Small Victory #1
Successfully communicating my destination to the taxi driver without the use of a map, my host mom’s Thai handwriting on a slip of paper, or flailing hand gestures. The slip-of-paper incident was a… Continue reading
Category Archive: Bangkok
Thailand Only
You know you’re in Thailand when the only one in the car speaking English is Tickle Me Elmo.
Know your exchange rates.
Something I tend to forget while going about my business in Thailand is the exchange rate. 30 Baht is approximately equal to $1US. Prices are easy to grasp when in small denominations (60B,… Continue reading
“Famous Thai Dessert”
“Famous Thai Dessert.” Might as well be considered part of the Thai language, because I’ve heard these words every day since I’ve gotten here. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly now, Thais LOVE their food.… Continue reading
My brief intro to the Thai language.
There’s a million websites that claim to be able to teach you a new language. I’ve tried to utilize these resources, but as always, immersion and in-person teachers are the tride-and-true way to… Continue reading
Snacks.
In addition to loving their semi-official “meal time,” Thais LOVE to snack. This is awesome, because I do too! The range in snack foods is broad (comparable to the spectrum of snack foods in the US), with a few small differences:
1) Many more “home-made” snacks are available, mainly via street merchants. Many of these involve coconut in some form, though you can find nuts, small meat skewers, or funky dried worms or crickets (both pictured to left) if you’re patient. Snacks in jelly form are also very popular (some delicious, some kind of unsettling if you’re not used to the texture).
2) Portion sizes. Snacks are sold in normal-serving-sized packages. Shouldn’t be a novel concept, but I digress. This unique packaging (2 oreos in a container vs. 6…or 24) emphasizes that junk food is exactly that – not exactly the greatest fuel for our body, and a treat.
3) Fruit is much more widely accepted both as a snack, and a dessert. For example one-half of a papaya = MAYBE one bag of chips. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, fruit is everywhere. It’s fresh, chilled, and chopped into snackable, bite-sized pieces by a lovely, smiling man in a straw hat.
Color – it’s what’s for dinner.
Something I truly love about Thai food (even in the US) is that it showcases food in its purest form. Thais value plants (fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs, etc.). They honor them by highlighting… Continue reading
We know nothing about fruit.
I’ve been here for almost two weeks, and I still haven’t tasted all the varieties. My host (Goi) tells me that there are over 97 types of bananas! What?! Fruit I’ve had the… Continue reading
Coco-nuts
If you don’t like coconut – coconut milk, coconut meat, coconut jelly, etc. don’t come to Thailand. Coconut is so plentiful here that it is a daily staple. Although usually a dessert food,… Continue reading
Car Tetris – The Parking Lot
Despite traffic and the availability of mass transit, many people still drive to work here in Bangkok. At Rakluke, however, there aren’t enough parking spots in the parking lot. This problem is solved… Continue reading