Moving to the Moo Ban - Permanently????

[El Gibbon]

In an earlier post I covered our Tuesday market, one side - basically the food area. Today is the other side, mostly non-food items. The pix are in no particular order.



I tried to get a clear pix of the amulet trader but no way. These guys are serious buyers and negotiatiors.



No L. Vitons here.



Quite an assortment of hand woven baskets etc.



One of many many shops for ladies undergarments.



An array of CD's but no Buffet.



Must be six or more shops selling clocks, radios and other electronic gear.



Clothing



A stop here for a Kaffee Yen



I think I counted 20 styles, shapes and sizes of cutting implements that every orchard owner can possible use. Most are meant to be mounted on long poles of bamboo or whatever is laying around.



I believe these are fresh water rays of some type??????



I know what these are.



If a lady can't find a stylish pair of flip flops here, she don't need em.



Same same for reading spec.



Need kitchen utensils?



More ladies stuff.



How many hammers do you need.



Everything you need to electrocute yourself.



Need a rubber tree, or a mango tree, or a mangosteen tree or a pepper plant?



Some plastic ware.



As usual your not far from a snack or something ready-to-eat



NOT-ready-to-eat



Found this interesting, small octopi BBQ'd



Cut up and bagged.



Secret sauce added.



Fine tasting I must say.



This guy specializes in sharp stuff and how to get em sharp.



A close-up of the far end of his bench from the previous pix.



Another purveyor of tools. Some stuff you don't normally find, like thread cutters etc.



Wouldn't be the same if there were nothing for the kiddies to yammer and beg for.



Finally one of a dozen or so T shirt shops.


Now that covers both sides of the Tuesday market. Still have two more 'local' markets to do, both of them a LOT smaller and quainter I think.

E. G.

[El Gibbon]

I am constantly amazed at how few bugs and mozzies we have around the place. With lots and lots of standing water I thought we would be fighting the pesky suckers all the time.

Since I have lived in Asia for quite a period I am actually prepared as most can be.

Below is the basic armament we use:



On the right the standard mozzie coil, best effect is to place it behind a fan on slow speed. Covers a lot of area that way.

In the middle is the gooop crap that house flies stick to. Kinda fun to watch them try and 'dance' their way off it.

On the far left is what I think is the best commercial mozzie repellent available. Not an aerosol, rather a pump dispenser that allows target application.

Now for the good stuff. We have all heard of Lemon Grass. Normally used in cooking Thai food it is purported to have great powers at repelling mozzies. This is true to some extent. Pictures below.









I didn't realize until yesterday that there are TWO different types of Lemon Grass. Can you tell the difference in these three pictures? I couldn't either until I really got a close look at the two different plants.

Both are called lemon grass but their stalks are slightly different. The bottom photo shows the type used in Thai curries etc. The top two are the native/wild variety. This variety will looking almost identical in leaf shape etc. has a darker stem base color than the edible type.

Have no fear they are easily identifyable by their very distinctive smells. The grass used for cooking has a light lemon/citrus odor when you break the leaf or crush it. On the other hand the 'good' leaf will instantly remind you of Deep Woods Off or any of the Off products.

Take a leaf of each and fold it several times, then roll it between your palms - like making a big doobie - crushing it to a pulp. You will know the difference when you smell the odor.

THIS is the lemon grass that Thais use to deordorize in some instances. I haven't tried it but I will, cutting a bunch up into small pieces and putting them in water and placing that container on a small heat source. Bet it drives the mozzies far away.

Thais just generally pulp it up and rub it on their exposed skin, effective for awhile.

E. G.