February 2002 74th Issue

Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Wishing you good fortune and happiness! The Chinese are obsessed with making a good start and the New Year brings a new hope and prosperity. New Year is the longest and happiest holiday of the year for Chinese not only for those who are in China but also for most Asian people. It sometimes lasts from a week or two. Feb 12th will be the Chinese New Year for this year.
The date for the Chinese New Year falls on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar which is based on the moon cycles. Every year it happens on a different day, but it usually arrives somewhere between January 19th and February 21st. New Year’s Eve and the first three days of the new year are observed as a pubic holiday. In Thailand, employees working with companies owned by native Chinese usually expect an annual bonus. It has been a tradition that native Chinese bosses give cash gifts to their employees. Days before Chinese New Year, every family is busy a thorough cleaning, hoping to sweep away all the bad luck there may have been in the family to make way for the wishful in-coming good luck or fortune, paying off debts, purchasing new clothes, offering sacrifices usually sweet white cake called Khanom Kheng and Kanom Thian to the gods so they will report only sweet things about the family while skipping the bad side. Firecrackers explode throughout the night on New year’s Eve.
The Eve of the New Year is very carefully observed. The homage-paying ceremony will certainly not be missed during this significant occasion as it is a way of expressing gratitude, believe to be the most important virtue. The family gathers for a dinner. The first thing to touch their lips must be a plain vegetable. Special foods follow, such as sweet round dumplings for happiness, long noodles with black mushroom for long life and good health, and cakes and cookies for a sweet year. Another important food is orange.
The Chinese New Year’s Day is observed by following certain codes of behavior. Family members must speak politely, children greet their parents and receive their presents in terms of cash wrapped up in red paper packages from them. Then, the family start to go out to say greetings from door to door, first their relatives and then their neighbors. It is a great time for reconciliation. Old grudges are very easily cast away during the greetings. The air is permeated with warmth and friendliness. They don’t do any work as the day is regarded as the holiday of the year.

One Night In Bang Na!

There are better places and better times to break down, but our little car completed the double during last month. Friday night rush hour coming out of Bangkok, moving up on Rama IX bridge, and you lose all power, hooters blaring and traffic piling up. The words of the mechanic came back to me: “We can’t get the part just yet, but you need to let the engine cool, and it will be ok”. We let the engine cool, and it was ok. Not a great experience but we got home.
The part having still not appeared, we set off to Pattaya, in full confidence that if the car misbehaved we just had to let it cool and off we go again. All worked well we weren’t in a rush and extra coffee stops were fine.
The return trip was a different matter, the car once again chose the perfect place to have it’s tantrum, the expressway, for those not familiar with this particular stretch of Thailand’s motor network, will not know how fast people travel, how they love to overtake on the inside, outside and over the top if they possibly could, and this was a Sunday night, everyone rushing to get back to the big city ready for work on Monday.
Well we pulled as far over to the left as possible, and the wind generated by the speeding vehicles was almost enough to blow you over the edge to the freeway below. No problem, just wait for the engine to cool, and off you go, just a little longer, this is not happening, why won’t the damn car start, oh no, what are we going to do. Keep calm. The motorway recovery phone is not too far.
Fifteen minutes later the truck arrived with two very nice gentlemen, asking all kinds of technical questions which I couldn’t answer if they were in English, let alone with my faltering Thai. “It doesn’t go, the man told me to wait until it cooled, then it would go again, but it didn’t”.
“Oh”, came the reply, “do you have a screwdriver?”
“Why should I have a screwdriver? You are the rescue men.”
“Don’t you have any tools?”
“Why should I have any tools? I don’t know what to do with them.”
“Do you want us to tow you to a repair shop?”
“Will they have any tools?”
The repair shop was not exactly equipped with the latest equipment, but the man did have his own tools, and he was willing to work even on a Sunday night. The towing service is free, which is great and the two guys were happy enough with their tip, they left us in the oily hands of the dirtiest man I had seen since my friend Paul fell into the cess pit he was attempting to unblock.
Our oily mechanic got to work, and soon discovered the problem, which amazed me; mind you anyone doing anything with machines amazes me.
The petrol tank had to come out, amongst others bit and pieces. Then from out of the petrol tank came a pump, and a lot of petrol, which was all dangerously close to a threadbare wiring system for the neon tube casually laid on the floor (in a litre of grade 95 petrol, unleaded of course). Needless to say I edged away from what I feared would become a 5 minute slot on CNN as I forgot to mention our repair shop was conveniently placed between a PTT and an ESSO petrol station. And visions of suspected Taleban links to the explosion being discussed on the world’s news.
The involuntary leg movements and strange grunting noises coming from under the car made me think that the mechanic was rolling around in oil trying to get some kind of record, when out came the dodgy pump, followed by a smile and a pair of eyes, as that was about all we could see of our saviour.
It wasn’t going to be that simple, a part was required, and we would have to wait until Monday morning.
“Do you know a hotel?”
“No, my wife might.”
Another customer had arrived to make our man dirtier, he knew a place to stay and was willing to take us.
We ended up at one of the places where they hide the cars with curtains, if you know the sort of place, you know, if you don’t, I won’t go into it! However there were mirrors on the ceiling!
It turned out to be very comfortable, and the food was both welcome and good. And on Monday morning we got our car fixed.

Pearls (part 2) - The Ideal Souvenir

Throughout the ages, humans have been enchanted by pearls and the shells of the mollusks that produce them. For example, archaeological evidence indicates that almost 6,000 years ago in the Persian Gulf region, people were sometimes buried with a pierced pearl resting in the right hand.
As ancient trade routes gradually expanded and societies developed across Asia and Europe, pearls became important symbols of wealth, status and religious belief. Some peoples, including the ancient Sumerians, pre-Columbian Americans and Pacific islanders, placed an even higher value on the larger and more easily obtained mother-of-pearl shells. Still a source of widespread fascination, pearls are now admired and worn by more people than ever before. Unlike gemstones produced deep inside the Earth, pearls are created by living creatures called mollusks. Mollusks commonly have a soft, unsegmented body and a hard exterior shell, such as a clam or snail has. These animals live in marine and freshwater habitats as well as on land. The evolutionary history of this group extends back some 530 million years, with approximately 100,000 species of mollusks alive today. Any mollusk that produces a shell can produce a pearl. Nevertheless, naturally occurring pearls are rare, found in perhaps one of every 10,000 animals. The cultured pearl industry, which has flourished since the early 20th century, has developed techniques to greatly improve these odds. Indeed, more pearls are produced now than at any time in human history.
Composition
Contrary to popular belief, pearls hardly ever result from the intrusion of a grain of sand into an oyster’s shell. Instead, a pearl forms when an irritant such as a wayward food particle becomes trapped in the mollusk. The animal senses the object and coats it with layers of aragonite (“ah-RAG-uh-nite”) and conchiolin ( “KON-kee-uh-lin”). These two materials are the same substances the animal uses to build its shell.
Structure
In most pearls, the mineral aragonite is arranged in sheets of flat, six-sided crystals. Between each sheet, the mollusk secretes a very thin layer of the membrane-forming protein conchiolin. This composite material is called nacre (“NAY-ker”) or mother-of-pearl. The crystalline structure of nacre reflects light in a unique way, giving so-called nacreous pearls their high luster. In contrast, some pearls are not nacreous and instead have a low-luster, porcelainlike surface. The needlelike crystals of aragonite in these pearls are arranged perpendicularly or at an angle to the surface of the pearl.
The Rough Exterior
Because a pearl is the product of a biological process, its surface often shows minor imperfections. Furthermore, when a mollusk secretes the microscopic layers that make up a pearl, each layer does not always encircle the entire pearl. These uneven layers create additional irregularities on the surface. As a result, it is easy to distinguish a real pearl from an artificial one by rubbing it gently across your teeth: a real pearl will feel gritty and an artificial pearl will feel smooth and slippery.
  

A Perfect Pearl?
Pearls come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. And although most people think of pearls as round, the truth is that irregularly shaped pearls are more common in nature, while perfectly spherical pearls are extremely rare. A pearl’s size and shape depend on the species of mollusk that produced the pearl, how long it took to form, the size and shape of the nucleus and where the pearl formed inside the animal. Pearl farmers increase their chances of obtaining large, round pearls by using large, perfectly spherical nuclei. Even so, there are no guarantees. A pearl’s size and shape reflect such variables as the temperature and chemistry of the water, as well as the health of the mollusk.
Not Just Pearly White
Pearls occur naturally in a spectacular array of colours, ranging from white to gold, purple and black. A pearl’s colour depends on both the species of mollusk that produced the pearl and the environment in which the animal lived. In general, crystals of aragonite are white or colourless. The natural colour of a pearl is mostly due to conchiolin, which contains organic pigments.
A Distinctive Glow
One of the most distinctive features of a nacreous pearl is the way it seems to glow from within. This property, known as “luster,” gives pearls their unusual beauty. Luster results from the reflection of light rays not only off the surface of the pearl, but also off the concentric inner layers of nacre. Because a pearl’s surface is round, it acts as a convex mirror, reflecting light so that it appears to emanate from within the pearl. The multiple layers of nacre also give rise to the “iridescence” or “orient” of pearls - a characteristic that resembles the shimmer seen on a soap bubble. The layers of nacre act like tiny prisms, refracting light so that it appears as all the colours of the rainbow.

If you wish to have any more information or are interested in buying pearls as a souvenir of you holiday, call in to “Friend” shop on the ground floor of Hua Hin Shopping Mall where you will find a beautiful selection of pearls and silverware.

Dog Rescue Centre

In last month's Observer we gave a brief mention to Christine and Jean Claude Bouille's Dog Rescue Centre and said we would follow up this month, well we are pleased to report on their progress, the centre now has all the official paperwork and documentation to press on with this very worthy cause.
In this area there are some dogs in a very sorry state, and it is Christine and Jean Claude's aim to give them a happier, healthier life and hopefully a new home.
The sick animals are treated and vaccinated, in the hope they can return to full health, then where necessary they will be neutered. The cost for all this is carried by the Bouille couple at the moment, but hopefully they will receive some donations in the collection boxes around the town.
The centre is in Soi Bon Kai, Hua Hin, visitors are welcome.
Please note they are not a home for strays, but for sick dogs.
If you are able to assist in any way, whether by volunteer work or a cash donation, please contact Christine or Jean Claude on 032 513 664 or email: jeanclaudebouille@hotmail.com

  
We at the Observer fully support this charity, we have seen the accounts and knowing the couple well, we can say that any donation you make will be used to give the dogs a happier life.

Favourite Holiday Dishes from Tantawan's Kitchen - Fried Chicken with Cashewnuts

This is a big favourite for tourists a little unsure of Thai cooking. One plate serves two to three people.

PREPARATION: Take a chicken breast wash and skin, and slice into pieces about the size of orange segments. One onion cut into six. One tomato with the middle removed and cut into four. Two or three spring onions cut to the size of your little finger. Also needed are 15 to 20 cashewnuts (already fried).

COOKING: Fry the chicken in a little oil for about 1 minute. Add the onion with a desert spoon of soya bean sauce, (I recommend Golden Mountain, green top) available at most general stores. Add a pinch of salt and sugar, then in goes the tomato cashewnuts and spring onion. Cook together for one minute and serve with spring onion garnish together with boiled fragrant rice.

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