May 20th, 2005
Jumping shrimp and pink soup
I think I’ve figured out the trick to crossing the street! The key to it involves a purposeful first move into the street, looking toward oncoming traffic (while also checking for people going wrong way down the street) and moving steadily, but slowly forward, never back. It’s like staring down a grizzly bear, but it’s Thai traffic. Show no fear.
Today was a fun day. I had lunch with my co-workers Alida (Vietnamese/Thai from Holland), Glen (Japanese from Canada), Hyunjoo (Korean), Pina (Thai), Ochiro (Mongolian) and a guy from Norway whose name is something similar to “Jet Li” in Norwegian, so he just goes by Jet Li. Hah! We took taxis to eat at a Japanese restaurant called Zen on the big street (Thong Lor) near work. The waitresses wore kimonos and we had to remove our shoes, climb into the table pit, and sit on little pillows. Great fun!
During lunch, Ochiro said in a very serious tone that he knew it would rain soon, because he was getting sleepy. Apparently that’s how he can usually tell. Jet Li said Thank goodness for Mongolian wisdom.
Hyunjoo and I planned part of our adventure weekend. My friend Kate, who arrived yesterday from Ho Chi Minh where she works in urban planning, accompanied us. We decided to first hit the famous weekend market (”Chutachak” or “JJ”) and then try to eat Chinese dim-sum at the Shangri-La hotel.
When we got back to UNESCO after lunch, all the workers were standing outside the building because the power was out. So we just stood around for an hour or so until the electricians repaired the power lines.
Jet Li told me that the large fortress-like restaurant called “Coliseum” near our work is a brewery and popular hangout for Thai locals who like to drink heavily, do karaoke and see particularly cheesy Thai rock concerts. You have to be careful when you go to the bathroom there, he said, because when you come out, about 8-10 half-drunk Thais will surround you and try to massage your shoulders, hand you a towel, spray you with cologne, even crack your neck! Then you’ll end up having to pay 75 baht (approx. US$ 2) just to use the toilet.
Ochiro and Jet Li also showed me a tank full of live baby jumping shrimp of a delicate blue hue, swimming in a tank at a market vendor’s stand. Those are held between the fingers and eaten live, one by one, particularly after one has been drinking Thai whiskey. It’s a delicacy I have not tried yet.
So my friend Kate met me at my guest house yesterday evening and is staying at the Wendy House next door. At dinner, I ordered something from a picture menu called Seafood Noodle Soup with “Special Sauce”. Was it my imagination, or did the waiter softly snicker when he wrote it down? When it arrived, to my delight, it was bright pink in color, with white, spongy seaweed-like organic matter in it, along with noodles and fish. It was delicious! I guess I’ll never know what that “special sauce” was. And was the sauce itself pink, or was it a pink type of seafood that made the soup pink? Hmmm…