Deflated Pig Faces and Other Goodies
When we woke up this morning, the tide had sucked away so much of the sea that the coastline was littered with rocks. The wind came by in big shaky gasps, sending leaves and sand painfully biting at our ankles, rendering the beach no good to lay out in. We assumed a storm was brewing.
It still hasn't come. However, the sea is thoroughly churned, and our hopes of snorkeling today have been blown away. So we rode out motorbike to Chaweng, which is so touristy I feel claustrophobic. Many parts of Lamai are just as busy. Yet it's with a half-half locals/tourists amalgamation, and that way there's a surprise every few minutes.
Yesterday Bryson and I strolled through a outdoor local market. Much of it was carts laid out with fruits and vegetables, ranging from bananas and lettuce and standard green Asian mangos, to brilliantly fuchsia dragonfruits and other things I can't even name. Further in, we were stuck in the meat section for a bit too long. That deflated pig face will haunt me in my nightmares.
Back to the front were the grills and food carts, and Bryson risked a barbequed chicken stick, while I tried some Thai pancakes. The latter were fried crispy pastries filled with coconut cream and corn. Not bad.
On to the Food
I'm getting a little sick of Thai food, mainly because it's getting repetitive. The menus are usually triple the length of those you'd find in an American restaurant. However, all two hundred items remain the same from place to place. That still wouldn't seem like a problem, but for a few things.
1. Í don't eat any meat other than fish. That narrows my choices to about thirty, or even less when we're away from the fish-infested islands.
2. Both of us are trying to stay away from fried food. Thai menus are full of fried food. Fried onions, shrimp, noodles, rice, and potatoes, which most places call "french fried".
3. We're straying from any uncooked vegetables, so there goes all the salad options.
As a result, at most places my choices are tomato or vegetable soup, eggs and toast, white rice, and fish. Not bad, but not so good after a week and three more to come.
As for snacks, there's a better variety here than there was in Central America, land of deep fried pork skin and Pringles. Franchised 7-Elevens are everywhere here, and just like home, they're three-fourths snacks. Bryson and I go to town in those places. Thai Oreos and sodas are even better than home, and Thai Cheetos are delicious, although we haven't braved the hot dog flavor yet. Or these:
Red Bulls are immensely popular here, but they're not the same. They taste more syrupy-sweet, with no carbonation. In addition, rumor has it drinking one bottle of the tonic packs seventeen times the caffeine punch.
All the cigarettes packages in Thailand feature distasteful photographs right on the front. I love this cultural twist. There are about five different picture choices available, from the Thai daddy blowing a nebula of smoke into a baby's face, a frazzled woman with a hole in her neck, to a cancerous lung. I haven't seen too many smokers here that aren't tourists, although that's probably because the people here are poor and cigarettes are still expensive, comparably. I'll try and get a better picture.
When we woke up this morning, the tide had sucked away so much of the sea that the coastline was littered with rocks. The wind came by in big shaky gasps, sending leaves and sand painfully biting at our ankles, rendering the beach no good to lay out in. We assumed a storm was brewing.
It still hasn't come. However, the sea is thoroughly churned, and our hopes of snorkeling today have been blown away. So we rode out motorbike to Chaweng, which is so touristy I feel claustrophobic. Many parts of Lamai are just as busy. Yet it's with a half-half locals/tourists amalgamation, and that way there's a surprise every few minutes.
Yesterday Bryson and I strolled through a outdoor local market. Much of it was carts laid out with fruits and vegetables, ranging from bananas and lettuce and standard green Asian mangos, to brilliantly fuchsia dragonfruits and other things I can't even name. Further in, we were stuck in the meat section for a bit too long. That deflated pig face will haunt me in my nightmares.
Back to the front were the grills and food carts, and Bryson risked a barbequed chicken stick, while I tried some Thai pancakes. The latter were fried crispy pastries filled with coconut cream and corn. Not bad.
On to the Food
I'm getting a little sick of Thai food, mainly because it's getting repetitive. The menus are usually triple the length of those you'd find in an American restaurant. However, all two hundred items remain the same from place to place. That still wouldn't seem like a problem, but for a few things.
1. Í don't eat any meat other than fish. That narrows my choices to about thirty, or even less when we're away from the fish-infested islands.
2. Both of us are trying to stay away from fried food. Thai menus are full of fried food. Fried onions, shrimp, noodles, rice, and potatoes, which most places call "french fried".
3. We're straying from any uncooked vegetables, so there goes all the salad options.
As a result, at most places my choices are tomato or vegetable soup, eggs and toast, white rice, and fish. Not bad, but not so good after a week and three more to come.
As for snacks, there's a better variety here than there was in Central America, land of deep fried pork skin and Pringles. Franchised 7-Elevens are everywhere here, and just like home, they're three-fourths snacks. Bryson and I go to town in those places. Thai Oreos and sodas are even better than home, and Thai Cheetos are delicious, although we haven't braved the hot dog flavor yet. Or these:
Red Bulls are immensely popular here, but they're not the same. They taste more syrupy-sweet, with no carbonation. In addition, rumor has it drinking one bottle of the tonic packs seventeen times the caffeine punch.
All the cigarettes packages in Thailand feature distasteful photographs right on the front. I love this cultural twist. There are about five different picture choices available, from the Thai daddy blowing a nebula of smoke into a baby's face, a frazzled woman with a hole in her neck, to a cancerous lung. I haven't seen too many smokers here that aren't tourists, although that's probably because the people here are poor and cigarettes are still expensive, comparably. I'll try and get a better picture.
Luckily, everything else is cheap.
posted by Kirsten Hubbard at 1:02 AM
2 Comments:
Thai Cheetos are delicious, although we haven't braved the hot dog flavor yet.
That is unbelievably disgusting.
it was incredibly hard for me to find anything other than quesadillas and chili-smothered fruits and veggies last summer in mexico. although, i have to say, those mexicans are incredbly creative with their quesadillas.
= ashley =
Post a Comment
<< Home