Just Went For Dental Cleaning Today

As someone who has a deep seated fear of dentists since childhood (thanks to primitive dental instruments, blood, and fierce female nurses and dentists then), I avoid going to the dentist as much as I can. As such, my last visit was a few years ago and my teeth were way overdue for a good cleaning. 

So I finally plucked up courage today and visited the dentist for a cleaning and I was pleasantly surprised - of course, the grating, screeching sound of metal on tooth still caused my toes to curl and body to stiffen involuntarily but the overall scaling procedure was relatively painless. I skipped the polishing procedure as apparently, unlike in Singapore where scaling + polishing usually comes together, the two procedures are separate and they will do what you ask them to do here. 

The total cost of consultation and scaling - THB 500 or SGD 20. The same will easily cost double this amount or more in Singapore. 

Now this is what I call affordable! 

Places of Interest: Pentatonic Rock Bar Chiangmai

The Pentatonic Rock Bar is located at the Zoe in Yellow corner, a lane just off the city centre, in Chiang Mai. There are many pubs and nightspots here and the area is frequented by tourists from all over. Here is their Facebook page

The Pentatonic Rock Bar is not much to look at (interior/exterior) and its menu is sparse – beer only (at 120 baht) and no cocktails. But if you are looking for real rock/metal music, this is the place.

A few bands take to the stage each night, each playing for about an hour. Once in a while, guest bands drop by.

The night usually starts off slow with some quieter, slower music, before the thrash kicks in later on, usually after 10pm. Some songs that I have heard there before include:

Holy Wars… And the Punishment Due – Megadeth
Symphony of Destruction – Megadeth
Master of Puppets – Metallica
Enter Sandman – Metallica
Raining Blood – Slayer
Walk - Pantera

In short, this place is definitely worth a visit for rock & heavy metal lovers. A word of caution though - a quick search on online reveals that several tourists have been assaulted while in the area, so it is best to keep a low profile and watch your surroundings while you are there. 

Generic Finasteride in Thailand - Firide

I have been using Finasteride for male pattern hair loss for close to two decades now and, to save money like many others on the drug, I have been buying Proscar a long time ago and then cutting in up into four pieces (I was on Avodart for a few years but stopped when I saw no significant inprovements + it was not available without a prescription in Thailand). 

Today, I visited my regular pharmacy and was told Proscar was out of stock. I then tried a pharmacy in the neighbourhood and, while they did not have Proscar, I was pleasantly surprised when the pharmacist whipped out a box of Firide instead. 

Firide is generic Proscar, made in Thailand. It is manufactured by Siam Pharmaceutical - it is apparently one of the top pharmaceutical companies in Thailand. Firide contains the same amount of the active ingredient, 5mg Finasteride, as Proscar but at a significantly lower cost.
Here is a cost comparison of the different options I have gone through over the years. 

Bought in Singapore:
Finasteride 1mg  (per box SGD 90, about THB 2250) 
Proscar 5mg        (per box SGD 120, about THB 3000)

Bought in Thailand:
Proscar 5mg        (per box THB 1300, about SGD 52)
Firide   5mg         (per box THB 950, about SGD 38)          

It is noteworthy that one box of Finasteride 1mg only lasts for 30 days while one box of Proscar/Firide lasts for three months (assuming you cut each tablet into four pieces). 

So, if you are on Firide, one month's supply of Finasteride will cost you only THB 950/3 = THB 317 or SGD 12.70 - much cheaper than in Singapore any day!  

Thai Laundromats

Usually found at residential places where there are many students or workers, Thai laundromats are usually simple, spartan setups designed to get the most returns for minimal investment. Steel bars enclose the washing machines to prevent burglars from carting them off while CCTV cameras watch over the premises to prevent thieves from getting at the coin boxes. 

Thai Ingenuity - DIY Electric Car

Came across this vehicle while walking along the street one day. It was in a motorcycle shop that was full of self-built choppers - all were reasonably priced too! Anyway, this car was kind of like a hobby project for them - it runs on electricity, comes with automatic gears, seats two, and is fully air-conditioned as well! Although it was for sale, it cannot be driven on the main roads. From the looks of it, it does not look like it can withstand much of a collision as well. 

However, if you want a small, compact car that will turn heads around the neighbourhood, this is the one for you!