Rogie

This seems like a useful website. http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/salt_in_bread/ For home baking So a teaspoon of salt per loaf seems about right. I was not aware of that.

Yes, good idea, whether Beijing for a shorter visit or indeed maybe use a tour company for a longer one (assuming an individual guide - perfectly fine for a city or small geographical area - wouldn't be able to offer his services for too large an area, at least not at a competetive rate) - see my comment below also. I like the idea of a guide as most Chinese outside of hotels don't speak much English, so unless you can speak the lingo you could have a problem especially if you run into any difficulties. A phrase book might be useful, more for emergencies than anything though, at least that'd be my reason for carrying one. I wouldn't chance my arm at pronunciation (Chinese being a tonal language) but pointing at a phrase and showing it to a person might work if the book has the correct Chinese lettering to accompany the phrase). Yes agree. That's what I did, combining two separate tours of two weeks each into a mega month-long one. Both tours were run by the same company so a smooth transition was possible. I guess Michael you wouldn't want to do that becasue you are going as a group of friends and what suits one person might not suit all. Definitely better to concentrate on just a few places, there's no point in running yourself ragged (even if at the end of the day you have a nice hotel to relax in, you've still got the pressure of deadlines, timetables etc to worry about). Personally I would go easy on Beijing, I think it's overrated and a horrible city. I would never want to go back there, although I concede that might be many people's impression of many cities, Bangkok included. Familiarity often breeds. . . not contempt, but affection.

I have occasionally over the months seen the screen as shown in post #22, but it's always been temporary and reverted back to normal failrly quickly. Strangely enough though, it happened an hour or so ago here on Firefox. It happened when I went to open the 'notifications' icon (some kind soul had liked one of my posts). That's never happend before. Another, not particularly serious issue: The 'multiquote' option box is missing - at least for me. Just checked again and it's back!

I hadn't heard of Graham crackers so that makes sense. There's a breakfast cereal called Golden Graham's but I've never bought any, it's more for those with a sweet toothy-peg.

Next question, . . . What's Fudge Graham?

Me too, dazed and confused! Do you mean a bar as in a place to drink and meet people, or, as you mention not seeing them in a store, are they some kind of confectionary like Mars bars, Hershey bars, etc?

Firefox is fine today as always for me. What browser are you using Koko?

So some people are bothered by the dent. I know I can be dense at times but surely if the dent was a design fault on one particular model it could have been un-dented. I have been following this thread as I am keen to get a bread machine for Christmas! One reason - but not the main one - for wanting one is the salt issue. One hears about the amount of salt in bread being quite high and if you eat so many slices of the manufactured stuff you will use up your daily recommended safe limit of salt. So, what do other bread machine owners do? Do you use less salt or the same as a bought loaf? If less, can you still manage to bake a nice-tasting loaf. The smell may be wonderful, the undented appearance appealing but if it doesn't taste that great that's quite a detraction.

The wikitravel site looks useful and has this warning: Climate http://wikitravel.org/en/Great_Wall_of_China Then I spotted this using a search engine: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gUzND7Q3I-OxQ0lOyK2eciD9mIng?docId=CNG.e472e831153a393bff6d127c063f3120.41 It seems the tour agency were at fault for not reccy-ing the route and have previous history of similar poor planning. They were also unlucky. It was around this time of year when I visited the Great Wall (as part of a tour group booked in the UK) and the weather was fine, chilly certainly but no snow. I just wore a light jacket and my trademark woollen 'flat cap'. Even so, treat the wall with the respect it deserves - it's not the place for an impromtu Sunday afternoon stroll!

Enough clues for even me to summon up a stab. Could the 'famous Brit' be none other than Lord Horatio Nelson? Could the American VP be Nelson Rockefeller? I think i know a country singer with Nelson in his name as well. So that'sy guess, Nelson Sounds good on a hoss, too!

Thanks to that excellent review I decided to go there last Friday. I hadn't booked but decided to go anyway. I had a reserve just in case I couldn't get in - Indigo restaurant, another place just off Convent Road. I made sure to arrive early and got there about 6.45pm. They managed to squeeze me in and I was ushered to a nice small table outside. The place was still quiet then but soon afterwards began filling up. I had a Beer Lao and just a main course. Food was fine, I wasn't pushing the boat out as IMO not much point in doing that when you're dining solo. I echo FH's comments re the staff.

The snake: local people will probably know when a snake is spotted if it's poisonous or not. Unless it's poisonous what harm can the snake do to a human? I think it is the not knowing that scares many a falung into panic mode. The snake is certainly more scared of humans than we ought to be of them and deserves to be allowed to slither away into the long grass. The cow / buffalo: Shows how much I know about these animals, can't tell a cow from a buffalo, but that is a great photo of one and I can't remember noticing before the cord going through its nose and around the back of its head. I assume it is for the herdsman to grab hold of or to attach one animal to another. Dogs: Perhaps Christian had them in mind when he says Thais are not nicer to animals than people from other countries. There have been discussions about 'soi dogs' before and they do seem a particularly miserable breed. One hears of them being rounded up and possibly ending up on somebody's plate in a far-flung land. The degree of kindness shown to an animal may be in proportion to its usefulness. Elephants at one end of the scale as they are expensive to buy and dogs cats and rabbits at the other end. I did see a guard outside the Austrian Embassy feeding a couple of rabbits today so maybe rabbits fare better than I would have expected.

I certainly haven't done Germany justice travelwise in the past so, like you, would love to visit some of the more rural areas. Not so sure about Dresden though; if you felt able to go on yet another photo assignment I think that would generate a lot of interest on the Board, bearing in mind Dresden's history and I'd love to know what it looks like now. Yes, it's a bit grim oop north (but even worse darn sarf - 'orrible Estuary English for 'down south').

Both full report and 'teaser' eagerly awaited. I'm not going to say "Enjoy your trip" because the chances of you NOT enjoying it are pretty slim! I hope the boys will be wearing their speedos again this year. Please please no board shorts. In the wiki entry (link below) there is a picture of a very nice-looking young man walking along the beach - personally I think those shorts make him look ludicrous but that's just my opinion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boardshorts

I agree 'Papa David' was usually there and often made a point of checking everything was ok. I did read some where on one of the boards he had either retired or moved his restaurant elsewhere. Apologies if this information is incorrect.

I cannot deny those mentioned are more adventurous than I. I opted for Rio and Brazil and whilst agreeing it isn't as lung-burstingly stretching as Macchu Pichu and the rest, it is still quite an adventure if you haven't been before (I sincerely hope so anyway!) and would be my first time in S.Am. Much as I'd love to visit the high Andes I daren't as my ticker might not like the rarified atmosphere. Also, not that it would put me off assuming my heart was sound, one hears of tourists getting altitude sickness. I believe it can affect even normally healthy people. Perhaps some of us are just unlucky and there is some predisposition to it that you are unaware of until you get off the plane in Cuzco. Maybe because many of us have already visited Australia and the rules state it has to be a new country.

Laos is a great destination for a falung to visit with a Thai companion. I took my friend who, like many, came from the Isarn, to Laos once and he loved it. I don't speak Thai but I believe the Isarn dialect is similar to that spoken in Laos. Mixing with the local boys he made loads of friends very quickly. Also, Laos is easy and cheap to get to. Ceejay has been to Laos and has been far more adventurous and visited far more places than me.

The old VW vans get everywhere. Many years ago in Chiang Mai I took a picture of a split-screen model taking part in a parade. It was covered with white flowers I was going to say, but looking closely it might be bulbs of garlic and even a few cauliflowers. There is a large peace sign on the side but a woman sitting on top holding a drill and what looks like a cannon partially camouflaged by palm leaves. I can't post it on this thread as it is a pre-digital snap. Date of photo is February 2003. Maybe a Chiang Mai resident knows more.

Cambodia's war crimes tribunal releases former Khmer Rouge leader http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/16/khmer-roughe-leader-released

Apologies for deviating from the topic, but as it has a medical theme maybe I may be permitted to ask, as it's not really worth starting a new thread. I started on Warfarin a few weeks ago and need to get my blood level checked during my forthcoming visit to the Kingdom. Any information as to a hospital in Bangkok that might be able to do this? Thank you.

Riveting stuff - the following link has a slide show of the Diagram's shortlist! http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/gallery/2012/feb/24/diagram-prize-oddest-title-2012#/?picture=386395437&index=0 Some previous winners: Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice. Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers Highlights in the History of Concrete Bombproof Your Horse.

You are quite right to highlight the importance of a retinal scan. My reference to 'seeing an optician' was misleading. As FH says, you need to do more than just read the eye chart and get your spectacle prescription (if needed). As I too am near-sighted and wear contact lenses, I have a retinal scan as part of my annual check up. Evenif your scan is completely normal it isn't a waste of time to have it done every so often. That means if for any reason your optician spots anything untoward on your scan he can say with confidence that the changes occurred since your previous scan which was normal. I am no expert but I would imagine the optician can get quite a good idea as to the severity of whatever has been detected by being able to put any changes into a precise.timeframe. I would suggest keeping to the same optician if possible to maintain continuity. At least one major chain of opticians in the UK now offers those over 40 digital retinal photography as routine for no extra charge. http://www.specsavers.co.uk/eye-health/retinal-photography/?oo=41647924

Thanks for clarifying the cost of air fares from Moscow to Bangkok, Moses. That's a big jump so I wonder what sort of Russians will come? It might not deter the sex tourists, I expect now they know what's available in Pattaya it'll still be cheaper than using a hooker back home (but that's just a guess - I have no idea what Russian prostitutes charge on their home turf). Perhaps the families with kids will be the ones who are priced out of the market. Pattaya will get even sleazier. But that's all speculation on my part. Back to the cost of a girly off in Walking street. If you went with high expectation to your favourite restaurant in Pattaya, and was just about to order your favourite dish and you noticed menu prices had jumped by between 50 and 100%, you'd jolly well make your feelings known to the manager, telling him you wouldn't be back until he 'got real'. You'd tell all your friends, and in no time the only people eating in that restaurant would be tourists 'fresh off the boat', probably unaware they were being strung along. The restaurant might manage to stay afloat during tourist high season but come the low season and the lack of customers it'd have to close. Unfortunately prostitution doesn't work that way.

I wouldn't pay that! The choice looks great, but isn't shellfish a bit risky? Perhaps not if prepared and sold in a reputable establishment. I never eat the kind of shellfish you see on sale in Thai markets or in basic no-frills restaurants, although I have to say my friend loved that kind of shellfish and never got ill.

The not-so-obvious? Sounds reasonable but I think we are talking about the rarer medical conditions here. Those difficult to pin down that may well involve a lot of tests, that may in the end prove to be a blind alley as happened to TW. I agree the "blood pressure and eyes" are important and straightforward provided you see an optician every year. The GP or nurse can take your Blood pressure or you can buy your own monitor for use at home. Not expensive and a good idea if you are the sort of person whose BP goes up when you see a person in a 'white coat'. The heart is a tricky one and various companies offer a variety of tests to find out if you have blocked blood vessels by a build-up of plaque. In a way I am lucky as I have a recognised heart condition so like Koko I see the cardiologist every 9 months or so on average. If you don't have medical insurance (which might cover an annual check) and it's up to you to decide what to do about getting your ticker checked, and assuming your doctor checks with his stethoscope and announces it sounds just fine. Either you can believe your heart is indeed 'just fine' or you can get more tests to see if you are at risk of coronary artery disease, but my suspicion is similar to TW's that outfits offering these tests are after your money first and foremost and the chances of them discovering a life-threatening condition are very small indeed.