December 16, 2005 The Sights and Sounds of Bangkok

I wish I could share the sights and sounds of Bangkok with you in person. Some things here are beautiful beyond belief. The flowers are arranged so beautifully and there are flowers everywhere.The Thai people are very artistic and creative. On the other hand, the sidewalks and roads are treacherous. You must watch your step every minute.

There is food to buy everywhere. There are huge markets all over the city where you can go to purchase fruits, vegetables, curries, eggs, dried foods, seafood and meats of every kind cut before your eyes. There are fruits and vegetables that I have seen no where else but in Thailand. I am now going to one of these markets just one subway stop from the condo. Jin and I buy all we can carry and it costs about 200 Baht or less (about 5 dollars), unless I buy huge shrimp and then it would be about 400 Baht.I get a cooking lesson from Jin who takes good care of Mark and me too.

There are also street carts with food being prepared on them everywhere all over Bangkok. You select ingredients from the cart and buy food cooked before your eyes. No one ever seems to get sick from either food carts or restaurants. The people are very clean and remember they don't shake hands...They do what is called Wai (pronounced like the letter Y) and that is to put the palms together and bow the head slightly. It is much more sanitary than coughing and sneezing on your hands and then shaking someone's hand. They are also very good about hand washing.

Yesterday I sat and watched a woman preparing food on one of the street carts. Every afternoon people go on the street to get soups, salads, and fruits, from street carts, to take home.The Thai people eat very healthy diets. Many never cook, but just buy food from the street carts. Some homes do not even have a stove because it is not needed. No matter how hot it gets, people eat soup. Some I can eat, but not the one that is made from chicken entrails.The entrails are sold in a plastic bag along with several egg yolks. The woman chops the entrails up and puts them in a hot broth and cooks them along with green vegetables and possibly some mushrooms to go into the soup and of course lots of small red peppers that are hand ground before your eyes. Every ingredient is fresh. Mexicans and Texans cannot hold a candle to the Thais when it comes to eating spicy hot foods. They eat hot red peppers every day, virtually every meal, and in nearly every dish. If you were here, maybe you would like some fried bugs? There is also the bug cart where you can buy fried bugs of every kind to eat. There is also food prepared on the Soi (pronounced Soy which means street) that we Westerners can eat. Check the blog later and I will tell you more about Mark and about Thailand.