Friday, August 08, 2008

Ventures Forth

This week I've gotten a little creative with how to spend my time, mostly because Donnie's been out of town since Monday for his UU music conference. I've mostly been unpacking/organizing and cleaning the apartment and applying for jobs but when that has driven me absolutely bonkers I've decided to have some fun with my (unmitigated) free time.

Last night I went out to a volunteer meeting at the Feminist Women's Health Center which was a great time. I met a few people there (it was a small volunteer meeting) and did some phone banking for one of their upcoming events. It's just up the road and I'll probably go back next week.

Today, after talking to Nik for a while about how much we miss Thailand and feel a little bit useless and lonely in our respective new homes I was inspired. Nik recently moved to Cape Town with her boyfriend Warrie but can't work because doesn't have a visa. Tonight she's cooking moo nam tok, one of the best types of Isan food. I decided to give that a go, as well as som tam, the all time best ever Thai salad.

So I did a little research and found a local Asian grocery store not far. I made a list and jumped in Myrtle for a jaunt over there. This place was awesome. I was in heaven. Of course it was no Warorot market but it had everything I needed and a few impulse buys. I was a complete geek the whole time I was there, stopping just shy of speaking Thai to an elderly lady (who was probably Vietnamese in the end) when I wanted to get around her to the papaya. I walked out with 5 bags of groceries for $25, which is not quite Thai prices, but it's better than the local grocery stores for sure.

So I'll take some pictures of my attempt and pass on the recipe if it works out. Tomorrow night I'm going to a meeting with the Canadian Beer Club so that could be a great time or a total disaster. Either way the internet is proving more useful for improving my social life than my employment status. Hopefully more on that to come.

To the kitchen!

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