Stray

One of the pleasures of having a driver is when we stray away from the main roads and get a peek at other parts of the city.  Mick is aces at finding little back roads and alleys to get around the traffic.  Sometimes we wonder if the car will actually fit down some of these narrow little alleys, especially when motorbikes line one side and jut out into the road at various angles.  He also manages his way around the street vendors' carts that are everywhere in the city.  This is especially true at the two construction sites just outside our condo; woe to you if you try to make it through there at lunch time or quitting time.  Everyone is in the narrow street, swarming around the street vendors' carts, and they are in very little hurry to get out of your way.  All the wild dogs just add more mayhem to the mix.  These are the times I am most happy to have someone else at the wheel.  It's no wonder traffic accidents are a given on the daily news.

On the plus side, we sometimes stumble upon little, out-of-the-way restaurants that we mightn't have found had we been driving ourselves.  One such find was just ten minutes from our condo, a restaurant nestled right up on the beach, called Rim Talay.  It specializes in seafood, with big holding tanks out front, assuring the freshness of the day's catch.  One particularly big tank looked more like a big cement swimming pool, with chairs all around the outside and fishing poles at each chair.

Although neither Tim nor I are big fans of seafood, our curiosity drew us down the stairs to the beach.  Several heavy wooden tables and benches were set up across the sand, with the waves of the bay just feet away.  Several wild dogs were lazing in the sand nearby, paying no heed to the diners. They were so docile, in fact, that we wondered if one of them was dead!  (It was not.  So many restaurants have outdoor dining that we are unfazed by having dogs share our dining space.)

taken while seated at our table

Live music greeted us, a male and female duet, and we soon realized that the male singer was down off the stage and strolling through the tables of diners.  The music choices were quite entertaining; they were clearly used to entertaining several nationalities, and besides the American tunes,  we heard some Russian and Chinese music in addition to their native Thai.  The strolling singer would often share his microphone with a diner when they appeared to know the song he was singing.  He had a great voice, and we really enjoyed the variety.

moon over the bay

As we perused the menu, we found an unusual section, and knew we had to share it on the blog.  It seems that you can buy cigarettes (a pack or a single, I wonder) for around $3.  And a lighter, too - isn't that handy?

Tim had chicken and I had pasta with prawns.  The food was nothing to write home about, but the atmosphere was quite pleasant.  I think if we'd had fish we might have had a different review.  Anyway, it was fun finding out what was down at the end of that alley!





While we're on the subject of food, I will share some pictures of food that I've been gathering and found interesting.  Here is a picture of a mango next to a winter melon.  I was expecting the winter melon to be like watermelon or cantaloupe inside, but it was more similar to a cucumber or a squash.  It was pretty bland by itself, so I made some soup with it and a couple of red bird chilies and that spiced it right up.

The inside of the winter melon

Bananas are quite varied here, especially in size, and I have appreciated being able to buy little bananas that are just the right size to add to a bowl of cereal.  (We were relieved to discover that a Kellogg factory is nearby, in the same industrial complex as Tim's office, so we can always find Corn Flakes at the store for a reasonable price.  You can get some of the other cereals we like, but at around ten dollars a box, I take a pass on those.)  Anyway, the little bananas are perfect in size.  Some are called honey bananas or golden bananas - the flesh is a golden color and they are delightfully sweet.

A bunch of little bananas still attached to the stem

The next two items are just pictures of beverages I enjoyed at various restaurants.  A nice little coffee shop within walking distance of our condo is called The Coffee Club.  They have the absolute best servers - so amazingly polite and smiling all the time.  They make you feel like they're glad you came!  Anyway, they've got a pretty good chai tea latte (especially good with a slice of chocolate cake).  Many of you are aware of my fondness for chai tea lattes (non-fat, no water).  I also discovered a delicious red tea latte on a recent outing with my friend, Mika, to La Pause, a cute little out-of-the-way cafe somewhat off the beaten path.  I had the red tea, and Mika had an apple soda.  Aren't they lovely?  Things always taste better when you can share them with a friend :-)

My Thai-English funny for the week:  I was shopping in an outdoor market that had so much stuff for so little cost (thank-you, Mika, for the suggestion!)  I was happy to find a trivet to help protect the lovely wooden table in our condo, but I was confounded by the labeling.  I tried to come up with an explanation, and when I think I figured it out, I laughed out loud!  See if you come up with the same conclusion I did - feel free to post your interpretation in the comment section.  I'll share mine on my next post.