, so that I am high by afternoon and normal by sleep time.
PS: Reconstructed from notes taken. during the experience.
Another boring weekend with not much to do; I decided to check which recent-ish movie is now available to stream. After looking at various options, I settled on Jurassic World Dominion. Hence, another movie review.
The original Jurassic Park trilogy was revolutionary for its time, renowned for its animatronics. I saw them when I was a child growing up in the 90s. I was never a huge fan of the second trilogy, but saw the movies over the years as time pass, nothing more. Somehow Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard couldn’t recreate the same magic for me, as the original cast did. I didn’t have high hopes from Jurassic World Dominion to begin with but I found it surprisingly average.
Jurassic World Dominion, PC: agedxh.qc.to
The movie is set in a world where Dinosaurs now roam free. But otherwise the movie brings nothing new. A greedy corporation builds a Dinosaur preserve and tries to use the dinosaurs for personal greed. Things go wrong, a bunch of people (including the villain) get eaten by dinosaurs but our heroes save the day. In the end there’s a fight between 2 Apex dinosaurs. Same old.
The new villain in the movie is Tim Cook who uses Android devices. I wonder why they specifically chose him as he is not a particularly interesting or charismatic character in real life.
The return of the original stars
I will be frank; the return of the original cast carries the movie. Paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) still have amazing chemistry between them and it shows. There are many references to the original movies including a car-dinosaur scene and a reference to Jeff Goldblum’s bare chest. These throwback scenes make the otherwise average Jurassic World Dominion fun to watch.
Chris Pratt’s acting is just average and Bryce Dallas Howard has her perpetually terrified face down pat. If not for the original cast, the movie might not even be worth a one time watch.
I can recommend Jurassic World Dominion as a one time watch, for old times sake.
It is now 3 years since the beginning of the COVID pandemic and since we started wearing face masks. Luckily, me and my family haven’t been infected till now. In India, most people didn’t take masks seriously to begin with. But now, masks are a mere distant memory of more inconvenient times. Which is why, it is such a culture shock to see how serious Thais still are about them.
In Thailand, it seems like masks are here to stay. Although, the government has removed the compulsions of masks, the Thais have decided to stick with them for now.
Thai students wearing masks
Almost every Thai wears masks, all the time, everywhere. On the streets, in shopping malls, at restaurants, in pubs and in offices. In offices, they wear masks even when sitting at their desks all day. When eating or drinking something, the masks are temporarily lowered for the bite/sip and then pulled back up. Basically, the exact opposite of Indians.
I assume Thais take off their masks when they are at home and while sleeping, however I have no evidence for the same. Overall, I think it is commendable how Thais are so serious about protecting their health and of those around them.
Of course, none of this compares with the Chinese, who have taken COVID precautions to whole new (crazy) levels. I still see people in full hazmat suits at airports everywhere and I know that when I look at their passports, they will turn out to be Chinese.
Another Roland Emmerichdisaster movie. When I saw the trailer for Moonfall a few years ago, I just burst out laughing at the premise. I didn’t think I would ever see it. But another boring Sunday at home changed my mind.
Although the premise of Moonfal is new, the rest of the movie is the same as any other Roland Emmerich movie.
The movie starts with the protagonist, an astronaut who comes in contact with extraterrestrial technology while in space, but no one believes him. Fast forward a few years, he is now washed up and has separated from his wife. Surprisingly similar to David from Independence Day.
The other main character is an anxiety-ridden, IBS rocking conspiracy theorist one step away from a panic attack. He is always trying to convince people about his theories. He, too, ends up like David, running around with some computer printouts with data needed to convince people. The conspiracy theorist is also a fanboy of Space X and keeps saying “I love Elon”.
Same Tired Formula
The rest of the movie is entirely predictable. Same scenes of chaos and looting. People trying to get out of cities, while the moon falls to earth. The government orders mass evacuation. To where? All this talk about getting to safety. Which place on earth will save you from the moon colliding with earth?
When the government finds out that the moon is out of orbit what do they do? Go to the moon to investigate. A mission is organised and launched within days. Laughable.
Another scene of government retrieving someone to help them with “We need you to come with us, now”.
Also laughable is how they take a graffiti-ed space shuttle from a museum, prep it within days and launch with the crew being decided at the last minute.
The movie is also full of shameless advertisement of Kaspersky. Even the space shuttle systems have Kaspersky antivirus installed.
The only thing good about the movie is the VFX. The scenes of destruction are impressive. The shots from inside the moon are breath taking. Halle Berry’s acting is piss-poor.
Overall, I don’t understand why producers keep financing Roland Emmerich when he has nothing new to offer.
Although, ever since my surgery, my sinusitis has been much better, it still flares up from time to time. In Bangkok, it has been more or less fine last 2 years. But last weekend, it suddenly flared up. I suffered from bad headaches for 2 days and couldn’t take it anymore. Normally, I know exactly which spray to use to relieve my symptoms, but in Bangkok, it is not available OTC. This meant, I needed to go to a doctor (hospital) for the medication. Normally I go to Bumrungrad for other ailments, but this time, in a bid to save money, I decided to go to Samitivej Sukhumvit Hospital. Big mistake!
I got an appointment soon enough and went to see the ENT. Didn’t have to wait too long, saw the doctor within 10 minutes. I explained to the doctor that I am a long time sufferer of sinusitis and informed her which medication generally relieves my symptoms.
She said straight away this doesn’t look like Sinusitis and sent me for a CT scan.
For a sinus headache.
Once the CT scan was done, she looked at the slide and said this is not Sinusitis and referred me to a Neurologist. I complained that I just need a steroid spray but she sent me for a neuro consult anyways.
The neurologist ran a battery of tests on me and told me I have a migraine. I told her I have no prior or family history of migraines but she prescribed me a bunch of medications anyways.
Then I was sent back to the ENT. By this time, the formal CT scan report had arrived and guess what it said – “Severe sinusitis”. The ENT asked me to take the migraine medications and on top of that prescribed me some sinusitis medication too. Including the spray I wanted. They also scheduled 2 follow up appointments, one with the ENT and one with the neurologist.
Eventually, I walked out of the hospital with 9 medications (out of which only 1 that I really needed). I paid THB 8500 for this farce of a treatment. The insurance only covered THB2000, so I ended up paying THB6500 from my own pocket.
Chutiya Banaya
After coming home, I threw away 8 medications, used the spray and experienced relief within an hour. Then I slapped myself 21 times and swore never to go to Samitivej hospital again.