a day in Bangkok...
So, when I first got into town I took a bus straight to Khoa San road, because that's where everyone seemed to be going. Despite the fact that I had a watermelon/passionfruit smoothie that was to DIE for, I hated Khoa San Road. Tourists, bad motels that were dank and sorta gross...I didn't come all this way just so I could hang out with more people like me. Oh no...So I hired a taxi who agreed to take me around to different places til I found a hotel I liked. And what $30 can get you is a beautiful, modern, clean hotel with a king sized bed and air conditioning. Well, I'll be!
Thailand is more expensive than I remember it, but then again, the food is a million times better than my memory could recall. That's an EASY trade. Got a massage, a tom yum from the night market that makes the adjective orgasmic seem insuffient, and off to bed in my clean AC'd room.
The following day had me wking up late and off to the King'd Palace, which somehow I'd missed last time I was here. Of course it's phenomenally gorgeous. Met some nice guys from MI who were there for a destination wedding (good friends!!) and we took turns taking each others photos in front of the various wat stuppahs. After that, I noticed that there was some market/festival/busy happening going on around the corner, and far be it for me to miss a festival or a market (remember the living goddess, anyone?!) so I wandered around. For HOURS. I discovered a fruit that's called "sala" (pronounced just the way my name is pronounced) that's found in the jungle. It looks a bit like rambutan, but it brown and more spikey and also not as round but more oblong coming to a tip. I guess it's found in the forests. Anyway, it's super interesting, because I can't really describe the flavor. It's kind of like a tropical custard mixed with rotten banana, but a little sour as well as sweet--in a good way. They have them here in Cambodia as well. I LOVE them! Had some stupendous grilled, skewered, pork, and that was about all my tummy could handle given the heat.
Since I'd heard that The Mandarin Oriental Hotel was the place to hear good jazz, and got advice from someone on how to take the bus (Thailand is so easy to get around, it's brilliant. It might be the perfect country. Except, you know, for all the terrorism in the South). So I hopped on the bus, and lo and behold, a lovely, semi-English speaking couple in their 40s wanted to know where I was going to make sure I was headed in the right direction. I was, but when I asked where they were going, they said to the Chinatown Market. I replied that that sounded way more fun than the Mandarin Oriental, and they invited me along for dinner! What came next was a gastronomic revelation. I follwed them through the sweet vendors in the drizzle. They stopped along the way and got some steamed water chestnuts and put some in my hand. Delicious! After several blocks of restaurants and vendors that were all selling food that looked like it was to die for, we came upon a nondescript corner of food vendors. They knowingly went *right* where they intended, took their seats, and beckoned me over (I was staring at more fruit smoothies, of course, but they assured me we could order them from our plastic chair seats behind the vendors). One watermelon/lychee smoothie and a pretty good plate of Pad Thai later (whihc they'd ordered for me, fearing the soup would be too hot spicy and not knowing I don't really like pad thai, but this was actually very tasty), I was happy as a clam! The wife (we never even got each others'names, now that I think about it) had me taste her soup. THIS. STUFF. MUST'VE. BEEN. MADE. BY GOD'S PERSONAL CHEF. Holy awesome, Muriel! It was simple, and looked like nothing more than a bowl of brother with a few pieces of meat in it and some cilantro on top. Oh, but the flavor!!!! It was hot spicy, extremely black peppery, and meatily savory in that way that makes you want 5 more helping of mom's matzo ball soup. The kicker, however, was that the pork pieces in it were juicy and chewy, while either end of them was rendered, fried, crispy fatty goodness that magically stayed crispy, even while in the broth! I can't explain it, but even with the awesome Khmer food I had for dinner, I'm hankering for this stuff in a major way. Maybe there was crack in it. Or opium. Anyway, of course with this kind of miraculous adventure, I had to pay for dinner, but the husband was too quick and insistent, and I failed at my one mission. After that, it was dessert of grilled buttered bread with some kind of milk stuff in the middle (maybe sweetened, condensed milk?) that, even to my tummy full of noodles and broth, was magical. After that, the couple pointed me back to the way we'd come, and I was back on my way to the Mandarin. Thank goodness for small miracles, huh? What a phenomenal night. Ohhhhhhhhh, the broth. Must. Have. More. I feel that women who needs the greens from Into the Woods.
The Mandarin was more like a palce than a hotel, and the prices are about what we'd pay back home. That said, it's beautiful, and the singer who was there, Cherryl Hayes, is totally awesome. She was super cool between sets and hipped me to where to come for the jams sessions when I get back from Cambodia...
Speaking of which, on to Phnom Penh...
Thailand is more expensive than I remember it, but then again, the food is a million times better than my memory could recall. That's an EASY trade. Got a massage, a tom yum from the night market that makes the adjective orgasmic seem insuffient, and off to bed in my clean AC'd room.
The following day had me wking up late and off to the King'd Palace, which somehow I'd missed last time I was here. Of course it's phenomenally gorgeous. Met some nice guys from MI who were there for a destination wedding (good friends!!) and we took turns taking each others photos in front of the various wat stuppahs. After that, I noticed that there was some market/festival/busy happening going on around the corner, and far be it for me to miss a festival or a market (remember the living goddess, anyone?!) so I wandered around. For HOURS. I discovered a fruit that's called "sala" (pronounced just the way my name is pronounced) that's found in the jungle. It looks a bit like rambutan, but it brown and more spikey and also not as round but more oblong coming to a tip. I guess it's found in the forests. Anyway, it's super interesting, because I can't really describe the flavor. It's kind of like a tropical custard mixed with rotten banana, but a little sour as well as sweet--in a good way. They have them here in Cambodia as well. I LOVE them! Had some stupendous grilled, skewered, pork, and that was about all my tummy could handle given the heat.
Since I'd heard that The Mandarin Oriental Hotel was the place to hear good jazz, and got advice from someone on how to take the bus (Thailand is so easy to get around, it's brilliant. It might be the perfect country. Except, you know, for all the terrorism in the South). So I hopped on the bus, and lo and behold, a lovely, semi-English speaking couple in their 40s wanted to know where I was going to make sure I was headed in the right direction. I was, but when I asked where they were going, they said to the Chinatown Market. I replied that that sounded way more fun than the Mandarin Oriental, and they invited me along for dinner! What came next was a gastronomic revelation. I follwed them through the sweet vendors in the drizzle. They stopped along the way and got some steamed water chestnuts and put some in my hand. Delicious! After several blocks of restaurants and vendors that were all selling food that looked like it was to die for, we came upon a nondescript corner of food vendors. They knowingly went *right* where they intended, took their seats, and beckoned me over (I was staring at more fruit smoothies, of course, but they assured me we could order them from our plastic chair seats behind the vendors). One watermelon/lychee smoothie and a pretty good plate of Pad Thai later (whihc they'd ordered for me, fearing the soup would be too hot spicy and not knowing I don't really like pad thai, but this was actually very tasty), I was happy as a clam! The wife (we never even got each others'names, now that I think about it) had me taste her soup. THIS. STUFF. MUST'VE. BEEN. MADE. BY GOD'S PERSONAL CHEF. Holy awesome, Muriel! It was simple, and looked like nothing more than a bowl of brother with a few pieces of meat in it and some cilantro on top. Oh, but the flavor!!!! It was hot spicy, extremely black peppery, and meatily savory in that way that makes you want 5 more helping of mom's matzo ball soup. The kicker, however, was that the pork pieces in it were juicy and chewy, while either end of them was rendered, fried, crispy fatty goodness that magically stayed crispy, even while in the broth! I can't explain it, but even with the awesome Khmer food I had for dinner, I'm hankering for this stuff in a major way. Maybe there was crack in it. Or opium. Anyway, of course with this kind of miraculous adventure, I had to pay for dinner, but the husband was too quick and insistent, and I failed at my one mission. After that, it was dessert of grilled buttered bread with some kind of milk stuff in the middle (maybe sweetened, condensed milk?) that, even to my tummy full of noodles and broth, was magical. After that, the couple pointed me back to the way we'd come, and I was back on my way to the Mandarin. Thank goodness for small miracles, huh? What a phenomenal night. Ohhhhhhhhh, the broth. Must. Have. More. I feel that women who needs the greens from Into the Woods.
The Mandarin was more like a palce than a hotel, and the prices are about what we'd pay back home. That said, it's beautiful, and the singer who was there, Cherryl Hayes, is totally awesome. She was super cool between sets and hipped me to where to come for the jams sessions when I get back from Cambodia...
Speaking of which, on to Phnom Penh...
posted by sara leib at 6:36 AM
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