You may have seen a news item during the week on how Hong Kong has launched a special bus service named the "Sleeping Bus Tour" for citizens who are desperate for forty winks. Apparently there are a lot of insomniacs in Hong Kong as a result of the stress of living in one of the world's busiest cities.
The circular journey takes five hours and traverses a distance of about 75 kilometres and is proving quite popular. One wonders if such a service would be useful in Bangkok, although I suspect not.
Over the years, whenever I have travelled on a bus whether it be in Bangkok or the provinces, Thai passengers invariably have no trouble falling asleep within minutes without needing any special help. On the skytrain you can even see commuters sleeping while standing up.
I have always admired the ability of Thais to nod off even in the most uncomfortable circumstances. I remember seeing two fellows in Bangkok blissfully asleep in the back of a pickup truck even though they were lying unprotected on a bed of pineapples, seemingly unaffected by the fruit's prickly nature. They looked as comfortable as if they had just booked into a suite at the Oriental.
Over the years I have witnessed many trucks piled high with dead pigs on their way to Klong Toey market. Invariably the fellow in the back would be fast asleep, snoring away among the remains of those unfortunate porkers. Just imagine waking up and finding a pig's trotter in your face, or even worse, the snout. Pork chops would never taste the same after that.
Dozy work
In the old days security guards in Thailand gained something of a reputation for sleeping on the job. The role of security guards was highlighted a few years ago in a rather unusual manner. After being arrested, a couple of bank robbers explained in their defence that the reason they staged the robbery was not the couple of million baht they had nicked, but to point out that the security was totally useless because the guards were fast asleep.
The defendants failed to convince the judge however, and received a 10-year sentence as guests of the government's Corrections Department.
However, being a security guard is still regarded as an essential stepping stone for anyone who wishes to be transferred to that revered institution, the "inactive post".
Bedtime wisdom
For a final word on the art of sleeping let's turn to the late, great English comedian Tommy Cooper who was responsible for the following dreadful joke:
Patient: Doctor, I don't seem to be able to sleep at night. What should I do?
Doctor: Sleep near the edge of the bed. You'll soon drop off.
Sweet and sour
A couple of weeks ago PostScript carried an item concerning recipes published in newspapers that turned out to be disastrous owing to vital ingredients being missing. Cooking columns are always sensitive territory because if you foul up on a recipe it can have unfortunate repercussions on readers' stomachs.
Recipes are quite vulnerable to misprints. An often cited example occurred when a provincial American newspaper had to carry a correction for a salsa recipe. It explained: "it should have read 2 tsp (teaspoons) of cilantro and not 2 tsp of cement." The salsa reportedly came out a bit on the crunchy side.
Some years ago there was a recipe published in the Houston Chronicle for a sweet dish that required two bags of caramels which unfortunately came out as "two bags of camels".
Culinary cock-ups often involve desserts. Coconut pie fans probably got a little more than they bargained for from a recipe in the Daily Press of Newport News. It prompted the following correction: "The recipe for French coconut pie incorrectly suggested it called for a pint of vodka."
Slip of a finger
Any item about food can be endangered thanks to editorial staff relying too much on spellcheckers which have a mind of their own. That's why a Leamington Spa newspaper had to explain to readers that their report concerning food served at a kindergarten should have read "chicken casserole" and not "children casserole."
Although this is not food-related there was a Welsh newspaper which had to explain: "In the report on the Welsh National Opera the computer spellchecker did not recognise the term WNO. A slip of the finger caused it to be replaced by the word "winos".
Thai surprise
The complexities of Thai names can occasionally cause problems. A correction appeared in The New York Times some years ago when an American food writer apparently became muddled up over names he had scribbled down while attending a special Thai buffet. There were many Thais in attendance and he gave the event a positive review, particularly praising one exotic dish.
The correction a couple of days later explained that actually it "was not a Thai dish served at the buffet, rather the name of a student from Thailand who was attending the buffet".
Burnt offerings
Many people like their food well done but one suspects a number of smoky disasters in Wisconsin kitchens prompted the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to explain: "A recipe for Mr C's Bread Pudding misstated the length of time for baking the pudding. The recipe calls for baking it for 40 minutes, not 540 minutes."
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