Stranger in Bangkok's take on the haze situation in Singapore

For last few days, my Facebook newsfeed and various LINE chat groups have been dominated by 1 topic: the haze situation in Singapore. It even managed to hog the headlines on Bangkok Post. Looking at the PSI high of 400 and the dramatic exchanges between Indonesia and Singapore, no wonder it is THE biggest news now.

The mad scramble for N95 masks, as well as the calls for the government to do more reminded me very much about the catastrophic floods in Thailand almost exactly 2 years ago. Although I was technically untouched by the floodwaters during that ordeal, I think the mental stress I had experienced bear a lot of similarities to what the folks in Singapore are going through now.

Firstly, both 'disasters' are somewhat caused by nature. Yes, I know, Indonesia should really stop burning forests every year and the Thai government can do more to regulate the water levels in dams upcountry to avoid floods, but the wind directions are not in Singapore's favour, neither was the amount of rain in Thailand two years ago. These were major factors that no one could really control.

The people in Thailand waited and waited for the government to react properly, but after countless promises, alarm signals were not even given on time. Frequently, districts were flooded before flood warnings were received. People ended up fending for themselves. It was pretty frantic, but unity and love would finally prevail and the country emerged from it arguably stronger than before.

In terms of efficiency, there is no comparison between the governments in Thailand and Singapore. It is natural to expect a better response from the Singapore government to help its people in need because of its track record and the smaller country size and population, but no matter what the authorities do, they cannot please everyone. Even if they can please most, you might not fall into that category. The point I am trying to make is, you have to help yourself first.

By helping yourself, I don't mean hoarding. During the flood saga, I could not even conveniently find drinking water, rice, canned food and instant noodles in supermarkets because of a small proportion of frantic people who swept everything off the shelves. Fortunately, because of my connections, I was lucky to obtain enough drinking water to last my family for weeks, then started distributing the same amount of water to all my staff to prepare them for the worst. I learnt not to rely on numbers or statistics given by authorities, but to prepare ourselves sufficiently, then start helping the others you love around you.

From these 2 cases, we have been abruptly reminded of the forces of nature and the hard fact that no one can truly escape from them, regardless of where we are geographically located.

Please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones, wear masks when required and drink plenty of water. May all of us eventually emerge stronger, or at the very least, more prepared in every way for the inevitable challenges that lie ahead.

The Stranger in Bangkok starts to cook gourmet flood food: Creamed mushrooms with wilted baby rocket

Eddie's creamed mushrooms with wilted rocket

Just to give everyone a quick update. The flood waters will remain in Bangkok for another month yet, and is spreading everyday to more and more parts of Bangkok. But we are still lucky to be living and working in districts that have been spared temporarily. While waiting for the blue dolphins to make their arrival with their aggressive and poisonous reptilian friends, I have been starting to make what I consider as flood food. It sure doesn't look like flood food, but I have my reasons (though I am pushing it):

1. When the floods come, there is a likelihood that the electrical supply will be cut. In this case, we will need to clear the fresh perishables out of our refrigerators as soon as possible. Bacon, fresh mushrooms, salad leaves and fresh cream fit nicely into this category.
2. Once there's no electricity, people like us living in condominiums will be deprived of our electronic hot plates for cooking. With our small portable gas stoves (I hope you got one), it is important that we can cook something from start to finish in a single small pot/pan (bingo), and more importantly, in as little time as possible as gas is precious commodity!

Now that everyone is convinced that this is a dish that make your day after many consecutive meals of Mamak (instant noodles), I shall present the method of making it in a concise, pictorial presentation. The key to making fresh mushrooms (this dish does NOT work with canned or dried mushrooms) is to have a very very hot pan and only use enough mushrooms to at most cover the pan. If you use too much mushrooms in a small pan (worse if it's not hot), the water that comes out of the mushrooms will not evaporate fast enough and you will end up with a disgusting mushroom soup.

Lightly fry 2 slices of bacon, this is a delicious base to any dish

Once the bacon is slightly brown, add in as much sliced garlic as you want. If you  put in the garlic first, it would have burnt before the bacon turns crisp

Add in the mushrooms while the pan is searing hot, I use fresh Shiitake

And fresh Enoki, because it's cheap and easily available. You can use any fresh mushroom you like actually, it will work just as well even with truffle!

With a hot pan, your pan will look like this within 30 seconds, and it's time to add a nice pinch of salt and freshly-ground black pepper

You may skip this step, but I like to now drench the mushrooms with a swig of fresh cream

Right at the end, it's time to add in a handful of baby rocket. I think wild rocket, spinach or watercress will work just as well for this recipe. It looks like a lot of leaves now, just wait for 20 seconds

20 seconds and a toss will give you your finished product, less than 4 minutes from start to finish!

So here, Eddie's creamed mushrooms with baby rocket to solve your eating blues whether or not you are facing the threat of floods. I tell my wife it can be the perfect side-dish for any wastern main course (be it steak or pork chop), but we like to enjoy it as the star of our breakfast.

Mushroom sandwich, anyone?

Drastic measures for desperate times

The government has announced the sacrifice of Eastern Bangkok to drain flood waters. Though our district has not been singled out as a disaster zone, we know we are vulnerable. Imagine PAP announcing Pasir Ris as a warzone and you're living in Bedok, you should really prepare for war too.

For the first time in my life, I have to make difficult decisions. I have to save the company, save the goods, save the office and keep my pregnant wife and mom (yes she's here) safe all at the same time. This stress is tremendous, especially when the threat is a possible onslaught of natural disaster.

It did not make things easier when my staff failed to find any bricks yesterday when I finally decided to build a solid wall on my warehouse doors (effectively building a 'permanent' structure to block up the office I worked so very hard over the last 2 years to open, compromising  our business activities at the same time) to prevent possible floodwaters from engulfing everything.

Finally, they were found, but with huge holes on them! My staff told me that we had no choice and people are fighting for them, so there's more work, because we had to fill the holes up with cement ourselves.

They are really a bunch of good lads, we are lucky to have such a team fighting for the company

Never in a hundred years would I have envisioned myself having to order the erection a brick wall to block up the entrances of my company, it's an excruciating feeling

At the end of the ordeal, whether or not the brickwall would be put into actual use, I can at least tell people I was fighting in Thailand during its worst flood for 50 years. Whatever doesn't break you makes you stronger, doesn't it. Any form of hardship in Singapore would not have strengthened me against the threat of nature.

In the face of disaster, human beings are all thrown back to square one.

Whatever, popularity, wealth, power and reputation does not matter anymore. The richest and the poorest, while facing disaster, become equal all over again.

So what if you have 10 houses if you have to stay on top of the roof?

So what if you have 100 cars when they have become submarines?

So what if you have millions in the banks, when all the banks and atm machines are closed?

So what if you managed to withdraw cash just in time before the banks got engulfed by the floodwaters? When all the shops are closed, the millions in your pocket become useless pieces of paper.

When the aids arrive in helicopters, even if you have millions in your wallet, you too, will chase after the choppers scrambling for every piece of bread and bottle of drinking water like everyone else.

Everyone is the same.

With money, you might be able to make a quicker comeback than the rest after the disaster, but can you survive it in the first place?

United we stand, cooperating and helping each other through the toughest of times.

Love needs to prevail, everyone needs to stand up, be counted and help each other. This is the only way we can emerge stronger after the waters subside.

Venice of the East Part 3: The calm before the storm

As much as I am reluctant to write this, it feels appropriate to write the 3rd instalment of my series of flood-related posts. As we speak, 3/4 of Thailand is affected by its worst flood in 50 years, with the ancient city of Ayuthaya just been rendered completely handicapped (flood waters up to 5m high in some parts). The stories we see on the news are devastating and interesting at the same time.

"... the government is are our wits' end...." not very convincing from the Chiobu PM. I am happy that you are going to decrease the corporate tax in the next 2 years (if you really do it), but come on, can you say something more inspiring? You don't have to lie, but could u just say some things to inject more hope into your people who voted for you?

In Uthai Thani, 100 crocodiles escaped from a crocodile farm, and the owners dubbed them "not fierce" as they had been raised in captivity. Now that sounds more inspiring than what you have to offer, Chiobu PM.

Commodities such as rice, instant noodles and canned food are running dry on the racks of major supermarkets, but these sales are closely followed by pet food! Kudos Thai people, you love your pets. They can always eat our food, but we can't eat theirs, so that's really thoughtful!

Flood preparation begins

Back in my company, flood preparation has officially begun. I grew up in Singapore, a country in which one single flash flood can cause the government to withstand major bombardment by the masses, so I am really not experienced in this kind of crisis management. But having visited my customer in Hat-Yai last month and witnessed remnant water marks (from last year's flood) at eye level (I am a good 6ft tall), I figure it's better to be safe than sorry, especially when our warehouse is in Bangkok's purple zone (medium danger level).

There are always opportunities in the face of disaster. This could be the first time in 50 years where sandbag-sellers could increase their prices by 20% every few hours. The price of every sandbag has increased from 30baht to 45 baht in the space of 24 hours. We were lucky we got ours at 35. We should really have purchased more, if we did, we would be rich by now selling them to our neighbours.

Little wall of sandbags

We have abandoned all business activities to work OT stacking goods as high as we can

We try to keep the lower levels as clear as possible, but there's only so much we can do, you can't fight nature, you always lose.

We can only pray and hope that when the flood waters finally wash through Bangkok, it will pass by our warehouse, bringing only the millions of rats hiding in the dungeons underground along, and cause minimal damage to what we have worked so hard to create in the last 2 years.

The tangible and intangible losses incurred by the floods are already too great to even think of, and it will leave possibly millions in this country needing to build their homes and livelihoods from scratch again. But hopefully, like we have seen again and again in other countries, disaster will bring along a newfound spirit of unity and togetherness amongst the Thai people, and the country will emerge stronger than before.

As we are doing our best to counter the forces of nature, it did not rain last night. It was the first time for as long as I can remember that there was no hint of rain for the entire evening. It is also scorchingly sunny today so far, my laundry is finally going to dry.

The calm before the storm perhaps? I certainly hope not.

Venice of the East Part II

I remember blogging about Bangkok being the Venice of the East when I just arrived in Bangkok (in 2009) when Srinakarin Road looked more like a river and the area outside my shophouse became a lake.

Subsequently, in 2010, my customer in Hat Yai had his newly-renovated shop soaked all the way up to almost the 2nd floor. Bangkok remained largely unscathed, so I did not have any strong feelings then.

Unfortunately, floods did not spare Thailand in 2011 too, with nearly 50 out of Thailand's 76 provinces affected one way or another. This time, I happen to be on a road trip visiting key customers and witnessed the gravity of the situation with my own eyes. Countless acres of farmland were destroyed and homes made un-liveable. Villagers had to sleep in temporary stalls lining the sides of the roads while pondering how to cope with the loss of their crop. As I drove past them my heart cringed, because while I did not know what I could do to help, my brain was telling me to leave this area as soon as possible before the floods worsen.

Pictures speak louder than words, but as I took them mostly through the tinted windows of my car, they do not reflect accurately the urgency of the situation.

This entire road was flooded, we had to do a detour.

What happened to the tree trunks?

We were driving on a bridge over troubled water

Villagers finding reason to smile at the camera

Venice of the East

As I am typing this, millions of Thais are still suffering from the effects of massive flooding while I am already back in the comforts of my apartment in Bangkok. I pray that the people in Thailand can be resilient and remain positive in adversity, and that I will never be able to find a reason to write a Part III to this series of blogposts.

Venice of the East

I really want to try to recount my experiences in Thailand in chronological order, and I have chosen to skip my difficulties in my process of opening the company and getting it up and running as it will bore you to death.

However, I have no choice but to reuse some of my themes on my Facebook photo albums in order to recount them.

I have heard of Bangkok having floods, and the city, though bustling and metropolitan, not having the right infrastructure to support such massive development, but little did I imagine such extensive flooding in Bangkok itself:

I think the pictures speak louder than words, and these took place just steps outside my home office. This has effectively rendered me immobile during floods, and sometimes the floods take days to subside.

My travel tip of the day would be to avoid coming to Bangkok during the rainy season, which I believe start from July to October. Weather changes are common these days but these months should be about right. Though not many parts of Bangkok experience flooding, your tour will suck big time if it rains everyday.

Last but not least:

New Honda Accords don't swim very well.